LOU REED • 1942-2013
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
PHOTOGRAPHY INTERVIEW • BRAD ELTERMAN
by Jamie Goodsell
All images © Brad Elterman
website • www.bradelterman.com
"THE MOST PRECIOUS COMMODITY TODAY IS ORIGINAL CONTENT"
Around what age did you start taking photographs?
Thirteen, probably.
Were you formally educated or self-taught?
I went to a summer camp called Camp Roosevelt in Idyllwild, California that's long gone now and there was an instructor there who taught me how to use the darkroom. I spent a lot of time in the darkroom there because I didn't really like summer camp that much. Natalie Cole was an instructor there and she would sing stuff like "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'."
Who were some of your influences in the beginning?
I was only exposed to rock 'n' roll photographers at the time that were in Rolling Stone and Creem Magazine. So the photographers I really liked were Bob Gruen in New York and this guy Richard Creamer who's a real mentor of mine. He was kind of eccentric, he was kind of a funny looking guy, but he had a real raw style of photography. He looked so out of place. He looked like an accountant or something but he was hysterical and all the rock stars loved him! I mean, Robert Plant adored Richard. When I started learning about the more technical aspects of photography, I became very impressed with Helmut Newton and the way he could mold his subjects. He loved the natural light in L.A., that's why he was here for so many years. I liked Ron Galella also, he was a famous paparazzo with just kind of a raw style.
Maybe there's a paparazzi question coming (who knows), but I would never consider myself as a paparazzo. Every once in a while, there would be some kind of legend who was around or in town and I really didn't probably have much to lose. I was this precocious young kid. If it meant driving from my parents house literally down the block to the local neighborhood park in '78 (or whenever it was) and I saw Robert Plant there in these Speedos, I had to take a picture you know? I'm glad I did! When they do books on Plant (and there have been some), I don't think they really want a shot of him singing in a microphone, they want something casual and that's why that picture comes up all of the time.
What were you shooting with back then?
At first, just one body with black and white film (because color was too expensive to shoot). Most publications just wanted black and white, so two rolls of Tri-X and a Sunpak flash (that never really worked right) and I think just one lens, like a 35mm lens.
What was your favorite camera and film type to use?
Tri-X would be the film. Back in the day? Maybe the Nikon FE or FE2.
From my understanding, the Bob Dylan concert you photographed in 1974 was what made you want to be a photographer. How did you get access to that particular show?
Well the Dylan thing, a lot of it was luck. I was one heck of a lucky kid. I didn't have any contacts or relatives that worked in the industry, but there was a thing in the L.A. Times that said Bob Dylan was gonna tour with The Band and he was playing L.A., here's the date...tickets are available. It was like a mail order thing, you had to mail in your check for the tickets. They were gonna play the Forum in L.A. to like 18,000 people a night, it was unprecedented. It was like five nights, a couple of matinees and it was probably a couple hundred thousand tickets being sold. I really wanted a good seat, so I wrote a letter and said, "Can you sell me two tickets in the best possible position?" I went and got construction paper and I wrote it really cool with like gold stars on it and I ended up using this big envelope that I decorated. I think I drew something of Bob on it. I got a bunch of one cent stamps and made a collage, so I made it like kind of a little piece of art. Thank god who ever was sorting through the mail saw it and thought it was pretty neat, so I got two front row/center seats to one of the matinees and couldn't believe it. And back then you could bring your camera in, so I brought my best friend with me and I brought the camera and just sat there taking shots. I think I shot one roll of black and white and maybe two rolls of color and that was it.
So how did you end up getting your images published?
It wasn't so much to get money for them, it was to have my name in a publication. I think it was the opening date of the tour and nobody had seen pictures of Dylan in years ever since he had that motorcycle crash, so there were no fresh photos. I would always read these English newspapers called Sounds and New Music Express. They had all the information, who was touring, and what was going on. That was a weekly and it would have to be flown into L.A., so we'd get it like a week late, two weeks late and it cost a buck or whatever. So instead of sending it to Creem or Rolling Stone, I sent it to this English newspaper and they published it. They didn't give me a credit at first, so that was a bit of a bummer but I made the connection and I think I got paid like ten bucks for it or something like that. The credit was worth more than the ten dollars, but I just kept persevering you know and things finally started to happen. I spent so much time and money shooting bands, developing the film, making the prints, drying the prints, writing the caption by hand, putting my stamp on the back, writing out the envelopes, taking it to the post office and mailing it...it was a big process you know.
You worked so hard, what was your motivation?
