Sander Meisner, 30
1. You have a remarkably keen eye for urban landscapes. how do you find so often these interesting scenes? do you always carry your camera with you or do you seek then photograph?
I usually go out at night with a general idea of the area I am going to visit, but without knowing which buildings/places in this area I am going to photograph. I then look around for subjects that speak to me, either because of geometry, light, shadow, color, subject matter or (preferably) a combination of these things. I tend to revisit a location mutiple times, I think that if I shoot a certain place more often I get the more interesting shots, I come closer to the essence of a place and shoot less obvious shots.
On the other hand I sometimes see places I really like and then take specific trips to these places to photograph them, however, I like to photograph at night, quiet often something looks very promising in daylight but when I get there at night the light is wrong or it doesn’t have the same charm it had in daylight, these are the times I go back to shoot in daylight.
2. Generally speaking which is the more emotional photograph to you: the landscape or the portrait? are they equally as impressive when done “right”?
I think pictures need live, need to be populated, especially urban landscapes get some kind of sense of scale and grounding when there is people present, mine are empty, I like the quiet mystery the absence of people creates in my work, but I do try to substitute the people by objects, or try to photograph the spaces I take pictures of in such a way that there is some kind of presence, that the space or something in it is almost alive, in that way I am trying to generate emotion.
3. Why do you choose the night time to photograph the majority of your scenes? do you think the trend to photograph at night is catching on or fading away?
I mostly shoot at night because I think the light is much nicer, more interesting, daylight looks to obvious sometimes, and think the same scene will look much more interesting when shot at night. Some of my night work looks like daylight because of the very long exposure times, but the direction of the light is of the night, I think this is interesting because the untrained eye will not immediately realise that it is taken at night, but does notice it looks different. Also, the color of light at night is different, there is a lot of yellow, red and green in streetlights which can create a beautiful mixture of different colors in the scenes I am shooting.
Because I photograph at night I have to do long exposure, I really like these. I get to spend time in places I normally would never stop, now I have to expose my films for sometimes up to 15 or 30 minutes. I get a weird sense of connection with the places I photograph because I actually have spend time there, sitting down looking at the scene I am taking a picture of.
4. It is often said that architecture in europe is much more fascinating and pleasing than that of north america. As a skilled observer of such things, do you find this to be accurate or off the mark? If the notion is correct do these more beautiful arrangements attribute to your artistic inspirations or are they simply another object with a foundation to be photographed?
I do think there is good architecture in both continents. But I think there is a much older history in architecture here in Europe and in Asia, I also think it might be more daring in Europe and Asia, but I don’t know much about contemporary architecture in America, I am more interested in areas that are “in between”. Areas that are in between
old and new, in between used and unused, in between populated areas, basically I am interested in areas that are changing or about to change, I like to photogrPh these ugly unnoticed places and like to make them beautiful.
5. Speaking of north america, where have you been and what have you seen?
I have never been to North America, or, America at all. So far my work has been shot in Hollans, the United Kingdom and Iceland. I would like to go to Miami and California to work.
6. You often approach architecture with heavy diagonal/leading lines as something that could be described as a “classical” and weighted style of composition. Is this a style you grew into naturally? Or after many times of studying a structures form?
When I am taking pictures I try a lot of different compositions but usually there’s only one of two that work for me. I think this just grew on me, I don’t think a lot about my compositions, they are based on feeling and instinct, I always feel that certain compositions feel more balanced, more “correct” than others, those are the shots I take.
7. You seem to shoot a lot of work. is it purely out of enjoyment? or is there something along that drives you every night?
I love to do this, it is my favorite thing in the world. I love everything about the process, the shooting, the scanning of my films, the editting of my shots, having them printed and exhibiting them. I do this first and foremost for myself, but I do really like to show my stuff to other people as well, I try to create something beautiful,
beautiful things need to be seen.
8. How do you see yourself changing in the future? Do you think about expanding into shooting other subjects? Or do you think you’ll always be able to grow and progress with shooting the subjects you are currently?
I don’t have any plans to shoot other subject matter, I want to get better at what I am doing already. I want to go and photograph more in Iceland, but also China and Japan are interesting. Going to different places and cultures will allow me to grow.
Sander’s website & 2x2projects.
