We're super excited to announce our next art show, featuring the work of @lorienstern! Join us for our opening of Lorien’s exquisite ceramic creations and various other works. We’ll have coffee, drinks, tasty snacks and some good tunes to jam out to... February 2nd, 6-10pm, 711 Chapala Street 😎
ANDREW SCHOENER
A common fixture down at Rincon point, Andrew Schoener is making a name for himself as a filmmaker, photographer, and documenter of all things in-between. Hailing from Northern California, Andrew relocated to Santa Barbara after high school, and has used his love for surfing as the key to unlock his current path of amazing trips, travel, and collaborations...
Who are you?
Andrew Schoener, I’m 30 years old and based in Santa Barbara, California.
Describe your medium & process for your work...
I shoot an even mix of video and photo. For video, I typically shoot surfing and fashion work using a blend of digital and film cameras. For photography, I exclusively shoot on medium format and focus on contemporary pieces.
How did you find your passion? Who/what influences your work?
I found photography through my Dad, who has always been an avid photographer. Simultaneously, I started shooting video with my cousins, filming them skateboarding and doing the usual dumb stuff you do as a teenager. In my early 20’s, I started taking both mediums seriously, as I was lucky enough to get to know several local professional surfers who helped jump-start my career.
What excites you about your work? What do you struggle with?
My absolute favorite is to film surfing, while taking medium format photographs along the way. I always aim to not show any surfing through my photos, but instead focus on the behind-the-scenes and environments around us.
What are your goals? Where do you see yourself going?
I aspire to start releasing more books… particularly small pieces on certian people and places. I also see myself venturing more into photography, while only doing video in the commercial realm.
You can see more of Andrew's work here:
website • vimeo • instagram • tumblr
DYLAN & TAO
DYLAN FITZGIBBONS & TAO ANTRIM
If you’ve ever stopped by our shop in Santa Barbara, chances are you’ve encountered Tao Antrim and Dylan Fitzgibbons. We’ve grown up with these two dudes and couldn’t be more excited about their multi-faceted pursuits. Lifelong friends, their recent weekend vacation to Palm Springs saw the two throw down an incredible 5-song EP. We caught up with them to find out more about this newfound musical collaboration, and to cut a clip of Tao skating to their song “Late Night Text”…
Breakfast: Hi, This is Breakfast, here with Dylan and Tao of Dylan & Tao…
Tao: nah, it’s Tao & Dylan.
Dylan: I’ve always been inspired by the alphabet. It’s Dylan & Tao.
Breakfast: So who are you guys?
Tao: Just two kids from Santa Barbara.
Dylan: It’s true.
Dylan: I'm dylan, I'm a producer, writer, and recording artist from Santa Barbara.
Tao: I’m Tao, I run the register at Breakfast, skateboarder extraordinairre, king of Santa Barbara.
Breakfast: How did this record/collaboration come about?
Tao: Dylan and I have been working on songs together across different genres for about 3 years. Last year I was living in San Francisco and one of us hit each other up, said “we should go to Palm Springs”, shut everything else out, and just see what we could make over the course of a few days.
Breakfast: Describe those days in Palm Springs…
Tao: The first day was so productive. We made so much shit. Second day, still productive – we were honing in on what we started. Third day was an absolute nightmare, because we had to finish what we started.
Dylan: The parameters of the project were to go out to Palm Springs, write and record five songs, and put out whatever we managed to record.
Breakfast: Describe your lifestyle in Palm Spring…
Dylan: Wake up, hit the jacuzzi, then hit the studio.
Tao: Wake up, hop in the jacuzzi, we’d have coffee, some food, and then (redacted).
Breakfast: got it. What were your primary sources of inspiration for this project?
Dylan: The inspiration behind doing it was just getting a project out. We’ve been talking about it and working on stuff for 3 years, so it was long overdue.
Tao: Because we’ve been doing a lot of hip-hop lately (although we like and do a lot of work outside of that genre), we thought this would also be more attainable as a release.
Breakfast: Can you name any influences on your music?
Tao: During the days leading up to this, we were exchanging songs and comparing notes on things like the styles of drums we liked, a type of guitar riff, lyrical melodies. It’s a culmination of all the music we’ve liked lately, with a bit of our own spin on it. I guess that’s what making music always is.
Breakfast: What’s your favorite track?
Tao: Mine is 5. Everyone loves “Late Night Text”, but especially while making this EP, 5 was my favorite.
Breakfast: What’s next for you guys?
Tao: Dylan’s been claiming a mixtape for three years now.
Dylan: Yeah. The “Dylan Solo Project” is next. Be looking for that early 2017.
Tao: Rap music from Dylan, and another song we’ve been working on secretly. Just check the Breakfast instagram account, We’ll announce it officially on there. (laughs)
You can see more of Dylan & Tao's work here:
soundcloud • dylan • tao
NADIA HUGGINS
NADIA HUGGINS
Nadia Huggins is a young artist bringing bounds of curiosity to her journey through photography. Exploring her home of the Caribbean both above and below water, she dances with the random motions of the sea while making a statement through how one can cast new eyes on such a tried-and-true tourist destination...
1. Who are you?
Nadia Huggins 32-year-old visual artist currently based in Port of Spain, Trinidad.
2. Describe your medium & process for your photos...
I work primarily with photography, but I’ve been shifting slowly back into video. The process ranges depending on what I’m shooting. I use a very simple point and shoot, Olympus Tough TG2 for all of my underwater work. I’ve set out to see how much I can push my ideas working with very basic equipment. Although it can be limiting in terms of image quality and control, it’s given me access to certain situations and allowed a certain amount of agility, which I really like. Sometimes photography can become a bit like dancing, so the more comfortable you are with the device, the easier it is to respond to a moment. For my “land” images I switch between using a canon 5D mark II and my iPhone. Again it’s a question of access, agility and quality.
I think like most photographers, a simple walk outside opens up so much to capture. We are all looking for different things that embody who we are in some way. The images are just a response to our own ideas of the world we live in. In most cases, I am looking for the everydayness of my experiences living/growing up in the Caribbean, which I hope is able to transcend a place and embody some kind of universality. With certain projects I really try to understand what I’m looking at, there is usually an overarching question that I’m asking, with rarely any resolve, but the images develop out of this somehow.
3. How did you find your passion? Who/what influences your work?
I think there was a natural progression of things in my life. I was lucky to have creative and supportive parents growing up so they always encouraged me to explore and remain curious. As a child, I used to draw a lot and sculpt these elaborate characters out of Play-Doh. Also, I would carve faces in the chalk at school and make animated flipbooks in my textbooks.
My father was a bit of a techie, so when the first set of consumer digital cameras were released, he got one and allowed me to experiment with it a little. I was fascinated by the instant nature of it and messed around with the different models over the years. Eventually, when I was about 17, my best friend got this great underwater camera that we used to shoot with. We mostly just shot our friends and adventures, but I think it was the first time I consciously realized I was creating an image with artistic intent. After that, I became more and more interested in the craft and started reading up a lot and exploring different works.
Some of the artists who have influenced my work; Diane Arbus, David Lynch, Peter Dean Rickards, Christopher Cozier, Sally Mann, Jonathan Glazer, Martin Parr, Khalil Joseph. Also a lot of music, but I could go on!
