a2c gallery: What first inspired
your interest in photography? What continues to inspire you?
McIntosh: My father gave me a camera
when I was ten or eleven and I was amazed at how I could honestly
capture and reproduce a moment with such accuracy and detail.
I found that even though it was a facsimile of the real thing,
I preferred the image to the event en vivo. This comes from
the idea that I had some hand in creating the replica, so it
was part of me. This gave me the feeling of some control in
a world that, as a child, I felt I had so little.
a2c gallery: What are your
favourite subjects to photograph?
McIntosh: In most of my work I try
to show a new perspective. I enjoy finding people or places
that are overlooked, unnoticed, or ignored.
a2c gallery: How would you describe your photography?
How has your photography evolved since you first picked up the
camera?
McIntosh: My photography has been described
as eerie and sometimes dark, but I find beauty everywhere and
try to portray my subject matter in a truthful and engaging
way. My work has evolved since I first picked up a camera, especially
since I’ve learned to break the composition rules to achieve
a certain effect. And since my interests and worldview (if not
my behavior) have changed since I was ten, I’m sure my
photographs reflect these changes.
a2c gallery: Do you work exclusively with film
or digital?
McIntosh: Both film and digital have
advantages and disadvantages and I use both depending on which
medium fits what I want to do. Digital is fast and prolific,
but it can also be wasteful and time consuming. With a digital
camera I can take 200 pictures of an object just so I get the
right angle for the perfect image. Taking so many photos ensures
I get the image I want, but then I have to take time to go through
each one. This can be time consuming and wasteful. Film is great
because I have to be frugal and really think about the shots
and each image. But I’m learning do to this with digital
as well. I also think overall that digital is just not the same
as film, though it’s coming close. Film has this very
mysterious quality because you can’t see the shot right
away. I have to wait and revisit the moment in photograph later.
Anticipation and surprise are very appealing.
a2c gallery: What is the inspiration behind
each series in the exhibition?
McIntosh: I walked by this alley
every day to work. It’s a dirt easement between factory
buildings and the elevated commuter train tracks. All this vegetation
was growing in the dirt among the garbage and debris. It was
beautiful and interesting. Despite all the damage we do to nature,
life will prevail. It made me think of ruins from a lost civilization
being consumed by vegetation. This made me want to visit Tikal,
the great Mayan city that was consumed by the Guatemalan jungle.
There are still buildings completely covered in vegetation.
So I visited Tikal and took black and white photos. I see no
real difference between this alley that is overgrown with plants
and this great city being reclaimed by plants. a2c
gallery: You work in both black and white and colour.
How do black and white photos differ from colour in their
effect or significance?
McIntosh: When I shoot with film
I almost exclusively shoot in black and white. Black and white
digital photography has not quite replicated film. But I think
the digital does a fine job with color. When shooting in Tikal
I used an old viewfinder camera with black and white film
since I thought it appropriate – I wanted to get that
turn of the century National Geographic look to the images
and it worked. Color lends itself to reality more because
we see in color, yet black and white photographs can reveal
emotion drama that color cannot.
a2c gallery: How do you decide which shots
to use in the final work?
McIntosh:I look for images that
are compelling and try to reference what I saw when I took
the photo or the vision I had before I began to shoot. This
doesn’t always work, and when it doesn’t I use
images that I can’t take my eyes off of.
a2c gallery: Why is photography your chosen
medium? Do you have any interest in exploring different media?
McIntosh: Photography allows me
to honestly portray what I see, even if I’m manipulating
the image. It allows me to reveal my truth and my perspective.
Drawing also appeals to me. I am working on a series of large
pen and ink drawings that are inspired by high contrast photography.
The drawings almost appear abstract, but when I look at them
they are clearly representational images.
a2c gallery: Do you have any formal training
in the art and science of photography? What course are you
enrolled at with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
(SAIC)?
McIntosh: I took photography classes
in high school with a fantastic artist. He was mostly a painter,
but being the high school art instructor he had to learn the
photographic process. But he taught like a painter about lighting,
composition, subject, and meaning. He taught me how to look
at my own work with objectivity. I also worked in the photojournalism
darkroom in collage. I’ve taken some drawing classes
at the SAIC. Now I’m going to art school full time at
SAIC to learn painting, printmaking, and film. I do not want
to limit my inspiration and vision to one medium.
a2c gallery: Name a photographer(s) whose
work you respect and admire and tell us why.
McIntosh: : Gregory Crewdson is
one of my favorite contemporary photographers because he has
the cinematic quality to his narrative images. In fact he
uses elaborate film sets to create his images. I like this
because there is an enigmatic angle to the work that provokes
you to ask questions about what’s going on in the photographs.
I also like Gregory Colbert. His photographs are timeless
and elegant, yet simple – almost understated –
yet they tend to be very profound. They are not just portraits
or wildlife images; they are unique and beautiful visions.
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