A studio visit with Jessica Eaton
photographs by Alexi Hobbs
Where is your studio exactly and how long have you been working there?
My studio is in Montréal, in the old town. This is a new studio for me, and one that I applied for. I moved in November 2012. It is in an old foundry building that was reclaimed to now be The Darling Foundry (Fonderie Darling). It began as an initiative between Usines Ephémères in France, and the Fondation pour le développement des artistes de la relève in Québec. They have a number of live work spaces for international artist and curatorial residencies, 2 gallery spaces, an attached restaurant, as well as 8 work only studio spaces for local artists that are awarded on three year terms and subsidized in the rent. I was very lucky to have been awarded one of the local spaces for the 2013-2016 term.
What are the pros and cons of your studio?
Those are long lists. Pro: I have a lot of space for very little money, for three years. If I can stop agreeing to too many unnecessary deadlines that means I can take great risks. There are resources involved with the space, wood and metal shops with techs to go with, other artists around to take a beer break with and talk about art, lots of studio visits. Cons: there is no such thing as a free lunch so to speak, with any opportunity like this comes the bureaucracy involved.
How many hours do you usually spend there per week?
It varies wildly as I have been travelling a lot. The weeks out of town obviously 0. When I am in Montréal anywhere between 30 and 100 actually in studio. In studio I have an almost useful couch turns into an almost useful bed made by Ikea. I’ll often just crash in the studio a few nights a week. I work many 14 hour days in studio but the work continues even when at home or on a so called “day off” in terms of emails and things like that. In my head the work is 24/7. Lots of teeth grinding in sleep.
Do you have your own daily routine within the studio? For example, do you usually start by answering your emails then get to work etc?
You just named a problem I have been trying to solve. I was always starting with emails. At home, then continued into the studio. I’d have planned a bunch of studio work and come 7 or 9 or 11 pm still on emails. Or email interviews. Or press requests. Or other administrative work. I can more than full time job all of this and it would end I guess when I run out of art because for months no new art would be made. That is what is happening. It is a problem.
Are there things you deliberately forbid yourself to do/have within the studio in order to be more productive?
Starting next week I will no longer read my email. I hired a part time studio manager. I guess I’ll read some of them but she will filter. Back to the art making.
Do you sometimes wish you shared your studio with one or a few other artists?
Never. I would rather be punched in the face or hung naked from a flagpole than share a studio. I love studio visits and I love to throw little cinq à sept (often sept turn 4 am) small parties in the studio. I love the community of artist friends I have built up over the years. But for making work, I don’t want anyone around unless they are helping. I need a lot of space. Physically and mentally. I need to leave “live sets” up for days or weeks and if someone bumped a light in passing it would ruin everything. I need to cry or dance or spread a million things all over the floor in the middle of my space and not have to consider what anyone else thinks or needs.
What is your favorite track to edit photos to?
This one. Not a track exactly. I would have responded differently if you asked what music I like to work to in the studio. “Edit photos” to me speaks of the computer work. Because I am not shooting piles of digital images, my editing consists of long waits for hi res scans of large format film and then hours of meticulous dusting. For that I like to watch (more like listen/glance at) TV on a second monitor. Law and Order (and Law and Order SVU) is perfect because 1. awesome! 2. there are hundreds and hundreds of episodes…. and most importantly 3. the shows are largely dialogue driven. You don’t necessarily need to be looking at their pictures to get the story.
A studio visit with Osma Harvilahti
photographs by Johannes Romppanen
Where is your studio exactly and how long have you been working there?
My studio is located at the district of Kamppi in Helsinki, Finland. I live literally across the street so it’s not unusual for me to spend the whole day at work and only use my apartment as a place to sleep. I started working here last year.
What are the pros and cons of your studio?
I must say there aren’t many downsides here, maybe I could squeeze out one thing and it would be the lack of natural light during the winter months but then again it’s the same everywhere here in northern Europe. Oh well, it gets a bit cold here on winter and quite warm during the summer. I really like the space and it’s good for any kind of projects since it’s spacious, clean but also cozy. Also the studio feels like 1 big space even though it’s divided in 3 sections so there’s enough room and privacy even for bigger amount of people & big productions. There’s a supermarket and a nice japanese restaurant close by so can’t complain.
How many hours do you usually spend there per week?
Sometimes a weekly average might turn out to be 60-70 hours. I travel a lot and this obviously changes my routine but while in Finland I really try to stick to normal hours. It’s specially hard while working on both personal and commercial work at the same time and it’s also difficult to tell the difference between work and free time since I really enjoy what I’m doing.
Do you have your own daily routine within the studio? For exemple, do you usually start by answering your emails then get to work etc?
