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I Survived Skatopia – Adam Amengual and Dylan Vitone

27 Feb

When Adam emailed me a few months back telling me that he and his friend, the photographer Dylan Vitone, had photographed Skatopia together, I couldn’t wait to hear more about it and share their work on this site. I’m sure most of us have seen a lot of coverage of Skatopia, but I love the way Adam and Dylan captured the people and the scene, worked together and made such different imagery.

How did you two decide to photograph Skatopia? What first led you there and had you been there before?

DV: I think Adam and I were still in college when we saw this insane video of skatetopia on youtube. It seemed like a magical place that was somewhere between freedom and anarchy.  It must have been 10 years ago. we where both like we need to shoot that. I think one of Adam’s friends turned him on to it. It took 10 years for Adam to get his act together enough to head out there with me. in the meantime I photographed it 6 or 7 times since, but none of the trips where as great as the one I took with Adam. 
 
The two of us know each others work so well that we would be pointing out pictures to one another. “Hey Adam check out the girl with the dog.” We know what each other likes to shoot and we wanted each other to get the most out of the experience. 
 
I had never photographed any of the events at night. That was something I was really missing from my pictures. Adam is so amazing with lights he helped me out with that a lot. There was one night I was shooting and Adam literally had my back. I was shooting this moss pit where folks where hanging from the ceiling with hooks in their backs and there was another set of people having tug-a-war with fetish hooks in their butts in the middle of the mush pit. It was just out of control wild and there was Adam right behind me with a flash pointing it in what ever direction I pointed my camera. He would block bottles being through at the crowd and keep us clued in to what ever out of hand stuff was happening that we should be aware of. “Hey Dylan they are about to throw those two TVs in to the crowd… watch out.” I could not have made the pictures I made without out Adam’s help. 

 

AA: It wasn’t that long ago, maybe around 2007 that I had been told about Skatopia through a skate/snow journalist friend of mind. At the time that I saw the pictures and videos of Skatopia and it looked like a place where I could experience what skateboard culture was like in the beginning. Where I could immerse myself and use my camera as my ticket to jump on that train. At some point I mentioned the place to Dylan and he had asked if I minded him going to shoot it and he came up with the idea to shoot it together. I moved away from NY in 2008 then to LA in 2009 which made it difficult to make it down to PA to meet Dylan to go to OH. During that time Dylan asked if I minded if he went and shot it on his own which of course I was. In 2011 when I moved back to Brooklyn, Dylan was like, “OK, you’re back, lets do this.”

 

Dylan had been several times before at this point and I had also seen the work of a few other photographers who had covered the place in the last few years so I was not initially as hyped on going as I was in 07/08 but after some thought I decided to go anyway and this past summer Dylan and I (and my summer intern Jake) drove to Rutland. 
 
As I mentioned before, I had seen the work of a few other photographers as well as Dylan’s previous pictures from Skatopia and it caused me to ask myself it I could have a different angle to show. I decided I did and now after shooting there this past summer a good lesson has come out of it.  That just because something has been shot before, you can still put your own spin on it. 
 
Which brings me to how it was shooting and making pictures side by side with Dylan. I think we were both unsure how that was going to work out. But it was awesome. We did split up a bit but we also approached subjects together or would walk up on one another while shooting and would photograph the same subject/seen back to back. I know photojournalist work like that a lot but this was new for Dylan and I. We were both able to work on a subject’s trust together, the patter you create and modify when shooting strangers is part of the creation of this kind of work and to have someone with you, an old friend to chat up a subject with, we found works very well.
What were your experiences with the people at Skatopia? It doesn’t doesn’t appear to be the most welcoming place to outsiders. Did you have your cameras with you all of the time or did you try to build trust with the subjects – or groups – first?
 
