Untitled, from project titled "The Time in Between", which studies spaces and the time in between the memory and anticipation of man. Dimensions: 16x24; Medium: PhotographyBrian Sherwin: Douglas, you are the third prize winner in the Miami Basel competition. As you know, the competition was a joint effort between www.myartspace.com and the Bridge Art Fair. Can you discuss what attracted you to the competition and why you decided to enter?
Douglas Ljungkvist: I usually enter contest that are limited to photography only. But in this case I was really intrigued with the possible exposure that the winning artists would receive. And the quality of the jury was an important factor, too. I’ve been a part of www.myartspace.com since the beginning and always been impressed with the quality of their opportunities and the business model. The internet has made art more democratic and has definitely benefited my development.
Untitled, from project titled "The Time in Between", which studies spaces and the time in between the memory and anticipation of man. Dimensions: 16x24; Medium: Photography
Douglas Ljungkvist: I usually enter contest that are limited to photography only. But in this case I was really intrigued with the possible exposure that the winning artists would receive. And the quality of the jury was an important factor, too. I’ve been a part of www.myartspace.com since the beginning and always been impressed with the quality of their opportunities and the business model. The internet has made art more democratic and has definitely benefited my development.
Untitled, from project titled "The Time in Between", which studies spaces and the time in between the memory and anticipation of man. Dimensions: 16x24; Medium: PhotographyBS: How did you feel going into the competition? Also, in your opinion, why is it important for artists to compete in juried competitions of this nature?
DL: Despite having done well in large photography contests in the past I always try and keep my expectations low. Especially when being up against other more popular art forms. As an artist I think it’s crucial to show your work online and in print through contests, portfolios reviews, and with peers. Putting together a contest entry also sharpens your editing, sequencing, and writing skills. I almost only enter contests now that allow online submissions.
BS: Douglas, you are self-taught, correct? Have you had any formal training? Can you discuss what attracted you to photography? At what point did your interest become a way of life, so to speak?
DL: Yes I am self taught except for a few classes I took at International Center of Photography (ICP). But since my school days I never really learned well in a formal and traditional setting. I’m more of a hands-on, trial and error type personality. I’ve always been a very visual person and everything I experience can be translated visually.
DL: Despite having done well in large photography contests in the past I always try and keep my expectations low. Especially when being up against other more popular art forms. As an artist I think it’s crucial to show your work online and in print through contests, portfolios reviews, and with peers. Putting together a contest entry also sharpens your editing, sequencing, and writing skills. I almost only enter contests now that allow online submissions.
BS: Douglas, you are self-taught, correct? Have you had any formal training? Can you discuss what attracted you to photography? At what point did your interest become a way of life, so to speak?
DL: Yes I am self taught except for a few classes I took at International Center of Photography (ICP). But since my school days I never really learned well in a formal and traditional setting. I’m more of a hands-on, trial and error type personality. I’ve always been a very visual person and everything I experience can be translated visually.
The advancement of digital photography got me interested in photography almost 4 years ago. I was hooked instantly and started reading photography books, art magazines, going to art shows, and knew that this is what I’m supposed to be doing. It also helped that my fiancée, who I met around the same time I started with photography, had studied photography at Purchase College, NY. So Erica has been a great resource and encouragement to me.
Untitled, from project titled "The Time in Between", which studies spaces and the time in between the memory and anticipation of man. Dimensions: 16x24; Medium: PhotographyBS: I understand that you strive to capture images that provide viewers with more questions than answers-- such, who was there? What occurred? And so on. In that sense your photographs become an interactive experience that allows viewers to explore their imagination while viewing your work. Can you go into further detail about that and about the thoughts behind your art in general?
DL: Photography for me is all about self expression. I don’t strive to make images that tell an absolute truth, but more about how I see the world. Contemporary photography is very much about story telling. My work is more about mood and feeling than a deceive moment. Photography is a documentary medium, but I see myself more as an artist per se, whose medium and tool happens to be photography.
