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James Rajotte is a photographer living in Rochester, New York. After growing up in rural Pennsylvania, James studied Earth Sciences at Penn State University. He then worked as a photojournalist for several publications during and after his undergraduate education. Rajotte completed an MFA at the Visual Studies Workshop and is currently an Adjunct Professor of Photography at Rochester Institute of Technology and contributes regularly to publications such as the New York Times.

Interview

What made you start photographing East High School in Rochester, NY and how did you gain access?
‘My interest in photographing East came about as I was volunteering in a mentoring program in which students made short video productions with an anti-violent message. When I decided to photograph, I wrote a formal letter to the Superintendent and the Principal. After a bit of humming and hawing they made me East High School’s “official” photographer. They gave me a make-shift laminated pass and I became friendly with the security guards’.

What camera are you using?
‘Mamiya C220 is the camera that I used for this project. I borrowed it from an acquaintance’.

The photos in this series are devoid of people for the most part. Were you allowed to shoot the kids or was this a conscious decision?
‘At first, I was photographing students candidly and making portraits in 4×5. These were nice, but it was difficult to photograph students without commenting directly on socioeconomic status of East High School’s student body, and this is not what I wanted to do. I was however, interested in the dilapidated state of the school and the eerie familiarity that I felt. When I started looking at my pictures as symbols of a high school experience and not as documents about a particular school, something changed for me. I realized that people of a certain age and culture see themselves in these pictures, and that certain familiar objects and places contain – or at least call to mind – emotions that have not been felt in some time. The locker room for instance, is a place where traumatic things often occur. Just as important as the places, the objects that make up education – plastic chairs, fluorescent lights, miniature bags of Doritos, clocks and overhead projectors – all carry emotional weight’.

What is the most important thing you teach your students about photography?
‘I try to have my students to consider photography as asking questions about the world. I also teach them to find a healthy balance between craft and concept’.

With a degree in Geographic Information Science, why did you make the leap to photography and do you find your degree has had an impact on your work?
‘G.I.S. deals with communication, spatial relationships, semiotics and cognition; all things that have relevance in photography. The concepts that I studied as an undergraduate are starting to intersect more with my photographs. My most recent work is about a small town called Frenchville, PA, in which, the town’s geography has played a vital role in its existence, identity and inevitable demise’.

Susana Raab is a documentary and editorial photographer who creates warm, and often quirky images of people and places, familiar and strange. She approaches subjects with a generous spirit and sense of humor. Relying on a combination of color, composition, and movement, she balances poignancy and whimsy to create modern yet timeless images for her clients. Her work has received recognition from numerous sources including the Lucie Awards, American Photography 24, Photo District News, The Camera Club of New York, PhotoEspana, the White House News Photographers’ Association, The Ernst Haas/Golden Light Awards, and the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities. Her photographs have been exhibited nationally and internationally.

Interview

Because you so clearly capture people in the moment, is your method to shoot a lot of photos of a subject or to shoot a few and move on?
‘How I shoot really depends on the situation. My training as a photojournalist really taught me to “work the situation.” But often times because I am constantly scanning a crowd, there may not be much of a situation to work, the moment really is just that. So it depends on what I can do, if it is something that is unfolding and I have the opportunity to work it I will. But often it is something I see and compose, and then the flash goes off and that is it, the moment is gone. It makes editing easier, no obsessing over which frame, but I am often thinking to myself,”Whew, that was a close one.” Since I am shooting with a medium format rangefinder, I sometimes am not completely certain that the moment if kinetic, was in my focal plane’.

How do you find being a photographer in DC? Apart from you personal work, what type of projects are you commissioned to photograph?
‘Well, I’m here in DC because my partner has a great job here in DC – not because I think it is the best editorial market for my work. But I love the town, it’s like living in a giant park with great museums and restaurants, and smart people. Of course you also have the other extreme, urban poverty and all that goes with it. I do a lot of travel work that gets me out of DC, I do a lot of portraits here in DC, and occasionally I get great feature stories in the mid-Atlantic that are totally up my alley. It’s a real mix, and I’m constantly working on getting more work that plays to my strengths’.

What are you looking for in a subject when deciding to photograph them?
‘Well my interests are myriad – so my subjects are too. For two of my personal projects, Consumed & Off-Season, I don’t consider the people in them my subjects so much as players in this great American tableaux I am trying to capture. Other subjects become more obvious: to photograph workers in the tomato industry that puts catsup and tomatoes in fast food restaurants I look for migrant workers in Immokalee, Florida, to photograph the homes of Southern writers who inspired me I photograph the physical absence of these writers, but their intangible presence in their homes. And if you are asking me how do I find the subjects of the personal projects I shoot, there is an endless loop going through my head, I am inspired by reading mostly, and just the random eureka moments you have every day. I try and carry a notebook around all the time. I am not always successful. The problem is not generating ideas, the problem is limiting them!’

