The Photo Coterie

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INFO: Raphael Halin.34.Paris, FR.

http://cargocollective.com/raphaelhalin

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The Photo Coterie: What have you learned about photography from your travels internationally?

Raphael Halin: Novelty feeds photography. We instinctively want to capture a maximum of images when we discover a country. It is necessary to learn to manage this feeling if we want to make a coherent work and I am constantly learning.

TPC: Other than photography what hobbies or interest do you have?

RH: Painting, graphic design and illustration

TPC: Could you explain the process used to make the photographs shown above?

RH: For this series I wanted to represent people who evolve in vacua, as if any shape of civilization and nature had disappeared. I begun by photographing various landscapes in which there was always a human presence. I kept the characters and stretched the landscapes at most so that their environment disappeared. It’s a kind of digital reorganization, but there is no alteration in the sense that I just pulled the material while keeping the characters at their initial places.

TPC: Your body of work has a very distinct style, how did this style develop and were you influenced by anyone or anything in particular?

RH: In consequence of always photographing empty or nearly empty landscapes, I wanted to go farther with this obsession of the absence, and I experimented these digital reorganizations. I don’t know if it is an isolated attempt or if it is the beginning of other experiments. Otherwise there are many artists who inspire me: Koudelka, Gursky, Of Stael, Lucien Hervé, Rothko, Depardon.

TPC: Is there anything going on in your life right now that you want to talk about?

RH: I am just beginning to show my photos and I observe with surprise, and sometimes discouragement, the functioning of this tremendous shop window that is internet and its ocean of high-quality photographic works.

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INFO: Pauline Magnenat-Merigeot.21.Paris, FR.

http://flickr.com/photos/yuck

http://rocketscience.tumblr.com

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The Photo Coterie: Where did your interest in Photography come from? 

Pauline Magnenat-Merigeot: I’ve always been interested in images and stories and I particularly remember going through family albums obsessively as a kid, I’d say this was my first contact with images and photographs. I was maybe 13, 14 years old and on holidays in Italy, where my grandparents have a family house. I was quite the usual teen, bored and annoying. I picked up my father’s camera and it just went on from there. It was a good distraction to take photographs, bring them to the local lab and get the prints on the way to the beach the following morning. It became more serious about two years later when I started to think more consciously about both the photographs I was making and the projects I could build with them.

TPC: How did you land the job interning for Annie Leibovitz, and what do you anticipate it will be like?

PM: I got it through Camberwell College of Arts where I’m studying for a BA in photography. I think her studio manager did an exchange with Camberwell as a student and he emailed my course director to let him know about the opportunity. Nothing is sure about the exact dates and terms of the internship yet but I am very looking forward to be working with her and her team. I really haven’t heard from anyone who’s worked with her before so I’ll just wait and see but I’m sure it’s going to be a terrific experience.

TPC: Could you say a few words about each of the photos above?

PM: The first one is a picture I took while assisting for Francois Coquerel. We were doing a fashion shoot for Under The Influence magazine that should be coming out soon.

The second one is a picture of my kitten, Serge. I usually take his photograph when I have one or two pictures left and am too lazy to think of something interesting. He’s a great model, not very patient though.

The third one is my girlfriend Clarisse, in our flat. She has a book coming out at the end of the month (www.clarissemerigeot.com) and I’ve been photographing her endlessly for the press. I would say she is as patient as Serge when it comes to posing.

The fourth one is Clarisse, too. We were on holidays in the south of France by the Atlantic Ocean last summer. It was really hot outside so we used to stay in and go to the beach late in the afternoon. She was laying on the bed and I saw the light ray on her face and thought that this would be a great photograph. She hates it though!

The last one is of my sister Jeanne, also taken last summer but in Italy this time. Jeanne is a great model, always willing to pose and very patient. This was taken on a path that leads to a secret, little creek where we often go swimming.

TPC: Your blog says you live in France, but go to school in London. What are you living arrangements during the school year?

PM: I was living in London last year, where Camberwell College is but because of personal and family reasons I had to move back to Paris this year. It’s working quite well, I’m commuting to London about once a week and working here the rest of the time. Although you’d think London and Paris would be similar as two European major cities, the atmosphere and the light are very different and it’s interesting to be photographing both.

