Stock Photographer Andrey Pavlov has one of the most thematically dedicated and unique Fotolia portfolios specialising in the photography of ants in fairytale like situations. Unbelievably, despite the photos looking as if they have been photoshopped or shot using dead ants, Parlov shoots them interacting with his purposefully created miniature stage sets.
We spoke to him to gain a fascinating insight into the inspiration and dedication behind his work as well as the artistic relationship he has with the ants he shoots.
My name is Andrey Pavlov and I live in the country house close to the town of Viborg in Denmark and in winter I live in St. Petersbourg. I started working with Fotolia in 2008 – I wanted to try to get a source of income from it. I started walking a bit after being bed-bound for three years and started taking photographs of trucks at the highway 50km from my house. And whilst I was unwell I made friends with ants. Now all my time is dedicated to Ant Tales.
Stock macro is my photographic style which has been continuously influenced by my wish to shoot my small friends for myself and the necessity to sell it on stocks along with my own eclectic style. The style of my main photos: Ants Tales are similar to what you may find in traditional Russian comic books.
The tales about ants are my most famous photographs and are quite famous on the internet (Ant Stories), however on stock websites, stock oriented images are of a bigger value – with a minimal story or without it at all. Although from all the Ant Stories one featuring Teamwork sells the best on stock sites as ants are the most advanced earth inhabitants when it comes to teamwork. It is interesting that from time to time my Ants Tales are sold, as they are not a traditional stock subject I think.
When I started trying to work with stock photography I had no style at all, I was just discovering digital photography. I am still amazed how my first pics were accepted :) More and more often now however I shoot photos for children, the main thing I want to show is huge amazing things in something small: kindness and tenderness in nature and the world around us.
Thank you so much to Andrey for taking the time to share some of his photography journey. To check out more of his fabulous images head over to his Fotolia portfolio and his website.
