Exhibition "Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich" at the Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography. So your studio doesn't always smell like that.
From June 2 to August 28, the Lumiere Brothers Moscow Center for Photography is hosting an exhibition of Sandro Miller, an American photographer and member of the jury of the 35Photo Awards international competition. On the opening day, the master told Russian Photo about his inspiration for 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 television screens. In fact, we are only separated by the huge ego of our politicians, and in all other respects, Americans and Russians want the same thing: peace, freedom. Nobody wants war.
Moscow is an amazingly bright, beautiful and clean city, inhabited 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 as 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 vocation
At sixteen, I accidentally bought American Photographer magazine with a beautiful picture of Picasso on the cover. It was authored by Irwin Penn.
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| Sandro Miller, Irving Penn / Pablo Picasso, Cannes, France (1957), 2014 | |
I could not 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 wanted to become.
About photography
The moment I saw Picasso's photograph, 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 Irwin Penn did to me. With the help of photographs, we can experience the world as we would never have seen 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 experience 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 to shoot and at the same time studied all the subtleties and nuances of this work. At twenty I got a job as a photographer's assistant - 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 |
This is actually great practice, you instantly understand how to work with the camera, light and distance. After all, you will not be able to tell the newlyweds: “Oh, you know what? Come back tomorrow. The light is somehow unimportant today. " You only have one chance for a good shot. With the money I earned during weddings (I shot about a hundred of them), I bought new equipment.
First success
My first project to gain recognition was American Bikers. I filmed them for four years - from 1989 to 1992. For the first time I saw these severe, huge, tattooed, hairy people near a boarding house for disabled children.
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From the series "American Bikers"
These bikers, whom we perceive as nothing more than murderers, rapists and alcoholics, danced, played and had fun with these unfortunate children. Then I realized that no one should be judged by their appearance. I went to all the biker festivals, pitched 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.
Friendship and work with John Malkovich
John and I met 20 years ago when I got a call from the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago and asked if I could get a portrait of Malkovich. “Of course I can,” I exclaimed and ran to take it off. I admit, I was scared, because John always plays very cruel characters, just 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 and all other subtleties mean. We became very close spiritually, and when it came time for a new project, I knew that only John could handle it.
Hommage to the masters of photography
I am not a smoker, I don't drink much and have no bad heredity, but it so happened that four years ago I was diagnosed with stage IV laryngeal cancer. I believed that I could get well (which ultimately happened), but I also understood that everything is in the hands of God. I didn't 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 images would be recreated with millimeter precision 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 it was possible to understand how the light was built. We recorded absolutely everything, right down to the mood and state of the photographers and their models, we recorded every detail. When we met John for work, we had a team of 30 people, 41 looks and just 6 working days.
We clearly reproduced all the conditions of the original filming, applied makeup to John (in especially difficult cases, this process took up to five hours) and shot a portrait in a couple of hours, and then moved on to the next image. And so for 16 hours a day. John did not just play these characters, at the time of shooting he really became Einstein, Hemingway, Che Guevara and even Simone de Beauvoir. He believed that he was all these people. By the way, an amusing incident is connected with the image of de Beauvoir. John, as expected, was completely naked, in only high-heeled shoes. By the way, he didn't even have to shave his legs - they were always 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 be jealous. We took pictures and then decided to take a break. John put on a robe and ran out into the street with a phone and cigarettes. Now imagine a half-naked John Malkovich, in a peignoir and high-heeled shoes, cutting circles around my studio with a cigarette in his teeth and a phone in his ear! It is clear that there was soon a traffic jam of cars, the drivers of which were, to put it mildly, surprised by such a sight.
But for the most part, the process was very serious. In no way did I want people to think that I had created a parody, a joke. I wanted to achieve perfection, I felt that my whole career was on the line. I thought so much about this project that at some point I got sick and fell ill. I wanted to create the best work of my life. I seem to have succeeded.
The editors would like to thank the Baltschug Kempinski Hotel for their help in organizing the interview.
The Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography is preparing to receive a dear guest - Chicago-based 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 bottom line is this. Sandro Miller is a successful advertising photographer, having collected all the excitement in this area in 2013, 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, who 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. This is how their creative duet was born.
