Meet Pavel Gazdyuk | Cinematographer & Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Pavel Gazdyuk and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Pavel, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
To me, there is no life without risk because it’s one of the ways to challenge yourself, to grow personally and professionally. Life means change. If you don’t want to be stuck in one place you have to make decisions that involve risk. It’s like going to a gym. You just keep practicing until at some point, after making some hard decisions, you realize that you stop treating some tough things that come your way as a risk. It becomes more of a challenge than a risk. It doesn’t seem to involve fear anymore; the personal stakes are not that high; you stress less. With less stress in your life, there is more room for creativity and freedom for action.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
To figure out what you really want to do in your life has always been the hardest thing for me. I started out professionally as a news editor, but soon enough realized that it wasn’t enough. So I started my transition into a filmmaker within my news company. I have a strong documentary background. I have worked as a producer, director, and film editor. But still I was barely touching upon my passion — the camera itself. When I realized this, it was a time for a big change, I decided to move to Los Angeles from Moscow, Russia to study cinematography. To be honest, it was quite hard to begin everything from scratch. But the motivation was strong enough to keep me going. And if you ask me, starting to learn something new when you are around 30 is a great way to overcome the mid-life crisis.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Besides Griffith’s Park and Observatory, the Walk of Fame, the Hollywood Sign, and Santa Monica Pier, the first thing that comes to mind is Barnsdall Art Park in Hollywood. That was of the first places I visited myself when I moved to Los Angeles. It is a wonderful and peaceful spot with a great view on the city, architecture by the Frank Lloyd Wright, and a nice little museum. Plus there is a ladder from the Big Little Lies series.

Of course, there is no LA without the ocean. You’d definitely need to go to Venice Beach, it’s an exciting place with lots of things going on. If you want something more remote, try one of the beaches of Malibu. My personal favorite is Zuma beach and El Matador beach.

I love Downtown LA too. I could walk there for hours admiring the architecture. There are also tons of spots from the well-known movies, like 500 Days of Summer and Bladerunner. Lots of world famous museums like the Broad and MOCA. Don’t forget about colorful Chinatown and sophisticated Little Tokyo.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
It is really hard to mention someone or something specific. As an artist, I absorb all the influences that surround me. Inspiration comes from parents, friends, books, stories I am told, random people I meet, conversations I hear. It is all a mix of many things. You have to be very exposed and open to the world that is outside. But it has to do with filtration too. You have to pick what seems important and help you develop as a person, something that you can implement in your life. Sometimes it happens subconsciously, small things you come across in your life come together like jigsaw puzzle pieces. It becomes a big picture of a guiding map.

Website: pavelgazdyuk.com

Instagram: instagram.com/pablo_honey

Facebook: facebook.com/pavel.gazdyuk

Image Credits
Yotaro Okada Rahul Biruly Flemming Laursen