Scott Pasfield

MW
What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?


SP
Actually it was a love affair that my father had with photography that first inspired me. He took classes in college and was always into it as a hobby when I was growing up. I remember him taking it very seriously and using great care in composing his photographs, even if they were just family snapshots. He did look at it as an art form and even had a darkroom for a little while when I was a kid. But what changed things for me, was when he got a Polaroid SX-70 camera for Christmas one year from my mother. The whole thing was so magical to me. I mean Polaroids had been around for ever I thought, my grandparents had albums filled with their land camera peel apart type pictures with the ruffled edges. But this new motorized pop up SLR camera was so modern and even sexy to me. It was wrapped in the most beautiful brown leather that was soft and smooth to the touch and it shot out these amazingly saturated little colorful photos that magically appeared before your eyes. Those first pictures were soooo cool to me. I can still vividly remember all of them that my father shot that Christmas Day. I soon had my own little point and shoot camera and was hooked. Although I went to school for architecture, I ultimately decided to pursue photography as a career after a near-death avalanche experience that shook me up a bit and forced me to reevaluate my life. I enrolled in photo classes at a local college for a couple of years and moved to New York in '96 to pursue my photo dreams. While I have have had some success, I still feel like I am just beginning and that I finally have the necessary tools and knowledge, to not only take the pictures, but to do much more in the process.


MW
In your opinion and experience, how can emerging photographers evaluate themselves as ready to start promoting their works and seek broader exposure for their photographs? What is one vital action you would recommend photographers undertake to find their audience, be included in exhibitions, and gain professional representation?


SP
That is a question that I ask myself all the time, so I'm not really sure I'm in a position to offer the best advice. Times are quickly changing in the industry and who knows how it will continue to transform. The internet makes getting to people easier than ever, it's just knowing how to play the networking game right and having the goods to back it up that's important. And one is ready when they have a very strong body of work that is presented well. It doesn't have to me much, twenty amazing images, a strong online website and a couple of kick ass portfolios is enough to get you going. But understanding the market and your role in it is key and once you know enough about what you're selling, finding your audience shouldn't be that difficult. Online contact service lists for buyers and art directors makes it simple to contact people, it's just getting them to listen that's the hard part. And I say think outside the box on this one. Targeting your audience with creativity, diligence, perseverance, and a certain amount of humbleness helps, whether you're going after editorial art directors or gallery owners. I also think that getting representation is something that is very difficult until you are so busy yourself that you truly do need the help. When that happens, start to look. Most agents aren't interested until you can bring in money and clients for them, they rarely want to build an artist's career. But there are exceptions to every rule and no magic bullets...


MW
How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer? What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?


SP
I think that I have had some success though the years and do consider myself a professional photographer, so I'll do my best to answer that question. But quite frankly, lately I don't feel very successful as the last two years have been transitional for me. After getting to NY, I started to freelance assist and plugged myself into a good group of people that way. I did that for two years and had a blast travelling and learning the technical side of taking pictures. I then took a job running the studio for a successful ad shooter who had always wanted to produce his own jobs in-house. He gave me a chance on a small job and soon after I was running all of his shoots. He did not have an agent, so I was involved in the whole process, from receiving layouts, putting together estimates, hiring the crew and running the productions. It taught me a tremendous amount about the business side of taking pictures. I also worked out a commission deal with him, which gave me a piece of the production fees and ended up making me some great money. After two years doing this, I left to take some time to put together a new portfolio of work and was soon knocking on doors and getting my own gigs. I have never had an agent and have never been busy enough to warrant one actually...but maybe some day. I think it's a very tricky thing to turn one's hobby and passion into a career and something that is difficult to navigate. For me, after many years, it all became about making money and I lost some of myself in the process. And in an attempt to find me again, it was crucial to follow a new very personal path that combined my love of photography with making a difference somehow in the world. I closed my studio about two years ago, stopped doing many jobs just for the money, and started working on a new photo project called "Gay America", documenting out and proud gay men across America, sharing their stories and photographing them in their world. And for the first time in my life, I finally feel that I am using the talents that were given to me in the right way. And it feels really good.


all images are from the series Gay America

Michael - Atlanta, GA

Jakoury - Chester, VA

Jacques & Abi - Sacramento, CA

Sam - Driggs, ID

Alex - Seward, AK

Bob - Scottsdale, AZ

Kevin & Mark - Kearney, MO

Ted - Peaks Island, ME

Roger & Scotty - Tulsa, OK

Henry, Scott & Cameron RIP - Minneapolis, MN

copyright all images Scott Pasfield

Tierney Gearon

MW

What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?

