In the Spotlight: Jeffrey Kilmer

Continuing our Spotlight series with up-and-coming artists, this week we’re catching up with local photographer Jeffrey Kilmer whose foray into capturing hipsters around the country has been featured, among other places, in Paper Magazine, Hot Magazine, and Sang Bleu. After training formally as an architect, Jeffrey turned his attentions from steel and concrete to flesh and blood to pursue a longtime interest in photography. Join me for a look.

S: It’s great to get a chance to chat with you. Let’s start off with the basics. Your training is in architecture. How long have you been involved with photography and what got you started?

JK: I’ve always taken pictures. I started shooting seriously 5 years ago. I hoped it would lead to a more flexible schedule than the 8:00 – 8:00 schedule of a typical architect. I also wanted a bit of authorship. Architecture is often a team endeavor. I didn’t have many technical skills in the beginning. I’ve learned quite a lot over the years, assisting talented friends on their shoots and by taking classes at The School of Visual Arts in NYC. I still have more to learn.

S: How do you think your training in architecture has influenced your photography?

JK: With respect to architectural photography, I instinctively know what’s important in a space – what to shoot. With respect to my portraits, I treat the “backgrounds”, whether urban, suburban, or rural as “shapes”, as architecture.

S: How would you describe the aesthetic that you’ve cultivated in your work?

JK: I’m not great at discussing my work. The best word I can come up with is AUTHENTIC. Not hyper-produced. Sincere.

S: There are lots of young, cute hipster types in your portfolio. What aspects of youth culture fascinate you and inspire your work?

JK: I grew up in the 1980s in the suburbs of Detroit. I was a New-Wave kid in high school with black eyeliner and “Robert Smith” hair. I had missed the punk scene by a few years, and that always disappointed me a bit. Maybe I’m trying to go back to some fictitious lost childhood?! I’m not sure. Youth continues to intrigue me.

S: The internet appears to have made the model search process a lot easier. How does that factor into your work?

JK: Initially, I found people on the street, in shops, and in bars, but it wasn’t guaranteed that I’d find interesting people. The internet initially made the model search easier. The models I am interested in tend to be the trendsetters. They embrace the “new”. They were the first to use internet sites such as Lipstick & Cigarettes and Friendster and the first to embrace new fashion & music, the first to get tattooed. The early users of Friendster & Myspace were the “cool kids”, so when I did a search for 18-23 year olds in Los Angeles (for example), mostly “cool kids” would result. In 2008, it’s now the opposite. ALL of America comes up in the search. It takes 10 times longer find models now. Maybe I should go back to scouting on the street?! I do prefer to engage models in advance, via the internet, because it gives me a chance to investigate the model, and it gives them a chance to investigate me, look at my website, etc…

S: Like a lot of photographers, you do both commercial and personal work. What elements do they share and what differentiates the two for you?

JK: I hope that my personal work is completely viable as commercial. I shoot both, with the same level of intensity and professionalism.

S: If someone wanted to see more of your work, where should they look for it?

JK: www.jeffreykilmer.com and I do a blog for Paper Magazine called “Kids from my Travels” www.papermag.com

S: Any big projects on the horizon?

JK: My goal is to publish a book of the portraits in the next year. I’m in discussions with galleries for solo shows in NYC & Toronto - spring 2009. Wish me luck!

Thanks Jeffrey and best of luck with your plans for the upcoming year and beyond!