I’ve known Dr. Karanka for a few years now after meeting him through HCSP. In addition to editing the regular feature Children of Weegee Fortnight, he’s the mastermind behind Dr. Karanka’s Print Stravaganza and a founding member of Mindfist. We had a conversation about his work as well as his various photogrpahy activities.
Where does the name Dr. Karanka come from? Is it true that you have a PHD? Are you a Dr. of photography?
Well, back in the day I had been travelling with Julian, a Scottish mate of mien after a conference. I was going to stick the pictures somewhere, so I needed a name for my account on flickr (don’t remember where I heard about it), so that was it. Many of the people I knew where Dr’s, and I was going to be one, so I stack with the Mr till I eventually got my degree towards the end of last year. So, I was Mr Karanka for years on flickr, but I always knew it would one day change. And I’m not a doctor in Photography, but on Psychology. All my research is on visual perception, so I guess that it does relate in a way…
What came first, the interest in visual perception or the interest in photography? And how do the two relate to each other?
Well, they were very different things for a long time. I used to photograph with my father when I was a kid, but back then I wanted to be a scientist when I grew up. Then I grew up, quitted photography in my teens and became a scientist. During that time I rediscovered photography in a more personal way. When I was a kid most of what I shot were assignments for a magazine, so I had to stick to topic. When you grow up like a precocious editorial photographer you sort of don’t see it having any other purpose. But once I was on my tracks as a researcher, I could sort of see how you could do the same in photography. You explore visual areas… like when you get a flash for the first time and shoot the heck out of it… it opens a unique visual landscape with it’s unique aesthetics… and when you produce/find something interesting you try to further your knowledge of it by testing ideas. For example, you might have this crazy idea that what makes a photograph interesting is the inclusion of biologically meaningful things in unexpected parts of the frame, like eyes, faces, hands, then you shoot a group of photographs that are driven by that idea, and you might be right or wrong. I think that being trained as a researcher makes you methodical. Doesn’t mean that you can’t be mad or produce stuff that you have no control over, but you approach the work in a way in which there is always a way to further the work and keep it coherent.
