We were lucky to catch up with Aga Hosking recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Aga with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
Being born in communist Poland and experiencing big economical turmoils happening in my country taught me my survival skills. My work ethic definitely comes from then as well. On top of that my family happened to be a hard working people who demanded the same devotion to work as well as small home tasks. Things just HAD to be done properly, whether that was swiping the floor or handwriting in your school homework books. Did you know in Poland you are being assessed on your hand writing? Different notebooks have different lines and for example math notebooks have check type of pattern so you write numbers in relevant squares. One under another, in columns, nice and tidy. For literature you would have a notebook with three lines pattern and all small letters had to fit in to the space between line 1 & 2 and the ling letters and capital letters had to reach the 3rd, top line. If your handwriting was all over the place you could be either told to prescribe all pages again and again or have a detention. No excuses.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I have been a wedding photographer for nearly 12 years and what it first started like a Saturday job (literally) and a hobby it has developed in to my full time career and my biggest passion. Initially I didn’t really think of how I can fall in love with …love. Experiencing people new beginnings and family formations is something unbelievable romantic and makes me feel really privileged to be part of. My focus is to preserve the best memories for my couples. I want them to come back to their images in their crucial times in life, the happy times and the sad times. I want them to feel and relive the emotions they felt on their wedding day.
A photograph can be so powerful, it can break or empower people. It can remind us of those very special people in our lives who already passed and who made ennormous impact on us. A photograph can save a marriage in tough times. It shows us the inevitable time passing and teaches us humility. A photograph evokes memories, loss, love and happiness. And these are nothing but the essence of life.
I really would love to carry on photographing as long as i can. If I cant stand anymore or hold my camera I would perhaps start teaching photography or editing – there are many possibilities and I am not scared to shift to a different genre.
In fact I have recently started some projects which hopefully help me change the trajectory a little. I am working on developing a series of fine art prints that people will be able to purchase through my website. More details will be published on my social media when the project is ready but ititss too early to say anything since its only started a couple of months ago.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The most important skill is to learn about light. To understand how light works in different scenarios and then learn your equipment to achieve our desired look / effect that involves understanding the light. The second most important skill is learning about people. Listening, being empathic and simply kind its all you really need in this job.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
Staying creative and always pushing myself to bring new things, new projects and new collaborations become a motto of my business. Its got obviously the sad elf the development and personal growth but to me it just kills boredom. I am neurodivergent which means boredom is my biggest enemy. I simply cannot imagine myself doing anything monotonous or repetitive. Yes, I am aware that I repeat the activities like taking pictures or editing but these can be so different as every photoshoot is different and every client is different. I am open for new ideas, even those that sounds little unrealistic or crazy. Collaborations related to editorials, art direction, branding and fashion photography. One of the biggest parts of the wedding is actually its fashion, people want and they look their bests on a wedding day and to me this is like a fashion show. When speaking on fashion photography I mainly mean the arty side of it as this genre became a pure art over the years. It’s not about capturing clothing anymore but about storytelling, expression of concepts, emotions and cultural trends. Reflecting societal views on beauty, identity and style.
I would love to do a little bit more travelling this following years to explore weddings and other projects abroad. Shooting culturally different weddings and experiencing different wedding traditions is in my bucket list and this again being new and fresh in my portfolio helps with creativity and learning of new horizons.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.agahosking.com
- Instagram: @agahosking
- Youtube: @agahosking1129
