I have had a most wonderful time recently viewing the photography of Justin Tyler Close, the absurdly sweet and talented young photographer based in Vancouver. Going through his website is pure pleasure. Below is just a small sample of the talent Justin holds and what hes shooting today. I thought it would be a great idea to run an interview with him here at Sweet Station. Let’s not waste any time and get right to it, shall we?

Honey: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Justin: My name is Justin Tyler Close, I’m 24 years old and live in Vancouver, BC but travel lot’s to LA, New York and back home to Toronto.

Honey: Why photography? When did you decide that photography was a career that you wanted to pursue?

Justin: I guess it’s like asking a musician why music? It’s a funny question for me because I never had some epiphany and decided to become a photographer one day. It kind of just evolved organically through the other fields I was involved in, such as film, acting and modeling. I have always been a people watcher. I do it all the time. Its a little creepy, but fascinating and very educational. I really enjoy writing screenplays and stories, so by studying people it helps with the development of the characters. I also am addicted to magazines. I love them! and have a massive collection of them in my studio. I think I’m addicted actually, and maybe a problem? hahaha It’s like the best form of education because I don’t get much time to travel the world, so this is my way of seeing what other photographers are doing in other parts of the country. Magazines are a huge part on why I do photography. There are just so many amazing photographers, models, artist out there that I would never discover if it wasn’t for magazines. Eyemazing, S Magazine, Interview, VS, Dazed, Random are some of my favourites….I could go on for days, but that would make for a lame interview! So I guess you could say that I never made a decision to become a photographer, it just kind of happened with being inspired by other photographers, filmmakers, artist. I really enjoy the collaboration part of being a photographer and have met some really amazing people along the way.

Honey: How would you describe your photos to someone whose never seen them?

Justin: This is by far the hardest question because I really don’t like explaining my work to people. I always feel like I explain it wrong, or start of the sentence wrong. First impressions are everything. So if someone hasn’t seen my work, I would usually just say, well here is my card go check it out. But that’s a lame answer isn’t it honey? If I had to answer…. I would say that my photos are edgy and complicated.

Honey: What reactions have you been getting from people about the photos you took?

Justin: I can honestly say that a lot of the reactions to my work have been very generous and kind in the past. People seem to really like my new website, which is amazing because what would I do if they didn’t? I guess, If people had bad things to say about my work, I would never hear them? Unless I was famous then I would read them in some shitty tabloid magazine. I love constructive criticism though, I encourage it. It’s how I learn. To be honest, I have kept a lot of my work hidden until about 1 month ago. I’m not really sure why I kept it hidden?? I think I felt like I needed to have enough work that I was really proud of before I showed anyone, anything. It actually made my website launch a month ago a bigger success. So even though keeping it hidden for a long time, bothered me then. Now I am thankful that I had some patience before releasing the website, because the feedback has been really awesome!

Honey: What’s the most interesting comment you’ve heard from a viewer?

Justin: “Do you get to have sex with all the models?” This question happens quite often from people outside of the industry. I think it’s hilarious!

Honey: What equipment do you use?

Justin: I shoot with a Nikon D300 and have a variation of nikon lens. I also have a hensel, 3-head studio lighting kit that I use quite a bit if I’m inside a studio shooting, but I always prefer to shoot with natural light if it’s possible. I also have an old, 1970’s Minolta film camera, with a variety of lens, that I love but don’t use enough. If I could, I would do every photoshoot on my polaroid camera. I’m serious! I’m simple like that. I’m not much of a tech guy, it evolves way too fast for me. My ideal photoshoot is to put on a record, maybe Sam Cooke, BB King or Bob Dylan, drink some wine and shoot on my polaroid. I could do that forever.

Honey: Do you do much editing on your images after shooting them?

Justin: I usually do all the editing but sometimes I will bring in a photoshop wizard if the idea needs it. Shout Out to JP, my Gandolf of photoshop. Editing is important to me, because a lot of decisions can happen in this process so I definitely like to do it myself, if not be directly involved with the process.

Honey: What other media have you tried or wanted to experiment with?

Justin: This is an exciting question for me right now because I literally just booked a gig which involves using stop motion photography. It is a music video for an amazing and beautiful singer named Zara Taylor. I am very excited to try this format out because it kind of combines my two worlds of being a Music Video Director and Photographer into one. It is exciting because I don’t ever operate the camera on the music videos I direct, and by using a still’s camera I get to control it all. Muahahahahahah (Insert evil laugh here). When the video is done, I will send it to you Honey for a special sneak preview!

I also really REALLY want to start writing for a magazine. My ideal job is to travel the world, interviewing and taking pictures of different artist. Painters, sculptures, photographers, actors, directors, street artist, anyone who is expressing themselves through a form of art. I love the way Interview Magazine does this, or Flaunt. I think combining the 2 of having the photographer, also the interviewer is interesting because when shooting a subject you ask questions and become comfortable with one another. I think it’s perfect and I am waiting for someone to hire me…………..waiting………..

