Tag: <span>8 questions</span>

Jeff Turner
Denny Regrade, Seattle                  © Jeff Turner

In Jeff Turner’s words, he takes photos that are about the arrangement of shapes and underlying geometry of the image, where the ostensible subject is just an interesting prop. But his photos are an interesting document of Seattle’s explosive growth and dramatic gentrificationBe sure to check out his work on Flickr and Instagram.

I asked him eight questions about his work and his current projects.

What got you interested in photography?

My exposure, if you will, dates back to early childhood, watching my grandmother develop studio-quality photos of her many children in a basement darkroom. I took my first photos as a child with a thrift store Argoflex. I got my hands on an SLR in high school photography class, really took to it, and was very active for a time afterwards, then slowly petered out to just the occasional really good vacation photos for many years. When I first got on Facebook eight or so years ago, someone mentioned in passing how much he liked my photography so I decided to go out and take a few new pictures just so I would have something to post, and here we are.

Jeff Turner
St. Edwards School, Hillman City, Seattle             © Jeff Turner

Can you tell us about the projects you are working on these days?

I’m in the process of winding down the Hipstamatic Neighborhood project I’ve been working on past couple years. My neighborhood has become prosperous and dull, and not very Hipstamatic anymore. I don’t know if you’re familiar with Minor White’s “camera-as-brush” vs. “camera-as-extension-of-vision” distinction but I’ve tried to adhere to camera-as-extension-of-vision for most of my work so the Hipstamatic camera-as-brush treatment, which I have described as “fiddling with the image until it looks like a memory” has been a fun diversion.

Your photos seem to encompass the urban landscape, architecture, the banal, and things of historical significance. Do you see your work as documenting an ever-changing world?

Without really intending to I’ve been recording some of Seattle’s explosive growth from a middling town with delusions of grandeur to an actual large city, and my own neighborhood’s sudden and dramatic gentrification. For the most part though, my photos are really about the arrangement of shapes and underlying geometry of the image and the ostensible subject is just an interesting prop. I like to have fun with titles and may give something a faux-serious documentary title, like Endangered Surface Parking Lot and include a sober analysis on urban land use patterns in the caption, but the reason for making the photo was primarily aesthetic value; not documentation.

Jeff Turner
One Union Square, Seattle                 © Jeff Turner

While I still take vacation pictures – and some of my favorite photos are from places new or unfamiliar to me – when I return home I usually say to myself, “Damn. You shoulda at least got a few street shots of what the place looked like, but this photo of a pile of dirty snow you did take will look great alongside all those photos of piles of dirt you already have.”

There are several interesting quotes on your Flickr page regarding photography and seeing. There is one from you: “The memory of it is better than any picture could have been.” Can you talk about this? And can you explain your moniker, Blinking Charlie?

I’ve left that quote up even though I now have no idea now what it refers to. Too bad I didn’t take a picture. So often looking at a photo from years ago takes me back to the otherwise unmemorable time I took it.  As far as my “brand name” goes, some time before I had joined Flickr, after locking myself out of Yahoo! Messenger by not being able remember whatever fake birthday I had used to create my account, I just looked around my cubicle and took a new user name the last two words from this piece by Maureen Dowd I had pinned up, mocking former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s interview with journalist Charlie Gibson:

“We must not, Charlie, blink, Charlie, because, Charlie, as I’ve said, Charlie, before, John McCain has said, Charlie, that — and remember here, Charlie, we’re talking about John McCain, Charlie, who, Charlie, is John McCain and I won’t be blinking, Charlie.”

What’s your state of mind when you’re taking good photos? Do you think there’s any connection between your mood or mindset and the results you get?

My worst photos are created reliably when I go somewhere with the intention of taking some great photos. I do much better when I keep my mind clear and just notice what I’m noticing. The low cost of digital and social media’s endless appetite for content are a trap I can easily fall into where if I haven’t taken any photos I like lately I start to feel like my “productive period” is behind me; no small matter in a place with over 300 cloudy days a year. On the other hand, being able to learn how to take photographs by taking photographs and then reviewing them critically happens much faster now than when I was using film. I feel a lot freer to experiment.

