Dec 5

Dec 5 Sandy Skoglund: The Deliberate Schizoid

Interview by Andrea Blanch

AB:Your use of saturation and contrast has given your work acclaim in both the fine and commercial arts. How do you think concepts of commercialism & American sensibility affect the way your images are perceived?

SS:Starting in 1978 with a series of Food Still Lifes, I was deliberately trying to make images that were commercially uncommercial. I looked carefully at advertising photography, which was very specialized, slick, contrived, and polished. I decided to work that look and feel into my own studio constructions by using a large format camera and elaborate lighting setups. I still find very hi-res detailed photography to be the most satisfying to look at, but it no longer has the same “commercial” feel because all digital photography has migrated us toward a detailed view of things: witness television screens that show every blemish.