the six questions featuring Irene Suchocki

I am in constant awe of Irene Suchoki‘s images. The “when I’m big I want to be her” kind of admiration that encourages me to experiment, see things differently and propels me forward in my own personal journey as a photographer.

Irene has that wonderful ability that I yearn for to transcend the moments she captures, breathe life into them and create what I can only refer to as pure magic.

Irene kindly accepted to answer our Six Questions interview, and I am most happy today to share her answers with you.

1. What’s the story behind this photo?

This photograph was taken in Paris, in a little alley way in the St. Germain des Prés neighborhood. Prior to my trip, I had conceived of a series of photographs that I wanted to take that would express my love of Paris as well as convey the idea of Paris as the world’s capital of love. I mostly planned on taking photographs of relatively famous landmarks, but this little string of lights in this perfect little street ended up being my favorite in the series. It was taken with a Lensbaby using a heart-shaped aperture disc, which you drop into the lens itself. Such a fun little lens to play with.

2. What was it that lit your photography spark? Do you remember a particular camera, course, person, roll of film?

It was a particular photograph I took after I bought my first film camera. I was photographing a flower in the garden. I was really just fiddling around with the camera in order to learn what the various knobs, buttons and settings did. When I got the film back from the lab, I was overjoyed with the result. I was shooting with black and white film and the areas that had been in shade were almost completely black and the flower was lit perfectly to stand out against this simple background. That was the first time I experienced for myself the creative possibilities of photography and it gave me such a rush that I was hooked.

3. What’s your photo philosophy? Does it reflect your life philosophy? 

My favorite quotation sums up my photography and life philosophy. And it is this: “Follow your bliss. Find where it is, and don’t be afraid to follow it. If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living.” (Joseph Campbell)

4. Where do you look for inspiration?

I am inspired by nature and light. That beautiful glowy light of the golden hour can make me positively weak in the knees. I am also inspired a great deal by other art forms: film, music, literature. A lyric in a song or a line in a novel can conjure up an image in my head that I then want to recreate.  I have pages and pages filled with such ideas. If only I had enough time to follow up on all of them.

5. What aspect of your photography are you constantly working on, trying to improve?

It’s quite simply to slow down. When I get excited by what I’m shooting, I feel like a kid in a candy store and I want to gobble everything up with a million clicks of the shutter. Digital technology, alas, makes this all too easy. I struggle to remind myself to take a deep breath, slow down, and be patient. Perhaps I should get a large format view camera. LOL.

6. If you could go anywhere in the world for an epic, weeklong photo excursion all by your luxuriously unhurried self – regardless of money, time or childcare issues – where would you go and why?

For the longest time, I’ve dreamed of going to Africa. I am completely in love with the photography of Nick Brandt right now, who shoots the most incredibly beautiful images of African wildlife, and it is adding fuel to this desire of mine. I am not a wildlife photographer at all, but his photographs have such a haunting and spiritual quality about them that amplifies the emotional tug I have felt for years. Perhaps it is a very basic desire of going back to the source. There is something mythical about this place.

Thank you so much Irene!

You can see more of Irene’s amazing work on her website, blog and Flickr pool.