JONATHAN CHERRY: What did you want to be growing up?
STANLEY BLOOM: I would have loved to be a magician. I always liked visual illusions and the amazement they produced in audience. I think I am still running after that idea with photography nowadays.
JC: Who or what is inspiring you at the moment?
SB: I like discovering new places, it gives my eye an objective fresh point of view, and that sensation really inspires me. Since I am not always traveling to new places, I’ve learned to rediscover known areas with a new eye. At the moment, I feel also very inspired by movies, trying to translate their atmospheres/emotions through photographic prism. But In the end, the true subject that remains in my pictures is the light. I think it’s the most important element, and thus my first inspiration. I’ve practice to refine my approach to think exclusively in terms of light.
JC: What are you up to right now?
SB: I am working on a new photo fanzine in collaboration with my partner Laura Uslar, curator of erotic photo website Tropic of Sagittarius. I am also editing a series I started this summer in Montreal.
JC: Have you had mentors along the way?
SB: Since learned photography by myself I have no direct mentors. I learned by doing and devouring a lot of images, books, exhibitions… One of my treasure is this book called The Photographer’s Playbook which features assignments, as well as ideas, stories, and anecdotes from many of the world’s most talented photographers and teachers.
That being said, I am very inspired by master photographers, and film-makers as well: William Eggleston, Stephen Shore, Joel Sternfeld, Alec Soth, McNair Evans, Aaron Canipe… Alfred Hitchcock, Chris Marker, Wim Wenders, Khalil Joseph…
JC: Where are you based right now and how is it shaping you?
SB: I am living in Paris, which is a great place for photography culture and art in general. There are a lot of good venues and contemporary photography is well exposed. On the other hand, this city has been captured over and over, but its suburbs are still great places to hang around searching for a shot.
JC: One piece of advice to photography graduates?
SB: I often read this quote from Ed Kashi: Keep on looking. Keep on thinking. Spend time. Hang around. Be patient. Don’t stop questioning because there are no correct answers, only fractions of moments that together might just construct a story or capture a feeling, event, experience, or the soul of someone… in a fleeting moment that lasts forever.
JC: If all else fails - what is your plan B?
SB: Since my day job is more into graphic-design, I firstly do photography because I have this true love inside me, no matter what happens. This reliefs the stress of having to make money with photos, which I think should be a bonus but not a goal.
JC: Is it important to you to be a part of a creative community?
SB: Being part of a creative community can be very prolific. Sharing with other artists can bounce you back and so on towards ideas you wouldn’t have thought about… But we not always have the opportunity to be part of such community. The school is certainly the first place to meet people, but thanks to Internet, which is full of talents, the possibility to reach a creative community is easier nowadays!
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