Andy Fabrykant

Argentina/France

website

What did you last take a picture of?

The last picture I took was of two workers climbing two huge ladders at the same time. They were repairing some cables that passed through the city of Barcelona. When I wanted to take that picture I was heading to the airport and I had to search my camera, because it was deep inside of my suitcase. This was probably the only moment that I didn't carry my camera around my neck, because that's what I always do when I'm travelling. I was lucky they didn’t notice that I was around, so they kept on doing their work in a natural way.  

What mostly catches your eye?

I think that what catches my eye is when something somehow seems to belong to the background. The relationship between the space and the object is what interests me the most. Like when there is a recognizable contrast, where something or someone doesn’t belong at all, and seems to be out of context.

Very recently, an aspiring photographer told me she regarded choosing to be or being a photographer would be a question of “lifestyle”. What do you think about this?

I completely agree with her point of view. I think some people are viewers in this world, just like musicians are listeners. The moment we feel the need to capture those moments in life is when we become photographers.

What has art to do with talent?

I think we can develop our talent. But as I said before, if there is no need to make art and if it isn't in your guts, it will be really hard to be 'talented'.

What has helped you most in getting attention for your work?

What helped me the most was making exhibitions and people like you helping me to show my work.

You also make films. What are you working on right now?

One year ago I started a production company here in France called ILKINO. We have been doing some ads, music video clips and films for companies. Still, I am writing two feature films and hope to shoot a short film in a few months.

What is ‘Fanzine’ about?

Fanzine is about showing my work in a different way. I have all these framed negatives and copies that I have to take care of. I was looking for a way to destroy this idea of untouchable objects so I decided to make cheap prints to give away every time I make an exhibition.

Which magazines - art related or otherwise - do you frequently read?

Normally I see many things on the Internet and on Facebook. I just bought “The American Cinematographer”. But rather I try to see as many exhibitions as I can.

Where do you go to unwind?

The beach is a place where I can really relax, and if not the beach, then my garden. 

When looking through your work, I got the feeling that you often seek to portray persons ‘embedded’ in their surroundings, or point towards their traces. Is this something that interests you?

In the beginning, I tried to go to different places every day. It became an automatism, and the only goal was to cover the largest portion of an area so I could go to the next one the following day. At the same time my pictures where 'methodical'. I was looking for elements that could be found repeatedly in different areas or even cities. You could say that I even became an image collector. And just like any other collector of any object, pictures gain value when we have a large quantity and we can categorize them.

After working in this manner for some time, I realized that I had spent a lot of time looking for repetitions and that inevitably, my method had reached its limits considering there wasn't any human activity involved.  My pictures became cold and predictable. I wasn’t really feeling the places anymore and couldn't relate to the cities any longer either. But that exactly had always been my starting point.

Even if it took me some time to realize, the obvious next step for me was to get lost. Instead of continuing to follow my previous system, I simply started to do the complete opposite thing, which felt like a situationalist game. I started to wander around without destination, as a 'flâneur', so to speak.

Once I did that, I unconsciously started to realize that somehow my pictures began to have a new feeling to them, on a completely new level. Instead of being an automatism fulfilled of repeated objects they became more lively and full of what I like to call “unexpected finds”.

What I am doing mostly now is following someone on the street. I don’t take pictures of him or her. I just use her or him as an excuse to get lost without being me, and without deciding where to go. 

Markus Lehr

Berlin, Germany

website

What do you find most fascinating about industrial structures and installations?

Their character(s) spark my imagination. Every corner and perspective challenges me to go further and dig a little deeper. There is so much history and human ingenuity condensed in a relatively small place.

Especially when looking through ‘Modern Ruins’, I was under the impression that you are interested in capturing different ‘textures’ of (built) materials and monuments. Would you agree?

Definitely. Textures and surfaces are also what I am working on most in post-processing. It feels be a bit like looking at human skin. Delicate and desirable.

What do you find most challenging about shooting under difficult lighting conditions?

There are two things I am often struggling with: Flares and ghosts. If you are out at night there are sometimes only one or two sources of light and the contrast is very high, too. This often results in some colourful reflections inside your glass. Sometimes I like that, but more often I find it distractive and rather try avoiding it. You need a good lens and some techniques to help you with that.

You write that you strive to portray humanity without actually showing humans. What would including persons in your pictures change about them?

Everything! I think humans would distract immensely from the main content I want to show. Usually we look at humans first and often we relate everything to them. Even if they are completely out of focus or hidden in an image, we always spot them and focus our attention on them. I prefer to show the effect of humans on a given space. I prefer to let our traces speak about us.

You live and work in Berlin. Do you have a favourite neighbourhood/quarter/spot in the city to spend your leisure time in?

I especially like Schöneberg because of the mix of cultural influences there. This quarter is not as 'hip' as Kreuzberg or Friedrichshain, but a bit more relaxed and easy going. I like that.

Since starting to engage in photography, did you find that your everyday view on your surroundings had changed? If yes, how so?

Well, I concentrated very much on the night in the first year of shooting. That had quite an impact on my way of seeing things: For the first time I noticed the difference that light can make. I started to see interesting places and corners in areas I usually simply passed by. It is fascinating to enter the backyard of a house in the neighbourhood and discover a whole new little world there.

Which artists' works are you watching closely?

