From the upcoming (March 11) issue of www.f8mag.com

1. A
54 Jon Michael Anzalone
Portfolio 55
Jon Michael
nzalone
Noise in the Soul
Bucharest, Romania. 2008.
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2. 56 Jon Michael Anzalone
Portfolio 57
In April of 2011, photographer
Jon Michael Anzalone is traveling
I did most of my best work to date
during dark times in my life, and I
I did most of my best
to Istanbul, where he plans to
shoot a roll of film every hour for
think that is reflected in the work.
There are calms before storms, storms
work to date during
24 consecutive hours. We spoke
with him a little bit about his
before calms, and the ability to find
love in it all: a joy at the end of all
dark times in my life,
background as an artist and about
the project.
things. and I think that is
Why did you become a
Your photos are usually slightly
out of focus, noisy, vaporous. It
reflected in the work.
photographer? reminds us of past epochs. What
do you think about this?
There are calms before
I picked up a Holga about 6 years
ago because someone showed me Timelessness is an important quality
storms, storms before
photos they took with it. I found the
optics of it very appealing--dreamy
to me. I want my work to be relevant
in or out of context of its time. I avoid
calms, and the ability to
and strange, unpredictable. I have
always been a creative person, but I
pop culture references or things like
cars, street signs, advertisements-
find love in it all: a joy
just lack the ability to render things
realistically. When I found the Holga, I
-anything that could shift focus
from the image onto all of these
at the end of all things.
found that its optics worked well with unremarkable signifiers.
my creative process. Something could
be real and yet still feel unreal. It was There is a great Peter Adams quote,
very appealing to me. I’ve since moved that photography is about “depth of
away from the Lomography / plastic feeling, not depth of field.” Laying too
camera trend for a variety of reasons. heavily into technical training can
take the soul out of photography. I
Do you remember the first photo see photographs that do that and it
that impacted you? feels like someone is shouting at me.
After all, the camera is only a means
By the time I was being exposed of expression. In your photography I
to good photography, I was being want to see that you have expressed
exposed to a lot of it. It’s hard yourself, not that you are good at
to remember a particular first doing an unintriguing thing.
as a standout. There are a few
photographers whose work is a Do you prefer to use analog or
constant inspiration to me: Roman digital photography?
Drits, Noel Ruiz, Zehra Guveli, John
Vanderslice, Kahka Kahkiani, Ori Jauch. I am a film purist. I will not work in
digital. The day they take away my film
How would you define your is the day I take up painting!
photography?
What type of analog equipment
I think photography is about the use it on your projects?
marriage of moments: the internal,
what is going on inside the artist’s As I mentioned earlier, I started with
emotions, and the external, what is a Holga. A few years later, I found a
going on in the emotion of the place Voigtlander Vito CL camera in a flea
or subject. market. Someone must have thought
it was broken and sold it, >
Riga, Latvia. 2008. # 2 MARCH 2011

3. 58 Jon Michael Anzalone
Portfolio 59
Virginia Beach, Virginia. 2008. # 2 MARCH 2011

