http://cargocollective.com pistol & fur Sat, 30 Jun 2012 17:42:40 +0000 http://cargocollective.com en http://cargocollective.com/pistolfur/tumblr http://cargocollective.com/pistolfur/following/pistolfur/tumblr Sat, 30 Jun 2012 17:42:40 +0000 pistol & fur 785385 p&f tumblr p&f tumblr http://cargocollective.com/pistolfur/interviews http://cargocollective.com/pistolfur/following/pistolfur/interviews Sat, 30 Jun 2012 17:42:34 +0000 pistol & fur 788188 p&f talks with Simon Kossoff <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 15.jpg" width="488" height="654" width_o="488" height_o="654" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 15_o.jpg" data-mid="8779272" border="0" align="left"/> Where are you from and where are you going? I was born in Middlesbrough in the industrial north of England, but grew up on the south coast. First in Dorset and later Brighton in East Sussex. After a lot of traveling, I now live in Overland Park, Kansas, but plan to move to Chicago this Autumn. In terms of my photographic life, I come from Black and White, Film, Medium Format and a disciplined darkroom practice. Now I work in digital with a small Leica and make pictures in colour. I love colour. For the last three and a half years I’ve been photographing America obsessively, but I feel, as I’ve become more settled in the U.S. my work is slowly becoming much more personal in nature. What is your inspiration? My inspiration comes from so many diverse corners that it’s almost overwhelming to think about. I’m especially inspired by artists driven by a strong personal vision who are willing and unafraid to follow their creativity where ever it takes them - beyond their own discipline, in order to express themselves. I admire explorers and experimenters, or more to the point ‘psychonaughts’. David Lynch, Julian Cope, Jean Cocteau and William Burroughs are a few I could immediately name here. I’m inspired by those with a restless energy, the ‘mad ones’ as Kerouac once said – artists with drive and passion. I’m inspired by the journey. Those artists whose lives, whatever they do, are tangled up in the art they make and live it. These, for me are the true artists and my greatest inspiration. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 16.jpg" width="655" height="495" width_o="655" height_o="495" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 16_o.jpg" data-mid="8779275" border="0" align="left"/> What got you into photography? Writing was my first love, but photography was always there. I studied photography with a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and I also gained a BA Honors degree in Editorial Photography at Brighton University, passing with a 1st. For me poetry and photography are quite similar in nature. They are both initially about an idea and they are both closely linked to my emotional and psychic life. I used to carry a notebook and pencil around with me everywhere and I scribbled down notes, observations and poems whenever a situation moved me. Now I carry a camera instead. Photography is a much more direct tool, for me, but the thinking behind both is very much the same. The transition from writing to photography was a natural and easy one for me to make. Digital? film? no preference? I love the almost sketchbook feeling of making pictures that digital can offer, but I do sometimes miss being in the darkroom, which could be at times a mystical experience. I sometimes find using a computer to process images a drag and the ethereal nature of pixels makes me nervous. What do you hear at this moment? Humming air conditioners, screaming Cicadas and the distant din of traffic. If you could work on a project with any photographer living or dead who would it be and why? I would have loved to have come to America during the 50’s or 60’s. I find that period in U.S. history and culture fascinating and many of my most beloved and respected cultural heroes, artists and writers come from this era too. Without doubt I would have loved to have shared the driving with Robert Frank while he worked on his Americans series. That book came as a revelation to me and his vision inspires me to this day. To experience and explore pre-interstate America is something I find hard to imagine, especially knowing now the sheer size and scale of this country, having made several long road trips myself. It would have been incredible.. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 17.jpg" width="652" height="491" width_o="652" height_o="491" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 17_o.jpg" data-mid="8779279" border="0" align="left"/> Any news you want to share? There are a number of on-going projects I am continually working on and I am always having ideas for new works. For several months now I have been back at school studying to be an EMT (emergency medical technician) so photography has sadly taken a bit of a back seat, but now that this course is finished I have just began work on producing a couple of books. One of these will be my Remains to be Seen project, a series of photographs which explores loss, grief, time and memory and what we do with the void left within us after the death of a loved one and how it affects the way we see the world. It is a deeply personal project for me and was a difficult one to make. It will, when completed, contain all 50 photographs from this series plus a handful of personal family snapshots. It will also include some writing from that time also, which I recently re-discovered on some floppy disks and in some old notebooks. These writings I intend to publish in their raw, floored and un-edited state and I will use them to punctuate the photographic sequence to hopefully inform and enrich the images and the book as a whole. Also couple of months ago I was also lucky enough to get a book deal and I am presently working with a few trusted photographer friends to edit and sequence it. It’s hard work. I do not want to say too much about this right now, but I am very excited about it and I am hoping it is going to be something really special. It will be an edit of my American photographs and titled ‘Resident Alien’. When this project really starts to take some shape I’d love to come back and talk about this with you in more detail. Thanks Jason. My Blog: Altered States of Agoraphobia: simonkossoff.blogspot.com/ Agency/Collective: Get The Picture: getthepicture.fr/ <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 16.png" width="490" height="649" width_o="490" height_o="649" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 16_o.png" data-mid="8779447" border="0" align="left"/> ............................................................................................. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 6.png" width="657" height="645" width_o="657" height_o="645" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 6_o.png" data-mid="5686941" border="0" align="left"/> p&f talks with David Richardson What got you into this business? I still don't see it as a business. I love taking photos, it's a challenge that I enjoy. It's an excuse to meet interesting people and have adventures. Are there any rules you follow to get the shot you want? I only shoot on film. Everything else is there to be broken, feel is more important than any rules. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/5474484638_bf37914049_z.jpg" width="640" height="424" width_o="640" height_o="424" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/5474484638_bf37914049_z_o.jpg" data-mid="5687076" border="0" align="left"/> What gets you out of bed in the morning? Hunger and thirst Money or Fame? They are both so corrupting and I don't trust myself! Part of me wants everything but I'd be happy with the simpler things in life. Like a tasty meal and a wonderful woman. What is the most important you want your work to convey? beauty is more interesting when it has a story <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 2_16.png" width="167" height="249" width_o="167" height_o="249" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 2_16_o.png" data-mid="5686948" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 9.png" width="168" height="247" width_o="168" height_o="247" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 9_o.png" data-mid="5705794" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 3_17.png" width="156" height="246" width_o="156" height_o="246" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 3_17_o.png" data-mid="5686952" border="0" align="left"/> What next? I'm planning on doing some exhibitions. I've been talking to Richie Culver about doing one together, he's a fantastic artist. His work is so exciting and soulful. Also I've done 2 super-8 films so far, one a music video and the other a fashion short for Twin magazine. I've got another one with Alice Dellal that I'm waiting for the telescined. But I've written 2 shorts, a ghost story and a thriller, so to get them finished and out there. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 4_18.png" width="653" height="532" width_o="653" height_o="532" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 4_18_o.png" data-mid="5686964" border="0" align="left"/> ..................................................................................................... <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 1_12.png" width="430" height="654" width_o="430" height_o="654" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 1_12_o.png" data-mid="5679575" border="0" align="left"/> p&f talks with Vivian Weidmann Where are you based? I'm based in Budapest at the moment. Does your current environment inspire you? It hasn't been inspiring for a while now. I'd definitely like a change of environment. I'm not the type of person who can sit in one place for a long period of time. How would you describe your work? Scattered, maybe. Each image is different from the other. If you look at them separately I think they're quite harmonic, though, in color. I like that. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 2_2.png" width="169" height="248" width_o="169" height_o="248" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 2_2_o.png" data-mid="5679581" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 3_13.png" width="168" height="247" width_o="168" height_o="247" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 3_13_o.png" data-mid="5679590" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 5.png" width="165" height="247" width_o="165" height_o="247" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 5_o.png" data-mid="5679645" border="0" align="left"/> Your work varies between colour and b+w photography, do you have a preference? It depends what mood I'm in. I've been in a black and white mood lately, so I might start focusing on that a bit...for now. Are there any projects you are working on that you would like to talk about? I wanted to start up a zine last year called Spюи, which I still haven't released. Life's been a bit chaotic the past few months so I couldn't find the time to focus on it. I will definitely release the first issue sometime this year, though, and I've been thinking about collaborating with someone. Who or what inspires you and why? Colors and shapes. My friends. London. I'd say music, but I just looked through some of my photos and I saw no relation between them and the music I like. Actually...listening to music makes me want to get up and create the most. Music is back on the list. First place. Kraftwerk forever. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 4_14.png" width="652" height="440" width_o="652" height_o="440" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 4_14_o.png" data-mid="5679599" border="0" align="left"/> Youth or experience? Does youth exist without experience? What or who made you laugh this week? This cat ..................................................................................................... p&f talks with Ramell Ross <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 3.png" width="506" height="499" width_o="506" height_o="499" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 3_o.png" data-mid="4544047" border="0" align="left"/> Where are you from? I was born in Germany but was raised in the Washington DC metropolitan area Were would you most want to be in professional terms? Producing unique, meaningful photography. How would you describe your work to someone who has not seen it? Ambitious. I have very high goals in minds for my photos. I hope they are filled with noticeable hints of a pursuit of something more than what’s instantly perceivable. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 1_1.png" width="498" height="643" width_o="498" height_o="643" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 1_1_o.png" data-mid="4544045" border="0" align="left"/> Is photography for the long term or short term for you? I am in it for the long haul. I welcome the mistakes and lessons and accidents and breakthroughs and disappointments, all which come with a long-term relationship. I love bringing yesterday’s mood or thoughts into play today. What gets you motivated? Considering the impossibly grasped amount of ideas and projects that have not been thought of or created. Do you have a preference of cameras and film? Film. It’s my first, second and third choice. It’s just so biological. I respect and shoot digital, because it is often about the result, not the process. But, film feels. I think digital interprets. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 4.png" width="494" height="500" width_o="494" height_o="500" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 4_o.png" data-mid="4544048" border="0" align="left"/> Who's work inspires you? There are so many. Nadav Kander to William Lamson to Duane Michaels to Alex Soth to Todd Hido….. The list includes, I assure you, more than I remember. What do you see to the left of you at this moment? A duck hunt gun and some yellowie lit rusted tin paneling. ..................................................................................................... p&f talks with Michael J Demeo Where are you based? Right now I live in Portland, Oregon. I'm originally from Boston Massachusetts, and I'll be moving back there soon. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/DeMeoMichael05_905.jpg" width="905" height="611" width_o="1818" height_o="1228" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/DeMeoMichael05_o.jpg" data-mid="4480032" border="0" align="left"/> What got you into photography? My father is a wedding and studio photographer so photography has always been a part of my life. I suppose what got me taking pictures back in the day was going to punk shows and taking pictures of bands. When I was 20 I hitch-hiked across America and thats really when I began taking lots and lots of photos. The thing that really interests me about photography is documenting my own life, and I love using photography as a way to peek into other people's worlds. On the flip side I'm also really inspired by fashion photography - especially from the 90s. There's a lot of really interesting and fresh fashion photography happening today too, I'm just not interested in anything super photo-shopped or produced. Does photography limit you in any way? Photography is only limiting in that it isn't cinema. Who's work inspires you? Olivier Zahm and Purple Magazine is probably my biggest inspiration right now. I think that Purple consistently has really amazing photography spreads. I think Olivier's ideas about art, and fashion are really on point. I make a photo-zine with my partner and photographer Alyssa Noches called No Thoughts that features different photographers working with autobiographical, experimental, and fashion photography. We