Spotlight 7 Week 25: Brett Walker

A little different process this week. Our guest curator is Bukutgirl, aka Liz Kasameyer, who explains the story behind the interview with this week's artist, [brett walker]. A big thanks to both Bukutgirl and Brett Walker for an amazing interview and 10 great photos. On Flickr.

[Please note that since isn't a straight interview, Bukutgirl paraphrases Brett's answers and relates some highlights, so everything is written in Bukutgirl's voice. Brett doesn't actually talk about himself in the third person. -- Ed.]

I chose Brett Walker to be the artist that I wanted to feature on Spotlight Seven as a guest curator. I e-mailed questions to Brett but he asked if he could just talk to me on the phone – so he called me in Baltimore at a little bit past midnight from his home in London. We talked for about an hour and a half. These are some of the highlights of that conversation:

1) Brett, although I’ve been admiring your work for years – I know next to nothing about the person behind the camera besides the fact that you live in London – What can you tell me about your life and history that brought you to the photographer that you are now?
Brett Walker was born some years ago in England to a nurse who in his own words, “hated sick people”. Some of his earliest memories are of nurses crowding around his mother’s kitchen on their night off – feet feet and more feet – he ascribes his occasional need to take shots of women’s feet as a result of this experience. At seventeen he began working as a photographers assistant – and from there he moved on to breaking into professional work at twenty-one. Brett was shooting in Japan for a diamond company when, as fate and a little fib would have it, he was suddenly thrust in making commercials and eventually went on to be a successful jet-setting fashion photographer. Somewhere between the incessant flights to Milan and Paris, professional fashion photography began to eat away at Brett. He found himself killing his frustration with the industry more and more with a “little bit of this and that” to the point that he was spending more time killing the frustration that came with the work than doing it. He hung up his camera at that point for about 15 years and wandered off to become part of the Greek Merchant Marine, the highlights of that job included, “working with a bunch of guys that looked like the Supermario brothers” and “learning to count to 50 in Greek”. He came to live out of Brazil , sailing the Belgium-Brazil route for 5 years. From there he moved on to work out of war torn Angola with HIV/ AIDS effected street kids. Although he loved the work he soon became disgusted with the hypocrisy effecting the NGO world and decided to move on. Now life finds Mr. Walker living in London, in a state flat, 500 yards from his job, within 200 yards of a state mental hospital. Certainly the breadth of his travel experiences have impacted his photography, but in addition to that Brett stated that he’s been down his share of dark roads and that those experiences have deeply impacted his sense of self, others, and the world around him. These experiences play out in the lens that he turns on his surroundings, and are echoed in the images that he brings to life.

2) Your work is charged with life and grit – it also has a sense of urgency to it – how much of that is a result of your surroundings vs. your internal world?
Brett spoke at length about how photography is for him a need, as vital as eating or drinking, when he feels as though he hasn’t taken a good shot in a week there’s a sense of “the vultures circling”. “Nothing does it for me the way that photography does, not sex, not drugs, not alcohol”, from speaking with him I could hear pieces of my own story, the intense need to expel some of the internal chaos by catching it on the faces and forms outside of himself, pinning down it’s image and freezing it for all time. He says he’s lucky because his surroundings and the people from the mental institution that frequent his streets and cafes make it easier to catch these things he can’t name, out in the open, but I think, that no matter where he was living in the world he would still go out hunting every day, and go to the lengths it took to bring home the images that would ease the tension, if just for a moment.

3) What is your process when you got out to shoot? Do you go out with a purpose or do you just shoot and let the shots call out to you when you’re editing?
Brett has a formal job, but it allows him a lot of time out in the streets to shoot, he says he shoots on average 400 frames a day, and counts himself lucky if he likes one. He shoots with a wide angle lens and likes to basically shoot street candids, catching the honest moments of a person’s day when they are simply existing. He doesn’t go out with a goal for a certain scene, just goes out to see what the streets will bring him. He said that sometimes he’ll see someone and they fit a memory or an idea, and he’ll try to shoot them to that end, like seeing a man in a market who fits his vision of what his father might have looked like. He shoots often from the hip, afraid to look down to see if he’s “killed it or simply wounded it” – referring to the shot that is, and when a great shot shows up everything else is out of the window for the day, nothing else will do but to go home and edit. In describing the editing process, and image selection he said that he’ll start playing with something in photoshop, not even sure what will come out of it and the image guides his work from there, often dumping him at the end with a shocked feeling that he hadn’t even really realized that that was what needed to come out or that that moment was inside.

