Tim Hailand

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


TH
I moved to NYC in 1983 to become a painter. I have made art since I was a little kid, was always making something. Used to take lots of polaroids in the late 80’s, early 90’s. I took a small pocket 35mm camera with me to Miami around 1995 and also a box of letters, there I created my first “word pieces” and it all just clicked (no pun intended) I think in a very visual manner, and a camera helps best facilitate my vision. My imagination is my main motivation – ideas come from everywhere – I’m just a conduit for them. I love photography as it is “real”, while at the same time a complete construction as is any art form.


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?


TH
I attended art school, and have always been around other creative people. For myself, critical dialogue with smart people is essential to really figuring out what ones work is actually “about”. A strong basis of art/photography history, most importantly an awareness of the work of others that has come before you is very important. Otherwise there is no context for ones work.

That being said, I think one must always follow their own intuition and vision really do what they are inspired to do, photograph what you are most passionate about, and then hope that there is an audience for it – be true to yourself. There are no guarantees or sure way of doing anything – just work hard and manifest your visions through your work.


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?


TH
I’m not really a “professional photographer”, I’m an artist, I make things that I show in art galleries mainly. I don’t do “commercial” work. I have had to make my work when there seemed to be no audience for it. There are lots of people out there with cameras (especially these days with digital cameras which I never use) Hard work is the only way really, that and always pushing yourself to make better work. Figure out what makes your work special/unique and push in that direction.


Tim Hailand, Andreas Kronthaler in Milano in Berlin, 2008


Tim Hailand, Bernhard Schulte in Kaiserwerth in Rome, 2008


Tim Hailand, Fabrizio in Rome in Paris in Provincetown in London, 2007


Tim Hailand, François Sagat in Paris in Las Vegas, 2007


Tim Hailand, Lori Bell in Miami in Berlin, 2008


Tim Hailand, Maciek Mika in Krakow in Berlin, 2007


Tim Hailand, Self Portrait in Pittsburgh in Prague, 2008

© all images Tim Hailand

Andrew Phelps

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


AP
I was first attracted to the science of photography. As a teenager I used to love to feel the weight of that big F2 dangling from my hand, strolling the desert, looking for motifs that I had seen before and come to recognize as “good” photographs. If I looked through the viewfinder and saw something that I thought I had seen before, on a calendar, in a magazine, on a poster, then I new it had to be good and worthy of photographing. In contrast to now, I loved talking about f-stops, film speeds and lens focal lengths. Living in the Southwest, the landscape is such a powerful force yet loaded with preconceptions of what it should look like. I was constantly chasing these preconceptions in the summer and photographing wrestling matches for my high-school yearbook during the winter. The satisfaction came from finding the right solution to the problem; making the picture what was “expected.”

It wasn’t until my time at ASU, studying with people like Bill Jay, Bill Jenkins and Tamarra Kaida that everything changed, and in such a monumental way that I still, 16 years on, am content with the struggle of trying to get my mind around what I spend my time doing. I started the photo program so sure of myself because I had all the gear and a nice picture or two to show, but nothing can prepare you for the moment you see the works of Diane Arbus, Walker Evens, Robert Frank and co., and have someone like Bill Jenkins tell you, in one simple sentence, almost as if in passing, that there is a monumental difference between “subject matter” and “content”. If I got nothing out of my studies, or to put it better, if I could break it down to one essential moment, it would be the realization that a photograph is not a documentation of reality, and it is most definitely not about the “thing” in the viewfinder.

So, to answer the question, I was using my camera for years before I was motivated to start taking photographs. I got into it because I liked the safety in knowing that it was pure science – a technical craft that could be controlled and defined by the laws of physics. I have stayed interested because I still can’t tell you why a photograph is successful.


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?


