Beatrice Heydiri

Moi drodzy, ponieważ dostałam kilka meili od czytelników anglojęzycznych z prośbą o zamieszczenie oryginalnej wersji wywiadu, dziś z przyjemnością to robię:) I niech to będzie pretekst do pokazania kolejnej porcji zdjęć Beatrice Heydiri, nie publikowanych w magazynie nie tylko dzieciaki. Dla tych którzy jeszcze nie czytali przypominam, że cały wywiad w języku polskim dostępny jest tutaj. Zapraszam i dziękuję.

Dear readers, because I received a few mails from English-speaking people about the original version of the interview, today I am posting it with pleasure:). And let it be an excuse to show another portion of Beatrice Heydiri photos not published in the magazine “nie tylko dzieciaki”. For those who did not read it I would like to remind that the entire interview in Polish is available here. Please enjoy and thank you !

Pictures can be taken anywhere at anytime

First your works that I saw were the pictures from the summer session in shades of pure color and gray-white and color of the grain in the sun. I sat and watched and I could not tear my eyes away. Thinking, how to do pictures that are in themselves a "truth" and such emotion, such colors and such stories? So how is it done Beatrice?
All of my images come from pure emotions. It’s like dancing, all has to have a flow and everything has its right place and rhythm. If I don’t FEEL the image, I’m not taking it. The person, the location, the light, and the clothes it all has to come together in the right proportion at the right time. If one element is wrong the image won’t work or feel “right”. That is the same basic I try to use on my images. If it feels good inside, than I can take the picture.

Do you work with children from the beginning of your adventure with photography?
Photography is a journey through life. It should always reflect on where one is in his or her life. At the beginning I shot a lot of action pictures in sports, the windsurfing industry gave me a platform of showing young sportive interesting people, that was right at the time for me. Then I moved to classic portraits in the Hollywood industry, then cosmetics over to clothing and children. At all times I try to keep my style and line in it. It was just the subject matter that changed. Change is very good in photography so you don’t get bored and shoot the same thing over and over again. Especially as a young person you have to go out in the world and experience all different kind of fields that might or might not trigger interest to you.

Most of the photographs of children that I watch are very static, unnatural. Children in these photos are not just children that play some roles the adults told them. Your work is so different, so unique because most of them are in the move, they are not empty, and have something to tell. I also get an idea of your work, that these kids are set in certain situations and you later "jump" and you catch a moment I cannot imagine that these are posed pictures? How does it really look like in reality?
I try to find children with real emotions. I only set the basics like the set and the clothes, but the rest the children give to me. I never force them to do anything, I just try to be as neutral as possible and they are letting me in their world.

Can you reveal how did you achieved so amazing results with the pictures were made in the snow in a climate of folk and beautiful colors? For me it is an absolute feast for the eyes. Is it set-up, design or natural environment?
For many years I shot images on the beach in the sun. I just wanted to shoot some kind of opposite to my usual work. Winter is a magic subject so I proposed to collezioni (Italy) to shoot a Nordic winter story how I imagined it to be. The images in the snow are shot outside in a real environment. I don’t believe in putting different backgrounds in a shot afterwards. The set should be perfect to begin with, only then the children feel happy to move and play in it. In this case it was a real challenge and pleasure me to shoot “in white”.

You rarely photographed in the studio; at least I get the impression from looking on your work. Do you prefer an open space? Why? It seems to me that in the studio, children are easier to grasp, restrain energies and tame tempers?
To me images are a story, so that makes me some kind of a storyteller. Once upon a time there was…every story happens somewhere, so you have to come up with where and then why and then what happens next…. You have to invite the audience to your world. A white studio tells another story, not the ones I have in my head at the moment. I love to be outdoors and explore. Each shooting day should also be a memory for the children, so they explore and they find amazing moments. I don’t want to take away from their childhood, but add to the positive events. I don’t want to control them in 4 walls life is about letting go. So once again, I am just there to capture it.

How do you prepare yourself for such a great session with the children? Does it happen so that everything gets out of control because the kids are not easy to manage? A common opinion about photographing children is that the object is difficult, difficult but grateful.
I don’t think it is difficult at all with children. To me it comes quite easy and I profit from them. They see everything from a different angle; they don’t have the boundaries that we as adults have. Their imagination if fare bigger then ours, so I can only sit and be amused and enjoy the curiosity they come up with. I like the chaos and unpredictability of the kids. They are the most honest and straightforward creatures around. They are bouncing back fantastic ideas, which I just have to guide for them. The only truthful preparation to work with kids is to be well slept and energized for the day.

