The following is a Q & A with Russian photojournalist Artem Chernov, director of the online platform Photopolygon, a site for Russian-speaking photographers from around the world. Chernov also teaches photojournalism.

Chernov is best known for his photo reporting in Chechnya. He has the Russian equivalent of a Master’s degree in Physics (Moscow State Lomonosov University, Moscow,1993) and another in Cinematography (All-Russian University of Cinematography, Moscow, 1999).

IJNet: What brought you to photojournalism?

AC: I liked taking pictures as a teenager. In 1989 I came back home after army service and learned about a course in photo reporting organized by the Union of Journalists of the USSR in Moscow. At the time I was more interested in making movies, but there was no such opportunity, so I started studying photo reporting. It was a comprehensive course taught by the best Soviet photographers and I learned a lot about photo composition there.

In 1998 Russia experienced a financial crisis and I was looking for a new job. The management of a newspaper liked samples of my photography and I was a hired as a photographer there. I covered war in Chechnya and other political events. Suddenly I realized that I was doing a very serious job, and that the audience was interested. Now my main career is photojournalism while cinematography is the financial resource to support me and my photojournalism projects. I recently made two TV shows and a movie.

IJNet: What principles do you teach?

AC: I teach the principles of visual communication. Photography is the visual language. There are many people who want to tell something to the world using the visual language and I teach principles of photo composition to them.

IJNet: Do you prefer to work independently or in a team?

AC: It depends on the type of the assignment. To cover a soccer game you always need the team and different photographers take pictures in different places. But sometimes you take pictures of something you have been researching for a while and are emotionally connected to. This is your theme, not somebody else's.

IJNet: Do you prefer to photograph in color or in black and white, and why?

AC: I prefer black and white because I find it more noble. Years ago when I studied photojournalism we lacked color film; now we do not have such a problem. There are excellent works with fantastic colors by photographers from around the world. I like the colors used by Alex Webb, for example. However, for my work I prefer black and white. (At left: Dagestan in 1999.)

IJNet: Who taught you photojournalism?

AC: I studied photography in a course by the Union of Journalists of the USSR in 1989 and 1990. There are many pros and cons here. It was the classical Soviet school which taught the Soviet style with its traditional strength, emotions and high quality. However, many pictures were staged, which was acceptable and ubiquitous at the time. In addition, that was the style most suitable for political posters and propaganda during that time. We were taught to produce powerful and emotional messages.

IJNet: What has been the most important development in modern photojournalism?

AC: First, small and cheap cameras can produce high-quality images nowadays. Second, we can make videos with a photo camera. These two different mediums [photo and video] are coming closer together. I have education in the field of cinematography and experience in photojournalism. For me it sounds amazing that these two technologies are coming together nowadays and you can use the same camera for both!

IJNet: If a young intern came to your office today, what would you teach him or her?

AC: If you have already taken a camera in your hands, this means that you are telling people, "I will speak Visual Language." It is necessary to use the visual language and its potential in full. Unfortunately, we often observe photographers trying to speak to the audience mostly using captions, which is the text under the photo. A photographer should not convey his or her ideas through this text alone, but through Visual Language.

IJNet: What criteria do you use to distinguish an amateur from a professional photographer?

AC: An amateur takes a picture, but a professional tells a story. The professional thinks about the second and the third point of view. He is looking for the meaning and is investing all his background into the story.

IJNet: Which projects are you currently working on?

AC: I left print journalism in 2006. I am working on the online resource Photopolygon. We collect and discuss photography works. Anybody can download his or her works online if they are qualified in photo reporting. We organize exhibitions and seminars and cooperate with the magazine Russkiy Reporter. Russkiy Reporter has been publishing our works. People who speak Visual Language need platforms and we provide such a platform for Russian-speaking photographers.

IJNet: How do you see your work in 10 years?

AC: Difficult to predict. The industry is changing and new technologies are always invented.

For more information (in Russian), visit http://www.photopolygon.com/