Honey: I really like your ” Pretty Normal ” series. Looks fantastic. Can you talk us through the process of this photo shoot?

Justin: Thanks Honey! The yellow house picture is by far my most famous photograph. I actually have it printed on a gigantic canvas in my studio. I really wanted to do a shoot that was multi character based. Something that was just so completely random, that it would make people really have to take a double glance at it. The process is simple, come up with an idea and do it! I pride myself on doing almost every idea I come up with. There is nothing more annoying to me, when people say, “Hey I have this awesome idea, yadadadada”. But then they never do it? It pisses me off so I make sure If I ever talk about a concept out loud, I do it! Also this series was very inspired by David LaChapelle’s work and the way he uses bright, high contrasted, vibrant colors. I think we all can agree on his brilliance and trendsetting with photography. I actually am planning 2 more shoots like this and will be up on my site very soon. So keep checking up!.

Honey: What’s the most fun experience you ever had shooting?

Justin: The most fun…hummm……Well a few come to mind. The 1st one I can think of is the time I went on a little road trip with a band called Bend Sinister to a venue about 2 hours away from the city, to where they were playing live for a radio station. We drank DUDE beer all day and took tons of pictures. This was awesome because they literally are my favorite band from Vancouver and really fun guys to hang out with. All in all, we drank a lot of beer and got some killer shots. Success!

The 2nd one that comes to mind was during the zombie shoot I did, that’s called Dark Transitions on my site. During the make up session, one of the zombies with fake blood dripping from his head decided to go out to the busy street to take a phone call. Not a good idea, because an old frantic lady drove passed him and thought he was really hurt. She called the cops and they came kicking down our door in a panic and since we never got any “so called” permits to do this, the cops were very angry at us. This is not a laughing matter, but all the sun I got that day, made me laugh because the cops were so serious. A real try hard cop he was but in a really rude and awful way. He didn’t like my laughing very much, so then I wrote him a song on the guitar. It was a sing a long for the entire shoot and will be on my first album.

Honey: How do you get your models?

Justin: A lot of the models I shoot are personal friends of mine, or friends of friends. Sometimes I will get an email saying that they want to take part in one of my photoshoots which is awesome because it makes me way more inclined to work with them. Sometimes I will search all the agencies in the city where I am at the time and find models that have the look i’m going for and then I will just contact the agent and let them know who I am, and what I am doing. I also work a lot with non models. People of the community. Musicians, artist, painters, strangers off the street, anyone who is intriguing to me and wants to take part in my crazy idea. The majority of the time I will meet someone, have a wicked conversation then just ask them to be in one of my photo shoots. Personality goes further with me then just a pretty model. You must have substance or else it’s just a flat piece of paper with a picture on it. Overall I just like interesting people and am up for pretty much anything!

Honey: Do you have an all time favorite photograph from your collection?

Justin: I always like my new work the best because it’s NEW! It is hard for me to choose just 1 photograph….So instead of choosing just 1 photograph, I will choose my favorite photo series at this very moment. It is the series in my new work portfolio on my website, called “A Day with Francois“. I like this the best because I got the chance to work with a great actor, performer, good friend named Rainbow Sun Francks. Which was a crazy time to say the least because together were kind of like a tornado of ideas. We actually made money that day because people would be giving him change on the street as if he was a real street performer. He is that good! hahaha. I also love this series because it roots from a story I wrote about a Love triangle between a man, a woman and a hobo clown. I still am going to make this short film but couldn’t wait to explore the character so I decided to do a photo series of his lonely life, waking up from his vertical bed and traveling to the beach. I am very happy with the way the series turned out and can’t wait to tell the whole story!

Honey: From where do you gather creative inspiration?

Justin: I gather inspiration from anywhere. A movie, a magazine, a artist, a novel, a song, someone’s unique fashion sense walking down the street or a stranger I met in a coffee shop, a friend, a lover anything and anywhere. I really love what I do, so by loving it so much, it’s constantly on my mind and since its always on my mind, I tend to find inspiration in really weird places. As cliche as it sounds, music really makes me who I am. I love to put on my ipod and walk through the city, listening to an artist like Bob Dylan, Devandra Banhart or Amos Lee, watching people live their lives to my own personal soundtrack. When the music is on and the city sounds are silent, the inspiration flows nicely for me. If I am ever stuck or feel that my mind is cluttered, I will just go for a walk with my ipod. It’s kind of like my yoga!

Honey: Are there any photographers that have influenced you?