Miller's sample included portraits of cult figures - the famous "Green Marilyn" by Andy Warhol and his self-portrait, Albert Einstein with his tongue sticking out Arthur Sasse, a snapshot of Annie Leibovitz, in which naked John Lennon hugs Yoko Ono, Alfred Hitchcock with the goose Albert Watts , Mohammed Ali in the image of Saint Sebastian by the hand of Karl Fischer, the most famous portrait of Che Guevara, and so on. It turned out aptly and ironically, frank imitation, elevated to a cult, - an example of kitsch, but not tasteless, but elitist.
The tandem has taken shape. Miller is delighted with Malkovich's acting talent. “John is the most talented and successful person I have ever known,” he says. “His genius is unmatched. I can designate a mood or an idea, and after a few moments, before my eyes, he literally turns into another person, taking on a new image. Our relationship with John and our creative collaboration is so trusting. I am incredibly lucky to have such a friend and like-minded person. " You can convince yourself of his correctness yourself. The exhibition at the Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography will last all summer. Be sure to come.
At Bird In Flight's request, 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 its preparation took a whole year, why commercial photographers should be creative, what is wrong with selfies and why Sandro stinks of a dead skunk in the studio.
Sandro Miller, 56
Sandro's studio is located on a quiet street in east Chicago. The bright Art Nouveau building stands out from the typical buildings here. High glass doors, on the walls there are pictures from Sandro's projects: bikers, Cubans, Malkovich. The same Malkovich who masterfully reincarnated as Salvador Dali, Marilyn Monroe, Mick Jagger and became a real hit on the Web. While I wait for the photographer on a small sofa, he, together with his assistant, finishes work in the next room. Through the open door, I see a motorcycle helmet on the table in the office. On the second floor there are silhouettes of simulators, there is a gym.
Finally Sandro sinks into the chair in front of me. In a black sweater and jeans, paint on his hands. Friendly and calm.
- Today we are filming dead animals. It's a dead skunk, we're taking a picture of it. Damn interesting! - he explains, settling in 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_17.jpg",
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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` "
},
{
"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` "
},
{
"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` "
}
Do you think this is what attracts the viewer? Are these borderline states? (I look back at the photographs 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 to clarify the relationship with my own aging, the awareness of my mortality. You start to think about it closer to fifty. In this project, I thought 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"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_02.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Portraits of Cubans"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_03.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Portraits of Cubans"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_04.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Portraits of Cubans"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_05.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Portraits of Cubans"
}
If art helps you to understand yourself, it turns out 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 reveals their hidden feelings and feelings. I like working with people, I feel 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 reveal their secrets - this is real magic.
Probably, this was influenced by my childhood - I grew up in a dysfunctional family, I saw many deaths. Therefore, it is not hard for me to be close to people, it is not hard for me to return to where it hurts and is scary.
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_06.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Left portrait of Barbara Crane, right portrait of Michael Jordan"
}
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_07.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Portrait of Michael Jordan"
}
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 heroes in such a way. Usually I just take their hand (takes my hand - Approx. auth.) and I say: “This is what we will do today ... Perhaps you will 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 heroes - to take them by the hands, by the shoulders, even women. I do this with great love and respect. Once 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, it cannot be faked or played. And we always feel when a person wishes us well. And when my heroes feel my energy, the walls come crashing down. And we start to work.
And if the stars are used to working with the camera, then these Cubans are behind my back ...
... never stood in front of the lens, never photographed them. Maybe only a few - for a passport. But for most, it was the first time. They were very moved by the whole process, and it often took me fifteen or twenty minutes to find in their faces what I wanted to show. I never wanted to take "normal" photographs - those with stone faces. My inspiration is Irwin Penn, and he knew how to make such powerful 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 "
}
When you work with John Malkovich, who is leading? Do you tell him what to do, or does he do it his own way, interpreting your vision? Or is it a team effort?
