Source::http://photopol.us/2010/12/16/peter-hoffman-sometimes-wonders-what-if-nietszche-or-kierkegaard-took-photos/
My girlfriend in high school told me her photography class was fun, and I loved the skate photos in my monthly Thrasher, so I took the class. The teacher was terrible because he was preoccupied with being a wrestling coach, but the upside of that was that I pretty much got to do whatever I wanted in class, so I had fun. Fast-forward a few years to when I was 20 and living in New Zealand going on surfing road trips with some new found friends and I felt like I needed to take tons of pictures, probably for the first time in my life.
A Hasselblad, or Leica M6, also Contax g2. I try to keep it simple. My clients usually want digital so that’s just Nikon D700 and a few small primes. I love shooting film though and would do so exclusively if I could.
Yikes, there isn’t one. I’d say I get the ideas and the drive to make new work when I’m outside being active. That usually means trail running but sometimes surfing or snowboarding. The most visually present inspiration in my work is probably my concern about and love for nature. A lot of the time I am looking for elements of nature within a man made world, and questioning the relationship between the two. I’m probably an optimist at heart but I photograph out of concern, curiosity and frustration in many cases.
Also I’m inspired by different writings, particularly existentialism lately. It’s sort of an absurd thought but sometimes I wonder what if Nietszche or Kierkegaard took photos? How would that look? I often think that photography, at least in terms of how I practice it, is much more akin to writing than it is to painting, or illustration. If I read something that I feel changes the way I perceive the world then often the first thing I want to do is make pictures. I know that might sound a bit strange and may not necessarily show in the actual photos I make, but that’s the sort of thing that gets me going.
I find that the greater challenge is forcing myself to get out the door to shoot even if I have an open day. It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just that when I wake up and the light isn’t perfect and my bed is just so good and I probably won’t find anything or meet anyone today and what’s the point of this project anyway and do I really have the money to be sending 5 more rolls to the lab and maybe I should market myself today instead and…. you get the idea. Beating that is harder than finding time. I have about three bodies of work that I am currently working on that can all be advanced within my area if I am successful with getting myself out the door for the day.
I guess I don’t think of photography in those terms. I’m just interested in compiling a collection of work that communicates some cohesive notion about the time and place we are in. My foundation is that of a photojournalist and although I realize I am a completely subjective being I photograph things as they are, be it space, people, things etc. The one thing I’m not interested in is creating a fantasy or another world. I really just want to make pictures that cause people to question or reconsider their surroundings.
I just had some work (Bryan House) up at the Fotografia Festival in Rome, and I’m getting published in the American Photography 26 edition, but other than that right now I’m mostly concentrating on making new work. I get really hesitant about putting much work out there right now because most of it is not what I would consider a complete thought, yet.
I’m not really sure that any of my images are really unique, but I hope that when I die, if someone stumbles on a shoebox of my prints they might get specific a sense what the world I saw was like. I hope that my catalogue is an honest representation of who I am and the world I’m in. That’s about it.
Off the top of my head, probably Timothy Leary or Augustine of Hippo. Not for the pictures necessarily. I look at portrait shoots as a chance to have a conversation with someone, and the portraits are a byproduct of my connection with that person. I’d love to talk to those fellows.
I’d love to go back to New Zealand and photograph a town called Piha, as well as most of the Islands really. I’m mostly shooting things that are at least loosely related to water right now, so anywhere with coastline. If I had a camper van and some good friends, surfboards and bicycles that would all be great too. I spent a summer on the road solo…company would have helped at times. There are a few places in Canada in in the Nordic countries I would love to photograph too, but I’m looking at those as more long-term goals.
That said, I’ve spent a large portion of my life wanting to and trying to leave the Midwest, and though I have in fits and spurts I always end up back here. Now that I’ve accepted this and am actually quite okay with it, I feel it pretty important to make Midwestern work. I think there is a lot of uncharted territory here (photographically speaking) and I’m here to try and explore some of that. I won’t lie, my recent forays into surfing on Lake Michigan are a big part of why I’m okay with living here now. For the work I feel strongly about doing, I’m in exactly the place I need to be at this particular moment. In a year it may change.
I take my film to the lab and then pick it up. For digital I use Lightroom. I really try to minimize my computer time. That’s not where you make photography. I hardly use photoshop anymore, which makes me happy. If I do it’s pretty much all curves adjustment layers and cloning out dust from scans.
I pretty much like the stuff I have. I rarely photograph anything shorter than 35mm and longer than 85mm so I’ve got it covered. Maybe I’d get another lens (50) for my Leica, and that new 35 1.4 for the Nikon, and spend the rest of the money on a better scanner and really just endless film and processing.
This changes but some constants are William Eggleston, Trent Parke, Sam Abell and Michael Kenna. Lately I’ve really gotten into work by Gus Powell and Saul Leiter. There is so much good work out there now though, it’s pretty cool. I like them all for different reasons.
The things that have helped my photography the most were 1) Ohio University letting me into their grad program for photojournalism and 2) The fellowship I got for the National Network of Forest Practitioners where I pretty much drove around and shot documentary work of people and their relationship with the land for an entire summer. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be anywhere without those opportunities. That said, I’m still trying to figure this whole “career” thing out…
You should check out the work of my friend Ross Mantle. *ed. note: oops, we already did – last week.
I like a lot of ambient and hip-hop instrumental type stuff for editing, Blockhead and RJD2 etc. Also jazz….Hird and the Bad Plus are a couple good ones I’m digging at the moment. I’m still big into hip hop and punk rock though….Pennywise, Bad Religion, Tribe Called Quest, Aesop Rock are some constant favorites.
Going running is key to my functioning, so, the forest preserve or anything outside where I’m not being constantly reminded of things like traffic and strip malls is good. Other than that yea I’ve got a favorite watering hole I hit up with my friends, but they have bad cover bands on the weekends so it’s mostly a Tuesday night thing.
I’ve never thought about that. Most of my favorite images just sort of happen when I’m living my life, and I usually don’t know that I like something until days or weeks after. If it’s an assignment I feel pretty good about maybe I’ll go on a long run afterward. Then again, if it’s one I’m pretty frustrated by I’ll probably do the same thing. I love Chicago pizza…Lou Malnati’s followed by Giordano’s.
This always changes for me, which is partially why I keep making photos, I guess. Lately I’ve been photographing the streets of Chicago quite a bit which has been a new and interesting challenge. I was teaching high school kids downtown this summer and I often went out shooting after class as a way to unwind. I think about 30 min before I made this photo (see first image below) a guy threatened to bash my head in, but he spoke more eloquently and graphically than that. Photographing in public is always an adventure. I have my reasons for liking it, but you can take from it what you will.
I can’t judge photographers based on one picture. I feel that’s like reading a page of a novel and making an assessment. It just totally short changes the work. The photographers that I admire all have great bodies of work. I’ll show the portfolio from Alec Soth’s Dog Days Bogota book. This is possibly my favorite photo book, despite the fact that I feel like this one gets looked over in his catalogue.
No. If it did I would pick up a hammer or something. Yea there are shoots where I may have to do something I’m not into, but I really try to minimize this. If I get to meet new people or see a new place I’m happy, even if one would think the place might be boring. I had an assignment recently where I was sent to a strange town I’d never been to and the editor told me to just do what Eggleston might do. There’s not much you could say to make me more excited. What’s better than getting hired for shooting how you want to shoot? Days like that will make me put up with a decent amount of nonsense and still love the medium.
I seem to always have this wool hat that my late grandfather bought in Ireland some decades ago. I don’t always wear it, but it’s usually nearby.
Aquarius
©PeterHoffman
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