Interview by ANDY EL KANANI — photos by JOSEPH W. OHLERT
Joseph W. Ohlert changed the typical definition of portrait. In his work, the artist attempts to dissect the subjects of youth, beauty and of art itself. He’s convinced that every person has a zero point: a state were everyone is the same, stripped down of clothing and attitude. Seeing his projects also has us asking ourselves: Who is the artist? What is the art piece? As well as the mother of all questions: What is art?
ANDY E. K. — Merely a matter of personal curiosity. The first thing I noticed about you was the project ‘Photographed by’ and I immediately thought it was amazing. How did it come about? Did you put the camera in people’s hands and asked them to photograph you? JOSEPH W. O. — First of all, thank you. I had the idea already in high school but didn’t know how to get the people I wanted for this project. So I was lucky when a friend took me with her to a casting for a movie called ‘Confession of a Child of the Century’ starring Peter Doherty, Lily Cole and Charlotte Gainsbourg in the main roles. It went well and so a couple of days later I was on set for one week playing a little part next to all these amazing personalities. I took my chance and gave Peter and Lily my camera and asked them to take a picture of me for an art project. And so it started. At the same time, I was planning my first photography exhibition in Berlin and I wanted to combine it with the ‘Photographed by’ project. I got photographed by a lot of other people from the art, music and film scenes, and also added some friends and family members to that project. The idea behind this project was to destroy the very definition of artist and of art piece, and to turn that into an open question on who the real artist is. I was asking myself: What is a good photo and is it a good photo just because a famous person is in it? So, I met all this people and thought about how I could deal with this in my work and get something more interesting of out it than just a paparazzi-picture. I changed the typical definition of portrait and had them photograph me. Who is the artist/photographer, what is the art piece? And the old-fashion question: What is art?
ANDY E. K. — Generally, a photographer is scared of posing in front of a camera. You aren’t (or, at least, so it seems), as you often take self-portraits. Is that because you consider this looking from the outside as a way to better understand yourself, or is it something else? JOSEPH W. O. — I started my first self-portrait series ‘daily sha/muc/bln’ at the age of 18, when I moved to 3 different cities in Germany in 3 months. In every city, I took one photo of myself with the photo-booth machine in the streets every day. I didn’t really had a clue about what that was going to be, but it was more and more fun and it costed just 1 Euro. I changed my look and always had new ideas to make a new composition. I stopped after watching the movie ‘The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain’. I cant really say why, but the series then just felt complete to me. From time to time, when I was working more with photography, I took little snapshots of myself. Maybe it’s a sort of documentary on the self – a way to watch myself growing up and to try to understand the changes taking place in life.
ANDY E. K. — How did you get into photography? JOSEPH W. O. — Actually, I always was more into art, especially conceptual art. I was drawing a lot too and knew already at a very young age that I wanted to do something of that kind when I wold be older. In fact, I really started to work with photography while attending a special course in school, where I learned the basics of analog photography. I was travelling a lot and photographed the people in the streets. It was a good training for me to get a sense of taking pictures without getting noticed and to press the button at the right time. I was more interested in portraits since the beginning. Now I am also doing some still-lives, but portraits are still my main focus.
ANDY E. K. — What is the first picture you’ve ever taken? Was it a picture of yourself? JOSEPH W. O. — Ahaha, no. Or.. maybe. Actually, I don’t remember. I never had a special moment where I realised ‘this is it’. It just was always there. My mother was taking often pictures of my siblings and me when we were younger. So I was used to it. But I just remember, when I built my own darkroom, the first picture I took was in fact a self portrait… haha. I wonder where it is. I guess in some hidden place in my photo archive.
ANDY E. K. — In the section of your website called ‘Situation’ there are a lot of funny scenes. What’s the weirdest situation you ever found yourself in? Have you captured it in one of those photos? JOSEPH W. O. — You mean in my photographer career? Well, I remember a guy who I photographed once at my studio. We did some very beautiful photos even though he was still drunk from partying all night. It was a very intense atmosphere and I could see that he was turned on. He asked me if I would mind if he took a little wank. I was surprised but didn’t really care. I was interested in the situation and thought that was one of those photographer stories that happens sometimes. So, I was just sitting in my chair watching him and didn’t know what to do with myself. I didn’t take pictures of the situation, but I smile when I am looking at the portraits I took of him. He was a bit embarrassed after that, I guess, but I am an open minded guy and do love all the boys and girls I ever photographed. But I figured out for myself that it is better to leave the photographer-model- relationship in a mental way (but this doesn’t apply to my lover). In general, I don’t really see my photos as that weird. I think it’s just my friends who live their normal lives being young and living in a city like Berlin.
ANDY E. K. — What’s your relationship with nudity? What can a naked man communicate, in your opinion? JOSEPH W. O. — I think I try to capture a moment of a human being and not a person who we see when he wears clothes. I want to focus on the design of the human body and on someone’s natural look. It is very personal, but also just a body. My way of taking portraits changed after the past year. I am also taking portraits of artists and actors now and they don’t have to get naked… But it is still my favorite subject.
ANDY E. K. — What about the future? Are you scared about it? JOSEPH W. O. — No. The world didn’t end in 2012, and so I’ll continue with I do until the digital wave will cause the end of the photo film production. Because I still only work with analog photography.
Interview by ELISABETTA PORCINAI — Photos by AARON MCELROY
Up-and-Coming Style moves its first steps in the Big Apple and meets photographer and artist Aaron McElroy for an intense yet straightforward chat – a truthful insight on his art, his story and on his world. Far from the pedantic or pretentious talk often afflicting the art world, in this interview, Aaron talks about voyeurism, street photography and stresses the importance of the editing and printing processes in producing his images, scrupulously crafted and juxtaposed to form an elegant jigsaw of colours, moods and sensations.
