INTERVIEW: BRANO VARTOVNIK "I ALWAYS WANTED TO TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS OF PEOPLE THAT HAVE SOME IMPACT"
First time I met Brano was two years ago in Wels. I looked up his portfolio and started following him that second. His photos had soul. Had a story to tell. He was able to capture that right moment, the one that instantly brings back the memory and the emotion. Pure and unretouched, simple yet amazing! What draw me to his art is the feeling... that feeling of being at a show gives you. He perfectly translates that feeling in to a visible form: a photography!
Coming from Bratislava, Slovakia, Brano's journey began in the concrete suburbs, immersed in punk rock, skateboarding culture and the DIY spirit. From playing in bands and organizing shows to co-running an independent record label, his path naturally evolved toward documenting the very essence of the scene he grew up in. Today he captures the visual idealism of rock'n'roll, both on and off stage.
Over the years, his career has been shaped by extensive experience photographing artists in live and backstage environments. His work has appeared on billboards, record covers, merchandise and in books, as well in numerous print and digital publications.
How long have you been in photography?
BV: Practically since 2009. I bought cheap and bad digital camera for maybe 300 pounds when I was living in London. I didn´t know anything about photo gear of course and it was complete impulse buy, but with the clear goal, to learn and to make photographs. The options that it gave me were very limited but I discovered stuff like ISO, shutter speed and from the very beginning I knew I had good sense of composition and that was absolute push for me to go on.
Did you study photography or did you learn it yourself?
BV: Mostly DIY and trial and error method. After some time, a buddy of mine, who´s also a great musician, told me something about a thing that was called full-frame. And that I should be oriented around that to step up my game and when I want to do professional work. That was the next important checkpoint on the timeline of my development. I also was checking the workflow of other photographers, been to some workshops that were led by the most famous names in the world photo biz but everybody have to understand that it´s a craft: you build your skillset just doing it and really have it in your hands the whole time.
How did you get in to concert photography?
BV: I was a guy in a band myself actually. Bratislava´s not that big
and if you´re into punk rock, or metal, you kinda meet all the other people, even if you´re trying to be orthodox or isolated. And if you´re not too dumb and you have broad horizons, you´re pretty much immediately part of the music scene when you're active enough. And that was also my story. That long time active presence in this environment was a topic that made sense to me perfectly when comes to photography and I knew a lot of people from music that were very open to work with me. The next element were magazines. They were the thing in the 90s and early 2000s and all those well known skateboard and snowboard mags
that were gluing extreme sports and rock´n´roll together. I could watch a photo or a sequence of a skater a few minutes straight, it was purely magnetic, almost in an autistic kind of sense. And then there were the bands. Interviews, record reviews, live photos...That was the place I actually got to names like Lifetime, Samiam, The Sick, US Bombs, Burning Heads, NOFX, Poison Idea or even Punkorama compilations. I was all there and I was stuffing my face with all that informations and from that point I knew where my place on this planet is pretty much gonna be.
What was the first gig you shoot?
BV: It was a local young pop punk band which I can´t remember the name of in legendary venue Barfly in Camden, London. You know, the club where Amy Winehouse, At The Drive-In, Coldplay, The Strokes or Ed Sheeran played in their beginnings? Yeah, that´s the one. Images are shit and I didn´t know what to do at that time but it simply paved my path clear in life in this matter and that´s pretty much when all started. I still have those photos.
What are your top 3 concerts that you did as a photographer and why?
BV: After all those years I honestly completely changed my view on this list and I have to say, number one is the very fist one I mentioned above for the aforementioned reasons.
Second one was The Offspring with Brian May from Queen. Why? Read that line a few more times for yourself. Moments like these are here for some of us just once. The last one is unfortunately the sad one and I gotta say it´s Sick Of It All in 2024. Those pictures have enormous value for me not just because they are the very last live pics of this band playing, but obviously I was the only Slovak photographer present that night.
Who are your favourite artists to work with?
BV: Anybody who´s interesting and willing to give me a few minutes of his life, maybe share some stories and have a great chat. I can´t really tell I encountered someone that´s been actually rude to me during those years, it´s still about how you can handle the communication with the subject and know how much time you have, what are your options etc. Last time I did photos with Pulley, Good Riddance, Horace Pinker, The Drowns or with Dan from 88 Fingers Louie and Toby Morse from H2O for example and those dudes are the sweetest, such fun times!
What are some of the problems you encounter: how easy or difficult is it to get the accreditation and do you ask for them or do the organizers/artists/promotors ask for you?
