The Moment:
Brian Carroll
‘The Moment’ is a weekly series in which photographers discuss the images that inspire them
Brian Carroll’s work peels back the oniony edifice of Americana. His portraits — often employing a near-vaudevillian aesthetic — have been described as “a life between breaths — unexpected, uncanny, and at times vaguely unsettling,”
ELEPHANT GUN (EG): Tell us about the photo you choose as your “moment” — that is, an image taken by you or someone else that changed or inspired your direction in photography.
BRIAN CARROLL (BG): Admittedly, I’m entranced by the motif of the hard drinking academic/writer. I do slightly less drinking these days and a hell of a lot less writing, but that doesn’t nullify the personal significance I place on wanting and trying to tell narratives of people that I meet, of people that I know. Where else to venerate this notion of drinking and character than the dive bar? Such places are made all more special, like most things, when experienced sporadically and at random. But in order to make this photograph, I sat at this gentleman’s table where I talked with him, mostly, about the Terlingua Chili Cook-off.
EG: How was the photo made?
BG: It was taken with a Fuji x100s at F8 and set to on-camera flash +2/3rd on Commander mode which fired the Yongnuo Speedlite YN560-II held in my left hand. From a technical standpoint that it’s one of my earlier (at least earliest successful) use of off-camera flash.
EG: Why was this image a game-changer?
BG: The kind of illumination that off-camera flash can offer echoes that kind of revealing characterization garnered from chatting with a total stranger. If you want to get all lit-crit with this shit: The image is a meta-trace of the idea, right?
EG: Um, yeah. Right on. How has photography itself influenced you as a person?
BG: Photography has certainly made me more confident around people; to approach and interact with individuals that I never would have, or more significantly, never would have noticed. The bit about seeing the world differently, though? I’m not sure if I would articulate that way but I suppose that is somewhat of my argument here.
Brian Carroll holds a PhD in English from the University of Texas at Arlington, where his research focused on the intersections between photography, ethics, and postmodern American fiction.
He lives in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago with his wife and young daughter. He works for the University of Chicago Press.
Find his work here: www.750grain.com/briancarroll. Brian routinely shoots Nikon and FUJIFILM, film and digital. Reach him at blowfishfoto@yahoo.com
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