Koto Bolofo: The Art Of Good Photography Is Spontaneousness

Fellow Fstoppers reader Alex Masters sent me an interesting video featuring fashion photographer Koto Bolofo. In this behind the scenes video for German Vogue, Koto is collaborating with fashion stylist Christiane Arp to create images that have both a circus influence and also an early photography feel. It’s refreshing to hear Koto talk about how a shoot of this nature comes together, and how having an initial guideline can lay the groundwork for improvisation and spontaneity. I think the final photos capture the mood everyone was going for on this shoot and model Elena Sudakova helped bring the circus performer element with her crazy flexibility.

May 11, 2011

Patrick Hall

Editorial

Fashion

Studio

« FS Weekly News #5: The Week’s Best Photo/Video Related Stories

The Wednesday Rundown 5.11.11 »

Anonymous
What a nice guy! I could listen to Koto Bolofo for hours. Interesting, that he is using constant lighting in this set. He says: “let the child play”. In my opinion, the best way to work with a professional model.
Thank you for posting this video!
Andreas (Germany)
http://marvinhagemeister.myopenid.com/ Marvin Hagemeister
Totally agree. Seems to be such a nice guy! And he has such a cool attitude!
http://profiles.google.com/janicki.r Rafal Janicki
Perfect ! what a beautyfull photoshooting
http://twitter.com/NanaKofiPhotos Nana Kofi Acquah
Really nice guy
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=37514348 Pratik Naik
Everything just comes together so well. I love how he emphasizes the free spirit during the shoot even after everything is planned prior.
http://www.facebook.com/peterhurleyphotographer Peter Hurley
Always been a fan of his. His color is amazing. Thanks for posting!
http://www.facebook.com/darychaparro Dary Chaparro
really love the video , and the way to use koto to work, the simple thing, the honest way, really love, the music used in the video, wow, i try to find in shazam the names, but , can´t get it, if someone, knows the tracks names , please share
http://www.facebook.com/nicholas.gonzalez3 Nicholas Gonzalez
I really love Koto’s energy. It is infectious and inspiring. A wonderful video.
http://twitter.com/MorningRoad Joop van Roy
I must be the only one who finds this video very annoying… I’m also getting quite a pretentious vibe from it all.
Anonymous
You took the words out of my mouth. When you shoot stuff like this almost all the weight is carried by the model and the clothes. He shot it in portrait which is very simple in studio. I’m sorry but this is just very average and over the top. He does seem like a nice guy but this was a dull shoot.
http://www.facebook.com/blkpxls Blk Pxls
“The art of good photography is spontaneousness ” Awesomeness
http://twitter.com/ScottyMorrison Scott Morrison
Koto has a great attitude and view on photography, i respect him very much. But if that is the height of spontaneity in the fashion industry I want no part of it. That wasnt spontaneous at all, that was just bouncing ideas with the team. Spontaneous is scraping the whole plan and going somewhere never imagined to get something out of the ordinary. I must say the pictures are amazing however.
http://twitter.com/wallisphoto William Jason Wallis
I like this because he is using continuous light instead of flash (it seems) and film
http://twitter.com/wallisphoto William Jason Wallis
I like this because he is using continuous light instead of flash (it seems) and film
http://www.colorspace.am Alex Masters
<3<3
http://www.patrickhallphotography.com Patrick Hall
Does spontaneity require a minimum amount of time? I think what he meant was they had the background elements and the outfits but overall they weren’t sure where they were going. If you bounce fresh ideas around with a team 40 mins before shooting, does that not still make it spontaneous?
http://twitter.com/ScottyMorrison Scott Morrison
Precisely what I was saying, for them that may be spontaneous. It is spontaneous but only to a degree. I guess I just like being in situations very far away from what I know. Thats when I create the pictures I like because I haven’t seen them run across my screen a hundred times before. No minimum amount of time, just something different.
http://twitter.com/MorningRoad Joop van Roy
@colorspace:disqus I understand what they’re trying to say and i mostly agree with the whole ‘play is good’ message, but it all seems so incredibly contrived and faked in the video… i guess it just gets under my skin.
http://www.colorspace.am Alex Masters
I think your own inability to let go and freely express yourself is manifesting itself in your perception of others. Sad, that.
Anonymous
It was obvious that he raved about the fashion stylist Christiane but I would have given equal kudos to the model Elena Sudakova. It was her posing abilities, energy, and expression that gave the images and the fashion life.
Anonymous
It was obvious that he raved about the fashion stylist Christiane but I would have given equal kudos to the model Elena Sudakova. It was her posing abilities, energy, and expression that gave the images and the fashion life.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=36610382 Serge Neri
Pretentious? If you think this video is pretentious, don’t watch any other fashion BTS. This is about a 1 on the pretentious scale, Mario Testino summarizing his “busy schedule” is like a 10. This guy was nice! Also I liked how they talked about the art direction of the shoot. You don’t see stuff like that too often. I thought this was golden!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=831548969 Anthony Kurtz
Wow that’s weird, the whole time I thought he was talking about the model. hmmmmm. She seemed great.
Anywho…I enjoy eloquent people, confident in every word they say and not scared to play around. That’s probably why he got to where is more then another photographer who is just as good. Personality goes a long way.
http://profile.yahoo.com/PWV2VHQNL4YUVXR5LJ3TIVFYCI Rock Urias
I had the privileged of working for Koto for over 5 years,I used to do his contact sheets as well his fine art prints from time to time.
he showed me a whole new way of looking at things.

Koto Bolofo: The Art Of Good Photography Is Spontaneousness

Fstoppers Originals

Popular Articles

Recent Comments

Support Fstoppers

Koto Bolofo: The Art Of Good Photography Is Spontaneousness

Connect with Fstoppers

Fstoppers Originals

Popular Articles

Recent Comments

Support Fstoppers