Interviews / Stories
Phil Tubbax
Tell us a little bit about yourself?
Hello I’m Phil, I’m 31 years, I’m a fashion-photographer in Europe. I live in Belgium, but I was born in India. When I was 3 years I was adopted by Belgian parents.I like philosophy and science. When I was student I was dreaming to become a space-traveller, this was impossible so I became a globe-trotter.I’m also model-scout for several model-agencies in Europe.
How long have you been a photographer?
I made my first photos as 22-year old boy, now I’m 31 years.. so let’s say almost 10 years now. But I did not study photography. I learned by practice. (Self-education by youtube)
How did you discover photography?
When I was student, I did go party a lot, and I wanted to have a good souvenir of all the activities I did, so I bought a little digital camera.But in that time, there was not so much people with a digital camera. A lot of people asked me to come to their events to make some photos.
How was your first shooting? What did you shoot?
My first shoot was my sister, she asked me to make some portraits, because she was single and she wanted to have a new photo-profile-photo for MSN messenger. She got a lot of reactions, and her friends contacted me.
How would you describe your style?
I have 2 styles. The first is when I shoot fashion / catalogues / campaigns. I think in all my photos, the look / face / eyes is the most important, I mostly shoot female models. I try to make them look really feminine, invincible and fragile. But also with a touch of power inside of them, with a confident look. I’m not really a light-controller. I’m a controller of this confident-eye-look and the face-expressions. The second styles is when I shoot art-nude. I try to use the female body like an art-piece. To make the models connect with themselves, but also with the world around them to make dream people. I try to work as much as possible with natural light.
What does photography mean to you?
For me now, it means the world. It is my job, but also my passion. I do not shoot all days, but in my mind I’m always preparing photoshoots, studying lights, looking for nice locations and find the right models for my next projects.
What inspires you?
I’m inspired by beauty. But what is beauty? For me beauty is inside, but let’s be honest, beauty is also outside, the body, the shape, the skin, the color of the eyes. Sometimes I need to warn myself about it, that I don’t need to transfer models to robots. Humans are not perfect, that is maybe the human-beauty.
What would you like to photograph?
If I could choose, I would only want to make art-work & editorial-concepts. I need also to make what clients ask me to do, even if I know that I can put my own style into the photo. I really like what I do now. I combine art-work, with campaigns, withlook-books, with travelling, with meeting nice and talented people.
A photographer you particularly admire?
In Belgium I’m fan of a lot of photographers but the most famous are Jan Scholz & Marc Lagrange & Pascal Baetens. Pascal Baetens was my photography-mentor for 2 years. I want to thanks him for all what he have teached me. Internationally, I love David Lachapelle off course.
What is happiness?
To have no stress in your mind. To have the feeling to be free, even if this is not possible in reality.
If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
I do not like to stay at 1 place to too long, so, I think I would prefer to continuetravelling a lot. If I could have maybe a photo-office in New York, I would love it.
What’s your next goal?
I’m travelling now a lot through the entire Europe. I hope in the next years I can travel more outside Europe.I want to make more exclusive photo-productions and more art-work.
Know more about Phil at www.philtubbax.com
zelfportret
Model: Ceca (Trend Models)
Model: Julie & Annewil (Uniko Models)
Photo: Selma Gurbuz
Modellen: Tatjana Lauwers & Sarah Tommeleyn