a Rousing Round of Q n A

Thank you for all your cards and letters, asking me a wide variety of questions. However, I could easily do without those death threats.

Q: Why do you post so many pictures on Flickr?
A1: Nobody likes me and I have a lot of free time.
A2: Ya gotta do something while you’re waiting to die.

Q: Are you obsessed with death?
A: Not exactly.

Q: You have some pretty strange themes. Are you connected to any secret societies?
A: I can’t really answer that truthfully.

Q: Are you homeless?
A: Not yet.

Q: When did you first start taking pictures?
A: About ten minutes after getting my first camera.

Q: Have you been taking photos for a long time?
A: Yes. I had my first camera years ago, a Minolta SRT-101 but gave it up when it was getting too expensive. I came back when I realized that digital photography was actually quite economical in the photo acquiring and editing stages.

Q: What was your first digital camera?
A: A $300 1.3MP Kodak piece of crap. It was horrible. The color casting was way off and I would have done better using a one-time disposable camera and scanning in my images. Or maybe even a Holga would have given me more consistent quality. Shortly afterwards, I purchased a more suitable camera, a Fuji S5000. I have had quite a few cameras and I seem to burn through them in less than two years each. I take a lot of pictures.

Q: Why do you take so many photos in cemeteries?
A: It’s where I learned how to take pictures, how to compose pictures. I used to take girls there, too.

Q: Do you have any background in art?
A: I would think it is pretty obvious that I do not. However, back around the 90s I was very active in mail art, specializing in rubber stamp art. I did some very sick artwork, which I’m sure doesn’t shock anybody viewing my stuff. It was great fun and I had mail art connections around the world. I wrote for a rubber stamp hobbyist magazine called “Rubberstampmadness” for a short while, personality profiles and ‘how to’ articles, even a series on the history of mail art. Learning how to create rubber stamp art, incorporating a magnificent technique called ‘masking,’ is where I started to get an idea about how to compose scenes. I remember back then reading a book on artistic composition and I couldn’t make heads nor tails of it.

Q: How would you classify your style of photography?
A: Free style. I started shooting up Detroit because I grew up in the city and was looking for something interesting to photograph. I had no idea what condition the city was in when I rekindled my photography interest. Basically, I just like to make pictures. For me the fun is in the process, with photography as a verb. I’ve developed my own style. While I veer off in the direction of death and destruction, I do not think I am a morbid person at all. In fact, I do not paint my fingernails black.

Q: Do you do any nude photography?
A: No. I find I get too aroused running around naked with a camera. Besides, I have no interest in spending a night in jail.