Photobook/NZ returns
Acclaimed Texan photographer Bryan Schutmaat discusses his work, on show at Photobook/NZ.
Bryan Schutmaat on his award-winning work
Bryan Schutmaat’s first monograph, Grays the Mountain Sends, was published in 2013 to international critical acclaim and his work appears in museums and private collections around the United States. “A book is physical and lasting,” says Schutmaat of the form. “It can convey profound concepts, engaging narratives, or unique points of view.” Grays The Mountain Sends was based on the poetry of Richard Hugo? Hugo was from Seattle, but he spent a large part of his life living in and writing about Montana, which is where much of Grays the Mountain Sends was shot. The way he expressed the sorrow and beauty of the American West was something I wanted to emulate in my own way. He conveyed painful emotions and interior life through descriptions of the world outside, and I felt photography could do the same thing. What did you set out to do? I had a vague desire to take pictures of mountain landscapes and blue-collar life in the American West. My focus narrowed as I moved along. I honed my subject matter, emotional tone, and aesthetic approach for the body of work as it emerged. There’s an intriguing balance between landscape and people – how did that develop? Much of the American West’s cultural characteristics grew from proximity to wilderness and man’s efforts to tame the frontier. People shape the land, and the land shapes people. I tried to point out the shared characteristics on the surfaces of places and people. How did you work your way into these communities? These areas of America aren’t foreign to me, and I got to know people by going into cafes and bars and striking up simple conversations, telling people what I was doing. I just always tried to be friendly and honest. Why put out a photobook? There seems to be a torrent of images everywhere we look, and most of them add no significance or benefit to our lives, aside from being momentarily stimulating or pretty. But a good photobook can transcend this meaninglessness and function like a timeless work of literature. Tell us about your latest book, Good Goddamn. It’s a short photobook about a man from rural Texas and his last few days of freedom before going to prison. Kris is a local ranch hand and family friend who lives nearby my parents’ land. He’s a bit of a loner, but really gregarious when engaged with others. When he told me he might be going to prison, I felt an urgency to make photos of him and his surroundings. It was an agonising but very introspective time for him and I tried to capture this atmosphere, his moments of disquieted anticipation, and his final expressions of freedom.