TG

I used to model and when I was working I started document everything with my camera ! I am a very visual person . When I discover photography it changed my life . It calmed me down and gave me something and somewhere to put my energy ...

I love documenting my life and my children . They are my inspiration and of course light and the amazing way a camera catches it !!

MW

In your opinion and experience, how can emerging photographers evaluate themselves as ready to start promoting their works and seek broader exposure for their photographs? What is one vital action you would recommend photographers undertake to find their audience, be included in exhibitions, and gain professional representation?

TG

My biggest advise is to just start documenting something they love that is in front of them take it one step at a time soon they will have an amazing body of work . If one has the courage most people art galleries and magazines etc... Are always looking for something new and interesting so just start calling and seeing people ! Not everyone is going to respond but if you can find one person that likes your work then you made it !!! Then keep up that relationship with that person and use them as a inspiration to go further and then keep seeing people .. The next thing you know you will be achieve some of your goals !

MW

How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer? What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?

TG

I had quit commercial photography and went to see an art director that believes in my work he encouraged me to start documenting my family I was bored with commercial work ..... Then I met Charles Saatchi and he fell in love with my photos and then did a huge show .... What happened to me is not the regular way of things it just happened then one thing lead to the next .....

all images are from the series EXPLOSURE

Frame 13, 2008

Frame 18, 2008

Frame 19, 2007

Frame 8, 2008

Frame 22, 2007

Frame 1, 2008

Frame 68, 2008

Frame 70, 2007

Frame 11, 2007

Frame 12, 2008

Frame 16, 2008

Frame 49, 2008

© all images Tierney Gearon

David Hilliard

MW
What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?


DH
My father and my grandfather were both photographic hobbyists. In the beginning I merely followed their lead. But for me my connection to the medium quickly grew deeper. Photography became a vehicle through which I could navigate and maintain a kind of control. I could order events, categorize friends and places…edit my world. Photography made everything around me look better. It made life clearer. As a boy I felt as though I had very little control over my life. Photography was an antidote. It was my escape. Now, as an adult and practicing artist, I make photographs for multiple reasons, but I’m sure, at my core, there is still this therapeutic/historic connection to the camera.


MW
In your opinion and experience, how can emerging photographers evaluate themselves as ready to start promoting their works and seek broader exposure for their photographs? What is one vital action you would recommend photographers undertake to find their audience, be included in exhibitions, and gain professional representation?


DH
I think an artist knows when the work is ready. When it’s as good as it can be at THAT moment…and perhaps when it needs an audience. I would suggest to any emerging talent to start looking at galleries/exhibition spaces that they perhaps feel a kinship with…a sense of alignment. Investigate the procedures for getting your work in front of them and do it. Play by their rules. Be prepared. Speak well about what you make, write solid statements about your work and be prepared to handle criticism. Don’t be defensive…turn off. Write thank you notes! It only takes that one or two galleries or supporter/backer to start the ball rolling. Make the work, but also know that you have the daunting task of marketing it and sending it out into the world.


MW
How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer? What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?


DH
Work, lots of energy and a blind faith that what I was making mattered not only to myself but to others as well. I knew that I had to get the work out there. That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do; make my imagery and make a living doing it. I worked, and continue to work very hard. I make, I fail, I make, I succeed. It’s a kind of battle. But through it all I’m learning and finding inspiration. And I might also suggest building a large skill set. Make fine art, commercial art, editorial art, teach, assist, etc, etc. Do it all. It keeps you going and in the end I truly believe that it can inform aspects of your work.



Mary Remembering, 2008


A Kiss, 1994


Aftertaste Of Ritual, 2008


Boys Tethered, 2008


Hope, 2008


Of A Certain Temperance, 2008


Hug, 2008


Susie Floating, 2003


Shirts vs. Skins, 2001


The Lone Wolf, 1993

© all images David Hilliard

Tony Mendoza

MW
What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?


