"Rad Talk" is a new column running on The Emma Edition, for 2013. In this column I interview creative people who make my life all the more rad and whose work I think deserves a wider audience. I’ll be giving them a forum to speak on things they may never been asked in a typical interview. Today I am featuring the photography of Dolly Faibyshev, whose work I stumbled upon while meandering in the Chelsea Market. From the second I spotted this cactus mailbox, I knew I had to speak with her. A new interview is posted on Fridays.
Q: Hey Dolly, can you tell my
readers a bit about yourself?
A: “I got started in photography several years ago. I was always
searching for a creative outlet while my career was going in the opposite
direction, so I picked up a camera and taught myself how to take pictures."
Q: What or who is your
ideal subject?
A:
“I like weird and over-the-top. I like working in deserted places or crowds
where people don’t notice me noticing them.”
Q: Your photos are great
storytellers of color. What do you like about using color as a guiding medium?
A: “Thanks! I like using color because that’s the first thing I
usually see when I’m taking pictures, and maybe it’s the first thing others see
when they look at them. I think it can be used as a diversion from what’s
actually happening too - I like creating that surprise you sometimes get from
art.”
Q: Setting plays a
huge part in your photographs. You often cut off the subject’s body, making
them just as important as the background. Can you describe this?
A: “I’m just not interested in taking portraits. Identifiable
faces make a photo feel less timeless for me. I’m more interested in
environments and how people fit into them, or don’t.”
Q: Particularly in
your ongoing first series, you focus a lot on Palm Springs. What fascinates you
about that place in particular? Do you live there now?
A: “I’ve lived in New York for years, and I’m an east coaster
but I just don’t think there’s any other place like it. It’s like stepping into
the past, a time warp where many of the homes and surrounding architecture have
been preserved (especially the exteriors) since the 1950s. Sometimes it feels
like everything is changing around us so fast, it feels good to go to a place
that hasn’t changed much at all. There’s something a little unsettling about
that for me too.”
Q: How did you gain
access to the homes in the photographs?
A: “For the most part I was focusing on exteriors, so access was
pretty simple. The crazy thing is that quite a few people ended up inviting me
in for a tour of their homes anyway, which I’m not used to in New York.”
Q: What setting do you
think best encapsulates America? For me, I think it would be diners.
A: “The diner is an excellent choice. I love diners. I don’t
think I can top that.”
What is your favorite
American meal?
A: “Great question. I used to eat hot dogs galore as a kid, but
now it’s fried chicken and apple pie.”
All images in this post courtesy of Dolly Faibyshev Photography
Q: All of your photos
are extremely saturated, but there’s always an underbelly of isolationism
emanating within them. Is this something you’re conscious of or try to achieve?
A: “I’m always conscious of color, but I don’t set out looking
for isolationism - it just finds me I guess.”
To learn more about Dolly's work, click here.
