© C. Fodoreanu

Meet San Diego based photographer and APA member, C. Fodoreanu.

What is your camera of choice?
I have been using Nikon cameras along the years, currently I’m using a D850.

What do you listen to when you’re shooting?
I usually shoot in silence.

Who were your biggest influencers?
I realize that everything I see, every image I connect with (ie. photography, painting, drawing) leaves a mark on me. I really like anatomical drawing from the renaissance period, such as Andreas Vesalius or Leonardo Da Vinci. I also like photographers who push the boundaries by creating a reality, rather than just depicting it – a good example is the pictorialism movement. I also tend to appreciate photographers who have the human body as their subjects.

What was the best piece of advice you were given starting out?
Follow your instincts. Get to know your camera really well. Don’t be afraid to explore and make mistakes. Be yourself and create art that is true to yourself and not aligned to what is trending at the time.

What have been some of the highlights and challenges of your career so far?
My first solo show in 2011 in Boston, MA during Harvard Arts First festival. Also, having one of my photos on the front and back cover of the yearly UCSD School of Medicine art and literature magazine ‘The Human Condition.’ Additionally, I recently had a number of solo shows at Cornel/Henry Art photography gallery in Arts District Liberty Station in San Diego. I am the co-director of this gallery that I recently started in order to promote emerging local photographers. We are planing to showcase artists photographers who align their style with our vision statement. Besides offering to promote and exhibit for free in our gallery, selected artists also have the opportunity to be showcased online at Artsy, and in our semi-annual upcoming photography magazine ‘Cornel/Henry Sees’. Details can be found here. Also, I am proud to have solidified my online presence with a newly designed website and a strong following on Instagram.

Did you learn through experience, school, other?
I am physician by training, so I learn photography by trial and error. In a way I think that is a blessing, developing as an artist outside of any normative, institutionalized confinements. I remember the first time I held a camera in my hands taking photos of the mountain snow not knowing how to manually advance from one frame to the next, creating double exposures by mistake. Today, my style seems to refine towards long exposures photography, strikingly similar to those incipient double exposures.

When were you first introduced to Photography?
As a young boy, my father gave me an old rustic manual camera. He had been taking family photos with it for the longest time. The photos he took where very influential to me. I started taking photos trying to copy his style. They were all black and white photos of our family and friends.

What 3 words describe your photography style?
Poetry of light.

What is your best marketing advice for your peers?
Be on Instagram and Facebook.