Week 2: Keith Davis Young

The rotating gallery features the work of a young emerging photographer as well as an interview with him/her, and will change every Wednesday. The gallery is based off ‘collective curatorship’, where the photographer from week 1 chooses and interviews a photographer for week 2, week 2 chooses/interviews week 3, etc. There is only one stipulation to the process: Next weeks photographer has to be someone he/she has not had direct contact with yet. Ideally, this will take the gallery on a linked tour around the internet, and exploring and unearthing new photographers as it goes.

Last week’s photographer was Nick Hance. Nick has chosen to interview Keith Davis Young, who Nich said “was a pretty natural choice for me to bring into the gallery - I didn’t know him, I liked his work, I wanted to know him.”

Nich Hance: I mostly look at photography online. It’s easy, it’s free, there’s something that makes me want to light a sparkler and say “democratic” while I do it. But I’m beginning to feel (and lament) the intangibility of photography for most people beyond the button-press capture of an image. Myself included. Shooting film means that you have an artifact to show for every picture you take (the negative, at least), but even that can feel abstract if your ultimate concern is a JPEG you post online. What’s the intersection between the internet and the not-internet for your photography? Where do the prints go? Are there even prints? Can you weigh in on the (now ever-asked, ever-answered) question of what digitizing and sharing online gives and what it takes away in terms of your experience with photography?

Keith Young: It’s always different seeing something online compared to the live print. The best thing about going to a gallery or show is that you get to see the print live in it’s truest form (other than the actual film). Digitizing and sharing your work online can be great for exposure and feedback, but in my opinion, it shouldn’t be someone’s motive behind taking photos.  I take photos all the time, but not with the intent to post online. I’ll post my work to share, for the same reason i think most people post their work, I guess. I’ll try to spend more time outside taking photos just because I don’t want to miss out on capturing something cool. I constantly catch myself saying “Oh man, i wish i would’ve taken that shot.” Well maybe I could’ve if I was out shooting and not behind a computer.

NH: Most of your photographs aren’t titled. There are some that I want to call tender but hesitate to and others that make me (maybe wrongly) snicker. Is No Title a deliberate choice? If not can I put you on the spot and ask you to title two of your images (the large man shopping for bananas and the old man gesturing toward the USS COWPENS)?

KY: Haha sure. How about “Healthy Eating” and “Jean Smith Sr. Reminiscing”?
I’ve never been a big fan of titling my work. It seems like titling can be a limitation on interpretation in my opinion. Everyone interprets things differently, it’s more interesting to leave it up to the viewer’s interpretation/imagination. I guess that’s the reason I leave the majority of my work untitled. Why not?

NH: That contrast (tender vs. critical) is one that sort of runs throughout your photography. It’s so much of what I like. I wonder if you feel like one aspect or the other is more prevalent. I keep returning to a picture of your sister and your baby nephew that I love and then to the gas-station-Americana-highway type shots. Is my “contrast” artificial and is this just “life”? Is it all just worth capturing? Are these shots in different “compartments” for you?

KY: There’s a definite difference in subject matter in a lot of my work. Whether that’s intentional or not, I’m not really sure. I feel like I shoot what I want to shoot. I appreciate a lot of different styles of photography and photographers, old and new. Having an open mind and open eye to all of these things is beneficial.  It’s the only way to grow, progress, and learn more. Every shot I take acts to me as a visual reminder or documentation of that moment.

NH: Is most of your photography produced while traveling, or do you carry your camera and find images at home (in Austin I think) the same as you carry it and find images while on the road?

KY: Outside of photography, I design all day everyday. I run a design company called The Boxing Club in Austin. I run it with some friends of mine, and that takes me on the road a lot, especially lately. A lot of my recent work has been from the result of traveling. Whether I’m walking or driving somewhere, I always keep an eye out for something to shoot. I make a lot of U-Turns.

NH: You have a set called “Photo Hiatus” with the subtext “An on-going series based on the struggle and constant balance for the active creative.” Lulls seem pretty inevitable. How do you deal with them and where do these photos fit into that process?

KY: I constantly struggle with that balance. It’s hard to separate life and what you love to do. For me it all goes hand-in-hand. I wake up everyday and pull my inspiration from day-to-day life. I guess that’s one thing I try to accomplish in my photos, capturing what inspires me on film. I think my style focuses on the observation of everyday life and the details that some people may overlook. My intent to shoot this subject matter keeps everyday interesting for me and hopefully for others.

NH: Tell me a little about how you got into photography and how your practices have changed since first picking up a camera. Do you find that it compliments your design work or are the two in different camps?

KY: I first got into photography my senior year of high school when I went to Europe. I took photography courses in college and shot a lot, but then after school I dropped it completely for about 3 years or so when I first moved to Austin. During that time I was focused on design and music, but not very proactive in shooting. When I started picking it back up it definitely effected my design work and vice versa. I’d like to start incorporating more of my photography into my design when the time’s right.

I’m also trying to treat photography the same way I treat design and music. Learn as much as I can. My friend Christian Helms once told me that the best thing to do in any creative field is to act as a sponge. Soak up all you can. I guess that’s what I’m trying to do with design and photography especially, learn as much as I can and progress. That’s one thing I love about it, you’re constantly learning.

NH: The majority of your photos seem pretty spontaneous. There are only a handful of them with the subject looking at the camera and many of these almost feel…sneaky. Do you get nervous taking these? If so is it a matter of guts or of “conscience”?

KY: Recently I’ve had some people email me about this and ask me the same thing after I had posted this picture I had taken where this guy is crying in front of his wife after receiving bad news in a restaurant. I’m very careful about the way I approach situations/subject matter like this. I had my camera with me that day that is relatively quiet and has no flash. When I saw the guy sit down with his wife I kept an eye on them and just waited for the right moment to snap the shot. The moment I chose happened to be when he had the reaction he did to whatever his wife had said to him. If his eyes were open and facing my direction, I definitely would not have shot the picture. I love human expression, and so with that said I’m definitely not trying to exploit the guy or anything. Instead I want to make something out of it, I love photos that hit me hard emotionally, subject matter-wise, and that carry more than just eye catching aesthetics.

NH: Thanks Keith.