4. What excites you about your work? What do you struggle with?
I love how random things can become, especially with underwater work. Everything is so unpredictable in the ocean, like with the weather or visual clarity for example. This allows the possibility for so much to happen, I find that to be the most exciting part. Of course, there are days you go out and nothing seems to happen, but that could also be the result of where you are in your head and what you’re looking for. I find the repetition of going to the same place and looking for things to photograph the most challenging aspect. Mostly because you have to learn to be patient with yourself and your environment. Once you are able to push through that monotony the rewards are great.
Also, at the moment I’m based full-time in Trinidad. Before I was living in St Vincent & the Grenadines (my home island). I have less access to the beach here so I’ve been making less work in the water. Before I was a 4-minute walk away, now it’s at least a 30 min drive. It might seem slight, but it makes the world of difference! Distance is crucial if you want to remain consistent with an output.
5. What are your goals? Where do you see yourself going?
I would like to travel more and experience as much of what the world has to offer. So far I’ve had the privilege of meeting so many interesting and passionate people who have been supportive and connect to the work I’ve been doing. That human connection has been crucial to me, I find that to be themost fulfilling part of sharing images. If I am able to continue doing this on a larger scale that would be great.
Also, I want to expand my work beyond photographs and start producing more video work and doing large-scale installations and perhaps someday film. I’d also like to incorporate a deeper social practice into my work. I hope someday I can channel my ideas into playing a part in shifting people’s consciousness by raising awareness and inciting action. Otherwise, what’s the point?
You can see more of Nadia's work here:
website • facebook • instagram • vsco
JEAN JULLIEN
JEAN JULLIEN
Jean Jullien is a man of the world. Hailing from France, he's zig-zags the world, expressing himself as an artist, graphic designer, cartoonist, sculpture, author, and soon to be tv show director. While his exquisite Instagram feed delivers daily humor, we caught up with him to delve deeper into the vast amount of work he creates, his thoughts on audiences, and so much more...
Breakfast: Hi Jean! Want to just tell us a little bit about yourself?
Jean: My name is Jean Jullien, I’m 33 years old, and I’m an illustrator. I’m from Brittany, France, and I’ve been living and working in London for the past 10 years. I moved there to study: I did a masters at the Royal College of Arts, and then I stayed because of my friends and my wife, so a lot of my life is there now. I’m now hoping to move to Los Angeles soon to work on some projects.
B: What’s your creative process… When you have an idea, how do you articulate it? How do you get it on paper?
J: It varies a lot, I’ve always tried to keep a nice divide between commercial work to sustain a living and get stuff out there, and then keep a certain personal practice. So the commercial work is quite simple, it’s like problem solving. The client brings you a brief and asks you to come up with the best creative answer, so I do that and that’s more straight-forward I suppose. The rest of my work is more observation based. I’ve done a lot of things that are a bit more like comedy… almost like stand up comedy. You find a situation that really annoys you, and then you try to come up with a comedic way of retelling the story, so instead of being grumpy all the time and complaining I try to make fun of the situations that irritates me and see if other people can relate. So, yeah, that’s very much that, observing something and coming up with an idea. But since I’ve done so much commercial work and there’s a certain routine, I suppose to have the studio and come in and sit down at the desk every morning, I try to do something like a creative gymnastic where I just look at things around my desk or stuff I pick up on the street and I just try to play with it.
B: I feel like a majority of the work I see from you is very personal and casual. I almost have a hard time finding your commercial work.
J: Commercial work definitely sustains me. I do gallery work as well, but that’s not necessarily what sustains me, yet, hopefully some day it will. But, on social media I usually try to share more personal stuff. I think we live in a world where we see stuff being sold to you everywhere, and I figure that’s in social media, which represents something a bit personal - you check it on your own personal time, in your bed or on the toilet or whatever- I figure you maybe want a break from people trying to sell you stuff, so usually I try to keep it personal and people react more to it. The feedback that I’ve received is that people find it to be a nice thing, they feel like you’re just putting something out that to make them laugh or communicate into something a bit sincere about that, which I think people really appreciate. The commercial work is different and out there, but I feel like because it’s commercial it’s done for something and the people that commission me already sell it so I don’t need to do it.
M: I’ve been following you for a couple years… is it my imagination or are you starting to explore mediums rapidly, such as working with 3-dimensional surfaces and installations?
J: It’s something that I’ve always done. I’ve always studied graphic design and when I started experimenting with paper and stuff like that, because of efficiency, I started pursuing more drawing, steering away from being material driven. But now, I get bored of something, so I try to jump to different things to experiment, and I find that if I’m not bored, people are not bored. It’s very much based on spontaneity, what I feel like trying, where I am… so for example, last year I was traveling every two weeks, because the situations are different, the tools that you have at your disposition are very different, and that triggers a lot more experimentation. that is something that I really like.
B: Aside from coming to Los Angeles for a show, what is the main reason you’re traveling? Inspiration? Or are you constantly connecting jobs?
J: It’s usually connecting jobs. When I’m invited to do a talk or a show, I travel for that. I really enjoy it. I had a kid recently, which has made me more sedentary, which has also been very interesting and nice to feel like I can relax. But yeah, moving to LA soon will hopefully bring back more experimentation.
B: In your work, it sounds like you find a great deal of pleasure making your work relatable to the common person…
J: Yes, that’s very important to me. I grew up reading a lot of comic books, watching a lot of cartoons, you know pop culture in general. So something that’s very important to me, the fact that it’s culture, is that it’s not just for people who’ve got access to it because they are cultured… it’s that it is accessible to everyone and you can find it. The notion of practical design or practical culture is something that I’m very interested in as well. So skateboarding, for example, is something that really blew my mind. I started collecting the Chocolate Skateboard decks when I was a teenager and skating a lot, and the fact that I could put so much attention to designs that were essentially going to be destroyed is something that I’ve always loved. Or the culture of French poster design and advertising in the street at the time in which they were basically just paintings with a logo… I really like this idea, how accessible it was to everyone. That’s maybe why I have such an incentive to keep on doing commercial work despite the fact that we live in a world where you can very much do your own thing and communicate it. I really like the fact that by using the networks of your clients or the platforms of exposure that they use in the commercial world, you access very different people, and that’s something that is very good to me.
B: Are you constantly pushing to grow your art and challenge yourself? Or are you focusing more on traversing subject matter? What’s the main point of growth in your work?
J: I’m more into trying new things in progression, and less so jumping from one thing to the other constantly. For example, I had a show in Belgium last week and that’s something I’ve been wanting to do for ages. I do a lot on social media with little paper characters and things like that, and I’ve had a few shows trying to see how far I can stretch my visual language. If I can do the same character on paper, on a chair, on a sculpture. I just really like the idea of playing without pushing the limit of a language that I’ve tried to come up with. So sculpture is something I’ve always wanted to do and a sculpture can be made of paper, of wood, of metal… so how does that translate the same idea that you want to say and what are the differences? A TV series is definitely one thing that I want to explore because I grew up on it, and its more of a narrative than just doing a poster in the street or something like that. Also, I’m working on a graphic novel at the moment. So, it’s always the same concept that I’ve got ideas that I want to communicate, so I think that, what is the guy going to say? What is he going to think? Can he relate to it? Does that upset him? Does that make him feel better? Does that comfort him? I think that some mediums apply to certain people, and not all mediums speak to everyone. So for example, my show at Heavy Weight is a skateboard show, so that’s going to apply to a very certain audience. And I’ve noticed that the same cartoon that I would put on a skateboard, if I post that online then only certain people will react, whereas if I just post the drawing without the medium much more people are going to react to it. So I’m very interested in what communicates to who and how...
