Hi. This is Suzanne Olivy. I'm a director, cinematographer. I make films, documentaries and shorts. I also take photographs and I do standup comedy. I wanted to take this day to start a conversation about art and how we're all creating it, and we're all creating it in different ways. And some of us are not calling it art, and sometimes there's amazing art around us, but we're not aware of it
souzan snores
@souzanalavi · 0:32
Hi, Hashpal. This is Suzanne. Great to talk to you. I wanted to start off by asking you about your sensibility when it comes to storytelling. I feel like you're an amazing storyteller. And you don't always have to write stories to tell a story. You can tell them in other ways, and you inherently know how to do that. Do you remember when you first started noticing that? Or what was it about photography that you thought could tell a story?
Harshpal Bhirth
@Harshpal · 1:11
Hi, Suzanne. I'm not sure when I exactly started telling stories, but I would assume it would be when I used to take photos at student hackathons all across Europe. So for people that don't know what hackathons are, it's an event where a group of folks would get together and you'd work on an issue or a sponsor would bring an issue or an API. And people in groups of four, up to four, would work on it during the weekend
souzan snores
@souzanalavi · 0:54
You. That's pretty brave to start off sharing your stories and getting feedback right away, especially with people that you really care about. It's different when you're taking pictures in your family and it's just among you guys. So that's pretty amazing that you were able to do that and take the feedback in and continue to take photographs. Sometimes feedback makes people more timid or they get hurt in that process. But that sounds really interesting
Harshpal Bhirth
@Harshpal · 0:55
So a close friend of mine gave me some advice. So at these hackathons, it would be, I guess, the text sector in general. It's very white, male dominated, and he said to look out for diversity. So I took that on and I kept an eye out for diversity and made sure everyone was equally presented at these hackathons. And through my work, I would be able to show that and hopefully attract more people of color and different genders to come to these events
Harshpal Bhirth
@Harshpal · 0:20
I have a question for you, Suzanne. So with the current SAG and WGA strikes that are going on, I'd love to hear your thoughts about it and how you and maybe your friends have been affected by this. I'd love to hear about this
souzan snores
@souzanalavi · 1:47
You. Hi. Thanks for responding. I love those photographs. I would love to hear more about something you're doing on your travels as well. I really appreciate that point because I think there's a lot of beauty in the world, and I mean all of the world, not necessarily a certain sector of the world. My other issue has always been there's a lot of conservatism in media and technology as well
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
Harshpal Bhirth
@Harshpal · 1:13
I took it to this little park bench and I flew the drone and got the shot. And, yeah, first of all, also, the drone shot is completely legal. I made sure of that before I flew. I didn't want to get in trouble, but of course, I didn't want to draw too much attention to myself. So I found a quiet street. But, yeah, I love this shot. And, yeah, it's one of my favorite shots
souzan snores
@souzanalavi · 0:57
Did you take more than one? Were you just, like, screaming when you actually saw the results? It's pretty amazing. Thank you for sharing that with us. What other cameras are you using in terms of, like, when you're on the ground and what type of stuff are you filming now? My other question is, do you mostly take photographs while you travel and do you like to take photographs when you're home and of people that you're close to?
Harshpal Bhirth
@Harshpal · 2:34
There's a story just before the pandemic, one of my sister's friends came down with her newborn, a couple of months old. And I was like, oh, let me take some photos for you. I said okay. And then she thought, Wait a minute. These photos, they'll be all right. But then she underestimated my skills. So I took the photos, edited them up and I sent it to her. And she was like, Whoa, these are professional
souzan snores
@souzanalavi · 2:37
You. Yeah, that is an amazing photograph. But now I'm super curious about your portraits. You'd be great to see some, but also making sure that it's okay to share them, because obviously this is all public. Anyway. I started working in the film industry, honestly, as an accident. It was never anything that I thought about. It was never anything I thought I could do
Harshpal Bhirth
@Harshpal · 1:04
But yeah, I like watching a lot of stuff. Regarding photos, I'll have to ask permission, but I doubt they will want me posting stuff online. But for the time being, I can post some of my photos from my trip from Japan that I did in November, December of last year. Her and I can talk about a bunch of the images I took and how I got them and how I took them and yeah, all sorts
souzan snores
@souzanalavi · 0:43
Yeah, that would be great if you could post a photograph or a couple from Japan. Again, obviously with permission, or if it's just architectural, obviously you have some permission because you're on the street. Also, if you don't mind posting or linking the equipment that you're using or what you used and what lens use. If you're changing lenses, that would be awesome. I'd love to see what you've been working on
Harshpal Bhirth
@Harshpal · 1:21
And yeah, it turned out alright. I love how the ground is glowing from the billboards around it and you've got everyone walking around with their umbrellas. But my favorite shot from Tokyo would be the last shot, which is of this man with the umbrella waiting at the traffic lights to cross the road and you got the silhouette of him in the umbrella
Harshpal Bhirth
@Harshpal · 0:40
These photos are from the famous pagoda near Mount Fuji. So we did a day trip with my mates to the pagoda and, yeah, it's on like a side of a hill, so there's quite a few steps to get there. But it was worth it because Mount Fuji mostly is normally covered by clouds. But we got there on a clear day and, yeah, the photos turned out pretty well, I think. Speaking of technical stuff, I shot at 100 ISO
souzan snores
@souzanalavi · 1:29
You know what I wanted to ask you I've had problems traveling with people when I want to photograph because they don't want to stand around while I'm taking probably too many shots of the same thing. How do you get people to be patient with you and hang out while you're getting the shots that you want, or are they also getting the shots they want? Thank you
Harshpal Bhirth
@Harshpal · 1:43
And I got one of my favorite photos there, which I'll also add, and I really love the colors of inside the temple. But, yeah, I think traveling with some people that don't mind photography is the way to go. I've had it in the past where people I've been abroad with don't like to stop and take photos and stuff, so I just do my own thing
souzan snores
@souzanalavi · 1:11
It. Yeah. It's imperative to travel with people that like to take photographs, if that's what you plan on doing. But more importantly, if they don't want to take photographs, they don't mind you going off and taking photographs
Harshpal Bhirth
@Harshpal · 1:19
This I was just able to get no one in there. These are the first two images of just the bamboo forest. And then as we were going to the temple well, actually, as we were going to see other places and stuff, I came across this image, which is as the sun was rising more and yeah, I got the rays of the sunlight. And yeah, I just really like this shot. Turned out pretty decent. And then we have this temple. Yeah
souzan snores
@souzanalavi · 1:13
You. These shots are incredible. And I love how you said that there was no photoshop used because, you know, that was what I was going to say. It looks like you used photoshop, but the lighting is unbelievable, and that's the early morning light or the late afternoon when the sun is about to set. And the fact that there's no one in the shots make it even more special them that temple looks really hard to get to, so well worth it