Welcome to 10.Q Interviews.This section usually features interviews to Humanitarian, Cultural & Travel Photographers, their work and photography.

This week in 10.Q Interviews, Mitchel Kanashkevich:

“I am a tirelessly curious world wanderer and a travel/documentary photographer. My main passion lies in capturing disappearing ancient cultures and the human condition in unique, challenging situations.
My range of subjects is fairly broad, but whether I am photographing nomadic shepherds in India, life in the last traditional villages of Eastern Europe or sulfur miners working in a volcanic crater, my common aim is always the same – to capture the human element.
I freelance and shoot documentary photo stories on the above mentioned topics. Much of my travel/documentary photography is represented by Getty Images, while my cultural portraits, both colour and black and white are in the private collections of photo lovers and collectors worldwide.” [more about Mitchell]

1. Tell us about your photography. How long have you been shooting? What kinds of shooting have you done? Can you name any current or former clients?

I’ve been shooting seriously for about 4 years, though I’ve been dabbling in photography for much longer.
Most of my work centers on cultures, traditions and everyday life that is different to everyday life to where I come from (Sydney, Australia).
I don’t have clients as such. Most of my images are licensed through Getty Images, which kinda means that I have tons of clients each month and it’s impractical to keep track of them. I also sell prints to individual collectors and send stuff to magazines, you can find out more about that on my Blog.

2. How did you get into Cultural/Travel photography? Where did you get your vision for it, and what are your dreams? What things called your attention back then?

I’ve always loved traveling. I guess I got a taste for travel and new cultures pretty early in my life, as my parents and I emigrated from the former USSR to Australia when I was 10. Then came our trips back to the “Motherland” and we’d make stops in other countries along the way, because I guess my parents too were interested in seeing some of the world, having been deprived of the chance for so long (living behind the “Iron curtain”).

I’ve just always been very curious and it’s always been interesting for me to see how others live. That’s why when I finished university I set out to do some extensive traveling. The traveling is what drives the photography, in fact photography is my excuse to travel and to meet all these amazing people and experience their cultures first hand.

If you mean to ask how I got into this professionally, then it was through some twists and turns. To cut a long story short, I put some images online, people responded well, I even sold a few images unexpectedly and I realized that perhaps there was potential there to make a living from this. I later submitted to a magazine called Black and White and won one of their portfolio spotlight contests. This was another eye opener in that as soon as the magazine came out people started emailing me wanting to buy prints of my work, I was again reaffirmed that there was potential to make what I enjoyed into something that brought me income.

Where did I get my vision for it? That’s something I have no idea how to answer, maybe we are born with certain talents/abilities and this is mine. My dreams? I am pretty much living my dream whenever I am on the road, when I travel, which is most of the year. My dream is to continue doing this and just to have even more freedom as far as where I can travel and what I can shoot. I’d also like to have a family and have like a whole travel team – m, my wife and a couple of kids, we’d be a nomadic family.

3. How do you see the Cultural/Travel photography industry today? Is it exciting to be a part of it? Since you started, have you seen any major changes in it?

Cultural/Travel photography industry today – I haven’t been in this business for long enough to compare to the yesteryear, but it’s clear that everything is going digital. There are more photo buyers than ever before, but the prices that people are ready to pay for images are not necessarily as high, which can be frustrating, but not necessarily tragic because the numbers of buyers may very well make up for that.

It is certainly exciting to be a part of the photo-industry in general; we’re at a great point in time, where anyone with a camera truly has a chance to make a living as a photographer, with enough talent, skill and effort.

4. What are the characteristics that a good cultural photographer needs to have? How is that different from other fields in photography?

Genuine curiosity is probably the main thing and of course being a likable person helps, just being a decent human being. These qualities are no different from any line of work really.

5. How much do you travel every year? How do you manage your family time?

I don’t have a set schedule for how much I travel every year, but usually it’s at least for 6 months, sometimes more, depending on whether I have to be home to watch my family’s dog or not. ☺ It’s been easy to manage family time, since the main part of my family – my wife has been traveling with me everywhere for the last few years. She keeps me sane and we are never lonely.