What kind of camera do you use?
‘I use a Mamiya 7, a Holga, and a Crown Graphic 4×5 for my personal work and Nikon Digitals for most of my editorial work’.

Emily Shur was born in New York City. She discovered photography at age 14 and has been taking pictures ever since. Emily attended the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University with a major in Photography. She graduated in 1998 with academic honors along with the Artist Award for Creative Excellence. Emily’s editorial clientele includes The New York Times Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Vanity Fair, Esquire, GQ, Interview, Wired, and Elle Magazine to name a few. Her advertising work includes campaigns for America Online, Yahoo!, MTV Networks, Gary Fisher Bicycles, and 24 Hour Fitness. Emily has lectured about her work several times at New York University, School of Visual Arts in New York City, The Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, and Loyola Marymount University. In 2005, she was selected as a winner in The Art Director’s Club Young Guns global competition. She currently has an image in the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Interview

Money aside, what do you find is the main difference between shooting for editorial as opposed to advertising clients?
‘Editorial allows for more spontaneity and creativity, while advertising is more structured and planned out. Advertising shoots are larger productions, so you really have to get into the shoot and work on it for a while before any pictures are even taken. Also, there is more at stake, so there is more attention paid to every last detail. Editorial allows for more experimentation, but you can’t really make mistakes on any job – advertising or editorial’.

The photos of Jeremy Piven make me laugh. Was the direction a collaboration or strictly your idea?
‘The Jeremy Piven shoot was a collaboration between Jeremy, myself, and the magazine I shot him for (British Esquire). The magazine suggested photographing him with some models and wanted the whole thing to be very debonair. I decided on the location and the different set ups, and then within those set ups, Jeremy and I collaborated on how he should “be”. His ability to project emotion through extremely subtle facial expressions really elevated the shoot to a higher level. He’s a great actor, and I had so much fun that day’.

Where and when do you find you are most creative?
‘In terms of my portrait work, I am most creative when working with someone inspiring. As I mentioned above regarding Jeremy Piven, I find shoots of that nature – where the subject really wants to do something interesting and different – to be the most creative. It’s hard to make something amazing when you feel as if you are pulling teeth to get your subject excited about being photographed. In terms of my personal work, I am most inspired by location. I associate a lot of emotion with different places I have been and usually return to the places where I felt most inspired. I feel most creative exploring a place with my camera. Sometimes the pictures come easily and sometimes they do not. Either way, that is definitely when I feel most free, photographically speaking’.

Your photos have that bright and radiant Los Angeles feel to them. How much are you influenced/inspired by your environment and if you lived in Detroit, let’s say, do you think your style would change?
‘I started my career in New York, and I lived there for almost 12 years. I worked there for 8 years before I moved to Los Angeles a little over 3 years ago. I think environment and location plays a huge part in the look and feel of a picture, and I do think that Los Angeles photos have a certain feel to them, just like New York pictures have their own feeling. I have definitely been inspired by all that Los Angeles has to offer, location-wise. The light is beautiful here, and the wealth of location options are so vast. I also think that over time, one’s style just evolves no matter where they live. I used to heavily light everything. Now, if I am on location, I see what the natural light is doing and I use it to the best of my ability’.

What is your strongest motivation?
‘My strongest motivation is to make work that I am proud of. The motivating and frightening part of shooting editorial is that my name is next every photograph I take, so I try my best to take pictures that I am excited to be associated with. It’s not always possible to do so. It doesn’t always work out, but that is the ultimate goal’.

Brooklyn-based JJ Sulin specialises in portraits, lifestyle, and conceptual photography and has a long list of clients, including Miller, Hard Rock Hotel, BMW Magazine, Nestle, the US Army, and the Joffrey Ballet.

Interview

Your photographs have an undeniable humor. How would you describe your style of photography?
‘Humor is definitely one of the ideas I try to stay aware of when taking a photograph. I like to think of the work as being part of a real experience. The moments in between the big moments is what I am interested in. The big ball, the award ceremony, prom or New Years Eve end up being the smallest of moments. Most of our time is spent living, making dinner, cleaning up dinner, practicing whatever it is we do. And hopefully enjoying all of this’.

