What pieces or projects have you been working on lately?
I’m drawn to landscapes that have some level of abstraction or surrealism. This, combined with a more recent endeavor to include people in these landscapes and create more environmental portraits.
What did you learn (or unlearn) while working on them?
I’m still learning the art of approaching people I find interesting. There's a mix of sincerity and humour required which I’m yet to master.
What words, ideas or emotions were going through your head?
I’m motivated by a desire to push myself outside my comfort zone. Landscapes don’t judge, so I feel at ease taking photos amongst it. I’m drawn to the aesthetics that surround people's lives, extensions of their personality, especially the ones they are unaware of. The unromantic, unmanicured people. It's also more of a statement on an era, and fifty years down the line, I feel I may attribute more value to the people-centred photos over the stand-alone landscapes.
Were there any conversations, movies, music, or books that made their way into that work?
The people I surround myself with have influence over the progression of my work. I’ve recently moved from the suburbs to a busier part of the city with more overt, diverse, and unapologetic characters. Scenes that challenge my preconceived style I had subconsciously set for myself and get me excited about something new.
What's been the most difficult thing you've faced recently in your creative process?
Most of this newer work is yet to be developed, so for now you can enjoy work from this purgatory I’m in.
What is your favorite restaurant and what do you recommend we order?
My favorite restaurant is Antep, a Turkish kebab place down the road. There are witches and alchemists gathered in the back of that place adding divine spices to the lamb skewers.
If your life were a movie this month, what would it be called and who would write the soundtrack?
If my life were a movie this month, its title I’m sure would be something like Fuck me, it’s too hot to go outside and shoot. The soundtrack would be mosquitos buzzing and perhaps the sizzling of flesh.
This also ties into the earlier question of the most creatively difficult thing I’ve faced this month, and it's mainly just the motivation to leave the air-conditioning. But I guess is creatively stifling myself worth it for a vapid comfortability, a question I still have to ask myself.
Recommend one or more artists you follow who inspire you, and tell us what you like most about their work or their way of working.
Two artists who I’m greatly inspired by are Alex and Rebecca Webb, and in the same breath Chivo (Emmanuel Lubezki), who show us the boundless potential of evocative and abstract landscapes and how you situate the people within them.