The peer review offered by Flickr (as opposed to automated appreciation from an endless series of like bots on Instagram) has helped a lot. I can’t tell you many times a photo I post thinking “this is a modern masterpiece!!” draws little interest where one I worry is somewhat cliché, or am just on the fence about gets quite a bit of attention. If I just kept my prints in a shoe box and entered the occasional contest, I would never have to accept that fellow photographers whose opinion I care about see right through some not-happening image I just really want to happen or perhaps that I need to be stubborn, conclude sometimes everyone else is wrong, and take the road less traveled.

Jeff Turner
Flash Oleander, Phoenix                  © Jeff Turner

Do you like the region or city you live in? Do you like your home? Do these affect your photography?

I live in the Central District of Seattle, as the name implies, right in the middle of the city. For generations it was the city’s ghetto for Black, Jewish, and Asian residents. We moved there right after September 11th because my wife wanted to be with her people, but today it is the kind of place where a white man who just recently moved to the area feels entitled to walk up to her standing in front of our house, ask her what she’s doing, and tell her she looks like she doesn’t belong there. The city’s rapid growth has been dislocating and alienating. It’s not unusual to feel lost in a part of town I haven’t been to for a while because so much has changed. On the flip side, I’ve always dreamed of living in a big city and didn’t have to move to one. The city came to me. If nothing else, boom times are interesting.

I haven’t made any effort to comprehensively document these changes. Partly that’s a free-time limitation but also an endless series old buildings with Proposed Land Use Action signs on them followed up with holes in the ground with rebar and tower cranes growing out of them followed up with a 4-over-1 with unleased retail space on the first floor or another glass tower is really not that interesting. I do recognize that the record of the scenery of my day-to-day life at this time may be of interest later and have been careful to record the location for every photo. My wife has been much more invested in this process with her work at the Seattle Public Library; funding a team to record interviews with remaining long-time Central District residents, which will preserve the memory of it better than any picture could.

Jeff Turner
Utility Poles, Central District, Seattle                       © Jeff Turner

Who or what inspires you?

If we mean inspires as in influences, seeing Walker Evans’ photography for so many years growing up created some paradigms for me. Houses and Billboards, Atlanta, 1936 is for me a perfect photo and lies underneath a lot of my better images. I also had a lot of exposure as a young person to historical architecture photography and vintage picture postcards. Often, my favorite shots consciously imitate the utter deadpan of a 1960’s motel postcard or commercial real estate flyer.

Stephen Shore’s photo Horseshoe Bend Motel, Lovell, Wyoming, July 16, 1973 – essentially a frame around seemingly random elements (in other words, a photo of nothing) with some underlying special harmony – I saw at a crucial point where I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do creatively. I knew immediately I wanted to take photos like that – photos of nothing.

As I try to break away from that, I’ve found some of Kahlil Joseph’s very magical motion picture work (https://vimeo.com/66703600 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fLKcHu-LJo) along with a variety of other people’s still work that is about feelings rather than things is probably my next “Horseshoe Bend Motel photo” or at least I hope so. Taking pictures of nothing is easy. Visually representing something that makes you feel some kind of way is a mystery to me, especially as I make an effort to avoid photographing people.

Jeff Turner
Neighbor’s New Roof, Seattle               © Jeff Turner

One final question: Can you tell me briefly about a couple of photographers I may not be familiar with yet but you would recommend checking out?

There are number of people on Flickr whose work I greatly admire but I would say in that environment we probably travel in the same circles. Probably the exception would be Cameron Schiller whose work is nothing at all like mine.

I follow a whole different group on Instagram: Joonbug, and Jenoris Caba (monday.monday on Flickr) are both film photographers I always look forward to seeing. Ibán Ramón RodríguezSam Kelly, and Carlos Bravo do the clean and spare landscapes I wish I was doing as opposed to the cluttered and too-close shots I am actually doing. Phoebe, Tony Gum, and Yagazie Emezi remind me I don’t have a very well developed appreciation for color juxtaposition or management on digital, and probably ought to work on that; and I’m always happy when a non-photographer I am following for reasons of general interestingness is in the right place at the right time, manages to avoid typical amateur pitfalls, and posts something really terrific.

