An Interview with Erika Larsen

Vicky Haralam: Where did you grow up?

Erika Larsen: I grew up in eastern Maryland.

VH: And did that influence you at all to become an artist?

EL: I don’t think so, but I think that being an artist is something that comes from the inside … but probably all of your surroundings contribute to you being an artist somehow. It wasn’t so conscious for me; I think with some people their environment made them think “Yeah, I definitely want to do this” but that wasn’t the case for me, it was more subconscious.

VH: Did you grow up around artists?

EL: No it was just a small town; it wasn’t like there was art around or a group of artists that were thinking outside of the box. It wasn’t like that; it was just full of everyday people, but then again that’s also what my work is about so maybe it did inspire me more than anything. [ laughs]

VH: And you went to RIT and got a BFA in photography.

EL: I got a BFA in photography and an MFA in computer graphics and animation.

VH: How did you get interested in that?

EL: Because, unlike how I feel now, I thought that the photographic image wasn’t strong enough and I wanted movement, sound and voiceovers to bring someone into a full visual and auditory experience. I thought the still picture wasn’t enough and with computer animation I could do that … I went to an Eddie Adams workshop for journalists … and when I heard Jim Cogley speak that was it for me; his images were so powerful and there was nothing else, just images. I think after being at that I thought that the power of images isn’t in all of this movement and these words. It’s in the pure human emotion that you’re capturing and I realized that I didn’t need all of these things.

VH: Do you think school was important to preparing you for life as an artist?

EL: It’s hard to say because that was such a big part of my life. I didn’t know anything different. I don’t think that to be an artist you need to go to school by any means. I think that what you need to express really has nothing to do with school, my drive to express something that was inside myself came way before school. And I think I went to school to learn the tools to be able to do that and technically execute what was inside. I think I could have found that in any sense but I happened to be in this 1990’s western society where school was the way to do it.

VH: Do you have any other jobs now?

EL: No, I just wok full-time as a photographer.

VH: How did you adjust from living in Maryland to going to RIT and then moving to New York?

EL: It wasn’t like anything was abrupt, but I’m glad I went to grad school because I graduated high school at 16 and by the time I finished grad school I was just turning 21. Had I gone from undergrad right to New York, I think that at 19 years old I wouldn’t have been able to adjust to working full-time. I was able to mature in grad school; I think this industry takes a little bit of maturity.

I think its interesting for people who go to FIT or NYU to move to New York City to go to college because I feel like it has to be so overwhelming because you have jump into the industry which maybe could take away creativity and the ability to think. You have to be hyper aware of what you’re doing and getting it done. In places like RIT there’s really no pressure, you can mess things up and learn without knowing too much about the industry.

VH: I kind of experienced that. I grew up on Long Island but being an artist and going to art school was sort of something really foreign, there weren’t that many people doing it. I commuted into New York City and experienced that hustle and bustle of the city and I do agree, it does take away some of that creativity. But then I moved up to New Paltz and the program is a lot more laid back and you can mess up and you’ve got more room to creatively express yourself so I kind of got a little bit of both worlds. I do like it up there so much better because it is so much more relaxed.

EL: Well yeah, it’s interesting because even after living in New York for 10 years, I rarely create images here. Once in a blue moon I might get an assignment here but it’s really rare. All of the work I create is outside of New York. I’ve never walked out on the street and brought my camera. I never feel the urge to create something here.

VH: It’s kind of an intimidating place and definitely an intimidating industry.

EL: Yeah, and I’m still intimidated. Sometimes I still get nervous about making cold calls to people and galleries.

VH: Was it easy to find representation?

EL: That’s different because it came a lot later. I was shooting for about three or four years before I found a rep and I wasn’t even looking for one either. I had been aware of Marcel when he had his older agency and I brought my work in once or twice over there, but when he started this new agency he had contacted me. I had already worked and had my own clients and worked for about thirty magazines before getting representation.

VH: What was your first indication that you’d be recognized and respected as an artist?

EL: [laughs] I don’t think I’ve had any yet! I think you’re the first one just by asking that question! I’ll let you know if something else happens.

VH: How was it to see your work published for the first time?

EL: It was exciting, but looking back I think that it means more to me now than it did then. Now I recognize more of the importance of what magazines can do for communication and when I’m doing stories about people, by getting them in magazines a lot of people get to see and hear and feel something about their story. I think that what makes us human is our ability to communicate and share our thoughts and ideas. So I think back then when I was first getting published it was just all so new to me that I was just doing it and going through the motions rather than thinking about how it effects the people that read it … I don’t know, it was just awesome.

VH: So where did your inspiration come from to photograph hunters?