4) Of the works that I choose would you mind telling us the story behind your favorite?
Brett didn’t have a favorite per-say of the works that I chose but he had a great personal attachment to this one: [We'll add the photo soon -ed.]

This shot was taken on the very first day he met his son, who was 13 at the time. Brett met his son and went for a walk with him through the streets of his neighborhood. A woman approached him who he had been desperately wanting to photograph for sometime. She was former go-go dancer named Princess, who was certain that Steven Speilberg was about to make a movie about her. She approached Brett and his son and asked Brett if he was a photographer and invited them up to her flat, which was “a sorry little flat, hardly any furniture, covered in old photos of herself, that smelt like there was a dead cat somewhere that she just couldn’t find”. His son sat on the couch and Brett started taking pictures and talking to Princess, half way through she decided to change into something more comfortable and began to get entirely undressed, at which point Brett looked over at his son sitting calmly on the couch and thought to himself, “fuck, today was supposed to be a Hallmark father-son day and now look” he was really worried that his son would reject him over the experience and that his mother would never allow him to see the child again. As it turned out the shots came out great and when his son returned to school on Monday it was his favorite story to tell, “sealing the deal so to speak”.

5) What about portrait work, set up shoots – do you do them? What is your process there?
I asked him this question because there is a woman who regularly shows up in his work and I was curious about how that worked. He stated that she was a neighbor of his who sometimes had trouble meeting her bills, so he asks her if she needs money and she comes up and lets him shoot. He said it’s funny because she doesn’t care about the shots at all, she’s never even seen the work that has come out of those sessions. He figures if he can help someone while they help him then paying for folks to sit for him is perfectly fine. He also talked about other set up portrait work and how people who come to sit for portraits already have an idea of what they want to show, and he needs to disarm them and get them off guard in order to get the shots he wants. He said he spends several minuets at the beginning of a session being quite mean and then starts shooting and building them back up.

6) Is there a shot on flickr that you wish you’d taken? Why?
Brett stated that there was a lot of work on flickr he liked but the shots he really wished he’d taken he found on Square America (which can be found at: www.squareamerica.com/) and Look at Me (which can be found at: www.moderna.org/lookatme/) two websites dedicated to “found photography”– he loves the old shots that he has no idea who took them or what was happening or who was being shot – that they blow him away all the time. This was really interesting from the stand point that Brett reminded me that he never names his shots or gives a description, instead he wants to leave them open for whatever anyone wants to find in them. I find it fascinating looking at his work because I have no idea when or where his shots were taken, it’s like stepping off in to an alternate universe, I never knew why this was until Brett told me that he refuses to photograph anyone with a sign of modernity on them, like an ipod or an Adias sweatshirt, he also joked that this really limited the pool of people to shoot from, as most men these days look like they were dressed by their mother’s and so what he’s left with are the “young wild ones and the very old, the ones who fall through the cracks”.

7)Which of the shots that I chose was the hardest to catch, why?
Brett stated that it was the man in the middle of screaming. He’s a patient at the hospital and he’s very aggressive and violent, people fear him because he spits and they are afraid of Hep C and all of that. Brett was walking down the street with three friends and this man latched on the sight of one of his friends and decided that he was someone from his past who had done him terribly wrong and started screaming at him and spitting, Brett started shooting from about waist level and caught this, a shot that I consider to be truly remarkable.

8) What are your goals in terms of photography? Publishing? Shows? Professional –or is it more of a hobby for you?
Brett is going to keep taking shots as long as he still gets joy out of it – he never wants to be a professional again and isn’t even sure if he’s a photographer, as he thinks of the word as denoting a job, like a plumber, he says that he’s not a photographer - he takes pictures. He is very excited about the web and digital photography and the number of people that have access now. He has students of his own in London, allows them to use his lenses and his computers and occasionally looks over their shoulder telling them to do or not to do something, “like telling a kid not to color outside the lines” to which I told him I thought that was funny for a man whose work is pretty much full of images that color outside the lines. His goal right now is to make images that he will still want to look at ten to twenty years from now. Right now he feels as though he’s moving to the left and right, copying himself, he feels a new push coming though he’s not sure when it’s going to take hold and is vaguely frustrated at the moment.