This is definitely a team effort. John and I have been friends for over 17 years and we know and trust each other's talents very well. John is a genius, he is just adorable in front of the camera. He is fearless, incredibly confident, simply incomparable. I do not represent another person in this project, I do not represent who could have done what John did. Do you know any other fifty-year-old man who is confident enough to play Marilyn Monroe? Who, what man will agree to this at all? But John was delighted with the idea. He not only agreed, but also brilliantly brought it to life.
Do you know any other fifty-year-old man who is confident enough to play Marilyn Monroe?
For one shot, John could make up for an hour, sometimes two. For one shot. We attached the original photograph to the mirror, in front of which we made him up, so that he could study it better, enter the image. So he had time to try on a new face. Well, when he 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 now, we have Bert Stern and Marilyn Monroe in front of us. It was late 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 Bert is probably a little hot, Marilyn feels it, she is very sexy, she is a queen, and this is when she decides to be naked in front of the camera." Indeed, just at this time, another actress, who published her candid pictures, received the roles intended for Marilyn. So I open Marilyn for John.
“David Bailey's studio in London is having a party right now, smoking pot with Mick Jagger. The room is noisy, there are a lot of people, and David and Mick are working high. " John knows the picture, 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 drinking a little.
{
"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, he even has Mick's lips in this picture! 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 Pea Farm photo by Dorothy Lange shows a mother of three who does not know what they will eat tomorrow. A beautiful woman who has been made old 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 dull with fatigue, his eyes go out and fill with despair, he becomes a migrant mother. He holds one child in his arms, the other two are hiding behind him. He became a mother. It's incredible.
You draw imaginary scenery, set it up for 1936, remember the crop failures and hunger, now the Great Depression, your children do not have a father, you are mortally 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 the Migrants, Nipomo, California (1936), 2014. Right: Sandro Miller, Gordon Parks / American Gothic, Washington, DC (1942), 2014."
}
{
"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"
}
It was a team effort of two perfectionist artists who wanted to do justice to the geniuses of photography. I didn't want it to be a parody or 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 took the photographs apart for a whole year: we picked up a wardrobe, accessories, hair and make-up. We had to create a lot ourselves. Take Hemingway's hairstyle - 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 - it was so rare that it was impossible to apply it without a visible mesh base. Therefore, we had to create it from individual hairs. My stylist Randy Wilder has worked with the best masters of wigs and make-up.
People, perhaps, do not even think about how much labor has been invested in this.
Those who know how I work understand what is behind this. But some probably think that we painted 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 for real.
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_33.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Sandro Miller, Stern / Monroe Cross"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_32.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Sandro Miller, Andy Warhol / Self-portrait (in 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), Los Angeles studio, 2014"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_29.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Sandro Miller, Diana Arbus / Identical Twins, Rosell, 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 his tongue hanging out (1951), 2014"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_35.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Sandro Miller, Robert Maplethorpe / Self-portrait"
}
It resembles a circus, where artists can prepare a minute number for several years.
Thanks to our preparation, each frame only took about 20 minutes. My main assistant Aaron and I spent many weeks setting up the lights and taking detailed notes. We knew exactly how to recreate the light used for the original. So by the time John arrived, we were on full alert. In general, everything in this project was very well-coordinated and professional, since 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 him. I am happy that we managed to implement it. I am a perfectionist by nature and do not like to revise 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 off the book for six to seven months in order to get a mental 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 advertisements and TV material, working on documentaries and preparing large-scale campaigns for big brands. So you have to juggle several things at the same time. Finding 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 feeds my soul and inner world. And without that, I'll just burn out. Therefore, we need to find a balance between what brings me harmony and pleasure, and what brings money, which I can then spend on other art projects. So we have a lot of work in the studio.
{
"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 the Goose (1973), 2014"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_38.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Sandro Miller, Alberto Corda / 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 and Yoko Ono (1980), 2014"
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_41.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "Sandro Miller, Andres Serrano / Urine 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, Irwin 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 the last photo shoot, 1962), 2014"
}
Do you think that many photographers lack this? Balance between commercial projects and creativity?
There are many commercial photographers who won't get their hands on a camera until they get paid. I think this is a big mistake. They do not take pictures for themselves, do not realize their ideas, and this is what, in my opinion, 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 are able to think and create independently, you have your own ideas and you can bring something to the creative process. They want to know that you will not only get the job done flawlessly, but you will be able to create something new. I have a feeling that many photographers underestimate the importance of personal projects.
