FOR photographer Paulius Staniunas, fun is work.

While many attend parties and festivals to soak up the atmosphere, the 30-year-old Lithuanian photographs these events for a living.

Regular party-goers will be well acquainted with Staniunas — that tall Mat Salleh who dons thick-rimmed spectacles and is armed with heavy photography gear as well as an infectious enthusiasm to get his subjects in the party mood.

He is the founder of All Is Amazing and has been photographing parties around Asia since 2010. By day, he works as an artistic director at Mindvalley.

When he first set foot in Malaysia three years ago, Staniunas was awestruck by a party hosted by Deer Society. Since then, he has been hooked on documenting Klang Valley’s nightlife through photographs.

Prior to this, he had done travel photography for leisure while photographing events when he was living in China and Indonesia. After coming to Malaysia, he decided to turn his passion into profit.

The party and festival scene in Malaysia is a thriving one with events happening on a regular basis, such as the Good Vibes Festival, Guinness’ Arthur’s Day, Future Music Festival Asia and Urbanscapes. More people are beginning to acknowledge the importance of capturing events to encapsulate a particular lifestyle through photographs.

Staniunas tells #edGY that he doesn’t do it for the fame or acknowledgement. “Honestly, I do it for the people, so that they can see nice photos of themselves looking good at a party.”

Building brand identity through parties

A lot of brands are beginning to recognise the importance of social media in increasing their visibility. Photograph-driven social platforms such as Facebook and Instagram allow brands to interact with a wider audience during and after an event, which can help raise awareness of the brands.

Thus, it can be said that without social media, party and event photography would not have gained the appeal it has today.

Staniunas agrees, saying of late, brands have been jumping on the bandwagon by employing party and event photographers to help communicate their brand identity online.

“What it [social media] does is that it spreads the message faster. I think it’s a good thing because when you look at the photos later, you’d want to be there as well. Of course, brands would want that. With social media, they can hype up the image of their brand,” he says.

According to Staniunas, brands that are most likely to engage him are those that deal with lifestyle, apparel and alcoholic beverages. These are event-driven brands that tap the young, socially savvy market to build their brand image.

While some companies are specific about the type of photographs they require, providing Staniunas with direction on how they want their party to look in photos, others give him creative freedom.

“The last one was really cool. It was with Levi’s in KLCC and they said, ‘Do whatever you want to do’, and I was like, ‘Yeah!’ So, they were happy and I was happy with the photos,” he recalls.

No matter what the clients’ demands are, Staniunas believes his job is to deliver results, not excuses. “If you do something different and you do it right, people will come to you.”

It isn’t always a party behind the lens

With the increasing visibility of parties and festivals in Malaysia, Staniunas believes they help promote the country’s tourism industry and provide global exposure.

“[You have had] Ellie Goulding, Empire of the Sun, Prodigy and Metallica. These people don’t even come to my country! So, if you handle the publicity well, it’s the perfect exposure.”

Despite the surge in the number of festivals and demand for party photographers, he observes that there aren’t many who are willing to take up the job. That is because it is really hard work, he says.

“Think about it, you have equipment that costs about RM25,000, you are among 300 people who are dancing like crazy, sweaty, in a closed environment. You are carrying these equipment, it is completely dark, lights change every half a second, people are pushing you around, it is 2am and you are there doing this for fun. You must be crazy!” he laughs.

Then, there is the time-consuming process of editing photos, post-event. For Staniunas, it takes twice as long to edit the photographs as it does to shoot them. Clients may also ask for additional edits, which may take more time. All in all, one party photography assignment could involve an average of six to seven hours of work.

What’s more, Staniunas often works under highly variable situations and has to remain continuously alert to ensure that he captures the perfect moment.

“It is one thing to go out and photograph things that you can control, like food. You can set up the light, spray some oil and that’s nice. In the club, everything changes every second. People are moving with the flash going wild and the deejay is jumping and you have to catch that. So, in all that madness, you have to make everything look beautiful. Try doing that.”

With everything happening in a split second, Staniunas says his thought process works in a flash. When he sees a group of party-goers he would like to photograph, he immediately thinks about how to arrange the crowd, so that it would translate well into photographs.

Firstly, he considers colour arrangements by taking note of what the party-goers are wearing. Other things to consider are a person’s height, body size, gender and whether or not he or she should be holding a prop, such as a beer bottle. These are minute details that can make a stark difference in the look and feel of the end product.

“We have to process that information in a few seconds. The moment you say, ‘Hey guys, let’s take a group photo!’ you have to entertain them and you have to make sure the photo looks good.”

With such a gruelling job at hand, it is no wonder not many want to venture into this particular field. For Staniunas, one thing alone keeps him going and that is his passion.