try and blend the genres together in the same way that Purple does, and I'd love the magazine to one day grow into something along the likes of Purple. Are you interested in producing work using other art forms, film, music ect? I started making some short videos that are an extension of my photographic diary. I'm really inspired by cinema and I'd love to do more with video. I'd like to start doing music videos and I've been tossing around ideas about making a short film as well. You can see some of my video stuff on my youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/mjdemeo <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/DeMeoMichael12_905.jpg" width="905" height="600" width_o="1024" height_o="679" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/DeMeoMichael12_o.jpg" data-mid="4480042" border="0" align="left"/> Film or digital? I mostly shoot film because I love the dreamy aspect of film grain, but I'm definitely not a purist. I have a digital camera and I use it sometimes, but I can't manipulate digital the way I can film. There's some photographers doing great things with digital and if I could produce results like that I'd use it more. What do you hear at this moment? Right now I hear a train blowing in the distance and the hum of my electric heater. ..................................................................................................... p&f talks with SISILIA SISILLIA How would you describe your work? Impromptu. What is success to you? Loving and accepting yourself for who you are, truly. We're always one way or another comparing ourselves to everyone else and the moment you truly accept YOU for who you are with all of your flaws, that's when you've truly succeed and continue to flourish in your life, and work. You're not shooting for anyone else but yourself. What is your personal favourite shot from your body of work? The first one that comes to mind is this shot in New York City <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 1.png" width="639" height="423" width_o="639" height_o="423" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 1_o.png" data-mid="3760217" border="0" align="left"/> and then my second personal fav is this <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 2.png" width="431" height="641" width_o="431" height_o="641" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/Picture 2_o.png" data-mid="3760231" border="0" align="left"/> because they're personal stories of my life. They both have a special meaning to me. The former describes my youth, growing up with lots of rules and dont do this don't do that, always afraid to piss anyone off. Not knowing what I wanted to do "when I grow up" afraid to succeed. The later is finally turning back on all the things that has stopped me from accomplishing the dream and running towards it without any inhibition. Whats next for you? Continue to strife for that Dream and loving it every single step of the way. To inspire and be a blessing to those I meet on the way. What can you hear at this moment? Fever Ray - When I Grow Up is currently blasted in my room. Summer or Winter? Winter all the way! My background is Indonesian Dutch and I was raised in an island for the first eight years of my life. My family moved to California where it's perfect weather all the time, but I would look forward to Winter every year. And I will now have more Winter than ever now that I've moved to Chicago! ..................................................................................................... p&f talks with Johnny De Guzman <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/5240074868_fddc8ff47d.jpg" width="404" height="500" width_o="404" height_o="500" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/5240074868_fddc8ff47d_o.jpg" data-mid="4480191" border="0" align="left"/> Why photography? I have horrible memory, it helps me remember easier. For love or money? I'm going to have my cake and eat it too. Mainly though for the love, for the experiences. What would you be doing if you weren't answering these questions? Outside taking my smoke break or lurking hard on the internet before class. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/4924893175_429872eda3.jpg" width="500" height="337" width_o="500" height_o="337" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/4924893175_429872eda3_o.jpg" data-mid="4480202" border="0" align="left"/> What's your dream photographic assignment? Not too sure about that one. Photographicaccomplishment however would be having a project that I'm proud of exhibited at either the MCA here in Chicago or MoMA. When did you last take a photograph and what was it of? Snapshots of my friends with my p&s at a gallery, that night's a bit hazy. Like I said, my memory's horrible. Does a photograph have to have a meaning to be powerful? Not necessarily, there are so many other variables that go into taking a photograph. It doesn't have to rely on context alone but it sure doesn't hurt either. What gets you out of bed in the morning? My human alarm clock, thanks mom. Who inspires you to do more? A number of people; my parents, a particular friend who's into photography as well, my past color photography teacher who taught me the c-printing process, etcetera. Your favourite photographer/photographers? I'll name-drop one but I surely have an extensive list of favorite photographers. Patrick O'Dell. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/5182836216_e456865efc.jpg" width="327" height="500" width_o="327" height_o="500" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/5182836216_e456865efc_o.jpg" data-mid="4480204" border="0" align="left"/> ..................................................................................................... p&f talks with Levi Mandel <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/3358672100_d43bd2fc73.jpg" width="500" height="332" width_o="500" height_o="332" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/3358672100_d43bd2fc73_o.jpg" data-mid="4480290" border="0" align="left"/> Where are you based? Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York What makes you want to photograph? Everything around me is so lovely, all of the time. This city is so inspiring - the people, the decay, the energy. The best way for me to remember these moments is by taking photographs. Do you photograph to inspire or to be inspired? Neither <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/4737357598_c4e8fb1181_b_905.jpg" width="905" height="600" width_o="1024" height_o="679" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/4737357598_c4e8fb1181_b_o.jpg" data-mid="4480299" border="0" align="left"/> Do you see your photographs as a true portrayal of your life or a life you want the viewer to believe you live? Although photography can never truly be read as fact, I do try to portray moments as accurately as possible. I shoot film on simple cameras, and never Photoshop or alter my work. Who out there makes you want to achieve more? Artists who make lots of work. I get really excited when I talk to another artists about what they are working on, projects they are involved in and just really bouncing ideas back and forward. These interactions really charge me, they push me to step it up. Chaos or Calm? Calm moments between the chaotic. What do you want this Christmas? Health What is coming up for you? An add campaign I shot for a fashion line is going to drop in a few magazines next month, and I'm in the process of talking with a very exciting client about a possible project. I'm also preparing to put together a small run publication of large format photographs I shot of my friends nude. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/5267437746_11cd17212e_z.jpg" width="640" height="424" width_o="640" height_o="424" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/5267437746_11cd17212e_z_o.jpg" data-mid="4480302" border="0" align="left"/> ................................................................................................... <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/tumblr_kz2zeh1p681qzx9wvo1_500.jpg" width="463" height="700" width_o="463" height_o="700" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/tumblr_kz2zeh1p681qzx9wvo1_500_o.jpg" data-mid="11567406" border="0" align="left"/> P&F INTERVIEW 12 la femme n’exist pas Where are you from? I’m from an island in Portugal called Madeira, but I dont live there anymore. You may heard from it in the news lately, there have been a few floods and dead people. Would you describe yourself as an artist or photographer? It’s hard for me to answer that. Photographer sounds too professional, artist too pretensious. I guess something in between. Where do you find your inspiration? Mainly from different environments, dreams, nature and friends, but I don’t normally plan things in advance. I like to see things evolve in a natural way and find its place in time. Do you think there are limitations in expressing yourself through photography? No. I mean, the picture never turns out exactly the way you had imagined it to be, specially if you photograpgh analog, but that’s most of its magic. Photographing with low budget could be limitative or loads of fun, you have to decide it. Do you photograph your life as it is or how you want it to be? My photographs always have a big piece of my every day life mirrored within. Most of the times I have an image floating in my head that I have to register somehow. May it be video, drawing, photography… just have to find the platform that suits it. Shock or Pleasure? shock. What gets you out of bed in the morning? My two cats. Is there anyone you would love to collaborate with? It would be fun and interesting at the same time to do something with Rusmon (Monique) and maybe Charlie Engman and Hasisi (Park). I like what they do and I think I see some compatibleness, as remote as it can be. What noises do you hear at this moment? At this very moment I’m listening to Fursaxa’s album Kobold Moon on my computer, the tapping of my fingers on the keyboard and one of my cats scratching the wooden door, trying to get inside. Thanks p&f .................................................................................................... <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/tumblr_kwrljaJSEj1qzx9wvo1_500.jpg" width="500" height="399" width_o="500" height_o="399" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/tumblr_kwrljaJSEj1qzx9wvo1_500_o.jpg" data-mid="11567311" border="0" align="left"/> P&F INTRVIEW 11 Derek T. Vincent Is photography something you always wanted to do? Nope. Senior year of high school, I was going to take ceramics and my schedule got messed up. I had to pick a different course, I had to choose between basic photography and a math elective. I chose math. About a year later I started taking pictures on my own. What can you hear at this moment? People walking by outside the computer room where I work. Someone using a problematic copier that breaks all the time. What does photography mean to you? I’m not sure there is a specific meaning. It’s more of something I spend a lot of my free time thinking about. I often think of most things I see along the method of “how would this fit into a picture?”. Or “how could I make this seem like something totally different than what it is?”. It’s mostly so I can remember everything I want to remember. I can look back through a couple thousand photographs and be reminded of moments that I would never consider again if I hadn’t documented them. Where do you find your inspiration? I find inspiration from friends and new environments. Something fresh is always so much more interesting than a place you have visualized in a frame over and over again. Are you a ‘shoot first and ask questions later’ or ‘watch and wait’ ? Both, it depends on the camera. I’ll catch someone before they have a time to react with a fast camera. Or I’ll stand and wait, hoping that the scene moves into a position I want to photograph when I have camera that’s a bit more to manage. Any news you’d like to share? I’m going to learn how to make high quality digital prints from film negatives starting next week. Who do you rate highly in contemporary photography? That’s such a difficult question. I can never list who my favorite photographers are. I’m generally more interested in the work of people I find through flickr and other sites. People my age who are in the same position I am. Some of them I’ve been fortunate enough to get to know personally. Where do you hope photography will take you? I hope that photography can bring me to people who want me to take pictures for them. Thanks Derek ................................................................................................. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/tumblr_kw3m4aWCkK1qzx9wvo1_500.jpg" width="500" height="334" width_o="500" height_o="334" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/tumblr_kw3m4aWCkK1qzx9wvo1_500_o.jpg" data-mid="11567518" border="0" align="left"/> P&F INTERVIEW 10 takemetothekittens! Why photography? - Hmm, maybe cause of all those dirty nonsense things that you can say to your models for no reason, you can be cheesy and no one gets mad or anything.. I always wanted to do that. Actually there is something about that manipulative behavior that works good for both sides, you all know that it’s for higher purposes and then just let yourself floating. Ok , that’s the case when I’m shooting people that I know, and I can’t imagine what would it be if someone understood me wrong. Are you self taught? -I am. I grew up back in the 80’s when everyone wanted to be or was a photographer. Photography is the art which is closer to the average people than any other so it was also around me for whole my life. I always learn something new and that’s the main satisfaction and endless joy. What turns you on, photographically speaking? - Smell of the film development, and few other things such as all those weird moments when I feel photographs as some visual provocation and answer to symbol of desire. Who inspires you? Would it be stupid if I say people? Yeah? Than yes, people! All the time! n different positions and moods. I admire all those great avant-garde photographers like Helmut Newton ,Guy Bourdin, Steven Klein .. And of course Man Ray. There are much more, and what I like about them is their shocking and ironic way to break all the taboos. Creativity or Spontaneity? It really depends of a moment, but if I must choose than I would go with creativity because I like to have an idea which is gonna take me through the whole project and know exactly how its gonna end up like. Cause I’m a bit control freak, you know… Where do you want to be in 5 years time? -Simply, anywhere where I can feel that people around me and myself of course can do things they like, in which they are good at, and just live out loud. One shot, that’s all, what would it be of? -If its not possible to go back in time, like 150 years ago and join some circus troupe to shoot any of those creatures , then I would go with the greatest excentrique of our time. You know any? Are your photographs an expression of yourself? -Always are. Can’t see myself doing something without passion, I love to shoot all those things that I’m fascinated by so it is naturally that there are pieces of me involved. Thanks .................................................................................................. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/tumblr_kvwaikicrY1qzx9wvo1_1280_905.jpg" width="800" height="531" width_o="800" height_o="531" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/tumblr_kvwaikicrY1qzx9wvo1_1280_o.jpg" data-mid="11567268" border="0" align="left"/> P&F INTERVIEW 9 jeff luker Where are you at this moment? - I’m in Portland, Oregon. What or who inspires you? - Lots of things. Other photographers, lately Nan Goldin, Larry Clark, David Hamilton, Jock Sturges, Sally Mann, the list goes on. I also really love films, especially those with amazing imagery, Terrence Malick, David Gordon Green, Lars Von Trier, Harmony Korine…I just saw this Tarkovsky film The Mirror that was very beautiful to look at. What in your opinion constitutes a great photograph? - That’s a hard question. I’ve been rereading the Roland Barthes book Camera Lucida, he has some good insight on great photographs, the obvious symbolic significance of an image and also the part of an that affects you personally. I think a great photograph inspires some emotion in you. If you could only shoot one more picture what would it be? - Oh man, I don’t know…the most beautiful woman on the planet riding a grizzly bear through the burning ruins of a lost city or maybe Shaquille O’Neal skydiving on a horse. Hard to say for sure. There are a lot of things I’d like to shoot. How did you get involved in photography? - I’ve taken photos all of my life in some regards, I took some classes in college and realized it was all I want to do. Do you have any upcoming projects, news? - I’m shooting some fashion stuff, and I have a couple books coming out, one on Kaugummi Books called You Are Nowhere, and another little zine thing I self-published titled The World Is Saved. How would you describe your work? - My work is based on beautiful or sad things I see and want represented in the world. It’s sort of an avant-garde realism, snapshots and fleeting ideas. How would you describe yourself? - I am kind of paranoid in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy. Some of your work has a cinematic feel is this something you consciously explore? - Yes, like I said before I’m really nuts about cinema, and I actually went to film school, which is where I think a lot of my ideas about image making come from. I sort of see the world as a big fucked-up movie with no plot or resolution just millions of stories and vignettes, photographs often feel like film stills. Alive or dead, who would you like to spend a day with and what would you do? - Maybe go fishing with Richard Brautigan, he’s had a profound effect on my life….though I’ve always wanted to chill with Enya, we could throw water balloons off the top of her castle or cruise around on dirt bikes. thanks jeff P&F .................................................................................................. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/tumblr_kq04syvEL01qzx9wvo1_500.jpg" width="500" height="337" width_o="500" height_o="337" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/tumblr_kq04syvEL01qzx9wvo1_500_o.jpg" data-mid="11567235" border="0" align="left"/> P&F INTERVIEW 8 no but and or yes What inspires you? Honestly almost everything. Are you currently in the photography business? Not business per say, but exhibiting and in the practice and progress of earning my degree. Do your photographs reflect your life at this time? Abstractly, yes. When do you know you have ‘that’ picture? You just know! It’s an abstract feeling, difficult to describe. Who in photography do you regard as an inspiration? I am a big fan of Gregory Crewdson lately; I’ve been obsessed with Francesca Woodman for a long time. Film or Digital? I’m very particular to film (maybe too much so). I once dropped a class because it required digital. Do you have any present or future projects? Presently I’m working on a series to go into book-form in the future, it’s built around the concept of subject-environment relationships and anonymity, loosely. Why photography? I won’t pretend to have an insightful answer to this one. I think it’s simply the most effective way for me to communicate visually, but it also is a great bridge to other art forms as well. What frustrates you in regards to your photographs? I have a bad habit of hesitating at the wrong moment which results in a lot of frustration. Spontaneity or Technique? Both in varying proportions, but technique more importantly. Thanks no but and or yes P&F .................................................................................................. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/DHym3KrPdq6k2oelL60pfMJvo1_500.jpg" width="500" height="335" width_o="500" height_o="335" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/DHym3KrPdq6k2oelL60pfMJvo1_500_o.jpg" data-mid="11567184" border="0" align="left"/> P+F INTERVIEW 7 VALERIA PICERNO Can you remember your first camera? I do. It was a little plastic black camera with a single button, which was big and orange and worked with 126 film. An old woman who lived next door to my grandparents gave it to me. I just took one roll with that camera, when I was 5. I still have the camera and the pictures. What inspires you to take pictures? Life around me. Anything being part of ordinary days but with the potential of turning them in something memorable and magic. Are your photographs purely a form of documentation or do you see them as works of art? I would call every photograph a single page of a big archive or a big notebook. Places or faces? Mostly places and things but they told me I should shoot more faces. I like it when faces have a strong relation with places, and they tell a story together. I’ve known your work since the early days of Fotolog. Would you say these kinds of blogs have developed the way you shoot? I am a quick photographer. Very impulsive. I think this might be related to that concept of daily snapography that made blogs popular. What’s your opinion on photo blogs such as Flickr and Fotolog? I love Flickr. There are a lot of talented people on it. It’s fun and unpretentious. I would almost call it a democratic way to show your talent. Digital or film? Always film. What camera are you carrying? I had a lovely Fuji Natura that broke after a couple of months. Now I am back to carrying my Yashica T5. Any future projects? Not sure yet. Something involving fashion and pastries maybe? Thanks Valeria P+F ................................................................................................ <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/DHym3KrPdonowb3b76F2FOZEo1_500.jpg" width="500" height="337" width_o="500" height_o="337" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/DHym3KrPdonowb3b76F2FOZEo1_500_o.jpg" data-mid="11567153" border="0" align="left"/> P&F INTERVIEW 6 Katherine Squier What sparked your interest in photography? I just decided to try photography as a hobby one day—I really didn’t know anything about it. That was about a year and a half ago. At the present, I’m so in love with it that it’s strange to remember that it all started on a whim. What gives you joy, photographically speaking? The ultimate joy is when I know my work touched or inspired someone. When do you know when you have taken a great picture? That moment when suddenly the image in the viewfinder feels so right. It may sound strange, but when I really love a photo, looking at it brings me peace of mind. Literally the better a photo is, the greater sense of fulfillment and comfort I get in looking at it. It’s like my eyes and brain are so satisfied with the image that I feel content. In photography do you believe in style over substance or do we all need a bit of both? Definitely both—but if I had to choose, I would always choose style. Do you have any adventures planned? Yes yes yes, too many to count. Soon I’m going to make my second trip back to Marfa, Texas. I find so much inspiration in the simplicity and ruggedness of the Texas countryside. There’s something so powerful to me that you find in untouched land. I also want to try and visit New Mexico and Montana sometime in the next year for the landscape. Are you working in the photography industry? No, I’m a college student