Creative Spark - Scott Behr

Our recent curation with Marlène Meyer-Dunker for her popular feature on our Instagram feed (#reppinkselects) inspired a new space where we aim to bring you short essays, musings and notes from artists in our community while digging into some of their most personal work. The goal is to uncover the creative process, the very personal journey to find inspiration. Scott Behr's work depicts everyday life in a striking, magical and simply uplifting manner. As humble as he is about his approach to photography, he has achieved visual mastery and a massive following on social media as a result. Here is his entry into Creative Spark: 

As far as photography goes, I'm a relative newcomer to it.

I only started it with any focus or serious practice since 2013. Before that I used to take random shots that interested me with my budget Canon digital camera, mostly while walking around or traveling. Just a way to fight off boredom.

The inspired moment came after spending the night on my apartment roof with an old friend, talking about what it would take to become more creative on a regular basis in our daily lives. And from that conversation, we both realized that the simplest way to achieve that was to force ourselves to take at least a photo a day(more if possible), no matter how busy we were or how we felt, good or bad. It was all in the repetition and practice and that's the basis of where this all started for me. 

My inspirations are constantly changing, just as they do for everyone. There are a few that linger more than others. I always seem to come back to the work of William Eggleston, Nan Goldin, Saul Leiter, Diane Arbus and Robert Frank. They each embody different aspects of what I'm chasing in terms of my work: light, color, subject and composition. Nothing earth shattering at all in my choosing them, many people look to them as teachers and with good reason. I was attracted to their work from my beginning as an artist & just moved forward from there. 

Music and movies have been on my mind lately as sources of inspiration. I think because I tend to withdraw inwardly more during the autumn and winter; both keep me sane during the long stretches of darkness that come with the seasons. And because of that, music and film seep into what I'm shooting - not that it would be obvious to anyone but me. I watched the film Tokyo Drifter again this winter and was mesmerized less by the plot and more by the use of color and cinematography. Seijun Suzuki carefully built up an incredible palette for that film. It's playful and provocative, but what struck me most was it made me want to incorporate more weird colors in my life. So I began shooting with more vibrant stocks of film, Ektar, Velvia, expired stock that I would find online for sale. I would shoot and get the results back, and that only made want to achieve even weirder results because it was fun. Seems like we are living in an era that undervalues fun and that's just unacceptable to me.

Music is always present in my work

Everything else can fade away but music is the constant. I listen as soon as I wake up, in the car, at night, etc.

Funny enough, I'm never listening when I'm out shooting, too distracting for me! But it's there, the soundtrack is playing as I snap away like an idiot. Lately it's been nothing but old punk rock and American Jazz from the 50's & 60's. Blue Note label, Impulse, Riverside, Miles, Monk, Coltrane, Sun Ra, Albert Ayler, Sunny Murray, Archie Shepp and lots more. The way these guys practice and improvise is the main takeaway for me. Constantly evolving, never giving up or being fearful of the difficult work or emotionally challenging situations. I have more respect for these artists than I could convey in words but they represent the high mark for me in terms of dedication. And I always want that same spirit in my own work as well. 

I was drawn to making double exposures with film almost as soon as I started shooting on a regular basis. This comes directly as an inspiration from the experimental cut up work of William Burroughs and Brion Gysin. Deconstructing a painting or text through the use of randomly cutting up words or visuals to form a new work or making clear a previously unexamined aspect of an existing work. Personally I can't think of a better explanation of a double exposure. They provide a way of getting yourself unstuck when you’re feeling like you’re in a rut. I enjoy making double exposures as often as possible, mostly because it's a lot of fun. 

Artist Talk - Nathalie Basoski

This time in Artist Talk, we converse with Nathalie Basoski, currently making moves in Brooklyn, New York. Nathalie’s work “explores the thin line between fashion and fine arts and thrives in street photography as an anthropological study of the places she visits” as stated aptly on her gorgeous website. This couldn’t be a more accurate description of her airy, effortless and soul filled photography. We wanted to see how she does it. 

Your work sits very comfortably at the intersection of fashion and street photography. It has a very intimate feel, yet it’s very observational. How did you find your approach as a photographer?