AP
I think it is very important to spend a lengthy amount of time with a body of work. Just how long is tough to say but I believe each photographer can feel it for themselves. For me it has always been an important step in any body of work to start eliminating photographs. Images that at one time you thought were your strongest. The difference involved with putting together a group of images over time, as opposed to chasing the single interesting photo, is the distance that you gain to the images. Adding the element of time, such as revisiting a series each week for a year or two, adding to the pile and paying attention to how the images relate to one another gives you distance from and insight into your work, and insight into one’s own work is a major challenge for photographers early on in their careers. Photography is constantly becoming quicker and quicker and there is a certain danger in confusing the emotions of making the image for what is actually in front of you later on the print. So often I look through photos that someone has asked me to critique or comment on and I am amazed that some of these people often have little understanding of their own work, and most importantly how to edit their own work. Build on a series long enough to the point that you toss out images that were once essential and you will be getting close to a tightly edited body of work.

In the pursuit of galleries, shows, publications and representation, the most important factor for me has been traveling. I have worked as a curator and member of the Galerie Fotohof for the last 15 years and I can say with absolute certainty that no one has ever gotten a show by walking through the door with a fancy leather portfolio under their arm, nor by sending a CD in the mail. In fact a CD in the mail is maybe the quickest road to the garbage can; too many steps involved to get to the work and there isn’t any work out there that looks good at 72 dpi. Almost everything good I have going for me as far as galleries and publishers is concerned is the direct result of traveling and meeting people. It is the traveling and going to openings and meeting people that lead to the real relationships, and there is so much high-quality work out there that the gallery owners and publishers have to make their decisions based on something other than just good work. Personal connection, in these days of superficial email based communication, is highly respected and valued. I would, and have in the recent past, suggest to younger photographers to take the money they would spend on a portfolio and buy a plane ticket to Paris Photo or Arles or Houston Photo Festival and meet people and find galleries and publishers that you think might be interested in your work. It happens so often that people show me their work and I have to ask them if they know what I do and what I am interested in, both as photographer and curator, because the work is something I can’t begin to offer something in return on, not because it is necessarily bad, but because it’s just so far from what I relate to. This only tells me that they haven’t defined the work for themselves either.


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?


AP
There must be some great quote to sum up the answer to this question. The only one which comes to mind, but I repeat it with reserve because I never quite got it myself, was from Nathan Lyons, who said, I think, “fame is a cup of warm spit”. Brilliant yet completely useless to me, maybe that’s the message in itself. Success in a field like art photography is so relative. Each of us measures it with a different ruler. For me success is when an image or a body of work come together in a way unlike I had hoped, and when I can step back and say to myself “interesting, but how about trying this…?” and then move on to the next work. The most successful work you will do is the work that leads you to the next body of work. Yes, I have reached a certain level of success, but so much of it is based on my fellow photographers, critics and art directors, and sometimes by those I have admired and been inspired by and their ability to recognize what I do and call it good. How shallow is that? By the time a certain image makes its way into the wider world beyond my studio, I am usually onto the next thing, and so the praise that may come is nice, but seems as valuable as, well, a cup of warm spit. Under the same token, the negative critique also slides off as easily. I value much more the words and thoughts of a handful of close friends than all of the art critics combined.

I am avoiding the actual question because the answer is rather boring, at least my take on it. It sounds so trite, but hard work and persistence will put you in the 98 percentile right away. The other 2% is probably timing. You may be producing a work that is exactly what you need to be doing at the time, but it might not fit into the current themes and trends. It is so easy to see right through a work which is made out of speculation.

Unfortunately, the above mentioned group of friends can’t pay my rent, so I keep up the fight as best I can, which means investing all of my time not spent behind the camera or in the lab to traveling, writing and trying to get my work out there. That may be the toughest part of all, getting the work out there. Whenever I feel tripped up by all of it, I think of the words a collector once told me: “you can’t keep a good work secret”. Success, either financially or in the form of respect from your peers, does make working and moving on to the next work easier, and that is what it is all about; making the next picture.




