Please introduce yourself
I was born (1972) and live in Krupka near Teplice, a small town in the foothills of the Ore Mountains (Czech Republic).
If I have to classify myself to exact category, I am definitely a landscape photographer. Landscape was always passion for me, but recently I identify, that classic color landscape photography looks complicated and orderless for me. That brought me to BW photography, which looks more simple and clearly for me.
My photos I presented at the copyright shows in the Czech republic and recently I managed to obtain several awards in photographic competitions (Neutral Density Photography Awards, SIENA International Photo Awards, IPA Photography Awards, Fine Art Photography Awards,…).
How did you get interested in photography?
As a child I loved landscape, I like travelling and finding new interesting places. As almost every person, I took a camera for almost every trip and vacation to make interesting shots of different places. So at the beginning it was just a travelling with compact camera.
I started to think more about photography in 2000. That time I get a book about photography as a gift and after few months later I bought a first film camera Pentax. I enter the world of digital photography 4 years later and at the beginning of 2006 I had my first digital camera. I was completely absorbed by photography and from that time my every trip and vacation is subordinated by photography.
Do you have an artistic/photographic background?
I don’t have any photographic education. I’m self-taught, which went the way of trial/error.
Which artist/photographer inspired your art?
Well, I am not able to answer that exactly. There is a plenty of photographers I like and what creation influence me. I don‘t want to write long list, but definitely I like black and white photos of Julia Anna Gospodarou, Pierre Pellegrini, Michel Rajkovic, Vassilis Tangoulis, …..Stop, this begins to be that list, which I wanted to avoid. It is really long list.
How much preparation do you put into taking a photograph?
This is different. It depends mainly on the conditions and place. It is necessary to think about image. Sometimes it just one step, a bit of different angle, time of exposure or choice of shutter speed can really change a future image. When I am going to exact place, mostly I am prepared and I have an idea how I want my image at final view. Of course sometimes it is necessary to improvise, cause one thing is an idea, but reality could be different.
Which places have been your favourite shooting sites so far and why?
I like symmetry, clarity and simplicity. I try to get all those aspects to my images. Purposely I find simple, clear and symmetrically compositions. I simplify these compositions through weather conditions (fog, rain) and also by long exposure times using strong ND filters.
That’s why I like the wild coast of the Baltic sea (Germany), Lago di Garda (Italy), or foggy winter landscape of the Ore mountains (Czech republic).
What do you do in your life besides photography?
I like hiking and travelling.
What future plans do you have? What projects would you like to accomplish?
I would like to visit Iceland and a big dream is to visit Los Glaciares National Park with rock massifs of Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre and then the stunning scenery of New Zealand. But the time will tell if my dreams come true.
I would like to continue focus on landscape photography, but minimalist black and white photography is also very attractive for me.
Website: www.danielrericha.cz