TPC: Is there anything going on in your life right now that you want to talk about?

PM: I’m really looking forward to going to NYC and living there for a while, that’s what comes to my mind first these days. Apart from that, I am going to continue conducting interviews over at Rocket Science, the next in line are Hin Chua, Noah Kalina and Triangle Triangle’s Jake Dow-Smith. I’m also very impatiently waiting for summer to arrive and going on adventures around the city, and hopefully having enough money to go travel in the South, and you know, to see something different for a while.

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INFO: Alexander Shahmiri.19.San Francisco,CA.

http://www.alexandershahmiri.com

http://www.flickr.com/photos/geetarooman

http://geetarooman.tumblr.com/

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The Photo Coterie: The photos you send us are from your series “Le Brouillard”, which means “the fog” in French. Why did you decide to title this series in French?

Alexander Shahmiri: I titled it in French primarily due to the fact that I love the French language. I took four years of it in high school, and while I didn’t care for it at the time, now I constantly am trying to learn more. Another reason is the fact that the word “le brouillard” is an unknown word to most people that see my work, so it adds a bit of uncertainty to those photos, which is important to me.

TPC: What is your favorite subject matter to shoot; bands, fashion or your personal work, and why?

AS: I would have said that my personal work is my favorite subject matter three weeks ago, but after working with a band for one week in a recording studio I think my personal work and shooting bands are about equal on what I prefer to shoot. Fashion is nice, but it is just so impersonal to me… with a band you really can show what kind of people they are through the photos. There’s just more depth to them. Then with personal photos I can just express myself a bit more openly, and try different things. It’s the equivalent starting up a small crafts project for me, it’s just fun.

TPC: How does an idea for a new series usually come about for you?

AS: I over-think things a lot, which ends up turning into ideas for different series. I generally will see something really small or hear something, and from there I branch out into different ideas. Sometimes it just so happens that a group of photos I took could work for a series. The trick is I just have to convince myself as to why it should be a series. 

Some series are also based off of events in my life as well, and just feelings of certain actions or moments of the past. I have a journal that I write my ideas in, but at the moment have no idea where it is apart from it being in my room.

TPC: On your blog you say that you are majoring in communications, what do you plan on doing after college, and does photography fit into those plans?

AS: As of right now if I can get photography to really take off for me then I’ll rely on that for a good while and enjoy however much time I can get by with for that. If that doesn’t end up working out, I’ll probably go into PR or Marketing at a company. Although I’d love to find something where I can be self-employed. Only time will tell though, and whatever happens I’m sure I’ll be happy with in someway or another.

TPC: Is there anything going on in your life right now that you want to talk about?

AS: There’s a lot going on in my life that I’d like to talk about, but at the moment the most exciting bit of news is that there is a possibility I’ll be shooting two bands on a national tour, but it’s still hush hush due to the fact that everything needs to be worked out and put on paper.

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INFO: Daniel Ribar.21.Detroit, MI.

http://www.danielribarphotography.com/

http://www.vimeo.com/user1897052/videos

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24586229@N03/

http://danielribar.blogspot.com/

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The Photo Coterie: From looking at your photos we would have never guessed you were based in Detroit. How is it that your photos are so deceiving?

Daniel Ribar: I go to school in Detroit, so I make the 20 min drive downtown anywhere from 3 to 7 times a week. I think that is what has got me burned out on shooting the city. I see a good deal of work being done on the decay of architecture, the homeless and how hard it is around here right now. It’s good that people are addressing these issues and all but I have never been interested in that type of work. I like to make radiant, bright images, which I have trouble finding in Detroit. Sometimes I will find an interesting color on a wall or a strong shadow or something in the city that I can use in an image, but for the most part I don’t get much work done downtown. I try and get at least one trip out of town every month to keep things fresh so I’m not stuck in the same area for too long. I found that seeing the same things day after day really slows me down. 

TPC: What is the meaning behind the dinosaur and crucifix photograph?

