“Five Steps” is a series of portraits of Ladislav Truban, created as a personal project in which I tried to capture the loneliness and bitterness of a man who lost everything. Accompanying the portraits, are excerpts from Ladislav’s story of how he ended up living alone in the middle of nowhere, in a single room, in which one can only make five small steps.

I did a short documentary film about Ladislav Truban way back at university and decided to drop in on him once more and see if I could re-capture a similar mood in still images. Sure enough, there he was still drinking his tea and smoking away one cigarette after another. We sat down and continued talking where we left off way back then. I let him speak, listened and pretended to be taking pictures of him until I saw he no longer cared or had been bothered by the occasional flash popping off in the background.
-Jaroslav Scholtz

Most people I film or photograph aren't comfortable in front of a lens and to make them so, to make the camera invisible, is what makes it even more interesting. It is a challenge and takes the right approach and sometimes a lot of waiting around for “that moment”. When it happens, you feel it and that is when you press the shutter or hope like hell you did, because sometimes, you only get to take that one shot.
-Jaroslav Scholtz

I don’t actually strive to fit or work towards a style. I post process my images which also gives me an opportunity to relive the moments and the emotions when I took the picture. I sometimes spend way too much time playing around with my images experimenting with colour or techniques I haven’t tried before. It just so happens, that in the end, there emerges that same style I have created before. Oh well, I guess I do have a style after all.
-Jaroslav Scholtz

Inspiration can come from anywhere. It can strike you in places and times you least expect, but perhaps my biggest inspiration comes from the people I photograph. They don’t just let you take their picture, they give you so much more - a whole story sometimes told by just the faintest smile, a subtle frown, or that distant look in their eyes. Trying to capture that is what makes it all worthwhile.
-Jaroslav Scholtz

As far as inspirational photographers are concerned, I admit, I sometimes catch myself thinking “damn, they're good! I hate them!” - and walk away fuming yet inspired, roaring to go out and do something like that myself.
-Jaroslav Scholtz

Giving advice is a tough thing for me to give as I feel I myself still have lots to learn. But if you feel it in your bones, if it keeps you up all night, go for it! I don’t care if you copy - heck, even when I thought I did it first, I later found it’s all been done before, but ultimately, don’t look back, find your own path, a path made by walking! - Damn, there it is again, I'm sure I heard that in a movie… :-). At the time of this project, I had a 7D with a kit lens and a speed light.
-Jaroslav Scholtz

See the whole project here.

About Jaroslav Scholtz

Jaroslav Scholtz was told that he was born in Slovakia, but he only really start to remember things a few years down the track when they emigrated to Australia. He worked as a projectionist for a while after high school at an old cinema. There, he used an ancient carbon arc projector whose flickering light still managed to bring to life the latest blockbuster films and seduce him into a magical world he knew he wanted to be a part of. He studied documentary film at uni and now work as a freelance filmmaker and photographer in the UK. See more of his work on Behance or his website.