![\"Lauren](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/SITE-IMAGE-2.jpg\")
<\/a>Kate Cossolotto: So tell me a little bit about your background.<\/p>\n
Lauren Renner: I started photography when I was in high school actually, as a freshman. What happened was that I had gone to a private school my whole life\u2014up until my freshman year of high school\u2014so I sat down with my guidance counselor for the first time with my parents and he basically just threw me a list of classes and was like, \u201cPick whatever you think is cool for your electives.\u201d Photography jumped out at me right away. I never played with it before so I said, \u201cOh, photography. This one.\u201d He told me that freshman couldn\u2019t really take photography; you usually enter as a Sophomore if you want to take the photo courses. I was bummed so I picked something else in its place. When my official schedule came though photography was on it, so I figured it must have been a fluke or something, but I decided that I was just going to lie to stay in the class.<\/p>\n
Kate: So I guess it was meant to be.<\/p>\n
Lauren: (laughs) Yeah, it was meant to be. So I was able to stay in the photo program in high school for all four years. In my last year, my teacher was like, \u201cWait a minute. I\u2019ve had you for so long,\u201d so I wound up lying for all four years. Every time we had a worksheet and it asked what grade you were in I would always put the year ahead and then just doubled up my senior year.<\/p>\n
Kate: (laughs) That is so great. And then you went to SUNY New Paltz. What was it about New Paltz that drew you there? Was it the photography program?<\/p>\n
Lauren: It was many things. I have some personal history there. My best friend Kate\u2019s sister went there and was part of The Sexy Pitches [SUNY New Paltz a cappella group].<\/p>\n
Kate: Oh yes, I know The Sexy Pitches.<\/p>\n
Lauren: Yeah, so I had been visiting New Paltz since the 7th grade, checking it out, and I had looked at other places like Syracuse\u2014their visual and performing arts program is awesome\u2014but New Paltz just wound up being the perfect fit in terms of personal growth. Also, in terms of background, high school is when I started working in photography. I got my first internship in 11th grade for Andy Marcus who\u2019s up on West 72nd.\u00a0I was doing event-style work, and shortly thereafter met Patrick Demarchelier through a mutual family friend. Both Andy and Patrick continue to be my mentors to this day<\/p>\n
Kate: Wow. I want to hear more about Patrick.<\/p>\n
Lauren: (laughs) I have the utmost respect for that man. Even going beyond his artwork\u2014I think we all respect his artwork\u2014on a personal level he is in a position to not have to even look twice at someone like me who\u2019s an emerging artist, and the message in my work doesn\u2019t necessarily flow with the type of work that he\u2019s doing. If anything it could be seen as something that\u2019s combatting those morals. But he\u2019s so kind and he makes time to sit down and talk with me and be present. He\u2019s just incredible.<\/p>\n
Kate: That\u2019s really amazing and blows my mind. So how would you describe your artistic style?<\/p>\n
Lauren: Right now my work is largely conceptually-based, especially my In Others\u2019 Words<\/em> project. I\u2019ve heard people throw around terms like \u201cedgy,\u201d \u201cactivist art,\u201d and \u201cnakedallthetime\u201d when referring to my photographs (laughs). If I had to put all of it in a box with a neat bow on top, I\u2019d call it \u201cfine art portraiture,\u201d but really it\u2019s all about not having a box, right? In practice, I try not to limit myself to only shooting one thing or another so I can stay sharp and adaptable. For instance, lately my day job has me shooting yogis and other athletes doing what they love (fully clothed). As an artist, constantly evolving and developing is part of the beauty of staying open to possibility and exploration. That\u2019s the stage I\u2019m currently at, and hopefully that never stops. Ask me again in another 3 years, and my answer might be different by then.<\/p>\n Kate: Who or what inspires you?<\/p>\n Lauren: A great deal of the visual inspiration for my artwork comes from modern dance, and theatrical performance. During my time as a student at Long Island High School for the Arts, I studied drama, and also designed stage lighting for student-run dance and theatre productions. At the time, I became wildly inspired by many of the modern dance performances I witnessed there, and as a result formed several muse relationships with some of my peers who were talented dancers. I learned how to study the human form through my camera by collaborating with them on our school stage. I would essentially turn it into my own massive studio space, asking them to run through certain dance numbers while I used the stage lighting systems to light them as though we were in a massive photography studio. It was an extremely formative time for me as an artist that has helped to inform and inspire many of my more recent works. Musicians also inspire me, as well as the work of other artists.