DR: My friend Sean lived downtown working these crazy hours at a nightclub, which forced him to usually sleep into the late afternoon, he would then get up and get going on the other thousand things he had going on during that day.The dino crucifix image was shot at Sean’s house on my lunch break one day. I would always have time to sit and do homework while Sean slept from the night before. I shot the image thinking it was just kind of an odd found still life, but after developing it I started to notice how it was a pretty accurate portrait of Sean himself. A religious T-Rex.

TPC: The portrait of the person in the coat, hat and shawl is from your series “Fabric Portraits”, could you tell us a bit about this series?

DR: I rely on color, texture and patterns a great deal in my work.The fabric portrait series was just an attempt at utilizing common articles of fabric found around the house to see what type of forms I could produce. A lot of brightly dark images.

TPC: Whats the hardest thing about photography for you?

DR: I guess the hardest thing for me is to keep going with an idea. I get side tracked from one series of work by starting up another. It’s hard for me to stay in a straight line. I’m not sure this is good or bad, but it is an issue I have with my work. I try and travel as much as I can, so things are constantly changing and I don’t get stuck shooting things I am comfortable with. I like when I am out of town because I am forced to constantly see new things and feel new feelings.

TPC: Is there anything going on in your life right now that you want to talk about?

DR: Right now I am just excited for summer. Its just starting to warm up here in Michigan and it’s almost time to get going outside again. I want to walk through rivers, ride bikes, climb trees, build fires, sleep on beaches, find rope swings, launch off fireworks and roast in the sun. Trying my best to document everything I experience.

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INFO: Keith Davis Young.28.Austin, TX.

http://www.keithdavisyoung.com

http://www.flickr.com/photos/keithdavisyoung

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The Photo Coterie: Are your photos as spontaneous as they seem or are do you have an idea about what you are trying to get before you shoot?

Keith Davis Young: I would say it’s a little bit of both. The majority of my work has a good sense of spontaneity – at least I hope it does. That’s without a doubt a huge element of my style. I’m not one to “set up” my shots; a lot them are taken on impulse. Personally, I think that type of shooting is way more interesting and honest.

TPC: What is The Boxing Club?

KDY: The Boxing Club is a small creative group of friends based here in Austin. A lot of the older work has been a collaborative mix between myself and good friends. The work is idea-driven, but not just limited to design. I have a lot of respect for creatives who can be comfortable with just the idea of “making cool stuff” day in and day out. Our site is currently being redesigned, along with some new projects and photo blog. A lot of the new work will take on an additional photo collective side.

TPC: What does the camera you use lend to the work you make?

KDY: I alternate between an old om10 and a contax g2. I always go back to 35mm; its easy to frame with what I like to pick out in my work. I’m shooting some new medium format stuff on an adopted rollei, but I’m still picking apart what I do and don’t like about it. I’m trying to build some series that can carve a niche of their own so to speak. I still primarily shoot 35mm; it just works for me.

TPC: What significance do the photos you sent us have to you?

KDY: Each one of those photos are recent captures of strange but beautiful moments I found myself in. Each exposure sort of tells the story for me.

TPC: Is there anything going on in your life right now that you want to talk about?

KDY: I am taking a roadtrip to Colorado in mid-March, and then to Portland the following month. We’re going to take the 101 from SF, so there will be bags of films.
I’m also really excited to see what comes out of this new collaborative series called “Young” that I am working on with fellow photographers Jackie Young and Christie Young. Jackie and Christie are incredible photographers and good friends; it’s been a fun project so far. The work will be featured online and then later released as a book. We’re all looking forward to see what comes of out of it.


Here’s a link to the brief description Jackie put together so eloquently: http://www.flickr.com/photos/keithdavisyoung/4278565732/

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INFO: Kohlton Ervin.17.Spokane, WA.

http://kohltonervin.com

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The Photo Coterie: What is Spokane like?