B: You’re very well-received and popular on social media. Do you find that it’s better at this point to only put up what makes you happiest, or to read the audience that follows you and give them what they want?
J: It’s difficult because I’m not in an ivory tower. I think that if you communicate to people, some people think that their opinion is holy, where as I very much feel that, from growing up and living in a city, and I’ve always enjoyed the notion of civilization, of society living together. And I feel like I’ve always fed and grown from talking to people and exchanging, so I feel like it’s very important. That being said, you don’t want to be a crowd pleaser. That’s something I’ve noticed, from the number of people choosing to follow my work on social media: the more it grows, the more it’s difficult to speak to everyone. So sometimes there are elements of, not censorship, but… some stuff that you know are not going to communicate. And it’s not necessarily the fact that it’s not going to be successful, it’s just that if you have a platform like that, maybe it’s more interesting to try to use it so you can reach people from everywhere. The fact that it’s the opposite of a niche, in a way, it’s mainstream media, but you can use it as a Trojan Horse. You can try to speak to everyone. Not everything speaks to everyone, so you have to navigate that all without being a crowd pleaser, because your content becomes a bit dull if it’s dictated by what’s successful and you don’t decide what’s successful.
B: Do you feel like social media is your bread and butter, as a centrical focus of your time and energy?
J: It has been for a couple of years. Its become very intense, and I don’t know if it’s because it has truly become intense or because I had a baby. But I feel like this über-fast pace of creating and also having more of this crowd-pleasing debate becoming quite intense… I feel like I don’t need it, and I can’t sustain it forever. I can do it now, but I know that I can do better by changing my rhythm. Doing a TV show, a gallery show, or a graphic novel is something that requires more time which is a broader notion I’m interested in. I’m not sure if it’s going to be better, but it’s going to be different and for me and more interesting. That being said, I don’t know if there’s going to be a different form of social media in 5 years, in which case I might want to jump back into something very fast-paced because I would be excited or bored by its new novelty. I think that it’s far from a straight course, but it’s never been a straight course for me, and I’ve always enjoyed that. I enjoy change of rhythm.
B: It seems like right now you have your fingers in every pot possible, you also have a young family, and you’re kind of a citizen of the world. Are there any roadblocks or any issues with being spread this widely? Or are you just full steam ahead and having a great time?
J: The only roadblocks are my own misgivings about things. Like the intensity of social media. We live in a time where everyone has a say in everything, has an opinion on everything, and everyone’s upset at everyone for having an opinion about everything. In a way, its a little bit nonsensical, as it is fantastically democratic and yet one of my roadblocks is that I find it increasingly complicated to navigate this landscape. I try to do positive things. I try to make people laugh. And humbly, I try to make them think as much as they make me think. I don’t want to be naive or to dumb down everything, but I very much believe that we’ve got enough shit not to create negative work. So something I’ve been trying to aim toward, is to create content that is not acidic and yet not too naïve either, so comedy has been very motivating and engaging as inspiration, like Seinfeld or Larry David. Because it’s not stupid, it’s not easy, it’s not mainstream, but it’s not mean for the purpose of being mean. There’s something very beautiful in that, and that’s something where I would like to go more. Writing a TV show or doing a graphic novel is a way for me to explore this more, as it will take more time to set up a little stage and have the story be told.
B: As a kid watching Seinfield, it took me a little while to realize that every single episode is about nothing. Some of the jokes can be so mean or the humor can be so dark, but no matter what it’s ultimately about northing.
J: What’s interesting about Seinfeld and about the nothingness of it, is that I think social media is the equivalent, in a sense that it’s about nothing and everything at the same time. It’s basically blurting out what you do. It’s like live documentation more than journalism. I think comedy is a fantastic journalistic approach to the everyday. You have one way where people just say what they do, and then what I try to do is discuss what we do.
B: You mentioned that you grew up watching TV and reading comic books, which seem to be grand inspirations to you. But who or what is truly inspiring you right now?
J: Sadly, right now, it’s not so much new people, but it’s people I’ve always been around. There’s a French cartoonist named Jean-Jacques Sempé, who I’ve always been in absolute awe of. He started working in the 50’s or 60’s and he still does it now. His work is super beautiful, poetic, acidic, comedy. It’s gorgeous to look at, but it’s also just in the way he’s making fun of the mundane and the every day. I would say this is directly something I look up to without trying to do the same thing, but there’s a sharp poetry that I really like and admire about that. Then people like Larry David, someone that I look up to, because it’s the same. It’s a bit harsher but it’s the same idea of discussing the everyday. I would say that’s the immediate two people that I can think about.
B: You mentioned your interest and inspiration from skateboarding…
J: The fact that they (Heavy Weight, a skateboarding-themed gallery) would ask someone who supposedly has nothing to do with skateboards, just because they like the imagery, and think that would be nice to put on a skateboard is fantastic. You can just put the logo on, or you can also put something funny, beautiful, whatever you want to call it. This approach is not a personal one, but an overall mentality that you have in counter-culture. It’s in skateboarding, surfing, snowboarding… that’s something that’s always been inspiring for me.
B: Do you mind recapping what you’re exploring with the TV show and the graphic novel?
J: The TV show is a very much like what I do normally, my images are very naïve, colorful, bold and simple. Then there is maybe a second level of reading, which is more about the content, which tries to say something. We’ll be touching subjects like gender definition, food habits, liberalism, religion, politics… but without being deceitful. I think that’s the best way. The series is like the Simpsons or Family Guy, its funny, but might have moments that are quite harsh. Ultimately, it looks like a cartoon but touches more adult subjects without having to swear, because that’s not something I do in general. I try not to be crass or hateful or violent, that’s just not my language. The graphic novel is a bit different: it’s in three volumes, while it follows the story of one character. There’s hints of personal experiences in it. It’s a character in his 20’s to early 30’s when he’s working in advertising and dating and stuff like that. Eventually he meets someone. The second volume is him and his family life as an adult and his kids growing up, while the third part is him as an older person, and there will be a certain twist to it. It will be more than comedy, so in that sense it might be a bit different from what I try to do. Maybe being a bit darker without being too negative.
B: Lastly, what about yourself? What’s next for you? I know you said moving to Los Angeles for six months…
J: Well, my wife is British so at the moment with the Brexit it’s all a bit complicated, but I’m from France and she’s always been keen to go to France. We might go back to London or we might go to France. I don’t quite know. I also like the fact that my job gives me to the freedom to meet people and try things, experience a different life, and I try to take that with my family as well.
KIM REIERSON
KIM REIERSON
The medium of photography allows one to document anything, anywhere... so in Kim Reierson's case, she found herself tagging along the routes of America's unsung trucking culture. Vivid portraits, simple landscapes, and the bizarre interiors of eighteen wheelers are just a few of the facets she's aspired to capture, so we decided to investigate the woman behind the lens and discuss her exquisite portfolio...
