The famous
Dana Root-Bishop of Transformazium interviewed me. I wanted to post it
here as well. I am also excited, as I have been asked to be a photo contributor
to their log. You can check out their log at www.transformazium.org/log/. You can check out the Transformazium website at www.transformazium.org.
Question 1:
D - What is
photography to you?
E - Edward
Weston: Consulting the rules of composition before taking a photograph, is like
consulting the laws of gravity before going for a walk. Read More: Edward Weston
For me,
photography just is.
Question 2:
D - What is
your personal history with being a photographer?
E - In my
head, I do not refer to myself as a photographer, poet or artist, I never have.
That is really just what other people have identified me as. I think people put
labels on you, or name you as something when they connect with what you have
made. The name artist, photographer, poet – just helps all of understand that
connection.
Question 3:
D - Where
does your desire to share your work with others come from, I mean you could
choose to keep it all private.
E - The
sharing part happens because it comes from my enjoyment, I want to share with
others the things I am enjoying. I really appreciate the connection, the
relationship built that we both share something together. Like if we both like
the same song, there is a link, a bond. Also, art for me has always been an
outlet. I believe all of us need outlets, whether it is TV, cooking, sports, or
art. It’s as much for me as it is for you. When you create something, you don’t
know what the life of it will be. When I was growing up art was very private for
me. It was seen as a feminine type of attribute that contradicted the “tough”
life of the neighborhood. I was afraid of letting others see this part of me. I
usually shared my art with family or close friends. After encouragement from my
younger brother I started bringing more of my art out. I remember he said
something like, “ Edward, you are a grown man, you’re almost 40, WHO CARES!
None of that tough stuff matters anymore, just be yourself.”
Question 4:
D - Do you
think that the fact that your circumstances – in which you made the choice to
keep your creative work private, actually allowed you to develop it more deeply
within your self.
E - Yes, I
was a very private person – and still am somewhat in general, though especially
growing up. I never would have been having this conversation with you, much
less sharing art. I would not be married to my wife. The ways I have grown with
the things I make have allowed me to be who I am today. Poetry and photography
have allowed me access to a process of self-reflection, self-healing. Art saves
lives and art is one of the reasons I am who I am today.
Question 5:
D - I think
so often about this, the power of vulnerability. How dangerous it can feel to
be vulnerable, yet how vulnerability is what allows all of us to learn.
E - Yes,
vulnerability happens when you have a creative outlet.
Question 6:
D - What is
the relationship between your day job and your poetry, your photography?
E - I am
very grateful to have a regular 9-5 job, I am very grateful I can provide for
my family. Providing for my family is what is most important to me. Family and
friends are the most important things in my life. My 9-5 job gives me the
freedom to do art on my terms. I know people that their financial productivity
is directly related to their ability to interpret other people’s ideas into
their work, melting them. I think being a starving artist is overly
romanticized and my priority is not art it is my family. I would love to do art
full time though I will have to plan it out, even if it is at retirement, to be
able to sustain my art through art.
Question 7:
D - At what
point will you consider yourself an artist?
E - I will
probably never define myself as an artist - I just want to enjoy the things I
am doing. I think putting a label/naming anyone puts him or her on a pedestal;
I do not want to be above anyone. I do want to be clear though, I do feel very
humble when people refer to me as a photographer, or a poet or an artist – I am
very grateful and it feels positive, it feels like that is their way of
experiencing what I enjoy at that moment, a union.
Question 8:
D - So, a
while ago Transformazium asked you to be our “official documentarian.” We asked
this because we wanted to formalize our gratitude for the pictures you were
taking the work we were doing, the ways that you were capturing the projects we
were engaged in…
E - Wait I don’t think it was like that. I think we just
found something in common. I love graffiti and art and all of the sudden I saw
it happening in a different way in the neighborhood – I saw what you guys were
doing with it, so very involved. I liked it. And you saw what I was doing. And
liked what I was doing. That is what began the relationship. I don’t see it as
a want or a need from either of us. Just the place we meet.
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