6. Who’s been an inspiration for your photography? How do you stay inspired? Do you read blogs? If so, which ones would you recommend?

There are a few photographers who inspire me. The obvious ones are Mccurry, Salgado, Olivier Follmi, but there are many more. I often come across amazing photographers on the internet and just spend hours looking at their work. There’s no shortage of inspiration out there, that’s for sure.

I stay inspired by just traveling and seeing life, I don’t understand it when people need some additional motivation to be inspired, I’m never not inspired, but maybe I’m still fairly young and naïve. ☺

I do read blogs. Pixelatedimage.com is one of my favorites, as well as The Travel Photographer’s blog – talk about inspiration – just check out some of the photographers he’s featured. Timothy Allen (a BBC photographer) has an excellent blog. I also check out blogs of some photographer friends I’ve made on the internet regularly. Matt Brandon, Gavin Gough. There are too many to mention really, I’m almost a blog junkie, when I’m home.

7. Who are the main clients for travel/cultural photographers? Are magazines still a strong part of it? How is today’s economy affecting this industry?

There are lots of clients who may not be exclusively cultural photography clients. A lot of companies need cultural/travel images. It’s hard to know who they are or it takes a lot of time to find out, that’s why I find it important to have work represented by an agency or to have a very strong internet presence where potential clients can find your work and come to you, rather than you having to chase them.

Magazines are certainly a part of the clientele, but it can be tough making a living just from magazine work, unless you regularly shoot for some big publications, which is not something that I’ve directed my energy towards.

The economy has obviously affected everything, but that’s not to say that there aren’t enough clients out there.

8. Is social media/Internet important in promoting your work? If so, how? Is it over rated? Due to this, have you been forced to change your branding or the way in which you do business?

Absolutely. I’m very much a product of the digital age. If it were not for the internet, I could never be doing what I do. The internet has just opened up so many doors and has broken down so many barriers. There are countless examples in how this has happened, for instance, with the internet, getting your stuff in front of a magazine editor is a matter of sending an email with a link to your work. I’ve had quite a few publications as a result of this. I got my contract with Getty Images the same way, whether as I hear that before people had to personally fly in for meetings with editors to show them their portfolios, which also cost them a few hundred $, now it’s all so much more affordable, so much easier.

As far as social media, it’s ridiculous how powerful it is. I don’t think it is overrated at all, if anything, a lot of people still don’t realize the potential of it. Having a blog is probably the best move that I’ve made as a photographer. I’ve established my web presence, I’ve been able to monetize by selling eBooks and licensing images and I’ve helped and connected with people along the way.

The internet and social media hasn’t changed the way I do business, it’s given me a chance to do business.

9. Tell us about the last piece of gear that you deemed important enough to buy. How about the one that’s been most important in your career?

I think I’m going to get a 70-200mm f2.8 lens and an underwater casing for my camera before my next journey, those are the things I deem important enough to buy because I’ll find great use for them in the photography that I plan to do in the near future. Most important – I guess it’s the camera body itself, I use the Canon 5D MKII and I really enjoy it.

10. What would be your advice for a photographer who is just starting out in this field? What is the biggest obstacle you see facing new photographers who want to work on this type of photography?

Most importantly – create a strong body of work; make sure you actually have something to offer. Once you do, establish an online presence. These days if your photos aren’t online – you basically don’t exist. Don’t get too carried away with all the social media stuff immediately. Just set up a solid portfolio website and a blog. Then start letting people know that you exist, get on Tweet about it, get in touch with other bloggers, cross promote etc.

There are no real obstacles for photographers these days; I really believe this. If you’ve got the talent, the skills and can think creatively from a business standpoint as well, then there’s nothing stopping you.

http://www.mitchellkphotos.com/

Twitter: @mitchellkphotos

mitchell@mitchellkphotos.com

Transcending Travel – A Guide to Captivating Travel Photography (Last published e-Book)