Photography: Janna Ilano

Janna Ilano, 20, just got out of art school. Likes taking photographs of her sister, of friends, and of strangers.

Who introduced you to photography?

I find it funny that my dad was a hobbyist back then, but was not

the one who introduced me to photography. I actually got into it

because of this photoblog, run by Joseph Pascual. He shoots a lot of photographs of his friends. It was very endearing, for me. I wanted to take photographs of people too - and that was it. Until now, I still follow his work on Livejournal.

Please describe your style

I don’t really know. I guess I’m a composite of the people I admire,and somehow their styles show in my photographs. I do value composition a lot. Some of my friends say that there's something familiar in my photographs, in terms of style. But I never really get it. I take photographs that I feel right about, most of the time without style in mind.

Where do you get inspirations?

Bus rides, people, films, and books. Hell, even coffee.

What brought you to shooting these kinds of photographs?

Just four years ago, my goal was to become a fashion photographer. I thought that’s what I wanted, and I tried doing a couple of shoots.But it all felt controlled, for me. I want to connect without the need to tell a person to look at the camera. I want every thing to be natural.

In terms of shooting documentary photographs, what do you find hard?

Not making any connections with the people, I guess.

What can you suggest people who would like to start shooting

documentary- type photographs?

Be an observer and shoot what you know first before exploring. Shoot the place where you live, the people you see everyday, the things that you do. Stories will always be there. Tell them like it is, good or bad. Also, get attached. Shoot your friends, or shoot the people you’d like to be friends with.

Name people you would like to work with

Nobuyoshi Araki, Nan Goldin, Christopher Doyle

Photographers with the same genre you look up to the most

Nan Goldin, Sebastiao Salgado, Jake Verzosa, Tomasz Gudzowaty,David Alan Harvey

What are your plans for the future?

Drift around. Meet new people. Tell more stories.

Words you live by

I wanted to go back and do the original thing: one camera, one lens,one film. You really have to put yourself in a position of danger to be creative. - David Alan Harvey

You can see more of her works! Click here.