Untitled, from project titled "The Time in Between", which studies spaces and the time in between the memory and anticipation of man. Dimensions: 16x24; Medium: PhotographyBS: With your color photography you study urban and industrial landscapes that are in transition. Tell us more about that specific body of work…
DL: The urban landscape is my domain, where I live and where I feel at home. For the first time in history there are more people in the world living in cities. Part of this trend has brought on urban renewal and gentrification, and Brooklyn, where I live, is a perfect example of this. The skyline is littered with building cranes and new buildings popping up. Industrial areas are converted to lofts and condos. I photograph construction sites as part of our changing urban landscape. These sites are considered urban eye sores but after a while we don’t notice them any more.
Metaphorically I see them as people. Yes, up front they all look the same, but when you look closer they have different personalities, materials, colors, texture, and so on. I also love how the fences around construction sites become temporary hosts for street art and message of our time are left.
Untitled, from project titled "The Time in Between", which studies spaces and the time in between the memory and anticipation of man. Dimensions: 16x24; Medium: Photography
Untitled, from project titled "The Time in Between", which studies spaces and the time in between the memory and anticipation of man. Dimensions: 16x24; Medium: PhotographyBS: What is the specific message you strive to convey to viewers of your work? Do you have a specific message in mind?
DL: I want to share my view of the world. I want to point out the ordinary that we take for granted by making the ugly beautiful through my appreciation for natural light. With reality TV and media being what it is, I think there is a great focus on the “big” moments. Whether it’s fame, career, money, it’s creating a culture where a story is not noticed unless it’s big or scandalous. But for me life is a series of small moments. That’s what I appreciate in life and part of what I want to share as a photographer, a series of small quiet ordinary scenes.
BS: Do you mind telling us about your process in general? For example, is your work intuitive or is there a great deal of planning as for where and when you shoot?
DL: I’m all about intuition. I don’t try and decide what to photograph on a particular day, unless I have shot list for a specific assignment. I am much more deliberate with my travel photography as you only have a limited amount of time in a place, and you need time to scout for optimum light conditions. But for my personal work, I know it when I see it. It’s more important for me to capture images that grab my attention and later I decide how they may fit into existing projects.
DL: I want to share my view of the world. I want to point out the ordinary that we take for granted by making the ugly beautiful through my appreciation for natural light. With reality TV and media being what it is, I think there is a great focus on the “big” moments. Whether it’s fame, career, money, it’s creating a culture where a story is not noticed unless it’s big or scandalous. But for me life is a series of small moments. That’s what I appreciate in life and part of what I want to share as a photographer, a series of small quiet ordinary scenes.
BS: Do you mind telling us about your process in general? For example, is your work intuitive or is there a great deal of planning as for where and when you shoot?
DL: I’m all about intuition. I don’t try and decide what to photograph on a particular day, unless I have shot list for a specific assignment. I am much more deliberate with my travel photography as you only have a limited amount of time in a place, and you need time to scout for optimum light conditions. But for my personal work, I know it when I see it. It’s more important for me to capture images that grab my attention and later I decide how they may fit into existing projects.
By exploring the streets and industrial parts of the city I put myself in situations to find scenes or subjects that appeal to my eye or invoke certain feelings. These often include feelings of familiarity, alienation, eeriness, or the abstract. I’m an observer of life and places. I love the solitary pursuit of the type of photography that I do. I think some photographers are “technical” and others are “feel” photographers. I am definitely the latter.
Untitled, from project titled "The Time in Between", which studies spaces and the time in between the memory and anticipation of man. Dimensions: 16x24; Medium: PhotographyBS: Tell us more about your influences. For example, are you influenced by any specific artist or world event?
DL: As with movies, art, fashion, cars, and other things, I’m visually influenced by two decades; the 70’s and the 40’s. My color photography is inspired by the 1970’s color pioneers including Stephen Shore and William Eggleston. My favorite Black & White photographers are Andre Kertesz and Bill Brant. I think it’s the juxtaposition of the elegance of the 40’s and the wonderful tastelessness of the 70’s that I like.
BS: What are you working on at this time? Can you give our readers some insight into your current practice?
