How and when did you become interested in photography?
My parents gave me a Kodak twin-lens-reflex when I was about 5 and my father and I learned to develop film and make prints. However, the craft seemed always elusive to me and my prints never really matched the vision I had in mind. I never gave up, however. I always had a camera at hand. The advent of digital processes allowed me to come much closer to making the images in my head match the images in print and I began to seriously make artistic photographs in 2004. Recently, I’ve also been experimenting with film again.
Is there any artist/photographer who inspired your art?
Many, many influences. We live in a society so rich in photographic images that it’s hard to truly identify everything that informs our work. But, if I had to choose one today, I’d say that the work of Wynn Bullock especially inspired me. His work with the nude and the nearly mystical quality of many of his images has always stayed with me.
Why do you work in black and white rather than colour?
Black and white seems elemental to me. Especially when photographing the nude figure, black and white brings us to the image in a different way. To me, it seems to take the figure out of time, out of the normal context in which we might interpret the nude figure, and lets us approach in a different way. We engage both the individual being photographed, to be sure, but also the idea and spirit of our humanity.
How much preparation do you put into taking a photograph/series of photographs?
I like to go into a shoot with a general idea or concept in mind. But I am not creating from an internal inspiration only – I depend on the outside world as well, and we have no choice but to collaborate with the outside world. My concept may change, evolve, or even be thrown out completely, depending on what transpires as my models and I engage each other in an effort to create art.
Where is your photography going? What projects would you like to accomplish?
As I mentioned earlier, I am experimenting with shooting film and am enjoying the process of working more slowly and deliberately. I have just finished a project of a year’s duration and am now waiting for the next project to appear. I hope the next one includes film and the nude but I find I can’t force myself to go down a path simply because I think I should. I have to find the heart of something to draw me along. And finding the heart sometimes means just waiting until it arises.
Website: www.eemccollum.com
© Eric McCollum
© Eric McCollum
© Eric McCollum
© Eric McCollum
© Eric McCollum
© Eric McCollum
© Eric McCollum
© Eric McCollum
© Eric McCollum
© Eric McCollum
© Eric McCollum
© Eric McCollum
© Eric McCollum
© Eric McCollum
© Eric McCollum
