Introducing the art of Deb Achak (Interview)

DEB ACHAK

DESTIG TORONTO - ART | DESIGN | TRAVEL - ISSUE 09 / JANUARY 2021

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"HOW MARVELOUS THAT THEY BROUGHT FORTH SUCH MAGNIFICIENCE FROM THEIR BRUSHES AND CHISELS." - ANONYMOUS

"This is the yin-yang in photography. The camera is a highly technical device, and we must understand how it functions in order to use it effectively. Creativity, on the other hand, wants to roam and wander, without constraints. I am always trying to push the capacity of my camera to create feminine, painterly photographs. I love the tension there."

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Deb Achak is an American photographer working in

children were born. I picked up a camera a few years later

both conceptual and street photography. Her

and fell down an incredible creative rabbit hole. In some

conceptual photography gives form to memory,

ways, it feels like the medium picked me. I thought I was

energy, and the exploration of spirituality. Her street

buying camera gear to capture my children, but it seems

photography, captured in beaches throughout the

the universe had other ideas. In hindsight, I think art was

world, documents the human experience of water. In

always my path, but it took time away from it for me to

both genres, Achak stretches the capacity of the

realize it’s what I wanted to do full time. I didn’t have the

camera to create painterly, sensual photographs rich

role model of a working artist when I was growing up. It

in meaning and story.

never occurred to me that I could choose such an extraordinary thing as a career.

Share with us a bit about your background and why you became an artist.

You are a self-trained photographer and filmmaker;

I studied literature and art as an undergraduate, but

share with us your journey to an acclaimed artist.

my first career was as a social worker. I worked in

I feel so grateful for how things unfolded for me. In the

various hospitals with high risk women and children

early years of my photography, I focused exclusively on

for over a decade, but left the career when my own

personal work (my children, self-portraiture, filmmaking).

I refused to label what my work was,

I knew it was a rare and beautiful thing to

instead I followed my curiosity and

stumble upon a career as fulfilling as

intuition. As much as possible, I shut out

photography, so I grabbed hold with both

outside references so I could listen to my

hands and went for it.

own instincts and find my voice.

How would you describe your style of

"I prefer to capture work that lights me up without too much conscious thought.

Afterwards, I examine the pictures to see what they are telling me. Most artists bristle at the idea of being put into a box of any sort, and I suppose I am no different."

I reminded myself that 50 years ago

photography?

artists weren’t bombarded with social

I suppose it’s easiest to say that my work

media and the like. They had what was

lives in the fine art category. I often think

what was inside of them and in front of

in terms of art on walls and (one day

them. It’s impossible to shut out all

hopefully) in books. I create work in

influences these days, but as much as

several different genres. One approach to

possible I kept my eyes focused on my

shooting isn’t enough for me. I love to

own internal pull. If something excited or

experiment and try new things.

fascinated me, I went towards it. This way of working became my foundation and it

Your work is in two areas - Conceptual

served me very well once I emerged in a

and Street Photography. How did you

more public way.

identify these pathways?

I prefer to capture work that lights me up

It’s tricky to call myself self-trained

without too much conscious thought.

because

of

Afterwards, I examine the pictures to see

mentorship and education from some of

what they are telling me. Most artists

the finest photographers and printers

bristle at the idea of being put into a box

working today. There is also something to

of any sort, and I suppose I am no

be said for finding your calling later in life.

different. But, it’s useful to ground the

I

have

availed

myself

"Creating work in several genres is exciting to me. I feel like different hemispheres of my brain are activated when I toggle between the two."

work in a category from time to time. Conceptual

universe within my work, but I love it just the same. My

photography is so broad that it gives me infinite freedom.

brand of street photography is captured from the water.

It can hold space for symbolic pictures, landscapes,

In a way it represents its own little subset within the

portraiture, experimental techniques, storytelling, self-

wider world of street photography which we typically

portraiture and on and on. I don’t feel confined under

think of as being shot on city streets. Creating work in

that umbrella.

several genres is exciting to me. I feel like different hemispheres of my brain are activated when I toggle

My street photography tends to sit in it’s own little

between the two.

"What we need to know is inside of us. It’s all there, just trust it."

You have spoken about the power you feel when in deep flow with your art. What does creating with a still mind unlock in you?

It unlocks everything for me. My human brain can only come up with a limited set of ideas to photograph, but when I release preconceived expectations and rigid ideas, I create things that surprise me. This is the yin-yang in photography. The camera is a highly technical device, and we must understand how it functions in order to use it effectively. Creativity, on the other hand, wants to roam and wander, without constraints. I am always trying to push the capacity of my camera to create feminine, painterly photographs. I love the tension there.

Your newest series is 'My Eyes Need Beauty'. Tell us about this.

My Eyes Need Beauty was created from a dark place.

2020 has been rough for all of us, but things took an especially difficult turn for me in September when the entire west coast was blanketed in toxic smoke from the wildfires raging in California, Oregon, and Washington.

For ten days, the air was too hazardous to go outside. I worried for my children and for our planet more than ever before. Being cloistered inside, cut off from nature, broke something in me. It’s the lowest I have been during all the challenges and unrest of 2020. I responded in the healthiest way I could, I made bold, painterly photographs of flowers floating in water. I couldn’t breathe safely, but I could give my eyes something on which to feast.

'Side By Each Facing the Sun' is an exploration of the root chakra. What do you want to evoke in viewers?

