Vedrana Vukojevic: It All Started in the Cinema, and It Will Probably End There

Nostalgic Film Photography by Vedrana Vukojevic Inspired by Cinema

Vedrana Vukojević is a 26-year-old film photographer from Belgrade who shoots nostalgic and colorful portraits inspired by cinema. MINUS37 had a chance to hear more about the artist’s life, what lies behind her creative mind and working process.

Tell us a little bit about your life. Was photography always present?

I was born in the 90s in Belgrade, while Yugoslavia was falling apart, lived as a refugee in the Netherlands from 1999. to 2002. I could easily say that my family photo albums are far more interesting than my work.

What is your artistic background, when and how did you start?

It all started in the cinema, and it will probably end there.

How did you end up with the style you currently work in? You shoot only film, why?

The camera became a part of me, it’s an extension of my mind, heart, and body.  I am not a fan of digital photography, there is no challenge, you just shoot and shoot, and then go through hundreds of pictures to find a good one, and then edit it. Film is real, you can feel it, smell it, and you never know what will happen. It’s magic! When you see the pictures for the first time, especially when you come back from a trip, and forget what you’ve shot –  pure adrenaline. The film keeps me going.

Film is real, you can feel it, smell it, and you never know what will happen. It’s magic!

How do you usually work, and where do you draw inspiration from?

It depends, if I am working with a fashion designer, we have a meeting where we choose the models, atmosphere, and locations. When I create for myself, I turn into a spontaneous control freak, by drowning in nostalgia and sitting alone in the Cinematheque.

How you choose your models and locations?

With locations you always have to keep your eyes open and let things happen, often they just come to me. Sometimes models choose me, sometimes I choose them, it’s all a game of destiny.

An advice that you would give to yourself when you were starting and to all young photographers right now

I will quote Reiner Maria Rilke from the “Letters of a young poet”:

There is only one way: Go within. Search for the cause, find the impetus that bids you write. Put it to this test: Does it stretch out its roots in the deepest place of your heart? Can you avow that you would die if you were forbidden to write? Above all, in the most silent hour of your night, ask yourself this: Must I write? Dig deep into yourself for a true answer. And if it should ring its assent, if you can confidently meet this serious question with a simple, “I must,” then build your life upon it. It has become your necessity. Your life, in even the most mundane and least significant hour, must become a sign, a testimony to this urge.