BV: When it comes down to getting a photo pass to a gig, it´s about connections or media backup. Both of them are the gate openers to this job. As for me, I´m in that level now that promoters call me up to cover the show for them. And when there´s a show I´d love to shoot, they know they will get a good quality set of images that will also help their promotion of their activities, so I try to ask if there´s a spot for me. I also started collaboration with one online mag from Austria now
so there´s always an opportunity to bring out some work.
Concert lighting is not a flattering one for photography: how do you get a great photo with so much changes of environment, strobes, contrasts?
BV: I think now with actual technology upgrades we have more options than ever. I have to admit that AI is a very helpful tool while postprocessing the images when it comes to smoothing the texture or bringing out the more readable information from a photo that was shot in a very bad light conditions. The latest examples of that happened to me during a Baboon Show, when Cecilia stepped out from the lights covered stage to the very front and stood on the subs and was interacting with the crowd. That moment I almost completely lost the better help of the light-plot and just a few light flicks flying from a stage area helped me here and there. Some time ago, I couldn´t build nothing on that but know, with the help of updated technologies, I could save those pictures and they turned out great, even still being pretty dark. And yeah, the pure blue, red or magenta combined with just dark or too much strobe is forever shitty.
You have an exhibition coming up. Tell us more about it.
BV: "Face The Sbäm" photo exhibition is a physical display of photos that were made during the last few years at the gigs under the Sbäm brand.
First one held place at Sbäm Fest at Wels already and it was great times! Since then I was very active during summer and the collection got some noticeable updates, so you can await added portraits of members of Pulley, The Suicide Machines, Horace Pinker and more. Photos are gonna be hung somewhere in the beautiful space of a classic building of Ottakringer Brauerei in Vienna during the Riot Brew Fest with Zebrahead, Gimme Gimmies or Punk Rock Factory on the list, so it´s gonna be a very nice one! This cirque de punk will happen 27th of November.
How do you choose what photos to put out to be displayed?
BV: It has to be somewhat special. Perhaps the portrait of a band member that is not too eager to take photos or some band that are not very often in your area and you got them on the picture. The story behind it gives it the weight. Goldfinger´s gig in Austria in 2024 is forever exclusive for me and I probably will place the photo with Feldy and Charlie caught in jump simultaneously on every exhibition that touches the topic. The photo is just super fucking cool and I´m the most proud of it also for the fact the band is not present in Europe often.
Is this going to be a one time thing or are you maybe thinking of making it something like a touring exhibition?
BV: "FACE THE SBAM" exhibition actually took place at Sbäm Fest in Wels this year for the very first time and even during the event, Stefan without hesitation asked me if I wanna do this again in Vienna. So I´m going to travel with those pics whenever and wherever I can, but not an exact tour under this name is actually in the works now as I know. But I definitely plan to do other photo exhibitions under my own name in the future.
Where would you like to display your art?
BV: The exhibit + live gig format is pretty much the best I can have.
I did my own exhibition in my hometown in 2023 with bands and afterparty with DJ and people are still coming to me saying it was maybe the best gig in that year for them. Unfortunately the number of venues that could hold this kind of event
at least in Bratislava is just scarce. So if I´d do the tour, or at least a solo show, It would have to be in this set up, which is not the easiest way, but it´s always worth the dime. So i gotta look after venues that could host this kind of event and when I find them, we all definitely will know their names. Eventually my collab with SbamFest now is absolutely perfect for me and I will do it as long as possible.
Is there an artist you would like to photograph?
BV: There are some of those that are unfortunately not with us anymore,
like Adam Yauch from Beastie Boys, Kurt Cobain or maybe Dimebag Darell, Fredy Mercury for sure, there are a few more names. I always wanted to take photographs of people that have some impact. There´s not much modesty behind it, it was all planned and I was still completely focused from a very start to do this, because it attracted me. Just like Mike Ness said he always wanted to be a rockstar and he just went after that and worked hard to get where he is now. It´s the most inspiring and I don´t feel any shame to admit that, it´s completely human. To finish my answer is that I have portraits of people I actually didn´t plan to make and didn´t actually expect to have in my portfolio as they just crossed my way. So finally I wanna shoot everybody that´s interesting and is
willing to give me a few moments of his or her precious time.
What are the plans after this exhibition?
BV: After all those years of traveling and being bruised in tight photo pits it´s actually time to start to work on my publications. There´s more ideas and themes on the table and I want to use all of them, one by one. I also started to manage a few bands in my area and I also work as a production manager in our local venue so I got work to do. I´m in the music scene for more than 25 years now and tried to do a few different things in life but eventually all paths led me to this place. I just can´t avoid to be a part of it obviously. As for plans, I gotta focus on the November exhibit now, as it´s one of the biggest and the most exciting events so far in my career and I just can´t wait to be there! And if your band or anybody you know wants to have a new pictures, let me know! See ya down the road!
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