I think it's an interesting combination of everything I'm attracted to, I don't like labels like ‘street photography’ and ‘fashion photography’ because when labeling your work like that you have to remain in the frame of what ‘fashion/street photography’ is expected to be like. When I like taking my favorite elements of composition and design from fashion and implement them in my street photography. Then take the spontaneity and freedom from street photography and implement it into fashion. By not secluding my work from other genres I can compose images with all the elements I like. The best thing I’ve learned from my own experience is trying out all other art mediums and especially all genres of photography.

Do you have a favorite piece of photographic equipment you can’t live without for street photography?

Honestly, street photography changed for me when I got the Sony a6300. It’s a cheap, small, simple mirrorless camera that does everything I need it to do. The extremely fast focus and cute little pop-out screen are great for the unpredictable nature of the streets, but also the dynamic range of the Sony sensor keeps blowing my mind every single time. I shoot everything on the same sigma 30mm 1.4 lens.

Since I started shooting film I’ve been using the Canon Elan IIe with the nifty fifty I’ve had since 2012. It does everything I need a camera to do - being able to adjust shutter speed, aperture and autofocus. √
But my all time favorite must be my phone, I always have it with me and I can get really close to people, camera’s have become an intimidating piece of equipment on the street, people constantly tell me not to take pictures, even when i’m just holding my camera. But with a phone you can do anything, it's a really cool spy tool and everyone is already holding one themselves so it's not as suspicious

Do you have any photographic heroes, influences? 

Alex Webb and William Eggleston are my street photography heros. Tho I get most inspired by artists I know personally, I'm surrounded by some great photographers, check out turnaroundcancel he is my current fav.

How do you feel about the rise of social media and what does it mean to you as an artist?

Social media is a great platform to get your own audience and learn about yourself through the feedback. I also use it to reach out and meet artists myself to absorb their creative flow and visions. Though spending too much time on social media can warp your perception of yourself once you start losing yourself in the number of likes and followers, which is unhealthy.

What’s your favorite city to photograph and Why?

I’ve learned that change is what inspires me the most, no matter how great a place is, you gotta leave and come back to it, then you really learn about a place’s energy when you can see it with fresh eyes. This counts for every single place i’ve been to. Though I must say New York City is still my all time favorite and I’m lucky to be living there.

Artist Talk - Alba Giertz

We sat down with Alba Giertz from Sweden to talk photography, inspiration, and social media. Alba is a talented young photographer and her work is  increasingly making waves on and off the interweb. We were interested to find out what drives her, and what her secret is to getting, -needless to say- well deserved attention in today's increasingly crowded world of photographers. 

How did you first get interested in photography?

When I was little, or around eight I think, my parents built me a darkroom under the stairs where I learnt to develop film. I shot mainly friends around that time.

Wow that’s such a young age to take this so seriously!

I can’t take credit for it because it was my parents that were cool and encouraged me. I remember the feeling of just having shot a roll of film. It felt like you had a treasure sort of. Being able to capture visuals was very special back then. More special than it is now.

We went from manually to prewritten

Were your parents involved in photography?

No my parents worked in television. My Mom had this crazy wardrobe because she was a host for a talkshow and I used to borrow her clothes and dress up my friends. We had wigs on and it was super dirty. If it would have been anyone else shooting those pictures it would have been very wrong. (Laughs)

Do you still work on film?

Yes I do. I’d say about 20 percent of my work is shot on film.

What’s your format of choice for film? 35mm or Medium format?

I like both. Since quite recently I have been using a Mamiya 7 which is a medium format camera. 35mm and medium format provide different ways of shooting, it’s almost like they shouldn’t be compared.

Jealous

You have a very recognizable style. Using dramatic light, and mixing ambient and often stark artificial light. How did you develop your voice as a photographer?

It’s really hard to narrow it down because I’ve been doing photography for a long time. You experiment to find something you like and then you just evolve that. It’s all quite abstract for me. It’s all about the emotions I sense while shooting or while looking through the batch (and of course being almost too late) that pushes my work forward. Consequently it can be hard when one’s work relies on a gut feeling, because you can’t control your emotions. Sometimes it’s simply not there, and I’m forced to be passive. 