1: Who are you?
I'm a photographer/artist, Andean Chiclet cyclist, and wannabe entomologist... and an Ex-New Yorker, currently living in Santa Barbara.
2: Describe your medium and process for your work...
I consider myself more of a painter who uses a camera as a way to produce art. As a kid I was always drawing. My uncle, whom I spent some time with growing up in Bolivia, was into landscape oil paintings. He hired an artist, whose paintings he collected, to give me lessons for a summer. I dug his look. He always wore a suit and his Dali-esque mustache lent him art world-cred.
In college, I continued to study fine art. However, after graduating, I decided to use photography as a more immediate process to get my art out. I worked as a photojournalist for a newspaper for 5 years. It was a place where I learned to think on my feet and anticipate situations that put me at the right time and place- you start to use your instinct as part of your process, an edge that puts you outside the box, metaphorically and sometimes literally- like, when you’re roped off on a media platform with 20 other press photographers, you’re pretty much all going to end up getting the same shot, unless you take a chance and place yourself in an unexpected area to get THE shot.
3: How did you find your passion? Who/what influences your work?
My passion found me as a teen. My father was a long haul truck driver, so he wasn’t around much- however, he did give me a film camera for my 15th birthday- a gift that would end up being a life long present. I used our family's empty swimming pool as a ''studio’’ and the garage as my darkroom. I had one photography class in high school and that was enough for me. I wasn’t interested in studying studio or the too techy side of photography- I didn’t think it would become my profession. For me, the camera was more of an everyday appendage that served as a vehicle to explore the world inside and out of the quiet suburban middle class life I grew up in; from teenagers at demolition derby’s to burlesque dancers in forgotten dance halls.
4: What excites you about your work? What do you struggle with?
I am most excited when I can take the most ordinary object and transform it into the fantastical, or giving an honest voice to the unheard or misunderstood.
There was a period where I struggled between staying ‘’true to my art’’ while eating Ramen, or doing high paying gigs that weren’t fulfilling. When I set out on the road for 5 years to tap into my roots as a daughter of a trucker, I wasn’t thinking about whether this topic had mass appeal or was sellable- I just needed to do it- it was more more 'art therapy' than anything else. I spent most of the money I made doing commercial photography to fund my truck book. It was good fortune that I happen to know a couple of people who worked for National Geographic Magazine, who liked the work and featured it in the magazine, and that brought attention and most of the book sales.
In general, like with anything else, it’s about talent, putting in the time and hard work, and being at the right place to make those key connections, all work together to make it happen...and some luck.
5: What are your goals? Where do you see yourself going?
I am focusing more on my fine art photography than commercial right now and using my painting to combine the two mediums. All those dead insects and flora I have been collecting are finding a new art home.
MATT CLARK
MATT CLARK
New York is a tough place to be a photographer passionate about capturing the ocean. Stifling, still summers and white-out blizzards in the winter create an infinite void of struggle for people like Matt Clark. The difference is, Matt grabs tackles this challenge head on, and in the process creates some of the most unique and beautiful photography we've seen, transcending everything from lifestyle to fine art and the documentarian moments in-between...
1. Who are you?
Matt Clark, 32, New York, USA.
2. Describe your medium & process for your photos...
I currently shoot digital photographs in water here in New York (and anywhere I travel to) with the intention of creating fine art water photographs. My focus has been on capturing the abstract form of breaking surf while also exhibiting the moments that are lost while surfing through still image. We ride these waves with the intention of destroying them when we surf, to cut them up, to tear them apart and to violate their shapes with surfboards. There's something absolutely magical about the moments we miss when surfing, the structure of a barrel, the glimmering light inside a pitching lip, the reflections of sky off the wind blown surfaces. My intention is to capture that as I've said many times before, in a personal and private type of photography, the ocean has let me in to see it when it's make up is off and I capture those moments with respect and admiration. That being said, often times, it's myself alone out in the freezing cold surf, shooting empty waves at dusk with not another soul around. Imagine that, you can see New York City in the distance and I'm alone in perfect waves, no surfers, no one on the beach, just myself and my camera. Plenty of blustery winter nights where I can barely operate my water housing because my hands are beginning to get frostbite where I ask myself, "What the hell am I doing?" and "For what?".
3. How did you find your passion? Who/what influences your work?
I started shooting film for fun with disposable cameras when I was about 14-15 in 1998 or so here in New York during the fall. My goal was to become a professional bodyboarder and I chased that pretty seriously and my grades in school were terrible because of that. It took another 8 years or so before I really started to fall in love with photography and chase that passion as it was a means to myself traveling the world and breaking a mold that I could have easily fell into. My entire family, grandparents, parents, and brothers all work for Con Edision, a company that provides power to NYC, and I was never ever going to let myself take that path. What's probably the polar opposite of working a 9-5 blue collar job? A surf photographer. Influences in my work range from other water photographers to musicians and painters. I find I am easily inspired by others stories, just last night I was watching an old music video of Cyndi Lauper and I was just completely mesmerized, here's a girl who just said fuck it, I am me and I will be exactly what I want to be. I'm influenced by rule breakers and those who go against the grain and who stand up for what they believe in and what they want, that's truly inspiring to me and that often translates to photography because once you become talented at the basics we all begin to break those rules.
4. What excites you about your work? What do you struggle with?
I find that through all of the years of photographing waves, I can still return and find something new about an old photo I may have missed and in my opinion that keeps me motivated because it means my eye is still learning and maturing. The biggest struggle has been capturing the audience and selling myself to them. More than half of being a photographer or artist is business, and business is an art of itself, that in turn can really make or break very talented people.
5. What are your goals? Where do you see yourself going?
My goal is to persevere and create something that has longevity to it, to look back near the end and feel some satisfaction that I did my best. I'd like to have my artwork stun an audience and live on as a document of one person's persistence and passionate love affair with the ocean.
You can see more of Matt's work here:
website • facebook • instagram
DANIEL FROST
DANIEL FROST
Daniel Frost is a British illustrator who has a knack for creating vibrant moments with hints of quirkiness. Drawing simple lines to transport his viewers to curious instances, Daniel has seen his work transcend children's books and into the realm of commercial clients and multinational editorial outlets.
1. Who are you?
My Name is Daniel Frost and I'm an Illustrator from the UK. I have exhibited around the world and have worked for a list of clients, including Norse Projects, The New York Times and Transport for London. I’m also Children’s book illustrator who's books have be translated into several languages.
2. Describe your medium & process for your photos...
This depends on the type of work that I'd like to make and who I'm making it for... But I always start my work by doing lots of pencil sketches in my sketchbook. I save all my ideas good or bad, so I have hundreds of sketch books laying around the studio. It works like a great library of inspiration and ideas. For my commercial work I make the final pieces digitally, as this allows me the opportunity to work faster and make changes. But for my personal work, I prefer to use more traditional materials such as Gouache paints, as I love the process and the feel of the final product.
