Pasha is self-taught, proving again how a tool can transcend its definition. Her lens penetrates the surface of her subjects like a razor-sharp scalpel, revealing a staggering depth of emotion, transforming both what is photographed as well as those who view the finished work. Born on a kitchen table from the womb of a self-proclaimed gypsy, Pasha is not a woman who will be tethered to a single space or a single way of being defined. With a seemingly limitless comfort zone she teases an immeasurable frankness and connection from what falls within the grasp of her shutter.
The honesty is arresting to the eyes, and seizes into whimsy. Pasha’s portfolio includes ad campaigns for such Portland area mainstays as Bishop’s Barbershop and Voodoo Donut. May they be photographs enticing an onlooker to purchase a product, or shots revealing the body’s splendor in the throes of late term pregnancy, her work is as diverse as it is striking.
Through her photography she captures the essence of what is seemingly ephemeral and unfathomable within the realm of words. Her photographs speak a language all their own.
Q - If you couldn’t be a photographer, what would you do for a living?
Pasha – I could do just about anything if I loved it. I was not raised in a “normal” way and so I’ve never enrolled in an institution that gave me any sort of certificate of ability. In other words, I’m technically completely uneducated. I went to the school of life. I was born in a small town on the kitchen table to a woman who fancied herself a gypsy. After she wandered back and forth across a few lands with me in tow for about 13 years, I went out on my own. I wasn’t raised with the proper skills to follow rules therefore school and I had our challenges.
After sporadic grade school attendance I attempted high school which ended three months into ninth grade Over the next two decades I traveled on to find many teachers and life lessons that inspired me to do many lovely, courageous and stupid things. I’ve been a prop assistant in the film industry when I was a teen. I was a midwife for many years.
I learned Midwifery though apprenticeship from a handful of amazing witches. I was a yoga instructor for many years. I’ve been a childbirth educator. I have a company called Moving Through. An amazing woman named Nicole apprenticed with me for a few years and now she teaches all the classes. I was a youth hostel tour guide on Maui for a winter, Go Go dancer… I’ll leave the details of that out… It didn’t last long. I’ve attempted to work in the service industry a handful of times but I always get fired.
Bishops Barbershop
Q – Dark rooms or Photoshop?
Pasha – Darkroom is far more pleasurable. I love the smell and feel of the darkroom. It’s possible that I am addicted to the chemicals.
I could spend 12 hours with no food or water in a darkroom and come out feeling a lot better then I do after three hours sitting in front of my computer. The digital darkroom is pretty interesting though. I work with it a lot. Many clients prefer digital these days because of the convenience of it. I’ve learned a lot about photoshop in the past couple of years. I find that I have to spend time in the darkroom or I’ll start to loose inspiration to shoot. Film has a soul that I have not yet experienced with digital. The question ” do you shoot with digital or film reminds me of the early “90’s” when the big question was, “are you gay or straight?“
Can’t I be both?
Q – Do you know if there are any photographers who have died from exposure?
Pasha -Ansel Adam’s heart failed in 1984…. he used to play with chemicals quite a bit…. This question could be taken a lot of ways but honestly I’m not inspired to write an essay on the artists who have died inside from the work they have done or perhaps from the work they only dreamed of…..
You can probably make those stories up in your own head….. right?
Q – Name three photographers whose pictures are worth more than a thousand words.
Pasha – There are some very famous photographers who have left viewers speechless. The three that I have a crush on the most would be:
Annie Leibovitz
Sally Mann
David LaChapelle
There are a couple of local photographers that really turn me on as well.
Bryan Wolf
&
Alicia Rose
I have lots of friends here in Portland that are great photographers but something about the way that these two are able to capture the moment and light… really beautiful.
Bryan is the master of natural light and Alicia is amazing with the strobes.
Are you familiar with them?
Q – If you got a phone call that you were being flown to a undisclosed location tomorrow to photograph a secret subject, and you weren’t even told whether that subject were a person or a building or a landscape, and you were only allowed to take one camera, and somebody had uploaded only Dave Matthews tracks to your iPod (even though he is considered by some to be a musical genius and/or prodigy, you might not feel the same way), and they told you to bring glow sticks (when is the last time you danced with those?), and they mentioned tooth brush and swimsuit but it was January, and you couldn’t find your favorite red pants, which camera would you take?
Pasha – First of all I don’t wear red pants, I’m not hip enough to pull that off. I’m fine with silence and glow sticks scare the shit out of me.
I tend to skinny dip and I always have my passport and a toothbrush on me so……
I would probably bring a Hasselblad 501 with a wide and a portrait lens…. I would then sneak my FM2T with a 35 fixed lens in my pantaloons. . . . I might sneak my D2X and a couple of other Lenses in my hat.
How much am I being paid for this mystery mission?
Q – Would you rather have a photographic memory or a Hasselblad?
Pasha – Hasselblad!
Memories are better somewhat contrived, don’t you think?
Q – Do you often answer questions with questions?
Pasha -Yes, . . . is that ok?
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Pasha is available to shoot “just about anything.” You can see more of her work and contact her at www.pashaproductions.com
Special thanks to Ainsley Drew and Ministry of Imagery for their input.
