Mobile Photography & Art – ‘Intimate Interview’ with Irene Oleksiuk from Illinois, United States
We have decided to launch a new intimate style of interview into TheAppWhisperer – the world’s most popular mobile photography and art website. We feel it is important that our community feel close to each other, as it is this support that helps us to nurture one another, gain confidence and continue to grow.
This is our twentieth first interview, to read the others, please go here. Today, we are publishing this continually fascinating interview with Irene Oleksiuk from Illinois, United States.
All images ©Irene Oleksiuk
What was your childhood or earliest ambition?
I think I was about 7-8 years old and someone asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I wanted to be a farmer. Not sure where this ambition came from since I lived in the big city of Chicago and had never been to a farm or seen a field, but even as a child I loved our city garden and loved animals. Never became a farmer but to this day I love gardening and taking care of animals.
First Recognition
I’m a later bloomer. My first recognition was about 12 years ago when I won 1st place for my image at a local art show. Big girl camera not iPhone.
First Job
Summer job when I was 15. In my community there was a social services office that was looking for teens to help with whatever they needed done. I remember walking thru the neighbourhoods looking for cheap apartments for people who needed to rent.
Private or State school?
Private(Catholic) grade school and High school. College state school
University or Work?
Both. After high school I did not want to go on with school. I had no skills, like typing or secretarial but go a horrible job in the billing department of a large hospital. This was before computers, so very boring. Lasted roughly a year there and I changed my mind and applied to University.
Who was or is still is your mentor?
Two people come to mind.
Walt Anderson who was one of my teachers at the Morton Arboretum where I was taking nature photography classes. He is the one who helped me understand the mechanics of my camera and gave constructive critiques and encouraged me very much.
Knox Bronson was the 1st person to boast my confidence in my iPhone photography. Found a post from Pixels at an Exhibition asking for images for a upcoming gallery show in California. I got in! Thru the years that I have known Knox, he has encouraged me, gave good advice on what to do and not do. Still grateful for his help.
How physically fit are you?
I do walk, bike and go the weights class 2x a week, which is good but I also have bad joints and had knee replacement surgery recently.
Ambition or talent: What matters more to success?
I feel you need both, if one is missing its hard to succeed
How politically committed are you?
Not at all. Dislike politics and politicians.
“Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future” J.F.Kennedy
What would you like to own that you don’t currently possess?
Youth, but with my current knowledge
Getting a new iPhone every year and recently the iPad pro biggest one.
In what places are you happiest?
In what places are you happiest?
In a forest, with the trees.
What ambitions do you still have?
Still want to create, still want to explore the physical world(travel), still want and need to explore my inner world.
What drives you on?
Drives and hopes is what keeps all of us going. For me its the exploration, learning and creating.
What is the greatest achievement of your life so far?
Raising a kind and good soul Son, being married to same person for 45 years.
What do you find most irritating in other people?
People who are sheep. Who don’t think for themselves but go with whatever society, media tell them how to live, what to believe.
If your 20 year old self could see you now, what would she think?
She would be so proud of me! How much I have grown and flourished and changed.
What is the greatest challenge of our time?
How we are being governed and not just in my country but globally.
Do you believe in an afterlife?
Yes I do. Not the traditional way religions teach. All living things have an energy/soul that when the body dies needs to go to its destination.
If you had to rate your satisfaction with your life so far, out of 10, what would you score?
10. I’ve had a good and happy life, with special people whom I love and they love me. What else is there?
Please read…
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Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter is a British photography journalist, editor, curator, and the founder of *TheAppWhisperer.com*, one of the world’s leading platforms dedicated to mobile photography and art. Since its launch in 2009, TheAppWhisperer has become an international hub for artists of all levels to discover, learn, exhibit, and engage with contemporary photographic practice.Built on principles of inclusivity, accessibility, and artistic excellence, Joanne has spent almost two decades championing mobile photography as a serious artistic medium. Through interviews, critical essays, exhibitions, competitions, and education, she has helped shape and document the evolution of mobile art on a global scale.Her work has taken her internationally, lecturing on photography and mobile art at institutions and events including the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, alongside appearances in the UK and Europe. She has served as a juror for international photography and mobile art awards across Portugal, Canada, the United States, South Korea, Italy, and the UK.Joanne is also the founder of *TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com*, one of the first online galleries dedicated exclusively to collectible mobile art, connecting artists with collectors across Europe, the United States, and Asia.Before founding TheAppWhisperer, Joanne worked extensively in print journalism and photographic publishing, including roles at a paparazzi photo agency and as deputy editor of a leading photography magazine. Her freelance journalism, criticism, and commentary have been published widely in both the UK and the US, with bylines in *The Times*, *The Sunday Times*, *The Guardian*, *Popular Photography*, *NikonPro*, *DPReview*, *Which?*, *Vogue Italia*, *LensCulture*, the *BBC*, and more recently, the *Financial Times*, where her published letters on photography continue to contribute to wider conversations around the medium.Alongside her editorial and curatorial work, Joanne’s own photographic practice has been exhibited internationally across the UK, Europe, South Korea, and the United States. Her work increasingly explores themes of grief, loss, death, memory, and the body.Her current research interests centre on grief, death, and poverty, with forthcoming postgraduate study leading towards doctoral research in these areas.Joanne is currently developing new long-form writing and photographic projects and is available for commissions, editorial projects, speaking engagements, and collaborations.Contact: joannetheappwhisperer@gmail.com)