Justin: Of course! To list a couple from the top of my head. Miles Aldridge, David LaChapelle, Anton Corbijn, Frank Ockenfels. Some local photographers such as Trevor Brady, Fiona Garden, Tiffany May. The artists that have influenced me the most are film directors, such as Jean Pierre Jeunet who directed Amelie, A Very Long Engagement, City of Lost Children and the infamous Tim Burton for his originality with characters, locations and the way he can create a world. Another artist is Julian Schnabel who directed a beautiful and one of my favorite movies called A Diving Bell and the Butterfly and he also interior decorated the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York which is incredible. I think he is quite the brilliant, all around artist. I would love to meet him one day. Other directors such as Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, Chris Cunningham, Jonathan Glazer have influenced me tremendously and I constantly look at their work for inspiration.

Honey: Which countries have you traveled to?

Justin: Unfortunately I haven’t done much traveling around the world. I have traveled all throughout North America many times but have yet to make my way towards Europe to where I think I belong, although I could never know this until I actually go, right? Right now it’s all in my head. It makes me sad talking about it actually because all I hear are wonderful stories and people telling me that I would love it there and probably never come back if I went. I actually plan on going this year, so hopefully it happens. Cross fingers! I also would love to go to Africa which may happen this year also, taking pictures and traveling with a wonderful charity foundation called Calebs Hope and I would love to go to Australia because it just seems so far away. Other then that, Europe is definitely first on my list!!!

Honey: Favorite location to take pictures?

Justin: My favorite location to take photos are places like a bus-stop, subway stations or airports. There is something about catching real people in the midst of travel. There is always something hidden behind their expression. Like…..what if I’m going to be late? I wish my tea wasn’t so hot so I could drink it, I wonder if that girl is going to be at the coffee shop today? Maybe I will ask for her number this time? Things like this. If you ask me this question a year from now, I will most likely have a more interesting answer.

Honey: What other interests do you have besides photography?

Justin: I love directing and producing films. www.thestudiomovement.com I love to write, play music, dance like an idiot, run in the rain. If i’m not working, which is hardly ever, I love to just chill with friends and family. As you get older, you realize how important relationships are, so I try my hardest to make time for the important ones. I have a lot of interests and my brain is constantly moving trying to create new interests. That’s the beauty of being a photographer or any kind of artist, is that it always gets better and there are always new things to learn and new ideas to explore. The perfect career for someone with little attention span.

Honey: Tell us about a recent dream you had.

Justin: I just had a dream that someone asked me this. Whoa.

Honey: If you could have only one ice cream flavor forever, which one would it be?

Justin: This is a tough one, because I have a mega sweet tooth. My mom is a pastry chef so I kind of grew up with a mega liking to all kinds of sweets. But I guess if I had to choose just 1 for now, it would be Mint Chocolate Chip. mmmmmmmmmm…….. This is a great question right now because I am sitting in LA right now on my laptop in 96 degree weather, stuck to my leather chair haha It’s very very hot today and and ice cream sounds amazing!

Honey: What’s next for you?

Justin: The next move for me, is to start submitting my photo’s to magazines. I really would love to see some of my photo’s published one day. I also would love to start shooting for a magazine, teaming up with bigger names, shooting for bigger clients. So, the next big step for me is to do some mega research and emailing, trying to figure out who to approach and where. I am constantly shooting and constantly learning but there comes a time in a photographer’s career that calls for something bigger and better. I think my time is now! I also hope to travel lots within the next two years, putting myself out there, discovering new methods and meeting new artist to collaborate with. It’s such a big world out there and I haven’t seen nearly enough of it. Curiosity can be a curse. So my #1 next move is to get a job that will allow me to travel to Europe and other places around the world to work. All in all, I have a ton of new projects on my plate and feel grateful every minute of the day that I get to do what I love most.

Honey: Anything you’d like to say to me? Thank yous? Shoutouts?

Justin: I’d like to say that I love! Honey and I love! the Sweet Station blog and feel very grateful that I got this opportunity. I think Honey has one of the best eyes for what is good out there in the arts and by bringing it to life on this blog, makes it worldwide and very magical. I would like to say thank you to my stylist Emily Hill for taking part in countless crazy adventures, make up artist Payje Yeoman for always being up for the challenge, my partners in crime Jeremy Regimbal, John Poliquin at The Studio Movement. Isabela for being Isabela xo. Tiffany May for inspiring me and teaching me everyday (Lisa Leeroy). Chin Injeti, The Hasting Set, Rachel Zottenberg (Grace Gallery), Fiona Garden and all the amazing artist in Vancouver. My family for the endless love and support. Most importantly I would like to thank my big brother Josh Close because if it wasn’t for him, who knows where I would be right now? He inspired me to follow my dreams and it would take a lifetime to repay him for that. Thanks big bro! If I forgot anyone, please forgive me, you know I am full of love. and….Honey, never stop doing what your doing! I think that’s it? Sweet Station for life.

Links here:

http://www.justintylerclose.com/
http://www.thestudiomovement.com/