ELISABETTA P. — Hello Aaron, I’m afraid we are going to start off with a question you have probably answered a million times already: How did you choose photography? What brought you to start taking pictures? Was it dictated by an urge, a passion, or rather by some sort of aesthetic attraction? AARON M. — It was rather random to be honest: at first, I didn’t really have a clear idea of what the art world was until I actually started taking pictures. I had always thought of photographs as something quite silly: if you think about it, if you can remember something, then why photographing it? That is what I originally thought about images. It probably all started at the time when I was living alone in an old police station, the walls in my apartment were all empty and I just thought to myself I would have painted the walls, just to make the place livelier… so I just bought a camera on e-Bay and that’s literally when I started taking photos. After that I started taking a photography class, learning about film developing techniques and how to print my own work. From that moment on, I started spending about $12 a week printing photos and then just hanging them on the wall.
ELISABETTA P. — So your first urge was literally to ‘fill up the walls’, right? AARON M. — Yes, exactly. After that I started investing a little, buying new cameras and equipment and also taking classes and courses. Once you get that ‘itch’ then you suddenly feel like experimenting all you possibly can. Along with this, I initially got really impressed by Robert Frank’s ‘The Americans’. In the beginning, I was really intrigued by street photographers in Boston, taking pictures every day, and that was also the time I was a bike messenger, biking around Boston every day; that’s when I started carrying my camera around all the time. One day my light meter didn’t work, so I just asked one of those photographers and we ended up getting into a long conversation about photography and he started telling me about different photographers – a whole world started opening up before me.
ELISABETTA P. — So that is when it all started to get more serious? AARON M. — Serious? Well…I literally just wanted to take a lot of pictures! I’ve never really taken family or ‘memory’ pictures, I just thought right away: This is what I want to do!
ELISABETTA P. — Referencing to what we were discussing earlier: we commonly say that a photograph captures reality; that is a record of time, of an impression. But then when would you say that a photograph becomes art? Is it about the aesthetics and composition? Is it about the purpose or the intention of the photograph actually being taken? AARON M. — I think you get to a certain point where composition stops mattering, because you know what you want to do and you know what the outcome is going to be, or it just becomes so intuitive that the composition is just ingrained in you. Personally, I think it lays in the fact of creating a mood, in creating a visual feeling throughout all the images. At least I make them to then tie everything together.
ELISABETTA P. — So, your method is based on creating sequences of images that are tied together to form a bigger whole? AARON M. — Yes, although they’re not necessarily tied together by anything tangible: I like to juxtapose pictures together, which is ultimately the thing tying them together. Usually contrasts, colour tones, moods, feelings.
ELISABETTA P. — From an observation of your work in general, it stands out that detail and close-ups are surely some of your distinguishing features, especially in your latest series. Is this an attempt of documenting reality in its details? AARON M. — I think the way I started taking photographs got a really strong foundation in street photography, which has notably that connotation of fortuity and fragmentation to itself. So I guess I started identifying with that idea and that mindset, translating it in my personal life on a daily basis, and then stared photographing in that sense. I try to take random images and then create a stream of ideas with them. Right now I am really focused on details and just into anything that I find interesting; I just photograph it.
ELISABETTA P. — Would you say that your work has been changing over time? You seem to have gone through a substantial transition, which went from the black and white, blurred and almost pictorial portraits characterising your early work, to a much more defined type of photography, where colour and the use of the flash seem to have become your new signature. AARON M. — Yes, definitely. I believe it mostly has to do with the fact of having to complete what I’ve started back in photography school. I think that the idea of working in the darkroom and creating a sketch of what you want to do has probably laid out a foundation for my first approach, but it is also still showing in my latest work. My work has changed because I simply don’t want to be making the same pictures.
ELISABETTA P. — By looking at your pictures we can notice a recurring presence of the female body. Is there an implicit erotic or voyeuristic intent behind them? AARON M. — Yes, I think it has to do with wanting the viewers to feel like they’re looking at something maybe they shouldn’t be looking at. This creates that voyeuristic feeling of them experiencing something personally, as they were actually seeing all these little details with their own yes. I think this concept plays with a lot of different ideas of what you should or shouldn’t view.
ELISABETTA P. — So you’re saying that your approach is oriented towards a much more ‘intimate’ typology of portrait… AARON M. — I’d rather say that the difference lies in really trying to find and create an awkward moment: some people I photograph can get extremely awkward, even though you don’t necessarily see that in my photos, as they are mostly features of details of figures and bodies. What I’m trying to say is that I don’t want a subject because he or she knows how to work out the camera; that is not interesting to me. I think that part of taking the photograph is about the authenticity of the whole experience.
ELISABETTA P. — What is your opinion regarding the increasing trend which sees fashion photography borrowing elements from street and art photography? Is it trying to go the same direction by pursuing or imitating its apparent random and raw character? AARON M. — I think there is a big distinction to be made: although it appears to be quite a big trend now – of fashion photography getting on the fringes of being in between fashion and art – there is a very distinct feel to it, in fact; it looks more like a snapshot I would say. I think my work transcends fashion photography, because there is so much more to it: I put a lot of effort into producing the final product, and the real difference for me is really about making the print; I think there is no photograph without a print. I spend a lot of time working with my images, in order to give them the feel and for them to have the colours and tones that I want.
ELISABETTA P. — Notably, the use of flash is often considered as a rather ‘intrusive’ method that tends to be identified with a typology of image which is raw, irreverent and at times quite crude. Your images are instead characterised by a peculiar delicacy and elegance – which almost feels like a paradox. Is that something intentional? AARON M. — I think I just have a sensitive approach to my subject; I don’t look at something or someone considering them simply as ‘a tree’ or ‘a model’, for instance – I don’t objectify them. I normally do not really have a precise idea to begin with; everything appears in view of the editing process, that’s where it begins. I collect images continuously, almost compulsively, but then it’s when I go back to the computer or in the darkroom that everything really starts to come together
ELISABETTA P. — You’re thus saying that, when you take a photograph, you’re envisaging the whole process coming thereafter, rather than just the moment itself. AARON M. — Perhaps it is a stage of my work at the moment, perhaps it’ll change, but I don’t really believe in the moment, but rather in the image-making process as a whole. Literally-speaking, I don’t even consider photography in my work right now; it is not my main concern. I just want to make images and maybe, who knows, tomorrow I’ll quit photography and I’ll start doing something else, although at the moment it’s the format I love to work with. I love to look at photographs, I love to make them, I love working on them. The whole experience gives me an incredible sense of accomplishment.
ELISABETTA P. — You never seem to portray your human subjects with a definite identity; you never show their faces. Instead, you focus on details and close-ups of them. Is there a reason behind that? AARON M. — When I first started, I was doing mainly series portraying faces, but then I started a transition that led me to the point of portraying only details about people, so eventually not making the work about them, ultimately, to not portray them. Particularly the fact of not showing their faces almost makes it an antithesis of a portrait; I think that is the main idea behind this.
ELISABETTA P. — So, you portray them not as individuals but rather as an entity, right? AARON M. — Yes, an entity, a subject. Although I don’t really like to use the word subject; it is much more complex than that: portraits are very tricky. By obscuring the face you have no identity of time and place and everything is sort of blurred together; I think you play with time, really.
ELISABETTA P. — Would you say you have an obsession? Is there something recurring in your work? Does it tell something about you? AARON M. — I don’t know if that can be considered as an obsession, but I’m really interested in photographing my own desires and curiosities. Ultimately, you want to make sexy images, period. My goal is to make sexy photos, whether it’s just a tree, or cement, or trash, or a figure, or a beautiful person, you want to make this vision compelling to look at, and then you want to make it your own and create a mood. I don’t normally feel like referring to movies, but I think in this case they can serve as a good example: David Lynch, for instance. In his films he creates this mood in lots of his disturbing imagery: they’re beautiful and they’re dangerous, they’re made to be tapping at the back of someone else’s brain. That is the principle: I almost want people to feel uncomfortable when looking at my images; safe pictures are boring!
ELISABETTA P. — So you’re trying to trick people’s mind by showing them an unconventional view of something. AARON M. — People are more unconventional that they’d let other people believe.
ELISABETTA P. — Would you say you have – or have had – a main influence in your work and formation as an artist? AARON M. — Perhaps one of the most influential photographers has been Daido Moriyama, together with the other street photographers: they make that kind of images that you just stare at, not really knowing what to think. I get asked this question quite frequently, and to be honest, I always hesitate a little: it’s just that there is so much good imagery right now that I can’t even keep track of it myself! However, I believe the first photographers got to know and love have been Araki, Moriyama, Bruce Gilden and all the street photographers; they really laid down the foundation for me and ultimately for my contemporaries. I’ve also always admired Man Ray; he holds the test of time to me. It is incredible how there are artists from the 50’s and the 40’s who are still incredibly contemporary today.
ELISABETTA P. — We know you have some of your work being published in a new book – can you tell us a word about it? AARON M. — Well, if all goes according to plan, I will be featured in three books this year. One with Self Publish Be Naughty; another one in collaboration with AM Projects, a new international collective formed by myself and five other artists – our work will be published in a book called ‘Nocturnes’. Finally, ‘House and Garden’, a book which will be featuring my work together with artist and photographer Bill Sullivan.
ELISABETTA P. — Relating to the project Self Publish Be Happy: an increasing number of artists and photographers are choosing self-publishing as a solution against the mainstream and the difficulties that having one’s own work published entails – what is your opinion on such situation? AARON M. — I believe it is a good thing. I think any way an artist manages to make their work visible represents a very positive thing, especially because we end up having all these unique objects being produced all the time. I just wonder how long it will last; I wonder if it’ll ever just take over. I think this has been happening for a while now. People have been making their own books forever, and now I think that just because of web presence, people are finally staring to be increasingly aware and informed about it.
ELISABETTA P. — Is there a project or a particular photograph amongst yours which you’re particularly fond of? AARON M. — The next one I make. I don’t really know. Sometimes I get sick of looking at my photos as I’m looking at them all the time. There should be a window out of which to put your work when it’s still exciting for you, but paradoxically people are normally interested in that project you did years ago.
Interview by SARA SCIALPI — Illustrations by ELEONORA MARTON
Sfogliando i lavori di Eleonora Marton, pagina per pagina, sezione per sezione, quello che balza subito all’occhio (e al cuore) è la semplicità quotidiana, schietta e sgargiante delle cose che riesce a rappresentare, in maniera asciutta ma emozionante. Oggetti comuni (un pettine, un rasoio, pantofole, un pigiama) occupano spazi a loro riservati, piccolo ritagli di colore che li elevano a ricordi, momenti importanti in cui ognuno di noi riesce ad immedesimarsi con facilità.
SARA S. — Diresti che quotidianità e schiettezza sono un po’ la firma dei tuoi disegni, o c’è dell’altro? ELEONORA M. — Sì, direi che quello che mi è sempre interessato di più è investigare il quotidiano per poi rappresentare la poesia che è racchiusa nelle situazioni familiari, o anche trovare dell’ironia in quelle stesse situazioni. Per quanto riguarda gli oggetti, mi piace leggerci dentro una storia.
SARA S. — È stata questa una precisa scelta stilistica, o al contrario un qualcosa di assolutamente spontaneo? C’è una raccolta di disegni che ti è più cara? ELEONORA M. — Non è stata proprio una decisione, penso che semplicemente siano queste le cose che mi fanno riflettere, ed emozionare. Non saprei dire quale tra i miei progetti mi sia più caro, forse al momento direi Rising, che è un blog dove ogni giorno posto un disegno del mio letto disfatto, può sembrare noioso nella sua ripetitività ma in realtà non lo è affatto. Ogni giorno il letto appare diverso, e sono diversa anche io. E poi trovo che l’azione di disegnare appena sveglia sia molto calmante, quasi zen!
SARA S. — Quindi più o meno tutto quello che butti giù deriva da un getto di cuore diretto, una materializzazione visuale nata dall’osservazione della vita di tutti i giorni. L’unica cosa da chiarire è lo stile. Come mai questo tratto marcato, spesso e talvolta vibrante? ELEONORA M. — Anche questo non deriva da una decisione, o da una ricerca di stile, trovo che nel mio processo sia prevalente il concetto e l’urgenza di rappresentarlo, da qui un segno molto veloce ed istintivo. Preferisco non indugiare in schizzi a matita, e mille bozze, in tutti i miei lavori (compresi i punto croce) agisco subito ‘in bella’. Penso che il disegno, nel mio caso, ne guadagni, rimanendo più fresco, e più interessante nell’imperfezione. Inoltre, ho notato che quando cerco di ridisegnare un soggetto, perché magari non mi convince, alla fine torno sempre ad usare l’originale.
SARA S. — “Back home years ago” ha particolarmente catturato la mia attenzione. Come ti è venuta l’idea del punto croce? C’è stato qualche input esterno, un’ispirazione determinante, o i tuoi ricordi d’infanzia hanno fatto per tre? ELEONORA M. — Mi è sempre piaciuto il punto croce, è una forma antichissima di tipografia, legata principalmente all’ambiente casalingo. Da piccola andavo dalle suore che davano lezioni di ricamo alle bambine, ecco perché ho pensato che fosse la tecnica più adatta per questo progetto, un libro di stoffa dove ogni pagina illustra un ricordo o una sensazione che non voglio dimenticare. Individuato il tema, le singole illustrazioni mi sono subito apparse chiare.
SARA S. — Il tema dell’infanzia si ripete poi più e più volte nei tuoi lavori; sia per le illustrazioni (“now she’s 3”) che, ho notato, fra i lavori commissionati (libro per bambini “la maglia del nonno”). Si tratta di qualcosa di fortuito, oppure hai davvero questa forte connessione con la tua “te bambina”? E come si manifesta questo tuo lato mentre disegni? ELEONORA M. — Non lo so, forse perchè quando penso alla mia infanzia sorrido, e perchè trovo divertenti nella loro ingenuità i pensieri e i discorsi dei bambini.
SARA S. — In netto contrasto apparte invece la collezione “for ex-lovers only”; l’impressione che si ha è una vaga sfiducia nei confronti dei rapporti personali e, in particolare, un certo senso di incomunicabilità fra due amanti, sottolineato grottescamente da immagini così vivide, ma semplici. Aggiungeresti altro? ELEONORA M. — Siamo tutti stati gli o le ex di qualcuno e tutti abbiamo pronunciato e ci siamo sentiti dire queste frasi più o meno assurde alla fine di una relazione… più che far emergere cinismo, io ho voluto tirarne fuori il lato più ironico.
SARA S. — Quindi la domanda sorge spontanea: qual è l’atteggiamento con il quale ti metti a disegnare, nostalgico e malinconico, oppure spensierato, addirittura leggero, ma sempre disincantato? ELEONORA M. — Direi che quando mi metto a lavorare sento sempre un po’ di tutto questo… ma dipende anche dal progetto. Dal momento che disegno ogni giorno, sia progetti personali che commissionati, non posso aspettare di avere l’umore giusto. Anche se, a dirla tutta, nelle giornate no ogni cosa che faccio mi sembra da cestinare!
SARA S. — Pensi che i tuoi lavori renderebbero lo stesso se li realizzassi in digitale? Il “materiale” è una grossa componente, o solo un mezzo visuale come un altro? ELEONORA M. — Non credo funzionerebbero allo stesso modo, penso che nei miei lavori il segno sia fondamentale, è quello che li rende personali. Una volta scansionati, non ci lavoro su più di tanto. Preferisco arrivare alla soluzione finale direttamente sulla carta. A volte uso il digitale nella colorazione, principalmente nei progetti commissionati, per comodità. Inoltre stare al computer mi stanca molto.
SARA S. — Sogni nel cassetto, idee per progetti futuri? ELEONORA M. — Vorrei tanto occuparmi del lettering dei titoli di un film, o magari mi piacerebbe che i miei disegni fossero inseriti in un film di Wes Anderson! Al momento sto lavorando a due nuove zines e a una mostra, in futuro mi piacerebbe realizzare un libro.
Too few and too feeble are the voices of those who will to controvert the standards of modern fashion industry. Too powerful and too exaggerated is the bombing of shapes and colours, the hints and persuasiveness of the smirking, perfect bodies on magazines covers and pages. In this boiling ocean of visual pleasures and unreal abstractions,Ryan Oliver’s keen and probing reconstruction of today’s visual imagery, performed through the use of collage, stands out. With some kind of surgical mind and hands, he serves us up on a plate the real, honest and bare face of what they feed our eyes with, every day.
SARA S. — By looking at your works, the first question that came up to my mind was of a ‘chronological’ kind. What did you choose first: fashion as a subject or collage as a form of art? If you started with fashion, why did you pick collage to express your views and enhance the fake-beauty-parade concealed flaws? Or else, in case you chose collage first, why did you feel like using fashion as a world to reinvent? RYAN O. — I began to utilise collage as a medium at University. I was attracted to the communicative immediacy and built a vast library of material with which to work, largely consisting of high fashion/lifestyle periodicals. Due of my close proximity with this material, I became concerned with the position of women regarding image and representation. The visual language become all too familiar, beauty/perfection and sexualisation being the two constants. Images are sold on the sexuality/availability of women; portrayed as volunteering sex, submissive and perhaps even as ‘victims’. Collage is the perfect medium for rebuttal. Collage by its very nature is disparaging of its source material; a destructive gesture of cutting and slicing a pre-existing image, only to be redeemed by the perpetrator, as he or she sees fit. It is a response and is countering to what was presented originally.
