Vihar Laskov – Vihro: The more I shoot, the more I fall in love with the process
He is young and certainly could still be a fashion model, just like in his childhood. But he stands on the other side of the camera. He photographs professional models and anyone who wants to look like a model in a picture. Why is beauty so important to him, and why does he prefer to have a person present even in landscape photography? In the "Photographers" section, Dynaphos introduces Vihăr Laskov-Vihro.
The Beginning
What drew Vihro to photography was his sense of harmony. Looking back, he realizes that since he was about 14 years old, he loved to keep the photos he came across – from various gatherings and trips with friends to random images that impressed him online. His first foray behind the lens was at 17, when he used his brother's camera – that Olympus model, also called a "point-and-shoot" – to take numerous photos and videos while on a seaside vacation. Afterward, as a designer, he began to pay more attention to and be impressed by visual effects.
"One of the moments that prompted me was my work at a media company where I became friends with the photographers. In their company, I also had the opportunity to shoot with my first more serious DSLR camera – the Sony Alpha A500. It was a big one, with a kit lens. And that's really how I started experimenting."
In 2017, photography captivated him so much that he quit his job, rented a space, and began his career behind the lens.
Portrait Photography
For Vihro, communication with people is interesting. That's why he always seeks to position a person in front of his camera, even when doing landscape photography.
"The person completes the landscape. In some cases, they also play an important role – they give an idea of scale. And the other thing is that when there's a person, the emotion is stronger and more complete. A landscape, however beautiful, is just a landscape," the photographer is convinced.
He admits that before shooting, he always talks to the model. He honestly shares his idea, and then they realize it together. Men and women of different ages pose in front of his lens. However, according to him, women have more to say in photos. And with his portraits, he always wants to tell them this:
"Not everyone can look like Angelina Jolie, but everyone can have beautiful pictures. The key here is communication."
The Equipment
For the first 6-7 years, or the time Vihro gradually entered the world of photography, he used the Sony given to him by photographers. After purchasing a Canon, he added a Fudji in early 2019, and returned to Sony at the end of 2021.
"That was December 2021. The first A7 IV that arrived at Dynaphos, I managed to grab it. I'm still with it, very happy. Whatever the camera, for me personally, it has to be something you know very well, that you're completely intuitive with. You have to be able to pick it up and change settings while talking."
He shares that he is also a supporter of working with a single lens. He shoots that way himself. He chose the Sony G Master 24-70 zoom lens because its focus is fast enough for what he does, and the image is great.
"The sharpness of the image is much more than what I need, but that's easily controlled. It's just wonderful – no matter what I'm shooting."
His Ultimate Goal
"The more I shoot, the more I fall in love with the process, not the final result. I always aim to capture my model in a way no one else has. Too often, we humans have a beauty that we fail to see and, consequently, show to ourselves and the world. When I photograph someone, I want us to find exactly that, and for them to fall in love with themselves," Vihro explains.
On the last day of May, he shared his experience at an open event at the Dynaphos studio, where we gave participants the opportunity, in addition to hearing his advice, to photograph his models with the full range of Sony cameras and lenses. Vihro answered many questions, pleased by the curiosity.
"I am a proponent of people developing themselves, being hungry for more information, experiences, and things of that nature that enrich our culture and worldview. I think there's still a lot to discover. And the more I discover, I actually see how little I know and how insignificant I am in the whole process. This helps me feel better and freer," he doesn't hide his creative philosophy.
Although he has photographed no more than 40-50 professional models and taken portraits of over 250 other people in the last 6 years, he still claims that he has not found a photographer who makes him feel the way he makes the models in front of his camera feel.
"I would really like someone to photograph me in a way that I like myself," Vihro concludes with a smile.
The photos in this article were provided for publication by him. You can learn more about his work on his website and his professional Facebook page.