3. How did you find your passion? Who/what influences your work?
I think it all came from reading a lot of illustrated fiction when I was younger, I especially love the books of Roald Dahl and the illustrations by Quentin Blake. Blake’s illustrations gave such a great energy and life to Dahl story’s. I found these books very inspiring. That’s maybe why I love drawing characters and scenarios now. I get a lot of inspiration from my everyday life. I love to draw a lot when I’m out and about. There is such a rich variety of inspiration to be found in public spaces (the interaction between people and my reaction to them). The drawings that usually come out of these observations often inform both my commercial and personal work.
4. What excites you about your work? What do you struggle with?
I think its still the simple idea being able to capture a character or situation in a drawing or a painting - nothing beats the feeling of achieving this. This is also sometimes the thing that I struggle with as it’s a fine line between getting it right or wrong. Sometimes it just works straight away, other times it takes a little longer.
5. What are your goals? Where do you see yourself going?
Right now I'm very excited as I'm working on new Children’s book and a big animation project, so I’m very busy! But its great, theres an amazing similarity between Illustrated books and Animation which I having a lot of fun exploring... its great to see you own characters see my drawings come to life in this way.
TEMPO ART SHOW
Join us for our second show, Tempo, exploring four friend’s vision of surfing and the sea. We’ll have appetizers, drinks, coffee, and a screening of several exclusive short films by the featured photographers... September 9th, from 7pm-10pm at Breakfast Culture Club Santa Barbara at 711 Chapala Street, Santa Barbara, CA.
RYAN SMITH
RYAN SMITH
Ryan Smith is a young Australian who can't stand still. Bouncing between the frozen regions of northern Europe, the whale migration paths of Tonga, and the divine coastline of the Mediterranean, Ryan shoots his way across the world and through all the interesting situations he finds himself in...
1. Who are you?
I'm Ryan Smith, a 26 year old human being hailing from the Gold Coast of Australia.
2. Describe your medium & process for your work…
It's hard to define specifically... Photography can be so broad and I always think I should hone in on one area and let go of some others, but I honestly struggle to not document everything I'm doing. I often see my photographs more as visual notes of a time or place. I'll never remember all the things I do so documenting everything serves me with all the reminders I'll ever need to remember those people, places or endeavors.
3. How did you find your passion? Who/what influences your work?
I found my passion during my high school years. All my friends were better at me than surfing and skateboarding (amongst most other things) so I decided to put my ambition to be great at those things on the back burner and just document them being good at it instead. That led to documenting punk/hardcore shows and as I grew older and started going on tours with bands I developed a love for travel and documenting travels quickly became my strongest passion. If I were to list everything or everyone that inspires me this would be a really long email so I'll have to omit a few but right now the biggest influence to me is the Pacific Ocean. I feel lucky to live on the East Coast of Australia where you could have perfect waves one week then perfect dive conditions the next week. The energy and many moods of the ocean is definitely a heavy influence. A close second would be my peers. I'm always inspired by the things I see my friends do and create. I wouldn't have been able to produce half the photographs I have without their constant influence and inspiration.
4. What excites you about your work? What do you struggle with?
The thing that excites me about my work is the situations that it forces me into to execute the idea I have in my head for a photograph. Maybe it's diving to a new depth to get an underwater shot of marine life, maybe it's putting myself in a position where people jump on my head whilst at a show but so long as I have a camera in my hand I can find excitement in almost any kind of chaotic moment. Sometimes I struggle entirely with creativity. It's like I'm 100% on or I'm 100% off. I never feel like there is a middle point. I either have it and like my photographs or I don't have it and I want to throw my camera in the trash. Another lesser known big struggle for me is anxiety in the ocean and more particularly big waves which has over time intensified and consequently dampened the flame I originally had for shooting surfing but I've been working on that in a few different ways and hopefully in a few months time I'll be fearless.
5. What are your goals? Where do you see yourself going?
I really just want to keep documenting everything. I'd like to further define myself as a photographer and really put in work to create something that could inspire people to live their lives rather than sitting and wishing they could be doing something different to what they're doing. I'm not endorsing the whole "hey just quit your job and live your dream" ideology because I know that's a fabricated reality that is unachievable for most people, but it definitely doesn't hurt to throw yourself in the deep end once in a while. I try not to think too far into the future because it scares the hell out of me but I'll say I see myself spending a lot of time in the ocean and putting more hours into my work as well as putting more things into physical form as I feel it's always cherished much more than a quick double tap and a scroll past.
LORIEN STERN
LORIEN STERN
Lorien Stern is a young artist from the often-overlooked desert of California. Hailing from a household of artists and 7 cats, her work transcends the kiln into any desirable realm of fashion and installations. Finding solace and inspiration in animals, her art is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before...
1. Who are you?
Hi! My name is Lorien Stern. I'm 25 years old and I live in the Mojave Desert of California, in a tiny town called Inyokern.
2. Describe your medium & process for your work...
My main mediums are ceramics and painting in gouache & acrylic. Currently, most of the paintings I create I turn into heat transfers. Heat transfers are screen printed images on release paper that can be applied to fabrics with heat and pressure. I cut out the individual characters and make unique arrangements on tshirts, overalls, shorts, and dresses. I like making each garment different with color balance, background, and character interaction in mind. It's become a very fun game. With ceramics I like to choose subject matter that makes me feel happy. I also like to create things that would normally scare me, and make them look more approachable.
3. How did you find your passion? Who/what influences your work?
I was pretty shy growing up so I liked to doodle to keep busy, and it became my favorite activity. Also my dad was a jeweler and my sister always painted so I grew up in a household that supported creativity. I adopted 7 cats the year my father passed away and they became huge symbols of comfort to me. I have since used animal imagery as a tool to create things that make me feel happy.
4. What excites you about your work? What do you struggle with?
It's really exciting to create the work you want to see. I also like when people say that my work makes them feel happy. Sometimes I have a hard time deciding how to glaze things… I often have too many ideas and get overwhelmed by options.
5. What are your goals? Where do you see yourself going?
My current short term goal is creating a ceramic cemetery for a solo show at Ochi Projects in Los Angeles next year. After that I want to keep expanding with larger pieces and bigger spaces. Also, one day I hope to build a house that has a slide from the top floor to bottom floor…
ZIO ZIEGLER
ZIO ZIEGLER
Zio Ziegler isn’t an artist. He’s a thinker, philosopher, futurist and burrito enthusiast, who happens to make art… prolifically. While his work is visually stunning, the messages he embeds into his pieces often leave one with more questions than answers, but not without good reason. Zio is a bottleneck for the questioning and appreciation of every facet of culture and civilization, and his art is there to both express his musings and excite the viewer. With a paintbrush in one hand and the phone in the other, Zio gave us a brief glimpse into his mindset…
1. who are you?
Zio Bernard Ziegler, I’m 28 years old from Northern California.
2. describe your medium & process?
My favorite mediums are oil on canvas and sculpture. My process? It changes every time. I go into my studio, I listen to a book on tape. And I start with that as the framework fort what I’d like to create. Books generally have a theme. That’s where my mind is, and then the work emerges from both an autobiographical place, a resonance with the books I’m reading, a dialogue with the world. I’d like to think it transcends, confines the conceptual art, becomes more humanist… but sometimes it’s just conceptual. But I think that it doesn’t start with an agenda in mind.