Any sign would do

You don’t plan your work or your shoots? 

Yes I do, but it depends on what it’s for. If it’s for a job, or I’m working with other people, I plan more, or like a lot a lot a lot more. I’m generally quite nervous, hence I prefer to try the lighting and everything back and forth. And if I can, I will go to the location a few days before to plan. However when I go on set, I can break free from that and do whatever. 

What I meant to say was that your work feels very instinctive. 

Well, yes I guess I try to be malleable to the scenery. It’s about having your eyes open to what unfolds. You know good natural light here can last for like a second. You see it, and then it’s gone. Sometimes I see something and I literally run with my camera to capture it before it’s lost.
 

Who are your influences, and why?

I think it also goes back to when I was younger. I used to read and collect foreign fashion magazines as a kid. Which was not a very good thing for my mental health because of the beauty standards. I think it’s deep down in me now whether I like it or not, and I still take a lot from that time, mentally and in my work. Now as an adult, and this is going to sound a bit narcissistic but, I’m not that into looking at what other people do. I think it’s important to know what comes from yourself because as soon as you see something, you pick it up subconsciously and it does affect you. In that aspect, Instagram for example has not been the best platform because it’s like it’s too much photography and you can lose yourself in it. I find it funny when people are like -oh you are a photographer, and they talk about some famous photographer, I’m like: Yea.. Most of the times I have no idea who they’re talking about. (Laughing)

You woke up. But I didn’t

Your work has been widely featured on many platforms, printed and digital. How do you feel about the rise of social media, and Instagram culture in particular and its effect on your work?

I feel a little conflicted about it, as it’s given me a lot. Being able to connect with people has been invaluable. I’ve actually met a few people from there and some have become really close friends. What I don’t like is that you have to please a wider range to make your posts be seen, especially now with the order of the posts not being chronological. I am really against that when it comes to art. Art should never be about being likeable. It should be about being able to tell whatever and do whatever you want and not be about thinking: are people are going to like this? Because if they don’t the post is going to disappear from your followers feeds, so you don’t just lose likes, you lose visibility too. You’re contrived to choose: do what you assume people generally like and be visible, or just do your thing and possibly disappear. The system and algorithm that gives you the rankings kick the already weak, unless you pay the platform not to be kicked at. As a result we become less brave and slowly we’re reshaped into similar subcategory moulds.
Another issue I have is the pace. Everything goes so fast. With that speed things can of course spread rapidly, but it also enables both your images, concept and ideas to get copied with the same speed. People often repost without giving credit. Eventually it just spins and no-one knows who the originator is. Before the internet, if you got published you were the creator and you were entitled to your work. But today, the same second as you post something, someone can go out and take a similar picture and upload it the
same day. If it’s a good visual idea, people will copy it until it’s impossible to track where it came from. It has taken decades for me to develop my style and sort of come to where I’m at today. I find it really important to not do what everybody else does. It’s to a point where I have to let go of work I’ve been refining for years, because I don’t want to be someone who is following a ”trend”. I perceive it as getting my identity stolen when someone imitates a visual concept I have, for it’s forcing me to abandon my concept, no matter how much I love it. I’ve conducted several hunts in the DMs during the past two years, which has made me rather unpopular. No one ever admits it anyway. Which must stem from that people aren’t even aware of that they’ve been influenced. I know this is a bit mental, and not very nice at all. Some of it might just be in my head too. Plus I’m probably guilty of doing the same shit myself.

What is your favourite piece of photography gear?

You know I really agree with the saying, the best camera is the one you have with you. I actually shoot with my phone a lot when I should be shooting with something more solid. And afterwards I’m thinking: why didn’t I just go and get my camera? I really think it’s important to bring your equipment with you everywhere you go, at the least for the period you set out to shoot. It can be kind of hard to relax constantly being on standby but afterwards you hardly ever regret it.

Act normal. I am

Any pro tips for aspiring photographers on how to get their work seen?

