The Photo Coterie

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INFO: Kohlton Ervin.17.Spokane

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

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

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.

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INFO: Matthew Genitempo.27.Austin, TX.

http://matthewgenitempo.com

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The Photo Coterie: How does the Texas landscape inspire you?

Matthew Genitempo: The Texas environment is unique in that it really does encompass almost every landscape you can imagine, Ocean, Desert, Mountains, etc. A lot of Texans are considered arrogant for being so enthusiastic about their state, but it really is the best place to live.

TPC: Could you tell us a story about one of your featured photos?

MG: The photo of Garrett standing on the edge of the canyon was an interesting story. We were hiking in the Palo Duro Canyon right before a huge storm. We had made it down to the bottom when all hell broke loose. It started raining, then it started thundering and lightning, followed by hail and flash flooding. We had to climb up the side of the canyon to make it out in time. Garrett and I stopped for a second when we made it close to the top so I could take this one. It was one of those moments where you click the shutter and you just know that it’s going to be a great photograph.

TPC: Do you find any sort of connection between what you do with graphic design and what you do with photography?

MG: I apply a lot of my habits in graphic design onto my photographs. I am constantly breaking down projects to leave out anything that is unnecessary. I try to simplify all of photographs the same way.

TPC: Could you elaborate on your quote from your website “I’m trying to discover an unfamiliar America in a closely associated setting?”

MG: I have developed relationships with the people, places, and things in America. I am exploring old and new people and places, trying to find what makes them significant.

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

MG: I plan on taking a road trip in the future with my twin brother. I am really excited about this project and I hope a lot of good work will come from it.

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INFO: Jared Talaga.20.East Lansing, MI

http://jaredtalaga.com/

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The Photo Coterie: The photos you sent us are from a body of work called “Some Stuff I Saw” why did you choose to shoot them as diptychs?

Jared Talaga: The work was inspired by a quote from the author Dick Hebdige. I am currently still working on these photos and struggling, haha. I shot these particular 5 around 6 months ago and finally this November I found the motivation and inspiration to continue working. The only photos out of these 5 that I feel works is the Diptych of the bananas. By shooting them as the Diptychs I felt the viewer might be able to create some sort of connection or feeling. These photos for me are extremely personal in the way the objects bring me to emotional state or specific event. Since moving to East Lansing for school, I am away from many friends and family I have spent a majority of my life with, these photos help me remember these people.

TPC: You mentioned working on a series based around the emotions that one deals with after a spinal injury, could you tell us more about that?

JT: Around 2 and a half years ago I was in a skiing accident and sustained a spinal cord injury. Needless to say, it has made these last few years extremely difficult dealing with the effects. I am starting to finally feel comfortable facing the emotional effects following a spinal cord injury. For the last 2 years countless hours of physical therapy has helped me regain a majority of my independence in a wheelchair. Initially when I was hurt I was paralyzed from around the chest down, I have now regained a large percentage of muscle function. I am at the point where it is inspiring to look back at the progress I have made. I hope to create a body of work showing the negative and positive emotional side of the last few years.

TPC: What are your studies like at Michigan State University as a Geography major?

JT: Prior to starting at Michigan State University, I switched my major to Urban and Regional Planning after being inspired by a professor at a community college that I had attended. My classes thus far have been challenging but at the same time introducing me to new ideas and concepts. It is actually provided hidden sources of inspiration for my photographs. It is refreshing to find inspiration outside of the photographic medium.

TPC: Did you ever consider studying Photography in college?

JT: Since senior year of high school, a photography degree has always been on my mind. I applied to a number of art schools in high school but never made the commitment to attend. With internet at its capacity today I was able to teach myself  the technical side of photography through countless different sites and hours reading. Since I cant decide if I want to make to make photography my career I chose to take up Urban Planning.  The thing I sometimes miss is the critiques and deadlines that can make you shoot through slumps. I feel if it is your dream to pursue photography as a profession school can create those connections that are needed. If I end up falling into photography as a profession it will be because I am shooting photographs I am proud of. I dont want to be stuck shooting photographs I dont enjoy just because its my only career option.

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

JT: I just recently purchased a portable studio flash that I am really excited to start shooting with. It has enough power to work in certain situations with daylight, I have never used a flash that is powerful enough to work in these situations. It will be interesting to see the results as long as the effects it can produce at night.

