entranceExhibition "Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich" at the Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography. It's incredible, in this picture he even has lips like Mick's! Even though they don't look like this in real life.
The Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography is preparing to receive a dear guest - Chicago photographer Sandro Miller. He is the author of the sensational project "Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich: homage to the masters of photography." He was received with a bang on both coasts of the United States and in Europe, now the pictures are going to Moscow. The exhibition at Krasny Oktyabr will open on June 2.
The point is this. Sandro Miller is a successful advertising photographer, in 2013, having collected all the possible enthusiasm in this area, he decided to try something new. They are old friends with John Malkovich, they met back in the late 90s, when they worked together at the Steppenwolf Theater. Miller came up with an ambitious idea - to reshoot the well-known works of cult masters of photography, which in one way or another influenced him. He chose 41 iconic photographs and invited his friend John as a model. The latter immediately liked this idea. Thus, their creative duet was born.
Miller's sample included portraits of cult personalities - Andy Warhol's famous "Green Marilyn" and his self-portrait, Albert Einstein with his "brush" tongue sticking out by Arthur Sasse, Annie Leibovitz's picture of John Lennon naked hugging Yoko Ono, Alfred Hitchcock with Albert Watson's goose , Mohammed Ali in the image of St. Sebastian by the hands of Karl Fischer, the most famous portrait of Che Guevara and so on. It came out aptly and ironically, a frank imitation elevated to a cult - an example of kitsch, but not tasteless, but elitist.
Tandem formed. Miller is delighted with Malkovich's acting talent. "John is the most talented and successful man, whom I have ever known, - he says - His genius is unparalleled. I can indicate a mood or an idea, and in a few moments, before my eyes, he literally turns into a different person, taking on a new image. My relationship with John and the creative collaboration is so trusting. I am incredibly lucky to have such a friend and like-minded person.” You can verify for yourself that he is right. The exhibition at the Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography will last all summer. Be sure to come.
From June 2 to August 28, the Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography in Moscow hosts an exhibition by Sandro Miller, an American photographer and jury member of the 35Photo Awards international competition. On the opening day, the master told Russian Photo what inspired him to do this work.
About Moscow
I did not know what to expect, because all we know about each other is propaganda sounding from the pages of newspapers and TV screens. In fact, we are separated only by the huge ego of our politicians, and in everything else, Americans and Russians want the same thing: peace, freedom. Nobody wants war.
Moscow is an amazingly bright, beautiful and clean city populated by very kind people.
About barriers and self-improvement
My father died when I was very young, so my mother raised us. We lived in poverty, on state benefits. I grew up a very shy, modest and insecure child, I lacked male influence. But it was the camera that subsequently destroyed the barrier that I created between myself and other people.
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| Sandro Miller, Bill Brandt / Eyes I (1960-1964), 2014 | |
When I started taking pictures, I became more open, free and confident. Now I feel that there is nothing in the world that I could not achieve.
About calling
At sixteen, I accidentally bought an American Photographer magazine with a beautiful picture of Picasso on the cover. Its author was Irving Penn.
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| Sandro Miller, Irving Penn / Pablo Picasso, Cannes, France (1957), 2014 | |
I couldn't take my eyes off this picture, suddenly I wanted to know everything about who this person is, what kind of photographer took this photo.
And I wanted to do something similar myself. So in an instant I realized who I want to become.
About photography
The moment I saw the picture of Picasso, I realized that photography is omnipotent. I wanted to influence and inspire people in the same way, to do with them the same thing that Irving Penn did with me. With the help of photographs, we can experience the world in a way that we would never see it ourselves.
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| Sandro Miller, Diane Arbus / Child with a Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, N.Y.C. (1962), 2014 | Sandro Miller, Diane Arbus / A Young Man in Curlers at Home on West 20th Street, N.Y.C (1966), 2014 |
We learn what hunger, epidemics, disasters, hurricanes, tsunamis are, we live the whole spectrum of emotions: sympathy, sadness, joy.
About the creative path
After I made the decision to become a photographer, I started saving money and after a while I was able to buy my first Nikon. I started shooting and at the same time I studied all the subtleties and nuances of this work. At twenty, I got a job as an assistant photographer - I assisted him all week, and on weekends I went to shoot weddings. Many people think that this is a thankless task.