Usually and during the week I start with having a cup of coffee and maybe some breakfast. The second thing to do is going through my emails and trying to prioritize the ones that require a quick response. Emails have turned to be an ever growing work load and it takes a lot of my time to keep everyone happy. Then, depending on if I’m having a shoot or not, I’ll spend some time editing or planning future projects. Usually I prepare my lunch at the studio and it’s about 2 o’clock at this point. A big part of my routine is going through magazines and favourite blogs & websites and I do this almost daily. Before I leave the studio I usually take another snack or prepare a small dinner. During the weekend it’s good to grab a couple of beers or watch a movie with friends here.
Are there things you deliberately forbid yourself to do/have within the studio in order to be more productive?
Not really, it feels natural to mix things together but sometimes it feels a bit dangerous to spend too much time here as things might get too comfortable. It’s good to get out of the space to get some fresh air but then again filling the fridge with food allows me to keep working with less breaks and interruptions caused by lunch & coffee breaks etc. If there’s a lot of work I try to stay late and even work overnight as that seems to be the most productive time for me.
Do you sometimes wish you had your own studio? What are the pros and cons of sharing your workspace with someone else?
It’s really good to share the studio with some of my best friends and there’s always someone to give you an advice or a hand. I think it’s nice to have people around but if it gets noisy I usually just turn up the volume a bit. Music is essential to keep me focused and happy.
What is your favorite track to edit photos to?
for more of Osma’s work, please visit www.osma.fi
A studio visit with Shen Wei
photographs by Amy Lombard
Where is your studio exactly and how long have you been working there?
My studio is in the Financial District of Manhattan, a few blocks north of Wall Street. I have been living and working here since 2007.
What are the pros and cons of your studio?
The location is very convenient, easy to get around the city. My studio is also a part of my apartment, so it is also very convenient to get to work, but that also means sometimes I can get distracted easily.
How many hours do you usually spend there per week?
I spend most of my day here. If I am not out I am either on my computer or at the drawing desk. My photography work is mostly shot on location and I love to travel. I am on the road for almost 4 months every year.
Do you have your own daily routine within the studio? For exemple, do you usually start by answering your emails then get to work etc?
I am truly a night person. I work the best at late night, usually until 4 or 5 in the morning. So I wake up quite late in the day and then I have my breakfast tea while answering emails. In the afternoon I usually arrange to meet people, go to museums and galleries, and make phone calls, etc. My real production hour starts after dinner.
Are there things you deliberately forbid yourself to do/have within the studio in order to be more productive?
I am a super neat person so I can’t work in a messy environment. Everything has to be placed properly in my studio. I always clean up my desk after a night of work.
Do you sometimes wish you shared your studio with one or a few other artists?
I used to share a working studio with another artist in Tribeca. But right now I prefer to have my own space. I often invite artist friends over to my place for gatherings, to exchange ideas, and to discuss each other’s work.
What is your favorite track to edit photos to?
Most of the time I either listen to classical music or French Chanson when I am working.
This month, in our annual Photo Issue, The FADER is publishing a feature on the epidemic of youth violence in Chicago, photographed by Daniel Shea. It’s no exaggeration to say this has been one of the most fulfilling projects that Daniel and I have ever worked on.
The feature is live online today. Over the duration of the week four extended edits will be posted along with conversations between Daniel and I.
This essay was a deviation from past photo issues. Instead of publishing preexisting work we decided to commission one large essay with ambitious goals. Our choice to shoot on the ground in Chicago stemmed from the idea that the violent rhetoric that permeates contemporary rap music has a human cost that is too often overlooked. The FADER and many other magazines covering new music feature musicians that propagate cultures of violence (like Chief Keef, who Daniel shot for The FADER’s cover less than a year ago). With the magazine’s audience of young people in mind, we wanted to face that head on.
What resulted is 16 pages of photographs and a Q&A with veteran Chicago reporter Alex Kotlowitz. We aimed to depict what life in the South Side is like for young people, through individuals affected by violence, those participating in it and the grassroots effort to curb the spread of retaliatory crime which seems to have no end.
I would like to personally thank Daniel, my friend, for his incredible effort and determination working on this project, as well as the staff and publishers of The FADER for believing in it and to the men and women of CeaseFire who opened countless doors for us. Please spread the word and consider donating to their incredible effort.
Reblogged from geordiewood with 1,252 notes
“The picture from Denver was different, as far as investment. I spent a cloudy afternoon with the small group. As we walked the woman explained that she had travelled with the last of her savings from Ohio to Colorado in search of her estranged mother. When her journey ended on the doorstep of her mother’s home she was refused entry, and in the process her mother renounced her. Afterward, she walked the streets of Denver until she found consolation in the company of strangers. That’s when I came across them. Coincidentally, the crying man in the background was dealing with the death of his mother, who had passed that very same morning.”
Esquire Russia published my series Missing to accompany an article on kidnapped people, all I have to do now is finding someone who can translate the article.
