As beautiful as your sets are, the people in your photos are also very
interesting, there is an earnestness there. Do you have any pointers for
how to direct people on set?
I’m a big fan of reminding talent to relax. It’s very easy to be self aware. Especially on a
set with lights and crew. So I gently guide them to a place that looks calm and unforced
to my eye.
One of your claims to fame is that you actually played the character Kip
in the movie Napoleon Dynamite, but what many fans of the movie don’t
know is that you also did all of the promotional photography and even
designed the title sequence. Can you speak a little on how this project
came about?
I went to film school with the director and he asked me to play that role. I’m not an
actor but he felt I could pull it off and so I did. But yeah, I knew we would eventually
need images in order to promote the film and so I would shoot during or after days
that we were filming.
The director later asked me to put together a title sequence for the film. That was a lot
of fun to do but also a lot of pressure because I only had two days to plan it out before
presenting it to the head guys at Fox.
You published a photography book back in 2008 titled “Some Photos”, is
there another book on the way?
Eventually. I haven’t been shooting much new work lately. I’m just not very inspired to
shoot stills at the moment. And I’m not one who can force creativity to happen. So if I
don’t feel it, I don’t feel it. Unfortunately that’s where I’m at right now. But it will pass.
It always does.
What is it like seeing your work exhibited in galleries around the world?
Having a gallery opening (and having your work published in books) is the most special
moment for me as a photographer. To see a body of your work hanging on walls of a
gallery is a very rewarding feeling.
If you could have one of your projects saved in the national archives to be
remembered by, what project would you choose?
It would probably be my “empty spaces/still life” work. It’s less contrived than my
portrait work but is still connected to it. There is a through line there. Both bodies of
work are “quiet” but I sometimes like spaces that are void of the human element.
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