Firstly, well this is going to sound weird but: Don’t submit your work! Magazines run in the same direction as everyone else. If you get a good reach in your niche you will be contacted by magazines. If you submit your work, you don’t have the psychological advantage of being contacted by them and be this unattainable “thing” that they’ve found and want. You have to kind of be admired from a distance. If you submit and indirectly ask to get published, you may make the editors feel as if they are doing you a favour and not the other way around. This may not work for everybody, but honestly me ever getting published has never been a result of me submitting anything. Secondly, you have to have your own heartbeat. Let’s say you find a concept that’s already popular and you try to copy it, you’d have to beat everyone in that category to get attention. Though if you create something on your own which no-one else really does then
you are only competing with yourself. And eventually a lot of imitators...nah just kidding. (Laughs)

Follow Alba on Instagram and visit her website to see more of her photography at www.alba.giertz.com

Homes of India - Alina Fedorenko

From my first travel experience, India inspired me in my photography. This time I returned with a deeper perspective on the real life of people in India, a portrayal of Indian culture that is most intimate. A home is the soul of its owner and the most intimate place of a person. It tells a story about the residents living in it. Every home and its occupants have their own story of life to tell, in India the colours help to tell the rest.

I was knocking at the door sill, because this home had no door, but nobody answered, only a beautiful coloured curtain covered the entrance. I´ve opened the curtain and saw this beautiful room with a small child napping, I moved one step inside to take a few pictures. This moment was just magical for me. I had not seen the dog in the dark corner. One step closer and exactly one click, the dog started to bark and jumped towards me.

This young man is Shiv Kumar, he is 29 years old and lives with his wife and little baby daughter and they have an english bulldog. It is is very unique and unusual to have this kind of dog in an Indian slum.

Most of the households in the slum have only one room, some of them are  being shared with another family too.

This little family is sharing a room with 4, the father works every day to help his boys being educated as much as possible. You can see letters on the wall written which is special, because not all boys have the chance to go to school. Others need to support the families at a very young age.

His name is Umed, this is a royal Indian boy's name, meaning hope. He has a disfigurement on his face and is the youngest of 3 boys in the family. His brothers are all very self confident and loud. I saw him playing alone in this room, while all the boys were running with me. It was important for me to make this photograph of the boy alone, even as his brothers ran in to pose. A special photo because he is always the one in the corner.

This old lady is a very proud mother of two grown up daughters living nearby with their families. She is 97 years old and still the boss, like she says herself. She tries to sell a few things from the stand next to her bed in her own little room. As a result, her home doesn't have a door. Children living in the neighbourhood come and buy sweets, so she can earn a bit of money. She was working very hard her whole life and won’t give it up until the end.

His name is Ansh and he is sharing a small room with his mother and aunt. He is the only male in the family and have to support all of them financially. Ansh has two jobs at the same time.

Preeti is very young and has been married very early at the age of 15, she has 3 children by now living together with her mother and husband in a house of two rooms. This family is very religious and have decorated their home accordingly, they even have a small altar built by the entrance.

Sharwan is the boy on the left, he is living here with his parents, he is an only child but calls his best friend his brother, who lives next door.

This family owns the whole building. Nesha is the oldest of four. Two of her sisters are already married. She is sleeping in the entrance of the house in her own bed. She decorated her room on her own, which is very unique in comparison to all the homes I saw.

His name is Samrth and he is living alone with his father in a very small place. He wants to be a designer. He bleaches his clothes all by himself and has many ideas. He loves fashion so much he always tries to add something extra to make the best out of everything.

This old man has his vegetables market in front of his door. Together with his son he sells in the slum, they own a small building with two rooms, but the room on the top is only to store things. He was sleeping while his son was running the stand.

This home belongs to an old couple married for 61 years. Her husband is outside talking on the phone with his older son. They spend their daily lives together.

Nirmal is a very pretty young lady. She is well educated and speaks two languages perfectly. She works at a bank and shares a home with her parents, aunt and her little nephews.

Maryami is living with her mother and son in a very tiny room, they share the house which has two rooms with another family. Maryami is taking care of her son and mother financially, and she works at a female clothing store.

Aalia is next door to Maryami’s family, they share a house. The rooms are identically painted and shaped, and are inhabited by two different families.

Varsha is a very friendly old man, his neighbours call him the good soul of the quarter. He lives alone and remembers his departed family members everyday. 

