Vicente Dolz is a Spanish photographer, Professional Specialist in Digital Photography and Image Processing, Master in photography from the University of Valencia, and head of the Editorial Division of 100ASA. Winner of numerous awards, his framing captures unexpected moments or architectural elements, lines, and shapes, complemented by the presence of the human factor, static or moving, as a witness of the presence of life. Jürgen Schadeberg, actor Jeff Bridges, Martin Parr, Bernard Plossu, José María Mellado, and collector and art critic Lola Garrido are just some of the well-known figures in photography and other fields he has interviewed over the years.

Hello, Vicente,

First, I would like to thank you for taking the time to talk about you and your work in this interview.

I wish we could sit down face to face for this interview and that you could tell us as much as possible about your photographic and editorial experience. 

 To begin with, where are you from? Tell us about yourself and your passions. What is a typical day in your life like?

Hi Elena. I too would have liked to have met you for this interview and I still hope we can meet at some point.

I'm from Valencia (Spain) and I live in Avila, the highest capital of Spain, close to Madrid.

I'm a quiet person, I'd say I'm even boring and not very sociable, I don't practice any sport either (it's tiring). My days are quite simple: reading the photographic news, working on editorial issues, going to those events that I consider interesting, and walking in the mountains with my camera in my backpack. I like reading, classic cinema, a nice conversation with wine and ham... a quiet life.

Let's move on to the subject that I'm sure many people are interested in. Tell us how it all started and what made you approach photography.

 I have been interested in photography for as long as I can remember. I had my first lab at my parents' house when I was 14 years old and since then, I've always had (or tried to have) a lab wherever I've lived. My first photographic outing was to a town that had suffered a fire and the photographs I took were so sad that I was shocked, and I thought at that moment that I wanted to be part of that dialogue between the event and the viewer.

I also remember that when I was very young, I saw a photograph by Joan Fontcuberta that aroused my interest, and I thought that I wanted to take pictures like that one. As an anecdote, I will tell you that, on one occasion, many years later, I met Fontcuberta and I told him that he was the one to blame for my taking photographs and he asked me to explain why and I told him the story.

What is your photographic vision and what do you like to photograph?

 My photographic vision is like my opinion on some subjects: it changes. I've done MotoGP, night landscape, social, and architecture... I liked to keep trying. Now I'm in a quieter, more intimate moment. I prefer a calm photograph, thought out to the last detail and that is part of something bigger: a project, a series.

I like less and less the obvious and I like more and more to let the viewer finish the photo. Less eye and more feeling.

Is there a moment in your life as a photographer that has motivated you?

 The first time something nice happens to you is always remembered with pleasure: the first contest won, the first photo sold, the first exhibition, the first book...

Some time ago you told me that you would talk to me about film photography. What is it that attracts you most about analog photography and what photographic equipment do you currently use?

 I can't separate myself from analog photography. I recognize all the advantages of digital photography, in fact, 80% of my photographs are digital, but I can't abandon "the analog philosophy", in fact, I try to apply the chemical way of working to the digital world, in terms of timing, intentions and the result on paper. I also like to mix both worlds, digital cameras with analog lenses, analog cameras with digital backs, and digital and analog Medium Format cameras, TLRs. My curiosity coupled with my fondness for different cameras makes me have a lot of good times.

 As for the equipment I use, I don't have a favorite camera; there are some that I keep, yes: Rolleiflex 3.5, Hasselblad 500 and 501, Canon 5D II, a small Lumix, Ricoh GR, Leica SL and usual lenses for these cameras.

I choose one or the other depending on what I'm going to go photograph.

In May 2016, the Hotel "El Encanto" hosted a photographic exhibition of your creations, entitled "Lights and Shadows". Tell us about this exhibition and the works you exhibited.

 I was staying at that hotel, and I saw that they had a painting exhibition. I asked them if they wouldn't like to put on a photography exhibition and they told me to send my work and they would study it. They called me to tell me that I could exhibit and so I did. As there were two floors (two heights) I chose black and white urban photography for one floor and nature photography (mainly sea) for the other floor.

The exhibition and the book "Escaleras. 67 photographs and 11 micro-stories". What does this book bring together and what is your contribution?

 I belong to an association "Amics de Railowsky" in which we are a group of people who love photography and Railowsky bookstore, the only bookstore specializing in photography books, photo books, etc...

Among the projects we have done, we thought we could edit a photo book in which each one of us could contribute to our vision of such a redundant subject in photography as stairs; to give it a literary context, 11 micro-stories were included in the book. And so, this photobook was born.

The impressive atmosphere of the "Stockholm" series made me spend a lot of time looking at these images. What is the story behind these works?

 While on a trip to Stockholm in 2016, I went to a thematic exhibition about Sweden at the turn of the century (of the last century). That exhibition staged different places or situations from those years, a school, a house, a kitchen, different jobs... It was like a stage set for photographers. I focused on the schools of that time and that's where most of the photos I took came from.

Share your experience of the workshops organized by José María Mellado. How important is it for you to share impressions and information with other photographers?

 I met José María in a Masterclass he was giving in Almería. It was at the beginning of digital photography and through his books, many of us learned how to digitally process photographs, so I was interested in meeting him, and I signed up for his workshop. I found it very interesting to do it and to meet him personally. We have maintained a good friendship since then and I have even been a collaborating photographer in a Master's we did in Valencia.

I find it very interesting to share experiences with other photographers and to know other points of view, especially international ones. The world is bigger than our environment and sometimes we don't realize it.