<\/p>\n Kate: Which musicians?<\/p>\n Lauren: Macklemore, definitely, and Florence + the Machine. When we were with Phoenix [Lindsey-Hall] last week I think what she said was spot-on with how his [Macklemore] politics are 150% spot on, or at least gel with how I feel, and I think he brings a lot of messages to light through art. Art can have a conversation about things that can\u2019t necessarily be had elsewhere. I think he found a really great way to do that. That\u2019s where I draw my inspiration from, because I\u2019m trying to use photography right now to examine certain issues that are hard to discuss otherwise.<\/p>\n Kate: Well now I want to discuss your current, on-going project, In Others\u2019 Words<\/em>. When did you start it and how did this idea come about?<\/p>\n Lauren: Interestingly, as I was still going through my process of pre-visualizing things, how that was sort of a system for me, that\u2019s how it came to me. It was almost 3 years ago, maybe 2.5 years ago, I was sitting on my couch and this image came to me and it was a group of people walking down the street, a foggy street, and it was a triptych and it had writing on it. I didn\u2019t know what the writing was and that ate away at me for about a year. I couldn\u2019t figure it out but I knew I wanted to make that image. I had just started taking my large format class and some other digital photography classes, so I started to focus my attention more on the technical realm because I knew I wanted this to be on that next level when I made this image. And then the idea came to me for the words after I had just gone through this whole experience of dating my first girlfriend and I started to notice how I was starting to be identified a little bit differently by other people, even though in my own skin I didn\u2019t feel it was necessarily changing who I was. It was just me embracing another part of myself. So that\u2019s when I started to think, \u201cOkay, how can I sort of recreate this experience that I\u2019m having and apply it to other people?\u201d And that\u2019s when it clicked.<\/p>\n Kate: Describe the process of shooting In Others\u2019 Words<\/em>. What time do you start shooting? When does the writing on the body happen? Walk me through it, step-by-step.<\/p>\n Lauren: I\u2019ll take an example of doing this project in New Paltz. Word about my shoot was gained through word-of-mouth, and since New Paltz is a small, tight-knit artistic community word spread like wildfire. The way I would organize it is that I would schedule my shoot to start at 5.45 in the morning. I just sent out a blanket statement saying, \u201cHey, I\u2019m doing a shoot on Tuesday at 5.45 am,\u201d so whoever wanted to come could just show up. And I would do it that early because the body-writing portion takes about 45 minutes and I wanted to shoot them right as the sun was coming up, both to avoid police presence as much as possible, and for lighting reasons too. The only thing I would ask of my models was to come with a pre-written list of 50-100 stereotypes that they had been labeled as throughout their lives. And when I say stereotypes it\u2019s a loose term. Labels can be stereotypical, they can be personal, and they can be self-identified. So I mean pretty much anything that they have had experience with being labeled as during their lives. And then they would show up with those lists and then I would have them pair up organically as soon as we got to wherever we were doing the writing. It was either at the studio\u2014 in my apartment at that time\u2014and then I\u2019d have them take their clothes off and pair up organically and then write the words on each other\u2019s bodies. Usually, on many occasions, the people showing up had never met before. I really wanted to encourage that with people just because I wanted to create an environment where their first interaction with each other was this vulnerable, intimate thing. You know what I mean? Not only on a physical level, but to use their nudity as a way to level the playing field with each other and make it a safe space, and also actually recreate the physical labeling by projecting one person\u2019s ideas onto another. But let\u2019s say you showed up for the shoot with your own list: only your words would go on your body. It\u2019s not like I was having them look at each other\u2026<\/p>\n Kate: And have them judge each other?<\/p>\n Lauren: (laughs) Right, it wasn\u2019t like that. But what I found would happen during that whole process was that it would unify the group in a really special way, so that\u2019s why I wanted to photograph them together afterwards. So I would transport them after the writing was done to a public, outdoor space of my choosing and then photograph them. So the whole process is about 2 to 2.5 hours.<\/p>\n Kate: Since this is a very emotional and intimate process what were the reactions like from the models? Was it positive? Was it awkward? Did they find it to be really freeing?