Andrew Phelps, from HIGLEY, 2007l


Andrew Phelps, from HIGLEY, 2007


Andrew Phelps, from HIGLEY, 2007


Andrew Phelps, from HIGLEY, 2007


Andrew Phelps, from HIGLEY, 2007


Andrew Phelps, from BAGHDAD SUITE, 2008


Andrew Phelps, from NATURE DE-LUXE, 2004

© all images, Andrew Phelps

Richard Renaldi

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


RR
I started to take photographs as a junior in high school. I was originally signed up to take Art but the class was full so I took photo instead. I instantly took to it and it was something that I felt I intuitively did well - and this gave me a certain confidence as I certainly was no different that most teenagers looking for a way to fit in and identify themselves in the larger world around them.
My photography teacher in high school was also very encouraging. I applied to art schools or schools with a photography curriculum and was accepted into the Department of Photography at NYU. I also worked after school at Magnum and then at a leftist photo co-operative called Impact Visuals in the 1990s. Being in these stimulating environments (especially Magnum) inspired me to get to work on my own projects and eventually led me to pursue a freelance career.
What keeps me inspired and working is simply that I love doing it. I really enjoy looking at people and places and making photographs of them. I feel anxious if I have not done any creative work for over a couple of weeks. That is part of the reason I think I am so productive/prolific. Unfortunately, I suspect that much of the art world generally prefers artists that do not create too much work as they need to keep and maintain the illusion of preciousness around art for the sake of commodity.


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?


RR
This is difficult to answer as there are many avenues to pursue. I had the good fortune of meeting a few gallerists to whom I presented my work. Over the years I kept showing them new work. Some of the opportunities came from people that truly understood and appreciated my work - other ones came from a more calculated business position. Emerging photographers should start promoting themselves when they are confident about what they are doing creatively and can talk seriously and maturely about their work and other art as well. Some people are not good talkers though, so I think in the end the work needs to speak for itself. The vital action for photographers to take is really to focus most on creating strong and inspiring work. The rest honestly is a pretty mechanized set of things everyone knows to do to try to get noticed. Sometimes it works, but most often it unfortunately does not.

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?


RR
It depends on how you define success. As far as recognition goes - I was very fortunate to have had my work published by Aperture, a truly respected institution. I still think I am learning and growing as both an artist and a human being. As far as financial success: I think it is a struggle for most photographers at every level of the game. I am sure some of the heavy hitters still want and need a big sale, commission, ad job, or assignment. I really think this question is one of perspective; I look at other photographers who I see as being much more successful than I am. And I know that other photographers see me as a "successful" photographer. What I'd rather people think about me is that however much or little my work is noticed in the commercial realm, the work I created was successful from an aesthetic/artistic standpoint. That I made a photograph and someone looked at it and said that is something I find beautiful or desirable. That acknowledgment to me is what I think of as success.




Richard Renaldi, Steve and Esther Kirshenmann Farm, Medina, ND



Richard Renaldi, Burke, SD



Richard Renaldi, Curtis Maui, HI



Richard Renaldi, Alex, NY, NY

© all images Richard Renaldi

DEBORAH HAMON

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


D.H.
I consider myself an artist who works both in painting and photography, rather than calling myself a photographer. My paintings provide the figures that populate my constructed photographs. I use Photoshop to combine background scenes that I have photographed with these painted figures to create a believable yet curious new reality. The initial inspiration to create these photographs actually happened by accident. However, utilizing and honing the skills that I had, enabled me to turn this accident into an artistic and professional pursuit. As long as photography remains an effective tool to explore my ideas I will continue to work in the field.

Here’s more details of how I started making this work….

I did take a lot of photography when I was studying art at University in addition to painting and graphic design. When I finished university in 1990 and moved to San Francisco my boyfriend (now husband) had a dark room at his parent’s house close by. I would spend hours in there. At the same time I was pursuing a career in graphic design. However, when I started my own design business, it was difficult for me to make time to continue to pursue my interest in photography.

Fast forward to the year 2000 when I gave up my design business to go to graduate school to study painting full time. For most of the two-year program I was only using photography as a tool to get images as reference for my paintings. However, towards the end of my studies I had some questions about scale relationships in a painting I was working on. I was using Photoshop to experiment with resizing the figures (having honed my computer skills in my design career for ten years.) I cut and pasted one of the figures into a “real” environment and was intrigued by the result. At my final MFA presentation, I was presenting my paintings on the wall, and I decided to show a few printouts of the constructed photographs that I had been experimenting with – which received positive reviews.

