Q & A With Photographer Dustin Aksland

I recently received an e-mail promotion from photographer Dustin Aksland. His lovely images caught my eye, so I contacted him for a brief  Q & A. Below, Dustin answers some questions about exhibiting and discusses his plans and the challenges young editorial photographers face today.

PDN    Where did you study and were you a photography major?

DA    I studied at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and received my BFA in photography, in 2006.

PDN    What did you do right after school, to keep afloat and get started in the industry?

DA    I was fortunate enough to shoot a couple editorial jobs while I was still in school and that continued when I graduated. But the amount of jobs I was shooting was not enough to cover my living expenses. So I began assisting, it paid the bills and was a great learning experience.

PDN    You’ve had a few shows and you have more on the horizon, how did you get started exhibiting? How did you get your work in front of gallery owners, such as the Meat Market Gallery in Washington, D.C?

DA    Small group shows with friends was my first experience exhibiting. The internet has been the most effective way for me to get my work in front of people. It is amazing how much exposure you can get from just being posted on someone's blog. Jorg at Conscientious posted a one-line review of my work, with a link to my site, and the next day I had galleries contacting me. That led to being invited to Fjord , which is an online collection of up-and-coming photographers. After Fjord, the Meat Market Gallery discovered my work and contacted me. After 8 months of planning, printing, and framing, I had my first solo show on April 4th. It was an invaluable experience.

PDN    Is it expensive to be part of a show? What are you responsible for?

DA    Yes, it can be expensive, the cost of printing, framing and shipping adds up pretty fast. Sometimes the gallery will help with the framing and shipping cost, but you always pay for the printing.

PDN     What is it like in the editorial market right now? What clients are you targeting?

DA    It would be nice to be shooting a little more, but I can't really complain. I've been fortunate to shoot some really great assignments this year.
Right now I'm only contacting editorial clients, but I would like to start getting some Ad work. I'm working on a new promo campaign and I will start sending that out at the beginning of the year.

PDN    Which photographers do you admire? Do you have any influences?

 DA    The list is too long to print, so I will try to narrow it down to five, in no particular order. Joel Sternfeld, Harry Callahan, Robert Adams, Larry Sultan, Nadav Kander.  I think it would be safe to say that all the photographers I mentioned, have had some sort of influence on me over the years.

PDN     What are you going to do next? Do you have long-term goals or plans?

DA    Currently, I'm continuing to work on my ongoing project " Under The Western Freeway".  My only real long-term goal is to keep shooting. I'm trying to convince myself that if I keep shooting, everything will sort it's self out.

PDN     Do you have any general advice for students?

DA    Read everything written by Robert Adams. Find something that you really care about and don't stop shooting it. Have perseverance, but if you are not having fun, don't do it. And get your work out there, websites, zines, shows etc.

To view more work by Dustin Aksland go to www.dustinaksland.com

Q & A with John Francis Peters at The Fader

John Francis Peters is the photo coordinator at The Fader magazine. PDNedu asked John a few questions about working in publishing and what he looks for when hiring photographers.

Above: John Francis Peters

 

PDN   Where did you go to school and what did you study?

 

JFP     I attended the School of Visual Arts majoring in print design. I also studied 3 years of social documentary photography while there.

 

PDN   Could you tell us a little about how you landed your job working at Fader magazine? What is a typical  day like for you?

 

JFP     I started with Fader as a freelance photographer. After Dorothy Hong left the position I was offered the opportunity to become photo coordinator/staff photographer by the creative director Phil Bicker. Working first as a freelancer and being directed by Phil really helped me to understand the vision behind the magazine and how it could influence a generation in photography.

 

Each day here brings a new situation to contend with. It starts with a 1.5 hour commute from my home upstate. Once at the office it may be time to seek-out photographers in various locations for assignments or help initiate first contact and direction between photographers and music groups publicists. Some days I assist Phil on heavy amounts of editing, layout or proofing. Other times I’m shooting assignments myself while helping to coordinate the issues projects.