majoring in psychology—one year left! Are there pictures you wish you had taken but didn’t? Too many—wwaaaaay too many. I try and not think about it though because regret gets you nowhere. I tell myself that there will always be other photos to be taken—photos that have the potential to be even better. Are there pictures you wish you hadn’t taken? The majority of them! Hah. But in all seriousness, while I may take a whole roll of photos that I feel were a waste of film and money, soon enough I take a photo that I’m in love with. I’m working on shooting more selectively, but I still think that those “wasted” photos are a part of me growing as a photographer. What equipment do you use? Mostly my yashicat4, because I can carry it with me wherever I go and most of my photos are a spur-of-the-moment thing—when I see something and suddenly am inspired. I’ve been dying to get a medium format Mamiya for a while, but being that I’m a student and shooting 35mm film is expensive in itself, MF isn’t exactly affordable right now. Thanks Katherine, we look forward to seeing your Marfa pictures. P&F ................................................................................................... <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/DHym3KrPdojdj0rdTiNHwb3po1_500.jpg" width="500" height="327" width_o="500" height_o="327" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/DHym3KrPdojdj0rdTiNHwb3po1_500_o.jpg" data-mid="11567111" border="0" align="left"/> P&F INTERVIEW 5 eros turannos Are your images a true reflection of your life at this moment? I suppose so, considering I never really plan out photo shoots or anything like that. A lot of my pictures also reflect things I’m into or things I experience that I want to remember the feeling of. There is a reflective feel to your photography is this intentional? Creating a “reflective feel,” or something thought-provoking that a viewer can emotionally relate to, is probably one of the biggest things I strive to encompass in my photography, so it’s nice to hear that someone’s experiencing those types of feelings! Do you like to be photographed? If it’s for the sake of art I’m usually glad and honored to be photographed, otherwise I’m kind of ambivalent. Do you think it is important to have a meaning behind a photograph? I think it depends what you’re trying to capture. If a photograph is meant to be purely a documentation of something, whether it be a person, an object, or an experience, I don’t feel like any deeper meaning has to be pinned on. However if you’re trying to portray a concept through a photograph, something like nostalgia, an opinion or stance on something, an emotion or any other feeling, I think meaning is inherent. What attracted you to photography? I honestly couldn’t tell you, not specifically. I take pictures because I’ve found that all of the best kinds of happiness depend upon it, for myself at least. What excites you most about photography? About my own photography- I guess just being able to catalog my own memories through art, something so infinite and wonderful, and being able to share them with fellow art-enthusiasts. About viewing others’ photography- being able to relate or be moved by a photograph in some way, it’s such a wonderful feeling when I find another artist’s picture I’m passionate about or feel inspired by. Are you happy with the work you produce at the moment? Honestly, it goes both ways. Sometimes I’m pretty happy with what I create, but a lot of the time I really feel like destroying all of it. Then again, I think that probably comes with the territory of being an artist. Regardless though, I’m sure I still have a lot to learn either way. What do you want from photography? I don’t know if I’ve ever really thought about this before. Photography has always felt so natural to me, like we go hand in hand. But if I really thought about it, I guess I’d want a way of remembering, and a way of creating something infinite and concrete from something as fast-paced as life/time. I’d also want inspiration and happiness. Haha, for some reason I feel so demanding. What makes you want to get out of bed in the morning? The wonderful beautiful nature outside my window, the people I care about, the idea that if I don’t I’ll probably feel like a lazy piece of shit later on, and as marvelously cliche as this may sound, photography and artistic self-expression :) Thanks for a really insightful interview eros turannos P&F ............................................................................................... <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/DHym3KrPdo9lg8i8ZrJcPjGBo1_500.jpg" width="500" height="327" width_o="500" height_o="327" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/DHym3KrPdo9lg8i8ZrJcPjGBo1_500_o.jpg" data-mid="11567067" border="0" align="left"/> P&F INTERVIEW jakob. kopnov Is spontaneity important in your work? I wouldn’t say so. If I’m walking through the nightclub with the camera attached to my nose and shoot everything, that captures my attention, later it turns out to be just a waste of film. Usually a process of taking one photo takes even a longer time for me than needed. Like the chair is already empty, but I’m still dancing around with the camera like an idiot. What do you look for in a subject? In a person for some degree of alienation, for the facial expression that appears, when one is tired and distant, and there is an unstructured flow of images, words, memories and plans going through the mind. In objects for a dramatic tension, which is a synthesis of a formal composition and a matter that is so clumsy called “meaning” or, more precisely, semantical conflict between differently connotated objects in a frame. Is photography your occupation?
 Related jobs may fetch some money from time to time and I hope that amounts will grow in a time manner. 
What equipment do you use? Most frequently Nikon F3 with Zoom-Nikkor 35-70 f/3.5 lens and SB-16 speedlight or Contax T2 if I’m sick of carrying all this weight with me or just want to keep it simple. Occasionally I use Mamiya C220 Professional f as a middle-format camera, Polaroid 636 as a - you know - Polaroid; a FUJI plastic pointer-and-shooter and Sony DCR-SR30E when there is a need in 25 frames per second, dirty low-resolution video image, high-aperture optics and night-shoot capability. Are you working on any projects at the moment?
 Yes, there is a large ongoing documental project on how youth sexuality and lifestyle is expressed now in a post-sovie, soviet and post-socialist (like ostdeutschland) interiors; another project emerged only a month ago (i haven’t even seen developed films yet), it’s on cars slightly damaged or changed relative to their factory state. Apart from that I am working on one other project dedicated to a pornographic video-stills when for a 1/25 of a second something intended to be a pragmatic men’s pleasure turns out to be a pure art. 
 Who or what inspires you? Home parties, drunk or high friends, vulgarity and vulgar interiors, household plants, people in moscow subway, airports, amateur film and cellphone photography (like completely amateur, me-in-front-of-Eifel-tower) and without a question works of photographers, whom i like, but there is too many to list them all here. Yeah, and sex.
 
your photography seems to have become more intimate, is this a deliberate change in style?
 It’s not a matter of style. Since I had noticed that in every human face, even the unsightly ones, all parts are brought together in a striking way, comparable to the best Dutch School still-lives, I started paying more attention to the “human factor” additional to just formal - color, light and composition - peculiarities. Where do you hope photography will take you either emotionally or career wise? I hope to get a professional degree abroad and work mostly exhibition- and magazine- oriented. Like a big boy, you know. 

