Growing up in Hawaii was a very unique experience, one that I beleive heavily shapes my work. Frequent interactions with the ocean has been deeply instilled within the island culture, weather it be surfing, paddling, or diving. Photography had become a way for me to spend more time in the ocean and less time worrying about what bullshit may be waiting for me on land. Time slows down when I’m floating around out there with my camera, it is a feeling of pure bliss. That feeling is what I try to capture and share through my work. All I want people to take away from my work is to get off your ass, go outside, and explore your surroundings. There is always more out there than meets the eye. I think that certain aspects of photography are becoming a bit too automated and instant. Although this makes the “magic” of photography more accessible to a larger audience which is great don’t get me wrong, I feel there is just something missing.
I borrowed my dad’s camera on a trip to Turkey back when I was thirteen, from then on I have continued shooting photos on a regular basis. I like to capture what’s happening around me, places I visit, people I meet or that I see when I walk down the street. I feel it’s like when a hunter is looking for his prey, you have to observe, you get to know the enviroment first, then when you feel that the right moment has come, you shoot. Cities filled up with buildings, crowded streets, caotic places like a metropolis, I consider them as my jungle. I don’t want to tell stories, maybe one day, now it is just observation, like when you go on a safari. It’s a personal need, I want to freeze-up little fragments, moments in time, different situations that I find interesting and keep them as visual memories that I will either keep as they already are, or push them into something else like a painting.
My work is about my surroundings, the people I meet, my subconcious, and relationships of color. I am constantly looking for the beauty in every day things that is overlooked or forgotten. I try to create a connection within the disconnection of reality. The main goal of my work is to make people see things they can’t. I expose to them to the observations and ideals that would otherwise fall into obscurity. I got into photography through skateboarding, it gave me a unique perspective on the life around me and I transformed that into a passion for art and photography. Biggest inspirations are William Eggleston, Ed Templeton, Diane Arbus, and Nan Goldin.
I got into photography initially from trying to document my life and the people around me/ strangers I don’t know... Slowly I started thinking about it compositionally like a painting and that’s what got me obsessed with it, telling a story frozen in a frame for anyone to interpret differently. As far as the art world, I feel since technology is side by side next to us, people are influenced by each other even more through the internet. So, the standard has been risen, but also diluted. There’s a lot of shitty imitations but there’s also more great work more than ever now. Truly a double edged sword, but all in all I feel it’s appreciated more so since there is more of a platform to promote yourself, fuck it, I dont give a shit. As far as what I’m trying to tell people, I like a bit of mystery, with photography I want to make the viewer think. What’s going on or what’s going to happen next? Essentially I like photos when the subject matter forgets I am there and there is a moment of a genuine mood or action. Honestly that is what I think now but when I’m shooting I go off instinct and click the shutter when it feels right.
ISSUE 00 THIS IS AN INTRODUCTION TO WASTE MAGAZINE CREATED BY IVAN GRIANTI AND COLE YAMANE_ SPRING 2014_
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