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| Sandro Miller, Annie Leibovitz / John Lennon and Yoko Ono (1980), 2014 | Sandro Miller, Annie Leibovitz / Meryl Streep, New York City (1981), 2014 |
It's actually a great practice, you instantly understand how to work with the camera, light and distance. After all, you can’t say to the newlyweds: “Oh, you know what? Come back tomorrow. The light today is something unimportant.” You only have one chance for a good shot. With the money I earned during weddings (I shot about a hundred of them in total), I bought new equipment.
First success
My first project that received recognition was the work "American Bikers". I filmed them for four years - from 1989 to 1992. For the first time I saw these harsh, huge, tattooed, hairy people near a boarding school for disabled children.
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From the series "American Bikers"
These bikers, whom we perceive only as murderers, rapists and alcoholics, danced, played and had fun with these unfortunate children. Then I realized that no one can be judged by appearance. I went to all the biker festivals, set up a tent there, stocked up on cold beer as bait and filmed. For me, bikers are like Marlboro cowboys, traveling on their iron horses in search of freedom and independence.
On friendship and work with John Malkovich
John and I met 20 years ago when I got a call from the Chicago theater company Steppenwolf Theater and asked if I could do a portrait of Malkovich. “Of course I can,” I exclaimed and ran to shoot him. I admit, I was scared, because John always plays very cruel characters, simply assholes. But in life he turned out to be a very soft, gentle, sensual person, even a little feminine.
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| Sandro Miller, Victor Skrebneski / Bette Davis, Actor, 08 November (1971), Los Angeles Studio, 2014 | Sandro Miller, Victor Skrebneski / Orson Welles, Actor, 30 October (1970), Los Angeles Studio, 2014 |
It was great to work with him, because John knows and loves the camera, understands what light means and all other subtleties. We became very close spiritually, and when it came time for a new project, I knew that only John could handle it.
Homage to the masters of photography
I am not a smoker, I drink little and do not have a bad heredity, but it so happened that four years ago I was diagnosed with stage IV cancer of the larynx. I believed that I could recover (which eventually happened), but I also understood that everything is in the hands of God. I did not want to leave this life without paying tribute to those great masters of photography who have inspired me all my life.
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| Sandro Miller, Herb Ritts / Jack Nicholson I, London (1988), 2014 | ||
I decided to thank them with a new project, where 41 legendary shots would be recreated with millimeter accuracy and every detail. It took us two months to prepare: we thoroughly studied each frame, enlarged it so that by the reflection in the eyes of the models one could understand how the light was built. We recorded absolutely everything, down to the mood and condition of the photographers and their models, recorded every detail. When we met John for work, we had a team of 30 people, 41 looks and only 6 working days.
We accurately reproduced all the conditions of the original filming, applied make-up to John (especially difficult cases this process took up to five hours) and in a couple of hours they shot a portrait, and then moved on to the next image. And so for 16 hours a day. John did not just play these characters, during the shooting he really became Einstein, Hemingway, Che Guevara and even Simone de Beauvoir. He believed that he was all these people. By the way, a funny incident is connected with the image of de Beauvoir. John, as expected, was completely naked, wearing only high-heeled shoes. By the way, he didn’t even have to shave his legs - he always had them absolutely smooth!
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| Sandro Miller, Bert Stern / Marilyn in Pink Roses (from The Last Session) (1962), 2014 | Sandro Miller, Bert Stern / Marilyn Monroe, crucifix II (1962), 2014 |
Any woman would envy. We took pictures and then decided to take a break. John put on a dressing gown and ran out into the street with a phone and cigarettes. Now imagine a half-naked John Malkovich, in a negligee and heels, circling around my studio with a cigarette in his mouth and a phone to his ear! Of course, a traffic jam soon formed there, the drivers of which were, to put it mildly, surprised by such a spectacle.
But for the most part, the process was very serious. In no way did I want people to think that I created a parody, a joke. I wanted to achieve perfection, I felt that my whole career was at stake. I thought about this project so much that at some point I got sick and took to my bed. I wanted to create the most best job in my life. It seems I succeeded.
The editors would like to thank the Baltschug Kempinski Hotel for their help in organizing the interview.
At the request of Bird In Flight, Vasily Levchenko went to the Chicago studio of American photographer Sandro Miller and talked with him about how the project “Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich” was created and why it took a whole year to prepare it, why commercial photographers should be creative, what’s wrong with selfies and why Sandro's studio stinks of a dead skunk.