9) Your shots are full of unfinished stories and personal moments – one of my favorite qualities of your work – what can you tell me about that –
Brett responded that he sees a lot of people who’ve essentially “lost the plot”. That when he’s out shooting he doesn’t want to “see someone begging, because on some levels we’re all begging” instead he wants to find the “pieces that are still right” to make sure that the people that he photographs still have their dignity. When he shoots older women in particular he looks to find a spark, a twinkle, a moment that hints at what they looked like when they were young.

10) You do so much street shooting, how do you approach people, or do you? What is your process there?
Brett stated that street shooting gives him the opportunity to over come some fear barriers – a chance to exercise some of his demons – that somewhere inside of us all, we know when it’s okay to take a shot and when it’s not, and that the times he gets “caught” are the times that he is desperate to get a shot, and stops following his own rules. Then the subject gets mad and all he can do is apologize, “and go sit in a café and say, fuck”.

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My hour and a half conversation with Brett Walker left me even more fascinated with the person behind the shots as well as the shots themselves. I hope that you will enjoy his work as much as I have and please visit his stream at: flickr.com/photos/brettwalker/ in order to get an even more in depth sense of his work.


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Spotlight 7 Week 24 Artist: Tom Hoops

Please welcome our week 24 Artist: Tom Hoops. On Flickr.

1) Tell us about where you're living right now and how it's influencing your photography.
I live in Bangkok, Thailand. I live in an unusual part of town, my neighbors on one side have expensive houses and on the other there is a small slum. It was in this little slum that I first took my camera and started capturing life in the area.

Bangkok as a city is full of contrasts and amazing people. It's partly a beautiful city but can be equally very ugly. I try and capture the real side of things, not the sort of images you see in travel brochures. I think my work can be regarded as a reflection of the city, mostly ugly, with a hint of the odd, unusual and sometimes beautiful.

2) Where's your favourite place for finding subjects?
Tough question. Bangkok is great all over, but I tend to like the markets and places where people are themselves. You are more likely to find me in these places or a slum than a shopping centre or uptown area.

I will often just walk about and end up in all sorts of places.
Anywhere you find lots of people is good. Train stations, bus stations, public events, anywhere people feel comfortable and I am not too obtrusive.

3) If you could travel one place for a few weeks to just do photography, where would it be?
Another tough one, I'd say a toss up for me between India and the UK.. As you are only allowing one choice I'm going to say the UK. I think it's a fantastic place to shoot. The people are very varied and the environments are superb.

If I were in the UK right now I would be shooting families at home, 60s wallpaper backgrounds, funfairs, chavs, council estates, amateur boxing, the list goes on. London is as cosmopolitan as it gets, what a great place to photograph people.

4) What is your equipment of choice?
Well my dream set up would be the D3 for its high ISO capabilities and a couple of lenses. A Mac and Photoshop.

I have friends who have every piece of equipment available, the best of everything. Photography is expensive. I try and keep it down to the basics so my wallet doesn't feel too hard done by!

5) How much does equipment help a photographer in your opinion?
It depends on the photographer, I don't believe equipment will turn you into a good photographer, but it certainly helps. You can't pretend that a point and shoot gives you the same results as an SLR with a decent lens.

6) Talk us through your processing techniques, particularly through some of the Nikon D80 highly processed B&Ws
All of my processing is done through Photoshop. I don't use just one method I often play around until I find something I like. In general I bring in the raw file and convert to black and white using gradient map, then fiddle with curves and levels. If it's a close up portrait I will dodge and burn to add some more contrast. If I'm feeling in the mood I might add some texture layers also. Once I am at a stage I am happy with I will sharpen the image and then save.
I enjoy the processing almost as much as taking the photos; it adds another creative element to my work.

7) What goals do you have with your photography, either emotionally, professionally, or both.
I really can't put into words how much I love taking photos. So if the opportunity came along that I was able to turn it into a full time job I would do so. Short term I would like to put an exhibition together and start on a couple of little projects I have in mind. Long term I would love to produce some meaningful photojournalism, and later perhaps help others who want to try photographing people, but are a little too shy to do so….. possibly in the form of some holiday tours.