Jeff Turner
Valerie Photographing a Lizard, Honolulu              © Jeff Turner

Many thanks to Jeff for doing this interview. I’m so appreciative of his thoughtful answers that provide insight into his work. Be sure to check out his work on Flickr and Instagram.

Interview Photography

Pavel Pětroš
© Pavel Pětroš

Czech Republic photographer Pavel Pětroš documents suburban and industrial areas near his home. His strong use of colour, line, and graphic elements make his photographs memorable and give them a strong sense of place. He finds beauty in the everyday world giving a sense of nobility to neglected areas. Be sure to check out his website and Tumblr for more photos. 

I asked him eight questions about his work and his current projects. Our online conversation has been lightly edited for clarity. 

 

Tell me a little about yourself. Where are you from, and where do you live now?

I come from the Czech Republic. I live near the border of Slovakia and Poland in the industrial region. I have always lived in this region since I was born.

Pavel Pětroš
© Pavel Pětroš

What projects are you working on these days?

I have a lot of ideas, but nothing that could be considered a project. So, basically, I am photographing my surroundings.

Pavel Pětroš
© Pavel Pětroš

Your documentary photos are interesting and visually pleasing. What message are you trying get across?

Thank you. There is no general message. I am just photographing my surroundings the way I see them. The individual message is in every photo.

Pavel Pětroš
© Pavel Pětroš

You have been blogging for some time now. Is a blog important for articulating your thoughts?

I used to blog to write and post my photos. Now, I am posting only photos. I use it just as a photo sharing platform.

 

Who or what inspires you?

I am inspired by my surroundings. I work in Ostrava city. This is where I take most of my photos. When I travel, I photograph what I see around me. What attracts me.

Pavel Pětroš
© Pavel Pětroš

What’s your state of mind when you’re taking good photos? Do you think there’s any connection between your mood or mindset and the results you get?

My mind set always same. It is that feeling that I need to photograph.

 

Can you tell me a bit about your exhibition “No Constructive Conclusions”?

There is a little backstory. I got to know Piotr Kaczmarek through Flickr. Last year Piotr suggested having a joint exhibition in AMI gallery in Wroclaw, together with Wojtek Mszyca (Poland) and Ian Nutt (UK). I knew Wojtek from Flickr, too. We met once in Katowice where we were photographing together. Based on this, we decided to show our photos from this location in the exhibition. Ian also knows Wojtek and was shooting in the area, too. Later, this exhibition moved to Frydek-Mistek (Czech Republic), where it is displayed until the end of June 2017. Perhaps, if it works out, the show will move to UK later. Regarding the name of the show, we just didn’t have anything constructive. No constructive conclusion was made.

Pavel Pětroš
© Pavel Pětroš

One final question: Can you tell me briefly about a couple of photographers I may not be familiar with yet but you would recommend checking out?

You probably don’t know these Czech contemporary photographers: Vladimir Birgus, Evzen Sobek, Tomas Pospech. Their work is worth checking out.

 

Many thanks to Pavel for doing this interview. I’m so appreciative of his thoughtful answers that provide insight into his work. Be sure to check out his work on his website and on Tumblr.

Blogging Interview Photography

© Danielle Houghton

Danielle Houghton photographs everyday situations, yet has a knack for turning the ordinary into the extraordinary. With her keen eye she captures quirky, offbeat moments of suburban life. Her images are humourous and often have a surreal quality. Be sure to check out more of her wonderful work on Flickr and Observe Collective.

I asked her eight questions about her work and her current projects.

 

In street photography, timing is so important; you have great timing. You manage to get these really offbeat moments that are so memorable. Can you say a little about that?

Street photography is a strange mix of luck, being in the right place at the right time, trusting your instincts, and acting fast. It can also be about observation and anticipation where sometimes you just feel something is about to happen. With the former I hope my camera is ready and go for it without much thought and with the latter I usually stop and study the flow, rhythm, and timing of the scene and take several shots as it unfolds.

© Danielle Houghton
© Danielle Houghton

You’re a founding member of the Observe Collective. Can you tell me a bit about some of those projects you’re involved with?