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INFO: Daniel Gaskin.20.Melbourne, AU.

http://www.flickr.com/danielgaskin

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The Photo Coterie: What’s the deal with the glowing hand?

Daniel Gaskin: I originally took this photo for a school assignment. I had somebody holding a shard of mirror with a studio flash reflecting from it straight into the lens of my camera.

This was for Studio Lighting class and the brief was to photograph a reflective object, after I had come up with the final image my teacher didn’t feel that it was commercial enough to be submitted for the assignment. It all ended well though and I used the photo, along with a couple others I shot that fit in with it, for a group exhibition I just had called “Mindscapes”

TPC: Who is the man in the raincoat and is there a story about him or a reason why you took this photo?

DG: A couple of months ago I decided I wanted to get used to approaching complete strangers and asking to take their photographs, I’m actually surprised how many people really don’t want their picture taken.

So, there was this photo I had wanted to take for a while just near where I found this guy, it was raining really heavily but even after getting what I came for I was still in the mood to wander around and see if anything else took my interest. I came to a street where there was this man dressed in a bright yellow raincoat; straight away I knew I had to ask him for his picture. I started walking towards him but he got into his ute and drove away, I turned around thinking I had lost a great photo opportunity. He only drove about four houses up the road before he got out of the car again, when I finally got to ask him for his picture we had a 30 minute conversation about art. He painted Picasso works as a hobby, and he was more than happy for me to take a quick photo of him.

TPC: Do you feel the younger generation of photographers are underestimated by the older genereation?

DG: With how cheap dslr’s are now and with how simple they are to use every second 14-year-old girl on myspace is an “arty photographer” now. So in a way I feel the younger generation would defiantly be underestimated by the older generation. God, there are some amazing young photographers out there though.

TPC: Other than photography, what else is part of your everyday life?

DG: Usually I’m in my school routine of going there 5 days a week and I’ve recently been employed so I’ve had to fit that into my everyday routine. I’m currently trying to start a new series of photographs but I’m not in any rush at the moment.

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

DG: Well, I’ve just finished school for the year so now it’s just relaxing, I guess. I’ll be at the beach for a while in two weeks which I can’t wait for. I’m going to take my p&s with me everywhere over the holidays and just have fun.

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INFO: Ben Roberts.30.London,UK.

www.benrobertsphotography.com

http://www.flickr.com/bedlam

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The Photo Coterie: In our email conversation you mentioned you are going to Spain, what’s going on there?

Ben Roberts: I’m back in London now, but i’ve been working on a series in Spain for the last two years. Initially it was looking at the boom in the construction industry, but as the economic crisis took hold in the country, the project has evolved into a more surreal take on the effect of the recession on the psychology of the nation. The project has been funded this year in part by a bursary from the British Journal of Photography/Nikon.

TPC: Your series “A Sense of Place” is about how people behave and live in certain places, what is your place?

BR: Right now i feel like I am in place of transition. When i left college in 2006, I went straight into an assistants position with Zed Nelson. I was able to continue shooting my own personal work at the same time, which has been useful since i stopped working with Zed in June of this year. However, making the jump from assisting to being a full time photographer has been tough - trying to keep commercial commissions rolling in while still continuing with my personal work is a real balancing act! I have a commercial agent now here in London, so I’m also putting time into building that relationship to bring in more work.

One thing that i do love about being a freelance photographer is the variety of places that it takes me too - in the last 3 years I’ve worked in the USA, Australia and all over Europe.

TPC: You have a wide variety images shot in different styles, no doubt you are a very versatile photographer. So, what do you like shooting the most (i.e. fashion, event, documentary, etc.) and is there a particular area you like to focus on?

BR: At college we were often told that we should concentrate on a specific genre - while I can appreciate that this is possibly sound advice if you are intending to be a purely commercial photographer, I found that I needed to have a certain amount of versatility in my photography so that I could take on a variety of commissions, particularly when I first came out of college.

Perhaps most importantly though, I don’t like to be pigenholed. I simply like photographing, and try to approach shooting each commission in my own way. I try to learn something new on every job.

In the future I would like to take on more design and advertising based commissions as a means of funding my personal projects.

TPC: In the 5th image there is a sweater laying on the rock, what was your idea behind this picture?

BR: Haha, I wish I could say something profound and deeply insightful here, but the reality is that I was a bit warm, threw my sweater on a rock, and then thought it would make a nice photograph!