It was a way out of my parents house. I wanted my own car, my own place, I wanted to be independent and to have financial success. All of my friends were going off to college to become whatever. For a kid my age, it was a pretty damn good living...it was a good business.
What's your favorite Dylan album?
I don't know if I have a favorite album, but my favorite Dylan song is "Mr. Tambourine Man" on Bringing It All Back Home.
So some of your first paying gigs were for MCA Records?
I did a lot of stuff with MCA, I can't remember exactly how I pulled that off. I'd call up the PR people at this label and say, "I took these photos, do you wanna see them?" And they were all pretty receptive, occasionally they would buy one for twenty five bucks and they would send it out to wherever. But then I started to get hired. MCA was one of the first and getting hired meant you go and you shoot a couple songs of the gig and most importantly you be backstage afterwards so you get pictures of the band with the executives, the A&R guy, the management, the president of the label and then those photos would go to the trades...which was Record World, Billboard...and that was so important to them. You know I got like thirty-five bucks for doing that and I did it for all of the labels. I just thought it was so degrading doing that stuff you know, that I had to brown nose all of those people. Unfortunately, a lot of that stuff I shot for the label is gone. They got all of the negatives and everything which is really a shame. But who knew? I was happy to get a few hundred bucks.
Where was most of your money coming from?
My bread and butter was in photo syndication, so if I had a picture of Dylan with Robert De Niro I didn't just make one print for Sounds, or two prints...one for Sounds and one for Creem and another one for Circus, Rolling Stone. I wanted to make some money and the money at that time was in Japan. There were two magazines and they are called Music Life and Rock Show, they paid big bucks and they bought everything that I sent them. They'd open up the envelope and it was kind of like a message in a bottle, the pictures would get to them about five days later.
Japan was great, Germany was incredible (there was a magazine called Bravo there that bought everything), then I became a correspondent for this magazine in Switzerland called Talk, there was a big magazine in Sweden called Poster which bought everything also. I learned early on that it's important to have a relationship and to meet these people. So I started going to London in the late 70s to meet the photo editors and then traveled all over Europe building a relationship with these editors. Eventually I became their correspondent and my name would be in the magazines which would help get more entrée.
What was the competition like back then?
The most interesting thing is that I had very little competition because most of those idiots who were taking pictures were only shooting the show and none of these magazines really cared about stage stuff. They wanted the real candid stuff, they wanted it to look like it was in California, you know? So very few photographers were shooting anything candid, they always laughed at me when I would be hanging around backstage with my flash on the camera. They were dumb because they didn't know anything about the foreign market. I'd tell them about Japan and they'd laugh and say that they didn't want to get ripped off, well they were wrong...they were the most loyal clients ever. They appreciated everything I sent them and that's the same with the Germans, the Dutch and Sweden. I'd sell the same picture of Robert Plant and eventually it got to like twenty different countries.
What advice would you give to photographers about how to get their work published nowadays? Is it the same process you think?
Well, the magazines are gone...so forget about that. All of those magazines are gone except for Bravo in Germany. You know it's kind of come to my attention that anything that's left...any of these digital magazines and blogs, I mean none of them have a budget to pay for anything. So for a young photographer I would suggest taking photos in whatever medium you want and send them and get a bi-line. It's up to you as a photographer to then take that bi-line back to the bands or the PR people and show them that this is your photo and that you'd like to have a relationship with them. Ask them if they're in town again to let you know if you can do anything. You gotta figure out how to monetize it and that's the toughest part of what's going on today for the young photographer.
"TODAY'S PHOTOGRAPHER REALLY NEEDS TO BE A GLOBAL BRAND"
I don't know if at this stage of the game that it's about good photographers because most of the stuff I see on the Internet all looks the same. I think the most precious commodity today is original content. If you don't have original content then you've got to be creative and unique, you've got to have your own look. And the other thing also, I think today's photographer really needs to be a global brand. It's gotta be someone who has a lot of followers on the Internet.
How would you describe the world pre HIV?
Sexy. It was dreamlike...the feeling that anything was possible, it's hard to explain. It certainly had a very sexy quality to it. Very carefree.
How did you get involved with The Runaways?
My relationship with them was all because of Kim Fowley and Kim believed in me. He would call my parents house at two in the morning (he was a real nocturnal guy) and he would say like, "Where's Brad Elterman, I need to speak to him...I have a new band called The Runaways and I need some photos." Kim knew that I would take pictures and he also knew that I would hustle them, that I'd get them printed in magazines. I was very shy, very quiet - still am today - and I just kind of let things unfold with them. There was a time where I'd go over to their houses and take pictures because what was starting to happen is Japan would be calling and saying, "We need more Runaways photos and we want them at home, doing the dishes." I was just talking to Lita Ford like three hours ago and we were talking about the pictures that I took like at her house in Long Beach - nobody took pictures like that. I caught her inside of the refrigerator, I caught her swinging from a tree. Nobody thought about taking rock pictures like that. The Europeans and Japanese just ate it up...it made people look very personable.
