interview with photographer Tuane Eggers

About you:

Tuane Eggers, 23 year-old photographer currently living in a little city in south of Brazil.

What is it that attracts you the most of what you have around you? What most attract me is the beauty of nature, and the beauty and curious things about people around me. I like the little magics that are in our lifes. All these things that can be beautiful to our eyes and hearts.

Tell us about your experience as photographer what did it give you? How you learned?

Do you have other job or interest besides photography?

I started to photograph with some self portraits, since I bought my first camera, about six years ago. What I like in photography is the act of collect the world – the world that we live in or the world that we imagine. And the magic of photography is that each picture contains a trail of reality. I'm currently studing and working with journalism.

Three adjectives to describe yourself.

Observer, shy and sensitive. 

A film, a book and a song.

“Me and you and everyone we know”, by Miranda July; “Changing”, by Liv Ullmann; and “These Days”, by Nico.

What camera do you use? Dou you use one lense?

I'm currently using an analogic Canon camera, and a digital Canon T2i. Sometimes I photograph with a analogic Zenit camera too. My favourite lense is a Nikon 50mm 1.4

Tell about exhibition if you ‘ve had any.

My photographs have been exposed at an university (where I study and work), at an event of other university (USP, in São Paulo) and at Uplink Gallery, in Tokyo, Japan. Currently I don't have any exhibition.

Do you sell prits? How do you make it and where can someone buy?

I don't have a website for sell prints, but if someone wish buy one, can tell me by e-mail: contato@tuaneeggers.com.

What was your most big success?

I think that was when I participated of a movie, called “Os Famosos e os Duendes da Morte”, by the brazilian director Esmir Filho. I feel happy for my pictures have appeared and have inspired the character of this movie.

Favourite photographer.

I think I don't have just one favourite photographer. There are so many fantastic photographers. Some I can cite as inspirations: Diane Arbus, Vivian Meier, Sally Mann, Nan Goldin and so many others. Of contemporary brazilians, I can cite Carine Wallauer and Gui Mohallem. 

Describe some of your projects

I wish always improve my photograph methods, mainly in analogic photography. I'm discovering this magic analogic world. And I wish always improve my sensibility for capture beautiful moments of life around me.

Your main concept.

Collect the beautiful and curious and strange things of the world.

Your plans.

I don't know if it is good or bad, but I don't have plans.

Interview with photographer Orlando Rojas

About you

self-taught photographer based in Valparaiso, Chile, looking for a interpretation of the world based on observation, the mystery and privacy of the people and the place where we meet and live together giving a very delicate and beautiful look of our lives

What is it that attracts you the most of what you have around you?

What people hide,

Tell us about your experience as  photographer what did it give you

My experience … Don’t know what gave my the photography but I think (with music) It’s the only way that I can show to my self what I think, feel and expect from life.

Three adjectives to describe yourself.

Incisive, silent, sharp eyed

A film, a book and a song. 

Twelves Dark  Noons (Jacqueline Castel), Al Pacino (Lawrence Grobel), Try to find It (Pyschic Ills)

What camera do you use? Dou you use one lense?

I got a lot of cameras, but most of the time I use a Rolleiflex SL35, Yashica Electro 35, Yashica MAT (120) and a compact one Canon MC

Tell about exhibition if you ‘ve had any.

Don’t have some much, maybe 4 or 5, but what can I say, different experiences, different people, different places …

Do you sell prits? How do you make it and where can someone buy?

Just contact me,

What was your most big success?

Don’t know … being born …

Favourite photographer.

Don’t know so much photographers … but I really like Stefan Bladh

Describe some of your projects

My projects … now days I have two projects, trying to keep me alive and take photos

Your main concept.

As my life, just loneliness

What is your occupation, job, interest besides photography

I work with RGR, a photographer from Agence VU, I really interested in music and I’m working on the first EP from the band “La Chinoska” (http://lachinoska.bandcamp.com)

Your plans.

Try to run away from this fucking place (physical and mental).

Interview with photographer Ava Alamshah

 About you:

 I was born in Glendale, CA, living in or near Los Angeles all my life (so far).  After high school, I ended up at California Institute of the Arts, where I studied and fell in love with photography.  Fun fact: I was named after Ava Gardner. 

               What is it that attracts you the most of what you have around you?  