A: Overall it was a pretty pleasant experience, I saw somethings that I had never seen before and am sure I will not see again anywhere outside of that place, I mean, its not everyday you see what happens when someone puts a quarter stick of dynamite in the gas tank of a car. Almost every single person I had an interaction with was down to chat and have their picture taken. In my experience, when shooting strangers, especially in a spontaneous manner you need to come across honest and sincere.  Everyone was super excited to be there, including Dylan and myself. Everyone I had an interaction with wanted to share their experience by both verbally talking to us and having their picture taken. I wouldn’t say we blended in but we didn’t stick out either, Dylan and I both came up skating and have made pictures of a variety of people so I think we both know how to relate to a variety of people. Yes, we had our cameras on us from the moment we got there.  For me building trust with the subjects happens organically, sometimes you can just walk right up to someone and ask to take their picture, sometimes you get into a conversation first and then ask, you just have to roll with it.

 

D: The people there were absolutely great. Really generous with their time and conversation. I generally find that if you explain, to just about anyone, why you want to photograph they are OK with it. As Adam said we both came up skating and very much identify with the culture and still consider it still part of who we are as people. I think I do a pretty good job on a daily basis convincing myself that I am a lot closer to that time in my life than I actually am. Adam and I have spoken about the experience in some depth since we shot it and for me I realize the work becomes more and more about that time in your life that you are fully optimistic. You can do anything. You can not get hurt. You can do the most ridiculous things but when the sun comes up the next day you forget about it. You live in the present. It sounds trite but that is where I am at. So the work is about documenting and celebrating a subculture.  It is also a little about fashion photography (I will completely pretend I did not drop that with no explanation) but I think it is also, and I am only speaking for myself, is about a realization that I am a grown up now and looking back at that time in a honest but nostalgic way. I had just had my first child, Lena, a couple months before we went to skatopia. There was a time not so long ago where I was in a world that my friends fought over someone painting over someones graffiti or I was playing a show or I was skating searching for those perfect stairs to skate and now I am a college professor that has a mildly aggressive  investment plan for my retirement plan so I can have nice furniture for my beautiful daughter. I am not sure that I miss that time of reckless but I am grateful I had it. I hope the work celebrates that time in life.
A: I think within all Dylan’s ramblings : ) that what he is saying is very true about us capturing people at a certain time in their life and some of the people there have been able to continue living day by day and in the moment. I am not going to lie, I really enjoyed spending 4 days there with no cell service and being apart of the festivities that weekend gave a taste of that life. This is a huge part of why I make documentary work. I can never actually feel 100% what its like to walk in the shoes of my subjects but at least I can get a sense. 
 
D: you are just pissed off that I have retirement : )

 

(See more of Adam’s work here and more of Dylan’s work, here)

10 minutes with Dorothy Hong

18 Feb

When did you first know that you wanted to be a photographer?

It was actually a little backwards how I fell into photography. I first chose it and then I realized I loved it. When I was applying to colleges in high school I knew i wanted to go to a school that was more focused towards a career I would like. I always knew I was interested in a creative field of some sort and just decided photography would be art I would pursue. I guess it was fate how it all worked out.

 

Dorothy Hong

Dorothy Hong

Dorothy Hong

Dorothy Hong

Dorothy Hong

Dorothy Hong

Dorothy Hong

Dorothy Hong

Dorothy Hong

Dorothy Hong

 

Who were some of the first photographers that inspired you?

I love Avedon of course. His portrait work is endlessly inspiring to me. His Marilyn Monroe portrait is hanging in my apartment. I always strive to achieve that amazing combination of simplicity and depth. Current photographers I love are Andrew Dosunmu, Tierney Gearon, Emma Hardy and a fellow SVA graduate, Peter Ash Lee.

 

Dorothy Hong

Dorothy Hong

Dorothy Hong

Dorothy Hong

Dorothy Hong

Dorothy Hong

Dorothy Hong

Dorothy Hong

Dorothy Hong

Dorothy Hong

Who would your dream subject be?

That’s hard to say because anyone I would really love to shoot I would probably be so nervous to shoot that it would be a nerve wracking experience. My favorite subjects to shoot are just regular people with beautiful, interesting faces that have great style in locations and light that inspire me and drive my creativity, which usually doesn’t take much. Even just anyone in sunlight that’s dynamic, that you can sculpt and mold around a person is enough for me.

