For some time now I’ve been working to recreate a look I’ve been shooting on film for years. The “look” is from my Yashica Portrait series, shot on film, with a vintage camera. This new approach is all digital. These film characteristics combine a distinct color profile, graininess, and a bit of punch in the shadows. I also love how they retain the intimacy and rawness from the original series. I’m hyped to shoot more portraits using this new technique. Reach out if you or someone you know would be a good fit for this style of portrait. I’m always looking for interesting subjects.
There’s a vibe I like on my sets. I don’t like chaos. I like a well organized low key set. Keep it simple and chill. What does that take to create that kind of set? Pre-production is key, but it’s not the only thing. A good pre-pro anticipates problems before they come up and has solutions in place. It’s pre-visualizing how you want the shoot to unfold and then letting all the hard work on the front end unfold. Of course, problems will arise, or curveballs will be thrown. It’s how you react to those situations that sets the tone. And for me the reaction should be chill. Experience helps. I’ve encountered a lot of adverse conditions that we’ve had to deal with over the years. But for me, the key is to never over react, surround yourself with really good people that are really good at what they do, pre-produce the hell out of it, and then just enjoy another low key, chill shoot.
I’ve embarked on a new personal project. It’s actually a mashup of an existing project and a new tool in my kit. The new tool is a drone, and the existing project is my Americana series. While I don’t see this as a continuation of that existing body of work, it’s still early days.
I love travel and exploration. When I’m on the road I’m happiest far from the interstates or main thoroughfares. Give me a byway or back road any day. That’s where my Americana series has lived for the better part of 2 decades. The through line to this new body of work is a curiosity of humankind’s interaction and imprint on earth’s natural landscape.
I’ve been flying as much as possible lately to log hours and practice. Recently, I noticed I’m gravitating to an old familiar subject matter – quirky or unique occasions where humans have inserted their stamp onto the natural landscape.
I’ve noticed this new perspective lends itself to the subject matter I was exploring in my Americana series. It’s different, but I like what I’m seeing so far. There’s something magical that happens as the camera lifts from the ground and the wide expanse opens up. It reminds me of the same feeling of anticipation I’d get in the darkroom as a black and white print would start to emerge in the tray. In both cases, I know generally what’s coming, but that doesn’t diminish the magic of the reveal.
I’m at the point where I want to revisit some of the original locations I shot from the ground. I want to see how the aerial perspective changes the mood or impact of the images.
The aerial perspective has also got me thinking about subjects that didn’t necessarily work from the ground. Urban sprawl is a great example. I always found it difficult to convey this concept from the ground. The image here of Koko Crater on Oahu and the hint of the housing development in the foreground is exactly what I’ve always seen in my mind’s eye, but could never convey from a ground perspective.
I think these images are an interesting start to a new phase of this project.
Here is a recent interview I did with Wonderful Machine about my work with Colas:
Capa Pictures, a Paris photo agency, invited San Diego-based Frank Rogozienski to handle an industrial project for Colas, a French civil engineering firm. This assignment took Frank across several US locations, from expansive highway construction sites in Georgia and rural South Carolina to the tarmac of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The collaboration continued his long-standing relationship with both companies, and the images were added to Colas’ digital asset library for the company to use for marketing, presentations, social media, product catalogs, and other purposes.
As a commercial photographer, whenever I get to travel for work I try to schedule a day or two after we wrap to explore and shoot some personal work. It’s a great way to decompress, scratch my travel itch, and continue one of my personal projects. In this case, I stayed on after an industrial shoot in rural Wyoming to discover a state I’d never explored.