Kohlton Ervin: Spokane is a fairly traditional, Western-American town I feel like. I mean, when most people think the northwest (which we’re very much a part of up here) I don’t think people quite think the landscape we have. We’re not the lush forests of western washington and all down the coast or anything. We’re definitely a lot more arid and dry, still real woodsy and whatever—just not the northwestern thick pine trees I feel everyone probably imagines. We have real season weather—hot, dry summers, long/cold/snow-filled winters, and pretty much everything in between. Also, Washington seems to be kinda like Oregon in the way that the terrain changes like crazy. You can drive 30 minutes in one direction; get that certain landscape, or drive 30 minutes in the other; and get something completely different. It’s pretty great, especially to just travel through.
But that’s all just stupid climate, terrain and landscape type stuff. Spokane is awesome…I guess. I just love my familiarity with it—which probably depresses me as much as It makes me happy, but its a cool little town. Traditional, like I said earlier, in the way that it has it’s industrial, blue-collar working areas, it’s decent sized downtown and lots and lots of suburbs built around that. But man, Spokane is also really, really economically depressed. We have a pretty rugged downtown and some pretty rugged areas. Not rugged in the way of crime and gangs and all that—but just real dirty, a big homeless population, lots of just dead parts of town, and real big drug problems. I’m not sure if it still is, but I know Spokane used to be the most meth-infested of any US city—which is a real scummy drug, so yeah—we got some grime.
But I don’t know, that’s a whole bunch of rambling. It’s a real nice place, it’s pretty and everything, plenty of interesting places around and probably was a good place to grow up, but I need to move on.

TPC: Your fifth photo is from Alaska right? What were you doing there?

KE: It most definitely is. I was there on just a “family vacation” actually, that consisted only of me and my dad. It was pretty awesome. For spring break, my family has been going on little vacations or whatever for quite some time, and usually they are—or well, used to be someplace warm like Hawaii or something, but I’m the youngest and the only one who really gets to go anymore, and I’m also the one who wants to go to all the strange places. My Dad is pretty darn down for adventures and exploring and wandering and all that good stuff, so last year we went to Alaska. We flew into anchorage, left the next morning, and spent about a week or so just roadtripping and mashin’ around the land. It was incredible in so many ways.

TPC: What’s the best way to beat a photographer’s block?

KE: Man, well there are photographic blocks of all sorts. For the most common type of them, I’d say the best way out—if you ever reach the end, (though a photographers block might just be someone getting over photography, who knows) is just shooting your way out. You get a lot of rolls that you’re so bummed on, but eventually you get out of that state or maybe the phase you’re so sick of, and usually I feel like you get into something else. Also, I think a big part of that may be keeping all the work to yourself and figuring out what you really think of it, not what photographs get the most favorites on flickr or something lame.
For other types of blocks, I think the studying and enjoying of other arts can be really helpful. Read books, watch films; those are some of my favorites.
Also, I forgot to mention, with just continuing to photograph your way out of a block, studying lots of photography and photographers can also be of some assistance. And I’m not talking about searching flickr groups or something, but just going to the library and prowling the photography section. There are also actually amazing amounts of websites with mass amounts of good photography on them around too. That seems to help. The master’s achieves and all that good stuff.

TPC: What is the most you have gone through for a photo?

KE: Hmmm, I’m not sure if I could pick a very instance to be the “most,” but I have gone through some weird situations. Some awkward ones, some scary and a few fairly dangerous. I can’t think of one for any specific photo—well, more times than not, I really don’t even like each picture I take. I’ve been in some weird, dangerous situations in the wilderness; like once, by myself, I walked into a field to photograph these trees (in winter), and fell into a frozen swamp or river. That was pretty scary and I definitely paniced a bit. Recently, within the last couple weeks, I was shooting a photograph on top of a frozen lake, and the ice started to break…that was also a scary one, and I don’t believe I got a single photograph out of it. I’ve definitely been in some real strange situations with some sketchy people too; followed by cars, people approaching me, just a few times almost getting jumped for my gear. Most of these kind of things have happened photographing at night. It’s easy to go through a lot walking around certain areas in Spokane at night. Oh, that recent work on my website ‘Silo’ was quite the adventure to photograph…I don’t have one worst instance, and I’m sure I’m leaving out a great many of weird things I’ve gone through, but yeah, those are a couple.

TPC: Is there anything going on in your life right now that you want to talk about?