TM
The short answer was that I studied architecture in graduate school and I had to take lots of pictures of buildings and models of buildings and building sites as part of my work as an architect. So I became somewhat skilled as a photographer, and had the money to buy good equipment, set up a darkroom etc. The long answer was that I was influenced by the 60s, and felt that going to an office was a sellout to the establishment. I also moved into a commune where everyone was dropping out of their regular careers and jobs. This happened in the early 70s. Everybody was having a good time going after what they really wanted to do in life. I looked around to see what else I could do and photography seemed liked something that would be fun, wouldn't require me to go to an office, and would allow me to do art. I also hated getting up at 7 in the morning to go to work, so being an artist would allow me to sleep late. Then I started on the road to making it as a photographer, and I ended up working twice as hard as I worked as an architect.
 
I kept at it because I loved the freedom of being a self-employed artist. I was single at the time and being a good artist seemed like a sure-fire way to attract girls, and I liked the challenge of making it in a very competitive field where most people give up and do something else. Living in a commune throughout the Seventies helped because my rent and food payments were minimal, around $130 a month, so I could pursue an art photography direction, which didn't pay as opposed to a commercial direction, which would have been as deadly as working in an architectural office.
 

MW
In your opinion and experience, how can emerging photographers evaluate themselves as ready to start promoting their works and seek broader exposure for their photographs?  What is one vital action you would recommend photographers undertake to find their audience, be included in exhibitions, and gain professional representation?
 

TM
This is a tough question because I don't consider my career as successful in a traditional sense. Some people know if my work, but most don't and I don't have a photography gallery in NYC, which is a requirement today if you are going to make it as an art photographer. But I don't want to sell myself short, because I do have a great job, as a photography professor at the Ohio State University, and I've published four photography books I'm proud of. The first book I published, Ernie: A Photographer's Memoir, a book about a cat, is an interesting story, about perseverance, and hanging in there, which is what I would advice anyone trying to make it as a photographer. Here is the story:
 
I was slow getting going as a photographer. I started photographing full time in 1973 and worked diligently for years to improve my craft, but I didn't have a show in a decent gallery till 1981, when I moved to NYC. In New York, I had trouble paying the rent for the loft I shared, and had no money to go out and participate in all the stuff going on in the city, so I mostly stayed in the loft and photographed my loftmate's cat. I did it for 3 years and took some 10,000 pictures of Ernie, the cat. I had a few shows of  cat pictures, and everyone seemed to really like the pictures. I also sold the pictures in a street corner in Soho for $40 dollars a picture, and whenever I set up in the corner of West Broadway and Broome St, the pictures would fly till I met the rent payments due that month, so I knew I had a popular body of work, which gave me the idea I should do a book. For the next 2 years I got 50 rejections from publishers. I ran out of money and had to leave the loft and move to Brooklyn, but I kept at it, sending the work out, and finally a small press in California said they loved the pictures and would do the book. The publisher was very cautious about the first printing, 3000 copies. I knew some art directors in NYC, and found out thru them what reviewers in NY magazines had cats and I send them all copies. It worked because the book was incredibly well reviewed by Vogue, People and Newsweek. The first printing sold out in one week. It went thru 10 printings at the small press and then a large publisher (Chronicle Books)  picked it up 14 years after it was first published, republished it in a better printed edition, and the book did very well all over again. Then a Japanese publisher picked it up and it did very well in Japan. It still sells 24 years after it was originally published.
 
This story tells me that the 50 publishers that rejected it didn't have a clue, that lots of people in the photo business don't have a clue,  and that if you believe you have a really good project, one should keep plugging at it till something happens. It seemed to work for me. So to answer the question, I'm a believer in hanging in there. I tell students that it's very difficult to make it in art photography, but if you really want it, and you are willing to hang in there, and you are willing to struggle financially, you can do it. Most people quit.
 

MW
How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer?  What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?
 

TM
After I published the first book I geared my work to books, as opposed to the gallery world, because I liked what results from a book, as opposed to a show. 300 people will see a show, and if you are very lucky, the show will get reviewed, but a book has a huge audience, and a book lingers on. I still get e-mails from fans of the Ernie book. The second book I published (Stories, Atlantic Monthly Press) was fairly easy to publish, because the success of the first book opened the doors of publishers, but after that it has been difficult to publish other books, because the economics of photo books are tough. They cost a lot to produce and they have a small audience, a deadly combination. Still, I published a third book with a university press, (Cuba:Going Back, University of Texas Press) and a fourth book, (Flowers, Nazraeli Press) with a photo book publisher, so I've hung in there. I'm now trying to published a book about my dog Bob, which are the pictures I've included in this interview. Like all the other books, it's a struggle to find a publisher, but I'm confident I will, so I will keep at it.  



all images are from Tony Mendoza's series "Bob"






























© all images Tony Mendoza

Oliver Weber

MW
What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what is the primary inspiration for you to keep working in this field?