 I've always been a highly sensitive and visual person. I'm attracted to many things around me at all times.  Sometimes the simplest things, such as the way the morning light comes through my window, or recently, the bright colors of ranunculus and how they remind me that spring time is here.  I love nature and that golden light before the sun sets.  When that happens, I like to imagine that I live in a Terrence Malick film, or a William Eggleston photograph.  

               Tell us about your experience as  photographer what did it give you? How you learned?   I feel that I'm still learning as a photographer, and I still have a lot to learn.  I'm always trying to improve my skills because I've never been very technical, as far as fancy lighting.  I have an old 6x6 yashica mat, that I bought used for 20 dollars at CalArts.  The built in meter was broken (still is), so I would take that camera with me and wing it.  Later, I would develop the film and sometimes I would luck out, other times, I would have images that were too light/dark, but that was part of the fun.  Trial and error, and tons of what I call "happy accidents".   Photography gives me moments, as cheesy as that sounds, but it is true.  I've been a collector all my life, and a curious observer.  When I'm out in the world, I want to remember my experiences and take them home.  I'm just nostalgic that way.  

                Do you have other job or interest besides photography?
I have a little modest job that helps me get by, but it is not my passion like photography.  Outside of photography, I like to collect records, drink warm tea, people watch, sing the wrong lyrics to songs in my car during traffic, sometimes make zines, sometimes illustrate, sometimes imagine myself practicing bass guitar (eventually forming an imaginary band with hopes that one day it will turn into a real band, with real practice, of course), I occasionally cook a really good meal, and I look forward to visits with my dear friends so we can sit and talk about art/life.

                 Three adjectives to describe yourself.
nostalgic, anxious, inspired

                A film, a book and a song. 
I film that I am obsessed with, and keep going back to is The Red Shoes (1948/absolutely beautiful).  A book that I borrowed from a friend, Please Kill Me: The Oral History of Punk Rock (could not put it down).  Song.....I caught myself humming and singing to Joni Mitchell's The Circle Game the other day.  "We can't return, we can only look behind from where we came..." ahhh, life. 

  

             What camera do you use? Do you use one lense?
Right now I've been using my Canon Rebel T3i.  It's my first digital slr, so I've been having a lot of fun with that. I only have one lens I'm using and it's an 18-55 mm. Pretty standard.  I have an analogue Canon slr that was given to me by a sweet woman I use to work with.  It came with a very large macro lens that I ended up using once.  It's beautiful, but a bit overwhelming.  I go back to my yashica mat 6x6, which needs some repair now.  I've used that one for almost 10 years and it hasn't failed me yet.  I love medium format, square images for their nostalgic, dreamy quality.  I also have a few polaroid cameras and glad that companies like Impossible Project are still making film, otherwise I would be very lost.  I'm excited about another slr camera, recently gifted to me by some dear friends of mine. This one belonged to my friend's grandfather, and it's called voigtlander. Not sure what year it is from (1970s, maybe), but after some needed cleaning, I can't wait to explore with it.  Sorry, nerd alert!

             Tell about exhibition if you ‘ve had any.  I've shown work in both Los Angeles and San Francisco.  The most recent exhibition was a group show at a little gallery called, Musee 16, in Los Angeles.  www.musee16.com  

          Do you sell prits? How do you make it and where can someone buy?  

I have sold prints in the past, and eventually I will have a website (like etsy or big cartel) where people can go and purchase my prints.  For now, people can email me directly at yourfriendava@gmail.com if interested.  I have printed as large as 50x50 inch prints before, using a mural enlarger, but these days I would go much smaller (unless people have the space for such a large print). 

          What was your most big success?  A huge success for me has been the recent launch of my website, www.withyoutoday.com.   I'm so excited to expand the site and eventually add more portraits.  Friendships are constantly evolving/growing.  As long as I have friends, I will have this project, so I hope to be working on it for a very long time. 

 
           Favourite photographer.  William Eggleston

            Describe some of your projects  With You, Today is the portrait collection I've been working on about friendship.  I'll be collaborating on a mini zine/interview project with my friend, Eva (pronounced like Ava).  Not too long ago, her and I found out that we have the exact same birthday and sort of the same name, so our project is going to focus a bit on that information.  It is always nice to collaborate with other artists, and I hope to do that more often.  Another major project in the works is my main website/online portfolio.  It's going to be a lot of work and I'm anxious to get started. 