Have to also mention project 12. A great project with some very talented people.
project012.wordpress.com


8) Which is your favorite portrait we chose for Spotlight Seven? Tell us something about it.
Well you have chosen a shot of my lovely wiife so I have to choose that one. She puts up with me and for that she deserves a medal. She looks great in the black and white too; she is more beautiful than she gives herself credit for.

Also have to mention this one www.flickr.com/photos/tomhoops/2349758436/in/pool-spotlig...

It's one of the first times I shot a photo and called my wife over to take a look at it. I like it when that happens. He happens to live near by and has an extraordinary face.

9) Show us any photo on Flickr you wish you took
There are so many! Flickr has talent in abundance if you know where to look.
I could have chosen from so many. But as I can only choose one it's this one:

www.flickr.com/photos/mecan/136446669/

It does what a photo should do. it makes you sit up and notice.

10)Any influences on Flickr or elsewhere you want to share, maybe something you've learned from them?
Loads of them.

Look through my favs and you will see inspiration all over. Artists pushing the limits. Not many kitten shots or babies and flowers but a host of talented people putting photos up that consistently inspire me. I have made some real friends on Flickr. Philbertobehan, Billy Gomez, Kirsty Mitchell, Bichito and Falsalama to name a few.
The magnum photographers are a constant source of inspiration, when i started a friend plonked a giant magnum coffee table book on my lap and it's been difficult to stop leafing through it ever since.

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Spotlight 7 Week 23: nonac.

Please welcome Week 23 Artist, nonac. who was guest curated by Desolate Places (formerly known as Duff Suds). On Flickr.

1) You are from Pittsburgh, how do you feel that the urban setting influences your vision - especially portraits?

I was born in Pittsburgh and after college moved out West to Colorado, then it was out to California for a short stint and a few other places in between, but in the end I found myself back where I started, the City of Pittsburgh, the place that is definitely my "home". Living and shooting in the city has influenced me greatly and I believe it has provided me with that essential diverse atmosphere to develop within, it has also provided a landscape that is never the same, ever-changing, so to speak. My particular vision is to never be devoid of diversity and always reflect that in the serious work I produce as a photographer. I strive to find the unique, the subject matter that I've never approached before with the camera. Pittsburgh, as well as every other metropolitan environment I have either lived in or visited has provided a never-ending bounty of subjects to document with the camera. That is incredibly important to me as I tend to favor portraiture as my genre of choice with the camera. The city is always alive and always changing, growing, altering its own makeup and design, I feel that is why I have grown to love documenting its fabric, the people who call it home, with my camera.


2) What are you thinking and feeling when you're talking to some of these people you've photographed?

I rarely have a predestined approach when shooting street portraiture, I must rely on spontaneity to decides the path and course of action I take with the camera. Unless I am working on a commissioned project or gallery exhibition I let my eyes to the walking and my mind to the talking. I am quite an inquisitive person by nature, I love meeting new people no matter the place and time so I am usually concerned with finding out why a particular person struck me enough to stop dead in my tracks, walk up to them hold out my hand and introduce myself and eventually my camera.

I want to express my own deep, personal feelings about how important it is to meet someone new each day. To enrich my own life by beginning a new friendship, albeit brief in most cases, and do what just comes naturally...the art of conversation. It's my belief that we would all be better off if we just took the time to say "hello" to one another. That sometimes completely freaks out people, it seems that people don't want to be bothered in any fashion, they'd rather go about their day and business without never really taking the time to say "hello" as they pass by a complete stranger. Me, well, I can't just walk by and ignore someone. I feel compelled to spread an ounce of kindness to just about everyone I meet. I feel it's important to my survival as a person. I simply cannot grow as a human being unless I interact and listen.


3) You seem to be very close to some of your subjects, referencing them by name and shooting portraits on different occasions as you come across them - how does "knowing them" effect the way you depict them and have you ever become too close with any of your subjects?

I have become great friends with a handful of people who merely started out as subjects for my lens. Some I have been documenting for 6-7-8 years now. Simply "knowing them" has greatly affected the way I depict these folks, almost to the point to where I share a great sense of intimacy with these people and I have been able to express that through a passing moment that only I have seen and felt compelled to capture and share. I believe "knowing them" has allowed me to capture these intimate moments with great ease and sensitivity but never to the point where I feel hampered or distracted by our friendships. These people simply feel comfortable with me entering their lives now and snapping the shutter. That has been incredibly important to me. I want my subjects to know they can trust me. I will not violate their trust nor portray them in any fashion that would violate that trust they have extended to me.

