It is our human nature to search for deeper connections in life. For documentarian and photojournalist Anastasia Rudenko, photography became that means.
Some places are not as visually represented as others. This is why local contributors are so important—their videos and photographs serve as our window to other countries, their communities, and their way of life.
Local photographers also play a vital role for global businesses as they become the perfect source of relevant and authentic images, curated, of course, by stock photography websites.
On the other hand, photography is the perfect means for Russian photographer Anastasia Rudenko to connect with her local community. Here’s more of our conversation.
Anastasia Rudenko: My nationality is not “popular” at the moment. I am Russian, born in Kazakhstan, and my surname is Ukrainian.
This is a complex history of people and their descendants born in the USSR. I live between Kazakhstan and Turkey, and am currently in the process of moving again.
Rudenko: I am a programmer by training. At some point, after so much time sitting in front of a computer, I wanted to communicate more with people. That’s why I started taking photographs.
I have done various types of photography, from self-portraits or creative photo sessions to weddings. Ultimately, I came to documentary photography because I like how it allows me to capture people’s real lives.
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SSTK: Do you do this full-time? What does your work setup as a photographer look like?
Rudenko: I am a freelance photographer, documentarian, and photojournalist. I have worked with various publications and organizations but have never been on staff. Most of the time, I work on my own documentary projects.
What it looks like is you come up with a topic that interests you and work on it, looking for what you will shoot and where you agree on filming. Upon completion, these projects lead to publications or exhibitions.
SSTK: Sounds like an interesting approach! Can you talk about the style of photography that you do? You mentioned documentary photography, right? Why that?
Rudenko: My style is documentary photography. Mostly unstaged photography, which allows you to see real people who do real things. I like the opportunity to meet new, interesting people who I would not meet living an ordinary life. Of course, this means an opportunity to document and photograph them too!
Just today, I went to photograph a concert, and adult women—one of them my friend—were practicing in a dance studio . . . for the sake of their pleasure, for the sake of their health, and the opportunity to feel like a beautiful star.
I like the energy that reigns during such moments when this is all happening. And if you merge with this moment and catch inspiration, then you can take a lot of good photographs.
You don’t have to force something out of yourself or invent something. I just wanted to try to take beautiful photographs of these women at the moment of dancing, and I think I succeeded.
I love wedding photography too, but it’s a big responsibility.
SSTK: This is subjective, but I love this question: What would you say makes a compelling image?
Rudenko: Well, this depends on what kind of attractiveness we are talking about—attractiveness from the viewer or from the buyer. Because a photograph can be liked by many viewers but not be commercially in demand. I have such works.
But, in general, any photograph should evoke some feelings and emotions.
Rudenko: I came to stock photography not so long ago. Because of the advent of stock photography and my interest in real people and more natural photographs, I decided to try my hand at it.
With Shutterstock, it’s been just a year. And I have to say, the (Create Fund) grant gave me freedom, which is so important for any artist.
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SSTK: Was there something you did early in your career that you wish you didn’t do? Or maybe you wish you took a different route? A different approach?
Rudenko: If we talk about starting a career, honestly, I shouldn’t have started it (photography) because programming is a much more profitable job from a financial point of view.
But, at the same time, photography brought me a lot of friends. My communication skills have changed a lot, and now I’m surrounded by people who have common views with me.
SSTK: Does that mean you regret pursuing photography?
Rudenko: You can say that I regret that I left programming, but I don’t regret that I became a photographer.
Photography opened up new opportunities for me. I was able to travel a lot, meet interesting people, meet Barack Obama’s plane and see German politician and chemist Angela Merkel at arm’s length.
Having children, though, made it problematic to continue this lifestyle and settle at home. Perhaps this is another reason that led me to stock photography.
SSTK: Yeah, life takes weird turns like that sometimes. To close, what’s the biggest lesson photography has taught you?
Rudenko: That every person is beautiful in their own way.
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