KE: Going on in my life… Well, I’m a senior in High School. I’ll be 18 in a short few months. Right now is kinda stressful and there’s lots to get done, but I’m pretty excited to just move, travel, live, i don’t know. I guess I’m just excited for the future. I’m also working on learning how to take good photographs and answering these interview questions without getting nervous and writing stupid things, thanks though!

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INFO: J. Wesley Brown. 30. Los Angeles, CA.

http://www.jwesleybrown.com/

http://wecanshoottoo.blogspot.com/

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The Photo Coterie: Your entire body of work contains but a few photographs shot in the day. Why is that you shoot predominately at night?

Wesley Brown: Well, it all started with my first digital camera. This was the first time I’d shot in six years and the first time in color and the Canon Powershot I had took really crappy daytime photos - or I was incapable of processing them properly with my rudimentary PS skills - so I started to notice it took good night shots if I’d rest it on or against something, not having a tripod for my 3x4 inch camera.  This got me interested in night photography and I kept trying it out, especially since I had a 9-5 so shooting at night was natural.  I grew up in one of the safest towns in America, albeit in Los Angeles, yet I’d still be terrified taking the trash out at night, always thinking something was about to jump out and grab me.  I still feel this way when shooting at night and while I don;t think of myself as a thrill-seeker really, maybe subconsciously this plays a role.  It was really funny - I was watching this video of Todd Hido, who’s been shooting at night for years and he’s got this film crew with him but still, when a car passes by you can see he’s a bit freaked out - just out of habit.  It made me smile and feel I’m not so alone.

TPC: Could you tell us about “Nono” and what part you played in it?

WB: Nono is this great short film done by a buddy of mine who I’ve known for years and so it was sort of natural that I’d be the still photographer on the project.  It was this really organic and natural time we spent in the desert around the Salton Sea working on the project and sweating a lot in August.  I’d always been interested in film and really got excited about the prospect of shooting stills when I saw Teresa Isasi-Isasmendi’s excellent work on Jim Jarmusch’s film, The Limits of Control in Artforum, I think.  I didn’t have a blimp so it was a bit of a tightrope walk at times trying to shoot but also stay out of the way and realize that I was not the primary shooter here, which was an interesting contrast.

TPC: How does living in Los Angleles effect your photography?

WB: Immensely.  I lived in NYC for three years and then in Madrid for three before moving back to this city I grew up in but had never exepected to return to.  In both those cities, you benefit so much from the excitement, social opportunities, and proximity that a compact city with great public transportation affords but at the same time you walk the same streets every day and at times feel like you’ve seen everything before.  Also, there are these ubiquitous sodium orange lights in Madrid everywhere so coming back to the US with it’s greater mix of lighting sources and then to Los Angeles, where I can drive 20 minutes in any direction and see things I’ve never seen before is amazing.  There’s a reason the film industry took hold here and I truly feel that I’ll never run out of locations here.  My Back in the Land of the Free Series was a result of my coming here and reacquainting myself with the American landscape and specifically the Angeleno landscape.

TPC: Are you a photographer by proffesion or do you hold another job?

WB: I hold a BSFS from Georgetown University and an MBA from IE in Madrid.  I sometimes wish I’d gotten an MFA but that’s not how it happened and as a result I’m probably more capable than most photographers of running my business should I be blessed enough to make a living from my work.  I hold a day job as a financial analyst for LACMA, which is a perfect mix between my intellectual capacity and training and my passion for art, which is awesome because I am connected to art and at the end of a day spent working on spreadsheets, know that my efforts have been for art and culture and not just to make some shareholder a bit richer.  It’s much more fulfilling, though less lucrative, than working for an investment bank, which I’ve done before.  The best part about it is never having to worry about making money from my art so I’m free to shoot whatever I wish.

TPC: Is there anything going on in your life right now that you want to talk about?

WB: Wecanshoottoo is this blog I run that focuses on photography in Los Angeles and which I’m trying to keep up with the best I can.  It features work by local photographers and informs people of photo happenings I think are worthwhile.  I hope it’s a valuable resource for anyone in LA or for people trying to locate talent here.  Yeah, that and the fact that I quit a pack a day smoking habit 6 months ago.  That’s got me pumped these days.

