Hotbox Members: Brandon Doran
One of the more active members in the new Hotbox is Brandon Doran, a photographer based in the Bay Area. In terms of saves, he's currently in third place, with 24. To get to know Brandon better, we asked him about his beginnings in photography, what he likes to shoot with and where.
Are you from the Bay Area? If so was that big influence in becoming photog, if not a major factor in moving there?
I'm not from the Bay Area. I was born and grew up in Northeast Tennessee. Work brought me to the Bay Area where I've lived for the last 12 years, 10 of those in San Francisco. Living in the Bay Area did not influence me to get into photography, but photography has made me love San Francisco more than ever. There are so many great photographic opportunities in the San Francisco Bay Area, which has definitely fueled my interest in photography.
FIlm/Digital-you regularly shoot in booth. Loves/hates with each medium?
I love both and I think they complement each other. Digital allows you to shoot tens or hundreds of frames of the same subject, experimenting with different distance, exposure, orientation, or focal lengths without worrying about the associated costs and you can see results immediately. Film, on the other hand, forces me to slow down and think about composition more. The more contemplative approach of film has filtered into my digital shooting. I find I am doing much more walking and looking and less trying to shoot everything in sight. There’s also a certain nostalgia factor with film and the mechanical feel of the analogue camera itself that I enjoy. I feel like this connects me to the roots of photography. Digital will always be the primary for me but I plan to continue the journey into the film world. Film is kind of a hobby within a hobby.
Any photographer’s influences? Why?
I came into photography without any prior knowledge of the masters, other than maybe Ansel Adams. When I first started shooting I would look at San Francisco images on Flickr to get ideas. The photographers that turned up most often in those searches were Thomas Hawk and Jeremy Brooks. They've done so much great work in San Francisco and elsewhere. Since then I have looked at the works of some of the masters and some of my favorites are Walker Evans, Robert Frank, William Eggelston, Stephen Shore, Harry Callahan, Robert Adams, and Lee Friedlander.
How do you overcome the challenge of so many iconic places in Bay Area-Golden Gate Bridge, Transamerica building,etc. to produce fresh and compelling images?
It’s very hard to shoot icons with fresh eyes and a fresh opinion. Hard, but it can be done. I like to look at images of these icons and try to figure out what wasn’t captured. Basically, what ruts do these images fall into and how can I avoid them. Is there an emotion that I feel about these places that I can capture that the postcards don’t? Is there unique or dramatic weather or light than can be used to bring something new to the table? We all want to avoid the cliché shots but cliché is often more about how something is shot rather than what is shot. I do think there is a place of shots of icons in your portfolio, just not many of them.
Any special goals in terms of technique or art down the road?
I just like to improve and keep having fun and continue exploring. I don't have a particular genre I want to focus on. Some particular goals would be to do more with small flash lighting, filter usage for landscapes, and get better at photographing people.
What other places outside of California do you like to shoot?
For the time I've been into photography (14 months), I have not had much opportunity to travel. I did go to Budapest last Fall and really enjoyed that.
Do you print any of your work? Why?
No, I have actually never printed a digital image. I have printed some film but typically only get negatives and scans from the lab. I have fallen into the mindset that photographs primarily exist on the computer and have almost forgotten about the print. I think this is an unfortunate side effect of the digital age. After all, Ansel Adams wrote a technical series of three books – The Camera, The Negative, and The Print. So we should not forget to print.
