How are you experiencing the lockdown?
I usually spend one day a week in New York in my studio, and the rest of the week at a farm in East Hampton Springs, Long Island. In NYC, I generally don't leave the studio. It's mostly emails, invoices, administrative tasks, etc. In the Hamptons, I'm more outdoors.
Having been exposed to the virus since mid-March, I couldn't get tested but experienced multiple symptoms for 4 to 5 days and managed to get over the fever, cough, and muscle pain with Fervex (Paracetamol).
What is your state of mind?
A feeling of serenity, connection with friends and family through social media or other communication channels. A need for cleaning, reorganizing workspaces, filing documents, etc. A need to get away and breathe fresh air, to see nature.
I never really get bored; there's always something to do. But I miss spending time with people and working with a team. I can connect with them, but not really meet them.
Is this lockdown experience impacting your artistic process?
Certainly, new ideas using social media. And remote photography… The main difference is that you can't really organize a shoot with a team, a hairdresser, a make-up artist, a stylist, an assistant...
More solo photography or intimate photography with a single subject. Also, more recently inspired by landscape photography. Nature, still life.
Are you practicing during the lockdown? If so, can you tell us about your new works?
I am definitely shooting much less in the studio and more outdoors, experimenting with my new Samsung 10 and iPhone 11. A new desire to photograph nature and landscapes, farms, animals, etc.
And new ideas are emerging. I was approached by Levis USA with the idea of photographing jeans in a "one photographer / one model" style: denim jeans to shoot in a free style during lockdown, without a stylist, hairdresser, or make-up artist.
