Catherine Opie’s Work Is More Urgent Now Than Ever

How many hours of creative work do you do in a day?

What’s the first piece of art you ever made?

My first self-portrait, when I was 9, making muscles. I grew up with art in the house. My uncle is a painter. My aunt is a sculptor. My dad owned a craft company, so art wasn’t foreign to me. I knew that if I wanted to make photographs, it was a cool thing to do.

What’s the worst studio you ever had?

No studio. Not having a studio for an artist is really hard. In the beginning, when my portraits were all shot in my living room in Silver Lake, I was constantly shuffling things around if I wanted to shoot. It wasn’t big enough. Even in my old 500-square-foot studio, even though it was a real studio, I would hit the wall at one point, literally and physically, because I couldn’t back up anymore.

What’s the first work you ever sold? For how much?

“Being and Having,” the mustache portraits. They sold for $600.

When you start a new piece, where do you begin?

It’s usually thought about within my mind. Then there are times where I’m just going off and exploring with the camera.

How do you know when you’re done?

My portraits on black — I’ve been making them since 2012 — but I’m not done with them. The black space is still doing this thing for me that I’m really enjoying. One of the things about photography that I’ve always loved and vacillated between is that within the bodies of work is that place of discovery. That’s what it is to keep making images with a camera. As for portrait sessions themselves, I don’t think anybody’s really that comfortable with having their portrait taken. I don’t really push people to the extent of being tortured. Having strobes in your face is a pretty unpleasant experience. I’m very fast, and I give a lot of directions. I know what I’m after.

Source: The New York Times

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Keywords:

Catherine Opie • Self-portrait • Art • Painting • Sculpture • Silver Lake, Los Angeles • How Do You Know • We Can Do Anything • Photography • Image • Camera • What I'm After (Lords of the Underground song) •