~ Photo Cafe' ~ Photographers - Episode #36!
~ Chat Transcript ~
20th of May, 2023
"20 Questions to.. ᴀᴇɢᴇᴀɴ!"
H.12:00 PM SLT
[The following Episode #37 will be on:
3rd of June 2023]
[12:10] Kika Yongho: ᴀᴇɢᴇᴀɴ (Cooltang Flow), is born on SL on the 10th of August, 2007.
His profile is very clean and essential, straight to the point – just like his photography style. It states, indeed: “Keep it simple and you’ll never stress.”, and then: “Friendly…I have a really big… ♥”. I can’t tell much about the first statement but I can vouch for the second! He gladly accepted this interview and always showed his support to our Photo Cafe’!
[12:11] Kika Yongho: He’s got two Flickr accounts:
and
[12:12] Kika Yongho: Both say: “I’m a Second Life resident who sometimes takes pictures while wandering around and likes to edit his pictures, it’s just a hobby for me.”. Well, dear Aegean, congrats to you on your hobby! Your photos are beautiful and really bring deep emotions to the heart of the viewer!
[12:12] Kika Yongho: He also uses to accompany his photos with great tunes, that give another insight on our gifted photographer. But now.. Are you ready to hear the world of Aegean, by the author himself?
[12:13] Kika Yongho: He says: “Hello everyone, it was a long time ago – 2007- and I met Second Life by chance, registered and started living here, it was a difficult time because the SL resident population was very small and information was not easy to find.”
[12:13] Kika Yongho: “During this period there was a mentoring system and I joined the mentors and helped the new residents as much as I could and tried to inform them about SL.”
[12:14] Kika Yongho: “After my SL life went on like this for a while, I had to leave here with the obligations of real life, then I came back again at certain times, continued for a while and left again, so I can say that my SL life was fluctuating, until during the Covid process, the days when we all have to live at home.
It was a boring time and SL was like a saviour in these times and at least here I was free and there were no bans.”
[12:14] Kika Yongho: “During these times I had the chance to spend time on SL photography, a hobby that I have always loved, previously my time was usually spent looking at beautiful pictures taken by others.”
[12:15] Kika Yongho: “I had a chance to think more, spend more time on hobbies and work to do better, and that’s how I started to spend my time, I read some articles and watched videos about technical subjects because I was never good at technical subjects so my SL photography adventure started and still continues.”
[12:15] Kika Yongho: This is our Aegean’s bio! But now.. Are you ready to hear the first 10 questions we will ask him? Please Duraya!
[12:16] Duraya: Thank you Kika!
[12:16] Duraya: Welcome to our first artist’s interview in 2023. Thank you so much Aegean for making yourself available!
[12:16] Duraya: I will now ask you the 10 questions Kika provided for you, Aegean, so you could prepare a bit in advance.
[12:16] ᴀᴇɢᴇᴀɴ (cooltang.flow): thank you for inviting me here, its appreciated
[12:17] Duraya: After those questions I will open the floor for everyone. Please make sure you withhold your curiosity a bit but make a note about your queries.
[12:18] Duraya: Ready Aegean? Here we go!
[12:18] Duraya: Your pictures feel very calm and relaxed to me and that sure shows something about you, but …
[12:18] Duraya: 1. We would like to get to know you a bit better of course. Can you define yourself in three words or do you have a motto?
[12:19] ᴀᴇɢᴇᴀɴ (cooltang.flow): 3 words…Loner, Impatient and Rebel
[12:20] Duraya: impatient – well I know how that feels, very interesting choice of words
[12:21] Duraya: 2. Our background shapes our personality and influences our actions and preferences a lot. How does yours affect your work?
[12:21] ᴀᴇɢᴇᴀɴ (cooltang.flow): Actually, I can say that it doesn’t have much of an effect, I often take snapshots about anything and whatever comes to mind at that moment.
But rarely, when I think of people who are important to me, what I think or want to say about them becomes decisive in my pictures.
[12:22] Duraya nods
[12:22] Duraya: 3. What motivates you to create?
[12:23] ᴀᴇɢᴇᴀɴ (cooltang.flow): First of all I love to take photos and I love to edit them and when I have free time for it then I’m doing it… My motivation can be music, good times spent with my friends to keep it as a memory in picture, old loves and things we’ve had or haven’t had , some ideas photo ideas which I want to try.
[12:23] ᴀᴇɢᴇᴀɴ (cooltang.flow): sometimes boredom too 🙂
[12:24] Duraya chuckles, I understand – create something and the boredom vanishes immediately
[12:24] Duraya: 4. Being addressed as ‚artist‘ isn’t exactly according to everyone’s taste. What do you feel like when they call you an artist?
[12:25] ᴀᴇɢᴇᴀɴ (cooltang.flow): I don’t like to hear it, I just think I’m a hobbyist taking pictures in the virtual world, I think art is much more than that.
[12:26] Duraya: would be interesting to hear your opinion on that, we might make it a theme and invite you 😉
[12:27] Duraya: 5. Who are your biggest artistic influences?
[12:28] ᴀᴇɢᴇᴀɴ (cooltang.flow): There is no one who has such a big influence, I’m trying to do something on my own. Actually I am very far away from this things in RL, it’s just my SL hobby and it’s easy here.
[12:28] Duraya: first half done!
[12:29] Duraya: 6. Does art help you in other areas of your life?