 

Dorothy Hong

Dorothy Hong

Dorothy Hong

Dorothy Hong

Dorothy Hong

Dorothy Hong

Dorothy Hong

Dorothy Hong

Dorothy Hong

Dorothy Hong

Any goals for the new year?

I’m really hoping to shoot a little more fashion or more kind of stylized portraiture this year.

 

(Dorothy is based in New York. See more of her work, here)

10 minute with Kari Medig

15 Feb

When did you first know that you wanted to be a photographer?

I grew up in rural Canada with parents who had slight ‘hippy’ tendencies. One way they expressed themselves was through photography. With their matching Nikon FE’s (the cool black ones) they’d take photos of wild mushrooms and remote northern landscapes. My sister, the dog and I would be loaded into the family’s old Ford Bronco and we’d all head out to explore the bush. I can remember my dad setting up a darkroom in the bathroom afterwards and we’d watch the images come to life. I definitely had a spark for photography early on.

 

Kari Medig

Kari Medig

Kari Medig

Kari Medig

Kari Medig

Kari Medig

Kari Medig

Kari Medig

Kari Medig

Kari Medig

 

What would your dream assignment be?

I’m most in love with photography when I’m in a state of purposeful wandering, especially on a subject I know really well that is removed from its usual context. For example, I know western ski culture inside out, but what does that look like in India or in Israel? I love answering these questions with photographs. My dream assignment would integrate this element, along with physicality and ample time. I like work that is physically challenging and I feel that my best work happens when I’m free to get into those rare situations. That’s when the magic happens. Basically, if I’m at a Kashmiri ski hill shooting a local ski guide who just saved a client from a wild tiger by whacking it with his ski pole, I’m living my dream assignment.

 

Kari Medig

Kari Medig

Kari Medig

Kari Medig

Kari Medig

Kari Medig

Kari Medig

Kari Medig

Kari Medig

Kari Medig

Can you tell me about your project, Back to the Land? That first photo of the series on your site is stunning. 

I think that for many Canadians, nature is a constant presence that is impossible to detach from every day life. Back to the Land is an ongoing project that examines the intersection between humans and nature. This relationship is often depicted in Canada in terms of survival, but I want to show that it can also be contemplative, joyous, humorous or harsh. This theme influences much of my work even when I’m not shooting in Canada. The first two images are of Malcolm, a fellow whose expression and presence I feel really embodies the more mystical side of the human/nature relationship.

Kari Medig

Kari Medig

Kari Medig

Kari Medig

Kari Medig

Kari Medig

Kari Medig

Kari Medig

Kari Medig

Kari Medig

If you could go back ten years, what advice would you give yourself?

I would encourage myself to take risks, to trust my intuition, and to follow what truly interests me in life and photography because that’s what develops a unique style. I’d also tell myself that my passion for photography will get even stronger with time. Most of all, remember to savour the creative moments, the interactions, the places, and people along the way because that is really the pure gold. Oh, and I’d probably mention shares in Apple.. trust me on this one.

 

(Kari is based in Nelson, BC. See more work, here)

10 minutes with Maja Daniels

10 Feb

When did you first know that you wanted to be a photographer?

I have always been very interested in languages. As I found myself studying writing journalism in Sweden – getting involved with communicating in a language that reaches a very limited amount of people – I realised photography’s potential as an important and powerful global language.

 

Maja Daniels - Monette & Mady

Maja Daniels – Monette & Mady

Maja Daniels - Monette & Mady

Maja Daniels – Monette & Mady

Maja Daniels - Israel

Maja Daniels – Israel

 

Maja Daniels - Israel

Maja Daniels – Israel

 

Who were some of the first photographers that inspired you?

I have always enjoyed looking at different domains for inspiration. Sociology is a great inspiration. It has allowed me to think about how I want to approach my projects. I enjoy photographic works or projects that provokes questions.

I came to have specific photographic influences quite late I guess. Certain inspired me with their distinct visual language, others for their engagement with subject matter. My aim has always been to combine aesthetics with a commitment to comment on and engage with society.

 

Maja Daniels - Israel

Maja Daniels – Israel

Maja Daniels - Israel

Maja Daniels – Israel

 

Can you tell me a bit about your project Into Oblivion. You spent three years documenting the residents of a geriatric hospital in France. What first got you interested in this project and what has kept you motivated for the duration of time that you have spent working on it?

