Today we’d like to introduce you to Christian Zajicek.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
As a teen, photography quickly became – and remains – my greatest passion. I’ve been shooting for something like 15 years now, ranging from weddings to horror surrealism to working for prom designers in Seventeen Magazine. Like any artist – it took me several years to realize what style of work brought me the most joy. Between 2012 and 2017, I felt myself struggling to establish my style – film had become scarce at this time, and having it developed was expensive – and explored several avenues and styles with digital work. As time passed, I felt lost, unable to grasp hold of what it was I was looking to achieve with my work. For reasons I can’t even remember now, I picked up my Nikon FE again in 2017. With just the first roll, I realized what my work had been missing all along. Film requires patience, from shooting manually on the FE to the consideration of “wasting” a shot to having to wait hours or days to see the how the photos come out. Rather than shooting away 250 images or more with several gigs of storage, I was taking my time with every frame, making every shot count. Making every shot special. I found that the key to finding your style as an artist requires letting go, which is something that is much less simple than it sounds. There’s something inherently cathartic about creating from the soul. To this day, I find it difficult to verbally describe my style of work, but I revel in the notion that after years of self-doubt, I found my way to creating with confidence. I simply love what I do, love the images I create, and am incredibly grateful to have turned this passion into a career.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
My journey with photography has certainly been a bit bumpy, as I would imagine any artist’s journey through the course of a decade would be. I found myself struggling with deciding what kind of photographer I wanted to be, whether a career with my work was feasible, whether I was good enough to even have a career doing this. One insensitive remark from an ex-boyfriend when I was 19 led to me not picking up a camera for two years…something I will never see myself experience again. Once I got back to it, I tried it all – cheery family photos and weddings, magazine work for designers, dark horror surrealism and photo manipulation, urban exploration…you name it. The key truly is to never give up on the things you love. We all make work we may not be proud of and may not even like, but each time is a learning experience and a step towards what we’re meant for.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I specialize in portraiture shot on film. My work is most well known for my use of multiple exposures, strong color palettes and emotional invocation. When someone views one of my images, my goal is for it to make them feel something – a sense of nostalgia for a moment they haven’t personally experienced. I am most proud of being self-taught, as learning the functions of a camera through trial and error on my own led me to be the artist I am today. I have experienced many, many happy accidents that led me down a new creative path at some point in time or another. I am an absolute fucking nerd (can I say fuck here? sorry,) and reading light is math to me. I love being able to read light and know what shutter speed and aperture are necessary given the film, focal length, camera, etc. It’s basically become my goal to be a walking light meter and I would say I’ve nearly mastered it.
I believe that a large part of what sets me apart from others is that I’m putting out portraits that are not shot through the male gaze. The photography industry is predominantly male-led and I find it incredibly important that the gaze of other women and queer folk like me is put out there. I say this not to invalidate male photographers or say that their work is less valid – our views are just inherently different, especially when it comes to portraits, particularly those of women.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I personally enjoy taking risks. I find that without doing so there is significantly less artistic reward. It is essential to try new things, to experiment. Without it, creation becomes mundane.
Contact Info:
- Email: vsionsofalife@gmail.com
- Website: http://christianzajicek.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/vsionsofalife
Image Credits:
Models: Rachel Castle, Katrina Motes, Raury, Catherine Green, Christian Zajicek, Heather Rowland, Olive Chauncey, Sade Ashekun, Amelia Rehg
