Interview with Fine Art Landscape photographer Frang Dushaj

Frang Dushaj was born in 1975, Shkoder, Albania. Based now in Sweden, inspired primarily by the beauty of nature and specializing in black and white photography. He looks for a special mood and atmosphere which gives the landscape an aesthetic appeal and conveys an elegant and sometimes delicate presence of the details in an image.

Frangs photographs have been published in magazines, books and websites and they have been on display in various group and solo exhibitions in Sweden and internationally. He has also been the recipient of awards in competitions such as IPA, Black & White Spider Awards, Moscow Int’l Foto Awards, One Eyeland and others. He was chosen among Top 20 photographers at the Photo LA Emerging Focus participating at the 24th Photo LA. A selection of his Waterscapes was also on display at the 3rd Biennial of Fine Art and Documentary Photography in Malaga, Spain last year.

1. How and when did you become interested in photography?

I was first captivated by photography when I was very young. This was due to the fact that I was exposed to visual arts in general by my fathers artistic work. Brushes and pencils were always close at hand and it ultimately prompted my creative desire, but we didn’t have a camera at home so my appreciation for photography was merely as a viewer.

I first held a camera in my hands in my early teens and used it during my free time when I was still a student at school, having nature as provider of subject matter and an amateur spirit always with me. Years later I started to read more about photography and came across the works of the great photographers of late 19th and early 20th century. It was like a revelation, I found among those masters the pictorial element that I grew up loving. I read about photography and studied on my own but most importantly I practiced all the time trying to find an inner voice.

2. Is there any artist/photographer who inspired your art?

I am first of all grateful to my parents education and help in cultivating a love and appreciation for beauty and art. I also would say that a great deal of inspiration comes from other sources like music, film, literature or life it self for that matter and the beauty that surrounds us. There are many great photographers and artists, old and contemporary and it’s not easy to chose. If you have a creative urge I guess you accumulate inspiration everywhere and often that gets registered in your subconscious. Of corse with time you develop a selective process because what you mostly respond to eventually gets clearer.

3. Why do you work in black and white rather than colour?

Natures palette of colours is absolutely magnificent. I may have a pre-visualisation of how I want an image to look like but I can not actually see it, so color for me is important. It is fascinating how we react to different colours, the moods and feelings they evoke in us and I don’t think anyone can or would like to live in a world without colours. Although it gives such great beauty to this world it contains an overwhelming information so I feel more drawn to give an interpretation which is easier to take in. Preferably all that information is gathered, processed and presented by using the interplay between two opposites, one that reflects light and the other that absorbs it. Most importantly I feel that black and white is less distractive and it helps emphasize emotion.

4. How much preparation do you put into taking a photograph/series of photographs?

If I plan to travel far from home than preparation is inevitable. Time is somehow limited and to get the best of it I have to be in control of the logistic details. I also do some research of the place by reading and looking at what and how it has been used artistically. But once I get to the place, especially if it’s for the first time, it is always different from what I imagined, so I let my intuition guide me. It is of corse wonderful to visit great places around the world but I never feel I have to travel far to find beauty.

5. Where is your photography going? What projects would you like to accomplish?

I have ongoing projects that I work with all the time and new ones that are being shaped right now. Contact with galleries and exhibitions are also part of the work. I have also been working more on analog film these last couple of years. It’s all a long journey and I am trying to enjoy it as much as I can.

Website: www.frangdushaj.net