Sexy. It was dreamlike...the feeling that anything was possible, it's hard to explain. It certainly had a very sexy quality to it. Very carefree.
How did you get involved with The Runaways?
My relationship with them was all because of Kim Fowley and Kim believed in me. He would call my parents house at two in the morning (he was a real nocturnal guy) and he would say like, "Where's Brad Elterman, I need to speak to him...I have a new band called The Runaways and I need some photos." Kim knew that I would take pictures and he also knew that I would hustle them, that I'd get them printed in magazines. I was very shy, very quiet - still am today - and I just kind of let things unfold with them. There was a time where I'd go over to their houses and take pictures because what was starting to happen is Japan would be calling and saying, "We need more Runaways photos and we want them at home, doing the dishes." I was just talking to Lita Ford like three hours ago and we were talking about the pictures that I took like at her house in Long Beach - nobody took pictures like that. I caught her inside of the refrigerator, I caught her swinging from a tree. Nobody thought about taking rock pictures like that. The Europeans and Japanese just ate it up...it made people look very personable.
Joan was my greatest subject and she, like me, was very shy. She was living at the Tropicana Motel and we'd hang out there, we'd go to the coffee shop which was next door called Dukes and have enormous hamburgers. And for desert they'd have frozen Snickers bars that you could like, break your teeth on.
So you were selling these images to magazines as well?
I knew I'd make a little bit of money on them...but then they just kind of took off and more and more people were calling for photos and then like...poof...overnight it was gone. They broke up in the late 70s and nobody cared about their pictures anymore. I just put their photos in boxes in storage for twenty-five years...
What is your relationship with Kim now? Have you worked with him lately?
Kim is a wonderful friend and a brilliant guy. He is the smartest person I ever met. Probably the funniest too. He trusted me with all of his bands and that included The Runaways. Recently he had been very ill and we thought that we would lose him. He called me and asked if I would come over and to bring my camera. I did and I brought my friend Kelly Cunningham, a stunning model. The two clicked right away and after a couple of hours of hanging and taking photos, Kim shocked his nurses and got out of bed and walked around the apartment for the first time since his surgery! Everyone deals with illness and pain differently and Kim just keeps having fun and creating. He has zero time to be ill.
What is your relationship with Kim now? Have you worked with him lately?
Kim is a wonderful friend and a brilliant guy. He is the smartest person I ever met. Probably the funniest too. He trusted me with all of his bands and that included The Runaways. Recently he had been very ill and we thought that we would lose him. He called me and asked if I would come over and to bring my camera. I did and I brought my friend Kelly Cunningham, a stunning model. The two clicked right away and after a couple of hours of hanging and taking photos, Kim shocked his nurses and got out of bed and walked around the apartment for the first time since his surgery! Everyone deals with illness and pain differently and Kim just keeps having fun and creating. He has zero time to be ill.
"The photos of The Ramones was just either hanging out or I would call Danny Fields their brilliant manager and ask if he could set something up for me to shoot for Music Life, this giant Japanese magazine. It looked like a telephone book."
What went down in the 80s man?
Everything was changing, Jamie. Heavy metal was coming in and nobody was asking for any pictures of heavy metal. I mean I shot Van Halen but I hated the whole scene...I hated the girls, the groupies; I hated the sound. It was loud you know? And then the dreaded publicist came onto the scene and the record companies had tighter control, wanted to approve pictures. Then this thing came up where you could only shoot three songs maximum. I didn't wanna be hassled by PR people and I had the marketing down so I just started a photo agency at the time and put my cameras away.
Everything was changing, Jamie. Heavy metal was coming in and nobody was asking for any pictures of heavy metal. I mean I shot Van Halen but I hated the whole scene...I hated the girls, the groupies; I hated the sound. It was loud you know? And then the dreaded publicist came onto the scene and the record companies had tighter control, wanted to approve pictures. Then this thing came up where you could only shoot three songs maximum. I didn't wanna be hassled by PR people and I had the marketing down so I just started a photo agency at the time and put my cameras away.
Tell me about Dog Dance.