At the time, digital SLR cameras were still very pricey, so instead I worked with a small point-and-shoot digital camera and printed them on my desktop printer. I was interested in the work but the final output wasn’t meeting my standards so I put it aside for awhile. After my daughter was born, I was looking for something I could work on at home in shorter time segments (since taking her to my painting studio didn’t work out), and the idea of pursuing this work returned. I invested in some new equipment and researched printing processes and was really excited about the results I was producing and was ready to show the work in 2005.


M.W.
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?


D.H.
I think it is really important for an emerging artist/photographer to have a strong vision and a consistent quality to their work before they begin to market and promote themselves. You might have a few good images, but you need to be able to show that you can consistently produce high quality work. Don’t dilute your great pieces with mediocre work. I think it is much better to show ten really good images rather than twenty images where half are of average quality. Make sure each piece is technically excellent as well as presented professionally. Determine what it is about your work that is unique to you. Don’t show a gallery multiple different directions you’ve taken. Your consistent vision should come across in all of your work. If you truly believe in your work and have paid attention to the previously mentioned suggestions, then be confident. Try not to take rejection personally. Think of it as just trying to find the right fit for your work.

The vital action I would recommend is to make sure you get exposure for your work and really pay attention to the business side of being an artist. A good way to try to get exposure for your work is by entering juried shows. However, with entry fees and framing and shipping costs, weigh the benefits before entering. I usually only enter a show if the juror is a curator/gallerist of note, or if the show is at a location that will look good on a CV. Or sometimes if the entry fee is low, and the cash prizes are quite high and I don’t have to ship anything such as an online competition or a local show. Also, for broader exposure, enter artist competitions where the winners have their work published. Add your work to free online artist registries and networks. Make sure you have your own professional website. Don’t expect someone to stumble across it but it is a great tool if you meet someone who is interested in your work and you can provide a business card with your web address. Plus it makes you look like a serious, professional artist. Send out packets to galleries but expect a lot of rejections. Make sure the gallery represents work that is a good fit with yours. Make sure you follow up on any potential leads. Additionally, be really organized and once you start to get a number of opportunities I think it is great to have a database for all of your inventory and contacts. Especially when you have limited edition photographs it is very helpful to quickly be able to determine exactly what piece is where and what is available. And having a database with all of your contacts is vital. It enables you to easily notify all of your contacts when you have upcoming exhibitions or news. You can keep track of all of your collectors and make notes whenever there are good leads. And the main thing is to be persistent. Don’t expect overnight success -- this happens to very few people.


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


D.H.
Even though I feel that I have had a moderate amount of success, I still consider myself an emerging artist and continue to vigorously pursue getting exposure for my work.

While opportunities have come my way, I believe the steps I have taken have put me in a position where these opportunities can happen. My suggestions for question number two is really only advice based on my own experiences. These are things I have done to reach the level I am at.

Since I am always curious as to exactly how an artist got where they are -- here’s some specifics of how I got my New York and Germany gallery connections…

The gallery in New York actually saw my work on an artist registry in 2007 (artistsspace.org) and contacted me. They then later took my work to an art fair in New York and a collector bought one of the pieces for his personal collection. This collector happened to be a gallery owner in Germany who loved my work and asked me if I was interested in showing in Germany. This resulted in two simultaneous solo exhibitions in 2008 at their two spaces in Berlin (one for photography, one for painting.) And also a two-person show at their Frankfurt gallery shortly thereafter.

I have always worked really hard, I believe in my work, and really love what I do. I am also very ambitious so I hope to achieve a much higher level of success. Stay tuned…


Deborah Hamon, The Game, Digital C-Print, 2008, 15 x 15 inches and 28.5 x 28.5 inches


Deborah Hamon, Snowbound, Digital C-Print, 2007, 15 x 15 inches and 28.5 x 28.5 inches


Deborah Hamon, American Girl, Digital C-Print, 2007, 15 x 15 inches and 28.5 x 28.5 inches

© all images Deborah Hamon