Then let's get back to your personal projects. Aging and death are 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 is making 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 are 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 it 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 am not going to do any operations or smooth out wrinkles, aging is a matter of everyday life, and it also needs to be met with dignity, like everything else.
It's funny that many of my projects are somehow related to this. 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 a bull and a bullfighter exist, and one must certainly perish. It was hard for me to look at it.
When choosing clothes, we think about how other people will look at us and who they will see. This is why I love nude portraits the most.
As for the project with animals, today's shooting is the fifteenth in a row. In general, it all started with a bird. She smashed against the windshield of my car and died. A few months later, I accidentally bumped into her while passing by. She was already in that state when, over time, the flesh loses the last features of a living being. This interested me, and I brought it to the studio and took some pictures. I showed them to my acquaintances, and they were also interested. Then we made a print one and a half by one and a half meters in size and handed it over to the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, where it was auctioned off, and the proceeds were spent on charity. After a while, I was contacted and asked if I could sell another such print, so the work was sold twice. And when it happened, I thought there was something in it. Since this seems wonderful to me, it may seem to others. And we started photographing birds, and today we are photographing a skunk. Do you smell a light smell?
So your studio doesn't always smell like that?
(Laughs.) No, it's a dead albino skunk. My friend, a farmer from Michigan brought it. Found it on the road.
Will this project be black and white or color?
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?
The black and white scale emphasizes emotions. Colors hide and distract. People hide behind colorful clothes, so to see them for real, 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 unnecessary things, leaving us only the essence, the essence, which is why it is so strong.
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_23.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "From the series` Matador` "
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_22.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "From the series` Matador` "
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_24.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "From the series` Matador` "
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_25.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "From the series` Matador` "
},
{
"img": "/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sandro_26.jpg",
"alt": "Photo by Sandro Miller 01",
"text": "From the series` Matador` "
}
When choosing clothes, we think about how other people will look at us and who they will see. We create an image. That is why I love nude portraits the most, when there are no barriers between the hero and the viewer. I could take pictures of some homeless person without clothes, and if he has clean hair and neat hands, the viewer will not distinguish him from you and me. Only clothes would give him away. Shell.
Do you think our whole life is now revolving around creating the most beautiful shell? All these social media profiles where we try 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 to share 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 this new world also perceives photography differently. It used to be a tool that people used to tell stories - big, important stories. And now people take pictures, record and post everything on the Internet, creating whatever they find. Thoughtlessly. And most of these pictures have absolutely no idea. We only litter the world and become oversaturated with low-quality pictures. It's a shame.
Could it be attention deficit? Do you want to be noticed, to feel your significance, need?
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 start to finish, and then share it with everyone else. Our everyday life is 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 on the other side of the camera, would you like to work in the frame yourself? Stay in the spotlight as an actor or model?
No. In general, I feel comfortable in front of the camera - now they even shoot a documentary about me - but this is not my place. I have to photograph 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 giving master classes in Santa Fe, I look forward to it. I love teaching children - 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 the most?
"How to become as successful as Sandro?" I don’t want them to think that this is the epitome of success when they’re in my studio. If you are doing what you have a soul for, what you like - then you are successful. There is no need to chase after what someone else has, each person has his own path and his own life. Success is not about pretty photography. This is good relations with people, this is raising children. Money doesn't matter. I want the younger generation to understand this: being successful doesn't mean being a star on TV. 99% of people live an ordinary life. Success is manifested in the ability to be happy.
You are talking about raising children. How do you manage it yourself: being a father and at the same time building a career?
It's complicated. This is probably the hardest part of my life. I became a single dad when I turned 23 - I was completely new to the industry. I started working for one of the most talented photographers in the country, and there was a lot of work! When working with such people, you cannot say, "You know, I need an extra day off." Every day I drove 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 raising her daughter. She helped me raise my children, and I am very grateful to her for that.
Do your kids share your love for photography?
My son works 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 with no education, and she barely managed to provide for our studies at school. She hardly understood that photography could make a career. About 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 very special moment.