 

PDN   Do you have any advice for young photographers who would like to work for your magazine? Do you ever hire young photographers?

 

JFP     We are happy to see photographer’s work of all ages but we consistently seek new untapped talent from around the world. Young photographers are of course less jaded by the photo world and maybe more willing to take new direction in their work. This rawness in how some younger photographers approach a project can being very exciting and continue to build upon our visual direction.

 

I would just tell them to get a clear idea of how we approach assignments and edit them by really paying attention to the magazine each issue. That is the best way to understand what type of portfolios we seek. Sometimes a portfolio may have a handful of shots out of many that catch our attention as possible gateways to a new fresh photographic ability.

 

 

PDN   Could you talk about a recent promotion you received from a

photographer? Has anything stood out as particularly good or, perhaps,

unsuccessful?

 

JFP     To be honest most promotional material I receive is too commercial for Fader but randomly something stands out. Usually it’s good to see a few emailed images that were sent after the photographer first considered our aesthetic. I like to get emailed links to sites best as it saves materials. I know other editors may not consider emails as much but personally I look at every link.

 

PDN   Could you tell us about a recent photo shoot? How does the day go?

 

JFP     I think in general we try to initiate most photo shoots in a similar manner. We always aim to get our photographer into the most natural situation with the subject from the start. It’s best if the photographer can spend time in the artist's home or while they do their daily routine. Except for fashion shoots we never apply styling or makeup.  Ideally we want the photographer to be fully in the moment with the subject and communicate to us who the artist really is through creative, truthful images.

Some recent examples of this would be Leonie Purchas’s essay on The Tough Alliance in their hometown Gothenburg, Sweden or Gabriele Stabile’s essay on Cumbia artists in Argentina. 

 Above: Leonie Purchas for The Fader magazine.

Visit The Fader magazine's Web site here.

Small Business Success Podcast Series

SCORE is a non-profit organization that helps small business owners by providing free, confidential advice from real world experts. If you are a recent graduate or an eager student interested in learning about smart business practices now, I recommend you take advantage of this valuable resource.

 

I just listened to the Podcast by Sabrina Parsons on how to succeed in a down economy. There is some valuable information here that applies to the photography industry. Unfortunately, the publishing industry is being hit hard by the current economic climate so now, more then ever it's important to keep a close eye on every dollar. Make a plan, strategically focus on the most lucrative clients, and make sure that you're cutting back appropriately. You can listen to the Podcast here.

SVA Lecture Series Presents Larry Fink

Thursday, November 20 at 7:00 p.m.

School of Visual Arts Amphitheater

209 E. 23rd St betn 2nd/ 3rd aves)

Larry Fink at SVA

Free to CCNY members, SVA students, faculty and staff

General admission $10, $5 for other students with I.D.

During a 40-year career, photographer Larry Fink has explored the human condition from myriad angles – and always with a human touch. Among his publications are Somewhere There’s Music (Damiani, 2006), The Forbidden Pictures(powerHouse, 2004), Runway (powerHouse, 2000), Boxing (powerHouse, 1997), and Social Graces (Aperture, 1984). More recently, he curated Lisette Model and Her Successors, an exhibition opening in September 2007 at New York’s Aperture Gallery and featuring his own work and that of major photographers such as Diane Arbus, Peter Hujar, Bruce Cratsley, Rosalind Solomon, Bruce Weber, Lynn Davis, Leon Levinstein and Raymond Jacobs. Fink has shown widely, with exhibitions at MOMA (1979) and Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC (1997). He recently had a show at the Pace MacGill gallery in NYC that focused on the current political climate concentrating on the democratic contest between Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama. He has received two Guggenheim fellowships and two NEA grants. His work has appeared in such magazines as The New Yorker, GQ, Vanity Fair, and The New York Times Magazine. He has taught at New York University, Cooper Union, School of Visual Arts, Yale University and Parsons School of Design. Since 1988 he has been a professor of photography at Bard College.