Uwa Scholz - I Prefer to Take Photos of the Back of the People, Preferably as a Mere Silhouette (Photographer)

 

Keep your lens clean, your batteries charged, your eyes and your heart open and bring along enough patience.

1. Tell us something about your background and journey.

My name is Uwa - or @uwa2000 on instagram. I grew up in Berlin, that is in Berlin West until the wall came down. After finishing school I left Berlin to see the world and spent a couple of years in Athens, London and Vienna. Having "seen the world" I returned to Berlin. Since the day I could read I had a passion: Traveling. 

And then my uncle came to visit, bringing along a camera, thus adding my second passion: Taking Photos. I started taking photos rather early in life and in High School I enrolled in some photography classes, learning it from scratch. Yet I consider myself being a self taught photographer. 

In July 2011 I joined Instagram and was rather "successful", having my photos on the pop page and finally being added to Instagram's list of suggested users from 2012 until 2014. This time period marked the beginning of finally combining my two passions on a professional basis when destinations invited me on trips to promote their region or city.

2. How would you define Street Photography?

Well, Street Photography covers a large variety of definitions. Some say that "It just needs a Street" while others state that "You have to have two persons in interaction". I'd say that you definitely need people in your shots but that those people are rather the icing than the cake. All definitions have one thing in common that photos may never be staged.

3. How did your photography style evolve and which subject or frame attracts you the most?

My photography style changed a lot over the years from simple observations of my surroundings to taking photos of the elderly, being all gracious and now to sometimes less personal capture and more focus on the emotional status of a place. 

Those days, following the rules of the DPR people have become more random like mere passengers in a silent alley, people walking their dog, running errands or going to church. I prefer to take photos of the back of the people, preferably as a mere silhouette.

4. What is the most difficult part of working as a Photographer?

My goal (and my burden) is to take the shot that tells a story, a struggle I do not always win.

5. Who is your favourite photographer and why?

I always loved the photos of Henri Cartier-Bresson, they are the on point documentation of street life, attitude and fashion of the times they were taken in. As a contemporary photographer I estimate Phoebe Schoof (aka @palomaparrot) from Dortmund, Germany since her minimalistic eye for poetic photography is unique.

6. What advice would you give to aspiring Photographers?

Keep your lens clean, your batteries charged, your eyes and your heart open and bring along enough patience. Get inspired by others but develop your own style. From time to time you may as well leave your comfort zone, as you might find some new and exciting opportunities.

7. Which is your favourite book and why?

My favourite books are "The God of small Things" by Arundhati Roy and "The Invisible Bridge" by Julie Orringer. Both books are extremely intense and well written, taking you on a journey to different times and continents.

- Uwa Scholz

Interviewed By - Serene Ingle