<\/p>\n Lauren: Yeah, for the most part it\u2019s been very positive. I\u2019ve had them write to me saying that it was a life-changing experience for them. I\u2019ve had them also make commentary on how scary it was at first. This is the type of thing that\u2019s such an organic process. I\u2019m not going out and outsourcing professional models for this. I want it to be real people who have to really be ready to experience what I\u2019m asking them and to give that. And that\u2019s a lot to give. And I\u2019ve modeled for this project before so I would never ask that of someone if I hadn\u2019t even done it myself. What was the other part to your question?<\/p>\n Kate: Just what the reactions have been like.<\/p>\n Lauren: Can I tell you the best reaction?<\/p>\n Kate: Yes.<\/p>\n Lauren: Okay, this is really cool. So I did this one shoot with a group of about four women and two of them were just starting out in their Women Images & Realities class so they were just going into their first couple years [at SUNY New Paltz] and they had Amy [Kesselman, a professor at SUNY New Paltz]. Amy and I had a close relationship and she knew about my project and let me come in and basically do a call for models in her class and offered it as a liberating action credit for that assignment. So these two young girls, who I think were sophomores, came out and did my photoshoot. We were done with that by 8.30 in the morning, and later at 9 o\u2019clock that night I was doing another model call\/talk at a Q.A.C. meeting [Queer Action Coalition].<\/p>\n Kate: Oh yes, Q.A.C! (laughs)<\/p>\n Lauren: (laughs) Yup, that\u2019s right, Q.A.C. So that was at 9 o\u2019clock at night and I go to Q.A.C. and I start speaking about this and as I\u2019m talking to everyone in the room my two models walk in and they have the words written on them, head-to-toe on their bodies still, so they had a full day of classes, it was mid-week on a Wednesday or something, and I just stopped and was like \u201cWhat are you guys doing?! You didn\u2019t shower or anything!?\u201d (laughs). And they both just looked at me and were like, \u201cWe actually felt so great in our own skin after doing your project that we didn\u2019t want to take the words off,\u201d and that to me was really powerful.<\/p>\n Kate: How many people have you photographed so far? Ball park.<\/p>\n Lauren: Total?<\/p>\n Kate: Yeah.<\/p>\n Lauren: Wow. Just for this project?<\/p>\n Kate: Yes. Hundreds?<\/p>\n Lauren: No, definitely not in the hundreds yet. It must be between 30 and 50. It\u2019s not that extreme yet.<\/p>\n Kate: So where do you see this project going?<\/p>\n Lauren: That\u2019s a great question. I have so many ideas for this. Ideally, my focus for right now is that I would really like to expand the demographics.<\/p>\n Kate: Right, I wanted to ask about what the demographics have been like. Age? Gender? Race? Etc.<\/p>\n Lauren: The demographics right now have been usually young, white individuals around my age; anywhere between 20 and 30 years old. I have photographed people in their 50s on occasion but it\u2019s rare. The majority of the people are young, white liberals (laughs). I do have some control over the types of people that I attract but I can\u2019t have total control over that and do screening because that\u2019s not what the project is about; I want this to speak to breaking down barriers for all types of people, because that\u2019s the only way that this can work. So to an extent, like I said the models have to be ready to do this, so with respect to that I only have so much control, so whoever is ready to come comes and does it. But I would definitely like to get people of various abilities; whether you identify as disabled or someone who has a certain physical ailment, which may not be an ailment to you, people of different ethnicities, different gender identities, you name it.<\/p>\n Kate: I want to hear more about the technical aspect of it. What kind of camera is it and what made you decide on the large format?<\/p>\n Lauren: Okay, cool. The camera is one where the negatives are 4 inches by 5 inches, so the reason I chose this camera was that so much of this project\u2014the photography aspect I actually only consider to be a fraction of what the project is about, which is largely performative and unifying people through a shared experience\u2014the reason why I picked this camera is because you can\u2019t just snap a photo of these people. Usually it takes me up to 15 minutes to compose my center triptych panels. I don\u2019t give the participants much direction once they\u2019re in front of the lens either. I just say, \u201cStand however you feel comfortable in this moment.\u201d And they\u2019ll do it for roughly 10 to 15 minutes outside, being present with that, while I\u2019m doing this with the camera. Plus, if you\u2019ve never been around one of these cameras they\u2019re big.<\/p>\n Kate: Yeah, they\u2019re intimidating.