I am very interested in issues related to the limitations of the body. The idea of a failing body is something that we in the western world don’t seem to be able to accept. Disease, ageing and dying thus represent big taboos for us.

In a society obsessed with youth and success, where generations are segregated it is easy to ignore the implications of a growing ageing population. My project tries to comment on this and “Into Oblivion”touches on quite a few taboos. The door, and its repetition throughout the series is a strong visual cue and metaphor both for the general neglect from society but also for the notion of confinement and why it’s justifiable as an aspect of care.

The series shouldn’t be seen as merely a critical piece about one particular ward or about institutional care, it has a more general purpose of generating a debate about issues related to an aging population as well as how we deal with Alzheimers disease and dementia.

The whole project came about by chance. I got a rare opportunity to gain access to photograph in a hospital, something I had always been interested in doing. The wonderful director who initiated the contact was acutely aware that questions related to ageing and the institution get too little attention within society. She was willing to take a risk and get involved with me in order to perhaps stir the pot a bit and incite debate about these difficult topics.

Along with this initial access, I started considering the realities that our ageing population is facing. During my fist visit to the hospital I visited the Alzheimer ward and was very struck by the vision of two residents peeking through the two glass windows of the blocked door, trying to get my attention. The head nurse explained the situation and I became very interested in the ward, I knew I would come back to it.

During the three years I was involved in shooting at the hospital, I spent a lot of time not taking pictures. A lot of time was spent to get access to start shooting and later on to clear permissions in order to be able to publish the images. I would try to spend about five to seven days per month at the hospital but sometimes it was less.

I was assisting photographer Peter Lindbergh at the time so that both limited and allowed me to take my time with the project. Into Oblivion also fed into a degree in sociology that I had started in parallel to working on the series and I believe that I would not have been able to fully understand nor accomplish the project without the sociological framework that I managed to obtain. To have the time to thoroughly read up on the subject matter was crucial to me and opened my eyes to many of the difficulties I needed to face to properly understand and contextualize the situation photographically.

I was really dedicated to the life of the residents and my main interest was to spend time with them. To them, my presence became a welcomed kind of animation, I was there, available and in no rush. I participated in their activities and we went for outings but my main role became that of a human presence during the hours when the activities and the presence of staff were elsewhere. Spending time in the unit during the quieter hours allowed for me to better understand the course of the day from the perspective of the residents. I came to realize that there was a stark contrast between the times when staff were present and the times when residents were alone. Spending time in the ward when nothing happened allowed me to get a feeling of how it might be if time actually stood still.

I justified my presence by spending most of the time in the ward with the residents just like any volunteer. By being there, I was able to attach them to the present and this felt very meaningful. If they were left to themselves, they would easily drift into an otherworldly state that could be distressing for them at times.

Throughout the project I grew very attached to the residents in the unit. I would keep in touch with certain family members whilst I was away and it was painful to go through difficult times with them. The worst bit of Alzheimer’s disease is that the affected person will go through moments of lucidity where they realise that they are loosing their memory.This can cause behaviour difficulties such as aggressiveness, eating disorders, increased anxiety or depressive tendencies. It is also very common to have a strong urge to go home, often to an imaginary childhood home. This is where the constant wandering and the struggle with the door begin. That was very difficult to watch. If I was present in the unit, I could sometimes prevent them from entering the conflict with the door by chatting to the resident or doing something with them.

Maja Daniels - Into Oblivion

Maja Daniels – Into Oblivion

Maja Daniels - Into Oblivion

Maja Daniels – Into Oblivion

Maja Daniels - Into Oblivion

Maja Daniels – Into Oblivion

Maja Daniels - Into Oblivion

Maja Daniels – Into Oblivion

Maja Daniels - Into Oblivion

Maja Daniels – Into Oblivion

Maja Daniels - Into Oblivion

Maja Daniels – Into Oblivion

 

What would your dream assignment be?

THE dream assignment would be I guess – to get money and complete freedom to develop my own projects.