When I look at the session with soap bubbles, I have to ask about it; I feel that for all it was a great time, fun and above all great fun for kids. You give great emotions and a whole has a remarkable impression of the moment caught this one and unique. Are all the sessions are as successful as those that happened to you that despite all your effort effect were not satisfactory?
It all depends on what one is looking for in a shot. An image that might be successful to me is not automatically perfect for someone else. I like images with emotions in any directions. It needs to touch me. Then it is successful. Now if I shoot commissioned work, they might have to look that the zipper is right or the pocket is in the shot. That means one will have to compromise on the shot and not show the best picture of a set up, but the one with the right pocket in it. And yes, there are things that don’t work out, but that has to be that way. Not every shot works.

If you don’t try and you don’t fail you can’t learn from those mistakes and improve the next image.
It is all a process and one hopes to get better with the years…..The image of the bubble was shot for monsoon and they we looking for the emotions and not the buttons. That made it a perfect shot for everyone. (And the kids had loads of fun!)

Where do you find inspiration for your work? Is there anyone particular who inspires you?
The best inspiration is to look at everything in the world. Art, music, photography, clothing, the daily routine itself, really anything. I personally love children’s storybooks and films. Writers like Astrid lindgreen managed to keep that childish viewpoint for her entire life!
On the photographic side my biggest heroes are Bruce Weber and Peter Lindbergh. They are just the top of the top on images! To me there is no one coming close to them.

Among your pictures I can see there is few, which are made on the traditional film. Are you often using the traditional analog photography?
I started as a traditional photographer using analog cameras and developing my own images. It is only since the last couple of years that I can’t avoid the digital work. I resisted for a long time, but you can’t stop technology either. Now I am only shooting digital, which has advantages, but of cause is also not perfect either. Who know what we will be shooting on in the future.

Would you call yourself a specialist in the photography of children? I know it's such a label but I can tell you that in truth I have not seen a lot of your photos with adult models, but it is your child’s photography, which is magical. Straight and so strong.
Specialist is not the right word, more I focus on kid’s images or my interest at the moment is to work with kids. I agree though that my strongest work is with children.

With regret I must say that in Poland it is not usual to see such sessions, sessions which stop everyone, regardless of whether have children or not, whether knows photography or it is simply sensitive person, which is not neutral. I get the impression that the media power of such images is underestimated and yet it is a huge media. I wonder if this is just a matter of the market, whether this is a matter of aesthetics and way of seeing. Exactly Beatrice, can such photos be made only commercially? Do they have a chance to happen on themselves not only with the products to which they are assigned?
This has nothing to do with a market. The images are a refection on ones journey in life. The clients are a platform to express it. Sure with more paid projects you can shoot more images, but that does not mean at all that with no clients you can’t shoot these images.
The greatest artist were poor and only much much later people understood and appreciated their work. Your imagination doesn’t need a commercial base. It is the other way around. The commercial world is always looking for people with great visions and then come the projects. Pictures can be taken anywhere at anytime. Each culture has different approaches to their printed media. Maybe Poland has a lot of photographic talent but they are not shooting what you like personally. That is all a matter of perspective. The images I shoot are very specific and there are also just specific people who like to see them

I was intrigued much by the session of children with the cigarettes. Courageous and very controversial, where this idea came from?At first I thought that this social campaign.
These images where shot for a chocolate company. The idea came from the advertising agency scholz & friends in Berlin. The client makes chocolate cigarettes and they wanted striking images. The only parameters were to shoot the kids with the product in black and white. Once again it was the cast, the children who gave me those images. As a photographer you just have to be in the right place at the right time. The images have won many awards for the photographic approach, but caused a lot of discussions as well. (As meant to be)

I suppose that somewhere in your head you carry such ideas, which have never been completed. Is there anything particular which you put a great feeling, and repeating that one day it has to be done? Oh I do not know whether I should ask?
Ideas come with life and the people that are around you. One will never be finished with having ideas to shoot something, it is always just a matter of finding the right time and place to do so.

Beatrice, I would like to thank you very much for this interview, but above all for how you show the kids, their faces, eyes, emotions, that you creates images that are very much in mind and do not leave indifferent.

Agnieszka K.

Wszystkie zdjęcie pochodzą ze strony Beatrice Heydiri,
jeżeli masz ochotę na więcej zapraszam tutaj.
All Picture are from the website of Beatrice Heydiri,
for more click here, please:)