<\/p>\n Lauren: Very intimidating. So you\u2019re aware of the fact that someone is watching you, which also lends itself back to the idea that we all watch each other and we all have first impressions of each other and things like that which lends itself to projection. That\u2019s really why I wanted to use this camera. Also, in terms of the final product, this isn\u2019t the type of thing I think you should view on a small scale. I want this to be something where you are confronted by the people that you see in these images. So if I were to do it digitally you wouldn\u2019t be able to get the same quality. I wanted it to be as close to real as possible, so that\u2019s why I\u2019m doing it this way.<\/p>\n Kate: Do you personally have a preference between digital and film?<\/p>\n Lauren: It depends on the shooting. I have a huge love for film photography. I think it\u2019s a dying art. So I do have a preference for film, but at the same time if I\u2019m doing a studio shoot\u2014shooting yogis or something like that\u2014I\u2019m going to use a digital camera, depending on the scenario.<\/p>\n Kate: What about color versus black-and-white?<\/p>\n Lauren: That also depends.<\/p>\n Kate: So it all depends?<\/p>\n Lauren: Yeah. I actually used two cameras for this project. The large format is for the finished work, but for the actual process photographs I\u2019m shooting digitally, and that\u2019s a perfect example. I\u2019m trying to get images of on-the-fly candids. Stuff like that shouldn\u2019t be set up.<\/p>\n Kate: What\u2019s it like to be an emerging artist? You recently just graduated [from SUNY New Paltz] in 2012, so what\u2019s it been like to navigate the New York art scene?<\/p>\n Lauren: Beautiful.<\/p>\n Kate: Yeah?<\/p>\n Lauren: Yeah. I love meeting people. I love talking to people. So that aspect of it has been really fun. I\u2019d be completely lying if I said that it hasn\u2019t been really difficult. Going back to something that Phoenix [Lindsey-Hall] said last week\u2014which is that there are such limited resources for professional development for artists\u2014it feels like you graduate and then you just fall of the edge of a cliff. It definitely is a type of feeling that it\u2019s all on you. If you do well then that\u2019s all on you and if you\u2019re not in a place where you want to be then that\u2019s all on you too. So what I was really committed to doing after I graduated was that I have a day job but every second that I\u2019m not at that job I\u2019m making sure that I\u2019m in the city and using that time for studio time, networking, making new images, scheduling more shoots, things like that. It\u2019s definitely its own machine, but it\u2019s definitely the most gratifying thing I could be doing with my life at this time.<\/p>\n Kate: What do you want your art to accomplish?<\/p>\n Lauren: With regards to In Others\u2019 Words<\/em>, I want viewers to be confronted with the reality of how we perceive each other, and call into question how that manifests through our interactions. What assumptions do we make about each other based on what we think we know? How does this effect our treatment of one another socially and politically? On a small scale this might seem like a trivial thing to focus on upon first glance, if you choose to glance at all. But on a global scale, the effects are tremendous. I am a huge supporter of Macklemore, and I believe he says it best in his song \u201cSame Love\u201d:<\/p>\n \u201cWe become so numb to what we\u2019re saying This message strikes at the very core of what I want my work to accomplish. Discrimination based on our differences manifests in every box we put each other in whether it be gender, skin color, identity, or personal beliefs. I want this project to unite those who choose to participate in it through sharing the unique aspects of their inner diversity that, when combined together, make them who they are: individual human being. Not merely one label or another. At the same time, it is my intent that those who view my work will be moved by the bravery of those people, and perhaps get a clear perspective on the roles they themselves have played in the labeling process that we use to separate ourselves from each other every day.<\/p>\n Kate: If you could collaborate with any artist who would it be?<\/p>\n Lauren: Oh crap.<\/p>\n Kate: You can choose more than one.<\/p>\n Lauren: (laughs) okay.<\/p>\n Kate: Living or dead.<\/p>\n Lauren: Okay (pause). I would really like to collaborate with Marina Abramovic.<\/p>\n Kate: Great answer.<\/p>\n Lauren: Definitely. That\u2019s my answer right now.<\/p>\n Kate: I think that\u2019s interesting because she\u2019s a performance artist and performance art kind of exists in one space and time and is so present. But taking photographs, or a photographer collaborating with a performance artist, and making it permanent\u2014in a way performance art isn\u2019t supposed to be\u2014so I was always interested in photographs of performance art because it makes it so permanent. So in a way it\u2019s antagonistic to what performance art is supposed to be\u2026<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>
\nIt’s the same hate that’s caused wars from religion
\nGender to skin color, the complexion of your pigment
\nThe same fight that led people to walk outs and sit ins
\nIt’s human rights for everybody, there is no difference
\n…I might not be the same, but that’s not important
\nNo freedom till we’re equal.\u201d<\/p>\n