Sandro Miller, 56
Sandro's studio is located on a quiet street in East Chicago. The light Art Nouveau building stands out from the typical local buildings. Tall glass doors, pictures from Sandro's projects on the walls: bikers, Cubans, Malkovich. The same Malkovich who skillfully reincarnated as Salvador Dali, Marilyn Monroe, Mick Jagger and became a real hit on the Web. While I am waiting for the photographer on a small sofa, he and his assistant are finishing work in the next room. Through the half-open door, I see a motorcycle helmet on the table in the office. On the second floor - silhouettes of simulators, there is a gym.
Finally, Sandro sinks into a chair in front of me. In a black sweater and jeans, hands in paint. Welcoming and calm.
- Today we are filming dead animals. It's a dead skunk, we're taking pictures of it. Damn interesting! he explains, settling into a chair.
Is this material for a new exhibition?
Quite possible. I hope so, anyway. We showed these works to some people, they liked it. Let's see what will happen next.
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"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_18.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "From the series `Death in the Garden of Eden`"
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"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_19.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "From the series `Death in the Garden of Eden`"
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"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_20.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "From the series `Death in the Garden of Eden`"
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{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_21.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "From the series `Death in the Garden of Eden`"
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Do you think this is what attracts the viewer? These border states? (I look back at the photos behind me - Project Cuba, black and white portraits of elderly people who don't look happy.)
I think yes. Working on this project in Cuba helped me sort out my relationship with my own aging, my awareness of my mortality. You start thinking about it closer to fifty. In this project, I was thinking about old age - about how your face and yourself change with age.
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_01.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Portraits of Cubans"
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"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_02.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Portraits of Cubans"
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"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_03.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Portraits of Cubans"
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"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_04.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Portraits of Cubans"
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"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_05.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Portraits of Cubans"
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If art helps you understand yourself, does it mean that there is a part of Sandro Miller in every person you photograph?
Something like this. My career is based on photographing people, and this exposes their hidden experiences and feelings. I like working with people, I'm comfortable and I want them to feel the same way. And when they understand this, they understand that they can relax and be absolutely free, they calm down and open their secrets - this is real magic.
Probably, my childhood influenced this - I grew up in a dysfunctional family, I saw a lot of deaths. Therefore, it is not difficult for me to be close to people, it is not difficult for me to return to a place where it is painful and scary.
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_06.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "On the left is a portrait of Barbara Crane, on the right is a portrait of Michael Jordan"
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{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_07.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Portrait of Michael Jordan"
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It seems that many people in this life lack such fifteen minutes of peace, security and respect.
Yes, many people wonder how I manage to reveal my characters in such a way. Usually I just take them by the hand (takes my hand - Note. auth.) and I say: “This is what we will do today ... You may be a little nervous or embarrassed, but then you will calm down and feel the warmth of my hand and my energy and everything will work out. You will think: “I feel good here, I trust him.”
I love to touch my characters - to take them by the hands, by the shoulders, even women. I do it with great love, with respect. As soon as you manage to overcome this barrier, everything changes.
Energy exchange.
Exactly. This is an exchange of energies between two human beings, and energy cannot lie, cannot be faked or played. And we always feel when a person wishes us well. And when my heroes feel my energy, the walls collapse. And we start working.
And if the stars are used to working with a camera, then these Cubans are behind me ...
... never stood in front of the lens, they were never photographed. Maybe only some - for a passport. But for most, it was the first time. They were very touched by the whole process, and fifteen or twenty minutes often took me to find in their faces what I wanted to show. I never wanted to take "normal" photos - those with stone faces. My inspiration is Irving Penn, and he was able to make such strong portraits that you wanted to know as much as possible about this man, about his life.
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_15.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "From the `Blues` series"
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"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_16.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "From the `Blues` series"
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When you're working with John Malkovich, who's leading? Do you tell him what to do, or does he do things his own way, interpreting your vision? Or is it team work?
It's definitely a team effort. John and I have been friends for over 17 years and know and trust each other's talents very well. John is a genius, he is simply amazing in front of the camera. He is fearless, incredibly confident, simply incomparable. I don't represent another person in this project, I can't imagine who could do what John did. Do you know any other fifty-year-old man who is confident enough to play Marilyn Monroe? Who, what man would agree to this? But John was delighted with the idea. He not only agreed, but superbly brought it to life.
Do you know any other fifty-year-old man who is confident enough to play Marilyn Monroe?
For the sake of one picture, John could put on makeup for an hour, sometimes two. For one frame. We attached the original photo to the mirror in front of which he was made up, so that he could study it better, get into character. So he had time to try on a new face. Well, when it was ready, I became a director and created a scene: I talked about the photographer who took the original picture, about the place, about the time.
