Sincerely Yours
FALL 2011 Volume 2, Issue 1
CONTENTS ANNA GUTERMUTH page 4 JOEL ROBISON page 12 FINOLA CAHILL page 22 KAT GUALTIERI page 30 DANMI LEE page 40 PEONY YIP page 48
* Cover Photo by Danmi Lee
CONTRIBUTERS Founder and Editor-In-Chief ANGELA MARKSBERRY
Co-Editor LAUREN POTTER
Graphic Design ANGELA MARKSBERRY
Featured Artists ANNA GUTERMUTH DANMI LEE FINOLA CAHILL JOEL ROBISON KAT GUALTIERI PEONY YIP
main street by Anna Gutermuth
Joel robison //Photographer
where the concepts come from exactly. I tend to try and photograph the things that I'm feeling or the way I want to see things. I try to infuse positivity and a message into my work and that inspires a lot of what I do. How did you get started in photography?
Where are you from? I was born and raised in Cranbrook, British Columbia, where I currently live which is in the Rocky Mountains of Western Canada. I've always loved living in the shadows of the mountains and having the vast amounts of nature available to me. You've done several series such as ‘Wonderland,’ ‘Soul Pancake,’ ‘Peaceful Food,' and many others. Where do you come up with these concepts? They're very intriguing and tell an interesting story. Each one is an ongoing series that I've become very interested
and passionate about. Sometimes I don't realize that I have so many photos that carry the same theme or imagery (like in the case of Wonderland which is inspired by Lewis Carrol's books). In the case of Soul Pancake, earlier this year I was invited to take part in a project that posted personal challenges inspired by the book “Soul Pancake.” These challenges each are intended to inspire a photograph which is where that series came from. Sometimes after one photo I know that I'm going to start a project, like my Peaceful Food series that I started after the first photo. I don't really know
It runs in my family. My grandmother had a huge collection of photo albums, boxes of photos, and endless rolls of slides from her travels around the world. My mom has always been the family photographer and I don't think she ever missed a family event, celebration or trip to the beach without a photo or two. My mother and grandmother are certainly my role models in terms of photography and I think that being raised in a family that fostered and encouraged my art really helped me to try out different mediums and techniques. A few years ago I came across a photo a day project and I became interested and shortly after I knew that I had found something that I really wanted to become good at and that would challenge me at the same time. There's something very fairytale like and magical about your photos; what inspires you to create such beautiful pictures?
I really try to see the positive things in life. I always think the best of people and environments and I try to see the best in myself. I think that with that way of thinking comes a lighter, more whimsical look on life which certainly inspires me and my work. I enjoy stories; I've always enjoyed Disney movies and I certainly use those as inspiration. I try to create images that tell a story, that have a concept and that are fun to look at. What is one of your earliest memories involving a camera or photography? There are two memories that really stick out in my head. One would be when I was about 13 and I received a film camera for my birthday, I remember lying in the grass one day and thinking, “This is an interesting perspective” and taking all sorts of photos from different perspectives. The other memory would be when I was in 12th Grade and in a Visual Media class with a photography component. I remember shooting a roll of black and white film on a vintage camera and developing them in a darkroom and feeling such a sense of pride in creating something from beginning to end. How did you come up with idea for your photo enti-
tled, Preserved?
