Inspiration from photo-related people. On Fridays.
In my opinion Adam Rankin is one of Canada’s most exciting young photographers. I first met Adam a few years back while he was working on-set. Since turning pro two years ago his body of work has grown enormously and I have come to admire not only his bold creativity but also his resourcefulness and work ethic. His personal work is hard to label – is it molded commercially? Is it more editorial? Is it fine art? His ongoing project’s include one named Peachman.
Here are some photographs of Adam’s:
Copyright Adam Rankin
Copyright Adam Rankin
Copyright Adam Rankin
When I look at Adam’s work I see a lot of influences converging – Matthew Barney is one artist that comes to mind as is the photography of Roman Singer and Roe Ethridge. There is also a hefty dose of Americana going on here – that is to say an obsession with celebrity, mistrust, consumerism and of course sport (Peachman is centered around American football); All shot with high end production values and edited in a way that is screaming to be shown in a larger context.
I am always curious as to the influences of photographers like Adam, and being the host of 10+ this week gave me a perfect chance to ask him what exactly they are! Adam, over to you:
Twin Peaks – it’s funny and it’s dark. The episodes directed by David Lynch are some of the finest examples of what can be done with an hour of television.
Gas – Nah Und Fern – this 4-album reissue has been on constant repeat for the last 3 months.
I always forget about the business of photography when I see photos by Philip-Lorca diCorcia, David Sherry and Taryn Simon. Their ideas are smart and they do their own thing. They also understand light very well.
Copyright Philip-Lorca diCorcia
Copyright David Sherry
Copyright Taryn Simon
Fiona Smyth – I recently bought a piece of hers that makes me very happy. It has diamonds, gory heads, and lots of drippy bits and was done on black paper. Dominique Pétrin, David Shrigley, Graham Roumieu and Seth Scriver are also favourites.
Copyright Fiona Smyth
Copyright David Shrigley
Copyright Graham Roumieu
Copyright Seth Scriver
Nighty Night – the protagonist (antagonist?), Jill, is one of the most awful people I’ve never met. The writing on this show is stupendous.
James Ellroy – I just finished The Cold Six Thousand and I don’t think I followed half of it, but it created such an atmosphere that I didn’t really care. A completely different take but equally challenging was Derek McCormack’s The Show That Smells. Lot’s of nuanced sentences I read over and over and liked more and more.
Kim Keever – I got really confused when I first saw his work – I knew I liked it, but I didn’t know what I was looking at or from what planet they came from.
Copyright Kim Keever
Ableton Live – I do a lot of sitting and Abelton Live is a great program to distract me from, well, everything.
Kent Monkman – I spent an hour or two with his paintings at a gallery a while back and really liked them. His paintings are a perfect synthesis of idea and execution. You look at them and go “of course! It’s right there! It’s so simple”. Others painters/artists I always get excited about are Daniel Richter, Kim Dorland, Francis Bacon and Brian Jungen.
Copyright Kent Monkman
Copyright Daniel Richter
Copyright Kim Dorland
Copyright The Estate of Francis Bacon
Copyright Brian Jungen
Tennis – unless it’s against a brick wall, tennis is really fun. It’s a sport I can see myself getting old with as you can change your technique to suit your level of fitness.
See! Told ya it would be good! Thanks Adam.
Adam Rankin was previously featured on the blog in The Lounge, April 2008.