Sunday, May 9, 2010

Interview with found photographer Bridget Streeter



Amanda Stevens: This may sound very easy, but how did you get into photography?
Bridget Streeter: Well I have always been into art, my mom is an art teacher and began dragging me to saturday classes from when I was 3 yrs old, but I never really fell in love with what I could do with art until I stumbled upon a book of Ansel Adam's work. His beautiful black and white images stunned and amazed me, I couldn't believe things could look so incredible through the lens of a camera. From there I started looking at more photographers and begged my parents to get me a 35 mm film SLR. For my 6th grade graduation I got my wish and opened my first Canon camera. I have been shooting every aspect of my life since then.

A.S: Out of everything you've shot, can you tell me about the oddest photo you've ever taken?
B.S: Oddest photo has to be of the dead baby mice we found on a sticky mouse trap in the photo service office. It was sad and disgusting all at the same time.

A.S: Wow, that...that fits the picture is worth a thousand words phrase. On that topic, has there been a picture that you've taken that could be an entire novel?
B.S: Yeah, when I was in London I took a photo of a man named Paul who was a peddler in Regents Park. We talked for awhile before I took his photo and it tells a lot about him.

A.S: So it was the back story more than the actual picture? Or are you saying that the back story is as important as the picture itself?
B.S: I feel the picture conveys him as a person very well, it speaks to his lifestyle and where he has been. It does not pity him and instead immortalizes his strengths of enduring through hard economic times. You wouldn't need the back story to understand why the photograph is important or what it is trying to say.

A.S: Are there any pictures you've taken that wish you could go back in time and retake?
B.S: I don't think I would say I would retake any photos, but I would say that I wish I could take photos I missed.

A.S: Any particular moment stand out for you?
B.S: When I developed my first roll of black and white film and there was actually photos on it. I remember while I was going through the hour long process, sweating bullets that it was going to come out blank, I was nervous and excited at the same time. Pulling that roll out of the fixer and seeing the perfect exposures on each frame made me feel like I could really become a photographer.

A.S: That sounds awesome. Do you prefer shooting people or landscape? Or are you a found moment photographer?
B.S: I am absolutely a found moment photographer. I don't discriminate with what I shoot, I will shoot anything and everything. I shoot what I see as I go about my life, anything can make an amazing photograph if you just look at it the right way.

A.S: So can you tell me about your internship with the Times Union?
B.S: Well I worked on the city desk as a news reporter. Each week I was given around 3 assignments which had me out doing interviews and shooting photos for each story. I covered a lot of school news and spent a lot of time talking to principals and kids. Interviewing kids is hard because they tend to give short responses but after some practice I got them to open up and really talk to me which was cool. I really felt like a professional reporter, everyone in the newsroom gave me a lot of respect and all the people I met during interviews was impressed with what I was doing. I got to meet a lot of really interesting people which was probably the best part. I met an Olympic Athlete and got to go and cover an anti-war protest in D.C. It was a lot of fun and I feel like I got a lot of valuable experience, plus a ton of published work.

A.S: Is Journalism another passion of yours?
B.S: Yes, I have loved writing since I was a senior in high school and I got into journalism as a sophomore in college. I was already interested in telling stories through photographs so I thought it would be fitting to work at getting good at telling them using words. Now that I have been doing it for some years reporting has become my life.

A.S: If you weren't a photographer or a journalist, what could you see yourself doing?
B.S: Being an activist or helping people. I see all the time how much is wrong with this stupid country and the world as a whole and wish to god people would wake up and realize we can't continue doing things the way we have been.

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