PHOTOGRAPHY / OSMAN BALkAN عثمان البلقان
MODEL / STEVEN HÖHN
TEXT / CEPI VETTER
FOR DOOPLER MAGAZINE
MODEL / STEVEN HÖHN
TEXT / CEPI VETTER
FOR DOOPLER MAGAZINE
Hello everybody, here is Osman from Berlin. We found him on Instagram (@osmxnbx) and we loved his work. So we decided to interview him to know more about him.
Enjoy the pictures he made for Doopler Magazine about ballet dancer Steven Höhn.
Where were you born?
I was born in Bonn near Cologne in Germany
How old are you?
I am 28 even though i still get asked for my ID on every occasion possible.
عثمان البلقان (Osman) is your name or a pseudonym?
My name is in fact Osman Balkan. I’m partly turkish. (the writing is only my name in arabic). But I get asked very often whether it is an artists pseudonym.
What do you like to communicate or what do you think you are communicating with your photos?
That’s a tough question. of course the intentions you have as an artist change along the way with age and one’s own evolution as a human being.
But the centerpiece of my work focuses on the human being itself. Showing an inner truth of a moment or a person as close as i can get to it. I try to do that with alot of respect and emphasize the inner and outer beauty. I want to let the viewers see my models in a way they barely see them because these days we dont really take the time to take a close look on people we are surrounded with.
Besides photographing Models i also have a reportage photography project running where i quietly as invisible as possible pace the streets of a city and take pictures of anything i find interesting always having the human in focus. the human being and how he interacts or is affected by the world he lives in.
Sometimes it can get very dark or it is just a fingerpointing on a recent issue such as for example the refugee situation in Europe. But those explicit pictures are still to come. So stay tuned!
Where do you think is the beauty of the models you photographs?
It is defenitely everywhere. it can be anything. maybe its the freckles or the absolute clear and blank skin. the smile or the angry look in a models eyes.
When working with dancers it may be the way how they move in a room and interact with it. Models on the other hand are defenitely not only beautiful on the outside! I think the beauty is what happens and becomes visible when a model trusts me enough to take their picture and let us see their beauty.
What do you want to show from your models?
I surely have my own clear vision of what i want to show and how i want to show it. but it always works with the model and is individual each time.
I want to show of every model what is i think special and beautiful about them. it goes by feeling. sometimes when for other artists in the middle of the shoot where they would keep shooting, it happens with me that I say “ok thats it! i got the ‘one’ picture i need!” its an intuition you gain over the years and it becomes more elaborate over time.
In a way i want to find a way into my models world as much as possible.
Do you have any other profession besides photography?
Photography is my only profession. I never worked in anything else but photography. But I keep an open mind into many other things, such as drawing, painting, sculpturing, cooking, making music and building my own furniture. I might open my own restaurant in the future! At least that is the plan.
What can you tell us about the Ballet Dancer Steven you work with for your contribution for Doopler Magazine?
What i can say about steven? he has been one of my major inspirations. a huge muse to my work respecting me and my work with a huge amount of trust and confidence and most importantly dedication. we are good friends and can talk alot. but when we work together we never have to talk. there is no words. just music. he does what he is best and and i do what i am best at and in the end we both go home with some great new works. its a great collaboration.
SEE MORE ABOUT OSMAN! → http://www.osmanbalkan.de/