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Morand says her introduction to photography was during her study of the history of Photography. Seeing the work of Dorothea Lange influenced her to pursue the craft.
When asked about career defining moments, Morand refers to an assignment from Spin magazine to shoot New York DJ, Portia Surreal. The magazine's original idea of getting a "hot" portrait was to shoot Portia performing live, spinning records and entertaining her audience. Instinctively, Morand says she knew that this would not produce the "hot" shot Spin was looking for. "I suggested a controlled environment to create the look I had envisioned, and to allow me ample time to get the shot," she says.
Capturing the best angles of Portia came naturally to Morand, as if she had been shooting talent for years. As Morand was leaving, Portia gave the photographer her cell number and said, "I'll work with you anytime you're in New York." It was shortly after that assignment that Morand decided to go out on her own. "When you get that response from your subjects you know you've done it right, and there was nothing left unturned," she says. "It makes you realize that I am doing what I love." Morand spoke to altpick.com from her home in New Orleans. How would you define your style? My style plays off my love of cinematography, and how dreamlike the scenes in the motion picture industry appear, and how quickly the lighting can change to create another mood. I try to bring this into my work. Over the past year, I've been slowly working towards having more of that sense of style. "Hoops?", the night photo you did of the car next to the basketball hoop, seems to emulate that idea. Can you tell me more about it? I was in Colorado and it was my cousin's car. I had brought my camera with me and shot it once during the day but it just didn't feel right. I wanted to explore long exposure photography and I had done it once with the moon, just so you know it is impossible and really a pain in the butt with digital. It was another one of those serendipitous moments where I exposed it and by the fifth frame I nailed it. I looked at the display and I was like, "Oh, my God," you get the left light that is green coming out of the kitchen window where my aunt is washing dishes, and the light from the right is the back porch coming off of their cabin type home in the mountains. The exposure on the license plate and on the back of the hoop is actually me enhancing it with a flashlight. I'm holding it in like 25-degree weather, tossing the flashlight up whenever I felt like it just to give it a little more oomph. In the first few frames, it looked like those two elements weren't as dynamic. So that was the only change I did to the image. I loved it. It was almost like the car was humanized.
The exploration of nighttime in Chelsea was different in that it was film, you can push it a little harder shooting film. I would like to pursue more night photography. I just did a shoot of tennis courts and did take the same approach as I did with the car shot. I exposed the tennis court for a minute; the car was a three-minute exposure. There is something in me as a photographer that is calling out to explore in the evening hours where light takes on a different role. There is scariness to being alone and shooting at that time. To take it to that level is exciting. Who are some of your other clients? DreamWorks, Time Inc., The Source, Loest Designs, Object 9. Vibe, Seventeen, and XXL.
My intuition. How does that turn up in your work? It's kind of karmic in a way. I have an innate ability to read things, and I think intuition is as perfect a word to describe what I can see without seeing; what I can feel or sense when I walk into a room and know whether or not the situation is going to be complicated. When the phone rings when I know it's you calling. I think my consultant Suzanne sees it. She found something special and different about me. She, too, is intuitive. What was your biggest disappointment? That it took me so long to trust my own intuition. What do you do to keep yourself inspired? I spend countless hours observing everything around me and making mental notes of which emotions surface in my particular surroundings. Of course it helps that I have an active imagination. And don't forget the hundreds of dollars each year that are spent on magazines. Whom would you most like to photograph? Someone with a wonderful sense of humor, like Jim Carey or Robin Williams; someone like that would inevitably keep me in good spirits and make the production a great deal of fun. - Contributed by Mary-Beth Holland >> See more work from Kimberly Morand >> See other member spotlights on the member spotlight index >> Find out more on how to become an altpick.com member |