The name Dog Dance came from a Kim Fowley term that kind of meant...we're having a party or a gathering, you know a dog dance. Sandy Kim loved the name and she designed the book. It's kind of small and compact, I think most of my Tumblr followers are quite young and probably little so they can like cuddle with the book, take it to bed with them. The size is really nice and there's different types of paper in there...like a glossy stock and a newsprint that gives it this really cool contrast. I was just blown away, New York Times did something on it, Q Magazine, and a couple of digital things in French Vogue, so I'm really happy about it.
Who are you shooting for lately?
I am taking photos of cool young bands for Purple Diary. The essence is on "cool!"
So what are currently working on?
I'm working on a screenplay on my life from the whole period and I'm going to do a short that should go into early production next year. Basically it's going to be about getting my first camera, getting my independence to get out of the house and to go onto photo heaven I guess. I also started this website called Factory 1977 where I'm gonna open it up to young emerging photographers who kind of have their own unique style. So I'll post some old pictures and I'll post some new bands and I want to open it up to young photographers to share their work also. I'm also thinking about doing a zine or two on my modern work. It's an interesting industry still in the infancy stages.
What would you have done if it wasn't for photography?
I would have sold Contemporary art or office buildings in Manhattan.
Where do you feel the future lies with photography?
I don't know, you know. I think we're in uncharted territory and in the infancy stages with the Internet and imagery, so it definitely feels like something wonderful is gonna happen.
The name Dog Dance came from a Kim Fowley term that kind of meant...we're having a party or a gathering, you know a dog dance. Sandy Kim loved the name and she designed the book. It's kind of small and compact, I think most of my Tumblr followers are quite young and probably little so they can like cuddle with the book, take it to bed with them. The size is really nice and there's different types of paper in there...like a glossy stock and a newsprint that gives it this really cool contrast. I was just blown away, New York Times did something on it, Q Magazine, and a couple of digital things in French Vogue, so I'm really happy about it.
Who are you shooting for lately?
I am taking photos of cool young bands for Purple Diary. The essence is on "cool!"
So what are currently working on?
I'm working on a screenplay on my life from the whole period and I'm going to do a short that should go into early production next year. Basically it's going to be about getting my first camera, getting my independence to get out of the house and to go onto photo heaven I guess. I also started this website called Factory 1977 where I'm gonna open it up to young emerging photographers who kind of have their own unique style. So I'll post some old pictures and I'll post some new bands and I want to open it up to young photographers to share their work also. I'm also thinking about doing a zine or two on my modern work. It's an interesting industry still in the infancy stages.
What would you have done if it wasn't for photography?
I would have sold Contemporary art or office buildings in Manhattan.
Where do you feel the future lies with photography?
I don't know, you know. I think we're in uncharted territory and in the infancy stages with the Internet and imagery, so it definitely feels like something wonderful is gonna happen.
Thanks to the overwhelming flow of support to Brad's Tumblr page, he's picked up his cameras once again! Follow him here: BRAD ELTERMAN
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Sunday, September 29, 2013
WHY ARE YOU HERE?
Why Are You Here? is a series based on the human state. I wanted to find out why people are waking up everyday. What's their purpose? This is an ongoing project to create a body of perspective from various parts of our society.
© Jamie Goodsell
Saturday, September 21, 2013
UPSTAIRS AT UNITED
A few months back, I was lucky enough to be a fly on the wall at two separate recording sessions for United Record Pressing's Upstairs at United series. The first being Chuck Mead & His Grassy Knoll Boys and the second being Henry Wagons. Both sessions were equally special and they each had a definitive mystique about them. The Motown suite has so much charm and I really feel like it gets embedded into the recordings. Watching it live, recorded directly to analog tape, these recordings never touch the digital world. The recordings were done by Chris Mara who is head Engineer at Nashville Studio, Welcome to 1979. You aren't going to experience anything but pure enjoyment from these sessions, so I hope you decide to add them to your ever growing vinyl collections.
Below are a couple of sample images from the inserts (including my live shots from the sessions) and a still from United Record Pressing's Facebook page of the records being prepped.
These will be available Tuesday November 5th, 2013 at your local record store or online at www.453music.com
Below are a couple of sample images from the inserts (including my live shots from the sessions) and a still from United Record Pressing's Facebook page of the records being prepped.
These will be available Tuesday November 5th, 2013 at your local record store or online at www.453music.com
Friday, September 13, 2013
UNCUT
Hey everyone,
I've been working really hard towards getting more personal work done, I'm excited about it and I can't wait for it to be out in the world. I also had a spread in Uncut Magazine this month featuring the lovely Caitlin Rose. I'll include some scans below so you can check those out!
I've been working really hard towards getting more personal work done, I'm excited about it and I can't wait for it to be out in the world. I also had a spread in Uncut Magazine this month featuring the lovely Caitlin Rose. I'll include some scans below so you can check those out!
