Bogdan Bousca, art photographer

Tell us about how you started:
First time when I held a photo camera in my hands was in 2008. It was by hazard, without any intention from my part to activate in this field. A very good friend of mine wanted to update his photo equipment by selling old one, of course. He asked me to buy his old camera and some lenses at a very reasonable price. Initially I refused the opportunity, having completely other priorities in my life plus a very exhausting job at that time.

Why and how did you start in this field?
I was in that situation when I started to regret my investment and be sorry for my money, trying to shoot some images outdoor with awful results… Or completely white, or totally black, out of focus etc… To not be very disappointed of myself, I started to squeeze all my patience that I had left in me at that time and tried finding out what aperture, exposure time and ISO mean, how this triangle works step by step, through internet, some tutorials at that time and some magazines and books available on the stores in that period. This is my reason for “starting” photography.

What interests you / what are you working on in your art?
I have a few photographic categories where I intend to express my mind through images: “Fine art nude”, “portrait”,” street” and an attempt of “seascapes”. In each one I try to insert a theme, without having a large project. My goal (regarding these used themes) is based on narration without words. The only few words that I use are those for the title, in humble attempt to give a hint to the viewers of what I wanted to say.

What are the highlights of your career?
My personal exhibitions in France and Romania, more than 30 collective exhibitions in Europe, Published in many important photo magazines like “PHOTO Magazine-France”, “Photo-Reponse-France”, “Photography Monthly-UK” and many more, active in some auction houses, permanent artist of one art gallery in Canada and one in United States and not at the last, my photographic events held in Romania with an original concept named “Narrative Nude”.

What is the worst experience of your career?
I can’t name that I have a career. But regarding worst experience that I had, I can say only that I’m a non-winning person in this fight against mainstream and commercial trend who blindfold the people making them to forget or to have no idea what art can be.

What are the positive aspects of your job?
Positive part is that I can afford to make what I love most and create what I personally feel, not dictated by others. Negative part is the role of Don Quijote fighting with unstoppable mainstream trend who invaded all that means art and culture.

Any plans, desires for the future?
My long-term or short-term goal is to keep on with this insistence to have a narrative image based on soul and action instead of fake beauty mixed with abnormal colors, excessive post-processions or hi-tech gadgets that create the illusion of what beauty really means and who represent absolutely nothing, an empty balloon filled with wind. Unfortunately the major and most used Art Album is the last instruction manual of use for any photographic devices.

What are you passionate about / what do you stand for in life?
My main passion is photography, as much as I succeed to combine it with a story, creating a narration, visible and comprehensible for the viewers.

What are your other interests, hobbies?
Literature, history in main, Photography, art world in general.

What is/would be your motto?
“The best image is always behind you” HCB

“Preserved History: Located at about 40km away from Berlin, Wünsdorf city was set in 1935 by Hitler as the headquarter of Wehrmacht (the united army of Nazi Germany). It was an oasis of beauty and relaxation for the army of generals, officers and other high military ranks during World War II. An abundant luxury in a dark and gloomy period of time for the entire Europe continent. After Germany was defeated in 1945, Wünsdorf became a shut down Soviet city in the heart of Germany. The locals were evacuated, the streets were restricted for local traffic and the town was named by Germans as “The Forbidden City”. It became the host to more than 50,000 Red Army soldiers, the largest military base in Europe and at the same time the largest military base outside the former USSR, after the defeat of the fascist regime. With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the former USSR in 1989, the Soviet troops were forced to leave Germany, implicitly this military base. It has remained untouched ever since. It has not been reconditioned or modified in any way. No window or door frame had been changed, everything is frozen in time. A ghost town. An area populated only by memories , last century ghosts, preserved history textbook without pages. A living history textbook narrative by the walls of the buildings, the statues, theaters and concerts, the huge swimming pool, the dining rooms, the big rooms, the break-taking architecture of the stairs and its handrails and the splendid gardens looking like one described in Dickens’ ” Great Expectations” novel. This is where Hitler step foot and so did Göring, Rommel, Himmler and many others such as Stalin’s famous insane generals full of infatuation and false grandiosity. A place full of echoes of voices and sounds from the steps of military boots polished to the point of paroxysm. Sarcastic laughter and sinister metallic noises from the entire weapons arsenal, a mixture of whispered Russian and German voices still arguing and fighting behind these walls is narrating and displaying their blind and mute supremacy. Today, the entire structure rot from deliberate negligence, being occasionally visited by photographers and by those having a passion for abandoned ruins or historical nostalgia, in exchange of a small fee. With a great difficulty I tried to make a small photo selection. I’m aware that combining artistic nudity and ruins or deserted places is not a new invention, but in this case, the history of this place is an advantage. I can “smell” the history in the frames, I can hear the voices from the past, frozen in time, exactly the way photography could be described, the stillness of a second. Why nudity? To balance the sadness and soberness of this place with the delicate and eternal beauty of the woman body. An additional touch of authenticity is also given by the fact that the model is native German, preserving the imprint of this photographic project. Faithful to monochrome because I cannot put the smallest blotches in color. Not to mention a generic frame which, if become by color makes my eyes become bewildered and sends my soul to another dimension, restraining me from seen the emotions in front of me.”
Text and photos: Bogdan Bouşcă
Model: Nadine Kante