“It's 1962, we have Bert Stern and Marilyn Monroe. It's late at night, they were drinking martinis, who knows what happened between them, John. Marilyn is half naked. And now you are an intoxicated, sexy Marilyn Monroe. He saw the picture, he knows it perfectly, he is working on it, and I create the atmosphere, help him. “We are at the Beaumond Hotel in California, we had a drink, and, most likely, Bert is a little hot, Marilyn feels it, she is very sexy, she is a queen, and at this moment she decides to be naked in front of the camera.” After all, just at that time, another actress who published her candid shots received the roles intended for Marilyn. So I open Marilyn to John.
“There's a party going on at David Bailey's studio in London, he's smoking weed with Mick Jagger. The room is noisy, there are a huge number of people, and David and Mick are stoned working. John knows the shot, now he's high, he's Mick Jagger. And you see how his genius works. It's like he's actually in David Bailey's studio, surrounded by a crowd, having just finished smoking a joint and having a few drinks.
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"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_13.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Sandro Miller, David Bailey / Mick Jagger `fur hood` (1964), 2014"
}
It's incredible, in this picture he even has lips like Mick's! Although in real life they do not look like that.
In fact, this is a cotton prosthesis, part of the makeup. And, you know, John knew how to work with lips. He paid attention to every detail. Dorothy Lange's 1936 picture of the Migrant Mother on a pea farm shows a mother of three children who doesn't know what they'll eat tomorrow. A beautiful woman aged by poverty. And I say it to John: “You are in a hut, you have three children, you are about 27, but you look like you are 47.” I bring him to the image. And now he grows dim from fatigue, his eyes go out and are filled with despair, he becomes a migrant mother. He holds one child in his arms, the other two hide behind him. He became a mother. It's incredible.
You draw imaginary scenery, set it up for 1936, reminisce about crop failures and famine, the Great Depression is now, your children have no father, you are dead tired, from work, from the struggle for survival, from life itself. You feel old. And John was able to feel it and show it.
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_28.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Left: Sandro Miller, Dorothea Lange / `Mother of Settlers', Nipomo, California (1936), 2014. Right: Sandro Miller, Gordon Parks / American Gothic, Washington DC (1942), 2014.""
}
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"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_27.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Sandro Miller, Herb Ritz/ Jack Nicholson, London (1988), 2014"
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It was a team effort of two perfectionist artists who wanted to pay tribute to the geniuses of photography. I didn't want it to turn into a parody or be funny. This is a serious project, designed to make people look at the pictures and think: “This is amazing. Great job."
Therefore, preparation played an important role - we sorted photos into details for a whole year: we selected wardrobe, accessories, hair and makeup. Many had to be created by ourselves. Take Hemingway's hairstyle, for example - it's terrible, we spent a lot of time creating it, the materials were specially brought from Los Angeles. It was difficult to recreate Che Guevara's beard - he had such a rare beard that it was impossible to impose it without a visible mesh base. Therefore, we had to create it from individual hairs. In a team with my stylist Randy Wilder, the best masters of wigs and makeup worked.
People, perhaps, do not even think about how much work has been invested in this.
Those who know how I work understand what is behind it. But some people probably think that we drew it all in Photoshop - we took John's head and just stuck Che Guevara's mustache there. But no, I'm from the same "old school" where everything is real.
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_33.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Sandro Miller, Stern / Cross Monroe"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_32.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Sandro Miller, Andy Warhol / Self-portrait (wearing a `frightened` wig) (1986), 2014"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_31.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Sandro Miller, Victor Skrebneski / Bette Davis (1971) LA studio 2014"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_29.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Sandro Miller, Diane Arbus / Identical Twins, Roselle, NJ (1967), 2014"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_30.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Sandro Miller, Irwin Penn / Pablo Picasso, Cannes, France (1957), 2014"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_34.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Sandro Miller, Arthur Sass / Albert Einstein with tongue hanging out (1951), 2014"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_35.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Sandro Miller, Robert Mapplethorpe / Self Portrait"
}
Reminds me of a circus, where artists can prepare a minute act for several years.
Thanks to our preparation, each frame took only about 20 minutes. My main assistant Aaron and I spent many weeks setting up the lights and keeping detailed notes. We knew exactly how to recreate the light used for the original. So by the time John arrived, we were in full combat readiness. In general, everything in this project was very well-coordinated and professional, as the whole team had one common goal: perfect shots.