Shari is going to school. After school he loves watching cartoons like every child. He is sharing his bed with his older brother, who is working very late everyday. His father is working too and his mother is taking care of a few kids in the neighbourhood in the afternoons who are not attending school.

I portraiture families, men and women, young and old people all living in different slum areas in the north part of India, such as Rajasthan and Delhi.

Most of the people in my work live a life at the edge of existence and are socially disadvantaged. In India, financially unstable families usually share a small house with up to six to seven members. It is a common scene of the slums. Most of these households have only one room, which is being shared with the whole family. One third of the slums are devoid of an indoor toilet. The ones that do have a toilet are not connected with proper sewage systems. Many generations are sharing life and dependant on each other. I want my work also to act as a reminder of the importance of family and shared values, which is a certain kind of wealth that even those who have less can cherish and enjoy. 

Follow Alina on Instagram and see more award winning work on her website: alina-fedorenko.com

Contemplating the all American road trip with Anna Hahoutoff

This series called is called Americana. It is a body of work I started in 2014, while visiting a friend in California. I am a French / Russian photographer and most of my childhood has been strongly influenced by Russian culture, and imagery. It was my first time visiting the United States after more than two decades of dreaming about it. Though my visual references were Russian, my interest as a teenager was turned towards the great west and American commercials and movies imposing themselves in my visual dictionary, creating an aesthetic dichotomy between East and West. At this point, I was living in France, symbolically almost right in the middle. Visa in hand I spent a couple of weeks traveling through California but it was too great of a shock, I decided to spend more time there in order to document my version of the United States. I threw away my return flight and have been there on and off since then. I’ve traveled through more than 35 states so far, sometimes taking my time, coming back, sometimes just passing by depending on how much I loved the place.

Palm Springs

This one was taken in California near Palm Springs. I was just coming back from a trip to Joshua Tree National Park. 

I spent nearly an hour in this hotel courtyard taking pictures of the plants. This one stood out as my favorite. For some reason it makes me think of Japan. I don't know why, maybe the colors or the composition but every time I see it, Japan is on my mind. 

Birmingham, Alabama

I shot this one in Birmingham, Alabama. The house we stayed at was really dirty but this corner of our room looked so nice, so cosy I decided to immortalize it.

It makes it look as if our stay was really cosy and cute when in fact it was quite awful and I barely slept. 

Nevada

This was at the border between Nevada and Arizona. We had just left Las Vegas and we were driving really fast because we had to be in Phoenix before 3pm and we were running kind of late already. I insisted on pulling over on the highway because I was too in love with this tree. 

It is an incredible experience to finally wander through these images we think we know so well, and have a look behind the curtains of the American dream. I’ve spent years watching movies in which Russia symbolises the evil, the bad, the enemy standing in the way of freedom, happiness, and glory of capitalism. Now I was finally in the core of all this and it became soon very striking what the distance can do on our conceptions. Far from the joyful american dream, especially this past year, I was witnessing great distress, open racism, extreme poverty in some places, cultural void in most states, and global misconception of the world. As if the idea of dichotomy was supposed to stick to me, I started to develop a love/hate relationship to the country. In one hand, everything was disappointing, fake, sad and quite terrifying. On the other hand, everything was entertaining, excessive, gorgeous, and fascinating. 

Colorado Spring, Colorado.

We stayed two nights there and the whole experience was kind of weird. The hostess was a bit socially awkward and pretty much attached to her tv the whole time. She had two or three cats maybe and sadly the place was a bit dirty, covered in cat hair and smelling strongly like cat piss.

On the last morning I wanted to have a picture of at least one of the cats before we left as I had so far photographed every pet we'd encountered during the road trip. I ended up with this photo which until now remains one of my favorite ever.  

Destination: California

We were on the way back to California after two month on the road and heading to Lake Tahoe. We were exhausted and running a bit late but we stopped on the highway to rest for a minute and snack. We were under the most beautiful fruit trees ever. Fruits were everywhere on the floor, and kept falling while we were eating. They were gorgeous but they stunk.

