[FOR JOSEPH]
PERSPECTIVES WITH TORI FERENC, PHOTOGRAPHER
This interview was part of a series for JOSEPH CURATES, an online magazine of sorts, dedicated to the creatives and creators who share a similar outlook to the British fashion brand - where I was employed as Content & Social Media Editor.
Tori Ferenc follows in the grand tradition of street photographers. The Vivien Maiers, the Daidō Moriyamas, the William Kleins. Those with an insatiable eye who seek out the poetic, and often overlooked, beauty of the everyday. The snapshots that reveal our societies, and ourselves. Travelling around the world with camera in hand, Tori seeks out the traditions and peculiarities that make life so wonderfully diverse. Her candid work has been featured in i-D, The Guardian and AnOther Magazine, to name a few. Here she reflects on her approach.
TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF…
I grew up in Gniezno, a town in western Poland. I was exposed to art quite early in my childhood. My father is an actor, so my sister and I basically grew up in the theatre. I kind of always knew that I wanted to be an artist, but it took me a while to figure out which direction I would like to take. When I was seventeen, I borrowed a camera from my friend and that's how it started, really. It's been ten years now. But I don't think I have been serious enough until I moved to London three years ago and bought my first film camera – a medium format Rolleiflex. I have been broke ever since.
WHAT MAKES A GREAT SUBJECT?
Honesty.
AND WHAT’S THE TRICK TO CAPTURING THE PERFECT MOMENT?
I would say perseverance. Luck. And a roll of film.
DO YOU THINK THE GLUT OF CAMERA PHONE IMAGES LESSENS THE IMPACT OF PHOTOGRAPHY LIKE YOURS?
Photography has always been always been a medium of future – look at how quickly it developed over the course of two centuries. I think technology opens new paths for artists and photographers, and it shouldn't be rejected. In my mind, a proper photographer should be able to take a great photograph with any available tools. Which doesn't change the fact that all selfie sticks should be destroyed.
WHO ARE YOUR HEROES?
Dana Lixenberg, Alec Soth, Vivian Maier, Diane Arbus, Rosalind Fox Solomon, Mark Steinmetz, Vanessa Winship, Mary Ellen Mark, Vivianne Sassen, William Eggleston, Gus Powell... I could go on forever! But probably my favourite photography hero is not even a photographer, it's actually Edward Hopper. There is something so cinematic about his paintings. I believe they are photographs in disguise.
AND WHAT IS IT ABOUT THE OUTSIDER AND THE MARGINALISED THAT ATTRACTS YOU?
I think it's because I am an outsider myself. A curious one.