I would love to encourage a conversation or curiosity about our energetic anatomy. It’s such a big and heady topic, so I broke it down to my own personal relationship with the root chakra, the first of seven chakras within each of us. What is a chakra? What does it mean? When I first learned about them, I was fascinated. I would like to encourage others to consider their own.

'She Told Us To Trust Our Intuition' was inspired by your late mother, kindly tell us about this.

I am so lucky to have had a loving, inspiring, supportive mother. She died of cancer twelve years ago at the age of 64, just twenty five days before my second son was born. It was such a complex time for me emotionally -grief and joy intertwined. Mothering and mother-loss within the same breath. It took me years to process it all. Her parting words to me and my siblings were, trust your gut instincts. I think those four simple words, strung together, are the most profound gift that a mother could leave her children with. What we need to know is inside of us. It’s all there, just trust it. The words have become a mantra for me. The series is a love letter to my mother, and also a way of co-creating with her. My relationship with my mother continues

"Capturing regular people suspended in water - seeing each individual's inherent beauty regardless of their age or size really touched me. I see the poetry we all possess. It made me fall in love with humanity."

after her death, and I explore that in She Told Us To Trust Our Intuition.

'The Aquatic Street' and 'Ebb and Flow' are ongoing documentations of the human experience of water.

What did you learnt about our connection to water?

I stumbled upon both bodies of work, which seems to be my way. Just like with my early camera work, I

thought I was purchasing equipment to photograph my

gave myself the assignment to capture everyday people

sons, but they tired of me following them around in the

enjoying a day at the beach from the vantage point of

water. On one particular day, my youngest son let me

the water. As the work went on, two things became

know in no uncertain terms that he wanted to play with

clear. The first was that the work was about joy -- I am in

his friends in the waves without constant interruptions

my joy when I am creating it, and the subjects are too.

from me. I took the hint and swam away from him out towards open water. I kept shooting and later fell in love

People don’t go to the beach to have a bad time. They go

with the photographs. That work became my first series,

to swim and play with friends and family, to commune

Ebb and Flow. I still shoot work for that series wherever

with nature, to drink up the sun. It’s a remarkable feeling

I go, and perhaps I always will. I love investigating subtle

to be in that positive energy when I work. In addition,

differences in water color, texture, light, etc. Lately, I

everyday people are extraordinarily beautiful in the

have taken to shooting in the water after sunset with

water. Capturing regular people suspended in water --

longer and longer shutter speeds. I love the challenge of

seeing each individual's inherent beauty regardless of

bringing something new and fresh to the work.

their age or size --- really touched me. I see the poetry we all possess. It made me fall in love with humanity. The

The Aquatic Street is also something I stumbled into. It

Aquatic Street is, technically speaking, very difficult to

all began with one image, The Queue, that I shot while

shoot. Swimming to get in place to get a good shot,

my oldest son was climbing the rocks at Black Rock

sometimes treading water for hours at certain locations,

Beach on Maui. He was tentative about climbing, and I

dealing with water spots on the camera housing, staying

lingered nearby to make sure he was safe. It was a lucky

safe in huge surf and occasional riptides -- it can be quite

shot, and I loved it right away but didn’t have a place for

challenging at times. All street photography is hard, but

it in any other body of work. It was a stand-alone image

swimming with a camera is a bit like Ginger Rogers and

for about a year or more until I decided that

Fred Astaire on the dance floor --- she did everything he

photographing strangers in the water was downright

did but backward and in heels. Shooting in the water

intoxicating. I traveled to Italy the following year and

feels a bit like that, but I love it.

How has your art practise evolved during your career?

2019 and 2020 was huge for me. Historically, the

I try to focus on process and daily progress. Missteps

medium was largely dominated by men, but Gulnara

occur when I hold on to rigid outcomes and

Samiolova has sparked a movement with her dedication

expectations. Staying present in the now works best for

to elevating women’s work in street photography. I also

me. It keeps the work fresher and more honest. There is

love having my work represented in galleries. The

an interesting dance between being disciplined enough

opportunity for exhibitions and putting work in homes

to land the plane, yet open and loose enough to find

and public spaces is the great honor of my career.

magic and inspiration. With each passing year, I get more adept at the steps. Recently, I returned to an

Share with us how 2020 impacted your art.

important practice that I had abandoned for a while -- I

COVID limited my ability to travel and shoot street

started bringing my camera with me everywhere again.

photography, but it gave me the push to create closer to

I don’t know why I stopped doing this, but for the last

home. I had already been doing this in my conceptual

few years, the habit fell away and I began to think of my

work. I simply leaned in a bit harder. The mood in the

camera as something I used only when I was in work-

United States has been dark for four years, making art

mode. I missed out on so much.

all the more important. Creating beauty during times of

So, I am back to having it with me at all times. I am back

stress or tension is therapeutic on many levels. I tried, in

to framing shots constantly and I love it. Driving to the

my personal and professional life, to stay fully engaged

grocery store or running errands -- I’m ready. You never

and activated, but hopeful too. In my heart, I am an

know when you will be gifted something extraordinary.

optimist and someone who wants peace and harmony. I hope the consciousness will shift back to more

How has all the recognition of your art affected you?

responsible leadership and unity. We need it.

Having my street photography recognized in the Women Street Photographers annual exhibition 2018,

Website: www.debachak.com / IG: @debachak