The Sound And The Fury

A lot of photographers say that they "document their life", but it often fails to give a real impression to the viewer. However, you manage to make the person who watches your pictures feel that he knows your life. How do you achieve this ? Do you always carry a camera with you ?
Well thank you! I suppose it's because I do carry a camera everywhere, and I mean everywhere. There is rarely a time that I leave the house without my camera. I also never make anyone pose for a picture. I don't like doing that. For me, the best photographs are the ones taken when someone didn't know they were having their picture taken; it's more natural that way.

In France, teenagers are under a lot of pressure because the unemployment is really high. Is it like that in the USA ? Do you feel stressed out about the future ?
It is like that in the USA. The unemployment rate is rising drastically and it's terrifying, especially for those of us who will be entering the professional work force in years soon to come. I'm definitely stressed out about it, probably more than I should be. Ha. But as an artist, it is much harder to make a solid living then it is for say, an accountant or even a journalist, and in hard times like these, it will become even harder. However, I am currently in school and working at a nice cafe as well as performing, and that's just enough for me right now.

If you had to shoot a portrait of a model or an actor, who would you choose ?
This is a hard question for me because it's impossible for me to remember the names of actors or anything of that sort. But I would really enjoy taking a portrait of Emile Hirsch. He seems as if he would be interesting to go and photograph.

What kind of lifestyle would like to have in a few years ? Is money important to you ? Do you want to travel ? Or, on the contrary, would you prefer to settle somewhere to study, or to work ?
In an idealistic world, I would like to be traveling around Spain and Iceland, or even simply road tripping across America. Or living in some nice, small town on a river, with nice people. Maybe own an antique/book store of sorts. Maybe teaching photography. There are so many things that I want to do. We will just see how it all turns out.
I feel that money is important to everyone in the sense that we all need it to survive. So yes, money is important to me. I need money to live any of the lives that I hope to be living in a few years.

What is the strangest thing that happened to you last summer ?
Ha! Strange... Well my friends and I tend to go and do rather strange things. One of the most enjoyable things we did this summer was head down to the cemetery. We brought blankets and a huge cake and musical instruments. There was a nice flat rock towards the top of the cemetery and we sat down there to have a picnic. The weather was great and we made beautiful music.

Jocelyn Catterson on flickr

false horizon

2010-01-10T09:25:00.000-08:00

Where do you live?
In vigo, galicia, the north of spain

You often shoot people from behind, why ?
I think it is an uncoscious 'quirk' that i'm trying to correct, but there's
also an element of anonymousness that I like.

There are more than 400 photographs on your flickr photostream, it must
have cost you a lot of money to buy all those films ?
!! by the way i had to stop buying music

The landscapes are very important in your photographs, what is your
favorite place in the world ?
That I know maybe Las Bardenas Reales, some kind of desert in Navarra, but I dream of Iceland, Capadoccia, Canada...

How are you dealing with the winter?
I don't like it very much, in my city rains all the time, no snow no much
sun. I had to drive some hours to see extreme snowy landscapes

Your pictures evoke folk songs to us. Is that the kind of music you listen to ?
yes! my eyes and my ears are a sponge. by the way i have a music blog to keep both things together. weird folk is so visual, I always liked cover arts, collages, even more than music itself.
being in a vast lonely desert and hear the sound of your footsteps, the sandy taste is very similar to me to listen Free Country from Davenport, or being in a forest will always be Trees, Chants & Hollers form Valerie Webb & Paul Labrecque

What did you choose the name "coquinete" ? In French it names means both "naughty" and "mischievous" !
really!? jaja. the fact is that came from a little tasty french 'madgalenas' (muffins, cupcakes?) that i knew in Hendaya, first thing came to my mind. I never know which name to choose

Do you have any New Year’s resolutions?
return all the phone calls and messages, reply soon all the emails

Ana on flickr

take me home

2010-01-02T04:52:00.000-08:00

One of the thing we like about your photographs is that they're often showing people traveling. Where did you go recently ? What place or country did you like the most ?
I love trips. My last was in Paris, I went to see some friends.. For me anytime is perfect to travel,.. Scandinavian countries are my favourite places: Denmark, Sweeden, Norway...

It seems that you're really close with the people you shoot. Are you satisfied with shooting your friends or do you sometimes want to shoot models or persons you don't know ?
For me it doesnt matter. But you know is more easy to shoot friends, you have more confidence...

People in your photographs always have really genuine expressions. How do you manage to capture those ephemeral instants ? Do you shoot a lot, or do you wait for the right moment ?
I use an analogic camera, which is expensive to use so I don't take many pictures. I usually wait for the perfect moment.

Do you use a film camera ? If so, can you tell us what you like about film ?
yes it is a film camera. I love film cameras because you cant know how is your photo until you developed the film. Is the magic of film cameras...

What emotions would you like people to feel when they watch your pictures ? Do you think a lot about the images you want to capture, or do you shoot instinctively ?
Both, but in most of the cases I take pictures instinctively and spontaneously. It depends of the place, the people, the time.. Plus, it is so dificult to prepare.

