RAY HAACK
http://www.chaospress.com/ Ray welcome to Woosta, lets get to it.
How did you come across this profession?

I did some commercial work in the past and a little teaching; however, I don’t make a living from my work at this point, other than to sell a print now and then. I have background in drawing and painting, too, including an MFA in paintingsome time back,but consider photography to be my best medium, and the one I’m most interested in.

Can you recall the first time that you were inspired by photos? Did you get any support from friends and family to pusue this kind of career? Did you grow up in Newport Beach?

I grew up in Anaheim near Disneyland- I was a little kid when it opened. The heritage of photos I have my mom took of the family with a Brownie camera- that probably made a big impression on me. Photography is something mystical to me.

 

Getting paid for what you love is always the best, but taking your time to just shot is one of the best freedoms in art…at least thats what I find.

I would like to be paid to do photography, but it would have to be something journalistic or have a
direct relationship to what you see on my website.

Beau Brashires likes your work too, is he a colleague of yours?

I know Beau Brashares through photo.net, and in fact met him once- he lives in NY. Yes, he does have a good eye, and has made some wonderful work.

You definityly have a distinctive journalistic style
to your work. Your images from 2002 seem to be from
somewhere outside of the US, where were they shot?

“2002” is a title meaning pre-2002 on that group on my website- I never thought about it but I suppose that might not be clear. Going across, photos 2&3 are from El Escorial Spain in 1988. Photos 5,9, & 10 were shot in Mexico, I believe all in 1981, though I made the same trip again in 1984. 2 were from Mexico City and the train shot is enroute down the west coast somewhere- possibly in the vicinity of Guaymas.. The story of the train is interesting in itself. It was a World War II vintage American train that was somewhat breaking down at that point. I remember the photogenic conductor at one time sticking a coat hanger into the electrical box to try to fix something. My girlfriend and I had a private sleeping room that was supposed to be air conditioned, but was not, and it had fixed windows that couldn’t be opened, so in the desert and tropical portion of the trip (which was most of the way) the room was unbearable like an oven. We spent lots of time in the open air between the cars, barely able to hear each other at a shout, looking out as the landscape passed in front of us. This is from where the pic of the cook in white, leaning out looking at jungle terrain was shot. By the end of the day my white T-shirt would be almost black from soot, grime, and sweat.

Haha, roughing it is the best way to explore and just get your ass kicked by nature. But did you ever feel trapped or unsafe?

I remember some wild rides around curvy mountain roads on Mexican buses. I don’t think we felt altogether safe, but it was definitely memorable.. People would be selling things at the bus when it stopped. It seems to me I bought my mom, whose name is Dolores, a white lace shawl on the bus at a stop in a town called Dolores…… But getting back to that conductor- wonder where he is now? I’ve heard the train no longer runs down there…… Since the trips were so long ago I only remember bits and pieces.I talked tonight to the girlfriend I had then and she says she remembers the seat in the sleeping compartment being a burgundy colored velvet. If she says so then I think it’s coming back to me. There was a little sink in the room she got sick in after drinking with some Mexican guys on the train. I have a very vague memory of that but I don’t know if it’s really worth mentioning ….The train would stop at little towns and we would get out and try to cool down, and we’d buy chocolate and great Mexican pastries they would always have. The stops were maybe 20 minutes or half an hour sometimes so I’d have time to walk around and snap a few pics.

Those trips you took seem alright. What were you doing there? So what you were doin in Mexico and the Guaymas.

It was an adventure. Traveling by train was a very romantic notion to me. And the idea of going to mainland Mexico was the same, after only having been to Baja before. At that time (I think it has changed a lot now) it was like going back in time to go down there. It was a different world- no American retail stores or restaurants or many of the conveniences and things we were familiar with at home, just pure Mexico. It was a different pace and philosophy of life. People weren’t as materialistically well off. As we floated by on the train we saw a land that had a deep serenity to it, very beautiful.

Awesome story! What message do hope to share with the viewer in your work?

