Issue No. 28 – Control

What is the nature of control? The desire for it—and to be free of it—are essential parts of both life and art.

Emerging artist interviews: Reynolds Avlon

Untitled 1 at Bizarre
 

1. Tell us about your image: Via a martial arts master-cum-actor by the name of Wilfredo Roldan, I became the still photographer for a new and as yet untitled work in progress by film director Jonathan Caouette. The day on which I took the photograph, filming was taking place at Bizarre, a nightclub/bar in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

2. What type of Energy were you trying to express or capture in this photograph?

A vibe of the bizarre… a photograph that would express just how strange and interesting the film set, film scenes, and actors were. I'm  a big fan of Fellini films, and the set, scenes, and actors seemed to me Felliniesque… if Fellini were unknowingly dosed with a tricky batch of mescaline at one of Hell's premier cabarets/mental asylums.

3. Why Photography? What about it inspires and excites you?

Why photography? To capture the moments in time I encounter…to record the strange, beautiful and ugly sights I see, and to turn the everyday into the interesting. I seem to have some sort of compulsive drive to photograph. I guess you could consider it an illness of sorts, but one that I embrace and love. Without my camera, I feel naked, and not the good kind of naked.

4. Our upcoming issue is centered around the theme of 'Fantasy'. What is your fantasy, right now?

My "probably not going to happen" fantasy:

to be able to travel back to so-called key moments in mankind's history and see how they unfold. This would of course still be filtered through my personal and cultural lens of understanding and perspective, but it would be perhaps a bit closer to "Truth" than the historical narratives of the present; and I bet it would be interesting as hell.

My "going to make it happen" fantasy:

to get a current photographic project published. My current working title, a  shameless riff on HONY (Humans of New York), is DARNY (Disgusting and Repellant New York). It's about finding the beauty in, and highlighting the visual pull of, the disgusting, off-putting and strange street scenes that New Yorkers have trained themselves to overlook, whether to avoid disgust, not get punched in the teeth, etc etc… someone who I showed a few of the photos to described them as being moments and objects you want to stare at, but don't want to be seen staring at. Sounds dark, and it has it's moments of darkness, but at times I also approach the theme with a sense of humor and absurdity.

 

Musée Magazine No. 7 vol.2: energy

Reynolds Avlon

MIKE MAGERS: ANGOLA 2

Interview with Ori Gersht