We share secrets, we've begun to know each others habits, interests, birthdays, routines...it's made me a well-wounded social documentarian in my honest opinion mainly because I have developed feelings and concerns for this small pool of subjects who trust me in the way they do. When they hurt, I hurt, When they smile, I smile. I want to express those moments whenever possible.

4) What do you want people to learn about the people you photograph?

That we are all common celebrities and have a place on this earth together. That we cannot exist without each other, that what happens to another could easily happen to each one of us. That no one single person is above another, that we are all here for a reason no matter the color of our skin, the language we speak, the places we live and call home or the jobs/vocations we have chosen as our life's work. I want people to learn that there is something unique in each of us and even though we may not acknowledge that certain something every day it's out there, willing to be noticed and appreciated. I want people to know that it's critical to "find the good in everyone".


5) Out of the photos we've chosen here, which portrait means the most to you and why? Is there another you wish we had chosen?

"Claudelle pauses".
Why..., well, I was having a conversation that day with Claudelle on a street in downtown Pittsburgh on a day when I was going through quite a rough patch personally. Claudelle saw me walking down the opposite side of the street, walked over to me and asked me, "What's wrong, baby, why do you look like you just lost your best friend?" What happened, Craig?". He took the time to recognize that I was not feeling my best, that something was troubling me and approached me about it. I explained my pain, he paused for a moment and began to provide sage advice on what I could and should do to combat the problems and issues I was facing. It was at that moment that I felt compelled to snap the shutter, it's my nature to do so. I remember that moment, his advice till this day and it helped me immensely to get through the funk I was in. I want to remember that small act of kindness for as long as I can. The portrait provides that memory for me.


6) Some of the photos in your stream are politically charged. What can you tell us about your portrait of the US Marine?

I try, so hard, to remain objective when I shoot but it's the one flaw I have and just can't shake. That fact does shine through, sometimes, when I provide a bit of commentary with the images I snap and share.

The U.S. Marine I met and documented a few years ago really amped up the strong feelings I have against the wars and conflicts that we, the United States, are involved with now. I am a pacifist, I am not ashamed to say that either and I will debate my point of view with anyone who logically wants to do so. But at the same time that one Marine reminded me of the great sacrifices people make in the lives and how important those sacrifices are in the fabric of all our lives. I respect those who chose to serve in the military, I wish for their safe return home each day, but at the same time I am greatly conflicted because of my personal belief that war is not necessary and can be avoided if we only take the time to try to do so.

When I met that Marine and chatted with him for 30 minutes or so about his choices, about his pending deployment to Iraq and about the reasons why he gave his time to protecting our great country I better understood better the choices we all have to make in life and why we make them. Life simply isn't all about being selfish all the time, caring only for oneself and our livelihood. Sometimes there is great worth and importance to making decisions that aren't the easiest to understand or accept.



7) In the same vein of thinking, what can you tell us about your portrait of the Vietnam Vet? How do you feel when you come across former soldiers on the streets? Do you see a brighter future for today's returning vets?

Charles was quite an intense person. Someone that felt forgotten, thrown away, discarded. Not only because he was black and poor now, but 30 years ago he felt the same way when he came back from Vietnam. He felt betrayed by the same people who sent him off to possibly die for reasons he never understood nor had explained to him. He felt as if he was merely disposable then, and now.

I feel a great sense of gratitude when I meet a veteran, I feel humbled. I realize that I need to sacrifice more in my life for things that are for the greater good and the betterment of society as a whole, as these men and women have done. Those who served in the armed services did so for complete strangers, a country made up of people they'd never meet.

IMHO I can't honestly answer your questions about the pending future of those vets returning home today from conflicts around the globe. I am deeply saddened when I hear stories about deteriorating hospital conditions and care, about conflicts with pay and bonuses owed...When I read of the obscene ignorance towards the rising suicide rates among veterans and about the additional time each has been forced to serve even after tours of duty have ended because of mishaps in military planning by our leaders in Washington...I can only hope that each and every soldier, person, returning from war receives every possible avenue of assistance and compensation available to them. They deserve every bit of it.


8) If you could photograph one person, living or dead, who would it be?