Thursday, August 15, 2013
PHOTOGRAPHY INTERVIEW • CHLOE AFTEL
by Jamie Goodsell
All images © Chloe Aftel
website • www.chloeaftel.com
blog • http://chloeaftel.tumblr.com
I was turned on to Chloe Aftel's work in college and was immediately taken by her vision and aesthetic. Her work conjures up scenes of vivid emotions and a truly genuine approach to taking pictures. She's connected the instrument to her vision to create an individual style in fashion, commercial, editorial, lifestyle, among many other genres of work. Some of her clients include: Harper's Bazaar, Levi's, Rolling Stone, Spin, Subpop Records, Vanity Fair, Vogue Italy and Wired etc. She sees things a bit differently and I wanted to find out why.
"EXPLORE WHERE YOU CAN GO BY SHOOTING FOR YOURSELF"
Where did you grow up?
Berkeley, California which is right next to San Francisco. I grew up there and I lived there through high school. I went to undergrad at Berkeley and I spent a year abroad and then I lived in L.A. and New York for another two years.
Where did you spend your time abroad?
I lived in Paris for a year. I think going abroad is great and seeing what other countries are doing in terms of work. There's a lot more experimentation happening in other places which is nice to be exposed to.
When did you first pick up a camera and what event caused you to pursue it as a career?
I first picked up a camera in high school but it was not a formative experience. When I was in graduate school in L.A., I was learning a lot about film, how to shoot and a lot of the principles for film shooting were translatable to still photography. I was not very happy with my experience in film school. I felt it was pretty stifling and underwhelming, so I started shooting stills on my own. I tried to figure out a way to take a lot of the cinematic values and techniques and put them into film photography. For me it was about figuring out how to tell a layered story in one frame.
How did your education influence your photography?
I was not educated formally in photography. I just picked up a camera that a friend had and started using it. Through trial and error, playing with lighting, and just shooting constantly, it helped me to figure out what kind of photography I wanted to do and to go from there. That was the thing for me, it was putting in the time and playing with different cameras, different lenses, different film stocks and figuring out what it was that worked for me and then trying to push that forward.
How did you start to market yourself in the beginning?
Marketing is very hard. You have to be very clear about what your goals are and for me a large part of the goal was to make it financially viable because it's so incredibly hard. So part of it was to make a living and the other part of it was to find a way to take what I really loved and make it commercially viable. It's an important line to figure out, how do you take something that might be much more of sort of a happy lifestyle and make it your own and make it something that feels genuine, authentic, and fulfilling to you. That's a hard line to walk, and I think a lot of people go for just over exuberant happiness, rather than something that you look at and you feel (at least for me) like oh there's a whole scene going on here, and happiness is derived from something in the world that I'm putting together and shooting.
What kinds of things did you do in the beginning to get your work out there?
I put a lot of time into promotion and books. My book is very carefully designed, it's got a very specific color combination, and I worked forever with a friend of mine - her name is Deanna Staffo - (who's really a fantastic illustrator) on the logo and then I figured out that I wanted most of it printed on kind of a watercolor paper. So presentation wise, it was a very beautiful book. I also did little printed books that people got to keep, a postcard collection, and stuff that I would leave behind or mail to people. It would be something that would have a practical application but also be what I felt was some of the highlights of my work. So for me it was about an incredible amount of money, time, and thought going into presenting the work as something that was thought out, crafted, sort of hand done, and a very distinct personality rather than some glossy thing that just let them know I was there.
Berkeley, California which is right next to San Francisco. I grew up there and I lived there through high school. I went to undergrad at Berkeley and I spent a year abroad and then I lived in L.A. and New York for another two years.
Where did you spend your time abroad?
I lived in Paris for a year. I think going abroad is great and seeing what other countries are doing in terms of work. There's a lot more experimentation happening in other places which is nice to be exposed to.
When did you first pick up a camera and what event caused you to pursue it as a career?
I first picked up a camera in high school but it was not a formative experience. When I was in graduate school in L.A., I was learning a lot about film, how to shoot and a lot of the principles for film shooting were translatable to still photography. I was not very happy with my experience in film school. I felt it was pretty stifling and underwhelming, so I started shooting stills on my own. I tried to figure out a way to take a lot of the cinematic values and techniques and put them into film photography. For me it was about figuring out how to tell a layered story in one frame.
How did your education influence your photography?
