GZ: What is your name & where are you from originally?
MI: My name is Mario Ilić and I originate from a mid-sized town in north eastern part
of Bosnia and Herzegovina called Tuzla.
GZ: How did you end up in Vienna?
MI: I ended up in Vienna quite spontaneously: my sister actually suggested that I
could try and bring my portfolio to the photo class entrance exam for the University of
Applied Arts to be specific. It should’ve been more of a weekend trip but I ended up
studying here.
GZ: Describe your style in 9 words or less.
MI: I can’t really say I have a style even though my clients tell me “We want you…
because of your style.” I always try to do, and make, something new for every
project. I tend to work spontaneously, to improvise a lot, which I find rather refreshing
and it’s something that keeps me interested in making pictures all the time.
GZ: What equipment do you use to photograph?
MI: I mainly shoot digital but in the last 2 years I tend to do more and more analogue.
I’m a fan of the Canon 5D “workhorse series” which I’m using myself. From the
aspect of analogue I’m a fan of the Yashica T4 point and shoot camera, which I also
used in the making for my picture on the Essence17 art show.
GZ: Name three of your favourite locations to shoot at?
MI: In Vienna, I love shooting mainly in the 7th district which reminds me of
Hamburg’s Schanzenviertel.
GZ: Tell us about your art – your motifs and subjects.
MI: I work on focusing my mind on what my eye focuses on. I tend not to think a lot
when I’m creating my pictures, or videos. I would rather go for bare aesthetics than
to have a great plot behind the work.
GZ: When did you start to photograph and look at things the way you are doing now?
MI: I started taking photos in elementary school when I was 14, I guess. I can’t say
I’m looking at things only in one way. I think my perspective how I see stuff changes
every, day or every now and then. It even changes with every lens you put on your
camera body. To me, constantly changing views means progress.
GZ: What is the wildest experience you ever had producing your art?
MI: Beside being highly connected to graffiti scene in my home town and shooting a
lot, I would say walking for 280 kilometers from Sarajevo to Srebrenica and filming a
documentary about a group of people walking the “March of peace” for the victims
killed in the genocide of Srebrenica 1995. All of this meant walking for about 11
days, sleeping in a tent, bathing from pocket showers, being extremely sun burned,
working in hard conditions such as rain, wind, 40 degrees celsius, and even having
some of my equipment fail on me in the middle of nowhere.
GZ: Did Instagram change how you see the world?
MI: Change how I see the world? Not at all, but I would say it gives me a brief look at
what’s going on with photographers in other parts of the world, seeing their workflow
behind the scenes, what equipment they use, and with whom they cooperate. I think
Instagram made some things more transparent than they were before.
GZ: Who’s your favourite Instagram artist you’re currently following?
MI: Definetly most interesting right now – Felipe Pantone.
GZ: What’s your favourite place in Vienna?
MI: Anzengruber and my home restaurant, Schoenscharf.
GZ: What does Vienna mean to you and how has it influenced your work?
MI: For now, Vienna is a second home, but it is still quite foreign to me. It influenced
my work through the University and meeting new people. Listening to what they talk
about and seeing what they do influences me to work harder on my own stuff.
GZ: Is there any music that inspires you in your work?
MI: It depends how I feel in a certain period and of course it influences my work as
well. Right now I go for a lot of Chet Baker, Nils Frahm and newly discovered Turkish
Grup Simsek & Derya Yildirim.
GZ: Anything else you want to add?
MI: Mom, this one is for you.