What cameras do you use?
‘If I am being paid to make imagery, I almost always use digital, usually the H2 with a Phase back. When I am working in advertising, it is always a collaboration, so to work digitally with a large monitor eases the collaborative process. Everyone who needs a say can see what we are doing and we can all fight about what we think is important and the client gets a well thought-out image, including a couple of images where I go off on my own and follow my own instincts. When I am working on my own projects, I still use a lot of film and Hasselblad. I find when I shoot film, I have to edit internally far more before I even shoot a frame than when shooting digital. My images tend to be more personal when I can meditate on the image before taking it – if even only for 30 seconds’.

Who are your subjects and what are you looking for in a model?
‘It can be hard to find models. There should be some sort of attraction – either the person looks like no one I have ever seen before, or maybe they look like a specific person and that intrigues me. Sometimes I see a movie or read a book and there is a character I can’t get out of my mind and I want to go explore that type of person. But usually it is someone who is an individual – it may be dress, it may be a presence, it is hard to say’.

How much planning do you do before a shoot and how much do you leave to chance?
‘It depends. I am working on a series now that has to do with the Midwest. A lot of that work is hard to plan out. I approach those days more concerned about what I want to convey and then try to make that happen as I wander streets, parks or interesting places that I come upon. When I find someone I want to shoot as a portrait, I will try and secure a location first, make drawings before the shoot, and then at the shoot, I can concentrate on my subject’.

What are three of your favorite locations to shoot at?
‘Finding a location for me is much like finding a subject. In my life I try to shop at small businesses, the local butcher, getting a beer at some old-time place. I am looking for a connection, I don’t like contrived or trendy places. The other day I was making some spaghetti sauce and needed some beef. I went for a walk in a direction I haven’t really explored since moving into my new Brooklyn neighborhood. There is a Polish butcher with several young chubby guys wearing white paper hats behind the counter. The counter is loaded with chops of smoked meat. Hanging behind them are all kinds and shapes of sausage hanging over their heads. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I need to photograph this. Pretty sexy, huh?’

Julia Baum currently maintains a blog for her photo series, A Rare Breed, where she posts new images and provides a place for redheads worldwide to connect. A Rare Breed was recently displayed as a solo exhibition at the NY Studio Gallery in September, 2008 and is now showcased online in Wassenaar Magazine. Born in Rochester, New York and currently living in Brooklyn, New York, Julia Baum received a BFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts in 2005. Her work has been shown in New York, Rochester, Chicago, and Shanxi, in China.

Interview

How did you find your subjects for this project?
‘When I started this project, I didn’t know anyone other than myself with red hair, so I got my first models from ads I posted on Craigslist and another useful site called Modelmayhem. Now I get referrals to friends of friends and things like that, as well. Redheads have also started contacting me to be included in the series. It seems like redheads who come across the work are happy to feel a sense of community’.

Is there something unexpected that you found all of your subjects have in common?
‘Before I started meeting so many redheads, I had a theory that our red hair plays a big role in who we are, and that it’s more than just part of our appearance. Now that I’ve had the chance to talk with so many redheads, I think my theory has been agreed upon unanimously. It’s fun to share experiences and find we have so much in common just because of our hair color’.

What made you decide to change direction and switch from shooting landscapes to shooting portraits?
‘I think my suburban landscape pictures and redhead portraits actually have a lot in common. With the landscapes, I was focused on the facade of people’s homes and what it said about who lived inside. I looked at the exteriors of each home as a description of the owners and how they chose to visually express themselves in their community. The redhead pictures are about how one’s outside appearance affects the inside. I never thought of myself as only a landscape photographer – landscape just happened to be the best way for me to pictorially express the ideas I had at the time. Now images of redheads are doing that best for me. I’ve been more interested in the duality of interior/exterior as a theme rather than any particular subject matter’.

How do you go about putting people at ease when photographing them?
‘The most important element of keeping my subjects at ease is being at ease myself. That part isn’t hard because I’m always excited to meet each redhead and we usually have a lot to talk about. I give basic guidelines on how to stand in front of the camera and tell them when something they’re doing looks really good. Positive feedback usually goes a long way. Also, all of my subjects are volunteers – usually because they’re excited about the project, so they’re happy to be a part of it’.

Melissa Ann Pinney was awarded a 1999 Guggenheim Fellowship for her photos of American women and girls, which was turned into the book, Regarding Emma: Photographs of American Women and Girls, published in 2003 by the Center for American Places in partnership with Columbia College Chicago. Her work has been included in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Interview

What percentage of your work is premeditated and how much is shot in the moment?
‘At most, 10 percent of my work is premeditated’.

