The Flyfish Journal - The Flyfish Journal 13.4

TEN YEARS WITH COPI VOJTA

Words: Jason Rolfe 2022-06-24 09:34:13

During a family rendezvous in Flagstaff, AZ, a snowy walk through the high-desert juniper and pinyon scrub led to these train tracks and a pause for portraits. If you’re going to catch Copi Vojta not behind the lens, you may as well do it with a roll of expired film and an old Yashica Mat 124G. Photo: Morgan Barber

If you like people watching—which I do—

then observing a photographer at work is a pinnacle of

the pastime. At times they circle like vultures, waiting

for the last gasp before they take their shot. At others,

they blend into the landscape like a ruffed grouse sitting

on an alder bough—you could walk within 10 feet

of them and never notice they were there. And then

there are the times when they simply disappear, down

a two-track or trail or a lane of crumbling asphalt, following

some inner compass that tells them somewhere

out there something needs capturing.

Disappearing down two-tracks and trails is Copi

Vojta’s modus operandi, both as a photographer and as

a photo editor, a position that, with this issue, he has

now held for 10 years at The Flyfish Journal. He has a

knack for wandering off alone and finding the unexpected,

the funny and, dare I say, the beautiful. There

are certain people whose eyes I wish I could see the

world through, even if only for a day, or an hour. They

are photographers, sure; they are also artists, writers,

anglers, mothers, children. What they all share, and

what I’m intrigued by, is an ability to separate the important

details from life’s—indeed from the world’s—

noise. Copi is one of those people.

That is the surprising thing about photographers,

and a reason I value any time I get to spend with Copi

while he has a camera strung around his neck. We

can stand side by side, looking at the same landscape,

various visual details vying for attention, and yet we see

entirely different things. This becomes obvious when

I look back later at photos Copi has made of a scene,

or an event, or a moment—inevitably, some heretofore

unnoticed detail jumps out, maybe inconsequential to

me at the time, but afterward vital to understanding

that moment in any deep, meaningful way. It may be

the arrangement of detritus in the bottom of a boat;

the orderly advance of wildfire smoke across a horizon;

the tilt of someone’s head or a hunch in their shoulders.

The fact is it’s there (or it was) and fortunately someone

had the good sense to not let it slip away unnoticed.

Copi curates the visual experience of each issue of

TFFJ in much the same way. This, too, requires an eye

for the unique, for the unusual; it requires the ability to see beyond the literal and understand the vision of

the scores of photographers he works with. The right

photo, or series of photos, provides a counterpart to

each story we publish, and that interplay of words and

images is what makes TFFJ sing.

Copi often out-fishes me when we find ourselves

with an opportunity to get on the water together. Being

imperfect, at times I feel resentment, but it’s inevitably

fleeting and quickly recognized (by me) as infantile.

The truth is, there are very few people I would rather

fish with. Many of my most memorable days fishing

involve Copi, not least because he is constantly capturing

memories I get to relive later on. I guarantee when

my dog, Masha, passes, I’m going to look back through

the dozens of photos he’s taken of me and her fishing

over the years and cry myself dry. But it’s more than

that. When I’m fishing with Copi or wandering around

some new town with him (and sometimes even when

I’m not), I play a little game with myself. I try to see

things how Copi sees them, or at least how I imagine

he sees them. Without fail, I notice some detail I

wouldn’t have otherwise.

Here’s to 10 more years, Copi. Thanks for helping

me, and everyone else, really see.

TEN YEARS WITH COPI VOJTA
https://digital.theflyfishjournal.com/articles/ten-years-with-copi-vojta