 Is photography important? As a young emerging art with its own specific methods and results, which cannot be achieved in any other field and through any other pictographic techniques of course photography is bloody important. Also as a source, from which an enormous river of strange, preposterous and untitled amateur images flows (it’s a actually fantastic, that now literally everybody has contributed to what is called naive art!). Further as a hoax so flawlessly pretending to be a document. What is more, as a help in a photorealistic and photography-based ( works of Gerchard Richter, for example) painting. And as a therapy that lets average, having lunch in a park people easily confirm their existence and, ergo, importance. (thnx) jk Thanks jacob P+F ................................................................................................... <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/DHym3KrPdo8g1i87i6MY2rbAo1_500.jpg" width="500" height="331" width_o="500" height_o="331" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/DHym3KrPdo8g1i87i6MY2rbAo1_500_o.jpg" data-mid="11567030" border="0" align="left"/> P&F INTERVIEW ladyelectrique Are you currently studying or are you working as a photographer? I’m 17, and currently am on my beginning stages of creating my portfolio for Art Center Pasadena. Cross your fingers. What drives you? What drives me, hm. Well, I guess my thoughts drive me, and all the ideas I have for a certain shoot and trying to create what i see in my mind. It never stops. Where do you find your subject matter? This past year my taller, younger, lanky sister has evolved into this beautiful creature, I guess you could say she’s my muse, even though she is so difficult, because she’s thirteen and moody. For the most part I find my subject matter wherever the sun decides to make lovely shadows, or light that I can’t resist. People with nice hair and nice clothes as well.. Why photography? This is a hard question, why photography…because for me, it’s one or the only ways I can explain who I am. Photography has let me see the beauty of the world, and has let me understand others as well. It’s something that never comes to an end, it’s a project that lasts a lifetime. With all the things I get rid of or push out of my life there is no way of pushing out photography. It’s always going to be a part of who I am. And I love that, its very comforting… Do you set images up or is spontaneity more important? Unfortunately, Majority of my images are set up. Weird, because I was actually thinking about this the other day. I’ve been working hard to just take it, without the subject knowing. It will give the photograph so much more emotion and meaning. I’ve decided just now this is going to be a project for me over summer. Film or Digital? FILM, FILM, FILM. I can’t stand digital. This is all based on MY opinion and my bad experiences with digital: Digital is too perfect, too clear, and its only getting more perfect and more clear as technology gets better. I rarely use my rebel, it actually collects dust in my room. I was so sick of photoshop, enhancing colors, adjusting just about everything, completely changing what you had taken. And it all came down to completely sucking out the meaning of the photo. But I know many photographers who are just amazing with their digitals, so talented and they know what they are doing. Unlike me. Film just captures everything so beautifully, and its so satisfying to get them back, there isn’t much more to say, I think fellow film photographers know what im talking about. If you could shoot anyone or anything who or what would it be? If i could shoot anyone it would have to be either Devendra Banhart, or my late great aunt joanne dru, look her up on google, shes breathtaking . If i could shoot anything it would have to be, well actually there is so much id like to shoot, this would turn into a novel. ................................................................................................... <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/DHym3KrPdnpco72d9ObBKiMzo1_r1_500.jpg" width="500" height="333" width_o="500" height_o="333" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/788188/DHym3KrPdnpco72d9ObBKiMzo1_r1_500_o.jpg" data-mid="11566968" border="0" align="left"/> P&F INTERVIEW -tomas A lot of your work seems to document your life, is this right? Yeah, near enough everything I take photo’s of is just what is going on around me, things that I see and that naturally happen. I prefer not to have planned photos, its nice to spontaneously shoot things you see. I’ve tried posed photos but to me they always lack the atmosphere that a candid snapshot can capture. Does your photography reflect you personality? I guess in some respects it does, yeah but at the same time I think its difficult to sum up my personality like that! I think its fairly obvious that I’m just a white, teenage, middle class boy through my photos and what I shoot but then some things aren’t as obvious in my pictures as they are in my personality. Who are your influences photographically or otherwise? I went to a Nan Goldin exhbibition at MOMA in New York at christmas which was basically just an hour long slideshow of her lifetime of work which I thought was amazing, I can’t understand how one person could take so many great photos in their lifetime. Certain movies also make me want to go out and shoot more, I really love Gummo by Harmony Korine, I think he’s incredible! For you is photography a gift or a curse? Neither really, I would never want to say it was gift and it certantly isn’t a curse, its just something i love doing! Are you currently working in the photographic industry? Sadly not, I’m 17 so I’m still in education. Hopefully one day someone will give me money to take photos, that would probably be the best thing that could happen, finding a way to turn my photography into a career. Are you working on any commissions or personal projects? none just yet, but i’m looking forward to a long summer with lots of new photos and ideas! I’m doing a few things for some friends small time zine’s which are getting printed in the next few months which is good but nothing commissioned right now. If you were given one assignment to shoot what, where or who would it be? As much as i like shooting my friends I think it would be fun to work with some new faces. The idea of editorial photography is something i’m interested in just because its essentially your own style but with a new content, I like that certain magazines have started to focus a lot more on their photos and showcase new photographers, its really refreshing to see. Do you think it is important to be academically trained? Definitely not, no. I think academic training in photography defeats the whole idea of it as an art. If every photographer had to be force-fed formal values of photography and what a “good” photograph should contain, there would be no room for creativity. Formalism just distracts me from taking photos of things i want to, who gives a shit about symmetry. How do you know when you have taken a great shot? When it captures everything I had intended it too, when it sums up exactly what was going on. Even if no mood is present and it is a meaningless object, I want it to appear exactly as I did when i looked at it before taking a photo. What cameras do you use? I usually use 35mm point and shoot or rangefinder cameras just for convenience. Mainly a Contax T2, Olympus MJU-II & Olympus XA2. I find that if i’m shooting with an SLR by the time I have focused and set the exposure, I have missed the shot and ruined the atmosphere. Obviously, there are certain things I would prefer to shoot with an SLR as opposed to a point and shoot but right now i’m happy shooting with a more compact camera. Film or Digital? Film, always. I think its funny that with all of the technology and thousands of pounds you can spend on a DSLR and lenses, there is no way to replicate a 35mm photo that was shot on a £3 camera from oxfam. Also, I got told by this guy that my preference of film over digital was “just a phase” which really pissed me off. What question do you wish we asked and haven’t? Please feel free to answer your question. Who should readers check out? Joshua Whitelaw (http://www.flickr.com/photos/joshwhitelaw/) Steven Beckley (http://www.flickr.com/photos/browncardigan/) Lewis