What is your process when planning a shoot?
‘Planning a shoot for me means looking for an interesting event such as a party, or a place, like the pool or beach. I bring tons of film and a flash if necessary’.

Do you find it easier to work with kids compared to adults?
‘Of course it’s easier to work with children because they are free of our adult self-consciousness and vanity. As I don’t ask them to pose for me or interrupt their play, I am generally ignored — the best position to be in! Right now, I am less interested in young children and more intrigued with teens, who are self-conscious about everything. This is a challenge. It’s much harder to be the unobserved observer, the fly on the wall’.

What camera are you using?
‘I use a Mamiya 7II’.

Corey Arnold is a photographer and Alaskan crab fisherman. During October, January and February he can (or cannot) be found aboard the F/V Rollo in the Bering Sea. The rest of the year is packed with travel, gallery exhibitions, magazine and ad photography assignments with a bit of backyard gardening, cat maintenance, and skateboarding in Portland, Oregon. Corey is currently working on his life long photography project, Fish-work, which is a portrait of the modern commercial fisherman. He has spent six years photographing his life as a crab fisherman in the Bering Sea. In 2005, he received an American-Scandinavian Foundation grant to photograph the men at sea in Northern Norway. Upcoming projects include working with the Salmon fishermen of Bristol Bay, Alaska and the Trawl industry of Northern Russia.

Interview

As a professional fisherman you must have a unique perspective on human/animal relationships. How does this influence your photographs?
‘When I was a kid I used to stalk birds and other animals with my bb gun in the backyard. My hunter instinct was strong and I’d spend hours searching for victims. Then, after killing something, I was torn by my adrenaline fueled sense of accomplishment and deep sadness for what I had done. The same applied to sportfishing as a child. The goal was, of course, to seek out and kill the largest, most beautiful fish! At home, I’ve fathered many pets… cats, snakes, dogs, rabbits. For some instinctual reason, I’m endlessly curious about animals. I like to be in close quarters with them, whether it be gutting a fish for dinner letting my cat sleep on my head. The human animal series came along naturally… it’s a series of curious animal situations that I’ve encountered throughout my recent life. This is an ongoing series, an exploration of how we relate to animals and it covers a broad perspective of events both real and designed. My time at sea as a commercial fisherman has given me a more animal perspective on animals then a human one in some ways. The goal is to make pictures that are curious, sometimes brutal and often ridiculous… which is how I experience our shared world with animals’.

How did the shot of the raccoon and the cookie come about?
‘My girlfriend and I were staying at a little bed and breakfast in Astoria, Oregon. We were in the kitchen when a raccoon appeared at the window and the lady running the place opens the window while talking in a baby voice to the raccoon… ” ohhhh, why helllooooo little friend! Are you hungry for a treat!” Apparently there is a whole den of raccoons living in the backyard and she spends the days feeding them cookies… cookies for years! It’s amazing that raccoons can survive off cookies. This pic was taken outside later that day during another cookie feeding’.

What camera are you using?
‘I’ve mixed it up a bit over the last 5 years but most of my pictures were taken with a Mamiya 645 or Mamiya 7. Although recently I’ve been able to mix some digital pictures in and was surprised at how seemlessly they could be incorporated into the same exhibition. With digital, I’m using the Canon 1ds Mark III with fixed lenses. Mostly film though. Film, whenever possible!’

Irina Rozovsky was born in Moscow and moved to the US in 1988. She received her BA in Spanish and French from Tufts University and her MFA in photography from Mass Art in 2007. She lives and works in Boston.

Interview

Where do you find you are most inspired to photograph?
‘I think most about shooting when I am driving home from work but don’t actually have my camera. When the scene from the window is shifting quickly, I enter auto pilot and pictures begin to percolate in my mind so violently that it’s a wonder I am able to get anywhere without crashing the car. I suppose for me the state of mind is more important than the place in regards to making photos. I like to think that a picture can be made anywhere, of anything…that it’s up to me to want to see it, to catch it. But being in new places certainly helps shake things up too’.

Are your photographs of young lovers in Russia moments that you happen upon or are they conceptual?
‘The Young Lovers came out of observation and confusion. When I got to Russia I was amazed at how people on the street held themselves: their postures, the way they walked, used their hands, and gestured. I found older people to be very stiff and upright, despite being worn and tired. It was like the remnants of the old regime was still in their bones. In contrast, the young people compensated with a demonstrative public slack, upping the pressure to appear relaxed and modern. Their parents would never lie down on a public lawn, so they feel like rebels for doing it. I never assumed that Moscow would be the City of Love but I have never seen so many couples in any one place. It was like Noah’s Arc, with everyone paired up and the city’s parks and benches standing in for bedrooms. But for some reason even these make out sessions seemed somewhat stiff, or posed, like they are imitating what they just saw in a movie’.