The Observe Collective is four years old this week, and is very much based on friendship as well as photography. We are very excited to be hosting a festival in Iserlohn, Germany this coming July 14-16 called Observations which will feature exhibitions from VIA, EyeGoBananas, Full Frontal, Iserlohn’s VHS Photo Club, and ourselves. One of our aims is to promote the street community as a whole, so a juried street photography competition is part of the festival and we will continue hosting the street fight group on Flickr. In terms of Observe projects, we are in the process of producing our third magazine, the first two being available online. Obviously in the long term I would hope we would release a book.

You more or less came back to photography in 2010, after some years away from it. How has your photography evolved during the past seven years?

I think it has become more focused; I would like to think to a small degree I found my photographic voice, along with a greater understanding of the genre that is street photography.

© Danielle Houghton
© Danielle Houghton

Do you think there’s any connection between your mindset and the results you get? Do you have any advice for getting into the zone?

I definitely think there is a connection; besides being visually observant, I think you need to be open to and follow your instincts. With street photography, there is also a degree of assertiveness required as some people do find it invasive. As I am normally with family doing day to day activities when I shoot, I think I have had to become receptive to random opportunities as they arise rather than being ‘in the zone’. On the occasions I shoot alone, I have been told I become dogged!

© Danielle Houghton
© Danielle Houghton

I don’t know you, but it feels as if your personality comes through in your photos. Do you think it does?

You would probably have to ask those that know me if that is true!  I think my humour is somewhat dry, so that probably comes across, especially when I incorporate animals into a shot. I genuinely find people very interesting in a positive way so I would hope that ties in with my optimistic side. Street photography for me is about observing people, animals, and situations; I try to show something that is different, moving, or quirky about who or what I shoot.

© Danielle Houghton
© Danielle Houghton

What are some of your goals for the next few years?

My main goal would be to keep on shooting. I am not aiming to engage in photography on a professional basis, but would like to produce a book in some format either with Observe Collective, or on my own, or both. I was very honoured to be included in David Gibson’s current book – 100 Great Street Photographs.

© Danielle Houghton
© Danielle Houghton

Do you like the region or city you live in? Do you like your home? Do these affect your photography?

I do like where I live, and feel I am very lucky to be here. There has only been one year when I was a bit disillusioned with Dublin during the Celtic Tiger, but we have moved on from that and regained our humour and genuine love of life. One of the things I appreciate most is that I am only 20 minutes drive away from either a beach, a mountain, the countryside, or the city centre. Living in the suburbs, my photography has had to adapt to a quieter more observational pace than if I lived in a more bustling environment, but I love thanking advantage of the nice scenery nearby, especially the coast.

© Danielle Houghton
© Danielle Houghton

Can you tell me briefly about a couple of photographers I might not be familiar with yet, but whose work you recommend checking out?

Quite well known would be Stephen Gill as for me he marries art and photography in a very original refreshing way. You also probably know her already, but Rinko Kawauchi is very unique in the delicateness she brings to shooting everyday things. In terms of Flickr friends, there are a lot I could mention, but I will give a nod to the lovely Maria Kappatou, who has a great eye for intensity and beauty in people, and Gabi Ben Avraham who captures amazing quality filled frames.

 

Many thanks to Danielle for doing this interview. I’m so appreciative of her thoughtful answers that provide insight into her work. She has such a unique vision of the world–be sure to check out her work on Flickr and Observe Collective.

Blogging Colour Interview Photography Social Media

Fresh+Luck                                                                                           © Stacy Blint

 

Stacy Blint creates art that captures experiences, possibilities, and instances of the human condition. Looking at Stacy’s work is a visual treat. I am reminded that art is a free-flowing, organic force that combines everything life has to offer. I like her multi-disciplinary approach and her use of humour. You can see a creative mind at work. To see more, check out her website.

I asked her eight questions about her work and her current projects.

 

Tell me a little about yourself. Where are you from, and where do you live now?

I was born and raised in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Birthplace of Les Paul, inventor of the electric guitar, and home to three Nike missile sites during the Cold War. Waukesha also has long held the distinction of being part of one of the most segregated metropolitan areas in the country.

