answering my prying questions this time around is alyson romanok, whom goes by aly. you might have seen her on the interwebs here and there already, for as early as 2010 her photos have been circulating flickr pools and tumblr dashboards. aly and i became fast but best friends when we met in our senior year of high school. (the class was a very laughable marine biology.) now in college (her second year), aly studies photography at the new york city fashion institute of technology. not to mention, she has a job as a paid blogger over at vans girls. aly's a girl who loves combat boots in any weather, obsesses over the lord of the rings, and likes to sing to bad pop music every time the car radio's on. perhaps not a perfect fit for, well, f.i.t, but aly manages and i'd say she's kicking major ass in the big city. love you, girl!
vivian: could you get your dad to describe you?
alyson: People who know me know that I am extremely close to my dad; so I believe that getting a description from him is pretty fitting. At first, when I asked him over the phone, he cracked a joke and said "That's easy. You're a total bitch." Later he sent an e-mail, and he wrote:
Alyson is a unique individual. She is unlike most girls her age and constantly amazes me with her lack of tolerance for friends and associates that partake in normal, but dangerous, vices that most teenagers experiment with.
Alyson is bright and very motivated. She has common sense beyond her years and is talented in several artistic and educational areas. This is not to say that Alyson is without flaws. She is messy and moody. She is uninterested in basic skills like cooking and money management. However, I’m sure necessity will reverse those minor shortcomings in time.
Alyson is my major source of motivation at this point in my life. She is appreciative of the things she has available and understands, without bitterness, that some things are not currently possible. She has tremendous potential and deserves the opportunity to pursue the best life possible. It is easy for me to assist her whenever I can. She deserves that.
v: what kind of audience do you want your photos to be geared towards?
a: Of course, as an artist, being able to make work that affects everyone and anyone is accomplishing. Having absolutely anyone as a fan or be moved by my photographs means the world to me. If I were to get more specific, I want my audience to be the ones who love “the little things”. So much of my art focuses on small details and subtle moments within life. Having an audience that appreciates those delicate facets would make me feel as if I am achieving my goals, because that is what I set out to represent.
v: whom do you think actually views your photos most? is this what you want?
a: Apart from people that I personally know that follow my photographic career, all of my viewers so far have come from the Internet. I believe most of my viewers are around the same age as me (teenagers to mid-twenties) who have an easier time connecting with my portrayal of my world and my vision. Like I said earlier, I love any viewer that comes my way. If anything, I just hope to spread my audience across to a wider array of viewers.
v: a large part of your work being based on capturing daily life, is the transition into the studio difficult? (describe both processes, too!)
a: Before attending college, I have never worked in a studio before. My niche was always working with natural light. Personally, my process has been to take everyday-life subjects and project them creatively. Transitioning into studio work has been very difficult for me. My main struggle lately is to stay inspired and be able to stay creative in a confined studio space. Although I still enjoy shooting on location more, shooting in the studio has taught me a lot about lighting. I’ve become able to simply look at an advertisement and figure out the exact lighting setup to recreate in my own photographs. It definitely makes me feel more prepared for professional work.
v: how does fashion photography directly impact you, being that you attend a fashion school?
a: I do enjoy fashion photography, and hope to have fashion gigs on my resume in the future. I am mostly interested in casual and lifestyle fashion. While the majority of photographers in my school is more interested in high fashion and has aspirations of being featured in Vogue, I daydream about shooting Urban Outfitters catalogs and Oyster Magazine editorials. I definitely feel a little out of place at certain points of my educational experience, but in the end, it’s all under the branch of fashion.
v: describe a moment in your life that is important to you.
a: Automatically my mind locks and I get tunnel vision to my experience of moving to New York. It has been a dream of mine to live in Manhattan since I was fourteen. There were moments in the past where I basically accepted the fact that I wouldn’t be able to afford to go to school in New York, or ever be able to compete against the immense amount of talent here. Defeating all of those adversaries and getting an opportunity to make it in the industry has taught me a lot about myself as a person and as an artist.
alyson: People who know me know that I am extremely close to my dad; so I believe that getting a description from him is pretty fitting. At first, when I asked him over the phone, he cracked a joke and said "That's easy. You're a total bitch." Later he sent an e-mail, and he wrote:
Alyson is a unique individual. She is unlike most girls her age and constantly amazes me with her lack of tolerance for friends and associates that partake in normal, but dangerous, vices that most teenagers experiment with.
Alyson is bright and very motivated. She has common sense beyond her years and is talented in several artistic and educational areas. This is not to say that Alyson is without flaws. She is messy and moody. She is uninterested in basic skills like cooking and money management. However, I’m sure necessity will reverse those minor shortcomings in time.
Alyson is my major source of motivation at this point in my life. She is appreciative of the things she has available and understands, without bitterness, that some things are not currently possible. She has tremendous potential and deserves the opportunity to pursue the best life possible. It is easy for me to assist her whenever I can. She deserves that.
v: what kind of audience do you want your photos to be geared towards?
a: Of course, as an artist, being able to make work that affects everyone and anyone is accomplishing. Having absolutely anyone as a fan or be moved by my photographs means the world to me. If I were to get more specific, I want my audience to be the ones who love “the little things”. So much of my art focuses on small details and subtle moments within life. Having an audience that appreciates those delicate facets would make me feel as if I am achieving my goals, because that is what I set out to represent.
v: whom do you think actually views your photos most? is this what you want?
a: Apart from people that I personally know that follow my photographic career, all of my viewers so far have come from the Internet. I believe most of my viewers are around the same age as me (teenagers to mid-twenties) who have an easier time connecting with my portrayal of my world and my vision. Like I said earlier, I love any viewer that comes my way. If anything, I just hope to spread my audience across to a wider array of viewers.
v: a large part of your work being based on capturing daily life, is the transition into the studio difficult? (describe both processes, too!)
a: Before attending college, I have never worked in a studio before. My niche was always working with natural light. Personally, my process has been to take everyday-life subjects and project them creatively. Transitioning into studio work has been very difficult for me. My main struggle lately is to stay inspired and be able to stay creative in a confined studio space. Although I still enjoy shooting on location more, shooting in the studio has taught me a lot about lighting. I’ve become able to simply look at an advertisement and figure out the exact lighting setup to recreate in my own photographs. It definitely makes me feel more prepared for professional work.
v: how does fashion photography directly impact you, being that you attend a fashion school?
a: I do enjoy fashion photography, and hope to have fashion gigs on my resume in the future. I am mostly interested in casual and lifestyle fashion. While the majority of photographers in my school is more interested in high fashion and has aspirations of being featured in Vogue, I daydream about shooting Urban Outfitters catalogs and Oyster Magazine editorials. I definitely feel a little out of place at certain points of my educational experience, but in the end, it’s all under the branch of fashion.
v: describe a moment in your life that is important to you.
a: Automatically my mind locks and I get tunnel vision to my experience of moving to New York. It has been a dream of mine to live in Manhattan since I was fourteen. There were moments in the past where I basically accepted the fact that I wouldn’t be able to afford to go to school in New York, or ever be able to compete against the immense amount of talent here. Defeating all of those adversaries and getting an opportunity to make it in the industry has taught me a lot about myself as a person and as an artist.
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