Photographe du mois : Thaib Chaidar |

Présentation

Thaib Chaidar nous fait l’honneur de rejoindre le Comptoir Kdigit en ce mois de juin ! Photographe indonésien, freelance et autodidacte, Thaib dispose d’une solide expérience en studio lui permettant de retranscrire avec force une palette d’émotions autour de ses thèmes de prédilection que sont l’environnement du vivant, portraits ou bien encore natures mortes.

Interview

1. To start could you tell us a few words about yourself ?

My name is Thaib Chaidar , my age is currently 35 years old and I live in South Sulawesi, which is one of the provinces in Indonesia which lies in the eastern part of the country. I am currently working as a freelancer photographer, before that, six years ago I worked in photography studios. This is where I learnt photography from a self-taught angle, thanks to my friends, being themselves photo shooters !

2. Indonesia seems to offer great opportunities for photo sessions; we felt a great atmosphere and very specific touches through your work. Would you say that Indonesia is a land of opportunity for you?

Indonesia really offers a lot of opportunities for exploration starting from landscapes, human, nature or objects. It’s all because Indonesia is one country that has many islands with various tribes and cultures.

3. Are you are a self taught photographer? If so, did you encounter specific difficulties when you started? If not, could you tell us more about your training?

I could say that photography is a new world i am living in. That world began in the beginning of 2005. It all started thanks to a friend. To be honest, since the beginning, i was not thinking that I would be dealing with it, At that time, i was offered to belong to a marketing staff. Fortunately, i could work in Marketing and at the same time learn photography. I was just curious on everything about it, and that was just the thing that pushed me to learn. My friends then suggested me to join to the most well-Known photography community in Indonesia, FN Fotografer.net. From this site, i learnt a lot about photography. By uploading a photo to FN, we receive critiques and suggestions on composition, angle, or even technical things. Some articles there can be used as our references to get to know more about photography. Another advantage by Joining FN is the possibility to meet both amateurs and professionals. FN besides, I also participate in some foreign sites like Photo.net, 1x.com and deviantART. I then became a trusted full-time photographer in a service industry.

4. You are shooting portraits and landscapes, which of those 2 giving you the most satisfaction?

At the beginning of studying photography I prefered photographing a landscape, but as time goes by I tend to prefer to shoot portraits. I felt the challenge to short portraits, giving much more opportunities than landscapes, to photograph a landscape we need to survey the location, know the good time and bad times to do so … for a portrait, all we need is to take the time to know more about the person, especially about the character and I believe the results we get will give much more benefits.

6. During a session what make a photo … the right one?

To be able to create good shots, I really think that what we need is to be patient, accurate, and to know first what we want to achieve. Which message do we want to convey, what we want our audience to understand.

7. To me, B&W is offering an easy, direct and clear access to emotions, your color shots are extremely powerful as well, could you tell us more on this duality ? What makes you decide to shoot either in B&W or in full color mode ?

I’m not too self-demanding when i am choosing between color or B&W, but the story behind the photo is what is necessary to decide from. To me, B&W photos provide dynamic shadows, highlights and color gradations which are not disrupted … maximum and arouse emotions. Cathing eye color photograph can be sometimes « boring » because color photographs provide a very comprehensive meaning, so we are not given our audience to get the opportunity to use their imagination.

8. Would you consider that Internet is now a real opportunity for you to promote your art? Are you planning to sell your photographs directly online?

I think at this time, all of digital photographers shoud take benefits from internet and of course, hoping to get the opportunity to sell online.

9. Who are your influences? Are other kind of arts (literature / cinema … ) sources of inspirations for you ?

I really like reading books or watching movies, and enjoying looking at the works of great photographers

10. Are you the only judge of your own work before release?

All of my published photos are released following my own feelings and creativity.

11. Is photography your escape from your mind…or a way to express your emotions?. Is your art feeding your mind?

Every photographer has certainly a sense of « feeling », light, atmosphere etc., which then determines the option of viewing angle, composition and camera settings, and that’s what distinguishes each photographer.

12. Do you pay much attention to post processing your images? If so, assuming you are using Photoshop what’s your benefit with it ?

I guess it all depends on the photographer, and for what purposes these photos are made.

13. Web-design now exists for 15 years, photography for centuries… From a web-designer to a photographer, I’d like to say that digital formats should be much more aesthetics and much more emotional, would you have some tips / advices to make this happen?

I think that for a web designer, it is extremly important to manage aesthetics and emotional displays to promote content and informations.