SITDOWN WITH MASTA PROOF: CONNECTING WITH THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT, FILM PHOTOGRAPHY & TELLING STORIES THROUGH THE LENS
WRITTEN BY OSCAR H. PHOTOS
Urban environments have always drawn street photographers to explore their every road, side street and building, looking for that brief interaction or extraordinary moment to capture. Street photography was naturally born in an urban environment. The variety of infrastructure and people that form the fabric of urban environments opened opportunities for photographers worldwide to document urban life, the city acting as a ready-made playground to perfect their craft in.
There is something special about capturing people and buildings in an urban environment on film. A film photographer sees the makeup of an urban environment differently through the lens of a film camera as opposed to digital. There are only usually 36 or 24 photos on a roll, meaning you are more limited to the number of photos you can take, allowing you to think more before clicking the shutter. Consequently, film photographers are forced to engage more with the urban environment and its people more thoughtfully.
Masta Proof is somebody who embeds this ethos into his creative practice – capturing urban environments on 35mm film as they are, forming a relationship between the lens of his camera, and the fabric of people, infrastructure and subcultures that forms his urban surroundings.
HAZY MAGAZINE recently caught up with the Moscow-based photographer, delving into how his film photography captures the essence of the urban environments he traverses with his camera, and what draws him to shooting exclusively on film. The connection between his lens and the urban environment is part of the art of film photography, capturing something happening for a brief moment, connecting with your surroundings and waiting eagerly to see the final result after it has been developed in the dark room.
HAZY: First of all - tell me a bit about yourself. Where are you from? Which creative practice do you specialise in?
MASTA PROOF: Hello! I was born and have lived in Moscow my entire life. In terms of creative pursuits, I have always been fascinated by music and photography. In secondary school, I was into rap, but later, with the advent of Instagram in my life, I became fascinated with mobile photography.
HAZY: What draws you to shooting specifically on 35mm film? What led to the decision to shoot with film as opposed to digital?
MASTA PROOF: A close friend of mine shoots on film and recently gave me a 35mm camera for my birthday. After that, I switched completely to analogue photography and lost all interest in digital photography. The most interesting thing about analogue photography is that you don't see what you've shot until you develop the film.
An example of how Masta Proof creatively frames elements of the urban environment in his work.
“I'm just capturing the moment. You take a picture, something happens in those couple of seconds, but it will never happen again. That's the whole point.”
-MASTA PROOF
HAZY: Much of your work is set in an urban environment. What draws you to shooting in urban environments?
MASTA PROOF: On the streets, I am attracted to movement, buildings, and people. Life is constantly bubbling away here, and something is always happening. By the way, I have never been able to explain what attracts me to urban architecture, but it's true - I am particularly fascinated by old buildings and temples. I took a lot of photos of this during my trips to Europe.
HAZY: What themes/issues in society does your work aim to represent, and how do you convey this?
MASTA PROOF: To be honest, I'm just capturing the moment. You take a picture, something happens in those couple of seconds, but it will never happen again. That's the whole point.
HAZY: Do you have a backstory to any of your photographs?
Once I had an idea to take a series of pictures of the running club from the concept store where I worked. The guys run every Sunday, and one day I took my camera with me, but while shooting, after just three or four frames, it simply stopped working. It was unexpected for me. I managed to remove the film, bought a new camera, and finished shooting the next weekend.
Masta Proof’s street photography work can be found on his Instagram profile:
