Daniel Andres Alcazar: Can a circle be a straight line?
Your art background?
After dropping out of high school I spent years working in warehouses and factories, but I’ve felt like an artist as long as I can remember. I was always good at looking. I decided to go back to school in 2012, six years after leaving high school, to study art history. I received my B.A. in art history in June of 2016 and by that time I realized that I wanted to make art rather than write about it. I recently graduated from the photography and media graduate program at CalArts.
Concept behind your most recent project?
Can a circle be a straight line? is a project that is informed by my interest in time. Humans have evolved to perceive reality in a way that organizes events into the past, present and future, but in reality, the past, present and future are all events that exist simultaneously (According to Physics.) This idea is hard to wrap our heads around since it seems counterintuitive to our perceptions and existence, but we can’t always trust what we perceive. I took these photographs in the past and they will be seen by you in the future, but in actuality these events exist at the same time. All possible events exist in one point.
Can a circle be a straight line? To us humans, a circle (or a point) contains all events, so yes, we perceive a circle as a straight line. But the reason I formed it as a questions is because I am also looking at it from a personal point of view. As an artist, I find myself doing the same thing over and over. I find myself going in circles, but can progress emerge from repetition?
The year before starting grad school, I worked on a project where I took a photo a day for 150 days. It was a transitionary moment in my life, I was waiting, frozen in time. I wanted to use this time in my life to produce work and to use time as a framework to produce work. In the end, I had 150 photographs representing 150 days.
I revisited this strategy after grad school by taking a photo every day for the month of July to find out if doing the same thing over again can lead to progress, can a circle be a straight line? I am obsessed with time. Time seems to be the only constant in reality, as humans we are bound to it and it’s what gives our lives meaning. Each of us has such an intimate relationship with time, more intimate than our closest relationships. This book is a reflection of the intimacy that I have with time and the mystery of why we experience the world in a linear manner.
How has your past work informed this project?
Most of my work deals with issues of class and race and the complicated relationship those issues have with our country. Working with these issues is more immediate and impactful. It's like, there's a problem and I’m showing it. But I am also interested in bigger philosophical questions that cannot be answered. I am interested in time, how we acquire knowledge and if progress really exists. I am also interested in making photographs that are about themselves, rather than photographs with an agenda. I feel it is necessary for my work to have this balance. Sometimes I need to make work that radiates outward, but other times I need to explore inwardly. During grad school, I struggled with these seemingly contradictory ways of working, but now I see them as a useful balance.
What’s next?
I’m recently finished a few pieces to show at an exhibition my roommates and I organized in our home. The great thing about art in Los Angeles is that there is a strong sense of community among artists which allows for something like this to thrive. I have a very anticapitalist point of view as an artist, so a community making their owns space to show the art they want to make is a perfect next step. The exhibition is titled Open House and it is about the intersection of the artist and the domestic space.
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Daniel Andres Alcazar was born, raised and currently works in Los Angeles. He received his BA in Art History from the University of California, Los Angeles and an MFA in Photography & Media from the California Institute of the Arts.
I’ve been making images since I was a little kid running around with my parents who were artists. One of my earliest birthday presents was a Pentax compact 35mm camera and my parents would pay for all my film expenses. Something I miss now that I’ve grown up. I got more into drawing and painting as I got older and thought that was where my path was headed. In high school I do remember hanging out in the darkroom but not being in the class and constantly being kicked out by the teacher. In college, I studied under some great grad student teachers and learned, not so much technique but what makes an intriguing image. As far as background, art has always been an important aspect of my life. Growing up with a father who is a storyteller and filmmaker always gave me freedom to express my own stories.
What are you working on now?
Right now I am currently opening a new direction of sight to where I want to take my thoughts. I’m writing and rewriting a screenplay for a short film that I have had in notebooks for almost four years now.
As far as photography I’m enjoying the solace it brings me to just grab my trusty Leica and go out on a walk. A series that is constantly ongoing is my documentation of my world and the people that surround me in everyday life. I am currently working on various client-related projects, and a personal project. The personal project is about the relation between the client and the photographer during a digital age. It is about initiating a different culture in the client, with the product being a physical one and not a relationship that has based its entirety in digital products. I am creating images that tell a story and speak a narrative of people that fight demons within themselves during everyday situations. I want to capture the rawness of emotion by straying away from beautiful images.
You describe yourself as a documentarian, so what would you say you document? What would you say is the role of a documentarian?
As a photographer I have never seen or called myself an artist. A photographer is more of a creator than an artist. I like to think of myself more as a documentarian who creates images out of moments.
The role of a documentarian is to be a non-existing being, almost like a fly on the wall when a moment unfolds. However, it isn’t just simply seeing something and taking a picture of it. The picture comes out of a reaction, when the photographer utilizes their tools in order to make their vision a part of the documentation.
Documenting a subject means you are preserving the memory of a moment for the people involved. It goes to live on well past the click of a shutter.
What's in your photographic toolbox?
The tools are forever changing because I’m always looking for a new way to see. Some advice I would give other photographers is to not change image quality but change your perspective in which you see.
In the past two years I have gone down the rabbit hole with shooting film. It was an awakening for me. It has allowed me to find and create the images I want to see. Cameras have always been tools in the craft of photography. I have always liked tools that offer a new way to see and rather those that add ease to creating an image.
I started with SLRs and have always enjoyed wide to normal focal lengths for lenses. In this past year I fell in love with my Leica M rangefinder because it opened up a new way to see moment. With a rangefinder you anticipate moment, you find light and composition differently than you would with a DSLR. Another way I have seen differently is through the gorgeous square waist level viewfinder of my Hasselblad 500c.
Anything you shoot on digital you can shoot on film. I don’t see it all as a leap backward or a jump forward but rather a decision to get the images I want to see. Film is beautiful to me. The physicality of it and tangible qualities is something digital will never have. One of the best quotes I ever heard was, “Film is magic and digital is science.”
I love that. I’d rather be a magician than a scientist any day.
Can you tell us a story behind one of your images?
Whether it be walking the streets, shooting live music, or portraits I’m always searching for light. Slivers of lights, refracted light, soft light hard light, all types of light. Chances are if we’re having a conversation at a coffee shop I’ve spotted three types of light.
So the image of the lone figure sitting on the steps is a good example of moment and light for me. I was first attracted to the image because of the shadow barely touching the woman sitting in the light. “I think to myself okay this is a cool situation.” But knew it needed some action or moment to add to it. I shifted my angle of view to look through the archway where I knew the feet of a passerby would come into frame if I waited. I stopped down my lens so I could obtain a slower shutter speed to add motion to the legs passing by. I saw the lines within the viewfinder come together and pressed the shutter. To me this shot represents loneliness and the amount of space that distances ourselves from reaching out to true companionship and love. It is a subject matter I’m looking for explore further in the future. Shot in Denver, CO.
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Jesse Littlebird is a music and portrait photographer and filmmaker based in Albuquerque, NM. You can find more of his work at www.jesselittlebird.com and follow him on Instagram @jesselittlebird.
Danielle Bessada: Very Intentional / Somewhat Obscure
What's your background in art?
I began my BFA at Ontario College of Art and Design, I was really into film and photo developing--but very quickly I became involved in the sculpture department. From there on in I’ve been working mostly with physical objects because it’s been a world of constant learning and obscure challenges.
What would you say your artistic or creative process is?
The idea of saying that a certain way is my process is almost impossible--I find it is always in flux. Although I do think there is one major element that I can speak to--that is being a sponge. I spend a good amount of time cataloguing things that I see or experience--and I find that when I am approaching a project these experiences always come back as a part of the process.
Since you work with a variety of mediums do you think there is an underlying concept or idea that is found in all of your works? Do you resonate with any one medium in particular?
I am always interested in the idea of a gesture. I think it’s the most interesting thing that you can look for in work. Ultimately I am always looking at things and asking how did it get from nothing to this. I think that everyone has their unique way of putting things together with the idea that it’s completed at a certain point. And that decision to release something and have it stand for itself is one of the most exciting parts of making work. I think that trying everything is really important because you do find relationships in ways that you make things and this may only be realized much later when everything comes together.
What are you currently working on?
Well I started this sort of series a couple years ago when I started hanging out with this friend of mine who would always obsessively be working no matter what. We went on this day trip once and I concocted this way of bringing a sculpture as if it were going with me on vacation. So while he was filming some scraps of paper blowing in the wind I had a sculpture overlooking the water on the edge of a bluff photographing it. It’s a part photo-part sculpture project, usually involving taking a sculpture with me to a particular environment and documenting its existence there. This current project is on a small abandoned mini putt putt course in the woods, real weird.
There seems to be a lot about this rusty jaw. What's your concept behind that? How did that come up? I'm curious!
This sculpture came about last winter-I was away in Scotland tree-planting and I was with a few friends and we would often go on hikes around the hills in the highlands and whenever you reached a high point or a commemorative spot you would find these cairns, they were mostly just piles of rocks or a one special painted rock but there was such a presence in them. The hills were so barren there was hardly any wildlife, so you would come about something like this and it was like finding a sign of life out there. Anyways I was really into this idea of leaving something very intentional somewhat obscure in the abyss of the hills and I made a few sculptures that are now strewn about the highlands.
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Danielle Bessada b.1989 in Pembroke, Ontario. Primarily working in sculpture and photography. Studied Sculpture and Installation at Ontario College of Art and Design, 2007-2011. Currently lives and works in Hamilton, Ontario.
I have been interested in and passionate about making art as far as I can remember. My grandma was an artist and really encouraged me to pursue it as a young girl. I was fortunate enough to be raised in a household where creativity and individuality was nurtured and embraced. My first interest in photography blossomed around the age of fourteen.
How would you describe your artistic vision? Has it fully developed or do you think it is still growing?
Honestly, I am not quite sure what my artistic vision is. Femininity and the strength and trials and triumphs that women face everyday are inspiring to me. Embodying that concept through different forms of art, I believe will be something that will always motivate me. Being a woman is a very beautiful and incredible thing, but that is something I hadn't realized until recently. I had a very aggressive eating disorder in high school and since I have recovered, my outlook on womanhood and beauty has dramatically changed. The human body is such a beautiful tool and asset (in every shape, size, and color) and I worry the world has forgotten. My artistic vision is definitely still growing. I love photography and painting and drawing, but there are other mediums that I want to learn and work in as well.
Who are the people you photograph? And why do you choose to photograph them specifically?
The people in my photographs (and the majority of all my artworks) are influential women in my life that inspire me. By dismantling the idea of “woman” and transforming her into who she desires to be, rather than what I want to see or make of her, allows the subjects of my art to flourish as living beings instead of two-dimensional images. They are strong, common, but uniquely beautiful. The mundane, strange, or slightly undesirable are appealing to me and I find it very beautiful.
One subject that I have photographed probably thousands of times is my best friend, Starla [pictured above]. We grew up together in Clovis, New Mexico, which is a fairly small town with very limited resources and things to do. Because of that, doing "photoshoots" was a sort of hobby of ours, and it continues to be whenever we're together (she and I have both since moved). Photographing friends I have known since we were children is very special to me, because it captures this idea of maturing into a woman, developing into who she wants to be, and growing and learning from the struggles that life presents to her.
Where would you ultimately like to see your work?
Anywhere! Seriously. I really love the idea of a book and I think that's a long-term goal of mine. Until then, zines are great and I really love putting them together.
What are you working on now?
I am currently an undergrad student at the University of New Mexico, studying Studio Art. Last semester I discovered how incredible oil painting is. I am very new to it, but I enjoy it so immensely. It is a very physical, dirty, hands-on art form that satisfies me greatly. It's beautiful.
I have also started drawing again. I have always drawn, but comparison and discouragement is a struggle for me. However, I have been learning to embrace both strengths and weaknesses in order to make artwork that is my own. Flaws are really beautiful, but only in the right light. I am working on living in that light in order to make things that I love without boundaries or expectations.
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Brooke Denton is an artist based out of Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is currently working on her BFA at the University of New Mexico. More of her work can be found at tbrookedenton.tumblr.com and follow her on Instagram: @tbrooked .
My love for art started with cinema when I was a young kid and I would watch countless films with my dad. I have been making films since I was in high school and I am about to graduate from The University of New Mexico with a degree in Cinematic Arts. So I would say my eye for art was trained mostly from watching films and that lead to my love for photography. I have been concentrating on still photography for about a year now and my passion has definitely shifted more to photography over filmmaking.
What are some of the series that you have done in the past? Are there any repetitive themes that come up throughout them?
Most of the series work that I have done is more on the portrait side of things. I guess one continual series that I am working on is documenting the city I live in, Albuquerque. There are definitely repetitive themes in my photographs of Albuquerque. I love the aesthetic character of Albuquerque and I think that character comes through the dated buildings all over town and the unique color schemes that show up everywhere. Almost every building is brown and adobe, but the prevalent Mexican and Native American cultures bring really bright hues like yellow, red, turquoise and orange to some places and that contrast can be amazing to photograph.
In your darker hues and your subject matter (a lone subject surrounded by a vast space), your work definitely feels dramatic and sometimes moody; do you think this is inherently part of your aesthetic? Would you describe that as being part of your artistic vision?
I would definitely say it's an intrinsic element in the way I look at scenes and how I try to photograph them. I'm highly influenced by the work of William Eggleston and how he was able to isolate a single object or moment and capture the energy of that thing or moment in his photographs. When I see a building, object or moment unfolding that I want to photograph I do my best to isolate the subject in a way that will capture the visual tension of that moment.
Can you tell us a story behind one of your images?
I took this photo [above] earlier this fall while I was out documenting the tour of some of my great friends Levi The Poet, Lowercase Noises and Glowhouse. This night we were in Buckhannon, West Virginia and the guys had just finished up playing a show. It was around midnight when we went into this local donut shop that some locals told us we had to visit. I remember this well because when we walked in the UNM Lobo football game was on the TV and I remember being really stoked about that. The only guy who was working there asked if we were from New Mexico and why we were in town. After we all had plenty of coffee and donuts - the guy working there picked up our tab. So it's just a picture from outside of a random donut shop, but when I look at it I remember the random piece of home on TV, the generous employee who bought donuts and coffee for 10 strangers, and the two guys sitting in the booth playing with Magic The Gathering cards.
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I was born and raised in Gallup, New Mexico. I currently live in Albuquerque, NM and I am a fine art and portrait photographer. I am married to my best friend in the world and we are expecting a baby boy next spring!
I've been drawing since I was a kid but it wasn't until high school that I started honing in on photography and design. I took a class where we learned basics of black and white film photography using the Pentax K1000 and a pretty great dark room. I also have memories of opening the CD packaging of all the albums my dad had and staring at the art for hours - something I still find myself doing that whenever I can at friend’s houses, thrift stores or with my own purchases. I've also taken some college art classes.
What are you working on now?
I just finished up the album art/packaging for my good friend Levi The Poet's latest album which consisted of two different covers for the CD and vinyl as well as a 24 page, full-color, newsprinted zine that included lyrics and lots of photos. I also have about 4 years worth (about 80+ rolls) of 35mm film I'm still trying to develop on top of scanning in all the Instax/Polaroid film I've taken and a website/blog for all of it. I'm also going back to school in the spring but instead of finishing my degree in art I'll be taking carpentry classes to fulfill my ever growing desire to learn new things. I feel like I really am just scratching the surface of what I want to do.
Can you tell us a story behind one of your photographs?
In May of 2013, not only did I get to visit White Sands for the first time but I also got to explore it with Kevin Russ. I met him the previous week as he was in the middle of his huge trek across the country and had just made it into Albuquerque. This was right as he was starting to gain huge recognition so I was thrilled at the opportunity of getting to hang out with him and see him work. He was very kind and very very quiet. This photo is a silhouette of him as the sun was going down. I could not be more happy with the red/orange/pink hues.
How does your photography influence your design work?
Not only is photography one of the best ways to document a moment but as that (almost annoyingly cliche) saying goes "A picture is worth a thousand words". Photography can convey an infinite number of feelings, emotions and messages. A lot of my design work is photo collage based so photography is not only influential but its also essential. Ideally I'd love to use all my own photography for my design work but until I develop the numerous rolls of film i've taken, i'm left with using digital photos and the ones I've found scouring the public domain areas of the internet.
If you had to live inside one of your photographs for the rest of your life (deep, I know), which photograph would you choose and why?
If I had to live inside of any one of my photographs I would choose this one.
It feels like a still from a dream. The more that I look at it the more I feel like it really could be a doorway to the dreams we all wish we could live in. Maybe one day someone will figure out how to physically do that. And my favorite human - my girlfriend - lives inside of it as well.
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Caleb Davis is an artworker born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He explores many mediums but enjoys drawing, designing album art/merch for musicians & taking instant film photos the most. You can see some of his work at toothfeather.com and follow him on Instagram: @toothfeather.
I gained a bachelor's degree in printmaking after 5 years at OCAD University. During that time I fell in love with the medium. I love the look, sound and finish of ink on paper, I love hearing ink being rolled up, I love being in a printshop and taking in those slightly toxic smells. I love finding funky type sets in drawers that you might never use but wonder who did use them?
Photography is another story. Back in school it was probably the only department that I never entered. Photography just didn’t apply to me at that time, the print studio was my haven. But once traveling became a big part of my creative process, photography began to apply more and more to my work.
What are you working on now?
I am off the road and set up in Hamilton, Ontario where I have an in home studio space and access to an amazing print shop, Centre 3. I am working on a multitude of things from text based pieces to transforming my photographs to large screen prints. My current on going project is a series of relief/lithograph prints in which I use Pinocchio to explore what it is to be a real boy.
Do your photographs and lithographs correlate in any way?
For me traveling inspires new ideas and motivates me to create. My photos have become an important source material for my printmaking. My lithograph prints are an exaggerated projection of the narratives I capture through my photographs. I need to capture the sources, references and ideas that help me create prints from my own experiences.
Can you tell us a story behind one of these images?
New Orleans, Mardi Gras.
After the skeleton parade this group of young boys were selling their image on the street. The white wall served as the back drop for their photo shoot. They were charging the crowds for photographs and I have never seen such a lucrative business. When they were happily counting over how much money they had made in the last 15 minutes I took a quick snap shot of them for free.
What connects these series of photographs? What is meaningful to you about them?
All my photos are taken when traveling and have grown into a narrative based on my own personal peculiar experiences. I prefer to travel very light and with as little valuable things as possible. So I shoot with a disposable camera. Even though it is cheap it still becomes a precious item for the photographs it holds. The more pictures taken with it the more precious it becomes, although it does endure some rough treatment.
The photos are a documentation of my feelings, tells a story and is inspirational source material when I am back in the printshop.
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Hayden Thomas b. London UK moved to Canada in 2004. He is currently based out of Hamilton, Ontario. His work is primarily focused in photography and printmaking, specifically relief and silkscreening.
Man, so many reasons! I enjoy the sense of control that photography gives me. I enjoy the fact that I can create my own little world and make it look however I want.
The stillness in everyday moments is really beautiful to me. I’m really attracted to real and genuine things that I can relate to and it’s usually the quiet times that typically go unnoticed by people around me that I find most significant.
I’m a pretty sensitive person- and slightly overwhelmed with life happenings- and photography allows me to escape in some way. Which is nice… I just love how everyone sees things a little differently and being able to share the way that I see things is such a cool and humbling experience for me. I think Instagram and social media have made that a lot easier for photographers to experience. We live in an interesting time.
How do you use the iPhone to make work that's distinctly yours?
I don’t know that the iPhone is what helps make my work distinctly mine, but I do know that it is an extremely convenient tool for creating images and it really works for what I enjoy doing. I go on a lot of walks (like, a lot of walks) and my phone is just something I have on hand at all times. After years of carrying camera gear around I think I just got kind of sick of it. I wanted to be able to live my life and experience things as they come and create things a little more organically, if that makes sense. I think I was overthinking the shots I was taking with my dSLR before, whereas now I feel less pressure to find the images I want to make. I still shoot film and use various digital cameras but I definitely prefer my iPhone.
Instagram. It’s just so easy to share your art with other people and vice versa. Instagram has really changed photography in a lot of ways. Some might think it’s changed it for the worse, but I like to try and view it as a positive thing. Seeing an audience/following of people evolve before my eyes and continue to grow over time has been so wonderful. There are a lot of great artists out there and so much we can all learn from one another. I’ve had people who I really admire follow me on Instagram or contact me via Instagram and that’s a great feeling. I love that we are all able to share bits and pieces of each other’s lives if we so choose, and form a connection with people whose work you really enjoy.
I notice that your color palette is extremely consistent within your photographs. Do you find that your color palette changes between series or stays this consistent?
It’s funny because the color palette thing gets brought up a lot. It kind of all started when I moved to Santa Fe and realized that color barely exists here. It’s a beautiful place to live and I love it here, but it isn’t the liveliest looking place most of the time.
Everything is adobe and it’s in the desert and this really gets to me. So even a yellow line painted in a parking lot is enough to excite me. Over time, I was able to create a series with these types of images that all contained a subtle pop of color.
I am now pretty aware of this color palette that I have created and so I think that helps keep it consistent. I’m all about consistency and I think it’s really important when presenting a body of work, especially on a platform like Instagram where your photos are all right next to each other. I think more than anything my photos are arranged or characterized by form and different patterns and shapes. I’d like to think my color palette comes in hand when I am “constructing” these abstract dream landscapes, though.
What are you working on now?
I’m actually working on quite a few projects! Currently I am in school and trying to soak up as much information as I can while staying as sane as possible. I am currently experimenting with video and playing with the idea of making short films. I have also started building oddly shaped miniature models that I plan on eventually photographing. I am interested in so many things and have a lot of ideas. I think the work I share on Instagram is an ongoing project in itself that I will continue working on until it evolves into something new!
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Hayley Trone is a photographer based out of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Hayley is currently pursuing a degree in photography at Santa Fe University of Art & Design. You can follow her on Instagram: @heyraygun
My photography background is basically nonexistent; I actually hated the stuff all throughout university.
I was a printmaking rat, hidden in the print department exposing silkscreens, graining litho stones, etching plates and hand setting lead type. I found photographers quite difficult to deal with; I didn’t care for digital anythings, photo gear and knickknacks seemed too expensive and overwhelming… so I just strayed far, far away from it.
Once graduating, I literally “hit the road running” out of the big city, hitchhiking across the country and didn’t have that convenient studio space to create work in. So that is when I hesitantly picked up my first disposable camera, to document my adventures and serve as a creative outlet on the road and quickly realized, maybe it ain’t all that bad!
What's in your toolbox?
I used to only shoot with one single plastic disposable camera that I would continually crack open and re-load with whatever film I could get my hands on. It was extremely cost effective while on the road, and I loved the quality - everything in focus, super grainy, fuzzy stretched edges. Also I could pretty much control the light leaks from roll to roll, when re-loading the film in my “darkroom” (ie. sleepingbag). Nowadays, I still side with a smaller point and shoot camera that fits easily in my breast pocket- an Olympus ∞ Stylus, that is still taped up with electrical tape to combat those ever present light leaks.
Also, after much experimentation, Fujifilm is my go-to, the blues/greens can’t even compete with Kodak. But, up here in the north, you can really tell film photography is on its deathbed. The only place to purchase Fujifilm in the whole Territory is in the next big town, Whitehorse (6 hours south of Dawson), and they just discontinued the last of their orders. Also, to officially signify an end of an era, the good ol’ Whitehorse Walmart is the last place in the Yukon to process colour film, and they just announced that they’re stopping their service for good in February!!? What’s a northern colour film photographer supposed to do?
From going in and out of the bush in the Yukon and taking month long bike trips it seems like your life is always on the move, and that sense of adventure can really be felt in your photographs. Would you agree? Would you say that you use your camera mainly to record your going-ons or is it also something else?
I would hope that a sense of adventure is found in my photographs! It’s actually quite strange how merely by holding this “moment capturing” device, somehow it showcases newfound beauty or sheds light on unique experiences that you wouldn’t otherwise participate in. In a way, I can say that having a camera in hand keeps me on those hiking trails, out to the cabin in the woods, off the digital screen and into the wild.
There is a unique magic when venturing into the autumn-coloured tundra at the arctic circle, or the black spruce fire-burn mountains and there is something to be said about taking a bit of that mystique and awe back home with you. It is my way to hold on and haunt those beautiful moments.
Can you tell us a story behind one of your photographs?
The picture of my hand holding the ice was taken at a time when my whole life totally turned upside down, when I was moving away from Vancouver, British Columbia up to the Yukon for spring/summer seasonal work. The evening before I left, I unexpectedly had my partner end our long-term relationship, sadly hopped in my trusty white pickup truck due north the next morning, drove 6 hours on lonely mountain roads and unexpectedly had my transmission blow out the bottom of my truck.
Now vehicle-less, without extra money to repair the damages, I was stuck outside of a friend’s treeplanting camp in the interior of B.C., so what better to do then to stick with them, grab a shovel and make some money in the bush planting spruce and pine saplings. I wasn’t new to planting trees, but this time I was quite heartbroken and upset, so being paid per tree I let off a bunch of steam, went full force for a full day on the cut block and made $400 in that one day.
Woke up the next morning saw a posting for a old 1985 White Chevrolet Caprice Station Wagon, (looks like a white hearse) and on a whim purchased the vehicle for the same amount that I earned the day before! Once on the road, leaving behind the past relationship, the treeplanting camp, my old pickup truck, and ignoring the new mechanical problems of this funny Caprice beater I chugged my way along to a new beginning.
Two days after leaving the planting camp, I stopped at Muncho Lake in Northern B.C. close to the Yukon border. This lake has the bluest of blue water, scattered with Candle ice (a form of rotten ice in the spring time). Grabbed up some of that blue ice and thought how beautiful, unique and impermanent things are in life... I could (and would!) hold on to that fine-lookin’ ice all god-damned day, but truth be told, she’ll melt away on ya. And that’s just it: things change, life goes on, learn to appreciate what you have in your hands and don’t stay icy blue when it all drips through your fingertips.
What are you working on now?
Right now I’ve just finished a whole stint of intense seasonal work, so it’s back to catching up on all the photos I’ve taken all summer: developing, scanning, curating, printing, blogging, applying for grants/residencies. But JUST before I get to that, I need a vacation! I recently acquired my full motorcycle license and a rad lil’ forest green Kawasaki motorbike, so I’m going to slowly take a month and visit friends and family heading south through the Rockies, into Alberta, across BC to the Island, taking photos and soaking up Autumn sunshine along the way!
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Justin Apperley is a Visual Artist based out of Dawson City, Yukon Territory. Justin thrives on cross-country road trips, transient subculture, northern stillness, off-the-grid lifestyles, romance of the wild and endless midnight sun on arctic summer nights. He has a Bachelor of Design from OCAD in Toronto, ON as well as the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, NL, and is a past resident of the KIAC Artist in Residence Program in Dawson City.
My process really depends on what materials I'm using that day. For the paper pieces, I start by picking a color and making a big batch of pulp. As I'm doing this I usually have some kind of form in mind, or maybe a material that I would like to incorporate in with the paper. When I distribute the pulp onto the screen I often end up mixing colors or throwing in other materials such a grommets, string, hair curlers or bits of found debris. Shaping the pulp directly on the screen is my favorite part of the process. I like the tactility and uncertainty involved at this point. A piece can change form dozens of times before its ready to dry.
In general though, my process depends heavily on my studio and the collection of images and supplies I surround myself with. I spend a lot of time scavenging and accumulating materials that inspire me, so my process often starts with me sitting down in the studio and looking around at all my junk.
What is the inspiration for the abstract forms of your paper pulp sculptures?
With the paper series I often start the process by selecting an everyday object, and then simplifying its form into a more basic symbol. The Hanger started as an imitation of clothing hanger but acquired a ambiguously human quality through the combination of fleshy textures, curves and fabric.
Five Drop Marker alludes to a human shape, but one that could also be read as a cross, a cactus, or an antenna. I try to align the indistinct quality of the pulp with equally ambiguous silhouettes. To me, they are becoming characters in an ongoing story. Each one is instilled with a definite feeling, but no particular plot line. They are simple symbols that have an unexpected or ironic complexity.
What are your biggest artistic influences?
I spent the last year teaching art to preschool and kindergarten kids and I definitely feel like that impacted my own practice. I really love working with young kids and I think that my affinity for certain materials, such as model magic and construction paper, come directly from my art classes. The other day I walked by a pile of free ceramics outside of a childrens' pottery studio and pretty much lost it! So many amazing clay pizzas, puzzles and rocket ships!
I'm always inspired by what my friends are making. Suzanna Zak and I have worked closely for years and we are always exchanging images and ideas for future projects. Recently, I have been really into James Bouche's sculptures and I can't wait to see how Mike Koliner's Mud Dance project turns out!
Tell us a story behind one of your pieces.
Both the image of the striped house and the anagram sets were included in a book called The Big Lull that Suzanna Zak and I collaborated on in 2013. I don't really consider the sets to be a finished piece, maybe more of a brain exercise or a way to supplement an image. Rearranging the letters of one phrase to form another feels like uncovering a story and relates also to the way that I move materials around in my studio. It's also a nice way to move away from making strictly visual work.
What are you working on now?
I'm finishing up a xerox and collage book called Honey Island and always making more paper pulp. I just moved from New Orleans to Oakland about a week ago so I've mostly been working on getting settled in, eating lots of tacos, and not getting lost.
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Sophia Belkin is an artist living in Oakland, CA. More of her work can be found on sophiabelkin.tumblr.com and sophiabelkin.com.
Did you find photography or did photography find you?
I guess it was a mix of both. My dad always had cameras around when I was a kid and he taught me how to take photos. He would always take photos and videos during birthdays, holidays, vacations, etc. I think I was about 14 when I started to use his cameras to do more than snapshots. It took me around 10 years to finally feel like I understood photography. I’m still learning. Going back to school has been a big help in understanding the medium more. Being totally immersed in the art world has exposed me to more possibilities within my own photography.
What about photographing urban landscape interests you?
I’ve always been interested in graffiti and the gritty, run down areas in cities. From an early age, my friends and I would spend a lot of our time in alleys behind our houses or hanging out in drainage areas skateboarding. Now when I go out to photograph, I tend to end up at rundown or overlooked places and I’ve realized this ties back to childhood, hanging out in those type of environments.
Tell us a story behind one of your pictures.
I did a small project on the workers of a specific road in Santa Fe. Most of the workers are immigrants from Mexico or South America.
This guy worked at a small grocery store in a small strip mall. He had just gotten done unloading meats in the back of a van when I approached him. Almost all of the subjects I photographed only spoke Spanish, which made communicating my intent almost impossible. Using a 4x5 camera helped in getting subjects to actually stand for me and take me more seriously, but the language barrier made it difficult to communicate they had to stand still and not move for several minutes.
Anything interesting you've learned from photographing strangers and urban environments?
I don’t know if strangers and urban environments specifically has taught me anything but photography in general has helped me to understand myself.
I grew up in a place where I didn’t relate to the majority of people in my small town. I often felt limited by growing up in a conservative place where self-expression was not totally accepted. I rebelled against that in a lot of ways.
As I got older I changed certain parts about myself in order to please others - being a photographer has helped me reconnect with wanting to express myself without limitations. I feel like I’m more myself now than I ever have been.
What are you working on now?
The last two years I’ve been going to Santa Fe University of Art and Design pursuing my BFA in photography. I am also freelancing, assisting, and slinging coffee. I’ve been working on 2 projects over the last several years, which I go back to between working and school. One is documenting SXSW in Austin, a huge music festival in Austin every March. The other is vaguely trying to document the variety of New Mexico’s people, culture, and landscape.
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Brad Trone was born and raised in New Mexico. He is currently pursuing a BFA in photography at Santa Fe University of Art and Design. Brad is working towards making documentary work based in New Mexico.
I had been trying to get over a heart-break for the longest time and there came a point when I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and do something that would be meaningful. So I joined a 2 month volunteer-cum-tour program to Tibet which involved teaching English to orphans in Lhasa and touring various parts of Tibet.
I was sitting by the edge of Lake Namtso when the meaning of “life is beautiful” finally dawned on me. The landscape was breath-taking. The negative thoughts were literally crowded out by its beauty. I finally felt a sense of peace and quiet that had eluded me for what felt like eternity.
The encounter with Lake Namtso may have been fleeting but the change in me was permanent. I returned to the orphanage re-energized and able to “give” again.
How would you describe your photography?
I photograph mainly landscapes. There are many amazing landscape photographers around and I am still trying to find my voice. I hope to create photographs that are intimate, something less literal and capable of evoking an emotion from the audience.
What draws you to photographing landscapes?
I find being surrounded by nature therapeutic. The natural landscape calms my mind, my heart and my soul. Beautiful landscapes can be fleeting moments. The light changes and/or the clouds move, and the picture changes.
I hope to make these fleeting moments ‘permanent’ by capturing them on my camera. I hope that the people who look at my photographs too can find respite, a sense of peace and hope in the company of their beauty.
If there was one photo that would be a self-portrait of you, which one would it be and why?
Background: May is the season of cherry blossoms and spring flowers in Biei, Central Hokkaido. However, it snowed very heavily when I was there in mid May this year. Snow in the middle of May was totally unheard of.
I think the photo portrays the unpredictability of the elements, and conveys a sense of being lost in all the snow and mist. I feel that it aptly depicts my predicament – I’m still finding my voice and seeking my path. However, the red and green in the photo convey a sense of hope, as if to say if I keep persevering and searching, I will find what I’m looking for.
What are you working on now?
I am still working on my project on Biei. I’m missing the summer season and I hope to photograph more in other seasons as well. I feel I’ve only touched the tip of the iceberg.
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Xuan Hui Ng was born in Singapore and currently spends most of her time in Japan. She is in love with the natural landscapes of Hokkaido and looks forward to exploring the rest of Japan. Aside from photography, she is addicted to mystery novels, TV/movies and skiing. Her work can be found at www.photoxoasis.com
I think of it as a closely intertwined exploration of material and self. I’m really interested in revisiting my upbringing/childhood now that I have a different lens to view it. Some of the imagery I use is product of an archeological dig of either my family’s history, or the history of the small southern town I grew up in.
I look to several post-structural theorists like Derrida and Foucault who write about how meaning and interpretation can change in relation to specific variables (in my case, the chronological and geographical removal from that upbringing).
I like that openness with which I can view myself and how I’ve been shaped as a person thus far. For that reason, I like to apply printed images and text to materials like fabric and metal that leave space for manipulation and reinterpretation. The theory argues that I’ll never find absolute truth to my identity, but just the act of spending time with these cultural artifacts is still fulfilling for me.
What is your process?
The final work sometimes forces my original source imagery through several steps of removal from its original content.
I just finished a body of work using aluminum this past spring. In Three Interpretations of a Portrait, I started by screenprinting a series of photographic portraits on aluminum. I folded those aluminum sheets into three-dimensional gestures, photographed them again, then shot film positives of the new photos onto photo lithography plates and printed them onto paper. By the end of the process, the figure is hardly visible. That aspect of my work has gotten me into trouble in the past. Questions like, “Why do you make such personal work, but aren’t willing to give us the whole story?” come up, but that mysterious quality has always been a big component in my process.
In many of your pieces you play with draping/stretching/crinkling. How does this process play into your artistic vision?
Almost every piece involves some sort of physical or emotional tension that ties into the ideas that drive it. I like choosing materials that have their own weight or history, but I can apply new meaning and history to them by superimposing images over them. Coming from a printmaking background in undergrad, I had a great time exploring how I could manipulate two-dimensional images, and I’ve found that using a physical vehicle is more engaging for me as opposed to using digital processes.
What are you working on now?
I switched gears a little after graduating a couple months ago. I’ve started a new body of large-scale collages using gay ephemera from the 1990’s/new millennium. Right now I’m invested in a process of deconstructing these pornographic images so they’re void of subject identity, but still hold that opaque bit of humanity that’s present in my older work.
I’m also involved in a few collaborative projects with my wonderfully talented peer Magali Hebert-Huot (also a Baltimore artist). We’re currently working on a series of printed wax sculptures. I’m very excited to see where it goes!
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Zack Ingram is an artist living in Baltimore, MD. When he’s not in the studio, Zack can be found baking bread or crying over dead houseplants. More of his work can be found at zackingram.com.
I began as a child with my neighbor, we were constantly exerting ourselves creatively. No matter what we were doing, it was some kind of imagination game or making crafty goods to then play with. We both ended up graduating from art school, and we look back on all the games we made up linking them intrinsically to how we think about art and life now. It has been increasingly more interesting to watch my own work develop a voice that parallels the voice that I knew from childhood.
How would you describe your art?
My work revolves around the human landscape, which involves all of the relationships we make to our environment, socially, psychologically, physically, etc. I cross mediums, often from two to three dimensional works in order to translate the visual aesthetic and create a set-like playground in which the viewer can engage.
How would you describe your process?
My process is incredibly meandering. One thing will lead to another, which will lead to another and my vision is blurry until I have reached some kind of stopping point.
My prints are an additive process. I surround myself with many instantly gratifying tools like pronto plates for lithography or xerox transfers, and plenty of screenprinting tools like oiled printouts that serve as films. From there I create editioned monotypes. I will react from one mark to the next within a piece and when its finished I backtrack and make an edition.
With my sculptures I think about them as a three-dimensional version of my drawings and prints. I tend to recycle the old ones into new ones, in order to have a starting point. I also prompt myself with spatial relation challenges, for example think about an object that reacts to the floor, or the wall, or this pole.
The works are made out of primarily repurposed home goods and building materials. I often utilize materials reminiscent of my dad's workbench like pink insulation, pegboard, carpet padding, shelving, and spray foam. These things often bring the viewer to early memories of homes and the versatility of those memories.
I try to utilize waste portions of construction or carpentry, in order to create a more cyclical existence.
I aim to bring to the table the thoughts of our overwhelmingly overdeveloped society. How we are so channeled into a minute niche, often so much so that we can no longer survive without our structured idea of 'society'.
What is it about sculpture that resonates with you?
Sculpture has peaked my interest lately as I believe it is a stepping stone into creating installation work that is all immersive. My goal is create works that can be entered, experienced, or played with. The works draw you in, with some kind of promise of viewer/user/participant satisfaction.
What are you working on now?
I am traveling now, moving to Albuquerque from Baltimore. I am moving to ABQ to spend a year at the Tamarind Institute of Lithography to study the craft of traditional printmaking.
I have spent the past two and half months learning how to live out of a vehicle and adapt. The situations that have arose so far have been some of the most incredible experiences to learn from. Each place has a new landscape, a new demographic of people new colors and smells, (the list goes on.) It is that exposure that inspires me to make the work.
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Jackie Riccio is a recent graduate from the Maryland Institute College of Art with a degree in Printmaking and a concentration in Ceramics. Jackie's work encourages the viewer to follow, with child-like curiosity, the curving and colorful lines of her sculpture and to notice the precisely playful composition of her prints. View more of her work at jackiericcio.com.
Did you find photography or did photography find you?
Photography sort of found me. My parents were always avid photo album collectors, I loved looking through their old glossy color prints of these captured memories. We also kept a lot of home videos, tons of plotless, mundane scenarios played out and made into vivid memories I realistically wouldn't remember otherwise. It’s strange being able to watch yourself throughout different times of your life and truly have no recollection or connection to the person on the screen. These concepts left me striving for the reevaluation/reconstruction of memories. This has led me to the work I make today.
Tell us about your series eye-hand/hand-eye.
eye-hand/hand-eye is a series that reconsiders personal spaces (a window reflection, a jet stream, a yoga mat) through a process of rephotographing. In physically altering the two-dimensional photographic plane, I create unrealistic compressed perspectives that confuse the assumed monocular view the camera lens offers. As final images, I’m invested in recognitive dissonance. Yes, objects can be identified, but never fully realized. Just as in our own memories, each recollection (each encounter with the print) alters them. In this way the work is striving to allude to memory and time.
The process is intuitive and varies based on the connection I have with the space. There is a lot of experimenting and reshooting involved. I think of the final compositions as documentation of a momentary performance with the physical print. I enjoy working with the print as a sort of medium in itself. I want to see how far I can push the reality of a photograph, a memory, or a moment.
Did photography take you to a particular place that you'd never thought you would go to? If so, where?
In May I graduated with my BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore Maryland, which is where I will be heading back to late August. I am currently living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Six months ago Santa Fe was a dream, through photography internships and connections I am working/studying with the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops. I am incredibly appreciative to have the opportunity to take a workshop class every week and continue learning.
Most important thing you learned in art school?
That success is defined by the individual in question. Art is an important part of history and my life - it is a constant exploration and I never want to be bored making my work, and I never have to be.
What are you working on now?
I am still figuring out a focus for my next project. I have been exploring Santa Fe and photographing as I please. I am incredibly inspired by its landscape and harsh light, which contrasts with my previous familiar environments. Here, I am 7,000 feet closer to the sun and it is my first time being landlocked. These factors may become themes in my next project but right now I am collecting, looking, and thinking.
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Emily Mason is a photographer based in Baltimore. A recent graduate from Maryland Institute College of Art, Emily's work is both expertly playful and mind-bending - causing viewers to double-take at the familiar objects and colors she features in her images. Check out more of Emily's work at emilymmason.com.
Did you find photography or did photography find you?
That's a good question. I grew up during the 1950's and 60's.... the era of the big picture magazines, Life, Look, National Geographic, etc. As a kid I remember spending a lot of time looking at the photos in those magazines and thinking about all those places and people that were featured. So when I think back, that's probably where my first interest in photography began. Years later when I was majoring in Journalism I was required to take a course... Photojournalism 101. It actually was basic processing and printing of black and white film. BUT, the first time I saw that image emerge in the developer, I was hooked! From that point on photography became a serious quest.
Where in the world is your photography sweet spot?
Anywhere that I am. I have never felt the need to be in some particular place to make photographs primarily because I'm always looking, wherever I am. That doesn't mean that I'm shooting constantly but the act of looking is what strengthens our ability to "see" and therefore capture moments.
What do you photograph for?
Primarily I photograph for me. If what I shoot captures what I had anticipated, then I want to share it with others. And what you realize is that not everyone necessarily connects with your vision. But those that do... that's your audience.
What was your most valuable experience as a photographer?
The realization that the less I carry (equipment) the more I see.
One picture that did change my approach to photography is the one of the women in the rice planting festival, from Japan. I remember starting out on the first day walking around with 3 cameras with motor drives, 7 lenses, a tripod and just about anything else I could stuff in my camera bag. I guarantee you… I didn’t take too many pictures that day….. but I did have major shoulder pain that night.
So, I stripped off the motor drives from the camera bodies and the next day took only 2 cameras, 3 lenses, no tripod and that’s pretty much what I worked with for the next couple of weeks while I was there.
That photograph is my constant reminder that the less you carry the more pictures you take… because you’re no longer thinking about that weight on your shoulder… and you’re spending more time looking … and shooting.
Some photographers see aspects of photography as metaphors for life. Can you share with us one of the best ones you've heard or you've learned yourself?
For me, photography is very much like fishing. First of all, you have your equipment specific to the type of photos or fish you're going after. You travel to interesting places in search of that photograph (or fish) that you hope to catch but your not always successful... sometimes the best ones "get away". But nothing is better than the experience of putting yourself in a position for that magic moment to occur. And when all the elements come together, there is that moment of joy that makes it special.
Any last comments you’d wish to share to photographers and artists alike?
Know your photographic history... you've got to know where you've been to know where you're going as we all stand on the shoulders of those who came before us.
Be your own toughest critic... you never want an image out there that you have to apologize for.
And, most importantly, do your best to maintain your childlike sense of curiosity.
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Arthur Meyerson is one of America's finest photographers best known for his advertising, corporate and editorial photographs. His recently published book, The Color of Light, is made up of a collection of his personal work from over the years - a collection that truly depicts his acute awareness for color, light, and gesture. See more of Meyerson's acclaimed work at arthurmeyerson.com.