Maybe Edward Burtynsky and Gregory Crewdson, but there are many not so well known contemporary artists, who have inspired me more. It is the little things they see, a slightly different focus or a very dedicated appreciation of where you are coming from, but mostly it's something I cannot put into words.

When you feel that you are absentminded, what helps you focus again?

I try to stay away from any kind of photographic things for a little while. I do something else like reading or listening to music for a few days. And then after a while I automatically get that urge to get out and being outside again - it always works. One other thing I regularly practise is to challenge myself with a complete new and different task: For example, after I had been busy with industrial and urban scenery for months, one weekend I went out into the forest and tried to capture only the trees for a couple of days. My perspective on urban spaces shifted after that.

Do you buy magazines or rather read them online?

I think I stopped buying magazines four or five years ago. I only buy books.

All is fair in ...

... the night.

K. Eleanor Bleier

Chicago, US
website flickr blog

 

I am guessing that most of the people on your pictures are your friends?

Yes, good buddies and good times. It's rare that I take a photo of something that isn't personal.

Does it ever feel like taking a huge ride on memory lane when you look through your photos? Do you get nostalgic?

How could I not?

What is freedom to you?

Trying to pinpoint that is like nailing Jell-O to a tree... Maybe it's that movie montage feeling; hand out of the window, surfing the wind with your palm, Rolling Stones playing on the radio kind of thing. I don't know. Just laughing.

Is there one thing that you can single out that you feel really hinders you from being creative? How do you deal with it?

I place a high value on my personal alone time. When I'm all holed up in my room, it can benefit me creatively for things like putting together a new zine or something similar. But my photos are of documentary nature, so if I'm not around friends, there's not as much to photograph, and that again hinders me. I'm not an antisocial or shy person, I just sometimes need to be alone. My friends and I always joke about 'French exit'-ing parties and shows, not saying bye to anyone, just dipping out. I'm good at that.

Is there an art form you admire but would not consider engaging in yourself?

There is a lot of stuff I admire a ton, but there isn't not much I wouldn't be down for trying. I'd love to learn different printmaking techniques... But wait, maybe tattooing, that's it. I used to think I wanted to do that when I was younger, but it's too much pressure. Too exacting. Bold permanent lines really aren't something I'm good at. A good tattooist is really admirable.

Do you like to make plans?

Very much. I always like to have things to look forward to. I had a really long conversation with one of my friends the other day that got me so hyped: it was about travel plans, things in general, everything. I make a lot of lists. The beginning of this summer, when I was still in Indiana, I had a pretty long running list of weird roadside shit to see - waterfalls, swimming holes etc. - and I managed to see most of the things on my to-do-list before I left.

Your favourite movies: do you like them because of the imagery or rather for the dialogues?

That's tricky. I'm a huge Coen Brothers fan as far as dialogue goes; I think their movies are like the cream of the crop when it comes to quick wit. But when it comes to movies, that whole 'That's when you know you found somebody really special - when you can just shut the fuck up for a minute and comfortably share silence,' maybe that 'sensation' applies, too. I just like the feeling some movies put you in. Like that summer-going-into-fall feeling that's super strong when you're a kid. I'm working on a new book with Nighted right now called 'Down Home' and I want it to have the feeling of such a movie. All this kind of is like my answer for the freedom question, too, I guess.

What's your favourite way of traveling?

It depends on where I'm headed. I guess I do most of my travelling alone so I usually go by plane. I haven't driven a car in years (or any sort of vehicle until yesterday when I broke that streak with a riding tractor lawn mower at the farm I'm currently working at, it felt awesome whipping that around). I love long car trips with friends though, and everyone has always been really understanding about me not driving.

And how many cameras do you take with you normally?

Right now I have three on this trip, one disposable underwater camera, one Olympus stylus, and my Leica point and shoot, may it rest in peace. Last month I was being an idiot and took it to Sutro Baths in San Francisco. I climbed down onto the rocks and got drenched, the camera broke, and I can't stop whining about it. It was good I had the Olympus as backup. I'm not one to run multiple rolls in different cameras at a time, but it's a habit I should pick up: one camera for black and white, another camera for colour.

What do you do with photos that turn out "wrong", empty or under/overexposed etc.?

That happens all the time. When I'm broke I'll buy lots of expired film on Ebay and it's hit or miss, or I've had some weird cross processing experiences after my old photo place stopped doing E6. Almost all my photos from a trip to Ireland/Scotland this year are weirdly overexposed and saturated because of that. I'm an impatient girl, and should have just sent my film out instead of chancing it. I used to mess with the colour balance on Photoshop if I had a roll that was particularly expired or grainy, but I don't now. It feels impure. I'm sure I would mess with things more if I scanned my own film, but that's something I lack the patience for. It's not very DIY of me, but scanning film is like a heinous chore. I am willing to make my own butter, but not scan my own film.

Whose work are you following currently?

Tons, I get photo crushes all the time. Right now I'm following Alana Paterson. She's got the farm vibe going on, too, and I've read a few of her interviews and the way she answered one particular question made me go: YES, I could hang out with this girl'. I like Sandy Kim, Joe Skilton, Luke Byrne and Petra Collins. Oh, Man Freckles, too! I met him last month at the NIGHTED opening at Book & Job Gallery, and we both mutually were all like 'HEY it's you!' It's cool to meet people who shoot with a similar style, because you kind of have a window into their life and what they're up to already.