My father was a pharmacist and owned his own pharmacy. When I was young my drawings covered the walls in his store. A woman with a turkey on her head in the shape of a bouffant hairdo. Lots of princesses and cubes. It was my grandmother who taught me to draw three-dimensional shapes. Hearts, stars, rectangles, triangles; with my special power I could make any of them contain space.

In 1988, I moved to New York City to study painting at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, situated between Fort Greene and Bedford-Stuyvesant. I arrived at the height of both the crack and AIDS epidemics. This is something I have written about extensively in a soon to be released manuscript.

Currently I live in Wisconsin and enjoy its rich and not so distant history of pioneers and settlers. Compared to other middle western states, Wisconsin itself is somewhat eccentric.

There are the serial killers; Jeffrey Dahmer, Ed Gein, Walter Ellis, David Spanbauer. The Green Bay Packers, beer, cheese, and proximity to Lake Michigan round out the offering. Family is also here. My father’s grandparents were the first generation in America, settling as dairy farmers in Wisconsin from Switzerland.

I also have an amazing and beautiful 16 year old daughter. My life partner is the brilliant poet Mike Hauser. Professionally I work as a creative director.

 

Pink+City                                                                        © Stacy Blint

 

I have been impressed with your collages, photos, and poetry. What do you consider to be your primary medium?

Listening and being. For as long as I can remember there has been a dialog taking place within the work itself, often between the modalities of the written and the visual. There have been moments over the years that these forms have merged to become installation, video, or performance. For me it’s really about what the work requires independent of medium.

 

Simone                                         © Stacy Blint

 

What themes are you exploring in your work?

Obsolescence. Obliteration. Emergence. Encasement. Humor.

I attempt to create a dialog between the visual and the written, to capture experiences, possibilities, and instances of the human condition—its splendor, its vulgarity, and its weird and comic manner. I am interested in exploring the domestic, the daily, the mundane, the overlooked, dreams, family, love, death, and relationships in my work.

 

Sampler                                                                              © Stacy Blint

 

What projects are you working on these days?

Currently I am in the process of documenting The Art Bunker, a site-specific environment that draws on a strong affinity with one of my earliest influences, the Wisconsin artist Mary Nohl.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Nohl_Art_Environment

 

Additionally, I cultivate a daily studio practice that includes writing, photography, and mixed media pieces. I like to make things with my hands and am fascinated by the hauntology present in the layering of these pieces.

 

Tell me a bit about your Disappearing Books project.

Based on the premise that with each breath we are erased a little, Disappearing Books is an ongoing multidisciplinary project that began about 7 years ago. A disappearing book is a one of a kind piece of art. As the reader ‘reads’ the book it’s original form is obliterated. It cannot be ‘read’ the same way twice.

There is a mail art component to these pieces. To date 19 books have been documented and shared with people in several countries, including Japan, Canada, England, Germany, Austria, South Africa, and America. As the concept evolves I find myself drawn to explore more performative aspects.

http://www.disappearingbooks.com/

 

Who or what inspires you?

Nature inspires me, unexpected combinations or words and images inspire me, music inspires me. Inspiration can come from anywhere and is most powerful when informed by an acute awareness that time is short.

 

Cerrusite                                                                     © Stacy Blint

 

One final question: Can you tell me briefly about a couple of artists I may not be familiar with yet but you would recommend checking out?

These are a few creators I draw inspiration from:

Bruce La Mongo, Artist

Michaela Mück, Artist

Mike Hauser, Writer

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6LsqnSATqgySnFEQkgtUDNYcms/view

Ferdinand Bardamu (aka Sascha Skotton), Photographer and Writer

http://faq-magazine.com/magazine/2017/41/taxi-driver.html

Jon Mueller, Musician

Kerensa Demars, Dancer

http://www.sanfranciscoflamenco.com/#home-section

Typos & brevity c/o technology

http://www.stacyblint.com/

 

Mermaids                                                                                © Stacy Blint

 

Many thanks to Stacy for doing this interview. I’m so appreciative of her thoughtful answers that provide insight into her work. Her art is always a source of inspiration.

 

Blogging Colour Interview Observation

© Michael Morissette

Toronto photographer Michael Morissette is equally at home photographing in the solitude of nature, or in a busy urban environment.  His use of colour, light, and graphic elements make his images memorable. A middle school art teacher, he finds time for creative projects with his students as well as those he does in his own time. I have known Michael since 1980 when we started studying photography at Ryerson in Toronto. His amiable and contemplative nature has always been visible in his work.

