Photographer Justin Violini...the interview

When was the first time you pick up a camera? What kind of camera, what did you snap and how did the results affect your artistry senses?

December 2009 was when I started formulating things as a result of launching The Fearless Project (www.fear-less.com) and seeing what I could pull off and put together. Not being a trained photographer (and for other reasons as it related to the INSTANT series) that was an old Polaroid I had found when I was home for the Holidays.  It was for that reason that I ended up one day at Urban Outfitters to buy some of the last bits of Polaroid 600 film they still had for sale and there I came across a repro Diana F+ (120mm film like a Holga or for the iPhone user think of the Hipstamatic app) and thought it would be interesting to give that a try.  I slowly just taught myself how to take photos with that but as part of it's nature they are very unpredictable and uneven in terms of the quality of the image that comes out.

After a few months I then bought a Russian 35mm Lomo LC-A snapshot camera...again it was just something that I played around with when out at night or events but I still had this itch to try and get myself to be able to take the photos that I had in my head that the technology I was using would not allow me.  December 2010 I got a Nikon F100 35mm SLR camera to really help me take what I wanted to do to the next level...still be entirely self taught and using film.  Up until this past July I was only shooting on film but I decided I wanted to advance my technical knowledge further and now attending New York Film Academy for a Photography program I am shooting on a Canon 5D in addition to the F100.

I think the most important part to the sense of artistry was that I was limited technically (primarily Photoshop and post-production programs) to just figuring out how to take a beautiful photo that is raw.

How did the transition from associate Gilt buyer to full time photographer come about?

Well even now I would not say "full-time" as I initially had left Gilt Groupe to focus on working 1:1 with designers/brands that I had before on special projects and a consulting basis as it related to branding, market positron, diffusion lines, creative asset media production, etc.  But, as that's not really entertaining for Facebook/Twitter most of the social media things I talk about are related to my editorial/art photography.  A lot of what lead up to December 09 using the Polaroid to when I left Gilt in Sept 10 was the gradual steps of me becoming more comfortable with a camera...but, regardless of that I probably would have been looking for a new avenue.

Did you studied the mechanics of photography initially or did it come naturally?

I've only had any formal training in Photography for the past month.  But, the past 5 years in NY I had been a big gallery gower and was constantly researching, reading about, attending shows and where I could BUY pieces of the photographers and artists that I admired like Anthony Goicolea, Arthur Tress, Walter Briski, James Bidgood, Bruce Sargeant/Mark Beard, Gio Black Peter, Slava Mogutin, Larry Clarke, Elliot Erwitt, Nan Golden, Baron Wilhelm von Gloeden, Paul Cadmus, George Platt Lynes, Takashi Murakami, Patti Smith, John Arsenault, Loretta Lux, Jill Greenberg and MANY more.

I believe through that I had my own sense of artistry and what I wanted to do based on at the time being 27, studied the art/photos I liked and then figuring out a way to put myself in that league of extraordinary talent.  Had I graduated highschool at 18 and went to art school I think it could have been an entirely different outcome where the views of the professors would have had much more of an influence than the things I personally liked.  Entering NYFA I am not there to learn how to teach myself to take a "photograph" (being at it's basic form a technically proficient image) as I already know the "pictures" (being a photograph that is elevated through artistic vision/merit) I want to create.  When I attended fashion school (studying business) after I did my Bachelor's I would see many design students there who had little or no talent as a designer and I would muse that a school like that can teach you how to MAKE clothing it can't teach you how to DESIGN clothing.

What was your first paid assignment?

I thought we just did this for the fun of it!?  I had produced an ad/media campaign for a designer last year shortly after leaving Gilt.  My first sale was a Polaroid of 3 boys in a bed in Montreal with animal masks at an exhibition I was part of in D.C.

How do you handle a situation when there is a lack of chemistry between you and the model?

Usually cut it short and just shoot some of the (mostly) black/white portraits that I did in my hallway window which has THE BEST light.  Being inspired a lot by documentarian photographers I want to capture the personality of the person I am shooting (in addition to just getting along with them)...which is why a lot of times if I just do a editorial shoot with a model that I've wanted to put together myself I view that hour or two as an interview to see how we work together so that when something larger comes up I already have a group of solid people I'd want to work with.

What has been your most joyful experience shooting a model?

I'd have to say it was the Lash Magazine "Dark Issue" / I <3 NYC shoot that I did back in February on a rooftop with the 5 boys: Chrisoph Ribbe,  Jim Poole, Erik Sage, Andi Hulme & Patricio Quinones.  Originally this was just going to be 2-3 models but then originally I thought some were going to cancel so I recast others and then they ended up all confirming so I went with the 5 of them to really crank it up and mother nature blessed with an unseasonably warm day for us to shoot on a Tribeca rooftop in total comfort. 