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INFO: Kirill Kuletski.34.London, UK.

http://kuletski.com

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The Photo Coterie: The images you selected are from your on-going project “Fish & Chips” what is the background of this project?

Kirill Kuletski: Well, the background for this project is the place, were I have relocated myself in 1995, which is my beloved England. And by photographing Fish & Chips diners I want to capture that fading atmosphere of old Britain that is being taking over by rapidly growing fast food chains.

TPC: You wear born in Moscow, Russia but currently live in London. What can you say about the cultural differences? What impact has each country had on you?

KK: ……………………………… it’s a looong conversation so i’ll live this one out:))

TPC: Is there a difference in your process when shooting commercial and personal work?

KK: Yes, I shoot commercial work on digital for speed and economic reasons and personal projects on film only, usually 6x7.

TPC: You show quite a few series; Speleotherapy, Imposition, and  Fish & Chips. That said, any idea of what your next project will be?

KK: I have found an old boarding school in central London and fall in love with the building so will be going back there soon, helpfully, when I’ll sort out permeation to shoot.

TPC: Is there anything going on in your life right now that you want to talk about?

KK: Huh, there is so much going all the time, I wouldn’t know were to start but I can tell you that 2010 will be an awesome year.

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INFO: William Rugen.46.Seattle, WA.

http://williamrugen.com/blog/

http://flickr.com/williamrugen

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The Photo Coterie: You told us you did “something else for over 20 years and decided it was time to make a stab at doing what I really wanted.” What did you do before being a photographer and how did you get into photography?

William Rugen: I was a fisheries biologist for the federal government. I wrote research papers, developed databases and searchable online database sites, but after working in the same place and seeing the same people for 20 years and I was ready to not be there.  Photography was something that I had always loved, and for quite a while in the 90s actively pursued nature work in my spare time.  However, eventually I became bored with the sameness of the genre.  Lots of folks shooting the same locations, too many sunsets, too many golden hours, etc.  So I decided to take a break and put my camera down for what became close to 10 years.  I don’t think I even took a snapshot during that time.

When I realized I was done with my career, which at that point had become just a job, I knew I wanted to make a go of it in photography.  Just not nature work. I felt a bit too old to spend several years at art school so I took the summer and went to the Rocky Mountain School of Photography Summer Intensive program in Missoula, MT.  It is a great program with great instructors which covers so much ground, from the most basic things for true beginners to working with strobe packs, how to start a new business, and how to market yourself.  It was the best summer of my life and really gave me the skills and confidence to go forward.  I now work as a freelance photo assistant and photographer.  Though the work is not as steady as I might like, I have not regretted leaving my old job for even one second.

TPC: The work you submitted appears to show a very western culture, are they part of a series?

WR: It is part of a project I am currently calling “Western Dioramas”.  The past two years I have loaded my cameras in the car and hit the road for 3-4 weeks.  I try to stay off the interstate, I don’t eat at chain restaurants or stay in chain motels.  I love all the space the west still has to offer and the idea that still seems to prevail that the west is where you go for a fresh start.  However when you get there, you see a lot of folks who had the same ideas and failed.  It is in the struggling small towns, the boarded up businesses, the windblown garbage, all the abandoned cars and trailers.  Yet all that space just seems to gobble up the failures and create a fresh palette for each person.

TPC: What has taken you to so many far away places such as Barcelona and Tokyo?

WR: Just wanting to see new places and eat new things.  I have always had the travel bug but my wife was a bit hesitant.  Then a couple years ago when we had a series of friends and acquaintances die rather suddenly and unexpectedly.  We had a talk and decided to stop putting things off until later because you never know if there will be a later.  The next day my wife booked us tickets to Tokyo. We had a great time and now my wife has been bitten by the travel bug.  We are looking at Ireland this year.

TPC: Elaborate on your quote “It is both an amazing (and scary) to be a photographer these days?”