I was not educated formally in photography. I just picked up a camera that a friend had and started using it. Through trial and error, playing with lighting, and just shooting constantly, it helped me to figure out what kind of photography I wanted to do and to go from there. That was the thing for me, it was putting in the time and playing with different cameras, different lenses, different film stocks and figuring out what it was that worked for me and then trying to push that forward.
How did you start to market yourself in the beginning?
Marketing is very hard. You have to be very clear about what your goals are and for me a large part of the goal was to make it financially viable because it's so incredibly hard. So part of it was to make a living and the other part of it was to find a way to take what I really loved and make it commercially viable. It's an important line to figure out, how do you take something that might be much more of sort of a happy lifestyle and make it your own and make it something that feels genuine, authentic, and fulfilling to you. That's a hard line to walk, and I think a lot of people go for just over exuberant happiness, rather than something that you look at and you feel (at least for me) like oh there's a whole scene going on here, and happiness is derived from something in the world that I'm putting together and shooting.
What kinds of things did you do in the beginning to get your work out there?
I put a lot of time into promotion and books. My book is very carefully designed, it's got a very specific color combination, and I worked forever with a friend of mine - her name is Deanna Staffo - (who's really a fantastic illustrator) on the logo and then I figured out that I wanted most of it printed on kind of a watercolor paper. So presentation wise, it was a very beautiful book. I also did little printed books that people got to keep, a postcard collection, and stuff that I would leave behind or mail to people. It would be something that would have a practical application but also be what I felt was some of the highlights of my work. So for me it was about an incredible amount of money, time, and thought going into presenting the work as something that was thought out, crafted, sort of hand done, and a very distinct personality rather than some glossy thing that just let them know I was there.
What do you have in your camera bag today?
I shoot multi-format on almost everything I do. If I'm given my choice and I'm allowed to do whatever I want, I will most likely shoot my H2 cause I love it and it's great. If I am traveling around and I need something that is very simple and easy, I'll take my Contax G2. I take my Polaroids everywhere but when I need more of a work horse Polaroid camera, I'll use the Polaroid Spectra camera. There's always two camera bags and they're always chock-full of stuff. It's very hard for me to travel with just one camera. For digital I use a Canon Mark III.
Who were some of your influences early on and who are some of them today?
When I first started I was in love with Diane Arbus, William Eggleston, Joel-Peter Witkin. I liked rock photography, like that old Annie Leibovitz stuff. I would look at anything and try to figure out what worked, what didn't work and what I was interested in or not interested in, and also what had been done. Who do I like today? One photographer I think is really great is my friend Annie Tritt. For me at least, the large part of my stuff is just trying to walk in with a plan...but if the plan doesn't work, figuring out other ways to acclimate a sense of their personality.
I shoot multi-format on almost everything I do. If I'm given my choice and I'm allowed to do whatever I want, I will most likely shoot my H2 cause I love it and it's great. If I am traveling around and I need something that is very simple and easy, I'll take my Contax G2. I take my Polaroids everywhere but when I need more of a work horse Polaroid camera, I'll use the Polaroid Spectra camera. There's always two camera bags and they're always chock-full of stuff. It's very hard for me to travel with just one camera. For digital I use a Canon Mark III.
Who were some of your influences early on and who are some of them today?
When I first started I was in love with Diane Arbus, William Eggleston, Joel-Peter Witkin. I liked rock photography, like that old Annie Leibovitz stuff. I would look at anything and try to figure out what worked, what didn't work and what I was interested in or not interested in, and also what had been done. Who do I like today? One photographer I think is really great is my friend Annie Tritt. For me at least, the large part of my stuff is just trying to walk in with a plan...but if the plan doesn't work, figuring out other ways to acclimate a sense of their personality.
Can you talk about your personal work a little bit?
The work that I do for myself, that is a little bit out there, I really love and enjoy doing. Work that people respond to very strongly, doesn't really have a place commercially. When I would put it into other books and those other sections, it seemed to sort of confuse what I did. It just made more sense to me to take them out and to make them their own divided section of personal work.
Could you talk about the image with the Indian headdress?
That image caused quite a little stir unto itself that I never expected. That image is shot on fade-to-black, it's a film that the Impossible Project put out for a very limited amount of time. It was regular film but without the emulsion stuff in it, so it just processes which is why it's called fade-to-black because it just fades out to darkness and there is no negative or positive, it's just a black frame. I was doing a shoot with this girl and I just found this old headdress and thought it was cool, so I put her in it. Literally the last shot of the day, we were driving back down Malibu and there was this big, wide ocean area and I new that fade-to-black had to be done at the end, because you literally only have like an hour window to scan it before it starts to change. So I took the image, went home and scanned, and thought that was that. However, there's been a lot of issue with that particular image because some people feel strongly that it's an appropriation of different cultures and that it's problematic. That particular prop was problematic in certain ways that I never anticipated.