When and how did you begin to dedicate yourself to editorial work? What do you like about it?

 I started writing for 1X, but I got involved in other photographic work and didn't have time for everything. By chance, I came across the 100ASA website, and it caught my attention because it had aspects that improved what for me was the best website until then. As I had more time, I got in touch with the founders and an easy and quick understanding arose that I appreciated a lot. And I've been there ever since.

You are the Head of the Editorial Division of 100ASA. What was your first impression of the 100 ASA website? What attracted you to it? How does it differ from other websites, in your opinion?

 Looking for sites on the Internet to upload my photographs I came across 100ASA. At that time, it was just starting its journey. It was and still is an agile, friendly, easy-to-use website where anonymity has an essential value at any given moment. I liked that way of working and I stayed there. 100ASA also has a professional review that I like very much, and I find it very serious. Likewise, I love the duality in its treatment of the chemical, and the digital and the human team it counts with - all this seems to me very appreciable.

For those who love photography and actor Jeff Bridges, tell us a little about your experience interviewing this famous artist.

Taking advantage of the fact that Jeff Bridges was holding an exhibition in Barcelona, I talked to the organizers, and they put me in touch with the director of the photographic archive of J. Bridges. I proposed a double exhibition in Valencia, in a bookstore, and in the Filmoteca, taking advantage of the opportunity to make a cycle of his films. She agreed and so we did it. This relationship gave me the opportunity to ask for an interview with the actor, musician, and photographer, which, after a long time and much insistence on my part, was granted. The interview was audio recorded, which I still listen to from time to time. Jeff is a multi-artist, a person of extraordinary ability. As for his side as a photographer, he uses a panoramic negative camera and likes to take pictures during the shooting of the films in which he is involved. Visually, for film and photography lovers, it is a double pleasure.

What about your experience with one of the most famous and successful documentary photographers in the world, Martin Parr?

 The interview with Martin Parr is full of anecdotes. First, there were delays in its realization due to Covid, agenda, and illnesses of one and the other; finally, when we managed to agree on a date, I, who am probably the most punctual person in the world, arrived late at the airport and missed the plane. I had to talk to Martin to meet the following week. Due to a misunderstanding on my part, I got the wrong day (unbelievable) and arrived a day later. You can imagine Martin's anger. Fortunately, except for the first five minutes, the interview went perfectly, thanks to Martin's patience and sense of humor and the presence, I believe, of my daughter, who with her youthfulness provided what was necessary to have a more than pleasant time. The interview was a wonderful experience and having personally met this photographer and his foundation, as well as having been able to share it has been a success for me.

I am impressed by Bernard Plossú, his nonconformism in photography, and what he manages to transmit at first sight through his work. What impression did he make on you during the interview?

 I met Bernard Plossú in Valencia, at the Railowsky Bookstore, a place where Bernard has exhibited on several occasions. I found him to be an excellent photographer and a charming person, in fact, when I started interviewing photographers, he was the second person I thought of. Bernard speaks of "the non-decisive moment", thus turning Cartier-Bresson's famous phrase on its head and making his photographs a portrait of an era and not of a specific moment, in my opinion.

What can you tell us about Jurgen Schadeberg?

Jurgen was a German photographer who went to live in South Africa at a very young age during the apartheid era.

I was lucky enough to meet him, be in his house, see his lab and share some good times with him. Unfortunately he passed away recently but we have some plans that we are going to carry out in 100ASA with his widow and promoter Claudia Schadeberg, with whom we have a great relationship.

If you had to choose between photography and editorial work, which would you choose?

 I also often ask myself this question because editorial work takes a lot of time away from taking photographs. The reality is that I've been spending a lot more time on editorial work than on photography for a while now, but I take it as a temporary event. If I had to choose between one or the other, I would give up editorial work, but I hope I can juggle it.

Who are your favourite photographers from the early days of photography?

 This is one of those questions we always ask because readers ask us to do so, and I understand.

In my case, just as I like photography in all its variables, my teachers, the classics that have inspired me, have been photographers from all fields: social, landscape, fashion, and sport. I think there is a moment in the life of every photographer when it is very important to "drink" from the classics, to study the reasons that led to taking one or another photo, to read the great masters... to see many photographs. All this learning generates a personal style, a style of its own, which is necessary for any artist.

There are also photographers that I liked for a while and then I stopped liking them and then I liked them again; many times, it depends on the personal moment you are going through.

All of them have been important, classic, and contemporary.

It seems to us that in your latest photographs, the atmosphere has changed, becoming vaguer, and undefined. Is that so?

 Yes, it is something like that. In photography, as in life, you go through phases. Right now, I like to "take away" precision from the photographs I take, looking for or adding fog, grain, or anything else that increases the drama of the photograph. I would say I'm in a more poetic moment, perhaps.

What photographic projects do you have for the future?

 I'm looking forward to doing some work with the elderly in my city; it would be a recognition of the elderly that would end in a large format exhibition. I am carrying out a collaboration agreement with the City Council to do this.

Maybe also a photographic trip.

Tell us how you see 100ASA in the future and what are your plans for the editorial part.

 100ASA will continue to grow in the coming years. There are many ideas that will be implemented in the near future that photographers will like very much.

As for the editorial part, we hope to continue reaching more and more people and it is our idea to expand the photographic character of the publishing house making it more expansive to other arts; specifically, we want to "mix" art, share it, and spread it.

Art is shared.

Thank you very much, Vicente, for this opportunity!