Following my visit to the Sony World Photography Competition, I made contact with one of the photographers Frank Day via email. Not expecting a response, I was pleased that he did make contact. I decided to ask him a few questions and here is the interview.
Firstly, have you seen any of the Sony World Photography Competition? Do you have a favourite piece in the competition yourself?
I did see it at Somerset House. The second prize winner in Architecture...the southern California material...was excellent. (Day refers to the work of Frank Meyl, of Germany, Midcentury Modern, who took photographs of people's front porches in Southern California, near Malibu).
What is your take on photography as an artform in this current multi-media world we live in?
Photography is the only legitimate artform. Everything else is a fraud.
You live in Washington DC, why did you decide to go to Florida and the Carolinas for 'RV Night'?
You live in Washington DC, why did you decide to go to Florida and the Carolinas for 'RV Night'?
Winter avoidance
Are you happy with the outcome?
Are you happy with the outcome?
Yes, very much so...I hope to shoot more of those images this coming winter.
Do you have any influences, be they from the world of photography or another art form?
Do you have any influences, be they from the world of photography or another art form?
On the photo side, Todd Hido and David Lynch. In terms of painting, the way I make the foliage look, that directionless glow, that comes from late medieval landscape...think the background in van Eyck's Adoration of the Mystical Lamb, or the backgrounds in countless miniature illuminations. Also Rousseau, the way the RV's crouch in the jungle like his animals...
I ask, other art form, as the photos reminded me of science-fiction/fantasy films with the RV's looking like spaceships...
They do look like life support pods. And that's what they are, actually. Dropped inaccessibly into the middle of the jungle.
Is there a statement about nature and technology you were striving for?
To me the dark beyond the RV or caravan is the whole point...the unknown, threatening, hostile dark world beyond the pool of light. The world at the edge of the ancient map where things lurk. In this case, the daunting future, the possibility that things will go really wrong and we will end up surviving in little sustainment pods.
What's next on the agenda?
I ask, other art form, as the photos reminded me of science-fiction/fantasy films with the RV's looking like spaceships...
They do look like life support pods. And that's what they are, actually. Dropped inaccessibly into the middle of the jungle.
Is there a statement about nature and technology you were striving for?
To me the dark beyond the RV or caravan is the whole point...the unknown, threatening, hostile dark world beyond the pool of light. The world at the edge of the ancient map where things lurk. In this case, the daunting future, the possibility that things will go really wrong and we will end up surviving in little sustainment pods.
What's next on the agenda?
What's next? More of the same I hope.
Many thanks and I wish you all the best for the future and thank you for your time in answering the questions.
Many thanks and I wish you all the best for the future and thank you for your time in answering the questions.
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