EL: I always dated hunters, I don’t know why. [laughs] There’s hunting around where I grew up so maybe it’s more of that subconscious thing but now I realize I wanted to photograph hunting because I wanted to look at death. I think I had always sort of been doing that in my work but I had been looking at it through asking people what they believe happens to them after they die – I’m really interested in near death experiences –but I had used hunting as a way to tangibly look at death. Hunting was sort of a benign way to look at death. It was really a way of looking at killing and exploring it.

VH: Any specific memories or experiences that stand out to you while you were on location?

EL: Yeah, they’re all in the pictures [laughs]. I think the general feeling that I take away from all of it is that I always feel really peaceful when I’m around hunters. It’s always calming and meditative –I’ve enjoyed it so much and I love being out there in nature. There’s a lifetime of stories I could tell you about, but what’s most important is why I keep going doing it. There’s something that feels spiritually right with me, I don’t even know what it is exactly, but I really enjoy putting myself into the situation time and again.

VH: Your process is scanning 4x5 film and then scanning each sheet in. Why do think this is important to what you do or to the pictures themselves?

EL: I don’t really know why it’s important but there’s something about sitting in front of my computer and looking at each individual picture that’s just as much a part of my working process as anything. I don’t know why, I just know that I can’t have someone else make contacts of my work and then look at that to edit the pictures. It’s just a way of … I don’t know.

VH: Is it like closure?

EL: It’s not so much about that but … okay maybe it’s this. When I take pictures I feel like it’s all sub-conscious and I don’t really look when I photograph. So maybe scanning it and looking at it is like my first time to look at the picture and look at the moment and not be so completely engaged in it. That might be why – it’s actually the first time that I’ve even thought about it. I just know that if someone else makes contacts of them and shows me that sheet I don’t like it and I can’t edit my work that way.

VH: So you’ve had solo shows and work published in magazines. Which kind of work do you prefer?

EL: I think it’s all relevant. I think magazines get your work and your story to a lot of people, and I think it’s just one tool of communication. Galleries are just another – it’s a quiet space, it’s a place for people to sit in and view the work and reflect on it, and get to look at it large which you don’t get to do in a magazine. Galleries also attract a different type of person. Some people might never leave their home and subscribe to magazines and see work that way, and people looking at work in a gallery would probably never pick up an issue of Field and Stream magazine. I think both are really important – and I do like getting to display my work big on the wall – but I don’t think one is less important than the other. I don’t have that battle of work being fine art versus commercial even though I used to have that mentality. But now, for me it’s all about communicating.

VH: What is the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome?

EL: My biggest challenge? I’m not sure – over the years the challenges sort of change. In a way I’ve been really lucky. I work really hard, and I haven’t had too many obstacles. I know I work – maybe I don’t realize how much I work because I work a lot of hours and it’s definitely taken over every aspect of my life. So maybe that’s something that someone else might see as an obstacle, you know? How to make that balance? But in terms of getting things published it’s all just really fell into place. I’ve definitely worked hard for it; it hasn’t fallen into my lap. I work every single day – I can easily say I’ve dedicated my life to photography and what I do. I think the struggle that I’ve had to come to terms with is that this is my life. Sometimes I’ve had to question if I should separate this and have more of a personal life? I think that’s been my biggest challenge. But then I think that this is who I am and it has been since I’m fifteen and it always will be. That’s definitely my biggest challenge – when you’re younger it’s more defined that you go to work and come home at 5pm and then you have a family or a boyfriend or some sort of personal life but for me it’s like, okay when is that going to happen? All I do is this, this, this, and then I realize that when you’re off doing a story and staying with somebody for a month it’s like, “what’s your life like?” but then I realize that this is my life. I’ve chosen this. My life is spending a month with somebody else’s family through somebody else’s story. I think it’s been a bit of a challenge for me to recognize that my life is exactly doing this.

VH: You’re doing exactly what you want to do.

EL: But it’s weird because you almost feel like you’re living so much in other people’s lives and stories. What’s your own life? I do have my family and friends but it’s not so much defined that I go to work and come home because that’s what I was taught that you do when you get older. So far I haven’t had that but I think I’m coming to terms with it a lot more. I wouldn’t change a minute of it.

VH: Do you have any advice for up and coming artists?

Unfortunately, my tape ran out in the middle of me asking this question, but Erika and I had talked about it for half an hour. Her advice to new artists was to keep doing what you want to do, to express yourself the best way you can and to realize that if you stay true to yourself and keep your integrity, your time will come. If you’re working on something because you want to do it, instead of doing it for other people, then you’ll begin to have more passion for what you do. She said some people in art school believe they’ll graduate and immediately be in a gallery or the Museum of Modern Art and don’t want to put in the time and the effort that goes with that success. She stressed that she’s a firm believer in things not necessarily happening for a reason, but for things happening when a person is ready for it. She won a number of awards and grants this year, and she had said that if she won them five years ago, she wouldn’t have been ready for it and definitely wouldn’t have the understanding and appreciation for receiving it that she does now.