Chaplin (www.lewischaplin.com) Marcin Grüner (http://www.flickr.com/photos/texture/) Katherine Squire (http://www.flickr.com/photos/16896642@N02/) NOT COOL (www.myspace.com/notcoolisaband) Thanks Tom, love the answers, keep us informed about the zine’s, great links too. ................................................................................................. <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3236/3010671008_f4f99240cc.jpg" width="500" height="496" alt=""> P&F INTERVIEW 1 red biplane Why and when did you become interested in photography? My story is about love. I was a normal teenager, being sad, listening to Radiohead and getting drunk occasionally until I met a friend who greatly changed my personality. At that time he was already very much into photography, so in order to catch up I started doing it myself. Being madly in love with him I probably did a good job only because my heart was full of love. My eyes where open to the beauty of the world. It was a special moment in my life – I could really see magic – the only thing was to learn how to capture it. From then on that’s what I have done – I am trying to capture these special moments which we then remember forever and every time feel heartbeats or tears coming into our eyes. Where do you get your inspiration? It’s usually two things – my beautiful friends and trips which we occasionally make to different parts of our country and the world as a whole. Is photography your profession? No. I occasionally work as a translator but my mission in this world is still a mystery for me. Your images have a filmic quality. Are you inspired by cinema? Definitely! I love watching movies, but it’s often the job of director of photography that matters for me. I adore “The Dolls” of Kitano and all Kim Ki-Duk’s works. But my favorite movie ever is “Buffalo 66” by Vincent Gallo. The message is clear and visual meanings are awesome. I always cry when I watch it. What equipment do you use? I first used a Soviet camera called Zenith but then I was given an 80s Revue camera with 50/1.4 lens which became my soulmate for 2 years. It broke down the first day of my US trip last year but I still haven’t fixed it. In San Francisco I bought a Pentax K1000 and now use it all the time. I also have tons of Soviet cameras but they are mostly unreliable so they just stay on my bookshelves as in a museum. Then there’s a Holga and a Polaroid – but I never have money to buy film for them. And the last one is Olympus Mju II. I don’t know why but all of my friends use this same camera. When I needed a simple one I decided to follow their advice. It serves me well when I am for instance riding a bike or a snowboard and when I need to capture the environment without bothering too much about aperture and all that stuff. On observation you seem to shoot mainly on film. Do you ever photograph with a digital camera? Frankly speaking, I am not good at it. I never had one but those which I used never impressed me much. I guess I belong to that type of people who prefer vynil to CDs, postcards to e-mails and simplicity to complexity. Then digital cameras don’t do magic. It’s all about magic, that’s what I am saying here. What is your opinion on the evolving medium of digital photography? I think it’s good that people are expressing themselves. It’s cheaper to use digital and then the computer gives you a wide range of ways to proceed with your images and make them look more like you want them to look. It’s not my story - I only resize my pictures at computer - but you know tastes differ. Do you have a preference in producing colour or black and white pictures? It’s definately going to be colour pictures. I don’t have many black and white pictures due to many reasons - it is expensive to produce them at a lab and I am too lazy to make a lab at home. Then I like to use sunlight in my pictures which makes the colors look dreamy. When I deal with first two reasons I will probably work more with bw film. Do you believe it’s important to be technically proficient? I’d say it’s as important as to be gifted with a special vision. When you have both – you rule! What’s your relationship with your subjects? I only once took a picture of a person who I didn’t know – he was a seaman, I met him by the lake. I didn’t like the picture. All of my subjects are my friends, most of them - my dear friends which is people I know, love and understand. What are you hoping to say in your images? I am hoping to say that what we need is not a new t-shirt but peace of mind. Are you working on any projects at the moment? I have just received a letter from City College of San Francisco which says my application is accepted. I am moving out from Moscow to San Francisco in July and I hope that it is going to be my new great start. Thanks to red biplane for being pistol & fur’s first interviewee. p&f talks with Simon Kossoff Where are you from and where are you going? I was born in Middlesbrough in the industrial north of England, but grew up on the... http://cargocollective.com/pistolfur/archive-2 http://cargocollective.com/pistolfur/following/pistolfur/archive-2 Tue, 16 Nov 2010 09:46:21 +0000 pistol & fur 785355 <img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7221/6901869744_7fa397c2df_b.jpg" width="1024" height="687" alt="Britta and James"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7179/6920359445_b6a6af4864_z.jpg" width="640" height="432" alt="Untitled"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7223/6878166674_21f46c1a97_m.jpg" width="159" height="240" alt="synchrodogs.com"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7207/6875175055_10a5d15bd0_n.jpg" width="212" height="320" alt="93140031"> <img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7030/6831895457_be49e57e63.jpg" width="327" height="500" alt="Untitled"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7029/6620483677_c0bd75035a.jpg" width="492" height="500" alt="Untitled"> <img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6034/6328634727_eb9080e369_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt=""><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6219/6328859401_8a0be8856c_b.jpg" width="687" height="1024" alt=""><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6114/6265275436_51d53bd2e9_b.jpg" width="647" height="1000" alt=""><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6154/6234671452_c4d25a8b76_m.jpg" width="170" height="240" alt=""><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6211/6237716013_2d2681493e_z.jpg" width="421" height="640" alt=""> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/785355/Untitled-1_905.jpg" width="905" height="1280" width_o="2048" height_o="2896" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/66246/785355/Untitled-1_o.jpg" data-mid="10950987" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4040/4683267422_bd1b1f6ba5_z.jpg" width="431" height="640" alt="."> <img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6176/6179144393_e0db04f131_b.jpg" width="683" height="1024" alt=""> <img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6203/6148743161_ca5bf9d648_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt=""><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6172/6182733870_4db794ca8f_z.jpg" width="640" height="426" alt="DSC00332"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6161/6165046173_36c494c071_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" alt="those mornings"> <img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6065/6145051354_cee38710ec_b.jpg" width="679" height="1024" alt=""> <img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6129/5953721849_b303de9a8a_z.jpg" width="427" height="640" alt=""> <img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6080/6107416344_b8e6bbe354_m.jpg" width="160" height="240" alt=","><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6064/6105910521_16e045ed01_m.jpg" width="240" height="162" alt=""> <img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6182/6104789663_a5325abb4f_b.jpg" width="1024" height="679" alt=""> <img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6063/6054597149_832a2353d5.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt=""> <img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6132/5996274684_29a6735518.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="">