Big thanks to Mr. Hoogwaerts over at Mossless Magazine. He was kind enough to post an interview of my ramblings. Check it out. And then spend days going through the archives because Mossless is an incredible resource.
Michael George :: Jan.15.2010 :: Interviews, My Photography :: 2 Comments »
1.11.10 – Estero Island | Cape Coral | Fort Myers, Florida
Michael George :: Jan.11.2010 :: My Photography :: No Comments »
1.9.10 – Growing up, Fort Myers, Florida
Michael George :: Jan.11.2010 :: My Photography :: No Comments »
A while back I wrote about my collection of vernacular photography. Every time I come home I jump around the local antique shops looking for something interesting. You may have read about Florida’s unusual cold snap. I almost froze while perusing the Fleamarket this morning, but I found the image above. Love.
See more below.
Michael George :: Jan.10.2010 :: Miscellaneous :: 2 Comments »
Throughout the world there are places where people go to let loose— leisure spots to relieve stress, to breathe. Some seek release in calming activities like fishing, biking, or sitting on a beach. Others seek the anticipation of freefalling into freezing cold water or driving at a breakneck speed where the world becomes nothing but an abstraction of forms and color. Thomas Prior photographs those with a thirst for adrenaline. A bit of a wanderer himself, Prior travels between locales, never making any deep connections. He observes quietly and leaves no traceable relations except for those between photographer and distant subject. His latest travels included stops in Bonneville, Utah, where the salt flats have become famous for the infinite terrain fit for high-speed drag racing, and in Salthill, Ireland, where Blackrock Tower reels in anyone looking to take an icy plunge.
Many photographers immerse themselves into subcultures for the experience, falling deep into the lifestyles of others and transforming their own character in order to more accurately reveal the culture from within. Prior discovers the magic in short-lived adventure where he chooses to remain an observer. His images are reactive, as if he photographs a dance without knowing the choreography. The work provides a raw, momentary view that combines the wonderment of a snapshot with the quality and vision of someone looking for something just a little bit more.
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MG: Tell me a bit about these projects.
TP: I guess it takes me a long time to change habits. I want to move into a more straight documentary area but have always concentrated on one-off single moments. Recently, I went to Utah and Ireland to practice looking at specific places and how people use them. Both of these places were chosen because I had been to them before and they both left a mark on me. I remember thinking, “I’m coming back here.” I want to do a few more of these types of projects (1-2 weeks… never getting involved deeply with the people) and develop them into a condensed portfolio. Later I want to do a project I’ve been thinking of that will take much longer and be more about individuals and places. I have one trip planned in January and one trip planned in February of 2010. Both are places I’ve never been, I want to see how I’ll approach them compared to a known place. I never want to convey a message or theorize too much. I just react and try not to think. I wasted a lot of time in my 20’s… living… and now have a new fire to explore and spend all my savings and shoot as much as I can and see if I can somehow eek a living out of it.
MG: Both locations you’ve chosen to document are gathering points for a specific activity. Both have to do with thrill-seeking and adventurous types. Is that one of the reasons you were attracted to the locations? Was there anything more specific that drew you back after your original visit?
TP: It was a mixture of the super dedicated people and beautiful open landscapes. I remembered the changing light and engine noise of Bonneville, Utah. Starting at about 4pm in summer the light changes by the minute all the way till dark after 10pm. Blackrock diving tower is such a cool structure, out there on that pier all by itself, and it’s so un-Americanly dangerous. The locations are simple yet not at all boring. They’re visually incredible but made more amazing by humans.
MG: When you say these people are dedicated do you mean they’re constant… Always there?
TP: I think more like personality. It takes a specific personality type to jump into freezing cold water when the weather is super shitty. It takes a specific personality type to risk death and drive super fast. It’s fun being around people that are passionate about what they do.
MG: What benefits are there to these short-term engagements? Some documentary photographers say you should live with your subject for a few weeks before you even take a photograph. What would you say to that?
TP: I shot most of the good photos in the first 3 or 4 days of each project. I wanted to get quick impressions of each location with fresh eyes, react to a situation, put interesting stuff on film, and then move on. Next year I want to start a long term project where the subject will be more important than the place, so in that scenario, it will help to slow down and study a little more. These projects are like fun little sketches, a kind of warm up.
MG: Perhaps it is the opposite then, there’s more charm in the innocence before you really know a person or a place. Do you think your long-term project will replace these sketches?
TP: I plan on doing short projects for a long time. I’ll probably take the best of the best and combine it all later. I have no idea how my long-term project is going to turn out. There’s tons of variables I have yet to work on so I don’t know how that’s gonna go.
MG: Your images show the elderly in both locations doing things we might normally associate with youth. You also mentioned you feel like you wasted a lot of time and are trying to change that way of living. Is this attraction an appreciation for others who continue to “live” even after they’ve reached a certain age?
TP: The elderly thing is mostly coincidence. The drivers happened to be old guys who are retired drag racers and ex-fighter pilots. Little kids use the diving tower in Ireland and then the same bunch of old guys come every day. The water is freezing cold, and the wind is brutal, so you don’t see many teens or middle-aged people. Maybe subconsciously I was attracted to these old dudes living it up, but it was also just cool to see a crusty old timer go 400 mph. Maybe “waste time” was the wrong way to put it… I waited around for stuff to happen, and now that I’m getting older, the itch to move forward is so much stronger.
MG: The Long Course images have a rugged masculinity (smoking, cars, motorcycles, the subject’s intensely aged faces). But you also have these men caught in awkward moments.
TP: That kind of awkwardness is what I naturally react to. I like people awkward and landscapes ordered. This style runs through all of my photos and it’s how I’ve always made pictures.
MG: A lot of contemporary photographers are attracted to that awkwardness. It feels the most like a moment.
TP: Yeah I agree.
MG: Do you ever form deeper relationships with your subjects? Are your interactions as short lived as your experience in documenting?
TP: The only deep photographic relationships I’ve had in the past have been with my Dad and brother. My interactions were short for a reason. With this project I was looking for good representatives…a broad view of the types of people using each landscape… the individual, and my relationship to them, wasn’t as important. I was trying to get the gist of a place in just a few portraits. I have a few more trips planned to similar bizarre recreational spots, where I will do the same types of investigations, and later on down the road, I’ll edit them into a book.
MG: Do you go on these ventures alone?
TP: Yes I go alone. There’s no real significance to going alone… I like being alone… I can’t think when other people are around. I have mind-numbing patience and move at my own pace, spending as little, or as long as I like in a certain place.
MG: Other than all of these future projects do you plan/want to break away from the fashion scene you’ve assisted on for quite sometime and focus on personal work/a commercial portfolio?
TP: I have no idea what I’m gonna do in the future. I’m leaving all my doors open…I just want to keep taking pictures.
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This interview will be published in the Fall 2009 issue of ISO Magazine. The issue is set to be released in just a few weeks. Since the time of this interview Prior has updated his website with a series from Japan. Check it out!
Michael George :: Jan.09.2010 :: Interviews, Photographers :: No Comments »