            Your main concept.
I don't really have a main concept, but my process is this:  Before I photograph, I usually get an idea in my head from previous explorations without my camera.  I will see a place, or be with a friend, and love the way a building looked, and how that person looked in front of it.  Then I think of how I would like to capture that and make a note of it in my head.  Sometimes I write things down.  I will come back and stage the shot when everything is right.  Lighting, mood..... That is usually how I come up with concepts.  Funny that I think of shots when I'm usually without my camera.  I find myself taking it with me more and more these days, but it always seems to be the case that I capture images in my head first.  I'm always saying, "I need to go back with my camera next time". 

            Your plans.

 Focus on my website (s), make more zines, and practice bass guitar for real this time.  Eventually I would love to publish a coffee table book of my photographs.  That would be a dream come true.

Interview with photographer Silvia Conde

         About you:

My name is Silvia, I'm a 24-year-old art director from Barcelona currently living in the South of Germany.

               What is it that attracts you the most of what you have around you?  
I enjoy my everyday-life and the details it can have.

               Tell us about your experience as  photographer what did it give you?
Like for everyone else, photography is a way of expressing myself. I think it's also a way to capture what I've lived so far so I never forget it. 

                 Three adjectives to describe yourself.
Introverted, thoughtful and passionate.

                A film, a book and a song. 
"The Dreamers" by Bertolucci, "Kafka on the Shore" by Murakami and "Skinny Love" by Bon Iver.

             What camera do you use? Do you use one lense?
I enjoy collecting old cameras, but I don't use all of them. I normally shoot with the Olympus Trip 35 I inherited from my mum, a Yashica MG-1 or a Praktica TL 5B. I also have some Polaroids and a 1000d that needs to be replaced.

             Tell about exhibition if you ‘ve had any.
I'm actually having an exhibition that finishes this week. It has been during all March in Barcelona, in the gallery of a co-working space called MOB. It's about my series "Flohmärkte", the flea-markets in Berlin. I was living there for a year and I had the chance to photograph many of them. I wanted to capture the soul of the little treasures I found and tried to bring the people back to a past that is not longer existing. 

I have to say... Having an exhibition is an awesome experience and you can learn so much from it. 

          Do you sell prits? How do you make it and where can someone buy?

I sell prints on an Etsy shop. There I'm also selling the original photos from the exhibition and I'm planning to sell a fanzine called Soft Skin in a few days. 

          What was your most big success?
 I suppose the exhibition has been a big thing. 

           Favourite photographer.
It's hard to choose one... Right now I'm totally in love with Théo Gosselin's work. It's spontaneous, alive and authentic. 

But if I really have to choose, I guess it would be another French one, Sophie Calle. I like how she's not only a photographer but also sometimes the main character of her own work. The language she uses and the kind of projects she has been doing during her career are exceptional. 

            Describe some of your projects

During the last year I've been experimenting quite a lot. I'm still defining my language and because of that I wanted to try as many options as possible. As a result, I developed several projects. There are three that I'm very excited about. 

"Morning Lights" is a Polaroid project I'm still working on. Morning light is something that I can not live without. Unfortunately, since I moved to Germany, I miss it. That's why I started to collect photographs of my room illuminated by the first rays of light. I'm using the Polaroid format because these moments are as instantaneous as this kind of photography. 

I'm also working on an Analog Diary, which is a Tumblr. I'm one of those who agree that everybody should have a diary. I'm sure many people will think that's childish. Even though, in my opinion it's a way of being able to look back and see what marked you. It's about memories, about the passage of time, about what you've lived. And that's actually what defines us. In my case, I started an analog diary. 

The last project I want to talk about is a fanzine called Soft Skin. On September 2011 I created a Flickr group called Soft Skin, a place for sensitive and pure skin photography. Since then, I've been curating the group choosing the photos that share the same kind of feelings. You can follow it on Tumblr andFacebook. The amazing good news are that in a few days, Issue #1 will be printed! I can't wait for it! 

            Your main concept.

In life, love, always. Otherwise, life doesn't make any sense. 

           What is your occupation, job, interest besides photography
I'm an art director. Apart from photographing, I design. You can visit my portfolio. On my free time, I enjoy writing on my personal blog, listening to music and watching movies.

            Your plans.

 I've just applied for a MA in Fine Arts in Hamburg for the next fall. I'm really looking forward to hear some news from them!