Meet Guitar Art Media Team

We present you Anđelu Petrovski, Danila Mijatovića, Nemanju Živkovića i Andriju Đokića!

We present you Anđelu Petrovski, Danila Mijatovića, Nemanju Živkovića i Andriju Đokića! They are media team of the Guitar Art Festival. For years you have the opportunity to follow their work. They devotedly record artists and participants of the festival in their media.
They are recording concerts that are the heritage of the Guitar Art Festival.
These artist with their sharp eyes, but also with the true knowledge of all the spheres of the festival, document the Guitar Art in the most authentic way.

Meet our media team through an interview that we've done together.

PS: If you meet them at the festival, ask them for a photo! :) #GafMediaTim

WHO ARE YOU?

A.Đ. - My name is Andrija Djokic and I am a student of film and television direction and a lover of art.

A.P. -  I am Anđela Petrovski, photographer from Belgrade. I love to highlight small but prescious moments through photography. Those moments that people often forget to notice. 

D.M. -  Danilo. I take photographs, make collages and sometimes installations as well. I am inspired by music, films and interpersonal relations.

N.Ž. - Nemanja Živković. I have gratuaded from Faculty of Applied Arts in Belgrade, Bachelor and Master degree, major in photography. I have been intensively engaged in studio photography since 2012 and I have collaborated with famous musicians, actors, ballerinas…

WHEN DID YOUR COLLABORATION WITH GUITAR ART FESTIVAL STARTED?

A.Đ. – It happened during my studies when I got the chance to become a part of the team that leads the festival I have been attending for years.

A.P. – I started to collaborate with Guitar Art Festival in 2014 during my third year of college. There was an add searching for photographers, I answered and it led to many friendships and interesting acquaintances so far.

D.M. – We started to collaborate in 2015. Before that I didn’t engage in photographing serious concerts of classical music. It was a comprehensive experience, not just during photography but also in the enjoyment of music.

I entered the space where creative refinement was possible and from which I gained much more than I could have ever guessed.

N.Ž. – The collaboration with Guitar Art Festival started in 2013 when I photographed the guitar professors and prize winners at the festival.

WHICH CONCERT/PHOTOSHOOT STANDS OUT OF THE OTHERS?

 A.Đ. – Last year’s performance of Tommy Emanuel. Not only because his music is inspirational but also because the experience of the photoshoot was equally challenging and exciting.

A.P. - Alfonso Linares Flamenco Sextet. There are many concerts that had made great impressions but this flamenco sextet was unreal, like a mixture of music made for films and flamenco. That concert and many more have been a challenge.  For example, a moment when I start to put down the camera so I could better see and hear what was going on.  

D.M. – The concert of the Indian trio (Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt), the instrumental and experimental music left the strongest impression. Music was inspired by mantra that pulled everyone in. The audience actively participated in creating a moment. There was a strong feeling of community. Then and there, for the first time I heard the instrument he had made himself. It had 14 strings. The impression of a concert where you are assigned to do something is completely different.  It is not possible to surrender to the music. Therefore, I mention exactly this concert. It was bursting with energy. The artist had, all of us behind the scene, captured and taken us to a sphere of eternal peace.

N.Ž. – The photoshoot I would separate is the studio set for the GAF book where various guitar professors were present. The photoshoot lasted for 8 hours, the energy was great and I think, at the end of the day everyone had an interesting and useful experience.

WHAT IS CONCERT PHOTOGRPHY OR VIDEO? WHAT CAN BE REPRESENTED BY IT?

A.Đ. – Besides the fact that short video transmits the concert experience to broader audience, I believe that this form can add a new esthetic dimension to music performances through video expression and esthetics.

A.P. – When they asked me what would be my calling if I could not do photography, I replied it would be music. My first visit to GAF was exactly because of this. I was separated from music a long time ago by the choices I made and this was the way to finally connect two things that fulfil me the most. In that way, concert photography for me as a photographer and a bit of music and guitar connoisseur, can represent an accurate moment and emotion that I can recognize in musicians.  On the technical side, concert photography has many limitations and rules, especially when it comes to classical music. Not to disturb the artist and the audience and to capture the moment. The thing I like the most is when I remember how insecure and frightened I was at my first festival comparing to how I am approaching the photography today. 

D.M. – I can say it is a privilege especially because music is a live thing. The energy is being transferred in waves. Everything changes in the moment. Listening and observing, not just on the stage but also the reactions of the audience.

N.Ž. – Concert photography is a kind of” ninja” experience where you must be considerate and invisible and yet again be where you are supposed to be to capture the emotions of the musicians and the audience and represent the concert in the best possible way.

FUTURE PROJECTS?

A.Đ. – I plan to continue working on my short films, music videos and promotional videos for numerous cultural and artistic events.

A.P. – I am currently working on my most important project so far, a photography blog/magazine that I founded, Balkanium. Beside that I have many other projects and collaborations in mind as well as exhibitions from my own intimate and family stories on which I have been working the entire time. I think the moment to share them with others is coming soon. 

D.M. – Now, I am in the theoretical faze of research for my future project. I am trying to gather more symbolic and religious aspects. My intention is to link the taboo of the nude – in other words, unclothing/freedom/fear/shame/infantility on one side to connect with religious dogmas on the other side. 

N.Ž. – Educational photography is the future project – how it is to be a professor. Teach people about photography, transfer the knowledge, experience and capacitate them for future experimenting in photography.