Justina Prankaite: Photography as Art

All images by Justina Prankaite. Used with permission.

Photographer Justina Prankaite is the recent winner of the Phoblographer and EyeEm’s Liquid Lunch mission, and she’s got quite a creative eye. She sees things in ways that others may not have necessarily seen them, and she’s has an obsession with photography since a very young age.

Justina has always considered herself a hobbyist; and has developed instinctual shooting rituals that happen as everyday life occurrences unfold. To that end, she has no real speciality, but instead just an emphasis on creating art.

 

Phoblographer: Talk to us about how you got into photography.

Justina: Everything started with a first computer at home and portable camera which I got to make video calls. I started to take pictures with it and after a while I had a serious talk with my parents at age 13-14 asking for a digital photo camera and actually a big thanks to my older brother who supported me in that. He bought me a Nikon D40x camera and it became an addition, the only one hobby starting with portraits of myself to photo sessions of my friends.

Phoblographer: What do you like about photography? You’re a Fujifilm camera user but your work is also very clearly artistic.  

Justina: One of the reasons why I like photography is diversity and freedom. I like that through photography you can express your feelings, attitude, lifestyle and etc. Since I am not really good at telling or writing stories I feel confident to express myself while taking pictures. Sometimes I take pictures with vintage film camera FED 3 as well as with iPhone 5, but I totally fell in love with Fujifilm X-series cameras, which I use with vintage lens Helios 44-2 f2/58mm. So it is also about ability to experiment with tools, colors, light, and effects.

Phoblographer: What about a scene makes you actually want to take a picture of it?

Justina: I take my camera everywhere, so the shot really depends on the atmosphere, things which surrounds me, my and other people feelings. I don’t have any rules for myself and I do both planed and not planed shoots and I shoot almost everything what catches my attention. Most of the time I spend at home right now, so I also enjoy to create some compositions for photo, for instance I like to play with light and shadows.

Phoblographer: We’re sure that you take a lot more photos than you actually post. So what determines whether or not something makes it onto social media?

Justina: When I started seriously get into photography I started to follow other photographers and develop my own skills. But most times I spend looking at other photographers’ pictures I started to feel confused and less confident. Everyone has their own style and what makes them more recognizable and I was (and still I am) opposite, so that made me unsure and stopped me from photo sharing for a while. I also started to learn more about social media use, impact, trends and purpose (for instance Instagram). I think this kind a break gave me understanding of my fear: what others will think about me and my pictures? What if no one will like it? So the most important thing is to enjoy the process and results by yourself. So I just keep doing what do I like to do, trying not to limit myself and share pictures if I feel so.

Phoblographer: You’re larger on EyeEm than Instagram. Why do you think this is so?

Justina: I joined the EyeEm community like 1.5 year ago and am actively participating there till now. It is easy and fun to use, I feel like I build my mini portfolio there and it enables to sell your pictures on the market. Furthermore I like to read EyeEm blog, where you can find interesting interviews, straightforward articles and great tips for your photography. I would not mistake to say that it is an interactive photo sharing platform with its different photo missions.

Phoblographer: Tell us the story of your favorite photo?

 

Justina: My favorite picture was taken with the iPhone and it is my favorite so far. It reflects my grandparent’s daily life in their home at village. When I visit them I always take a walk around their tiny house and while doing so, I stopped in front of window where my grandpa was having his supper. It was like a reflex when I took my iPhone to capture a moment. By that time my grandma was passing the other room and her silhouette reflected in the picture as well. It is also that I do not visit them so often so the picture has a strong emotional feeling to me. 

Phoblographer: Where did the idea for the winning EyeEm Liquid Lunch photo come from?

Justina: It was spontaneous as most of my other pictures. My friend and I quite often enjoy quick breaks with a glass of red wine and listen our vinyl collection. It was funny atmosphere and a great moment to capture the mood of that day.