SARA S. — Was there something, or someone, an instant sparkle of inspiration, pushing you to look at visual arts under this light? Or rather, you’d say that your works were born after a long silence of endured intolerance towards modern standards and schemes? Also, would you call it intolerance, visual sarcasm, mocking irony, or is it merely an experimental research without any emotional connotations, a way like any other to underline what lies underneath the surface? RYAN O. — My practise is a result of the laborious process of sourcing material. During this process, the force of repetition regarding imagery warranted a response. Although not devoid of humour, I want my work to be taken seriously. As an artist, I make visual observations or interpretations of the world around me and don’t believe it’s an artist role to answer questions but to raise them.
SARA S. — Most of your works are based on contrast, the juxtaposition of the myths we see on posters and screens and the dramas of everyday life. It’s like looking at reality all at once. Among the works based on this concept, the one that struck me the most is ‘Boy & Girl Placenta Kiss’.
Left: RYAN OLIVER — Right: TERRY RICHARDSON
SARA S. — I’m quite sure it is also the only one who has got a real, concrete element in it. I mean, it’s not just paper but… flesh? It’s like you destroyed ideal, hedonistic romance in this one, by replacing it with the oppressive implications of the real world. Didn’t you? Anyway, how did you make it? RYAN O. — All my work is pure collage. It is imperative that I facilitate a sense of realism anatomically and pay considerable attention to colour and contrast to insure the illusion of continuity between imagery. The fact that you, as the viewer, have misinterpreted part of the work as actual ‘flesh’ indicates a successful appropriation. The original image was a voyeuristic fashion/beauty/youth/sex construct, with obligatory fashion credits scrolled up the far right hand side of the page (‘Will wears… Daisy wears’ etc.) This renders the page neither art nor erotica, but a seductive facade, coaxing the viewer to literally ‘buy into’ a factitious lifestyle fantasy by way of consumption. In ‘Boy & Girl Placenta kiss’ the ‘flesh’ element is, as the title would suggest, an image of a (twin) placenta. This visceral internal organ acts as blooded veil, masking the ‘skin show’ and its original ambition. Here, reality repudiates fantasy. The placenta, part of the very real, biological consequence of reproduction.
Left: RYAN OLIVER — Right: JUERGEN TELLER
SARA S. — I also couldn’t help but look again and again at your Marc Jacobs posters rendition. What can you tell us about Joseph Lee Winters, Vivian Riley and Herman Schafer? What are those pictures related to and which setting is that? RYAN O. — Joseph Lee Winters & friends were overcome by carbon monoxide gas during a party at his apartment (California). Vivian Riley was murdered by Vernon Spangler at his house (California). Herman Schafer committed suicide by gas in his kitchen, after pinning a suicide note to his best suit expressing his wishes to be buried in it, along with the shoes on the cooker (California). These images were run in an article from ‘Bizarre’ magazine called ‘Better off dead’ and were taken from ‘Death Scenes – A homicide detectives Scrapbook’ by Katherine Dunn. I inserted the death scenes within the ‘window’ of the Marc Jacobs’ originals. Once more, the Marc Jacobs’ originals promised a factitious lifestyle fantasy for the consumer and again after my intervention, reality repudiates fantasy. I derive great satisfaction from abducting imagery aimed at the consumer and inverting the content to communicate divergent views.
SARA S. — Some other of your works question the ‘superficial objectification of the female form’. You do so in two different ways, I suppose. On one hand, you strip down the strongly allusive imagery used in commercials and magazines by associating its vague, catchy forms to their actual meaning: lust and sex. Thus exposing the mechanisms behind the objectification process itself. On the other – most significant – hand, you deconstruct, manipulate, deform, mix, and turn female beauty standards into something disgusting or disturbing. What’s the real meaning of that? Do you think that re-suggesting flaws and imperfections in this strong way could represent some kind of step towards the de-objectification of the female body? A way to, perhaps, strive towards the acceptance of more realistic, down-to-earth standards? RYAN O. — My work addresses the fashion photography/advertising’s aesthetic representation of women. In part, my work facilitates dialogue between the innuendo-laden visual language of fashion imagery with pornography by exchanging the implicit for the explicit, drawing parallels where the female form is commodity. In other work, the beauty/perfection constant, is probed and scrutinised. Banal, objectification of the female form is cut from its origins and juxtaposed with strenuous misalliance to invalidate beauty’s all important symmetrical balance. Again, these are my observations and not protest.
SARA S. — Staying on this theme, have you ever thought about composing a ‘beautiful’ – well, at least graceful – body, using elements considered disgusting or inappropriate in everyday life. Would it have the same meaning? Would it work? RYAN O. — No. You can deconstruct perfection but cannot construct perfection from lesser parts. I don’t think it would have the same meaning. I don’t think it would work.
SARA S. — How does the process of composing a patchwork work? You have a brilliant idea and start to look everywhere for what you need? Or you rather feed your stash of papers for weeks until you come up with a new project? I mean, how did it go in the instance of a ‘hyper-cool’ piece like this one?
SARA S. — And also, how much did it take to make it turn out like this? It looks like an infernal Sistine Chapel, but revisited by Picasso on acid. RYAN O. — Any intricate collage requires an initial concept, that will be redefined incrementally, according to the source material. It requires a wealth of imagery with which to work and a resourcefulness to overcome these limitations. This work is the result of challenging those constraints and was completed over a six month period. The piece is an apocalyptical vision; female protagonists, freed from their consumerist ‘shackles’, lay vengeance on their male oppressors. A scene that owes more to Hieronymus Bosch and the Chapman brothers than Michelangelo or Picasso.
