“Being in dangerous situations becomes second nature with the kind of work I make because it’s so regular…”
Where are you based currently?
I’m in London living on a 120 year old pirate ship, I travelled a lot for the last 5 years but bought the ship in an attempt to “settle down” I guess, but I have still been traveling a lot and the ship is freezing so I haven’t been on it much. I’m responding to this email from a shitty little hotel in Bruxelles, where I came to meet some friends.
What’s the most surreal or unexpected moment your career has thrown you into?
Shooting my book TOY across Japan was pretty amazing, I was thrown into lots of situations that were overwhelming and overstimulating, I shot a woman called Maru Yacco who did performance art, paintings and made sculptures from found objects, she had a tiny apartment in Kabukicho, really close to where I was living. You had to squeeze into it, her bed was a small roll out mat on the floor, it was total dedication to her craft, 10000% purism, it was mind blowing. Meeting people like her inspires me and fascinates me and makes all of the struggles and pitfalls of this life worth it. I met a lot of amazing people shooting but everything in Japan was surreal and exciting.
Ever been in a situation while shooting where you thought, “Sh*t, I need to get out of here”?
Being in dangerous situations becomes second nature with the kind of work I make because it’s so regular, even when I am in tight subway tunnel with my face smushed against the concrete as a train is whizzing by at high speed I’m not thinking about leaving, I entered these scenarios willingly and what is planned for me will transpire. The only time when I get really angsty and want to get out of somewhere is when I’m bored.
