Ronya Galka

As a renowned street photographer, I was listed in the ‘Top 10 British Street Photographers in 2015’ by the Interactive Design Institute. My fine art street photography has been exhibited at Liberty’s of London and the Pall Mall Gallery, can be found in private collections around the world and has resulted in numerous publications and exhibitions during the past ten years. Primarily, Ronya depicts the urban environment and its many inhabitants in various shapes and forms and for a wide number of clients. In her compositions he aims for simplicity- whilst each image tells its very own story and captures the mood. She shoots lifestyle, portraits, as well as commercial assignments such as editorial and fashion and urban imagery, mainly on location. She has a fascination with the interaction between people within society as she tries to be open to anything thats in front of her, looking out for any interesting scenarios. Similarly to other street and candid photographers that I have researched, Ronya tries to blend in with the crowd and stay un-noticed in order to get the best natural outcomes. She does this by using a smaller camera which is more likely to be ignore or unseen.

Why I chose this photographer:

Throughout her photographer there is a reoccurring tendancy to photograph people from behind them, showing them on their journey perhaps in the perspective of the subjects which is thinks works very well.  Also the use of silhouettes are often used and I love the diversity and humour which lies within her work as it illustrates constant interesting scenarios which intrigue the audiences. 

This photograph depicts fourth youthful subjects sitting down together, seeming to be in two pairs, assumably couples. Culture is most dominant interpretation here with a clear exploration into a gothic,punk demographic. This is recognisable through their hair styles and clothing which are seemingly dark. This works well with the accompanying black and white filter which increases and enhances the blanks and dark tones. Out of the four people one of the has very light hair which contrasts with the other three and therefore allows her to stand out, this could perhaps resemble that she doesn't stereotypically belong to the social group and her appearance is slightly different. I like the sense of symmetry with the two couples in opposing sides of tyne frame which allows fro them both to be compare. The left seem more tactile whereas the right are slightly separate which provides an insight to the type of relationship they could potentially have. 

This is one of my favourite photographs of Ronya Galka's for several reasons. First of all, I feel that by including three separate individuals in the frame, she has successfully illustrated three different types of people. (e.g business man, business woman, mother) through through the association of clothing. Movement is shown very effectively through the poses that the three subjects have which imply walking, accompanied by the positioning of the women to the right's hair. This piece also shows depth and perspective through the different sizes of the subjects. Line is very dominant in this piece, firstly is can be seen on the wall in the background which show the pattern of the bricks. They can also be seen through the way in which the subjects are position at three vertical lines which also imply a sense of symmetry and repetition. The shadows of the subjects show the form as well as the positioning of the light source as they are horizontal lines to the right.

There is a very different culture and demographic that is prominent in this photograph. Here a much wealthy group of people are illustrated which is recognisable through the setting and clothing being worn. This seems to be associated with business people who are position high up in a building, giving a sense of authority and dominance as they look down to the city, perhaps making plans for the future. As does a lot of her work, reflections can be seen on the floor which look interesting. There are lines and triangles which present the structure and form of the building as the pattern on the floor. A significant part of this photo that I noticed was the fact that out of the 6 people present in the photograph, one them is a woman who is dressed in light clothing. This contrasts with the other men in the photograph who are all wearing dark colour suits, allowing for her toy stand out significantly and even provide her with a sense of importance or significance. This picture illustrates the back of the people which presents seeing their identity.

Similarly in this photograph, contrast of colour and tone is used affectively in order to allow the subject to stand out from the surrounding environment. This acts as an invert to the previous as the dark subject strands out from the white field of snow. As does a lot of Ronya's photography this photo has been taken form behind the subject which implies a sense of mystery and ambiguity. Also the vasty landscape seen in the image makes it almost unusual for the subject to be where he is. The snow is untouched which implies inhabitance and unknown. On the horizon there are countless trees which doesn't really provide in insight to where he is going to. I like how the image almost looks black and white through the complete lack of colour with the landscape but there is a slight bit of colour on the head of the subject which actually shows that the image is in colour.

Influence:

In my project I incorporated Ronya's technique of photographing subject from behind which hide their identities. I also photographed in urban locations and explore several demographics.

Overall I feel that the spontaneousness of her work works very effectively in illustrating scenarios and cultures as she captures natural actions and expresso through blending in with the crowd.