Die Ghul Show with PYROS!

Jul 11, 201417 min read

Deviation Actions

GawrilaGhul

Published: Jul 11, 2014

1.9K Views

: Welcome to my humble show,

!
Do you enjoy being here?

: I'm not sure yet – ask me again at the end. :E

: I will! So… You're like, a kinda REFLECTIVE guy, aren't you?

: Who told you?!? I bet it was my mirror image... I hate that guy.

: Understandable… For what exactly do you hate him MOST?

: I think he's doing weird stuff, when I'm not looking.

: What kind of guy do you think HE actually is?

: If he's like me, he'd be calm, private and introverted. He'd be open, creative and perceptive. He'd question, what other people call "normal" and spend quite some time playing video games.

: But… what if he is NOT like you?

: Then he has no business staring at me all the time. Next time I see him I'd let him know – one way or another.

: So which one of the two would you describe as being more responsible for your artworks, and as what would you actually describe those?

: I honestly don't have any idea. I can't reply to questions like "What kind of photography are you doing?" or "Why are you taking photos?", because I don't really understand it myself and it's really bothering me lately. I take a photo, when I feel the "urge" to take a photo. That's about it. And it's not enough. Not anymore.
My goal for 2014 is to figure it out. Why I do things. What things I do. How I do them.

: How are you are going to do THAT?

: Shooting more. Learning more. Looking more at the old masters. Meeting more with other photographers. Try to talk more about content/process/thoughts and less about tech/hardware.

: Who exactly do you mean when mentioning the OLD MASTERS?

: In the first place all the well known painters. Here are randomly some of them: Rembrandt, Rubens, Repin, Mucha, van Gogh, Hopper, but there are hundreds and thousands more. Everything you need is there. Lighting, composition, color balance, contrast, subject matter, etc. – and for each area of photography (portrait, architecture, landscape, ...) there have been painters doing that for decades or even centuries. But you don't have to stop there. Photography itself has its old masters. You can even look at the work of graphic designers to help improve your photography. Once you start, there's no end.

: So which of them would you name to be YOUR greatest inspirations so far?

: It's really hard for me to be inspired by someone or something. But that's a boring response. So if I had to list the person, I spent the most time profoundly thinking about, I'd say James Nachtwey. The documentary "War Photographer" was quite essential for my development as a photographer and as a (semi-)adult human being.

: So, what exactly did it do with you?
Also, if you say it's hard to really inspire you, can this be understood as a quality seal for the ones who manage to do so, or is this rather because you got really special interests?

: It led me to start asking questions. What am I doing with my time? Why do I take photos? What am I taking photos of? It led me to being thankful for what I have, instead of craving what I don't. It showed me, that photography can be so much more, than just "taking pictures". I don't have all the answers yet, but I'm on my way – or at least I hope so.
I think it's a combination of reasons:
1.) Really good work is usually no mystery to me. I tried a lot of different things – graphic design, web design, typography, photography, drawing, calligraphy, writing. I'm varyingly good in these fields myself, but I've seen top work of others in all of them. I've spent the last 17 years looking at art related work on the internet. That's one of the disadvantages of the internet as well. You've almost always seen something better before.
2.) I'm very analytical. If I see exceptional work I start to analyze it, instead of engaging emotionally. Why does it work? How does it work? But to be inspired you need to connect emotionally. For me, in order to be inspired by something, it has to be so well crafted, or has to have such strong content, that it punches right through my analytical wall at hit me right in the gut.

: Now I'm glad you mentioned it right there… You spend "the last 17 years" on that.
Because actually, during the last THIRTEEN years, you have also been a DEVIANT...
So, how important would you call these 13 years to be at all, compared to your overall 17 years?
Also, just WHAT did you look at, when you looked at "art related work on the internet?"
Also, how does it actually feel being such a VETERAN?

: 1.) Deviantart was an important starting point. It was a place to upload images to, when image hosters weren't really around. It was a way to give and receive feedback/critique – something that has almost vanished I feel. It was a community. I've met a lot of great people because of Deviantart, some of them are now friends, I could not live without. On the other hand I've been absent from Deviantart two times, each time for a significant amount of time. Sometimes life keeps you too busy/distracted.
2.) I looked at digital Fantasy/Scifi-Paintings and traditional pencil work. I looked at well put together info graphics and typefaces. I looked at hand lettering jobs. I looked at book covers, album covers, event posters, business cards. I looked at book binding and printing. I looked at concept art for movies. I looked at website layouts, magazine layouts, color palettes and pixel patterns. I looked at war photography, architecture, portraits and product photography. I looked at a lot of stuff.
3.) It feels like nothing special.