WR: Well the scary part is that it is getting harder to make a living as a commercial or editorial photographer.  The combination of digital cameras and the web have made it easy for folks to pick up a camera and get good fast. It also gives very wide access to a lot of venues that it used to take a lot of time and energy to research and find.  Then add in the idea that there are a lot of folks who are just happy to see their work used without being concerned about getting fair pay and very quickly this adds up to prices dropping or pay going away all together. 

The funny thing is that these same things play into the exciting part.  I love looking at photography and now I don’t have to go into bookstores and just be happy with their limited selection, I can find so much new work on the web, work I never ever would have seen. I think online curators are fantastic and it is interesting how quickly they have become influential.  Sites like Photo Coterie give people both the outlet to see new work and show new work. I can see interviews with established and new photographers everyday.  Advice from gallery owners and editors and art directors are easy to find.  This stuff is amazing and energizing.  Lastly is the easy access you have to galleries and juried shows.  There is no way in the past I would have know about so many shows and had the opportunity to enter.  Online submissions might just be my favorite thing ever.

TPC: Is there anything going on in your life right now that you want to talk about?

WR: Yes, I was lucky enough to be selected for the Foley Summer Show Project at the Foley Gallery in New York next June (http://www.thesummershowproject.com/).  There was an online submission (Hooray for online submissions!) of three images, they were judged by a fairly impressive panel of curators (including one of my favorite photographers, Thomas Allen).  Each entry was scored by each juror and the 13 highest cumulative scored entries were selected for the show.  The part that is different than most shows is that instead of using our submitted images, the curators and gallery owner will decide on a theme and we will create new work based on the theme.  Over the course of the spring we consult with the gallery owner, Michael Foley, about the work we are doing and get feedback, all culminating in having two pieces shown at Foley gallery.  There is just no way I would have had this chance in the past and I am so excited and grateful to have been included.

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INFO: Mat Levine.17.Albany, NY.

http://flickr.com/matlevinephoto

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The Photo Coterie: What art school do you plan on attending and why did you decide on art school or the school you want to go to in particular?

Mat Levine: Well, I applied to several different schools but the two that are on the top of my list are SVA and SUNY Purchase. SVA really looked like it was directed towards exactly what I want to do with the medium, and the the facilities are tight. As well as the obvious, the prime location and the connections that can be made from being surrounded by so many prestigious artists. As well as the growth as an artist that can be conjured from the surrounding environment. Secondly, I was impressed with Purchases facilities and the large community of fine artists that go there, it seemed to be right in my ball park. Although the location and social life might not be as stimulating, it is only a 30 minute bus ride into the city. In the end though it comes down to where i get into and of course the cash money.

TPC: From what we have seen of your work it seems that you tend to gravitate towards shooting outside. Why do you prefer to shoot outdoors rather than in?

ML: I don’t think I prefer one more than the other, that’s sort of the way it ends up. I don’t really go to any interesting places that are inside, living in upstate New York there is plenty to explore outside.

TPC: Are your photos more experience based or pre-meditated?

ML: Sometimes an idea will pop into my head and I will immediately write it down, but otherwise I don’t really have a specific motive when i go out and shoot. I enjoy exploring and seeing what something can lead me to, then it usually all comes together. That’s what gets me psyched the most, just having a something in the back of my mind or forgetting an idea that i wrote down, then something will set it off and from there it builds. Forgetting and rediscovering it is what keeps me shooting, having a new perspective each time.

TPC: What do you think the presence of a living being gives to a photograph?

ML: Having a living being in a photograph adds a whole new perspective, mainly to the viewer. I feel having a person in a photo lets the viewer perceive something that they are extremely unaware of, which is their own personal existence in the environment. It lets them see their own kind and how human and nature all interact. I think sometimes it shows people how everyone’s existence changes depending on the environment they are in. If i’m in the woods I am very important, if i’m in a crowd at the mall i am nothing. I don’t know, it confuses me sometimes but I enjoy that.

TPC: Is there anything going on in your life right now that you want to talk about?

ML: Shit, it is definitely an exciting chapter in my life. Finally moving on from something I don’t care about at all, to something that I care about with a passion. It is exciting and I really don’t know where it will go, but that’s the fun. Other than that I’m bumming about the start of the grizzly upstate winter and trying to do as much of nothing as I can. I’m really into it right now.