The images that I have sent you are all from a day out photographing with a friend Ariane in a forest near Paris. In between shooting more in depth projects, I really enjoy putting myself into a new location/environment and reacting to it with a camera to make short, concise “mini-series”.

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

BR: Things are getting busy again at the moment - I’m presenting my new work from Spain at the British Journal of Photography’s “Vision” convention in London on the 27th November; So in the meantime I’m doing heaps of scanning and retouching. On the 8th of December I have a print up for auction at the prestigious Photovoice Auction at the Reuters HQ in Canary Wharf. Other photographers involved include Martin Parr, Mary Ellen Mark, Tim Hetherington and Elaine Constantine. Finally, on the 10th December I’m taking part in a group show and magazine launch for Dayfour Magazine - thats at The Printspace Gallery in London.

I keep my twitter stream - @benrobertsphoto - updated with news and observations, and also upload new work fairly regularly to my flickr account.

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INFO: Ralph Giunta.22.South Florida.

http://www.ralphsreel.com

http://www.flickr.com/ihatewetsocks

http://heyisthatralph.blogspot.com/

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The Photo Coterie: What is the story behind this photo of Jesus?

Ralph Giunta: Okay. So my good friend David Newton and I went to our local skate shop, Shred Shed, to pick up some things. As we got out of the car, I noticed an older man wearing an outfit in which seemed to be mimicking the style of none other than, yours truly, Jesus Christo. David already had the door of the shop open as I was walking towards the barefoot old man in a white garment.

I just asked him point blank if I could shoot his photo because I wanted to and he happily agreed. We started talking about things and I asked what his deal was. Obviously there was more to ask about him then him to ask about me. He explained to me that he had traveled to every single state in the country with the exception of Alaska and Hawaii, understandably, considering his travels have been by hitchhiking and walking only. And he never asked for rides. People would just give him rides. He just lived the OG Jesus life and he was still so humble and willing to explain himself in full. He spoke of 2012 being something amazing to be alive for. We didn’t really get much further than that.

TPC: What is your  favorite memory of a time when you were taking pictures?

RG: There are far more than one, as most would say. One that came straight to me was of this shoot I did back in March. It was of my old manager (but still good friend) Nicole’s daugther, Madison. It is an amazing thing how people can connect, no matter what age difference there is. There is always something. I was shooting with a Canon 1d, which is a pretty heavy camera to begin with. We were sitting underneath her jungle gym in the backyard when she picked up the camera and started taking pictures of me. It was funny to look at this seven year old’s expression as she got the almost instant feedback from the small lcd screen. She wanted to take over the shoot from there, but I somehow got the camera back.

I realized on that day how much I enjoy being around kids. Their energy inspires me.

TPC: What do you think about how people act in front of the camera?

RG: There are people who absolutely hate the camera. They will do anything for you no to shoot their photo. Including blocking all of their face with their hands, which is so damn annoying. Then you have a photo of motion blurred hands. Awesome. Haha.

There are those of course who absolutely love the camera and if they know me, sometimes they will use the best non verbal communication techniques they know to get me to shoot their photo. Flipping hair for the ladies, trying insanely way too hard of a skateboard trick for the guys. Even my one year old brother Vito will just pose like a model for my Olympus. 


TPC: What is the meaning of your short film “Twilight at Carbon Lake?”

RG: Well to understand it, I think you should definitely watch it. I would much rather ask you the meaning of it than to answer that myself. Naturally, your energy goes into every single thing you do. So, through my photography and film, you get this image of me, I guess you could say. So the meaning of it, is kind of a snapshot of where I am right now in my life. That which to me, is so many places.

For those that make films or just understand the beautiful marriage between a musical piece and film; you can really grab that in this. I mean, the words lined up with my footage in some parts that were perfect happy accidents. I just laid down the track to raw 16mm footage, as it was filmed.

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

RG: Thanks to this amazing girl Kelsie I recently met,  I interview for a job teaching English in China, tomorrow. I have not stopped thinking about how huge that could be for me. Nine months in a village teaching orphans English while they live on this organic farm. Wow.

So many people feel lost so much of their existence. I think it’s really important to realize how good we really are at knowing what we have to do. I guess you could call this intuition. It always surprises me how perfect everything always lines up. The right people always being placed before you, in your story, to play parts.

Thank you to my family and friends who have been asked to go stand in front of that tree or lay down on that mountain or hold the wheel as I photograph a disappearing sunset or to hold my metal insert from my Hasselblad and just for being there. Thank you.