DL: The portfolio that I was selected for includes images from a project titled “The Time in Between”, which studies manmade spaces. These are functional spaces meant to host people and often associated with crowds. How do these spaces look when time is suspended and the people removed? Between the memory and anticipation of man, the space takes on a different feeling and mood. These conditions are shared with indoor and outdoor spaces, large cities and small towns.
In addition to my urban landscape photography I have a few specific projects that I’m working on. The most extensive is visiting and photographing towns named “Middletown USA”, in all 16 states that have one. This project started in the summer of 2007 and so far I have visited 11 of 16 Middletown’s. This is not a documentary project of what life is like in Middletown but rather how I experience it as an outsider, along the traditions of vernacular photography. I started is as a challenge to photograph areas that are outside of my urban comfort zone.
I recently started another exciting project in Mexico City that is titled “Rush Hour”. Over time the project will visit 2-3 cities per continent and experience what happens in them during the morning Rush Hour for one week, Monday through Friday. So far I have photographed Mexico City and New York for this project. It’s a street photography project where people play a key part.
I also have several ongoing “collections” of images that I accumulate, including vintage cars, chairs/seats, marketing signs, and discarded items left on the street. A future project is to photograph my way around the Black Sea.
Untitled, from project titled "The Time in Between", which studies spaces and the time in between the memory and anticipation of man. Dimensions: 16x24; Medium: Photography
I recently started another exciting project in Mexico City that is titled “Rush Hour”. Over time the project will visit 2-3 cities per continent and experience what happens in them during the morning Rush Hour for one week, Monday through Friday. So far I have photographed Mexico City and New York for this project. It’s a street photography project where people play a key part.
I also have several ongoing “collections” of images that I accumulate, including vintage cars, chairs/seats, marketing signs, and discarded items left on the street. A future project is to photograph my way around the Black Sea.
Untitled, from project titled "The Time in Between", which studies spaces and the time in between the memory and anticipation of man. Dimensions: 16x24; Medium: PhotographyBS: Aside from the the www.myartspace.com space at the Bridge Art Fair, will you be involved with any other upcoming exhibits?
DL: I was the fortunate winner of the New York leg of the 2007 UnScene Photography Tour. The prize was inclusion in a show at Chelsea Gallery, Peer Gallery, now called Michael Mazzeo Gallery. No date has been set yet. And I’m looking forward to other exhibition opportunities in the US and Europe. I would especially love to have a show in my native country of Sweden in the future.
BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about your art or the goals that you have?
DL: I recently quit my day job after a marketing career in the travel industry to focus on photography full time. My long-term goal is to focus on my personal projects in the form of books, exhibitions, and prints sales. To finance them I would like to develop my editorial Travel and Architectural photography. And a grant or two along the way would help, too. I’m using my old marketing experience to seek out airline, hotel, editorial, publisher, and stock photography partners for my Rush Hour project. A project with such a global reach tends to get expensive.
Other than that I look forward to producing more work in the same sprit as I do now, not worrying about the latest photography trends.
DL: I was the fortunate winner of the New York leg of the 2007 UnScene Photography Tour. The prize was inclusion in a show at Chelsea Gallery, Peer Gallery, now called Michael Mazzeo Gallery. No date has been set yet. And I’m looking forward to other exhibition opportunities in the US and Europe. I would especially love to have a show in my native country of Sweden in the future.
BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about your art or the goals that you have?
DL: I recently quit my day job after a marketing career in the travel industry to focus on photography full time. My long-term goal is to focus on my personal projects in the form of books, exhibitions, and prints sales. To finance them I would like to develop my editorial Travel and Architectural photography. And a grant or two along the way would help, too. I’m using my old marketing experience to seek out airline, hotel, editorial, publisher, and stock photography partners for my Rush Hour project. A project with such a global reach tends to get expensive.
Other than that I look forward to producing more work in the same sprit as I do now, not worrying about the latest photography trends.
You can learn more about Douglas Ljungkvist by visiting the following sites-- www.douglasljungkvist.com, www.myartspace.com/douglasljungkvist. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews.
Take care, Stay true,
Brian Sherwin
Senior Editor
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