I feel a sense of love and mystery in your fashion work, what are you trying to produce within that genre?
I'm not so interested in the image strictly being sort of prototypical dead eye fashion photography where there's just this woman in the clothing and it's being presented in sort of a non emotional way. If the model is really expressing herself in some way, I find that much more interesting. What I aspire to do is capture the girl and also capture a story. If there's an environment, there's something going on, there's attitude, there's a response that seems indigenous to the girl, it's a piece of who that girl is.
What are your top 3 film types of all time?
1. A September batch of the Impossible 680 film
2. An old Kodak 120 stock, I want to say it was 160 VC
3. Illford 3200 Black and White
Are your photographs all done in camera?
Almost everything you see on my website is presented as it was taken. With the double exposures, with the diptych's, with whatever...my personal thing is very little post. For me, I shoot the left and the right because I think it allows for you to get a different kind of framing on each of them. Instead of shooting a wide one and cutting in and cropping or moving it around, I very much believe that you've gotta do your best to get that thing in camera. With the double exposures, everything on the site is done in camera. It's something I really love doing and I think it's something that takes a lot of thought to get it done correctly. I'm comfortable taking risks and doing some weird stuff and if it works great, if it doesn't then you learn from it and move on. If you have not done double exposures, I strongly encourage you to.
When did you start to get more well known clients and did that start the ball rolling?
My first client was Hewlett-Packard, I got them in early 2010. When I started, it was a different time economically, everything had crashed you know. The first ad turned out great and it was exciting and wonderful. There was just not a lot of work at that time and I think looking at it now where there is a lot more money in the industry and a lot more people willing to pay for original content, I think my client list is very helpful which I'm grateful for. Those first couple of years was just a lot of hustling. I just want to keep working, whether it's a small job or a big job...as long as it's interesting.
Do you find a lot of your images are in between moments?
I think the key is to just shoot the subject while they're running around or thinking about things, getting make-up done or whatever. When they aren't trying to be the person they think you want them to be is when you can get a lot of stuff. A lot of people have that personality that is just wonderful in front of the camera, but if they are not those people then what I do is shoot them while they're doing other things. Whatever it takes to make them not think about themselves and their faces, or how their mouth looks and all that stuff that brings so much tension. I'll tell jokes, I'll run around, whatever it is that they need so that they feel comfortable is my priority.
Tell me about the image with Winona Ryder.
That picture is particularly funny, because it was an end of the day grab which of course people ended up really liking. I was doing a portrait of the girl you see fixing her clothes and they happen to be best friends so Winona was there. Of course I wasn't going to ask her to be in a picture because I'm sure she didn't wanna deal with that. We were just finishing up the day and she said, "Would you take a picture of us?". So I just bumped the ISO as high as it could go without it being problematic and Jenny - who is the girl who has a clothing line called Geronimo (which Winona wears all of the time) - just started fixing her clothes and I just took the picture. It was very unexpected, and it was so lovely to work with two people who are genuinely friends just sort of doing whatever.
Why do you think it's so important to photograph for yourself?
Don't think you're going to meet all of your needs just doing what people hire you to do.
The only way you get a lot of the weird shots is to explore where you can go by shooting for yourself.
Could you open people up to some of the responsibilities of a photo shoot? I feel like most people think we just push a button and it's done.
It's interesting because it really depends on the shoot. If it's you and one person somewhere, obviously there is a lot less to bear in mind. That being said though, when it is a full team you have to supervise rather than pull everything together. Then there's that thing in between where maybe it's you and one assistant and you're lighting and putting everything together and dealing with a client and giving feedback, so I think there's a variety of responsibilities. Before the shoot, planning everything out, having a location, location scouting, having hair and makeup, choosing the right model, going from there to the execution of the whole shoot, how you want it done, whether or not the lighting that you had in mind works. I think the huge part of our job is that we'll have an idea about something and how to execute it and then you get there and you're like oh no, that's not what I thought. Then being able to readjust or change so that it doesn't waste time. I think that sort of fluidity and the ability to work with people and to shoot whatever comes out of an organic situation is a huge part of the job. Making sure everyone's needs are met and talking to your model, trying to build a relationship with them. There's a million working parts and I think that we have to be aware of all of them at all times.
I feel a lot of sensuality in your work, could you elaborate on that?