It was really just me and a makeup artist wrangling 5 models to get them all in their own solo looks and then put together the group shots up on the water tower, on the street, etc.  After the shoot I knew I had some amazing stuff and was literally shaking with excitement and had to go have a few drinks to just calm down and relax while I developed the film.  Shooting in Paris and Berlin is particularly fun just to get out and in new places.

And the worst experience?

When I was still doing some more of the raw stuff on the 35mm Lomo someone contacted me saying they loved my stuff...when they showed up I got out the camera and was loading the film getting ready to shoot and he asked "What is that? I thought this was a real photoshoot."  I explained that all the photos he liked and talked about wanting were shot with this camera and when he visibly rolled his eyes and sort of sighed/scoffed I decided this wasn't going to be worth my time so I pretended I messed up loading the roll of film and that was my only roll I had so maybe we should just postpone the shoot...oh the tricks you can do shooting on film!

If you had the opportunity to take a portrait of a public figure, who would it be and why?

Patti Smith.  100% absolutely without a doubt. For years I have been a big fan of her music and work and then having read "Just Kids" three times it's added a whole new meaning to me as she is one of the few living embodiments of the true creative and artistic spirit ranging from music to poetry to writing.

 I'd also like to shoot Katherine Hepburn (if she was living...or even Cate Blancett playing her!).

Can you tell us about the street photography you are shooting?

Now that I have a digital camera I can be more free with the shutter and just the simple fact that taking more photos for classes/labs with specific technical skills I'll be able to hone my skills.  Living in New York there is PLENTY to shoot, so packing around the camera with me everyday I can pull it out on walks home or to meet people.  When I travel I was shooting a night scene on each city on 35mm 3200 speed film that has a very noir feel to it, so it's not entirely new aside from being in New York now. 

I also have been shooting people "from the hip" on the street where I set the camera to be in focus within a certain range and don't look or sneak pictures of people as I'm walking through town...I may start a separate Tumblr for that.

What is the most unusual request you have had as a photographer?

Nothing too crazy with the editorial/fashion stuff, I had one model ask me if I could put on a long sleeve shirt to cover my "Jesus Died for Somebody's Sins But Not Mine" tattoo because it offended him as a Christian.  Shooting the "Instant" Polaroids I won't even get into!

How has social media had an affect your career?

Well it's helped me get myself noticed in the photo/arts/editorial community and has also then allowed me to become introduced from everything to galleries who have exhibited to my work to people that I've found to shoot both in NY and abroad.

What is your message to bloggers that publish your work without proper credit?

CITE YOUR FUCKING SOURCES!  99.99% of the time you know who took the image or where you ripped it from and if not any photographer worth the merit of posting is going to have their name/copyright embedded in the metadata of the .jpeg that you can see with 2 clicks of your mouse.  It's more the pervy sites that are just spank banks for the blogger and their viewers that are there just for the hot model and don't care who/how/why the image was taken.  With that I purposely try to not just take a simply "hot" photo...while there may be a few images in a whole story that are I want there to be a sense of delay when someone sees the photo: they are drawn to it so they stop and look, then study it a bit more and then they have an "ah-ha" moment that then will reveal to them either a beautiful sense of composition, fashion or "hotness".  I have a visual narrative in my head many times when I shoot so now and then when just one image is singled out and passed around 1,000s of times on Tumblr without linking to the whole story or anything like that I get sad that much of what I have done is now falling on deaf ears.

If you were to publish a photography book what will the title be? And who would it be dedicated to?

I don't know, I imagine by then I'd be shooting still primarily boys but I don't want it to be pigeon holed...maybe something along the lines of "People, Places"...if it were just a retrospective of past work that I have done.  But if I had the opportunity to put together my own book/exhibition material it would be something more like "Boy Culture".  My mother.

As fashion film is becoming more of a popular medium,do you any plans to experiment with filmmaking?

Yup I sure am! I played around with a Flip cam doing some little stuff here and there but just little fun fluffy pieces.  Part of my studies at NYFA will involve a film class that employs the use of the 5D which I hear is GREAT to make movies and shorts on.  I've been pitching and working with a few designers/brands on doing some teaser/viral video lead ups to their fashion week shows/presentations this September.

 Follow Justin Violini's work here...

Twitter: @TheJustinV

Justin's Tumblr:

www.justinviolini.com

Thanks Justin!