Phil Toledano - Photographer
Phil Toledano - Photographer
Phil, thanks for chatting with us today. What projects are you currently working on?
I’m working on two books-one is called the UNITED STATES OF ENTERTAINMENT-the idea behind this one is that the soul of the country is reflected in the way it entertains itself..
The second is PHONESEX-portraits of phone sex operators, accompanied by text that I’ve asked them to write
And finally, always working on my series HOPE & FEAR…
You grew up in London before moving to NYC and receiving your first camera at age 11. So now you’re armed with a camera and can shot the hell out of anything, what were your early impressions of photography…or, what was photography’s impression on you?
I couldn’t draw or paint (my father is an artist) so I thought I’d take photos…one of the first project I did with my new camera was to build small sets, and then shoot them…my mum thought I was wasting my time…I liked shapes…I didn’t like people very much..in fact, I didn’t really like color-the first time I shot color film was 4.5 years ago, when I became a photographer…
How important was it for you in advertising to focus on “the ideas of ideas”?
Advertising is entirely about ideas-but then there’s that pesky commerce bit that comes into the equasion, and I found that always got in the way…some people can make that work for them, but I wasn’t very good at it…BUT, it did make me the photographer I am today
How do you go about pitching the concept of “a guy in a baby suit” and stand by it?
I’d been thinking about that idea for a while, and looking for an opportunity to do it-a magazine asked me to come up with an idea around the multi-ethnic population of the future, so I said ‘what about a man wearing a babysuit?” -and they had the balls to trust me…
Your impressive list of clients have gave you their full recognition; A&E, Absolut Vodka, Advertising Age Magazine, Canon, Coca-Cola, Diesel, IBM, Intel, JetBlue, Microsoft, Nintendo and on and on. And an even more graceful nod has come from numerous galleries and the now ever prominent Getty Images book “the-next-big-thing-in-photography”, the New Photographers 2007 (http://corporate.gettyimages.com/marketing/np/usa/index.asp).
How have these accolades shaped you as a photographer?
They make me more aware of the possibility of failure
Lewis Blackwell , senior vice president at Getty Images says that, “maybe the trend which most strongly stands out is that advertising images are getting increasingly closer to editorial, fashion and artistic images”, what are your thoughts on this?
To be honest, I’m not sure I see that as a trend - good advertising always tends to mirror (copy/steal) whatever good art/editorial/movies are doing..
When everyone and their grandma has become a shutter bug, does this make it harder to be a photographer today or do you say, “dam, I’m havin the time of my life!”
I think that the level of genius in any field is always going to be a very small percentage (not saying I’m a genius or anything) so more people taking photos doesn’t mean more genius photographers…but yes, I have to say I couldn’t have a better job
How does being stood out for “the-next-big-thing-in-photography” fly with you?
The problem with being the next big thing is that it’s just something people say about you until they find something shinier to look at….although, if that’s what people are saying, I guess it’s better than ‘who?’
What’s going on with you and the analog or digital camera experience, have you fully embraced it?
I shoot both…it’s different experience shooting film-it’s not as punctuated-you have to have more faith in yourself, and allow the idea to appear before you, rather than the stop/start of digital
Did you ever have formal training or was it mostly self taught?
I was self taught
Which photo of yours do you like the most?
The next one I take
What would your best day of shooting consist of?
Going out alone, and coming back with something
Who do you look to for inspiration from within your industry?
To be honest, I’m a bit of a hermit…I don’t really look to other people for inspiration-although I do see ideas and projects that I think are amazing and really well done every now and then-and then I’m jealous that I didn’t think of them…
Any tips for those aspiring to be “the-next-big-thing-in-photography” or just you know, a good photographer with twinkles of hope in their eyes?
Yes-shoot exactly what you want to shoot-NEVER try and anticipate what people will want, or you’ll just become a McPhotographer
In 10 years where do you see your work taking you?
film, sculpture, the ability to change perceptions on a larger scale.
Posted: March 11th, 2008 under Phil Toledano.
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