OW
I can’t remember anymore when my big passion with photography started. I do remember with great pleasure that in my childhood I absolutely wanted to become a detective! From the outset there was this urge to grasp the things that surrounded me and to look into them with my always curious eyes. Even today, that hasn’t changed! Everything that moved around me aroused my interest. Observing my environment was exciting and gave me, as a boy of seven, a gigantic sense of joy. In particular, small, everyday situations with animals and people did it to me. So it didn’t take long before I went out with my first camera, a Minolta Hi Matic, as a small detective on a photo tour. Unfortunately the pictures from these exciting exploratory exhibitions have been lost.

I think back with pleasure to this time, and even today the overwhelming joy and passion in taking photos seizes me over and over again. Holding onto my environment with its small everyday stories, above all, about the people who I meet.

Since 2002, I’ve pursued photography, if you want to put it this way, seriously. The so-called “street photography” has arisen through my creating different cycles. It comes to life through spontaneity and the feelings and recognitions within situations and moods. You never know what will happen next. The art is to use foresight to grasp the right moment and take the picture. Once the moment is over, it is lost for good.

As a general rule, I drift along on the streets; things don’t come to me at a hectic pace or in a rush. Photography is not actually at the forefront of my mind, rather it’s about having a lot of human interaction. The image through the viewfinder creates a sense of eagerness in me, as well as a sense of relaxation at the same time. All events condense around me in one moment. Then it’s a matter of capturing it in such a way that it becomes something special. My photos aim to reveal deep insights into human lives. The situations hit the essentials of what develops while watching people’s lives and tell unmistakable small stories. I’m never an outsider to the story. Photography is, for me, a picture language that everyone all over the world can understand. This makes it valuable as well as inimitable and this is why I love it so much.

It isn’t very usual anymore, as it was when I first came to La Gomera, where I live and work today, that I take photos of the scenery of the Canary Islands. Such photos show the viewer the calm in which the partly dray, sun burnt scenery lies while at the same time reflecting the strength and variety of nature in its quite special colors.

I need a lot of time to take photos; this is one reason why I’ve been taking photos seriously for over a year. I primarily use analogue film, with different cameras, sometimes black and white and also sometimes colour. The process in analogue photography from the original image up to the finished print is clearly longer than the process of using digital photography. This time frame, using analogue photography, allows me a greater objectivity in evaluating my own pictures.

Even today a good and successful photograph lies not in the superficial controlling of the photographic method, rather in an important aspect of the application of different recording devices which I steadily pursue further. I take photos because of the pictures, because of what I see, how it feels, the motifs which fascinate me within the people and street scenes, in nature and in scenery. I would like to hold on to all of this forever, to own the visual image that has fascinated me at the location, and take home with me to look at it again and again. And I’d like to share my joy in my pictures with other people; I like to fascinate them as viewers so they cannot forget my pictures.


MW
In your opinion and experience, how can emerging photographers evaluate themselves as ready to start promoting their works and seek broader exposure for their photographs? What is one vital action you would recommend photographers undertake to find their audience, be included in exhibitions, and gain professional representation?


OW
For me, in whose life photography plays out a rather big role, I pursue the audience for my work. However not being a professional photographer as such, it’s certainly not an easy undertaking to give young and ambitious photo artists good advice on their way to professionalism. Maybe suggestions can be gleaned if I speak about my photography and myself and how I pursue images and an audience, and how it is important for me.

As I’ve mentioned, I’ve counted myself as a so called “street photographer” since 2002. I like to drift, completely without rushing or a hectic pace. The photo is not in the foreground first of all, rather quite a lot of human interactions and meetings that originate from it. I am an “autodidact”. Before I thought of attracting attention to my kind of photography, of having my first exhibition or my first book, I actually dealt more with myself and what I would like to achieve, instead of my pictures. Rather quickly I recognised that for me, serious photography is something that requires a lot of time and skill, an immense amount of sensitivity, major empathy, and endless perseverance in the darkroom too. I often ask myself how my own setting relates to the photography, what my personal values are in the photograph.

