Aleksey Lapkovsky.
I was born in Daugavpils, Latvia.
In regards to cameras I'm using anything with lens on it...
Canon both film and digital, Vista 5x4, Hasselblad 503, Mamiya RZ 67, Lubitel, Zenith, Hasselblad H2D and so on. For commercial project I'm hiring equipment.
- Film: also both Kodak and Fuji, Ilford, Polaroids, digital.
- Music: all sorts, Radiohead, Lamb, Tom Waits, Aphex Twin, Bjork to name a few...
- Movies: the same. Any sort.
Aleksey Lapkovsky online:
Why Polaroids?
Aleksey Lapkovsky
In regards to photography I will say that I still don't have any background as I only started off in this vast and wonderful field in 2002, and it was the first time ever that I took my first "snap" as it were. I finished a short two-month course at Moscow School of Photography later that same year and since then worked as a freelance assistant in London and Moscow.
Seeing as a photographer, I recently realised that I felt to be ready for taking on more serious work as a commercial and art photographer, and do also believe that 2006 should bring us a lot of new experience. Regarding influences, I'd say that I do not have in mind any particular photographer as far as idol is concerned, but I do like a lot of work by Gibson, Bresson, Sciana, Mokhorev.
Perhaps, it's just not always possible to find any one photographer who would stay with you as a reference and inspiration throughout your live. Thus I'm trying to find single images and sometimes series and books in order to keep them in my head as something magical and meaningful regardless of who the author is.
Project 55
For this project I'm using 5"x4" Polapan 55PN and large format camera. I'm not a big fan of technical attributes as far as photography is concerned, but this particular film is overwhelming by all means. It has a positive and a negative in one and it's easy to process. The size of the negative is huge, the contrast could not be any better for me and, last but not least, there is no grain at all. In addition to all this, the kind of borders, which are so amazing plus characteristically patterned, could only be found in Polaroid materials.
I'm using Polaroid because it has great quality, it is next to instant, it is easy to use and, above all else, it brings a real feeling of old-school photography in it.