My grandfather. He was the reason I fell in love with photography. He gave me my first camera. he taught me how to shoot. He also had a great love of people, something he passed on to me in one way or another. I know I took his photograph once or twice when he was alive, regrettably I cannot find any photos I took of him.


9) Show us your favorite photograph on Flickr.

Not easy to answer, but I will point out on image I find to be indelible and iconic that I spied recently on Flickr...
by Jill. Coleman

It's simply so well captured, so intense and emotional, so intimate and unforgettable.


I will also add one image not on Flickr, one that is from one photographer I find to truly be an inspiration with the camera in in my own life's purpose.

Mary Ellen Mark's iconic image, "The Damn Family in their car". It's the look and expression on everybody's face in the frame, it gives great emotion to the photograph. The image conveys what i love about street portraiture/social documentary photography; intimacy. I believe you can feel and understand the trust between Mary Ellen Mark and the family in the car.

I had the opportunity to meet Mary Ellen Mark in person and speak with her for some time (right in front of a print of this image) a few years back. That one photo, that experience of being in the presence of a truly gifted photographer and person truly moved me and continues to shape me as a person and as a photographer.

the image can be seen here: www.airarchive.com/


10) What is your main piece of equipment for capturing these portraits?

I tend to carry only one camera, and one lens with me as I photograph. That tends to be a Canon 20D or 5D and the very inexpensive and incredibly dynamic Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens. I do carry a few other primes Canon L lenses with me from time to time but no flashes, no soft boxes or any other gear; no hocus pocus. I want to keep it simple. I don't want to overwhelm nor intimate a subject with a ton of gear, I want to appear as i am, a simple man with a simple purpose. I have been shooting a ton of street portraits lately for a book and two gallery exhibitions next year with a 50 year old Yashica C and a Kowa Six MM medium format cameras. Shooting with those require a tripod generally, a light meter, a backpack full of film and other gadgets, which I don't mind carrying. I want to make sure I have the gear I need to capture the portrait I desire. But I like the simplicity that shooting w/ a dslr provides. I can head out with one camera body, one lens and be successful and content with what I shot.

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Spotlight 7 Week 22: Mark Velasquez

Our guest curator this week is .Az. Thanks to both Mark Velasquez and .Az for this week's show. On Flickr.

1) Mark, a warm welcome to the Spotlight Seven group. Tell us how you got started in photography.
Its a long, sordid story that really starts by my learning to document strange performance art projects I had been working on since college. Essentially I moved back to my home town, Santa Maria, CA, where there wasn't a lot of those types of outlets for my creative side, so I started carrying my camera everywhere and began taking photos of my friends at homes, parties, bars, etc.

One night at a bachelor party I was standing back with the old men while the younger guys my age were falling all over themselves to get to the strippers. Being unimpressed with nudity that you have no hopes of taking home, I had sneaked in my camera to document the younger guys make idiots of themselves. Over the course of the party one of the dancers came up and asked me about the camera, asked if I had ever shot a portfolio for a model, which I hadn't, and we hit it off really well. Within weeks I was in Ventura, CA shooting her in a kiddie pool while she was wearing only thigh-high red leather stilettos as her husband poured bubbles over her.

That was the beginning and I haven't really looked back since.

2) You often use photography to put across a point or message.......is there a politician hiding beneath your skin or are the images telling us you are a cynic?
I wouldn't consider myself a cynic, just a realist. I have studied enough of history and traveled far enough around this country and abroad to know what humans are capable of. I am a huge fan of studying history, politics, and religion. I sit and practice learning Latin phrases, collect old bibles, watch the History and Discovery channel whenever possible, and much more. All of these things are probably not what you would expect from a "nudey-model photographer." But as its been said, "those ignorant of the past are doomed to repeat it."

I do have a strong social agenda. Also, based on my fine art college experience I learned that only a very limited number of people actually go out to look at art galleries and museums. Art in all its forms has always started out as an educational tool, meant to enlighten and challenge how people view things. With that in mind I figured I had to bring art to the people, make it much more accessible and user-friendly, and what better way to do that than by making the harbinger be a lovely woman.

3) Which photographers 'Rock your Boat'?
How much space do you have? Um...there are far too many to mention. Mostly I am inspired by lots of wonderful people I have found online. Just go to my Flickr account and look under "family."

