Fashion Portraits with Dominik Kazancev and the LomoGraflok 4×5 Instant Back

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Sometimes you stumble across a new photographer whose work manages to captivate and inspire you immediately. This is what happened when we discovered the work of UK-based Dominik Kazancev. His portraits capture everything from fun and colorful to minimal and contrasting. He is a natural at composition and lighting and, at just 22, has already created a body of work most photographers would be envious of.

Dominik talked to us about using the LomoGraflok 4×5 Instant Back in his studio, and gave us some tips and tricks on getting the best results from this instant back for large format cameras.

Photos by Dominik Kazancev

Hi Dominik, please tell us a bit about yourself.

I am a 22-year-old photographer from Kent who photographs a lot of fashion and portrait work. I got into photography roughly seven years ago when I decided to go study photography at college in Canterbury. Ever since then photography has been part of my everyday life. You could say even a routine making sure I always have my camera with me.

Originally I was born in Slovakia so yes that does make me Slovakian but I have grown up my whole life in the United Kingdom so a lot of my inspiration comes from my British surroundings, things I have seen growing up being from a different country. Even though I'm currently working on a project about my home town in Slovakia.

Photos by Dominik Kazancev

How did you get into shooting with film?

I got into shooting film very early on in my photography career as my grandfather was a amateur photographer who photographed his life and mine growing up as well as mine.
My older sister is also a photographer who shot a lot of film at the time when I first experimented so she showed me the ropes at the start, like how to load 35 mm film and take it out. But once I was at college that's where I really got hooked.

I was very lucky we had a large black-and-white darkroom. Our department had a few 35 mm cameras but they also had something which really changed my style of photography and that was the Mamiya RB67. This is a 6x7 film camera which produces big negatives and I pretty much always borrowed it from the department to shoot on. That's where I also mainly found my interest in portrait and fashion photography, as well as doing a lot of black-and-white darkroom printing. Once again I was really lucky to have an amazing mentor and tutor named Lalo Borja who taught me everything I know when it comes to shooting and printing black-and-white film.

Moving on after finishing college I was very much into shooting a lot of medium format but being always curious when it comes to photography I wanted to try to go further and explore using a bigger format. That being 4x5 large format photography, mainly for my portrait work, but I also try to photograph fashion and landscape work. This is another reason why film is so important to a photography journey because we are able to explore so many different systems from 35 mm to 8x10 and more. And we can get different results.

Photos by Dominik Kazancev

What attracted you to the LomoGraflok?

The day I bought my 4x5 Large format camera was also the day I heard about the LomoGraflok back. My friend and fellow photographer called Albert told me about Lomography releasing a back which is compatible with these cameras. He said at the time he did not have his one yet as he was still waiting for the release but after a couple of weeks I went to go visit him again and there he had it. He showed me the really sleek and easy to use design.

He took a portrait of me and printed it. We waited a couple of minutes and there it was. I really was in love. My girlfriend Samantha is also a photographer who uses a lot of Polaroids in her work. I knew this would be a great way to join the instant party and also get to use my new camera in more versatile ways. Albert mentioned to me though that they were on back-order and I would have to wait a while to buy it.

I did a little looking around online and managed to find someone selling theirs. They had pre-ordered when it was announced but by the time it arrived they had already sold their 4x5 system, so I did not hesitate and bought it. Lastly I always really loved seeing people using their peel apart film with their film cameras but I just could not justify spending £100+ on FPC100 film so this was the next best thing. Since then I really love using it and people really are fascinated when they see it for the first time being used. I mean come on, who doesn't love using large format lenses and instax film to get super sharp images on the instant?

Photos by Dominik Kazancev

How do you find shooing this in a studio setting?

I find using the LomoGraflok actually fairly straightforward in the studio. Once you figure out your rhythm of using it with a large format camera then you are pretty much set. I just watched Albert a few times when he used his for the first time and then it's always the same. If I use strobes in a studio setting then I just make sure to light meter everything and set everything accordingly such as remembering Instax Wide film is rated at ISO 800. This setup can really bring some amazing results. Some studio images will be shown which I have taken using my setup. The camera I use is a Shen-Hao 4X5 and it works really well with the LomoGraflok.

Any tips for people wanting to use this instant back?

The first tip I would really recommend is making sure you clip back your ground glass back to the camera well otherwise it will fall and smash. Finding your rhythm when it comes to using this setup is really a challenge when shooting models because they have to make sure to stay still. I've been super lucky with the models I have worked with as they all have done an amazing job and really understood what I was doing. Make sure you first use the mask that comes with the LomoGraflok which helps you to focus. You put it behind the glass which shows you a near exact size of an Instax wide so you know how to frame your shot up and you can focus then remove it and the glass. Remember tip one: don't smash your ground glass as it does come off and on every time you use the product. Then take your picture and print away.

Photos by Dominik Kazancev

Also this may be a stupid tip but it can happen trust me. Remember to not open up the back as the Instax Wide film is light sensitive and it will fog the first couple of sheets inside the cartridge. As I said it can happen. Just try using it as much as possible and then it will become second nature to use and you will be creating some amazing work. I really think it has a lot of potential for film photographers who are looking for something new and fun to use.

What's coming up in 2023 for you?

As of July I will be graduating from University so a lot of my attention is going towards my degree and making sure I can try and actually get my BA in fashion photography. I am still photographing a lot of work making sure I am working on my portfolio mainly and making as many connections as possible. I will also definitely be using the LomoGraflok Instant Back a lot more as well as recently I was gifted a little Instax wide book which I want to fill up with photographs I have taken.


To see more of Dominik's wonderful portraits visit his Instagram page.

2023-04-05 #news #people #instant #studio #uk #fashion-portraits #lomograflok-dominiki

2 Comments

  1. brine
    brine ·

    Fantastic results!!!

  2. neja
    neja ·

    so very cool!

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