Do you have any fetish photographers ?
I really love some flickr photographers like: Géraud aimera Paris and knock-kneed and upright and Nich Hance

Are you interested in modern and contemporary photography, or do you keep away from those art movements ?
Im open to all artist movements, but i don know so much about contemporary photography..

What about literature ? Do you read a lot ? Does it inspire you ?
i never find time to read. Maybe it's just that I dont really like it...

Your photographs are really far from the party-trash aesthetic that is really popular on flickr. They have a really fresh, dreamy aura. Does the music you listen to also has this ethereal atmosphere ?
jaja. thanks alot. Yes ofcourse. I thing music is one of my first inspiration. The world turns around music.
I really love Dylan, Neil Young, Supertramp.. I cant explain this, some places remembered me some artist and songs, and i only try to capt the moment, i felt inside the song when i see some of my shoots.

Do you have any expectations for the future ? Do you see yourself getting an exhibition someday ?
I think it's too soon to tell, there are so many incredible artist in the world.. is dificul but of course is one of my dreams, to be recognized in the photography panorame, make some publications and exibitions and work in some connected with photography. For the moment i will continues taking pictures.

Thieves Like Us interview

2010-01-02T03:11:00.000-08:00

Here's the interview of Andy from Thieves Like Us we did just a few days ago.

Where did you grow up ? How was your adolescence ? Did you go out a lot ?
My father was in the army. So we moved every couple of years until I got to high school. Then we moved to a suburb of Denver. The guys who made South Park went to my high school. I had bad social skills. My mother bought my clothes until I was 16 (she had not the best sense of style). I liked science fiction and femme fatales. I was bullied a lot. When I was old enough to go out I would go to clubs and look at women. I was too shy to speak with them. NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED. I buy my own clothes now.

What kind of music did you listen to as a teenager ?
When I was 12 my uncle was on the narcotics squad of a police force in the state of Georgia. They raided a house where they were manufacturing LSD. Everything in the house became pollice property including a pretty diverse collection of cassettes. He sent the cassettes to me as a gift. There was a lot of strange stuff in there like early Cure and Cocteau Twins and Kitaro. I guess I connected with it. Melancholic music made by individuals.

It seems that you travelled a lot in your life. Do you sometimes regret this homeless lifestyle ?
Mmmm. It has given me commitment issues probably. I never have to develop, I suppose. I can just grab my suitcase and move to a new city. But on the other hand, it is pretty fantastic having an awareness of so many cities and so many people. I have heard friends of mine say things like "I could never do that -- what would I do with all my things?". People seem to hoard objects. I think it gives them a false sense of stability.

What's the craziest thing that happened to you in Paris ?
Mmmm. I climbed over a wall into an upscale girl`s pension and made love to a beautiful young 18 year old. I would have for sure been arrested if I had been caught.

Why do you choose to make all your music videos from existing movies ?
Music videos are in general pretty bad. The format has been exhausted in the eighties and nineties. So now you have bands remaking cliche ideas with no budget. The result is dull videos that look like shit. I think we are gonna try to shoot our own videos for the next album, though. But who knows, they might look like shit too.

How did you end up performing Your Heart Feels on an episode of French TV
series Pigalle ?
The director was a fan, he phoned us up and Paris and asked us.

When did you realize you wanted to create music and not just be a DJ ? Was it when you met Pontus and Bjorn in Berlin ?
Actually, I don`t think I wanted to be a deejay. I only wanted to play in a band. But I just hated all the music they were playing in clubs in Berlin. I was travelling back and forth between Berlin and NYC in 2002 and 2003. I was working in a hip hop club in Manhattan. I had to pick up empty bottles and sweep up the dance floor. I was hearing a lot of r and b and hip hop that wasnt getting played in Europe (this was before music blogs and downloading). So I would just ask the deejay what songs he was playing. Then I would come to Berlin every few months and play the same thing. Alternative bands like the Rapture and Franz Ferdinand were really crossing over into the mainstream. Björn, whom I was deejaying with was also interested in producing music. We thought we could make something good. So we bought some equipment. On the seventh day we made Drugs In My Body. It took about six hours.

Have you ever met New Order ?
I met Peter Hook. He was a nice guy. But we are not such New Order fans. I met Vini Reilly from the Durutti Column. That was exciting!

Did you discover any band that amazed you in 2009 ?
Here We Go Magic. Nite Jewel. Christian Naujoks.

The pictures on your album covers are amazing, really different from the average fluo-graphic-design album covers of many electro pop artists. Where do these pictures come from ?
Ever wonder about electro covers? Why is it that music with no persona has a cover with no persona? I like all the Roxy Music covers. Femme Fatales in distress. I also get inspired by photos on Facebook or Myspace and try to recreate them adding some details to give the pics some meaning. If you look closely on the cover to Really Like To See You Again you will see an empty package of Xanax on the ground by her feet.

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