Some artists don't like to discuss their old work, but this project seems to mean a lot to you.
Yes, I'm proud of them. I am happy that we were able to implement it. By nature, I am a perfectionist and do not like to review my work, I immediately try to switch to the next project. I published seven books, and every time I received a copy from the publisher, I could no longer look at it. I put the book aside for six or seven months in order to mentally take a break from it and begin to perceive it differently, otherwise I will definitely be dissatisfied with something. But this project is in demand by galleries and museums all over the world, and now we are trying our best to show it to as many people as possible. So it's fresh for me and I'm still in it.
Now I am shooting a lot of commercials and materials for television, working on a documentary film and preparing large-scale campaigns for big brands. So you have to juggle several things at the same time. Find a balance between business and art, although I love both.
Shooting commercial projects, I solve problems, bring someone's ideas to life, and my art photography nourishes my soul and inner world. And without it, I'll just burn out. Therefore, I need to find a balance between what brings me harmony and pleasure, and what brings me money, which I can then spend on other art projects. So we have a lot of work in the studio.
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"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_36.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Sandro Miller, Philippe Halsman / Salvador Dali (1954), 2014"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_37.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Sandro Miller, Albert Watson / Alfred Hitchcock with Goose (1973), 2014"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_38.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Sandro Miller, Alberto Korda / Che Guevara (1960), 2014"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_39.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Sandro Miller, Yusuf Karsh / Ernest Hemingway (1957), 2014"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_40.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Sandro Miller, Annie Leibovitz / John Lennon & Yoko Ono (1980), 2014"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_41.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Sandro Miller, Andres Serrano / Piss of Christ"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_42.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Sandro Miller, Karl Fischer / Muhammad Ali (1967), 2014"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_43.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Sandro Miller, Irving Penn / Truman Capote (1948), 2014"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_44.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Sandro Miller, Edward Sheriff Curtis / Three Horses (1905), 2014"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_45.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Sandro Miller, Richard Avedon / The Beekeeper (1981), 2014"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_46.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Sandro Miller, Bert Stern / Marilyn in Pink Roses (from last photoshoot, 1962), 2014"
}
Do you think this is not enough for many photographers? A balance between commercial projects and creativity?
There are many commercial photographers who won't pick up a camera until they get paid. I consider this a big mistake. They don’t take pictures for themselves, they don’t realize their ideas, which, in my opinion, has allowed me to succeed in the profession. People paid attention to my own art projects, they felt a connection with me. Good creative directors want to work with good photographers. You need to make it clear that you can think and create independently, you have own ideas and you can bring something to the creative process. They want to know that you will not only do a perfect job, but you will also be able to create something new. I have a feeling that many photographers underestimate the importance of personal projects.
Then back to your personal projects. Aging and death is one of the most sensitive topics for modern society. They don't talk about it, they try not to think about it. The rejuvenation industry brings incredible profits. And it seemed to me that your project with dead animals is an attempt to start a dialogue on this topic.
Oh yes, we're all trying to stay young. This is America, all our advertising campaigns, fashion and beauty magazines have made us afraid of aging and death. But for me, this is an integral part of life, and I just live, think about it and understand that death is somewhere in twenty or thirty years ahead. I'm not going to do any surgery or smooth out wrinkles, aging is a matter of life, and it also needs to be met with dignity, like everything else.
It's funny that many of my projects are related to this in one way or another. My project with one of the best bullfighters in the world, Joselito, was a real celebration of life and death. I spent a whole month in this world, his world, where only the bull and the bullfighter exist, and one must surely perish. It was hard for me to watch it.
When choosing clothes, we think about how other people will look at us and who they will see. That is why I love nude portraits the most.
As for the project with animals, today's shooting is the fifteenth in a row. Actually, it all started with a bird. She crashed on the windshield of my car and died. A few months later, I accidentally stumbled upon it while passing by. She was already in the state where, over time, the flesh loses the last features of a living being. I was interested in it, and I brought it to the studio and took some pictures. I showed them to my friends and they were also interested. Then we made a print measuring one and a half meters by one and a half meters and transferred it to the museum contemporary photography in Chicago, where it was sold under the hammer and the proceeds were spent on charity. After some time, I was contacted and asked if I could sell another such print, so the work sold twice. And when it happened, I thought there was something to it. While it seems fine to me, it may seem to others as well. And we started photographing birds, and today we are photographing a skunk. Do you smell a little?