2. Do you try to express an idea or concept, or capture a feeling or vision?
I think conceptual art is sometimes so simplified... Almost like a process that’s very self-indulgent. It becomes something that’s just a dialogue with itself, a dialogue abstraction or history. I’m not as interested in that. I do find progress in art history interesting but I do believe history first has to settle itself out in order to see what’s truly going to be relevant. I think a lot of art history is almost being minted before we have a change to see if it’s going to do better by time. The idea is that I’m not trying to change trends per say or follow what curators are laying out but rather flowing between topics, themes and methods of making work that I find interesting. That doesn’t always align itself with its market, it rather just has its own wandering path so I could be making stuff that’s incredibly irrelevant or what the critics deems necessary one week, although they often seem to change their mind pretty quickly.
3. Do you ever paint with the public’s perception in mind?
At some point you’re reflecting the things that you see in the world… what you’re reading and what you’re processing. So I’d say my work isn’t necessarily created for the viewer as much as it is created out of necessity. But I do feel the way that people process my work is a very large part of what the concept inherents in its creation. I want the paintings to be magnetic and enter your life. The best way to put it is that the paintings are open source hieroglyphs. They’re in essence, trying to be grandiose, sweeps across different human impulses.
4. how did you find your passion? Who/what influences you?
I think that recently I’ve been very interested in speech and how speech works, language and the devices of languages, and how pieces of art and work and cultures act as almost short hands for temperament. Looking at culture that works. So in a way, a big part of what I make is hyper-personal and hyper-micro, but at the same time it’s very macro because it’s trying to address larger human themes. I think my inspiration comes from the same place. I might read about the crusades for a couple weeks, but what’s actually attracting me to reading about the crusades are the themes, more so than the facts. So there’s the mode and then the style in the paintings which sort of change… because I want the paintings to be sort of magnetic and enter your life. The paintings are open source hieroglyphs is the best way to put it. They’re in essence, trying to be grandiose, sweeps across different human. I don’t know, hard to say, different human impulses. Tie all the way back to the first necessity for myth or speech of language. They’re devices that serve as a crossroads of communication. I want them to be very hyper-specific but very general at the same time. Answer questions and dilemmas and problems that people have just like when you read a book, the subtext may answer the personal questions in your life for you. The way the protagonist processes their problems or views the world or encounters difficulties inspires you do to the same. So I think I wanted to go ahead and create things like that, that appeal to people as they’re like paintings that, by you interpreting them in your own way, serve as a key to help unlock some of life’s mysteries for you. Trying to run the mind against itself.
5. what exhilarates you about making your work?
A person like myself, who tends to think in clusters of thoughts, rather than in a linear way, these paintings are the best way for me to attempt to process my clusters of thoughts. Painting a picture is micro or macro. There’s a way of processing a challenge in the world they serve as a dualistic conscious. They’re external purpose and internal at the same time… that’s the gratifying part of it. You get to speak to people in different ways. You get to go back to the root of language, sort of impulse to communication or to build communities around different thoughts and somewhat homogenize these thoughts so I get to convince people through my work of things, I don’t even know about them, they’re like devices for their own minds, they’re platforms.
6. Are there any common ideas that you explore across your larger bodies or work?
I’m trying to look at the themes that I’m curious about and that I need to examine in my own life. Whether it’s justice or desire. What I’ll do is read about desire, maybe it’s because I’m trying to solve some issue in my own life or because I’m curious about the theme. And how people throughout history process the same challenges. And that reflects in the painting in due course. The paintings are like abstractions of books that I’m reading. But they’re larger abstractions... the first painting may influence the second painting and the third, and it sort of starts on this course where it’s really in dialogue with itself. I use the same motifs frequently, I ask a tremendous amount of the viewer when they’re examining my work. But you can’t expect someone to understand the concept of the anti-concept.
7. Your art constantly evolves. Where is it going? Are you in control of its evolution or do you go where it takes you?
No, it’s out of control. I think that half the work, upon making it I think it’s not good enough. Work that needs to move forward, I have to make slight conceptual and aesthetic adjustments. I get terribly bored of doing something I figured out how to do. For me, the process of painting is sort of like trying to challenge myself to a new test all the time. Tests of being able to say or render certain ideas or say certain concepts or confront certain fears or even sometimes the work is trying to be in dialogue with paintings from art history, so it’ll go back there and want to follow up with something that someone said. I think that the common theme in all of the work is this idea that the path sort of becomes the goal. It’s just process. Painting is like this exercise and self-restraint and trying to find new ways to talk about, sometimes the same things for years, but manifested in different ways. Like, you’re trying to sheer away the extra stone to reveal that truth. It’s already there, you’re just trying to find new ways to move around the same idea sometimes, until it exposes itself to you. But I work inversely, I work into the idea. I back into the concept. I don’t necessarily start with it. It starts with movement and the necessity to paint and it moves into the concept that I am trying to figure out.
8. What’s a more powerful entity in your life- your art or yourself? What guides what?
I don’t necessarily like myself. I think we live in a troubling era. It’s very hard to escape what you are, in a way, because there’s this digital trail that follows everything you do. I think it’s hyper-connectivity that leads to the decline of being able to change what you want to be all about. People think that if you contradict yourself, you become something different, and that that’s a bad thing. I think that’s an awesome thing. I search for the contradictions, but I try not to be weary of what I’ve sworn against in the past. I try to live a in a fluid state of reinvention. Someone said to me once that you have to find your own moral code, and I believe that, we have experiences, experience frames morality, ethics is how we process that. I’m sort of the guy where I stumble into paintings the same way. Sometimes people move that morality, you just take the better experience until you realize why you behave the way you behave. I look at myself as if I’m the problem here in the painting… but I’m also the one making them. I’m my own greatest enemy to be cliché. You’re trying to make your hand paint the way it doesn’t want to paint. You’re trying to fight your own nature. That’s pretty hard. We have to teach everything in this world that’s artificial. You don’t have to teach things that aren’t artificial.
9. What’s in your immediate future?
Bike rides. Burritos. And right now, I’ve decided to stop painting murals. My interest has fallen elsewhere. I’m spending almost eight months dedicated to one exhibition of paintings and sculptures. And they’re the most challenging works I’ve put myself in the test of making.
10. Any closing statements?
No.
You can see more of Zio's work here:
website • instagram
XST ART SHOW
Join us for our first show, highlighting the vibrant street art photography of Philadelphia's Shawn Theodore. We'll have appetizers, coffee, drinks, and a screening of a short film by Morgan Maassen. June 24th from 7pm - 10pm at Breakfast Culture Club, 711 Chapala Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101.
WOODY GOOCH
Woody Gooch is 20 years old and having the best time of his life. Between filling passports, winning awards and shooting global campaigns, he is firing on all cylinders. While he may be a surf and skate rat at heart, Woody has a mighty talent for shooting everything to cross in front of his lens, which has led for him to create an incredibly broad and captivating body of work. We caught up with him on the heels of launching his new website, which will take many long hours to truly appreciate...
1. Who are you?
I'm Woody Gooch, 20 years of age and I'm currently living in the central district of Tokyo, Japan.
2. Describe your medium & process for your work...
I capture motion. I started photographing skating at the age of 14 and moved into the surf scene. As I surfed for a hobby I wanted to understand how to document a daily surf or any sort of experience in the ocean with friends the way I visually saw things. I'm more immersed in taking the things that are happening in between those "moments" that people wait for.