a frozen puddle and seeing Last year I was fortunate the shards of ice crunch unenough to be selected to be der my shoes. For the photo, I part of an art collective proj- took it in a small clearing in a ect called “The Teleidoscope.” forest, laying in the snow and The members of the project shooting by remote from a composed a list of 52 themes tall boulder. Then I added to interpret over the course some ice textures and finally of the year and for that par- a photo of my boots standticular image the theme was ing on an area of ice. “cold.” Living in the mountains in winter I was certainly able to portray the imagery of cold in a variety of ways but I really wanted to try something different. I knew almost instantly that I wanted to appear as if I had been frozen under ice. The idea came from me stepping on
finola cahill //Photographer
Where are you from? I'm originally from Mayo in the West of Ireland but I've been living in Dublin for about 4 years now with a one year interlude where I lived in Urbino, Italy. I'm waving goodbye to Ireland again and moving to Paris at the end of September. Do you feel that being a photographer and a painter gives you an edge with photography? I wouldn't say that being a painter gives me an edge exactly, but I'd like to think it gives me a different way of looking at things. I've spent hours upon hours staring down a white cloth trying to capture the thousands of little shades of color, reflection and light that intertwine to make up a single fold. I think it makes me aware and unafraid of strange shadows and off putting colors. Painting takes time, reflection and thought, and since that's where I came from that's how I approach my photography. I try to make sure the little things are right and I try to appreciate the small mundane things that can make a photograph interesting. Does being a photographer make you more aware of people's movements? I have come to appreciate
wind a lot more. Wind in someone's hair makes everything more alive, more fluid. But certainly, I think I've become more aware of people in general. Sometimes I find myself looking at a girl on the street and thinking, “her face would take light really well,” not “she's really pretty.” You start looking at faces and bodies in a different way. I've started seeing the small things a lot more; they're the things that make a difference, the angle of a finger, the tension in your shoulders, the glance that grazes just slightly off camera. The difference between good and great can be a couple of degrees to the left. How long can a photo shoot take from start to finish? That really depends. It depends on how many costume changes there are, how many models there are, how heavy the make-up is, etc. It can be anywhere from a half hour to 6 hours. Some of my favorite ones have been quick ones where I've only had half an hour to spare or my battery is going to die or I've run out of tobacco or the model has to go get a bus. The frenetic energy can photograph well. The long ones are interesting though because we all get tired and hungry and sometimes ideas grow and evolve
and characters change and you can kind of see it in the photos, its part of the story line. I love shooting, but my favorite part is afterwards, with a cigarette and a cup of tea, laughing about whatever went wrong (something always does) with my memory card sitting in my pocket, like a present waiting to be unwrapped, and eventually going home and going through the pictures. There's a real sense of joy and relief when you finally see them on a proper screen. How did you come up with the idea for the photo shoot entitled, “No Strings Attached?” Basically Emma, the oh so beautiful model, and I were meeting for the first time. I was going to take some head shots and some test shots and had asked her to bring along some clothes. She has the most wonderful sense of style and had brought along this fabulous outfit that kind of gave me this post-war, vintage glamour feel. I had this miniature top hat I was dying to use and she has a fantastically strong face so this idea kind of formed in my mind of this puppet girl that had been entertaining the soldiers, coming to life and cutting her strings. I did my best with the make-up
side of things and Emma has all the strength and beauty a girl could ever need to be a puppet-doll breaking free. How did you get started in photography? I was about 15 and a girl in my school had an SLR, I started looking at some of her photos and I was crazy jealous so I begged and pleaded for one for my birthday which my parents kindly supplied. I proceeded to take a lot of underexposed/overexposed/ motion blurred/messy photos. After about a year I decided to actually learn what
all the functions on my camera meant and I just kind of threw myself into it. I never got very good in a darkroom but film photography still has a firm place in my heart. In the beginning I mostly took snaps; friends, families, flowers. Then I started to take photos of things I wanted to paint later and in thinking about how I wanted to paint them, I started thinking about the framing, the light and the angles, and started to produce better photos, and slowly I started taking photos for photography's sake. I finally made the switch over
to digital last December and I feel like I’m relearning all over again, it's a very different way of doing things, but I’m enjoying it.
kat gualtieri //Photographer
Where are you from? I'm from Italy. I live in the province of Catanzaro which is in south Italy but soon I'll move to Milan. How did you get started with photography? I started with photography about 4 to 5 years ago. My uncle gave me his unused reflex and I started collecting pictures of objects that were in my room and flowers and then, after about a year, I did my first photo shoot with a person and I really wanted to become a photographer of people for people, especially for women, trying to represent them with their elegance and femininity without vulgar poses or explicit scenes. What about photography inspires you? There are a lot of things that inspire me. For example, last month I got inspired by a bathtub I saw abandoned on a hill while I was going to do a photo shoot, but I also get inspired by other photographers such as Mike Rosenthal, Lina Tesch, Anastasia Volkova and Julia N. Petrova as well as from music, books and films. One of my favorites, Memoir of a Geisha, gave me the strength to believe in my dreams. How did you come up with
the idea for your photo entitled ‘Micol,’ it's very beautiful and elegant. We were taking some photos in the park and there was a fantastic light and many shadows that were created by the sun filtering into a flowered arch. I don't really know how to explain how it came up, I just remember that she was talking to me and I was going far to capture the entire scene and I said, "Put your hand on the arch and let yourself fall down!" and so she did. What do you do when you're not taking photos? When I'm not taking photos I write, draw or cook. I love cooking and eating. I also spend a lot of time doing “post production.” Sometimes I have to complete works composed by 300 photos and it takes me lot of time. Do you ever listen to music to get inspired for a particular photo shoot? For me photography goes together with music. I can’t imagine working without listening to something. Recently I'm really appreciating the voice of Ellie Goulding, and about a year ago I got beautiful ideas listening to "…A Toys Orchestra"
which is an Italian band. As I said before, music is one of my inspirations and it helps me to get in the state of mind that I want to be in for a photo shoot.
