Erin Hanson, 34
1. If you could only make one more photograph or design project, no matter the scale or complexity, what would you do with it?
That’s hard to say. I have a wishlist going and if time or money were not an object I’d love to tackle one of them sooner than later. But I feel like my ideas are always changing or new situations/settings present themselves and what was once “the greatest” idea becomes usurped by something else entirely. And the thought of making only one more project breaks my heart. I do what I do because otherwise I would probably be institutionalized… I need an outlet.
2. When you are photographing is there one thing in particular you look for? Is there a common theme you feel that ties together your photographs (other than the fact, of course, that they all came from the same mind)?
Not exactly. My favorite thing to do right now is drive around aimlessly. I’m not necessarily looking for anything but I keep my eyes sharp. Ever since I was a kid I have been fascinated by the things left behind, the stories abandoned places tell so that is what definitely attracts my attention. In general, whether it’s a building or a person I like things that are not necessarily conventionally beautiful or are a little off. That I would say is an accidental theme. Also minimalistic composition, maybe to an almost boring fault sometimes.
3. Who or what do you listen to while you make your non-photographic art?
I don’t have any particular routine. Sometimes my TV is playing in the other room, sometimes music, and sometimes I grotesquely and obsessively play the same song over and over if it’s enhancing my mood.
4. Could you go a little in depth on your project “the black and white years”? Is it actually the culmination of years of work?
It is a collection of several years … from high school to my mid-ish twenties. At that time I was mainly shooting people with black and white film. For the most part they are all very personal images and I look back on them fondly. One in particular I love is the one of my grandmother smoking a cigarette in my mother’s wedding gown. And a lot of these marked the beginning of my initial love affair with photography… the excitement, being a part of the process from start to finish, getting people to play along. Individually the photos might not be very impressive but they are a great life bookmark to me.
4b. What is going on in this photo?
Oh, and THAT picture… that was a guy (Joe) I went to high school with. I basically picked through all of my friends or acquaintances and had a session with them. We took a ton of pictures inside and faced with a “now what” I let him do whatever he wanted. He found a gun in his father’s closet and went outside and did this. He thought this was funny. I did not. But that was Joe and this was the end result.
5. Do you always carry a camera with you?
Yes, some sort or another.
6. Is there anything you really need to get accomplished this week but haven’t even started on yet?
The answer is always yes. I need to work on some photos that I took of a friend’s daughter. And I have also been planning on putting together a few photo booklets and having them printed. AND updating my website. I dream of a day that I will be one step ahead of my to-do list.
7. I always though it was amazing that you could take sometimes horrible consumer films and create something great regardless. Is there a reason, though, that you’ve mostly been shooting with Instant film and digital lately?
I have always loved instant film and when there are spikes in my instant output it’s either because I could afford it or found the film somewhere. Digital, long story short (maybe)… when I made the conscious decision to get it together and get back into photography I initially chose live music as my brushing-up activity. Using digital seemed like it made more sense and I splurged on a nice (at the time) digital camera and lenses. Over the last couple of years as I have been rediscovering photography I’ve been finding what I truly love to take photos of, what feels most natural and most satisfying. I have a 35mm camera that I just had cleaned but I only have one lens for it, so I have not been using it as much due to lack of flexibility. I miss it, although I will say there are pro’s and con’s with every kind of camera (definitely prefer the richness and depth of film, but love the affordability of digital). I also have a Yashica medium format camera that I need to stop being afraid of and use it.
8. What does the near and distant future entail?
Learning to use that damn Yaschica for starters. I was unemployed for quite a while and that allowed a lot of free time to spend on projects. So now I’m trying to figure out how to keep the creativity in my life. My job before pretty much derailed anything non-work for years. I’d like to keep the momentum of the last year going and keep doing whatever enters my brain. Mostly I want to keep taking pictures, keep learning what I don’t know and get more confident, and ultimately be able to incorporate it into some sort of career (don’t we all!).
9. Your photoshop projects use common phrases and analogies twisted into sharp and sometimes depreciative humor. How and what made you start working on these? And it seems you currently flip back and forth from being into graphic design then to photography, is this something that manifests in real life or just the way you display it on the internet?
The very moment these started I was sitting in a coffee shop with my boyfriend looking for jobs on Craiglist. I was at my wits end and in my moment of utter frustration I made some silly thing that said “I need a job… please”. That’s it. No intent in trying to make something artistic or that people would like, simply letting some steam out of my head. I posted it on Flickr maybe also hoping someone somewhere might know of a possible job. My expression of unemployment exhaustion I suppose struck a cord with other folks. Ultimately I kept making them in an effort to unburden my brain… between money problems, relationship highs and lows, looking for a job… and then sometimes I translated some dumb nonsense that came into my mind in a flash to a Photoshop design. I’m honestly surprised that what is essentially a diary of mine is liked by strangers. As far as how they appear on Flickr, it’s an actual timeline of what I’ve been doing with my life. Photography I always try to do; the Photoshop stuff appears when something pops in my head or I’m having “a moment”.
Thanks so much for letting me be a part of this. I hope I do not sound like a giant tool!
(don’t worry, erin. you don’t)