3. How did you find your passion? Who/what influences your work?
I would borrow my fathers nikon d40 to photograph my afternoons down at my local skatepark with friends. We would all switch and trade until we all have a new picture for Facebook. It grew on me and I realised I loved to freeze moments that only occur once. I am only 19 and photography has opened up my world to people, the ocean, places and laughter, every day and every night. It gives me hope and excitement. It allows you to touch people. This is what makes me passionate about photography.
4. What excites you about your work? What do you struggle with?
Not knowing what tomorrows going to do or present to me. I like feeling unprepared with my photography, plenty of my most memorable trips and moments have been slammed right in front of me with a choice to move forward or turn out.
5. What are your goals? Where do you see yourself going?
I've got a handful of personal projects I'm tackling this year. I'm starting a journey from northern Japan to Russia for 5-6 weeks in the middle of the which has been on a list thats going to be rubbed out now. I'm ready to open plenty of doors, genres and understand how I want to visually show my next level of work. I look forward to sharing my journey.
ONE OCEAN ONE BREATH
One ocean, one breath. These two freedivers travel the world, taking a single gulp of air before exploring the sea, creating art amidst sharks, caves, light beams, and everything in-between. While the beauty of their pictures triumphs, the skill and dedication these two exhibit to create their artwork is some of the most tedious imaginable.
1. Who are you?
Christina, 35, Australian and Eusebio, 45, Spanish. We have been based on the small tropical island of Koh Tao, Thailand for over 12 years.
2. Describe your medium & process for your photos...
We shoot digital underwater photography and the water is our canvas. What we love about the ocean is that she is forever fluid and no matter how much we pre-plan or visualize an image or series of images, we must be flexible and go with the flow of varying light conditions, water visibility, currents and of course when shooting marine life we must be prepared to be spontaneous. I think we are always trying to express through photography the surreal sensations that we feel as freedivers beneath the surface.
3. How did you find your passion? Who/what influences your work?
We have been traveling the world over the last 8 years exploring incredible underwater destinations from the Caribbean to Asia and the Mediterranean. We are already accomplished freedivers and so it came naturally that we wanted to capture our experiences through photography. We are self-taught and learned entirely by trial and error. The ocean will forever be our main muse, however Eusebio and I are also influenced by each other as we discover new techniques, ideas and experiences together.
4. What excites you about your work? What do you struggle with?
To date shooting with the tiger sharks of the Bahamas was the most exhilarating and demanding in terms of managing the ocean, the camera, the lighting and being surrounded by 14-foot tigers. You have to be balancing so many variables as well as to have a great understanding and knowledge of the sharks and the ocean. However it is this kind of experience that we find the most challenging and the most rewarding, particularly when we can exhibit our work to the public and encourage them to think differently about the beauty of our oceans.
Our struggles are more specific to particular circumstances such as the frustrations of shooting in water with very bad visibility, incredibly strong currents or when we are limited by our breathhold time underwater.
5. What are your goals? Where do you see yourself going?
To continue to enjoy this passion, to share our images of the magic of the ocean as we see it through our eyes and ultimately to see where the adventures flow!
You can see more of Christina & Eusebio's work here:
website • facebook • instagram
Matt Lief Anderson
Matt Lief Anderson's work has been quietly taking over the internet, and for good reasons. His breathtaking photos hold both the wonderment of the world and the simple beauty of art, a rare combination found in today's travel photography. Matt's photos have us not asking "where?" and "how?", but instead just sitting back and saying "wow"... And for that we're grateful to catch up with the young photographer, and see where he's at in both the world and his art.
1. Who are you?
My name is Matt Lief Anderson. I’m a 32 year old photographer currently based in Austin, TX.
2. Describe your medium & process for your work...
I would consider myself a travel photographer. I lived in Asia and Europe for 4 years and traveled every chance I got. Now I’m back in the states and manage to take a few road trips here and there but I’m mostly based in Austin now. Recently I’ve done a lot of Music work for Pitchfork and Vice. I like to keep busy with a variety of projects rather than sticking to a particular genre. I think if you look at my work there is a vibe and aesthetic that ties it all together.
3. How did you find your passion? Who/what influences your work?
I started shooting because I moved to Asia to teach English and bought a camera with my first paycheck. Travel is really important to me and documenting everything I was doing made a lot of sense at the time. I still try to maintain a balance between shooting and having actual authentic experiences away from my camera. I don’t want to see the world through a lens. Some of the best experiences I’ve had traveling happened off camera and I’m cool with that.
Films influence my work. I obsess over directors and cinematographers and take screen shots and mental pictures of some of my favorite scenes. Some films that really spoke to me were “2001 A Space Odyssey”, “There Will Be Blood”, “No Country for Old Men”, “The Royal Tenenbaums”, “Blade Runner”, “Badlands”, “Django Unchained” and most recently “The Revenant”.
4. What excites you about your work? What do you struggle with?
I get excited by nostalgia. I look back at a lot of my photos and recall the moments I captured. And it makes me happy when people look at my work and get inspired to travel or get out of their comfort zone.
I struggle with video. I’m sitting on plenty of good work but editing everything together is another animal. It blows me away when people can really tell a story with a short video. I don’t want to send my work out to an editor to build a motion reel. I’d like to be able to handle everything on my own.
5. What are your goals? Where do you see yourself going?
My goal is to be able to turn down photo jobs that don’t interest me. I’d like to spend my time working with companies that I can connect to and allow me creative control.
I see a lot of personal travel work in my future. I’ve focused a lot on paid work over the last couple years. I need to shoot more for myself. This year is all about travel. I also work on a website called the Adventure Handbook with some of my friends. It’s growing rapidly and I plan on spending a lot more time this year on getting more great content for our viewers.
You can see more of Matt's work here:
website • facebook • instagram
Daniel O'Toole
"I first met Daniel O'Toole almost a decade ago, while walking through the once-grimy Sydney suburb of Enmore. Peering down a long and narrow art gallery, I saw a man with a head wild blonde hair and a massive respirator, spray-painting magnificent faces across canvases on the back patio. I invited myself in, watching him work his magic as he explained his clandestine adventures across the city to help beautify its un-marked walls. I left with countless souvenirs, and have since watched Daniel continuously develop his art across so many different mediums..." - Morgan Maassen
1. Who are you?
My name is Daniel O'Toole, also known as 'Ears' as my artist name. I am 31 years young, and based in Sydney, Australia.
2. Describe your medium & process for your artwork...
My practice is inter-disciplinary although my focus is painting most of the time. I also make beats, shoot films, and take analogue photographs. For my paintings, I often start by taking some polaroids/35mm shots of my model, using large screens of semi transparent perspex, and various glass panels distorted with paint etc, to create an obscured and painterly image which I then use as a reference for further abstractions in the painting process.
Sometimes I am just painting from my imagination as well, or from a sketch, but often my photography is the starting point for paintings.
3. How did you find your passion? Who/what influences your work?
I have always loved drawing cartoons and faces since I was young, its just evolved into what I do now through my love of music and analogue formats. I search for a warmth and sense of spirit in the work, something very human and tangible. I love artists like De-Kooning, Richard Diebenkorn, Michael Borremans, Marlene Dumas, Tony Woods, Brett Whitely, Robert and Sonia Delaunay, Saul Leiter... the list goes on.