Lafayette, Louisiana

A very strong memory actually. We had just arrived a few hours ago and I was feeling under the weather with a little fever but we were too excited to be in Louisiana for the first time so we still got out to discover the city a little bit. We were driving randomly as we like to do in smaller towns and ended up in this area. The sun was about to set and I started to rush to get at least a few pictures before dusk. We were actually in a tiny swamp but right in the middle of the town and on the university campus. I kept wondering how wonderful it must be to live on that campus. What a gorgeous setting. How exotic. I shot a lot of pictures really fast then an alligator showed up. On the campus! The more it seemed normal for everybody the more I was loosing my mind. An alligator. On a campus. The students who walked by us barely looked at it. I was literally loosing it by being way too excited. We stared at it until it was too dark to see anything. I still think about this moment every now and then thinking, God, maybe I should apply and try to get into that university.  

I am constantly amazed to see the empire such a young country was able to build. Empire that is obviously declining right now. We are witnessing loud and clear the fall of the American empire. 
Through my work, and far from ubiquitous road trip stories I wanted to create, to feed, a global imagery, very abstract and far from all these concerns, almost like a series of still lives or old paintings. I concentrate on textures, colors and shapes, and have numerous elements that are coming back from one state to another. Whether it is colors, angles or subjects I try to weave a coherent visual lexicon of my United States. Trying to gather the similarities and differences from every state I am in a way trying to find familiar elements in unfamiliar places. Nature is to me the most incredible thing to experience in the USA, and this is why I rapidly decided to focus on this aspect. The natural landscape. Far from all the ephemeral, the constructed, the simulated, nature remains to oldest part of this continent, and brings back to a part of history very neglected: the native americans. Getting lost in these settings definitely gives you a glance at what this country was before the invasion and how beautiful and glorious it must have been. I have always been close to nature but clearly after these years spent in America my relationship to nature has changed a lot and it became a necessity more than a treat. Having easy access to such landscapes is truly life changing. Though my work completely steers clear of political and social issues I thought it was very interesting to travel across so many states at such a heavy time. It was incredibly interesting to go from one town to another, one state to another and discuss with very different Americans about the state their country is in. Many things became all the sudden very clear, and I found answers to many questions, though I did not like or agreed with most of the answers.  

Lehi, Utah

We stayed there a couple of nights because accommodation in Salt Lake City itself was way too expensive. Everything was weird but in a wonderful way, the whole setting looked like a movie set, very quiet, very new, almost fake. We were just near the supermarket chain Harmon's and for the first time in months we were happy with what we ate. We kind of lost control inside the supermarket when we discovered they had fresh bread, truffle cheese, olive tapenade and Italian cured meats. The products were so good we came back three times a day for three days. Hands down best products I ever ate in the United States in almost four years

Phoenix, Arizona

Remember when I was talking about going to Phoenix in a rush? Well here we are, first day in Phoenix we rushed like crazy, dropped the back and headed back to the desert to shoot some cacti.

The light was so perfect everything was so gorgeous. But every lovely moment seems to have a downside to it. It was also our hottest day ever, and after one hour of shooting my camera broke down from the heat. I was very panicked but after a few days of not touching my camera to let it rest it miraculously worked again. So at the same time one of the best and the worst evening of the trip. 

Cincinnati, Ohio

I shot this one in Cincinnati, Ohio on our way to Detroit. We were exhausted and stayed home for the afternoon so I photographed almost every inch of the house. Then we stayed on the front deck for a while, watching the gorgeous sky while sipping Earl Grey tea. 

I like the idea of documenting this quest through really contemplative images, very immobile, using soft colors as if I was completely disconnected from the reality around me.   
Between 2014-2015 I did the northern states, and between 2016-2017 the middle and southern states. I believe that at some point, I was searching for a visual unity in my images in order to replace the one I could maybe not find in the states. I was answering the question: Are the United States united? The answer obviously is yes and no. There are countless major differences between all the states, but they unite around one idea, being part of the greatest nation on earth. The American nationalism seems to have no limits. I’m really interested in that, and what gathers nations in general, what unites and divides individuals.

I feel like I worked on this project with great pressure, as if I knew that I would not have the opportunity to come back, or at least, not anytime soon. Therefore, the whole experience has been kind of tainted by the fact that I was living behind my camera, shooting as much as I could and constantly trying to capture moments, leaving little time to actually live them.