In an exclusive interview with Musée Magazine, Catherine Opie talks about her thoughts on why she likes skin and the 'emerging photographer'.
What do you think the nude informs us of?
I like skin. I never think of nudes, I just think of bodies, and I think of skin and as a substance that is part of of our being. Nudes to me imply this classical sense or the idea of the nude in relationship to the history of photography, like Bill Brandt tilting them 'Nudes'. I never think about it that way, I think about it as skin.
What advice would you give to an emerging photographer?
Make it about the work, your ideas, and look at what's around you, but don't feel that you have to make work that reflects contemporary discourse. Allow a contemporary discourse to seep into the work because of your own interest. It has to really come out of a place from where you have a lot of desire. You must have a relationship to your explorations that you can be married to for a while. it is a marriage, in a certain sense of the word. It is also something that I can't have, legally anyway. I do have a marriage, it's just not legal . It is that dedication and perseverance.
To see more of the interview check out the latest volume of Nude + Naked + MORE!
