Photo artist interview #42 - JANET DANDRIDGE

• In 1-2 words, what do you shoot?

I shoot all that speaks to me.

• What’s your weapon of choice?

Canon Rebel, Canon G

• Where is your favorite place on earth?

I actually don’t know, I haven’t been everywhere on Earth just yet. But thus far, my fav place on Earth is my Mommy and Daddy’s house in my hometown, chocolate city Washington, D.C. (For those folks who do not know, D.C. is called “chocolate city” because it’s predominantly populated with beautiful chocolate skin!)

• What would be your replacement Hobby/Profession if photography was dead?

Hmmmm…Anthropologist, Archeologist, Social Worker, Musician, Painter, Interior Designer…I enjoy lots of stuff!

• Swimming with sharks or toiling with alligators?

Swimming with sharks, they’re cool with me.

• What do you favor:

B&W or Color? Both

Film or Digital? Both

Studio or Location? Location

Night or Day? Both

Portrait or Landscape? Portrait or maybe both

Dark Wing Duck or robot chicken?

Yoooo, both – Dark Wing Duck because it reminds me of those tender years of youth, and Robot Chicken because it’s friggin’ funny, ha ha ha ha!!!!

• What is your most treasured possession?

My most treasured possession is my mind.

• Favorite photo book and/or Favorite movie?

Fav photo book: World History of Photography – that book tells/shows you everything photo!!

Fav movies: What Dreams May Come, Princess Bride, Splash, and Edward Scissorhands.

• Photographer/s that inspire you?

Some photographers that inspire me are James Van Der Zee, Gordon Parks, David LaChapelle, Joyce Tenneson, Dorothea Lange, and Matt Black.

• Advice for the younglings out there looking through their first viewfinder?

Be you. Focus on what drives your spirit. Photograph everyday as often as possible. Enjoy it all.

• What’s the story behind the photo below?

Soooo, in short: The photo below is my interpretation of the genocide and civil wars that have been going on in northern Uganda for over 20 years!! Amongst the victims of that war are babies, little babies who have nothing to do with the war – they don’t even understand war entirely. Since I could not go there to document what’s going on, I decided to create imagery that could speak to the international community, to make all of us aware. This photo was used in an auction at the House of Blues (Sunset) in Los Angeles, CA, to raise money and provide resources for those Ugandan children.

• Any future projects or travels?

Currently, I’m working on a project called Faces. It is an examination of the faces of Black folks – all the Black people that I can find who will let me take close-ups and extreme close-ups of their faces! Everyone has moments when they want to know what’s going on in someone else’s mind, and looking at their face, staring into their eyes, their spirit, can unlock the mystery or make that person even more mysterious. I’m curious, so I figured that other folks would be curious too. Initially it was a project that was supposed to be displayed in downtown Los Angeles for Black History Month 2009. But when I began to shoot the project, people responded so well that I extended it thru January 2010. Hopefully it will be ready for Black History Month 2010. I’m also hoping that the Obamas participate – I’ve written them letters. In addition to Faces, I’m working on a project tentatively titled Mirror Image. Mirror Image is about people and the invisible masks that are worn on a daily basis – the masks that serve as the representative, not the actual individual. Some questions that will be answered in Mirror Image are, “Who is the individual internally and externally,” and “Why do folks judge the individual (especially people we do not know) when we truly do not know the individual?”

As far as traveling, I’m planning on going to Spain, Costa Rica, and New York in 2010. Other than that, I will be exploring Southern California and wherever else the Universe takes me.

• Where can we see more of your work?

Please check out my work at:

www.janetedandridge.com
www.myspace.com/338films
www.artsthatwork.com
Facebook: Janet Dandridge

• In 1 word, last thing you’d say if time stopped right NOW?

Evolve.


Photo courtesy of the artist "Janet Dandridge"

Thank you ..... No, thank you!!

T2