SARA S. — What are your next projects all about? RYAN O. — I’m continuing my practice, exploring reoccurring themes.
Interview by SARA SCIALPI — Photos by MICHAL PUDELKA
Avoiding clichés, spitting on the gutless standards of those who believe commercial is the way to make it, loving but subtly mocking his roots. Caring about the difference, even if it’s a really small one. Even if it’s in a rowdy, nonsensical and colourful crowd or a plastic, paralysed, grey one. We’re talking about Michal Pudelka. The harmony of his pictures locks up a sly, sneaky smile; a subtle provocation, a story going on. A tale that is modern but warm, explosive but without deformations.
SARA S. — How did your love for beauty and fashion develop? All at once or step by step? MICHAL P. — I think it all started when I was a little boy, I had only female cousins and we always played with Barbie dolls. Since I was seven years old, I wanted to be a fashion designer. But when I came to Paris to study, in my foundation year I fell in love with photography.
SARA S. — Was it hard to choose art and photography as a way of living in a city like Bratislava? Anyway, you seem very much connected with some kind of North-Eastern European kind of beauty. What of the place you were born in influenced you the most? MICHAL P. — It was and is not really hard, it doesn’t matter where I live, since I still work for various magazines around the world. Of course, I’m really connected with eastern Europe – it really left some traces on me, growing up in a post-communistic country where everything looks so cold and kind of impersonal.
SARA S. — Did moving to Paris change your perspective on art? Or was it just a formal change, to escape the rigid schemes of your home country? I mean, maybe your ideas and talent were there regardless of the change of place. MICHAL P. — To be completely honest, my moving to Paris didn’t change anything in me or about me. Yes, I wanted to escape from the country where people are still so close-minded. Even in art or photography, there is some commercial style that is mainstream, and if you don’t do that, you can’t really become known. That’s why I’m working only for magazines from other countries around the globe.
SARA S. — Your models seem to be really provocative and self-confident, under their (seemingly?) naive appearance. How do you manage to achieve that? And also, how does playing with colours (which you do a lot) help you to do underline girls’ beauty, moods and personalities? MICHAL P. — Every shoot I do is the result of a long process of preparation – many sketches made prior to that. Models on my shoots have it very easy, because I always know how I want every detail on my photograph to be.
SARA S. — Where do you prefer to shoot? Indoor, outdoor, urban landscapes, nature? How does the environment impact the mood you want to share? MICHAL P. — To me, the most important element is the concept, then it doesn’t really matter where it is – I like to shoot anywhere.
SARA S. — I’ve seen that many of your latest pictures feature many models in one scene. Is that difficult to handle? Also, how much time does it take to stage a picture – the poses, the expressions – to make it look perfectly harmonic? MICHAL P. — Sometimes it is a bit hard to manage, but that is my current concept – the similarities plus a little, hidden difference. There are many social groups where people look the same or act the same. I try to reflect this phenomenon in a way that is both a bit ironical and poetical. It usually takes about two or three weeks to make everything look perfect. Also, I never use Photoshop, so the preparation is really important.
SARA S. — When you started working as a photographer, did you have any particular style or photography-idol you looked up to? MICHAL P. — Photography came to my life all of a sudden, so I never had any photographer-idol.
SARA S. — And are there any photographers or visual artists inspiring you at the moment? MICHAL P. — What inspires me the most are my own life experiences.
SARA S. — In your eyes, what are the elements that make a bad picture bad? MICHAL P. — It is really hard to tell, I don’t really like photoshopped, digital, boring pictures where nothing is really happening.
SARA S. — Recommend us a song to browse your pictures along with. MICHAL P. — Sometimes it would be ‘Parasite’ from How to Destroy Angels, other times ‘Primitive’ from Roisin Murphy, or maybe also anything from Depeche Mode and Miss Kittin.
Interview by SARA SCIALPI — Photos by MARGARET DUROW
Real, sincere, evocative, intense. These seem to be adequate words to describe, nonchalantly summarise, and only partly express, the emotional depth and artistic weight of Margaret Durow’s works – works that escape the stereotypes of the ever-so-widespread and passively-enjoyable ‘pretty pictures’ populating the Web. Behind each image there’s indeed a story, not just pretty colours and shapes mixed casually to form a cheap postmodern pastiche. Sometimes a deep meaning hides behind them – the fragments of an entire existence. And this, as she herself states, is nothing but vital. To us, Margaret’s art appears to be irreparably double-sided: she points to an intimistic, private and personally meaningful kind of representation, but in the most uninterested and spontaneous of ways. The strength of her pictures’ succeeds in engaging the viewer in an unavoidably touching way, appealing to their sensibility and awareness of life’s joys and miseries. Individual but universal, thoughtful yet also poignant – which is exactly what art should be.
SARA S. — What does photography mean to you, and what’s the purpose of the photographer as an artist, in your opinion? MARGARET D. — I often get this urge – obsession – where I need to photograph things around me in a way that makes me remember how I felt. Sometimes this means capturing what is naturally in front of my camera, and sometimes I make conscious decisions about placement, etc. (often using myself in the photo), to create an image that will reflect how I felt. I share my photos to show people how I feel, and because I hope they can make people feel something personal for themselves. I think this is what an artist should do, especially a photographer: take what is inside them and around them and create something out of it to share, so that other people, while experiencing the art/ looking at the photo, can feel the personal meaning it has to the person who made it, but also feel something new and personal for themselves.
