ARTISTIC VIGILANTE – What is your full name and how long have you been shooting for?
OZAN – My name is Ozan Dengiz and I have been shooting professionally since 2013.
ARTISTIC VIGILANTE – It’s very rare to see a photograph of a man in your portfolio, what draws you to shooting mostly women?
OZAN – There are two reasons for that. First, I find women braver and more self-conscious. They spend more time on themselves and mostly they know what will look good on them. Second reason is that finding a male model was a challenge especially when the theme is not about how handsome they are. Men are not as comfortable as women when it comes to being in front of a camera.
ARTISTIC VIGILANTE – A lot of your works seem to be one light setups, can you talk more about your lighting and how you use it to create moods for your photography?
OZAN – Short answer is that I like it that way. I like it when the scene has a theme or an emotion. And it’s better to lack too many colours to make sure it feels like a certain mood. I use one or two colours mostly and I usually want them to be strong lights to have good shading on the model. It gives me more control on the scene and how intense it will look. This results in less realistic but more impressive photos.
ARTISTIC VIGILANTE – Nude art is a very beautiful form of photography, but requires a lot of process, can you explain your process to us?
OZAN – Well, the first step is to find the model, which requires some network. The financial parts are different each time. After that, I usually look for a studio since I don’t own one. If we will do the shooting in nature, then I only need to find a good spot. Nude photography does not require much costumes or makeup but when I have a theme in mind it may take a while to set up the stage. So, the day before the photoshoot is the shopping day. The most important thing on the shooting day is the comfort of the model. Studio should be more than warm, so the model will not be cold. And then the details, for example we need to agree before the photoshoot that how much dirt or paint is acceptable on the model. However, I never work on every detail beforehand. Even though I usually have some ideas on what I want to do, in most cases we improvise with the model during the shooting process. Too much preparation is redundant.
ARTISTIC VIGILANTE – What are your limitations shooting in Europe?
OZAN – Most obvious one is money, Europe is expensive. But there are not many social problems. When it comes to art, I find Europeans more accepting than rest of the world. Other than that, fame always open more doors, so I need to be known at least in the countries I work in. And if a model or a photographer is flying for a photoshoot from outside the country, sometimes visa problems may occur even though they are rare.
ARTISTIC VIGILANTE – Europe has a lot of interesting outdoor scenery, but you seem to mostly shoot indoors, can you talk more about this?
OZAN – Yes, I prefer to shoot in studios. That is because I like to be in control, especially when it comes to the lights. Studio is a risk-free space. I can control the temperature, I can experiment on the scenery, I can choose light colours or how strong they will be and there are no curious visitors. Outdoors always have risks, and sometimes you need to get permits. Especially if you want to shoot among beautiful buildings or during festivals, which attracts many tourists, it is not easy to handle the photoshoot. However, I have plans on some outdoor shootings, especially in nature when I find the right model and place.
ARTISTIC VIGILANTE – How much does it cost to book a photo session with you?
OZAN – Not much. I have another profession, I am an engineer, so photography is simply a paying hobby for me. The total cost will surely depend on the expenses for the photoshoot like the costumes, studio, make-up, crew, plane tickets and so on. But in most cases, these are already accepted by all parts when they contact you. I would not ask for an hourly payment but for a daily one to not rush during the photoshoot. And I would give a different number for everyone since not many people is financially stable. It can vary between 100-500 Euros after the expenses. However, if it is a commercial photoshoot, I can ask for more.
ARTISTIC VIGILANTE – What are you doing to make sure your photography constantly evolves?
OZAN – I try to accept the offers as much as I can. I believe every photoshoot I made is better than the previous one. Sometimes I decline people and in most cases I regret it. So, I try to work on my photography by doing lots of photoshoots. Also paying close attention to fellow photographers’ work never hurts. I know more than a couple cases that a photographer’s idea inspired another for even a better photoshoot in the future.
ARTISTIC VIGILANTE – If models want to work with you or clients want to reach you, how do they go about it?
OZAN –I am pretty easy to reach. Since my phone number changes every time I change a country, I would not suggest calling. But they can contact me from my new Instagram account or simply send a mail to one of my many addresses like ozandengiz@hotmail.com for a more detailed conversation.
ARTISTIC VIGILANTE – What should we expect from you in the future?
OZAN – Good question, I wish I knew the answer. I want to have some darker fantasy themed photoshoots and some in nature, but these are not completed ideas. In the meantime, I will try to work with some local models to expand my gallery
Thank you so much for sharing with us! we look forward to seeing more from you.