4. What excites you about your work? What do you struggle with?
Im excited by the alchemic process of using colour and experimenting with colour combinations and effects, using video editing software has been an amazing journey recently because it's so rewarding to play with layers and effects and see so many varying results in a matter of minutes. Where as on a canvas there is a lot more time and materials required to execute and idea, and there is no edit/undo so its been a refreshing process. I'm keen to continue pushing the perceptual boundaries between the realms of photography and painting, and using the moving image as a tool for creating still images which can be painted.
5. What are your goals? Where do you see yourself going?
My goal eventually would be to live over seas in a Big City like NYC or Berlin, and to be closer to the action in terms of the international art scene. I would love to be making large scale installations and more ambitious work as time goes on and I may gain access to bigger budgets. I would love to continue making film clips for musicians/bands, and see how far I can push the medium. Also, continue making albums and putting out records. Just keep doing it all, but on a bigger scale. I mainly just sell my work privately through the studio and my social media, so I guess connecting with some good galleries would be a big step for me.
JAX RICHARDS
To be fourteen, is to have every door of life open to you, and not a worry in the world (with exception to the odd bit of homework). Jax Richards, son of Scott Richards (who we profiled last week), lives a life in the water, enjoying every moment of his free time surfing and exploring Newport Beach's alcove of waves. With nothing but a Gopro in hand, he's also amassed a collection of photos that capture the magic of his home, his youth, and the humble beginning of what looks to be an incredible photographic journey.
1. Who are you?
My name is Jax Richards, and I am 14 years old. I live on the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach, California, and I love to surf and take pictures.
2. Describe your medium & process for your work…
I take photos with my Gopro at the beachbreak in front of my house. I normally wake up early in the morning to find good lighting and check how the conditions are. I look for the cleanest empty barrels, ideally usually around sunrise and sunset. After that, I go home to check the photos on my computer and edit them.
3. How did you find your passion? Who/what influences your work?
I found my passion of of photography with both my friends and through my dad. All the photographers who shoot clean empty barrels like Clark Little have influenced my work.
4. What excites you about your work? What do you struggle with?
Being in the powerful waves and the beautiful lighting excites me most when shooting. Waking up early when the wind is calm, thats always great. I struggle with finding what to do when the waves are flat, choppy, or poor conditions... so that’s when I edit my photos, but not until my homework is done.
5. What are your goals? Where do you see yourself going?
My goals are to become a better photographer on land and in the ocean, and become a better surfer. I see myself as a lifeguard, surfer and a photographer in my local neighborhood.
You can see more of Jax's work on his Instagram
SCOTT RICHARDS
Scott Richards is a man of many hats: creative director, artist, world traveler, beach-goer extraordinaire, and father of two of Newport Beach's raddest aspiring surf groms. When not working at Stance Socks, he can be found tirelessly sewing flags of all of California's surf spots, a passion project that's quickly taken over every free minute of his hectic lifestyle.
1. Who are you?
Hello… My name is Scott Richards. I’m 45 years old and living in Newport Beach, CA on the Balboa Peninsula.
2. Describe your medium & process for your flags...
i am a painter, maker & Creative Director… Constantly juggling between work, painting, surfing, making stuff, family and finally sleeping. I’ve had to learn to find inspiration around my surroundings – books, boats, boards and my boys… I’m a hunter and gatherer of stuff that inspires me. Lately I’ve been making some hand-crafted, vintage-like flags based on local surf spots that are in my hood. From the Wedge to Blackies, 54th Street to the Point. They’re all hand-made, stitched, painted and taken through an aging process, so they’re good and salty when complete.
3. How did you find your passion? Who/what influences your work?
I’ve always been tinkering around in my studio collaging scraps of paper or prints, painting and stitching things together. It started with photo prints, then onto wood and now it’s on canvas, linen and other textiles. I love the creative process and I’m inspired by seeing artist’s spaces and all their do-dads laying around. It’s like when you see a Jackson Pollack painting with a cigarette butt in it or the sneaker prints on a Basquiat, you almost imagine the work environment, hear the music playing…you can almost smell or sense what’s happening during the act of making the piece.
4. What excites you about your work? What do you struggle with?
What I like most about my work is that I can touch it, beautify or destroy it. Color and texture is so important and can easily go bad and I’m a stickler for it. I hate letting something go that just isn’t right. Usually I’ll just repaint, or re-dye or even tea stain the hell out of something. I like to age things. New things are so boring. I like there to be a history and a bit of patina in everything I do. These flags become products of their environment
5. What are your goals? Where do you see yourself going?
My ultimate goal in my life is to get my work and my craft to become one single focus.
ULRICH KNOBLAUCH
ULRICH KNOBLAUCH - photographer
South African fashion photographer Ulrich Knoblauch has a way of capturing women in a such a serene, sexy manner. A citizen of the world, he bounces between fashion capitals, lush jungles and arid deserts exacting his lens on anything he desires.
1) Who are you?
Ulrich Knoblauch, 37 years old from Cape Town, South Africa.
2) Describe your medium and process for your photos...
I shoot digital on all commercial assignments. For personal work however, nothing really beats film. I love my Yashica T4 - it’s amazing how swopping to another medium can change your ‘personality’ as a photographer. Does that make any sense? My work on the Yashica, even compared to my digital personal work, stands completely on it’s own. I love the idea of not having to focus for instance, you just see, love, point and shoot. It reminds me of a documentary about William Eggleston where someone asks him why he only shoots one frame of many of his subjects. His answer was so straight forward - “I don’t like to edit”. I loved that. Everyone overshoots on digital and then you have have these little film cameras that doesn’t necessarily force you to think about a shot, but rather makes you WANT to think before you shoot.
3) How did you find your passion, who and what influences your work?
The long way around. I was going to study law, I never considered photography as a career. It was only when I had to leave London to finally go and sign in at University in Cape Town that I decided law might not be for me, so much to my mothers dismay, I extended my UK visa and stayed in London for another 6 months. It wasn’t until my mom eventually did the whole “oh dear God, what are you going to do with your life” speech and mentioned “why don’t you just go and do photography, you've always had a camera in your hand”, that the lights came on. Mothers intuition, I guess. I loved it from day one.
A far as who or what influences my work… beauty… beautiful architecture, beautiful faces - male and female, the sea, gentle moments between subjects. Bruce Weber has that way of telling stories that’s always fascinated me…Jamie Hawkseworth, although my work isn’t inspired by his, shoots incredibly beautiful, considered images. Harley Weir too. There are a million more…Jeanloup Sieff, Meisel. The list goes on.
4) What excites you about your work? What do you struggle with?
The feeling i get when i meet someone so beautiful or interesting that my head spins with excitement and ideas. I struggle on a lot of commercial jobs where my head just spins with boredom.
5) What are your goals, where do see yourself going?
I have a book coming out soon I want to launch that with an accompanying exhibition in NYC . I want to spend more time in Paris and NY this year, Paris has been particularly good to me in 2015. I want to raise a happy baby and be the best dad I can be. I want to learn French, learn more about wine and finally do something good for someone who really needs it.
You can see more of Ulrich's work here:
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