Fat, Fifty and Punk: Photo exhibit is all rock, no gloss

After having photographed some of the most influential punk legends still kicking, Brock graduate Alex Hryshko has turned his vast and fascinating collection of portraits of rebels and rockers into an exhibit fittingly titled Fat, Fifty and Punk.
In order to capture the true spirit of punk rock, he has abandoned traditional means of portrait photography and has freed himself to the chaos that goes hand-in-hand with this genre.
"The whole punk rock thing is just me and them, where we were, with natural lighting. I never used any lights. I'd grab the person, talk to them for a while, and we'd go off and do a quick portrait session. That's it," said Hryshko.
This has largely been a response to the overproduced and over-stylized photography that appears to be dominating current music media.
"You see pictures of these guys and it's all glossy in magazines. That's not what I want. There's a million pictures like that, so I wanted a candid picture of these guys," said Hryshko.
Although Hryshko displays a great deal of skill in portraying these musicians in a loose and natural way, he refuses to limit his style, and lets it shape itself with every new project. Depending on what he is photographing, he will adapt a method that accurately displays the subject, finding new approaches to photography along the way.
"I think with photography you should never look for a style, but a style will just come to you. And the more you look for it the more you're going to fail, because you're trying to be someone else," said Hryshko.
As much as his style is from within himself, he agrees that he has been influenced by other great artists in similar fields, and continues to be impressed by their work. He finds that there is definitely something to learn from other experienced artists, especially for those who are just getting into art.
"There's this guy from England called Steve Gullick, who works in this genre. He's a music photographer, and his stuff is just fantastic. He's shot pretty much everyone," said Hryshko. "He's probably my favourite photographer in this industry."
For only having done this for about seven years, Hryshko has himself built quite the extensive portfolio. Portraits of such punk rock heroes as The Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Ramones, which will all be appearing in his Fat, Fifty and Punk exhibit, are an accomplishment for any artist, not to mention an artist of only 27 years of age.
Having been granted the opportunity to meet many of these music legends has had a great influence on Hryshko, and is a large part of why this exhibit is so exciting to him.
"These people are just really iconic people to me. I wasn't there when they were in there hay-day or anything. So to me just going to meet these guys and seeing them was amazing," said Hryshko. "They're all really important people in my mind."
This exhibit fits with Hryshko's overall goal of focusing on major historical events and people in his photography. His education and experience have led him to view historical photography as a crucial part of the art world, and something he enjoys pursuing.
"I was a history major at Brock, then I went to Sheridan for photography, so I kind of like mixing history with photography. I always thought while learning about some of this, 'why didn't people go out and meet these people?' If I was around at that time I would have gone out and talked to these people," said Hryshko.
After meeting and hanging out with some of his biggest heroes, capturing some crazy and candid portraits, and allowing both his and the musicians style to come through each picture, Hryshko promises to make Fat, Fifty and Punk into one hell of an exhibit.
Fat, Fifty and Punk opens at the Lens Factory in Toronto on April 4 at 7 p.m. and runs for one month.