First of all, joy is very important for me in my pictures. At the same time I would like to speak through them, and have what I want to say with my pictures understood. I use my pictures instead of words, as a photographer I reveal my own quiet messages to others, particularly like-minded people who are open to sharing them. If my pictures didn’t interest anybody and no one liked them, they would have missed their purpose, for me they would be worthless no matter how high the photo-technical achievement presented. Therefore
I see little sense in keeping a lookout for motifs that have already been shown successfully by other photographers.

I am especially interested in people. With my pictures I would like to show how they really live. Therefore I go out to people with the intention of understanding them, of telling their personal stories sympathetically in my photos. I don’t take a photo of people because they could deliver good photo motifs or push character representations of individuals that are of interest to a particular exhibition.

What I take photos of, move me internally, it inspires me to speak through my pictures. I concentrate upon the motifs that interest me personally. Thus I can venture into the feelings, the life settings, and the core of the people and make my picture when the right moment comes along. By that practice I have developed my own ability to not orientate myself exclusively by the works of other photographers. This is for me a basic condition of being able to take photos successfully.

However, to find inspiration in the pictures of other photographers, in exhibitions, in publications or the like, is very stimulating for my own photographic interests, it is especially important for me and conducive to good work. It allows me to view my own work anew. To quote Amy Stein in Two Way Lens:
“They should be extremely honest with themselves about where they are in their career and brutally honest with themselves about their photographs. Put in the time and don't show the work until you have a lot more than just a couple of good photographs.”

Before you enter, do your homework and make sure the reviewers, judges or past winners are a good fit for your work.

Any imitation of another photographer’s style on an ongoing basis brings no satisfaction and it doesn’t prompt me to find my own style, to take my own individual kind of photos which are able to speak for me. As an “amateur photographer” I have the opportunity to express myself freely because I seldom do “photography-to-order” or commissioned work, and therefore I want to be a photographer working from my own impulses and agenda.

I have found my own style, it develops constantly but viewers can still understand what I want to say and recognise me in my pictures each time. It inspires me to find the perfect expression of my personal style, and pushes my photographic sense forward. I question my activities and myself self critically and honestly, particularly in regard to discussing the production of photography with other photographers.

While refining my own style I am certainly not a photographer who is only in love with his photographic equipment and completely forgets to take the making of pictures seriously. If one concentrates his interests more on the photographic instruments than on the real aim of creating pictures which reflect his own personality, one will very quickly lose that real intention. You can make good pictures that speak to the viewer with any camera, it doesn’t matter which type or brand it is. I think while on the road to a good photo, every photographer should try to combine the following qualities in their work: a picture should attract attention; the intention of the photographer and the sense of the picture should be clearly recognisable; the photo should stimulate the senses – feelings can release feelings; and finally, it should reveal a graphic creation.

Eventually every photographer should find their own photographic style, their future path. Then it seems to me, you come into a good time with a steadily growing need to show others your own pictures, in exhibitions for example. Today there are endless opportunities to show, discuss and exchange ideas about the process of photography with a wide and interested audience. Also through this process, it’s certainly advisable to discover more and more new ways to refine and perfect your own photography and to inspire yourself. Its especially helpful to be inspired by the work of like-minded photographers with similarly high aspirations, and to see what they have to show.


MW
How did it come about that you achieved the status of successful, professional photographer? What steps were involved in reaching your level of success?


OW
As an “amateur photographer” and “autodidact”, photography is not my true profession. It is my big passion, almost and addiction which I pursue very seriously when my occupation as a doctor allows me time for it. Today I still make my pictures by the method I’ve described, and I will probably continue to do so in the future.
Photography, in my very personal style, has become the elixir of life for me. It gives me strength, it makes me happy and I like being able to share the joy that I experience through it with other people who are attracted to my pictures. If someone asks me if I want to show my pictures in exhibitions, then yes, I really like to do that as often as possible. When the moment comes that there are more rather than fewer exhibitions, I’ll have to say that I have become a professional photographer to a certain extent, as long as its about the refinement of my personal style as a “street photographer”. I especially like to show my pictures to people who view them as everyday stories. If they can understand my pictures, that level of “professionalism” is basically enough for me.


from the series Marrakech


from the series Marrakech


from the series Marrakech


from the series Marrakech


from the series Peninsula


from the series Peninsula


from the series Peninsula


from the series La Matanza


from the series La Matanza


from the series Holga Day


© all images Oliver Weber