ARTISTIC VIGILANTE – What is your full name and how long have you been shooting for?
FELIX- Felix Abrudan or if you prefer my artistic persona ImagoGestalter. I have been working professionally for almost 5 years. I have been actively photographing various subjects for 10 odd years.
ARTISTIC VIGILANTE -What country are you in and what are the challenges you face shooting there?
FELIX- I am living in Vienna, Austria but my roots are in the fascinating lands of Transylvania, where I was born and grew up.
ARTISTIC VIGILANTE –You seem to have a very distinct style in boudoir and nude art photography can you talk a bit more on this?
FELIX – Yes, my style is more theatrical because when shooting glamour. with nudes my objective is to present the woman as a seductive power in control of the situation. So my incentive is always to create a relational situation and have the model impose her feminine presence onto a setting. be it a room, a situation or the viewer. So actually, storytelling is the key to deciphering my work. I always aim to create imagery that invokes a particular feeling and mood through the careful combination of my visual language. This is why I very rarely choose to photograph a model against a blank monochrome background. i put models into a simulated real life experience.
The reason why I prefer this heavily “scripted” or “constructed” approach to my imagery is related to my belief that objectivity in photography is essentially misleading. There is only subjectivity, we create fantasies, so in order to keep our audience engaged with our imagery, the closer we get to replicate authentic potentialities.The deeper the connection to our viewership. In short, my erotic images should communicate the idea that they are snippets from the daily lives of fabulously extravagant people in a believable way. People should feel like, yes, this could very well be the Sunday afternoon of some diva in her mansion tucked away in a little paradise on earth.
ARTISTIC VIGILANTE – How do you get your models to be comfortable with you while posing nude?
FELIX- I think it ties in with my stylistic approach. I always have a story I want to tell in mind something that I communicate to my models long before we meet on set.
they have time to get a good grasp of the general mood of the images I want to create and can tune themselves emotionally to it beforehand. I believe every woman has a desire to explore her sensuality in some way or another. I offer a safe and exciting environment to do so. I never say no to any suggestions while on set! I think, especially when photographing nudes, listening to your model’s signals, letting them take control of the situation once unrobed is vital. Not only a good collaboration but the eventual quality of the images, which in my work, primarily document powerful feminine emotions and not merely an anatomical body.
ARTISTIC VIGILANTE –Tell us a bit about how you started out in photography
FELIX- My journey started in a serendipitous way. I was looking to supplement my high school education with some practical artistic skills that would enhance my creativity. I went to the local arts and crafts vocational school with my mom and we were unsure what classes I should take. I was talented at drawing so the drawing class was pre-selected, but there was an offer for an additional class, I gravitated more towards taking acting lessons, i was obsessing over movies. My mom, decide that something more “down to earth” was a better option so we chose the photography class.I wasn’t at all thrilled about the decision. In the mind of a 15 year old I couldn’t anticipate just how much I would fall in love with this craft. I discovered photography, and the more I began delving deeper into its mysteries the more I became fascinated by it, to the point where today 15 years later, it’s the vocation of my life.
ARTISTIC VIGILANTE –Can you give us a bit more information about your editing process? Use the vika wearing mithril photo to explain a bit?
FELIX – My editing style is fairly simple. My pictures are defined by their intensity, either of color or contrast, preferably a combination of all three. I always chose to enhance said intensity in the areas of an image. When photographing glamour images, I work with deep hard shadows contrasted by areas of intense, saturated color. I think the harsh transitions between mysterious darks and rich color gives images a sense of dynamism and vitality. And if my images end up having noise, so what? I enjoy noise, it’s only intensifying this, rough very intense mood.
ARTISTIC VIGILANTE -How much does a felix photoshoot cost?
FELIX – Depends on the scope of the project really. There are just too many factors involved in setting up a great glamour shoot to give you a straight forward off the bat price. Who does all the planning? Do I take care of the location and talent scouting (and I prefer to do it myself to be honest)? Or are the logistics already taken care of and all I have to do is walk in on the set and take control of the photographic process?
ARTISTIC VIGILANTE -You don’t seem to do a lot of out doors can you tell us why that is?
FELIX– I actually try to shoot as often as possible outdoor. I step away from the studio setting, because being out there on location just gives you such an incremental increase in creative possibilities and storytelling options. The problem I face here in Austria is that in order to shoot outdoors, especially, glamour or nude/semi-nude editorials you are required to obtain a truckload of permits, the bureaucracy for a one man enterprise can become overbearing.
ARTISTIC VIGILANTE -Where do you get inspiration from and who are a few of your favourite photographers and why?
FELIX -Most of the time my inspiration is intrinsic. I just get these random ideas in my head from daily observations I make. I always write down,in a diary with me where I write down any impression or emotional reaction I get from something. Sometimes, it’s daily scenes I observe on the street, or certain people I notice while scrolling through social media that inspire me, or it’s a passage from a book, or a magazine, or just the way the light falls in a certain place that inspires me to create a narrative scene around it. My photography is mostly about conveying certain moods, it’s emotional storytelling. The source of the mood is very important because I always incorporate it in a leading position within my images.
As to my favourite photographers? hmm I’m not so sure there are too many, I am mostly inspired by painters, so I suggest I just give you a list of visual artists that have considerable influence on my creativity:
Lindsay Adler, Lawrence Alma Tadema, Hieronymus Bosch, Guy Bourdain, Brassai, Caravaggio, Gustave Courbet, Albrecht Durer, Jake Hicks, Horst P. Horst, Eiko Hosoe, Irina Ionesco, Helmut Newton, Erwin Olaf, Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Felicien Rops, Peter Paul Rubens, Jan Saudek, Franz Xaver Setzer, Franz von Stuck, Titian
ARTISTIC VIGILANTE -Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
FELIX– I see myself in charge of the photographic creative direction of my favourite haute-couture legend, maison Dior, but I’ll be glad to work for the competition as well. Wink!
ARTISTIC VIGILANTE -Any words for photographers that want to be just like you?
FELIX– Don’t be just like me, I think there’s just enough room on this planet for one Felix Abrudan. If you love my work, try to write down the visual or technical characteristics of my images that make you drawn to them and work towards incorporating that stylistic element into your own vision. Trying hard to emulate me, or any other creative whose work you enjoy, will lead to disappointment, your images need to tell your story and that only you can direct.
Thank you for taking time out with artistic vigilante.