SARA S. — You love film pictures, don’t you? Why did you choose film and didn’t go digital? What do you think are the most relevant differences between these two ways of shooting in terms of the emotional impact they have on the things you capture? MARGARET D. — I love the way film photos look, but I actually enjoy shooting digital more often. Film gets too expensive for me to take photos the way I like to. When I only have my film camera, I feel an annoying pressure to only photograph the most important moments, but I have a hard time deciding what is really important, and want to remember everything, so I can look back later and reflect on what had the most meaning for me. Digital allows me to take photos at every moment of inspiration without worrying about a cost. But, I think the visual qualities of a digital photo never quite capture the feeling of the moment. When I share my photos with others I want them to match just how I felt at the moment. The visual qualities of film always reflect this so much better, so I like to shoot film whenever I have the money, or I like to make my digital photos have that look.
SARA S. — Can you pick one favourite picture among those you have shot so far and describe the feelings and memories it brings back to your mind? MARGARET D. — I don’t think I could pick one favorite ever, but this is currently one of them:
MARGARET D. — This was taken not too long ago. Me, George, and a few other good friends were in my hometown, drinking, smoking, laughing, until around 5 AM. I had stopped drinking a couple hours earlier, so I drove me and George to a field in the country where we watched the sunrise, dancing and running around. It was sort of overcast but the clouds were thin enough to turn everything bright orange. Then we realised we were ruining someones beautiful crops so we drove to the lake (Rock Lake). We went down to the area of land that my family and our neighbours own together, called Cedars. The sun turned the shore across the lake orange for a little while, but a storm started moving in. We kept jumping in, swimming around, lightning going off in the distance. It was beautiful and the lake felt like bath water because it has been so hot this summer.
SARA S. — Your black and white pictures are extremely striking, evocative. Some of them are really melancholic, others fascinatingly sad. MARGARET D. — My favourite is this one:
SARA S. — I think it’s also one of those that enjoyed the most success among your supporters. Can you give us some more specific details about the moment, the model, the conditions in which you shot it? Was it fiction or was he really desperate? MARGARET D. — Me and George were sitting in one of the summer lake cottages down at Cedars. The sun was setting, pouring through the door and the smoke captured the light so beautifully. We had been together on and off for a few years at this point, a lot of heaviness in our relationship, but even when we weren’t officially ‘together’, we were always best friends, basically together. George used to get really annoyed about me taking too many pictures, especially of him. So just before this photo, I was taking a whole bunch of pictures, because I really wanted to capture that smoke in the light just perfectly, the feeling of that warm summer day coming to a close, until finally George got really annoyed and put his head down like that, hand in hair, and just at this moment he was saying: ‘Stooopppp taakiing picturrrees’. The photo might capture his annoyance, but it also reminded me how much it had hurt me when he got annoyed about me taking pictures. Once I heard another photographer (I wish I could remember who, but I think it was Megan McIsaac), say something along the lines of ‘people keep telling me to just experience something, without realising how much photography has become a part of my experience’. That’s often how I felt with George. I think he realises it now, though, and is (almost) always supportive of me taking photos.
SARA S. — Do you see your pictures more as part of a day-by-day, spontaneous diary or an artistic progression? Is there any constant idea behind all of your works? MARGARET D. — I think the ideas that come up often in my work are very dependent on my day-by-day feelings. There is a search for balance, but an awareness of everything being a paradox – in me and around me – a strength in vulnerability, heavy feelings/light feelings, meaningless and important… trying to accept this constant change while at the same time trying to make everything last forever. Also, focusing on and presenting my own feelings might sound selfish, but they are what I know and understand the best, and by being aware of them I become aware of how much they are influenced by others, and how deeply I am a part of everything around me.
SARA S. — A picture that makes you laugh and another that makes you want to cry (by any of your favourite artists). MARGARET D. — Laugh:
Illustration by SUZIE VANSTIPHOUT
MARGARET D. — Cry:
Illustration by SUZIE VANSTIPHOUT
SARA S. — The story behind some of your pictures is the one about your scoliosis. Did art help you go through this discomfort? Is self-portrayal a cathartic device for you? MARGARET D. — My scoliosis has impacted my life a lot, but the recovery after surgery was especially hard and very long. I was in a wheelchair for a while, so when I could finally stand for a few seconds I photographed my back. Seeing it gave me a feeling of strength. I could look at myself in that state, see and feel how much my scoliosis had affected my life – causing so much pain. But accepting it as a part of me and sharing how I felt with with other people through a photo (even if/when I felt terrible) made me feel empowered. I didn’t have to hide how hard it was for me, I was allowed to feel it, process it, which made me realise it wasn’t just affecting me in negative ways. I was shown so much beauty and strength because of my experiences, especially in other people going through difficult circumstances, and the way people cared for me when I couldn’t take care of myself.
SARA S. — You’ve been featured in several magazines and websites. What would you like to tell young artists who wish this could happen to them? MARGARET D. — I never sought out to be featured in any magazines or websites, I just started sharing my photos on flickr and started getting emails. I still haven’t submitted my work anywhere, I just continue to put it up on flickr and my website. I’m not sure if what I do is the best to get featured, I think the main thing is posting your work where people can see it and replying to people who are interested in your work (which I’m terrible at!). But I always try to keep my work honest and meaningful to me, so it means a lot to me when people want to hear from me or share my work with others. I always try to get back to everyone eventually, and have ended up with a number of features that way. But it seems to me that a lot of photos that get the most popular now because of sites like Tumblr lack substance, or the meaning doesn’t matter to the people posting it. The context of the photo is often completely ignored, and it is liked just because it is appealing to the eye, because someone else likes it, or it looks nice next to the other pictures on their blog. So my advice is that you can share a part of yourself, with honesty, and people might like that, or they might just like things that are nice to look at. But either way, just share your work and reply to those who enjoy it!
