Interview: Noah Kalina

Today’s interview is with Brooklyn-based photographer Noah Kalina, self-portrait below:

Jake Stangel: How did you first find your way into photography? When did you develop your initial interest and what about the act of taking pictures appealed to you as you started out?

Noah Kalina: I got involved with photography in high school. We had a great photography department with a fantastic and encouraging teacher. All of my friends were into art and music, so when we were in school we spent the majority of time in the art wing. Initially the appeal was social. It was what the cool kids did. But as time went on, I really started to become passionate about it, and it seemed like I might actually be good at it. I had also tried playing music, but I don’t think I was very good nor am I a performer. I am definitely an observer and photography was the perfect medium.

JS: A lot of your photos strike a fine balance between feeling pre-conceptualized yet spur-of-the moment. How do you traditionally develop and shoot your personal work, and how much of it comprises your overall portfolio (the entire body of images you make, unassigned or not)?

NK: I think most of the work you see on my website and or flickr are what would be considered personal work. I like to think every shoot I do professionally or otherwise is personal. Sometimes I don’t get a shot on a commercial or editorial job that I think falls into the category of “personal” but I always try and I am always thinking about it.

That aside, I am not a big conceptual shooter. I never go into my own shoots be it landscape or model/portrait with an idea. To me the biggest concept is the shoot itself and the obvious contrivance built into the act. I just start taking pictures. I find what it is I am looking for one way or another. When I am photographing people I do like serendipitous moments, and those are usually the ones I am attracted to in my edits.

JS: You seem to produce copious amounts of very solid imagery on your flickr stream. It’s great. How many days on average do you shoot per week? What, at its root, inspires you to shoot so frequently?

NK: All weeks are different. I can go a few weeks without shooting anything. Then I get into shooting binges and am photographing 3-5 times a week. But that is rare. I think the output you see is just edits from shoots, spread out to make it look like I am shooting new stuff all of the time.  I never feel like I am doing enough.

Ultimately I am inspired to make photos for a number of reasons. One reason I do it is because it just makes me feel good. I love the act of the photoshoot. It is truly a high for me. If I am feeling off, or if I am having a bad day, and I find myself in a photoshoot, all of my pains and worry go away. I bet you could liken it to a runners high, but I never run, so I wouldn’t know for sure.
Another reason is it is really the only thing I know how to do. I can’t cook, I can’t fix a car, I know nothing about how computers work so if it weren’t for photography I think I would be screwed.

Lastly, I just want to get better. I think I am making decent work now, but I know I am just scratching the surface. I just keep pushing myself. I hope I will get to where I want to go eventually.

JS: What kind of shooting situation do you most thrive in… how would you prefer to shoot if everything were left up to you?

NK: Ideally a shoot is by myself, or just the model and I together. But again, this all depends on what it is I am shooting. They are all different. Lately I have been working with crews. Assistants, art directors, makeup artists. I like those situations. I think the results are different then if I am alone, but it is a different set of challenge. It is a stressful environment and I do end up feeling more self-conscious about what I am doing, but ultimately it is just a different kind of photo high.

JS: What has been the most successful way for you to get assignment work?

NK: The internet.

I have not gotten work any other way. The whole drop your portfolio thing off never worked for me. I found that approach to be the most frustrating and demeaning process there is. I have a portfolio but I never show it around. I really haven’t needed to.
I have also never sent out postcards or done any self promotion campaign.

I just put my work online, either my website, which I have had since 2000 (it looked way different back then) or on the photo sharing websites. I started with Fotolog after I left art school and then ended up on flickr. 90 percent of the work I get now is through flickr and other 10 percent is from personal connections I have made. I have had art directors and photo editors reach out to me after seeing my work on flickr. Then it snowballs. They publish you in a magazine, another magazine sees it, you get another job. That art director moves to another magazine and hires me at the new mag.

The work just came. I always figured I would just make and share the work I want to make and the rest would come. So far it has. Although, it never really feels like it’s enough. Maybe I should try that portfolio drop off thing again.

JS: If you were to look back at the photos you were shooting during your days at SVA, what have been the constants that remain in your work- aesthetically, technically, and conceptually?

NK: Looking back on that work is a very painful. I think it is all really bad. I barely did any work that I am still proud of. I wish I could look back and see a genius in the making, but honestly it was total shit. What is remarkable is that I always seemed to be one of the better photographers in my class and I never got a grade lower than an A. So you can only imagine how bad the photography going on at SVA was.

I was doing long exposure landscapes at night. I was definitely on to something with light, and how to see it. My compositions were very graphic and precise, and I believe I still compose (sometimes) the same way.

JS: What did art/photo school teach you?

NK: It taught me to keep taking pictures. It gave me motivation. It gave me an environment to show my work to people.

It also taught me that there is no wrong or right way to “make it” in photography. I loved going into the darkroom and staying late into the night and know that I was doing homework. It was fun.

I made a decision when I graduated high school I was going to become a photographer. I didn’t actually know what that would mean, but I was determined to make a life out of taking pictures. I really can’t even imagine what my life would be like if I didn’t go.

There is also a great advantage of being able to go to school in NYC. You have a few years to figure it out, learn the city, mess around. It isn’t an easy place to just move to and say I want to make it as a photographer. Going to school here gives you a head start.

Ultimately a BFA from an art school is really one of the most unnecessary and useless degrees you can get. I knew my SVA diploma was never going to get me a job. A portfolio gets you a job in photography. The school existed to keep me going, to bide my time while I grew up a little. I went.

JS: Can you explain a little bit about how you have developed your style of lighting? How much focus do you put on this aspect of your work as you shoot?

NK: It’s just practice. I am definitely inspired and influenced by a number of different photographers and filmmakers. But they cross many different genres and styles, so I can’t say there it is just one look I try to emulate.

I like photographing in all lighting situations. And I like to try and pull something out of them all. Give me high noon with no clouds and I will try and figure something out. I use strobes, I use reflectors, on camera flash but I am really not very technical and I tend to not over think it. I just find it. And I learn from each shoot.

JS: It looks like you’ve got a very attractive and seductive group of female friends. Who are all these model-type girls in your photos? How do you work with them when shooting, in regards to styling their appearance as well as their expression?

NK: Well, it is likely because they are models. I find models either on model/photographer networking websites (like ModelMayhem), or I use modeling agencies in New York. A lot of the time I am just testing, so there is no money exchanged. Lately I have gotten into hiring my models so I get more of what I am looking for. But again, it all depends. I certainly prefer to shoot free models. I like photographing people who like and want to be photographed. I am not interested in trying to convince someone to take his or her photo. Models make my life easier.

Models are great because they will basically do whatever it is you want them to do. I am not much of a director in terms of expression or even styling. I take what is given to me, and in the end I find the picture in the edit that conveys what I want. I don’t believe in photography as truth. I make myths. My life is nowhere near as interesting as it might seem.

JS: What are the top 5 things you feel really good about in life right now?

NK: Kalina Magazine, my cat, bowling league, sushi and April showers.

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