model: stacey @ vision model management, mua & styling: laura naish, design: beatrice winter
danmi lee //Photographer
Where are you from? I was born and raised in Germany and currently live in Frankfurt, so I tend to say I'm German however, I am fully Korean by blood and now studying in London. I try to build many homes across the world. What is it about photography that inspires you? It's the feeling you get when looking back at the photos you have taken during the day. Looking at them and no matter what they show, you can recall the emotions and thoughts you had, it's like they are a part of you. Photography is all about keeping and sharing moments, sharing a bit of your life, and all that in a way, is beautiful. Once you spend more time with it, it changes the way you look at the world, the way you experience moments and the way you remember them. Your eye is constantly searching for the beauty in everyday life that often goes unnoticed. I am constantly taking pictures in my head and it's the most inspiring thing to see the world through eyes like lenses; it keeps showing you how much there is to see in it. If you weren't a photographer, then what would you be doing?
If I didn't take photos, there would definitely be something else occupying me. I might spend more time with music, I wish I did anyway, or I would do some more writing. In any case, I would always search for ways of documenting feelings and moments because
they are what are worth keeping. What attracted you to photography? There has always been photos around me; photo albums, my dad's beautiful old camera, etc. It was so natural to document things
nothing is working out the way you want it to? Of course! It's these days when the whole world is against you, nothing is working out and it's so frustrating I don't feel like doing anything, no photos, no nothing. My mind easily gets clogged up in these situations; all I can do is sit down and do nothing until the fog clears or listen to loud, aggressive electronic music until everything breaks into pieces. It's not a feeling I'm particularly fond of, but in the end, it's a feeling too, and I suppose you need some frustration every now and then. How did you come about taking these photos; there's a unique softness to them.
and then it just gradually developed. I looked at more pictures, I took more pictures and over time, I realized just how much you could do with a camera. Step by step I found out what I could show and what I wanted to show in my pictures and how
strong photography can be as a means of expression. It took me a long time to get to where I am now, but maybe that's a good thing. It's a love that has been through a lot of moments. Do you ever have an off day when you feel like
I was really lucky with this one! Laura Naish approached me about a shoot she was planning with the two playsuits shown and I loved her work, so I said yes right away. It turned out to be a beautiful day and it just kind of happened. I can look back on the photos now and it feels more like a nice day out rather than a photo shoot, I guess that's the beauty of the trade!
PEONY YIP //VISUAL ARTIST
Name: Peony Yip Location: Hong Kong When did you star t to ser iously get into dr awing/ painting? A couple of years back, I guess since 2007. What's your favor ite medium to wor k in? I love working with graphite and watercolors. Watercolors are hard to control sometimes but I love the unexpected outcomes. What inspir ed your astr onaut dr awings? I've been asked this a lot. I have an obsession with
space suits. I think they're simple but ironically they are so complicated. The inspiration really comes from wanting to draw girls in these suits because the ones I usually see are of men and I thought, "Why not?" What would you say influences your wor k the most? People, the more I draw the more motivation I get and there's always that passion to draw because I'm really not good at anything else so why not take what I'm a little bit good at and make it better?
What's your favor ite movie? Favor ite song? My favorite movie will always be Into The Wild, if you have seen it I don't think I need to say more, and if not, GO WATCH IT!! My current favorite song is Big Jet Plane by Angus and Julia Stone.
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