So your studio doesn't always smell like that?
(Laughs.) No, it's a dead albino skunk. My friend, a farmer from Michigan brought. Found it on the road.
Will this project be black and white or color?
In black and white, I use a 60 megapixel camera, everything is very clear and realistic.
A person sees everything in color, why do you think black and white photography makes such a strong impression on us?
Black and white gamma emphasizes emotions. Colors hide and distract. People hide behind colorful clothes, so to really see them, you need to remove the colors and look at their faces. It is the faces that reveal all the secrets. I believe that black and white photography removes the superfluous, leaving us only the essence, the essence, which is why it is so strong.
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"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_23.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "From the `Matador` series"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_22.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "From the `Matador` series"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_24.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "From the `Matador` series"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_25.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "From the `Matador` series"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_26.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "From the `Matador` series"
}
When choosing clothes, we think about how other people will look at us and who they will see. We are creating an image. That is why I love nude portraits most of all, when there are no barriers between the hero and the viewer. I could shoot some homeless man without clothes, and if he has clean hair and neat hands, the viewer will not distinguish him from you and me. Only his clothes would give him away. Shell.
Do you think that our whole life now revolves around creating the most beautiful shell? All these profiles are in social networks where we are trying to look better than we really are.
Yes, and it's so funny! People are constantly posting selfies - we love ourselves so much, we love sharing our pictures with the world around us so much that we take more than 93 million selfies a day. We are very passionate about ourselves and how we look in the eyes of others.
And also this new world perceives photography differently. It used to be a tool with which people told stories - big ones, important stories. And now people take pictures, record and post everything on the Internet, creating anything. Thoughtlessly. And most of these shots carry absolutely no idea. We only litter the world and are oversaturated with low-quality pictures. It's a shame.
Maybe it's attention deficit? Do you want to be noticed, feel important, needed?
Yes, we really want attention, we want to create our own reality show out of all this. It's hard for me to imagine that someone would want to film their life every day, from beginning to end, and then share it with everyone else. Our everyday life not so beautiful and interesting, everything is pretty monotonous for everyone. But people will do anything to become popular. It's not even about money, it's just about fame.
Always being on the other side of the camera, have you ever wanted to work in the frame yourself? Being in the spotlight as an actor or a model?
No. In general, I feel comfortable in front of the camera - now they even make a documentary about me - but this is not my place. I have to take pictures of people.
What about teaching? Is it interesting for you?
Yes, there may be a place for me at Columbia College in the near future. This summer I will be doing workshops in Santa Fe, looking forward to it. I love teaching kids - telling them about photography, inspiring them, helping them find themselves. I like to reveal their talents. I would like schools to have a teacher who would help them understand the world and their place in it.
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_08.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Portraits"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_09.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Portraits"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_10.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Portraits"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_11.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Portraits"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_12.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Portraits"
}
What do young photographers ask you most often?
"How to become as successful, Sandro?". I don't want them to think that this is the epitome of success when they are in my studio. If you are doing what you have a soul for, what you like, then you are successful. No need to chase what someone else has, each person has his own path and his own life. Success is not beautiful pictures. This a good relationship with people, it's raising children. Money doesn't matter. I want the younger generation to understand this: being successful does not mean being a TV star. 99% of people live normal lives. Success is manifested in the ability to be happy.
You are talking about raising children. How do you manage it yourself: to be a father and build a career at the same time?
It's complicated. This is probably the hardest part of my life. I became a single parent when I was 23 - I was very new to the industry. I started working for one of the most talented photographers in the country, and there was a lot of work! Working with such people, you can not say: "You know, I need an extra day off." Every day I went from the suburbs to Chicago, worked 10-12-14 hours, came back and worked more, already as a father. In those years, my mother helped me a lot - especially with the upbringing of my daughter. She helped me raise my children, and I am very grateful to her for that.
Do your children share your love for photography?
My son is working with me, he is at the very beginning of the journey. My daughter is an accountant, so she is not very interested in art.
When you decided to become a photographer yourself, did your family support you?
My father passed away when I was four years old. My mother is from Italy, she was an immigrant without education, and she could hardly manage to provide for our studies at school. It is unlikely that she understood that in photography you can make a career. Fifteen years ago I brought it to my exhibition in Verona. When she entered the museum, she burst into tears - I think then she understood what I was doing and what I had achieved. It was a special moment.