Blue Beetle
Blue Beetle – Quincy, Michigan
photography
Photographer Interviews – A Wrap-Up
After a month, my photographer profile project is complete. Almost 20 photographers shooting everything from landscapes to portraits to products to documentary reportage.
I tried to think of one thing I learned doing this project – a consistent theme that ran through all the interviews. Maybe what I learned is that there are all kinds of photographers, with all kinds of backgrounds, and we all get into the hobby or profession in a million potential ways.
It’s these folks, after all, that gives those rebloggers and “”curators”” something to latch on to. It’s these photographers who are making original material. They shoot what interests them. They put stuff out into the world. They’re makers.
Other than a theme, the one thing I learned was that most artists you admire are approachable and friendly, and more than willing to participate in a crazy idea you have. For many of these photographers, I’ve followed them for years on Tumblr, or Flickr, or Instagram, and have always wondered how they got into photography. To learn more, all it took was an email and a proposition.
I should’ve done this years ago.
Check out all the photographer profiles, and stay tuned – I may have a few more coming in the next few weeks.
And thanks to everyone who participated!
Wolvering Print
Love my wolverine print from Andreas Lie (@artbylie). Great double exposure nature photography. How could I resist my state animal? Made for a great Christmas gift.
Check out his Society6 store. Lots of good stuff to choose from, whichever your spirit animal is.
And if you like someone’s art, buy their art.
Phoblographer: Documenting Decline in Jackson, Michigan
Dave Lawrence: Documenting Decline in Jackson, Michigan
Fun to be interviewed by the Phoblographer for my urbex and abandoned work.
Gives a good behind the scenes view into what I look for and how I find some of the locations.
Photographer Interview: Olli Syrjäkari
As an urbex photographer, it’s natural for me to check out other abandoned building photographers. The problem is, most of what I find is HDR garbage.
That’s why I love the work of Olli Syrjäkari of Finland. His abandoned work keeps the shadows and mystery of the places he explores. When I first saw Olli’s work, I felt like I met a fellow traveler. It was great to learn more about his photography.
Who are you, where are you, and what do you do?
My name is Olli Syrjäkari and I live in Tampere, Finland. Pencil pusher by day, photographer by night.
How did you get started in photography?
I’m not sure when it started. Probably when I got my first smartphone with a decent camera. Three years back I left my hometown to find my real home. By that time I bought a small interchangeable-lens camera, and it was then that I got serious about photography. Most of my photos are taken with that 100-euro camera. I did eventually upgrade but I went with the philosophy that the camera quality doesn’t matter until you know how to compose and find the light.
What do you like about your photography?
I love how my photographs raise questions and emotions. You could say my motto is “emotion is everything”. Also I think it’s therapeutic that I get to relive those moments that are already gone. I tend to hate most of my earlier work. I think for me that’s essential in order to become better.
You dabble in abandoned photography, and I love your sense of mystery and exploration. You also have a great eye for light and shadow. Where do you get inspiration for your style/ideas?
Thank you. When I see great photography, it really inspires me to get to that level. It makes me grab the camera and get out of the house, do something great. In all that abandoned photography I do, with the shadows and the light, I love that contrast. How things can make me happy and sad at the same time.
I recently realized something. All those places I explore, urban decay, homes people left behind, they get certain emotions going on in my head. Like I mentioned – happy and sad, also yearning, wishful, at peace. I also mentioned I left my hometown where I lived almost three decades, and I wasn’t happy, just a walking corpse. In my new hometown I have felt rootless, alone, anxious, scared but also very happy and content, at peace and hopeful. Something those families have felt when they left their rural homes and dying smalltowns in search for a better life. Narcistically, I think I have been photographing myself.
What kinds of themes do you explore with your work?
Sorrow, hope, dark thoughts, rural exodus, abandonment. How shadows can exist while there is light present. How the shadows are eventually winning, light is always just temporary. It needs to be maintained while darkness is the default.
In my nature photography, it’s basically empowerment, conservation, how life finds a way. I love to mix these themes, nature and abandonments. How nature reclaims what we have left behind. What comes after us? How we are temporary here, the light. Nature and entropy are the shadows, but they are the good guys here. We are just visiting and we are very bad guests.
Any upcoming projects or shoots you’re working on?
I am having an exhibition next summer, in Tampere, Finland. It will be free of charge but I am hoping to sell some photos to cover the costs. I am also planning to sell prints and licenses to fund my future explorations and exhibitions. Besides that I’m planning to get more into portraiture and people.
See more of Olli’s work at @siderocks, check out his Flickr gallery, and follow along on Instagram.
Photographer Interview: Alexia Liakounakou
Who are you and what do you do?
Ι’m Alexia. A writer and photographer living between London and Athens (Greece). I work in magazines and am the managing editor at Makeshift.
How did you get started in photography?
I began photographing with my mother’s camera at the age of 14. It was a Nikon FM3. My first subjects were my school friends. At 16, I photographed my best friend in my first ‘semi nude’ project.
What do you like about your photography?
That what you capture is slightly – or very – different from what you aim for. It’s always a surprise. It keeps me on my toes.
Where do you get inspiration for your style/ideas?
I think I am very influenced by paintings and Japanese art. I also get constantly influenced by other photographers; old and contemporary.
Fill in blank: “For me, a camera is my way to…”
turn reality into fantasy; escape
Your photography has a documentary approach. What kinds of themes do you explore with your work?
It’s both documentary and ‘art’ photography (I don’t like distinguishing things too much, or put labels on them).
My major themes are urban landscapes, flowers, and human bodies. I lately have an obsession with hands.
Any upcoming projects or shoots you’re working on?
I’m planning an exhibition in Greece (Feb-March 2016), and I’m now shooting street, mostly. I now use my phone camera a lot.
I want to shoot nude women again, in the near future.
Follow Alexia’s work on her personal site, @languorouseye, and on Instagram.
Sunday With Saul Leiter
I’ve become somewhat of a collector of photo books in recent years. My favorite has become Saul Leiter. He only released a few books while he was alive, and it’s my goal to get them all.
This Sunday I watched In No Great Hurry as well. It’s the perfect weekend documentary: quiet, relaxing, and yet entertaining.
I hope that, as the years go by, Saul’s estate releases more of his work in photo book form. Especially the newer stuff – he never stopped shooting. It’d be nice to see some of his modern, digital work, because (and they hint at it in the movie) his style never really changed. Saul Leiter was always Saul Leiter.
You can still get Early Color, though it isn’t the easiest to find. And Early Black and White is a double book that’s a look of fun to see.
Study the masters, gang. Find someone you like and study the hell out of them. Steal and copy. Make it your own. Maybe start with Saul.