Interview by SARA SCIALPI — Photos by FABRIZIO MINGARELLI
Se provo ad immaginare uno sogno muto, un universo quotidiano in cui gli oggetti si trovino a galleggiare, fuori dagli schemi dello spazio e del tempo, isolati nella loro surrealità e sostenuti soltanto dall’intrecciarsi fluido e simmetrico di luci ed ombre, mi vengono in mente i suoi lavori. La realtà, nelle fotografie di Fabrizio Mingarelli, viene colta nella solitudine asettica, precisa ed intatta, delle sue forme; e la gravità delle geometrie, a sua volta, risulta filtrata da uno sguardo attento e tiepidamente sentimentale.
SARA S. — Cosa ti ha spinto ad iniziare ad interessarti di fotografia? Ricordi il momento in cui hai scattato la tua prima foto? Com’era fatta? FABRIZIO M. — Mi sono avvicinato alla fotografia quando i miei genitori mi regalarono la mia prima macchina fotografica, una stupida compatta kodak, avevo 14 anni circa. Non ricordo con precisione il momento in cui ho scattato la mia prima foto, ma sicuramente posso dire che era un autoscatto, all’inizio ero sia il fotografo che il soggetto dei miei scatti, poi mi sono concentrato su altro.
SARA S. — Quando scatti, prevale l’impulso o il tutto è preceduto da uno studio meticoloso? Molte delle tue foto presentano delle simmetrie lucidissime, ma queste non impoveriscono la delicatezza dell’immagine, anzi ne accentuano l’emotività. FABRIZIO M. — Per quanto mi riguarda, le mie fotografie sono molto impulsive, poche di loro sono il frutto di uno studio (neanche troppo meticoloso) e, se proprio devo dirla tutta, sono proprio quest’ultime quelle che amo meno. Per me l’impulsività è fondamentale in quello che faccio, e mi dispiacerebbe molto perdere questa componente.
SARA S. — Ho notato che alcuni scatti, fra i più belli a mio parere, sono rappresentazioni di paesaggi naturali o scenari cittadini. Quale preferisci fra i due ambienti e quali sono le sensazioni che vuoi comunicare per ognuno di essi? FABRIZIO M. — Non saprei scegliere tra i paesaggi naturali o quelli urbani, a me danno sensazioni diverse ma comunque interessanti. In molte di quelle immagini il soggetto non è puramente lo scorcio naturale o cittadino rappresentato, ma più che altro la luce e le ombre che in quel particolare momento mi hanno affascinato. In altre foto, invece, il soggetto principale è la solitudine che caratterizza quell’ambiente, è molto facile ritrovarsi soli in una strada piena di gente, ad esempio.
SARA S. — La musica e il cinema hanno una certa influenza sui tuoi scatti? Quali nomi puoi fare? FABRIZIO M. — Beh si ovviamente la musica e i film sono una parte determinante della mia inspirazione. Un film che mi ha affascinato ultimamente è Blow up di Michelangelo Antonioni, ma posso anche consigliarvi Lost in translation, Freaks, À bout de souffle, The dreamers e qualche film di Gus Van Sant. Mentre per quanto riguarda la musica posso sicuramente dire Bjork, Sigur Ros, Fever Ray, Explosion in the sky, Mogway, Crystal Castles, Broadcast, Xiu Xiu e altri.
SARA S. — E per quanto riguarda altri fotografi, chi ti ispira? FABRIZIO M. — Tra i vari nomi sicuramente mi sento di dire Corinne Day, Lina Scheynius, Ryan Mcginley and Hedi Slimane, ma ci sono anche molti altri fotografi meno conosciuti che potrei nominare.
SARA S. — Come pensi che la tua fotografia possa evolvere nei prossimi tre anni? FABRIZIO M. — Beh spero di focalizzare molto di più l’attenzione sulle persone, ho in mente alcuni progetti che riguardano le persone come soggetto delle mie foto. Mi interessa anche poter collaborare con qualche altro fotografo e spero che, nei prossimi 3 anni, questo possa avvenire.
Interview by SARA SCIALPI — Photos by MARIAM SITCHINAVA
My attempt to look into the word ‘art’ focuses, for this very first time, on the magic and dreamlike atmospheres pervading the pictures Mariam Sitchinava – a 21 years old photographer from Tbilisi. Mariam has already collaborated with the internationally-known brand Urban Outfitters for their Spring Collection this year, shooting with her classical intimistic and softly-coloured touch. The sweetness and harmony of her shots and models, together with the unique way she manages to balance human and natural elements, stunned me while browsing her portfolio. Which is why I decided to contact her for an interview: to then discover – just like I told her – that she’s as lovely as the enchantment she creates in her images.
SARA S. — What brought you to become passionate about photography and what’s your view on this art form? MARIAM S. — I was very interested in photography since my childhood, but about one and half years ago my boyfriend gifted me my first camera, a Zenit (Russian film camera), and that pushed me into it! I’ve started to shoot and shoot. About my view, I see myself more as an image-maker rather than a recorder of reality, because I think about every detail first: place, clothing, etc.
SARA S. — Nature seems to be a constant in your photos – what elements from the world around you have the most impact on your pictures? MARIAM S.— I’m really fascinated by the colours of nature, especially the warmer summer hues.
SARA S.— What’s the perfectly inspirational day for you? MARIAM S.—Ahem… Day ? No, to me inspirational days can be some specific events or, I don’t know. Inspiration comes on its own.
SARA S. — Which feelings bring you to shoot and what mood you take pictures in? I can discern a fine veil of gloominess and some kind of love for the human nature, but I might be wrong. MARIAM S. — Love for photography is what moves me. The mood at the basis of my pictures is very calm but still charming. A happy mood indeed.
SARA S.— If you had to describe your works with only one song, what would that be? MARIAM S. — Elastica – My sex