What camera are you using?
‘Lately I’m using a Hasselblad. I picked up the square wondering if it could give a sense of roundness. It’s strange to me that the lens is circular but all the formats are so angular. I guess square is closer to round than any of the others’.

Are there any contemporary Russian photographers that you are really loving now?
‘I think Russia is a photographic hot zone, particularly mined by photographers from abroad. Photo safari. So many outsiders have photographed in Russia that there is often an overlap here or there. Hands down, the most beautiful and complicated photo voyage through Russia that I’ve seen is sadly not by a Russian photographer (Luc Delahaye, Winterreise)’.

You left Moscow when you were young. What are you hoping to find when you return to shoot?
‘This summer (2008) was the first time I ever returned to Moscow, exactly twenty years after we left. The two solid images in my mind before the trip were the wallpaper in my grandmother’s bedroom and a Luc Delahaye photo of people bustling in bluish snow. Somehow I never made it back to our apartment, and in the middle of July it’s impossible to imagine the city covered in snow. Instead, the whole two week visit was spent in a state of heightened shock and distress. The images I took were completely unpremeditated, and off the cuff, a direct response to being there and then. The only thing I was hoping to find was familiarity–I was very worried that I wouldn’t recognize a thing. I guess in the end, the familiar was there, bundled together with the strange, the darkly funny, and the sad. I could not make these photos again, as the novelty will not be there. But I hope something else will take its place’.

Karolina Karlic is a Los Angeles based photographer. Born in Wroclaw Poland, her family immigrated to Detroit in search of the American dream in 1986. Karlic’s work explores American culture from the complicated perspective of an immigrant growing up in urban Detroit. Her father fled communist Poland to find work in the American auto industry. Karlic watched her father’s hopes for his family crumble alongside the stock of Ford, General Motors, and Daimler Chrysler’s North American operations. As a non-native participant in American society, her work explores the culture of people’s desires and regrets. Karlic holds a BFA in Photography from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She has been published in the Water Stone Review, was a participant in Center 2007 (formerly known as Review Santa Fe) and most recently received the MN State Arts Board Initiative Grant, 2008. Her series, The Dee, Close to Home, and Dear Diary have been exhibited nationally at galleries including Franklin Art Works, Jen Bekman Gallery NYC, Intermedia Arts, Flanders Gallery, Wall Space-Seattle, and Juxtaposition Arts.

Interview

Do you get back to the Ukraine often or was this project completed in one lump of time?
“Close to Home” is a project that I shot during a month long visit to the Ukraine. I had been invited to assist Katherine Turczan ( represented by Yossi Millo) on her trip to her parents homeland. She has been photographing the Ukraine for probably over 14 years. Under the circumstances, I made images that reminded me of being home in Poland’.

What camera are you using?
‘I use a large format camera. All my work is done with a 4×5, scanned and then digitally output’.

When going back to the Ukraine to shoot this series, were you looking for something specific?
‘During this time in the Ukraine, I kept thinking that my family and relatives, who were only four hours away but because I was assisting, I couldn’t make the trip to see them. It was one of those, “so close yet so far away” situations. That’s how the title “Close to Home” came about. I did focus mostly on light. I think it became a metaphor as I worked around someone else’s shooting time. The colors of Eastern Europe became very relevant in context to the countries existence following the Orange Revolution’.

Can you tell us about the photo of the little girl with the doll?
‘During our time spent traveling in Ukraine and photographing we stayed in numerous locations and cities. A visit to Chernobyl, Sevastopol, Kiev, Yalta, ect, influenced my views on how much the country was really able to change. There is a complete split of High to Low class. This photo of the young girl with her doll was taken in Yalta. Yalta, and the Crimea have been fought over many times because of its tremendous beauty. The first part of that day I spent most of my time attracting men that I presume, were vacationing Russian mafia men. As we went out to shoot later in the day, I heard a scream and a cry. I turned around, walked up a village street and there this young girl was being beaten up by her brothers and other school boys who had teased her by stealing her doll. It just shows that a quick turn from the wealthy, lies poverty around the corner’.

Any new projects on the horizon that you can speak of?
‘Yes. I’m currently working and living in Los Angeles. I’ve always been involved with the auto industry as my father is an engineer in Detroit. What better place to attack that subject than Los Angeles’.