In what style do you most like to photograph?
It's hard for me to answer this question, because I've never really thought about it, and I also didn't graduate from any art or photography school to be able to tell what style I photograph in. I wouldn't put my photos under any particular style. When it comes to my inspirations, on the other hand, I definitely take inspiration from top fashion photographers of the 90s and 00s like Steven Meisel, Nick Knight and Ellen von Unwerth. Lately, I've been experimenting with flash, Polaroids and analogues ...we'll see what comes out of it.
Do you choose the people you work with yourself? What does it look like to establish contact with them?
Everything really depends on the type of assignment: whether it's a commercial, editorial or individual session. In a situation where I have an interesting idea in my head, I usually immediately assign it to a particular person and keep my fingers crossed that he or she will be interested and accept the so-called mood board, which is a special document in which I describe what the session should look like, what style it should be, etc. Just as often, people write to me and send in advance what style they would like to do the session in. Sometimes I write to the creators directly through Instagram if I see that they are "reachable." In other cases, I look for an email to managers or people responsible for organizing sessions, and other times through acquaintances.
How do you work with famous people? Do you feel intimidated or have you gotten used to it?
In general, I don't treat a well-known person as someone better than an ordinary client. I treat everyone at the session the same. Although I must admit that I am a person who stresses a lot and quickly, the beginnings were difficult. I remember once before the session I had to go to the Vistula and meditate out of stress. Certainly, you should not judge these people by what impression they make in the media. You can be strongly surprised later when getting to know them: once positively and once negatively.
Can you reveal what project you are working on now or at least what or who it is related to?
At the moment I'm waiting until I can publish the photos I took during a video of a certain rapper. I'm looking forward to it because the photos are in a completely different style and I had several models pose for me, so it's a completely different vibe than before. At the same time, I'm in the process of working out the details of several sessions: some of them are creative sessions with models, and some with famous people, but don't want to announce them at this point :)
Thanks for the interview!
Check out Natalia's Instagram @natalia.gromiec, where you can find the rest of her projects and learn about upcoming ones.