Featured Member - Patricio Suarez
www.pelime.com/psuarez
www.psuarez.com
For as long as I can remember, I have been passionate about photography. It has always been an intricate part of my life. Even though I’m not a professional photographer, what I do is very closely related to it. I’m a Director of Photography in the film industry.
I grew up in Mexico and Ecuador, attended college in New York and started my professional career as a DP in Argentina. I now reside in New York. I’m just a common guy with a strong passion, a father of two and a husband.
Q. Can you explain what triggered your interest in Photography?
A. Hard to say… I’ve been interested in photography from an early age. All I can tell you is that I have always been a very visual person. Somehow, I gravitated towards photography. Nothing conscious.
Q. Are there any photographers you admire?
A. Many for many different reasons… All the famous ones for their legacy!
We all do, right? I find many photographers everyday in places like Pelime, Flickr, DeviantArt or blogs. A few I like are: Jock Sturges, Sebastiao Salgado, Michael Kenna and Mona Kuhn.
Q. Can you tell us a little bit about your interest in Film & Television?
A. Well, it started when I was 16. I lived in Ecuador at the time and I was spending my summer vacation in New York. At the time, I wanted to become a National Geographic photographer. I enrolled in a basic black and white darkroom class and someone suggested that I should also enroll in another class, which I did. It was a basic filmmaking class taught with Super-8 cameras. I was hooked.
Q. Any important F&TV projects that brought you success?
A. It’s been a progressive growth process. Every job I do brings me some sort of success because I’m busy.
Q. What are your inspirations?
A. Way too many to list… I look at hundreds of photographs daily.
Q. Your subjects seem to be generally ‘women’. Is there a specific reason for that?
A. I find the feminine form very delicate, harmonious and powerful. I’m bewitched by it.
Q. Is there a story behind your work?
A. Not a story per se, but I always put myself in some sort of role. I try to live vicariously for a few hours. The model’s attitude and location play a great role into what mental state I’ll be in for the shoot.
Q. About your photography works, why black & white?
A. Black and white is very basic and simple. It puts more emphasis into the content of the photographs since there is an absence of color. I also shoot square because of that. The content is not weighed by the framing. Of course you can weight a square frame, but it is purely done with the content and not the frame. I like how basic all this becomes. It let’s me focus on the subject.
Q. Can you talk about your professional experience?
A. What is there to say? I love what I do. I feel blessed because of that. I try to learn every day and be open to change. We are surrounded by an ocean of possibilities!
Q. Any collaboration in photography or film industry?
A. Well, in my film world is always about collaboration. It all a team job, I’m just one part of the machine of making films. In photography, I mostly, only, work with the model. Sometimes my wife helps me but I’d like to collaborate more. I feel that I could learn a lot this way.
Q. Do you have a favorite piece among your works?
A. In film, I think my favorite one was a car commercial that I shot in Argentina for Ford. It was extremely challenging and I was allowed to be free creatively. We had limited resources because of the remoteness of the location and we all had to be very creative in our approach.
In photography, I think I can pick a few. There is one shoot of mine with a model named Giovanna, pausing against a window. She is embracing a piece of fabric and has her eyes closed. This photo reminds me a lot of Maxfield Parrish. There is a very painterly feel to it.
Q. What equipment & techniques do you use?
A. Even though I own a lot of the equipment, I tend to not give much importance to it. I believe that a good photograph can be made with anything.
Q. What is the motivation behind your choice of art?
A. I’m a very visual person. Both industries have the same needs visually but distinct methods of delivery. There is something inside me that pushes me to create. I thrive when I do.
Q. Are you working on new projects currently?
A. I always have something flying inside my head.
Q. What are your professional ambitions and your projects for 2011?
A. To keep creating and learning…
Q. How do you hope Pelime can help with this?
A. I believe Pelime can help me with my future projects by allowing me to interact openly with like-minded people.
