We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Zita Szasz a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Zita, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

I am very passionate about meeting new people and taking photos of them.
Not only people who work for the entertainment industry, but all sorts of exciting people who I wouldn’t meet otherwise. Through my job, I’ve taken pictures with all walks of life – an award winning writer, a neuroscientist, and even people with regular jobs. I really appreciate the time I spend together with my clients, and the unique life stories they share with me during our session.

I have a favorite quote of the great American photographer, Annie Leibovitz :

“When I say I want to photograph someone, what it really means is that I’d like to know them.”

Photography is not only my job, but sort of my love language. This is my way of approaching people. When I am not working, I like to spend hours walking in LA, sitting in cafes, and watching people. I think I have the ability of seeing the beauty in all people, and the most appealing side of these people, and part of my job is to show it.
In my opinion it is not only just about choosing the right lens, backdrop, angle, or retouch. I enjoy to spend more time with my models, getting to know them better, and gain their trust. I think sometimes for a good portrait, especially if you are not only working with actors and models, it is important to get into the zone of people, and make them feel comfortable – this takes time.

Zita, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Zita Szasz. I am a photographer originally from Budapest, Hungary.
I specialize in portrait photography, working in the fields of fashion, journalism, and music.
My work has been featured on Buzzfeed, Marie Claire, Deadline Hollywood, WeTransfer, and numerous other publications.

As far as I can remember, I always liked to take photos and the position behind the camera. I think photography is also a certain attitude. Someone who likes to stand a little bit outside the box and observing other people in all life situations, not only on set.

When I was a teenager, like a lot of other photographers, I directed my friends , took photos of them, and after a while people seeing my portfolio started to reach me out for gigs.

In my hometown,I was working as a photo assistant for the Ukranian fashion photographer, Oleg Borisuk. who I’ve learned a lot from. I also went to art school in Brussels, Belgium where I’ve learned photojournalism and documentary photography. I love to take portraits of people, and I think for taking a good, authentic portrait, you need both fashion and documentary skills.

What might make me different from other photographers is that I am truly interested in the story behind people. I like to spend more time with my clients and get into their zone, which usually makes them feel more comfortable in front of the camera.

I like to work with all sorts of people, not only with people from the entertainment industry,
In fact, shooting models with regular jobs can be more challenging as a photographer, a challenge I enjoy equally.

I also spend a lot of time with location scouting. I believe that finding the right, unique location for everyone, which fits their personality, is almost half success.

I both enjoy to work with digital cameras and on film with analog cameras.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I very much enjoy those days as a creative when I don’t have any schedule and can just jump around the city looking for inspiration. The inspiration can be anywhere. In a bookstore or on the street, but in order to get it, you have to go outside and observe the world. I think most of the non-creatives consider days with no scheduled jobs or meetings as a waste of time, but to me these moments are ideas and core inspirations.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I find Europe, where I am from, is more academic-centric than the US.
A lot of kids in Europe think that they can’t work as photographers/artists unless they graduate from the most prestigious art universities.

I believe in order to be a good photographer you don’t necessarily have to go to college. It’s important to always be working on personal projects beside the paid gigs. Every shoot is different, which might need different technical solutions : lights, lens , etc. these things you can always learn a lot from.

I’ve learned the most technical aspects when I was working as a photo assistant for a fashion photographer, not in school.
To me it’s also important to look at other contemporary artists’/photographers’ work. It’s important to be open to getting inspired by other art forms, like music and cinema, or simply getting inspired by life,

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.zitalauraszasz.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zitalauraszasz/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zitalaura.szasz/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zita-laura-szasz-206450a8/
• Other: https://www.flickr.com/photos/szasz_zita/