4. 60 Jon Michael Anzalone
Portfolio 61
> but I was able to fix it. I bonded with
that camera over several trips and I
understand it very well. My girlfriend’s
father gave me his old Nikon, which
was such a great honor, and the work
that I have done with it thus far has
been very much to my liking. As for
film, I love Ilford. I really like to shoot
400 and 3200 speed Ilford B&W.
What kind of post-production
techniques do you employ?
I develop all of my B&W film at home
and scan the negatives. I try to be
true to the image as best as I can,
but I’m not above making creative
post-production choices if it means
salvaging a strong image that would
have been lost otherwise. You can’t
tell, I promise.
Tell us briefly what your workflow
is like.
I love to shoot when I travel, and I do
that once a year if I’m lucky. I end up
doing most of my photography over
the course of a week or two and then
do the production end of it when
I return. I can’t sleep when I have
undeveloped film at home. I work very
hard and intensely. Then, if I’m lucky,
there are shows. I’ve discovered that I
love installation and figuring out how
to use a space.
Tell us about an experience that
has marked your life. A location, a
person, a situation...
I spent a lot of time on trains between
towns and cities. I would sit there and
try to come up with manifests on my
theories about photography. I wanted
to have some kind of comprehensive
written document on why this works
for me the way it does. But I got
distracted and stopped, and I saw
something, stuck my camera out the>
Istanbul, Turkey. 2008.
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5. 62 Jon Michael Anzalone
Portfolio 63
Cluj, Romania. 2008.
Sighisoara, Romania. 2008.
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6. 64 Jon Michael Anzalone
Portfolio 65
My parents couldn’t hear from
me until about 12 hours after
the attacks began, so for all
(a common situation in the state)
so we couldn’t even read what was
my school days. People who have
been taken advantage of stand up for
they knew I was in the middle
happening on the news. themselves and cast off corruption and
oppressive systems, and they stand
of it. They had already been
My parents couldn’t hear from me
until about 12 hours after the attacks
together and take care of each other.
But everywhere in the US media there
through this before with my
began, so for all they knew I was in the
middle of it. They had already been
is constant reflection on Iran in ‘79. It’s
so ignorant.
brother who worked at the
through this before with my brother
who worked at the World Trade I had planned to begin my project in
World Trade Center in NYC
Center in NYC and had been late to
work on 9/11, so he had been safe but
Cairo because I wanted to show the
daily, normal life of people in a country
and had been late to work on
unreachable for hours as well. with Islamic cultural heritage. Sharing
these kinds of images--we all want
9/11, so he had been safe but
I couldn’t put them through that
any more, so I went to chase a few
to have jobs, eat good food, love our
families, better ourselves, and, for some
unreachable for hours as
job leads in Europe where I could
stay with friends. Some of them had
people, to honor God--disassembles
some of the media constructs that
well.
hopeful prospects of getting my then- keep us from really seeing each >
girlfriend a visa so she could join me,
but it didn’t work out. The jobs all fell
through and I ended up broke and
back in New York, sleeping on a couch
for a few months. The relationship
fell apart of course, despite our best
intentions.
I did a lot of great work during those
days.
You travel to Turkey in April to
begin a new project. Tell us about
> window, and took a photo experience? it. Why Istanbul?
like this. (up)
This was a very difficult time for me. I actually had planned to do the
It’s chaos, and you can struggle I was in a relationship with a girl in project in Cairo until the revolution
to stand still and brace yourself, Mumbai. We had just come back to broke out, and there are a lot of layers
or you can ride it and see what you the city from a long trip to a wedding of conflict and irony with everything
find. If you’re overthinking when you in Nagpur, in central India. I remember here. This will be a little bit of a long
are shooting, you aren’t going to get walking to the apartment that night story.
a good result. You can overthink the and feeling like I was finally “home”.
editorial stage when you choose the We would have gone out downtown The revolutions in Egypt, Tunisia, and
images that represent your experience. where the attacks were. We had hopefully Libya, have been stories
Take good photos first. actually planned to but we were too that are so inspiring to me not only
tired and went to sleep instead. We as a human, but also as an American.
You lived in Mumbai in 2008 got a phone call in the middle of The overthrow of a government that
during the terrorist siege. What the night asking if we were okay, and doesn’t respect its citizens, and to do
was this situation like? What by morning we saw what was going so with general nonviolence, dignity,
decisions did you take after this on. There was no electricity that day and pride--it’s what I learned to value
while studying history throughout
Brooklyn, New York. 2008. # 2 MARCH 2011

7. 66 Jon Michael Anzalone
Portfolio 67
Sibiu, Romania. 2008. # 2 MARCH 2011

8. 68 Jon Michael Anzalone
Portfolio 69
Istanbul, Turkey. 2008. Stockholm, Sweden. 2008.
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9. 70 Jon Michael Anzalone
Portfolio 71
Istanbul, Turkey. 2008. Riga, Latvia. 2009.
> other and respecting each Istanbul has a very different heritage, Part of the project, beyond what I feel to learn about myself as I do about
other. I want to do my part to still with Islamic foundations, and are the extroverted aspects which I my subject, and like I said in one of
remove fear from the media. it offers a metropolitan aspect that discussed in the previous question, are your first questions, I think what will
means the city will have some part of the introverted aspects. be unique is the marriage of those
Now, of course, that the region it that is awake during the night hours two things. It will be a very personal
fell into conflict at this time to a of my project. I want to be able to look back at my document as well as a celebration of
point where I couldn’t do the project project to read it step-by-step, minute- the world I discover.
in Cairo seems to be a terrible irony. Restoring the recognition of the by-minute, to have a document of
But what were people fighting for? dignity of all of the people in the how the thought process evolved that Thanks Jon, we hope to see the
Dignity, eliminating corruption, world brings mutual respect, and that led me to the great photos. I know results of this exciting project
democracy and representation, the in turn brings peace. And removing not every shot will be strong, I expect soon.
ability to work and to buy food, self- fear from the American political them not to be. Normally on a good
determination. These are all things barometer takes the wind out of the roll, I demand one great shot of myself.
we hold very dearly as Americans. sails of the truly heinous political
But the revolutionary period is an movements here in The States. The rest get put aside, but they do
anomaly in the timeline. It would be have a value that explains the context
fascinating to document it, but I am This is a very demanding project of the great photo. I also want to see
not a journalist. which poses many challenges. what happens when there is the same
Are you looking for challenges amount of emphasis put on photos
I moved the project to Istanbul for in your projects that will get the taken in the perfect soft light in the
personal security reasons as well the better of you as a professional evening as there is in the middle of
fact that it is out of the context of the photographer? the night when I’ve been awake for
constancy of daily life. some 20 hours. I think I have as much
Jon Michael Anzalone portrait.
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10. 72 Jon Michael Anzalone
Portfolio 73
jon michael
a nzalone
www.defeats.us
Transilvania (countryside), Romania. 2008. # 2 MARCH 2011