“If I don’t have the passion to do this, I wouldn’t do it. I guess it’s my philosophy in life. You don’t do what you don’t like to do because you wouldn’t be able to do it well,” he says.

Opportunity costs

Apart from the hard work, Staniunas says it is one of the lowest paying photography jobs out there. This is compared with wedding or studio photography.

He says he charges no more or less than the average market price. “I can’t tell you the exact numbers because they are different for each organiser.”

However, he reveals that it is standard practice to charge about RM500 for a two-hour party with 150 to 200 attendees. “Usually, I try not to quote a price. I will ask the clients for their budget and try to figure out what can be done with that budget.”

Depending on the size and scale of the party or festival, Staniunas could work as a one-man team or employ as many as 20 to a team.

For this year’s Future Music Festival Asia, for example, he worked with a team of 18 to capture the event. For large-scale festivals, he reveals that he charges RM5,000 for a team of two, which he says is a reasonable price.

But why do party photographers charge a lower price? Staniunas says there could be two reasons for this.

“[Firstly,] look at the marketing people, whose job is to save as much money as possible. Our job is to do the best job for a fair price. Their goal is to get the best job for the cheapest price,” he says.

Unlike wedding photographers, party photographers are just one part of an entire spectrum in a marketing budget for an event.

“Weddings are memorable and they happen only once in a person’s lifetime. Of course you’d be willing to pay as much money as you can. I know [wedding] photographers who get RM10,000,” he says.

Secondly, the huge supply of unprofessional photographers in the market lowers the asking price tremendously. Staniunas laments that more people are calling themselves “photographers” as long as they have DSLR cameras.

“We need to educate the clients and we can’t let them say, ‘But another photographer is doing it for RM100’. I do have clients like that, but I’ll tell them it is fine. If a photographer is happy to do it for RM100 and you are happy with the quality of the work you get, there’s nothing bad about it.”

However, he makes it clear to his clients that they will get what they pay for and for himself, he will not compromise on quality for price.

Despite some clients demanding lower prices, Staniunas does not turn down projects without a thorough evaluation. He is aware that some clients may have links to other potentially lucrative customers, so he accepts certain low-paying jobs to gain these business opportunities.

“Even though a job may pay only RM500, you have to see who’s going to be there. Maybe there’ll be a lot of potential clients.”

More valuable than the pay is the opportunity to network. “If you talk to the people, you’ll meet interesting ones. There are so many stories you can hear, so many friends you can make. That’s the perfect opportunity for networking, you know.”

As he often photographs high-profile events, Staniunas has had many opportunities to meet influential people. He believes his camera serves as a passport to forging friendships with them. “So, if you see an event like that, it’s business.”

Growing up behind the lens

Having spent some time photographing Malaysia’s nightlife scene, Staniunas says he has probably seen it all — the changes in the party scene, and music fads coming and going. He often jokes about how he has probably photographed some people in all of their party outfits.

Looking back at the events he has photographed over the years, he muses about how some of his subjects have moved on in life. “I know people who right now have children and families and they don’t party anymore. Their lifestyle has changed. I meet them now at different events,” he smiles.

Staniunas admits that it does get boring once in a while. However, he openly professes his love for Malaysia and does not plan to leave in the near future. He adds that he takes breaks between jobs, usually by travelling, and returns with a new perspective and ideas to embark on his photography trail again.

Away from the party scene, Staniunas is currently working on curating a photography series inspired by Humans of New York, which has documented stories of the Big Apple’s culturally diverse residents since 2010. Calling it SameSame.my, he aims to gather stories and photos of mixed-race families in Malaysia and to tell those stories to Malaysians.

“I’m talking to as many people as I know to ask them to send me their stories and photos and I’ll show them in a public space where people can come and be photographed and there will be an exhibition.”

As for the future, Staniunas wishes to hand over the baton to budding photographers who are willing to take up the challenge of party photography. Working mostly with local photographers, he aims to educate them in the hope of building Malaysia’s next generation of highly skilled and passionate photographers.

“The older you get, the more you want to shoot food that is perfectly lit, you know. But I won’t say I will abandon it. No, no, no. Nightlife photography will always be my passion.

“In parties, everyone is equal. You can be a copywriter, a photographer, a CEO, a driver, a son or daughter of a super-rich person — everyone is the same. On a dance floor, there is no distinction of race or position. Everyone in a party is there for solely one purpose — to have fun. And if you capture that, it’s the best thing you can give them after the party. That’s why I really love it — because I can see that there is no distinction at all.”

This article first appeared in #edGY, The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on October 13 - 19, 2014.

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