Sure! I for whatever reason, really enjoy shooting women. There are a couple of girls who I shoot over and over again because we have a good relationship and I really enjoy working with them. I find female sensuality to be really fun to shoot. Oddly enough I don't think I've ever gotten a job that was a real correlative of that. No one has ever said, oh I want you to shoot women in a sensual way (which I've long wanted to do)...but maybe one day that will happen. There's a wide variety of girls...they're not all thin, they're not all the same ethnicity, there's a variety of different types that I very much enjoy shooting.
Do you find that it's easier to be in the position of being a girl and getting other girls to get undressed for you?
I am sure it is. I mean I think a girl or a gay man...I think a straight man has got to be really careful how you do that because...I mean a lot of the girls I know tell me terrible stories of men being incredibly inappropriate, but as a woman at the same time...I'm very aware of that. For me at least, I just constantly check in and ask if they're ok with it. It's never an assumption that they're going to be fine with whatever it is that I want to do, but it's about feeling out what their limits are. As a guy, there are ways to do it that relieve some of the problematic nature of it and also there are some guys who do it really well that's just incredibly professional. But I'm sure it is a difficult line to walk because it's difficult for me as well.
What kind of lighting are your drawn to?
I love natural light but there are a ton of different ways I like to shoot and a lot of different lighting techniques that I'm interested in. I've been lucky enough to do ad jobs where I got an amazing lighting crew who will make anything happen. I love lighting and I love natural light. For me though, it has to all make sense with the subject that you're taking the picture of.
Can you tell me about a new series you're currently working on?
I have a couple of series I'm working on now. The first series I'm finishing up is Children with Rare Genetic Conditions. So it's children who have a variety of very serious ailments and taking pictures of them just as they are, very naturally. I'm working on wrapping that up and hoping that I can raise some money for a variety of causes which would be great. I'm also working on a project called Furries at Home which has also been challenging because they are an insular community and they have been portrayed very poorly by the media over and over again.
What do you want people to say about your work after you're gone?
I think the best thing that anyone can hope for is that they did something that hasn't been done a million times before. I guess that would be my goal, something that was worth doing in an interesting way. You can just do the best you can do with the time that you have and then do weird stuff on your own time that helps you push past the current level. All you can do is put in the time and do the work and struggle and figure it out. I don't think there's anything else you can do besides that.
Check out more of her work at the link below and get inspired.
www.chloeaftel.com
Sure! I for whatever reason, really enjoy shooting women. There are a couple of girls who I shoot over and over again because we have a good relationship and I really enjoy working with them. I find female sensuality to be really fun to shoot. Oddly enough I don't think I've ever gotten a job that was a real correlative of that. No one has ever said, oh I want you to shoot women in a sensual way (which I've long wanted to do)...but maybe one day that will happen. There's a wide variety of girls...they're not all thin, they're not all the same ethnicity, there's a variety of different types that I very much enjoy shooting.
Do you find that it's easier to be in the position of being a girl and getting other girls to get undressed for you?
I am sure it is. I mean I think a girl or a gay man...I think a straight man has got to be really careful how you do that because...I mean a lot of the girls I know tell me terrible stories of men being incredibly inappropriate, but as a woman at the same time...I'm very aware of that. For me at least, I just constantly check in and ask if they're ok with it. It's never an assumption that they're going to be fine with whatever it is that I want to do, but it's about feeling out what their limits are. As a guy, there are ways to do it that relieve some of the problematic nature of it and also there are some guys who do it really well that's just incredibly professional. But I'm sure it is a difficult line to walk because it's difficult for me as well.
What kind of lighting are your drawn to?
I love natural light but there are a ton of different ways I like to shoot and a lot of different lighting techniques that I'm interested in. I've been lucky enough to do ad jobs where I got an amazing lighting crew who will make anything happen. I love lighting and I love natural light. For me though, it has to all make sense with the subject that you're taking the picture of.
Can you tell me about a new series you're currently working on?
I have a couple of series I'm working on now. The first series I'm finishing up is Children with Rare Genetic Conditions. So it's children who have a variety of very serious ailments and taking pictures of them just as they are, very naturally. I'm working on wrapping that up and hoping that I can raise some money for a variety of causes which would be great. I'm also working on a project called Furries at Home which has also been challenging because they are an insular community and they have been portrayed very poorly by the media over and over again.
What do you want people to say about your work after you're gone?
I think the best thing that anyone can hope for is that they did something that hasn't been done a million times before. I guess that would be my goal, something that was worth doing in an interesting way. You can just do the best you can do with the time that you have and then do weird stuff on your own time that helps you push past the current level. All you can do is put in the time and do the work and struggle and figure it out. I don't think there's anything else you can do besides that.
Check out more of her work at the link below and get inspired.
www.chloeaftel.com
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
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