: Well, I guess that goes WAY beyond photography!
Yet still, you yourself always stuck to that one, as far as I can see…
What about that?

: Photography was always a hobby of mine. I started as a teenager during holidays with film and kept shooting film until a year ago. Sometimes it took months to fill a roll. Sometimes it took years to put another roll into my camera. Sometimes I shot several rolls a day. There is something magical about photography, that is inescapable. At least for me.

: Elaborate on that, please! Let's say, while taking THESE as examples!

: »Grey in Grey«
The first image is film. I was drawn to it, because both objects, while being completely different (organic tree and inorganic concrete wall) looked the same. They had the same grayish color and had both similar straight lines. I'm still not sure whether I like the green tint, or not. But that's what the film turned out like, so I guess I'm keeping it.
»Everything in its right place«
I took the second image (digital) as an exercise, while participating in Zack Arias's Dedpxl-Project of the month – "repeating shape & form / patterns". The concrete repeats itself in wall and roof. Plants repeat itself in ivy and the tree. The fence is a repeating pattern itself. I don't know if it's because I am German, but I found the orderly arrangement strangely attractive. »Passage«
The 3rd image is digital. I had personal decisions on my mind, while doing my then-daily photo walk. I took this shot, because it fit my mood, plus the symbolism of the door/window worked for me quite well at that moment. Taken during the last minutes of the Blue Hour between day and night. Colors between warm and cold. Decisions, decisions...
»Shrinking Universe«
The last image is film again and features photos from 2 different places. The two at the outside are from a nursing home, the one in the middle is of a random window. I shot the nursing home ones first and remembered them, when I found the window in the middle. Thinking it suited the mini series I took a shot of it as well. I have a strange feeling whenever I walk past that building with its caged residents and tried to capture that.
To sum it up, one could say I'm drawn to contradictions.

: How close is your relationship with the CAMERA, and what are the main creative differences between digital and film?

: On the one hand it's just a tool, on the other it's a door to another world and sort of a window into mine. I try to have some form of camera (DSLR, point'n'shoot, tablet) with me at all times.
Creativly? None. At least at the moment. But I'm still learning. For example I didn't try stitching, or combining multiple exposures, or video. Yet.

: You're also the founder of daiq.uponseven.com DAIQ MAGAZINE…
Tell us a bit more about THAT, please!

: DAIQ is short for "Dreißigarmige Inspirationsqualle", which roughly translates to "Thirty-Legged Jellyfish Inspiration". It is a free PDF-magazine about illustration, photography and literature. Each issue has a new topic, a new layout and new contributions. I created it to motivate/inspire my friends (and whoever else wants to participate – including myself) to create new work. The second last issue "Music" was published ~5 years ago.
At the moment I'm trying to finish the last issue "Control" (submissions still open) and then I'll probably put the whole project to rest. Submission had been constantly declining and I additionally had less and less time to promote it. "Things" took over my life, DAIQ was put on ice, now it's back for one last round.

: How's it going so far…?

: I'm rediscovering why I stopped 5 years ago. Getting submissions is a constant hustle. Quite frankly, I don't have the energy for it anymore. Also the time for projects like that seems to have passed. Now there are forums and websites like Tumblr, that do what the magazine did on a much bigger scale. I'll probably use the subject to take a lot more control (hoho) over the submissions myself and search out artwork to include instead of waiting for it.

: So, how many submissions did you get yet?
Also, what is your opinion on THE PEOPLE?

: I still have the five submission from before the break, got three new ones during the last couple of months and "collected" one myself, that would suit the topic.
THE PEOPLE? The people of what? I'm confused.

: Just THE PEOPLE.

: People are strange.

: In what ways?

: In their thoughts, actions, habits, presumptions, rituals, superstitions. In all their ways, really.

: Can you give some examples?
Like, what about the PEOPLE who dropped your magazine, for the illusion of having "something similar on a larger scale" nowadays?

: Well Tumblr it's not really an illusion and even I dropped the magazine myself. Life is changing, so are its demands, especially of time. Most of the contributors were students / freelance starters, now they have to work. Or they don't need/want the external input / inspiration / kick in the butt anymore. I don't know.

: I gotta say, these are quite resignative words.

But right…
So apart from those, do you have any OTHER last words left, for our humble audience?

: Haha, don't feel bad. For every door that closes, another one opens. And closed doors can be reopened. Nobody knows what the future holds, so try not to worry too much. *throws around proverbs*
Thanks to DasGhul for the interview and thanks to you for reading it!
Final words: Never stop being curious, never stop creating. Oh, and if you (yes you!) were waiting for a sign from the universe – this is it, do what you've been waiting for!

: Ladies and gentlemen,