The Kind Artist

This week we have the extremely talented photographer, known by none other than his actual name, Alexander Shahmiri. A man of many styles, his work might just end up leaving you with a gasp, or, a “wo”.

Hi, this is The Kind Artist calling; may I please speak with Alex Shahmiri?

Yes, this is him. How may I help you?

Oh, yeah, hi Alex. Actually, just returning your call.

Oh that’s right! I had completely forgotten about that phone call. Glad to hear back from you.

I would love to interview you, let’s do it!

Sounds good! Lets rock!

Where do you live?

I live in San Francisco for the majority of the year while I’m in school, but home for me is back in Orange County.

How’s school going?

Pretty good actually, I only have it on Tuesdays and Thursdays but for eleven hours, so it can get a bit tiring. I love my classes though this semester, so that’s always a plus

Are you taking some kick-ass photo classes?

Not a single one! I’ve actually never taken a photo class in my life. I’m a communications major so photography classes don’t really fit the bill for the classes I need.

So, when did you start shooting and getting really serious about photography?

I started taking photos when I was pretty young, probably around 8. Then I actually started getting serious about three or four years ago. I bought myself a Canon XTI and felt like I should really learn the camera and understand what everything did. So for about a year I really just experimented with everything on and off the camera, and eventually I got to the point where I decided that I could go out into the field and shoot and know exactly what I want and how to get it.

What is your favorite thing to shoot?

I think I’d have to say just people in general, I love the interaction between a person and a camera. You can learn a lot about someone to see how they act when they are in front of a camera. Some people are more awkward and don’t know how to warm up to the camera, then others are just themselves and don’t even really pay attention the camera. It’s like a mini-personality test.

Something I really enjoy of yours is the Le Brouillard series on your website. Literally translating to “fog” in French, the series consists of multiple photos of people who are staring into the “fog”. Why did you have most of your subjects facing away from the camera?

Just about all of those photos are me actually, and I really dislike self-portraits for the most part, which is why you rarely ever see my face in them. I find them to be too focused on the person and not the atmosphere. It’s hard to relate to for the audience sometimes as well, so in that series one of the big things I had to keep in tact was anonymity. Having them face away basically serves the purpose of both allowing people to view the photo without any information about the subject as well as keeping that sub-theme of just going forward into the unknown.

When I look at the photos I really enjoy the surrounding nature of them. I look at the person for a bit, but the background is more overpowering and enchanting.

That’s the beauty about nature, which is also why I love to shoot in it.

Who are some major photographic influences of yours?

That’s a tough call for me…only due to the fact that I wouldn’t be able to say that one person really influences me more than any other. Everything that I see basically helps me towards some idea. Some photographers show things that I wouldn’t want to do, while others sometimes give me a basis for an idea that I twist and turn into my own thing.

I noticed you started a new series on your Flickr page, can you tell me a little bit more about that?

Oh yeah. It’s called “Army of Me”, and it’s still a work in progress on the general idea of it, but as of right now it’s very loosely based off the issue amongst soldiers where when they return from war they often feel isolated and cannot relate to normal life. All of the photos will include the gas mask, but I don’t want to give away what’s in store for the rest of the series. All I can say is that it’s going to probably get really dark over time.

You are a man of many series’!

Haha, this is the first one I’ve started knowing that it was going to be a series. Someone once gave me crap for wanting to start a series saying that it would be boring, but I basically went on the page of saying screw you and decided to do them anyway and prove that they aren’t boring, and it’s fun to tell stories.

What’s in the future for you?

Near future (as in 30 minutes from now), I’m shooting a band. Tomorrow, lots of reading for class…and from there on who knows. Coachella is coming up and I’ll be going there, which I’m pumped for. Once I graduate I want to just travel the world for a while, see all there is to see…and then go pick up a job when I get back.

I want a Top 3 from you, but I’m not sure what to pick yet. Any ideas?

Haha hmm. Music is too hard, as are movies.

Top 3 favorite magazines.

Damn you, that’s a tough one! One for sure would be Filter; it’s a great music magazine with great photos. JPG Magazine is a great magazine as well. The last one… ha I don’t really read too many magazines… I’m more of a book guy. I guess my last magazine would be Juxtapoz. I’ve never bought a single copy of it, but I love looking through each issue.

Alex, my man, thank you so much for your time.

No thank you Ryan, it was great talking to you.

You can check out more from Alex at his website here, or his Flickr page.

All photographs Copyright (c) Alexander Shahmiri. 2010.

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