Quite often there’s a narrative in my work, something going on between
people, or gestures of people that might suggest a story. Or if there are no people in the scene there is still a presence. It’s up to the viewer to imagine what might have been happening in the scene, so the viewer’s creativity enters into it as well. Everyone sees things differently, and I think if the artwork- no matter what medium it is- leads in a strong direction but still allows the viewer lots of wiggle room- that’s the best situation. I think there has to be a certain complexity and sophistication to the art for that to happen. If it’s just too simple minded there’s nowhere for the viewer to go. And yet rich imagery can be expressed very simply.

I think my work tends toward a sense of fun. I seem to be best at showing things that are positive and affirmative about life. I’m not as good at effectively showing the downside of things. I think
the little notes and stories like I find are regenerative to the mind. And I want the subject to be authentic and meaningful in a down to earth way. I don’t like posturing.

What I look for can also be about what appears beautiful to me, or what translates that way in an
image, and that often has lots to do with the light. I can’t emphasize enough how important light is to good photographs. It’s not the only thing that’s important, but it’s very central.

And then there’s the basic thing, at least with most of my work, that it is a visual record of something that used to be, which is called documentary photography. That’s another aspect to it.

Did you get any support from friends and family to pusue this kind of career?

I had a lot of freedom to do what I wanted growing up, but as far as support for going into the arts, there wasn’t much that was tangible. My parents were working class, and so there wasn’t an example to follow. And yet, my dad could write beautiful letters and had a great subtle sense of humor which he just didn’t identify as being artistic. I got an introduction to things cultural through my sister and her husband. When I was 12 or 13 they started bringing me to see foreign and independent films, and things like that.

What kind of free lance have you done?

I worked for a couple years with a few different commercial photographers. I assisted a product
photographer in a studio for some time, which was fun to some extent. I didn’t like the business end of it though. One time I was hired by a guy who it seemed ran a sort of sleazy vitamin product business. All I had to do was set up the camera and some basic lighting and shoot pictures of vitamin bottles, and was able to name a good price. I could have made some cash there, but I couldn’t sleep the first week thinking how I hated it, so I quit. I also worked for an architectural photographer, and that was very boring and tedious.

What challenges do you still have to overcome to be the photographer that you want to be?

Just the time to do it, because in general the more time spent the richer the results and the happier I am. Breaking through to another level? I don’t know, maybe just being able to maintain the level of my past is enough. You look back and realize some of your best work was done when you sort of weren’t thinking too much. You were just there, aware, and didn’t let yourself get in the way of receiving what was in front of you. And you didn’t think about outside influences; the whole thing was pure, just kind of its own self. Let me say here too that for me photography is integral to my life, it’s embedded, it’s not a separate thing from my life.

Loooking back what are you most surprised about?

That I’ve had such good subject matter come to me.

Time for the question we’ve all been waiting for; any tips for those aspiring to be great big and famous photographers …or a least well known?

Find your own path. Know yourself.

Who inspires you today?

I’ve been inspired by a long line, from van gogh to Goya to George Herriman (creator of Krazy Kat), filmakers like Hitchcock, and musicians like Miles Davis or Bob Dylan. (My safety net for psychological well being- woman in my life or not- is driving somewhere with a good Dylan CD, my camera, my dog, and a tank full of gas in the car). You can add in some motown hip hop girl groups, like the Marvelettes or Destiny’s Child. It’s great there are always new creative people coming along. It keeps me going.

The photographers that inspire me have been the benchmarks of street and documentary photography, like Robert Frank, Winogrand, and Lee Friedlander. If you
go back, there’s Atget, whose vision was so powerful it’s just spooky.Lartigue was playful with the medium, and is fundamental. So is Muybridge. Today there is Nachtwey and Salgado on the
journalistic side, who are amazing. There are also some very excellent amateur and pro photographers working today, who can be seen on photo.net and flicker..

In 5 years where do you see your work taking you?

I see it that I’ll still have the privilege to do exactly what I want with at least some of my time. To
go on treasure hunts with a camera in hand. What could be better? I can think of only a few things, and they may not be better, but only just as good.

Ray you have a natural talent here, I wish I had an eye like that. Best of luck!

Thanks for having me.

Posted: January 2nd, 2008 under Ray Haack.
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