As for the "biggies," my inspirations aren't limited to photography. I am equally inspired by Nan Goldin, Norman Rockwell, Terry Richardson, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Greg Crewdson, not to say that I am limited to their views of the world or believe everything they do is great.

To truly appreciate someone as a genius, you have to not like a lot of what they do. Those revered should be constantly experimenting and exploring so as to not be appeasing anyone but themselves.

4) Show us a picture on flickr that you love, and tell us why.
I have so many wonderful images that I love on Flickr, and so many talented artists I would love to reference. I am again forced to advise whoever is reading this to go to my profile and look under all the images I have "favorited" to get a sense of the range of my interests.

I just perused a few of them right now and the first one that popped out to me was www.flickr.com/photos/fabiocentrone/2279933412/

I like it for many reasons. Its simple, low-tech, real, and appears post-process-free. It is up-close and personal, yet still voyeuristic. The colors are warm and great, giving a sense of a vintage quality to it. Also, its kind of dirty, with her sucking on her thumb like that. It gives you naughty ideas, which never hurts.

5) What are your thoughts on Flickr censorship, as I know this has affected your stream.
My pursuit of "The Censored Project," where I sought to find 100 average women of all shapes and sizes to stand naked censoring themselves was one way I dealt with that. I received a lot of exposure for that project, it was published in Israel, Italy, Brazil, and a lot locally here in California for that piece, but I think it was misunderstood a little. I understand why Flickr and several other organizations censor things, they have a lot of people that they have to appease.

If we choose to be a part of an organization that does things we disagree with, we can leave at anytime. Censorship is never right, though I do believe there is a need for decency or limited access to certain things. Who is to say what is deemed as decent is where the situation gets sticky and I don't have any more answers than you do. For example, I choose not to shop at Wal-Mart because I disagree with what they censor.

Don't get me wrong, I was pretty upset about having my profile censored—and I still am on some level—but I understand it at least. All I seek in my own work is to get people to consider other points of view. I feel that it's important to consider other points of view, especially when they differ from my own.

If you don't like the show, change the channel.

6) Tell us something about you that we don't know.
I love Chicken Salad sandwiches, don't wear clothes with visible brand names, and have never smoked a cigarette or done a drug in my whole life. Oh, and I've never eaten at McDonalds. Believe it.



7) Annie has decided to retire, has recommended you as her replacement (well done!). You have to make a big impact with your first Vanity Fair cover, everyone is queuing up to be photographed by the new photographer Mark Velasquez. Who will you choose to grace your first cover?
George W. Bush. I would photograph him on a beach, zinc sunscreen on his nose, margarita in hand, Hawaiian shirt and shorts, big ugly 1970's thong sandals, sitting in a lounge chair over-looking the ocean, sunburned and laughing heartily. My good friend Michelle, who is a wonderful journalist, would do the interview with him over Mai-Tais.

8) What's the story behind this image: www.flickr.com/photos/markvelasquez/404251988/
A few years before Katrina, I went to Mardi Gras in New Orleans and was impressed by the shear audacity of the experience. The spectacle of Bourbon Street, with its blow-jobs in the middle of the road, breast-flashing, and women sliding vials of alcohol down their throats and trying to kiss you so they could charge you ten dollars for those drinks was hilarious and scary for me all at once.

Thinking of doing shoots to illustrate every month of the year, I wanted to avoid the February cliché of Valentine's Day, opting instead for Mardi Gras. This image was filmed in my dirt drive way in Santa Maria, CA. All of these people are my friends and family, even my Aunt Mimi got in on the act as the dour woman looking on disapprovingly. The models are Kari and Laura, who I have used the most in the last few years, and contrary to popular belief, they were only exposing their bras. Even my brother's god-daughter is peaking over a shoulder in shock and amazement, adding to the child-endangerment of this shot.

It almost didn't happen. It was shot early on a Sunday morning and many people flaked on me due to hangovers from the night before. Thankfully, with a few last minute phone calls and some people bringing unexpected guests we filled in the driveway pretty well, I think.

My favorite part about this, as a detail for authenticity, is the "hand grenade drink" that the guy is holding in the foreground, which can only be purchased on Bourbon St. I had a friend specifically bring one back for this shoot when she went that year. Only if you've been there would you know that.

9) The photographer geek in me wants to know what's on your equipment wish list.
A Canon 1Ds Mark III would be nice. A Hasselblad H2, perhaps. And a set of 10 reliable working orange pony-leather Polaroid SX-70s with a lifetime supply of film. My life just hasn't been the same since mine died a few years ago.