I also love any assignment that bridges genres, mixing sociology and photography, or fashion and documentary for example.

 

Christiania

Maja Daniels – Christiania

Maja Daniels - Christiania

Maja Daniels – Christiania

Maja Daniels - Christiania

Maja Daniels – Christiania

Maja Daniels - Christiania

Maja Daniels – Christiania

Maja Daniels - Christiania

Maja Daniels – Christiania

 

If you could go back ten years, what advice would you give yourself?

Be patient and stay curious!

 

(Maja is based in London. See more work, here)

10 minutes with Nate Larson

25 Jan

When did you first know that you wanted to be a photographer?
I’m still figuring that out. My work and interests are idea-driven and most of the time that manifests in photographs. I’ve been playing a lot with other media and future art projects may not be photographic at all.  A lot of my current research has as much to do with American history and geography as it does with the photographic medium. 
Nate Larson

Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman

Nate Larson

Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman

Nate Larson

Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman

Nate Larson

Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman

Nate Larson

Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman

Who were some of the first photographers that inspired you?
Some of the first photographers that inspired me include Walker Evans, Roy DeCarava, Duane Michals, and Barbara Kruger. 
 
Currently, I’m thinking a lot about Eva and Franco Mattes, Trevor Paglen, Jill Magid, Shizuka Yokomizo, Penelope Umbrico, Nina Katchadourian, Mark Klett, Peter Happel Christian, and Aspen Mays. It’s an exciting moment in the history of art and photography – there’s a lot of wonderful projects being made! 
Nate Larson

Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman

Nate Larson

Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman

Nate Larson

Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman

Nate Larson

Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman

Nate Larson

Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman

Can you tell me a little about your Geolocation series? How do you decide where to go to shoot and what, if any, is the connection between the text and the images?
The project is a collaboration with Marni Shindelman and we look at the GPS information that is attached to Twitter posts. We travel to those locations in the real world and make a portrait of the site as a memorial to the virtual information. The texts are the originating posts, quoted below the photographs. 
 
Because we’re using the location information from Twitter, we never know exactly where we’ll end up and uncover all sorts of interesting locations that reveal the small moments in the way that we live our lives. We see ourselves as ethnographers of the internet, preserving and recording these otherwise fleeting human expressions. 
 
We think that social media has changed the way that we relate to each other –  it’s amazing to be able to maintain a low level of contact with a lot of people. The NYT and Wired writer Clive Thompson calls this “ambient awareness,” meaning that we have a technological 6th sense to know what’s going on with other people. If I see you on the street and you just posted about winning a major writing award on Facebook, we can jump a step in the conversation and focus on the latest news without getting lost in the small talk. 
I also think that the tools have enabled us to build stronger relationships with each other. I live in Baltimore and my two year old nephew lives in Indiana – social media and related tools are an amazing way to build a relationship over distance. During a recent Skype call, he crashed a spaceship into the computer and I would move my head jokingly as if it was bouncing off my head. That’s an incredible way to build a non-verbal relationship and it wouldn’t have been possible even 10 years ago. 
 
On the other hand, there’s been a lot of sociological studies and journalism reports that suggest that even though we’re more connected than ever, people still report higher feelings of loneliness. The first tweet that we shot for the project was a wry commentary on losing a job. It’s amazing to think about people putting that information out there in a public way, rather than crying it out with a few close friends. We also put more personal information out there than ever before and I have serious privacy concerns – who is using that data and for what purpose? Corporations mine it to market to us and there’s a number of crime reports based on criminals knowing your locations through social media. All these tools are incredible but we have to be mindful of the full implications of using them. 
Nate Larson

Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman

Nate Larson

Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman

Nate Larson

Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman

Nate Larson

Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman

Nate Larson

Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman

If you could go back ten years, what advice would you give yourself?
I’ve always been ambitious – I did two undergraduate majors in four years and then went straight to graduate school. I’ve taught full time for the last ten years, in addition to maintaining an active professional life as an artist. I’m happy with my path but I also encourage younger artists to take their time and explore every opportunity along the way, even if it creates a non-linear movement. Not every approach has to be a straight line.

 

(Nate is based in Maryland. See more of his work, here)
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