I asked him eight questions about his work and his current projects. (Our on-line conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.) Check out more of his wonderful work on Flickr, Facebook, and Instagram!

Elliot Erwitt sums up my thoughts on verbalizing my photography: “The whole point of taking pictures is so that you don’t have to explain things with words.”

 

Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from, and where do you live now?

 

I was born and raised on the West Coast, until the call of photography study took me to Ryerson, in Toronto, in my early 20s.  After a brief stint in the oil fields of Alberta to help pay for school, I loaded up my Chevy van and headed east. And aside from a five-year period of work and travel away, I’m still calling Toronto home after more than 30 years. It’s a city rich in culture, and a wellspring of photographic material. There is much I still miss about Vancouver, especially the natural beauty, but my roots have gone deep in Toronto.

 

What subject matter attracts you, and why?

 

It’s not easy to define myself as a photographer, as I’m attracted to such a wide range of subject matter, but I would say that I’m a documentarian more than a creator. Virtually all my work is as I saw it, with little manipulation. However, I do shoot RAW, and really enjoy the process of bringing my images to fruition in Lightroom. Like you, I cut my photographic teeth in black and white, hand processed and printed. The computer is a way of returning to the craft of image making.

© Michael Morissette

 

Can you tell us about the projects you are working on these days?

 

I’ve recently self-published a book titled Water & Colour, which consists of a series of photographs documenting the effects of rust and decay on well-aged automobiles from a wrecking yard near Toronto. Reflecting the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi, the beauty in decay, the photographs display a varied palette, degrading from the original vivid vehicle colours to the oranges and yellows of years of corrosion.

© Michael Morissette

 

And presently I’m working on a series titled “Dia y Noche,” from a carnival ground in Baja, Mexico, taken in the early morning light, and in the darkness of evening. The intense colours of the shrouds covering each booth at a time void of human activity contrasts interestingly with the artificial light of nighttime. The human presence also adds another important visual element.

© Michael Morissette

 

How has your background in graphic arts shaped your vision?

 

Studying graphic design prior to photography instilled in me an instinctive recognition of elemental line, shape and form, which lends itself well to photography. It’s been a valuable aid in the growth of my photographic composition. And, interestingly, I’m still using the same tools and techniques from that experience in my art classroom today.

© Michael Morissette

 

What’s your state of mind when you’re taking good photos? Do you think there’s any connection between your mood or mindset and the results you get?

 

I believe my mood is clearly enhanced as I photograph. Time passes quickly and I find, at certain times when everything’s right, that I’m immersed in a zone of creative pleasure. It can occur deep in a forest, in the urban grunge of a back alley, or on a busy downtown street. There’s really nothing else quite like it. Creativity, in any aspect, is very important to me. This is a belief that I try to instill in my students.

 

Your photos sometimes contain funny twists. Tell me about the role of humour in your photography.

 

Humour for me is both a defense mechanism and a survival tool, particularly in my day job, attempting to nurture creativity in overactive adolescents. Without humour, life, at times, can be pretty grim. Thus, if I can find something out there that brings a smile to my mind, or my face, I try to capture it.

© Michael Morissette

 

Who, or what inspires you?

 

Contrasts, oddities, contradictions, but most of all, light. Light is so important to my work. And beauty, in whatever forms that takes.

One Piano, Three Years                         © Michael Morissette

 

One final question: Can you tell me briefly about a couple of photographers I may not be familiar with yet but you would recommend checking out?

 

There are a few people I’ve been following on Instagram that are well worth mentioning. Mustafa Seven does some remarkable street photography in Turkey.  Sefa Yamak, also working in that region, does some compelling street portraits; and finally, Paul Brouns does some really great graphic architectural work in Northern Europe.

 

I’ll close with another quote from Elliot Erwitt: “To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.”

 

Many thanks to Michael for doing this interview. I’m so appreciative of his thoughtful answers that provide insight into his work. His images are always a source of inspiration.

© Michael Morissette

 

Blogging Interview Observation Photography