10) I'm an editor of a magazine with an international circulation, I loved your first Vanity Fair cover so much that I am going to give you 10 pages for your dream photographic project... what's it going to be Mark?
I really don't have one dream project. Whether I like it or not, I am pretty prolific. The other day I was lamenting to a friend that I was being lazy and hadn't done anything, being fairly mopey about it. Then they brought to my attention that I had done at least one shoot a day for two weeks straight, including that afternoon. I'm never satisfied with what I just did, I am always looking over the horizon.

As for this fictional project, if money were no object I would fly some of my best friends and favorite local models to Montezuma, at the southern tip of the Nicoya Penninsula of western Costa Rica. I would set up my lights and just document the fun, silly, sexy time that would ensue. I think the best photos are captured when you are relaxed and with people you love and respect.

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Spotlight 7 Week 21: itzick

[curated by smoothdude]

On Flickr.

1) Where are you living now and how does it effect your photography?
I am living in a suburb of Copenhagen (Denmark). As consequence the Danish way of life, culture and social structure have a decisive influence on my photography. But therefore of course I can't say that my photography is a full description of the Danish way of life but rather to a certain extent a reflection on the Danish society and culture.

This is certainly right for the niche called Street Photography and I consider myself as a Street Photographer. As such I don't create situations or stage pictures, but observe and try to catch pictures I find interesting and telling a story. The pictures I take are my own interpretation of what is interesting in life and of people in Denmark.

2) How did you first really get into photography?
To be honest I can’t remember when and how it happened. As a child I was fascinated by the ability to make/create pictures. I got an old Kodak box camera as a present. That camera had very few adjustment possibilities such as; sun, cloudy and rain as well as people or buildings / landscape and some distance marks/alternatives.

The more systematic/serious photography I started at the age of 22 when I bought a Yashika SLR camera that a year later was replaced by two Pentax spotmatic cameras. Ten years later for different reasons I stopped being active on that front and after a pause of about thirty years in December 2006 I bought as an extra X-mass present for myself a Nikon D200 and started again to be an active photographer.

3) You get very close to your subjects, why is that?
You are right. Typically I crop the images very close to the subject. The idea behind it is that if I want to convey a certain feeling to the viewer I would like to make that message as powerful as possible. As I mentioned in my first answer I am not staging my pictures. That leaves me only few possibilities to play with. One possibility is to crop all the disturbing elements out.

4) You seem to favor B&W over color, what is it about that medium for your portrait work?
Once again the B&W gives you another tool to enhance the subject and removing the distracting elements. It is simple and powerful. The B&W gives you larger space to play with.

5) What are your long term goals for your photography?
I wouldn’t say that I have long term goals for my photography. It is a hobby and so it will stay. But I would like if possible to publish a photo album and participate in exhibitions.

6) What is your favorite portrait chosen for Spotlight Seven?
This is a tough question as you might guess I love all those pictures that you choose. Btw those pictures were taken in four countries Israel, England, USA and Denmark.

But if I have to choose and it seems that I have too I will say that the picture “only a child” is the picture that touched me more deeply than the others.

It was taken in the late sixties at a Bedouin market in the Negev desert in Israel where that little boy helped his father as a “shop” keeper.
I will save you from the description what other children in this age are doing.

7) What drew you to the 6 Million People group?
I received an invitation to join the group and when I read the purpose of the group I knew that I have to contribute as much as I can to achieve the goal of 6 million images. It is even if only a little one but it is a tribute to that part of my family that is among those 6 million victims.

8) Do you purposely shoot with that group in mind?
It will be very nice if I could answer yes I do, but I don’t. When out in the streets I have only one thing on my mind and it is to capture an interesting subject. In which group to place the image is an issue I consider only at the moment that I upload it to Flickr.

9) Share with us a photographer or two on Flickr who has influenced your work.
I like to “surf” on Flickr and see pictures and quite a lot are good, really good. But I don’t have any particular photographer that I can say that I was heavily influenced by.


10) Finally, show us a photograph on Flickr that you wish you took.
Sorry, can’t help you as it never occurred to me to think so. I take my pictures and I am happy with them. I appreciate good pictures taken by others but I never considered the idea of “I wish I took that photograph”

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