[12:30] ᴀᴇɢᴇᴀɴ (cooltang.flow): I have no artistic activity in real life, I just watch, listen and read. But when I take a nice picture and I like the result, it makes me feel good.
[12:30] Duraya: and it helps with boredom 😉
[12:31] Duraya: 7. What skills do you need for your work and how do you develop them?
[12:38] ᴀᴇɢᴇᴀɴ (cooltang.flow): If I had enough time and was talented at it, I would like to do my own poses. Sometimes it’s hard to find a good one that I need
[12:39] Duraya: yes, that would be a dream come true, to have the poses you need to get exactly what you have in mind
[12:40] Duraya: 8. Show us your favourite photo of someone else, and tell us why is it so.
[12:40] ᴀᴇɢᴇᴀɴ (cooltang.flow):
I love Celestial’s work, the thought-provoking pictures and this one makes me think like that.
We all have some features in ourselves that we don’t like and sometimes we want to get rid of, but it’s all the things one has, good or bad, that make a person oneself. When we change them, will we be the same again?
[12:42] Duraya: great work indeed
[12:43] CΞLΞSТIΛL DΞMON (celestialdemon): oh thank you dear Aegean, you honour me <3
[12:43] Duraya: 9. How do you create a photo? Tell us about your creative process.
[12:46] ᴀᴇɢᴇᴀɴ (cooltang.flow): I don’t really follow a planned method about it, I just do it after I have an idea in my head, general things everyone knows, a suitable location, a suitable pose for the picture, then the light and shadow settings, if these are ok I take a few pictures from different angles and distances and then I’m editing how I like.
Sometimes, when I see other people somewhere, if I like the scene and it makes me think about something, I enjoy taking these pictures too.
[12:48] Duraya: thanks for explaining Aegean
[12:48] Duraya: last one
[12:48] Duraya: 10. Last one show us your favourite photo you took, and tell us why is it so.
[12:49] ᴀᴇɢᴇᴀɴ (cooltang.flow): There was a time when I decided to make some changes in my life after going through some annoying days, and this picture was a picture of a man who was thinking of going completely and give up, but while I was working on that picture, I changed my mind and then some good results came out. Even though the picture is a normal picture, it had a different meaning to me and I love it.
[12:51] Harmony Evergarden: Q:
[12:52] Duraya: Thank you so far, that was very interesting and insightful.
[12:52] Duraya: It’s audience-time now! Please write c for comment, q for question and r for retract in open and indicate you are finished by writing ‚ done, I will call you up in order.
[12:52] Kika Yongho: q
[12:52] Duraya: and Harmony has a question already, please shoot
[12:52] Harmony Evergarden: How did you get that effect, Agean?
[12:54] Sepp Schimmer: q
[12:55] Maloe Vansant: q
[12:55] ᴀᴇɢᴇᴀɴ (cooltang.flow): First of all I have to say that I am not good about tech terms in English, sorry about that. I used Photoshop, some vintage tools, grains etc
[12:55] Harmony Evergarden: thanks. Done
[12:56] Duraya: thank you, next is Kika please
[12:57] Kika Yongho: I have a question from Moki:
[12:57] Kika Yongho: I was already your follower on Flickr but today I have just discovered your second account (thanks Kika for providing both links). This is an interesting choice. I noticed that one has been created in 2008 and the other one in 2019, and the images are quite different in each account, in example the newer one contains all “Polaroid” styled photos, but I think there is more than that. Could you tell us the reason behind this (I say again, interesting) choice about two different accounts? Done
[12:58] ᴀᴇɢᴇᴀɴ (cooltang.flow): I saw some Andrei Tarkovsky Polaroids on internet and I liked very much, still trying to improve it but it’s very hard to make analogue pictures with digital tools, so i am just trying
[12:58] Duraya: thank you – and a question from Sepp
[12:59] Sepp Schimmer: Love that Tarkovsky reference, that makes sense! Now, for my Q: I think I see some “street photography” in your work, Aegean, especially in one of your Flickr stream. I’m curious as to if that is deliberate, if you set out to do that inworld, and in that case what strategies you chose? Done
[13:01] ᴀᴇɢᴇᴀɴ (cooltang.flow): true, i don’t use backdrops or studio for pictures, my pics mostly taken from far and people not the first thing in pictures, natural environment always my first choice
[13:02] Sepp Schimmer: Thank you, Aegan. Could follow up on that some time. Very interesting.
[13:02] Duraya: thanks and the last question comes from Maloe
[13:02] Maloe Vansant: do you always create your own windlights or use the pre made and do you want to share some? Done
[13:04] ᴀᴇɢᴇᴀɴ (cooltang.flow): I am using pre made ones, rarely I do some changes, Satomi Windlights are fine, she posted some in 2016 – 2020 and using them, they’re free on her website
https://www.foxcitysl.com/2017/08/satomis-windlights.html
[13:04] Flo Nova (flo0owl): Still using those Aeg after you told me about them
[13:04] Maloe Vansant: need to remember on this, thank you
[13:05] Duraya: thanks for this info
[13:05] ᴀᴇɢᴇᴀɴ (cooltang.flow): sharing knowledge and some good tools is the best
[13:06] Duraya: I hope you enjoyed your time with us Aegean, this time being the centre of interest.
[13:07] Duraya: and yes, sharing knowledge is important so hopefully we can welcome all of you to our next cafe’ in a fortnight, 3rd June 2023.
