Interview with Michael Dorohovich
BIFA 2024 Winner, 1st Place, Professional People, “Unique Families of The Roma Community of Keldelari.”
Q: Can you tell us a bit about your background and what inspired you to embark on a career in photography? Was there a specific moment when you realized this was your calling?
I started taking photos at a young age when I was studying at an art college and I remember devoting all my free time to photography. Even then, I was inspired by the stories of interesting people, so the portrait genre became the main direction in my work.
Q: What was the inspiration behind your winning project? How did the idea come to you, and what message were you aiming to convey through your work?
Transcarpathia is a very unique region of Ukraine, distinguished by its multinational culture. Many different ethnic communities live peacefully in this small territory, one of which is the unique Roma of Keldelari. This is the most closed community in our country, which lives fenced off from the outside world and the influence of other cultures. Their way of life, traditions, clothes, which they have managed to preserve in this changing modern world, make me show them deep respect. It is so easy to lose your identity today, when external globalization acts on you through the world of the Internet and tries to absorb your individuality.
Q: Every great story comes with its challenges. What were some of the hurdles you faced while capturing your award-winning project, and how did you overcome them?
The difficulties in organizing this filming were the key moment, since the Keldelari are very closed and do not allow people from the outside world to their communities. For a year and a half, I negotiated with various influential people who have at least some connection to them, in order to get into their environment and film these unique people, but everything turned out to be very difficult and inaccessible. And when I had already decided to finally give up, one influential doctor with whom the Keldelari community was in contact helped me, he arranged for my arrival in the village of Korolevo. I was given about an hour for filming, this is very little, but I tried to capture the essence and uniqueness of these women. After this shoot, I was invited to the village of Podvinogradovo, where I also took several interesting portraits with a 13-year-old bride who was preparing for her wedding. I was very happy that I could visually preserve these unique women for the future generations of our world.
Q: What motivated you to enter the Budapest International Foto Awards? What does winning 1st place in your category mean to you personally and professionally?
Photo contests are an important tool for me in my work, because how else can I present my photographic projects to a wide audience around the world. And the higher your award, the more people will see your work in different parts of our planet. The Budapest International Foto Awards occupies a special place among professional competitions, since I am an ethnic Hungarian living in Transcarpathia, Ukraine. My daughter Greta goes to a Hungarian school and we speak Hungarian at home, so this award has special significance for my family.
Q: Could you share some insights into the equipment and techniques you used to create your winning images? Is there a particular tool or method you always rely on?
I shoot my projects with the FUJIFILM XT system, because of its compactness I can spend more time on the shooting process and cause less tension in people, as it happens with large cameras and lenses, this really helps to relax the person in portrait photography. But, the main rule that I adhere to is to be honest and write a photograph with light through the lens, and not create it in a photo editor. This problem is very acute today, that even serious photo competitions of the world level do not distinguish between art created optically and photography created 50-80 percent with the help of photo editors. I think this is not a fair competition between photographers, because these are two completely different types of art.
Q: Looking back on your journey, what has been the highlight of your career so far? How does this award compare to other milestones you’ve achieved?
This prestigious award is one of the top awards I have received in my career, along with 1st Place winner in “Tokyo International Foto Awards 2022”, category Fine Art, (Tokyo, Japan) and Winner of the Year – MONOVISIONS Black & White Photography Awards 2023 (single). London, United Kingdom, so it is a great honor for me to be among the best photographers at BIFA this year and it is truly inspiring for my creativity.
Q: What advice would you offer to emerging photographers hoping to make their mark in the industry? Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you wish you’d known earlier?
When I started my career in photography, it was quite difficult to work without serious financial support. It always seemed to me that in order to shoot a strong project about interesting people, you had to go to the ends of the earth, to another continent, because that’s where there would be something that couldn’t be here… But when over time I began to open my eyes to what was around me and it didn’t cost a huge financial investment and these people, these portraits were a very valuable cultural heritage of the region where I live, my attitude to the topics of photography in general changed. And when my photographs began to appear in serious world exhibitions on par with famous masters of photography, whose projects cost a lot of money, it brought me to the understanding that I was on the right path and it doesn’t matter where you are, what matters is what you see and act!
Q: Photography is often described as a universal language. How do you approach storytelling in your work, and how do you connect emotionally with your audience?
Photography truly has a unique ability to transcend language and cultural barriers, speaking directly to the viewer’s empowerment and satisfaction. I focus on storytelling, especially in cultural and ethnic projects dedicated to Transcarpathia, it is important that I feel a deep connection with the subject. This allows me to create honest and sincere images that not only document but also tell a story, convey meaning and context.
Q: If you could work on any photography project in the world, unrestricted by budget or location, what would it be and why?
I would create a global photo project dedicated to ethnic groups of the world, which not only documents their unique traits, but also shows the relationship between cultures, their shared values and the way they interact with the environment and society. To explore and visualize the cultural diversity of humanity. To capture unique moments of everyday life, rituals and traditions of ethnic groups around the world. To inspire audiences to understand the importance of preserving cultural heritage and respecting differences.
Q: What’s next for you after this incredible achievement? Are there any upcoming projects or goals that you’re particularly excited about?
Following the success of the project dedicated to Zakarpattia, I would like to develop and explore other aspects of the cultural heritage of the region in which I live. I am planning exhibitions in other cultural centers of Europe and the world. This will help to attract attention to the themes that I explore.
Michael Dorohovich is a portrait and documentary photographer, born in 1978 in Transcarpathia, in the small town of Uzhgorod.
Winner of the MONOVISIONS Black & White Photography Awards 2023 (single) award. He holds a master’s degree in photography from the Kyiv University of Culture and is a teacher of audiovisual art at the Uzhgorod Academy of Culture and Arts.
Winner and prize-winner of many prestigious world awards in the field of photography. His works have received international recognition and have been exhibited in museums and galleries in Japan, India, North America and many European countries.
Author of photo projects that presented the culture and traditions of Transcarpathia to the whole world: “Famous and Interesting Personalities of Transcarpathia” (2021 – 2022); “Cultural Ethnos of Transcarpathia” (2022); “High-mountain inhabitants of the Ukrainian Carpathians” (2023-2024); “Unique women of the Roma culture Keldelari” (2023).
Throughout his life, he has been engaged in solo mountaineering and mountain solo trekking. He traveled through the mountain systems of the Carpathians, Crimea, Caucasus, Alps, Altai, Kamchatka, Pamir and Tien Shan. He recorded all his ascents in photo landscapes.
