Instant Talent: Rich Burroughs

09/09/2011

Instant Talent: Rich Burroughs

Rich, in his own words:

People often use words like "lonely" and "introspective" to describe my images. I spent my teens in a small Iowa town where I was an outsider by definition, and that had a huge impact on how I see the world. Part of me participates and another part observes, whether I'm looking through a viewfinder or not.

As a child, film cameras were toys for me. I spent time playing with our family's Brownie Holiday Flash and our Polaroid SX-70. At age seventeen I began shooting film for my high school newspaper using a manual 35mm camera. On one assignment I met a photographer from the UPI wire service who gave me the best advice I've ever gotten about photography. "You can never have too much film," he said. "If you think you've brought enough, bring more." It was liberating for me to hear that even a professional shooting for one of the biggest news organizations in the country took bad photos, and lots of them. He shot with a motorized winder.

I continued to take pictures on and off over the years, but my real love of the art came back to life when I picked up a Holga in 2007. I was researching buying my first DSLR at the time. Somehow while Googling I stumbled across an article describing the Holga, which was exactly the opposite of what I had been looking for: a medium format film camera with a lens made of plastic that cost about $30. The images in the article were moody and evocative in a way I hadn't seen in photos from a digital camera. I ordered my first Holga soon after and made my entry into the world of medium format film photography.

Since then I've come to love shooting on medium format film, especially black and white. I still use Holgas but I also shoot with other medium format cameras, including a Hasselblad. I also shoot with Polaroids -- my favorite is an SX-70 from the 1970s, like the one I played with as a child.

I started shooting with models in 2009 and that's been the focus of most of my recent work. I view that work as portraiture, even though many of the images are nudes. To me a good portrait reveals something honest about the subject, that's what I strive for. I try to provide an environment where my subjects feel open and creative. I view it as a collaboration.

One thread that runs through a lot of my work is a love for natural beauty, whether I'm shooting with a model or shooting landscapes. I'm also a minimalist. I'm always happy when someone uses the word "timeless" to describe one of my images.

Note the reference to nudes, a few of which follow. I hope they won't be a problem for you.

There are more to be found at Rich's website, so be ye forewarned.