Chloe Aftel, Los Angeles - Interview
Chloe Aftel is a Los Angeles-based photographer, and was recently honored as a 2009 PDN “30 Under 30″ photographer. With this FOLIO Hunt showcase we reveal some new (and not seen elsewhere) work from Chloe.
Chloe began film school five years ago with the hope of creating new worlds filled with beauty and emotion through the medium of moving pictures. Her education showed her that the insight and control she sought was not possible in large-scale movie-making. During her free time in school, however, Chloe decided to experiment with staging still photos that told the types of dramatic stories she envisioned. In the process, she taught herself to shoot, light, compose, and print her own images.
Chloe’s work initially consisted of one-frame movie stills, but after she graduated film school, she evolved into less production design-heavy, but still highly evocative, scenes with a strong narrative. Chloe pursued a still photography career with all her energy and ambition, working any day job she could until she had enough clients to go freelance full-time. She prefers to shoot with Polaroid film. With each shot and each subject, Chloe strives to capture an effortless sensuality and intimacy, focusing on the precise moment the image took place.
Q& A
Folio Hunt: If you only had one image left to make, what would it be?
Chloe Aftel: Man, this one has stumped me, I guess I’ll assume the end of the world is nigh since I can only take one more picture, so I’ll say I’ll take a photo of the arbiter of my demise, the zompocalypse!
FH: What was the last image you made?
CA: It’s the b/w of the girl with the lion mask above, which I love, she’s my stylist, Djuna Bel, who is the greatest.
FH: Why are you a photographer?
CA: I love going from one completed project to the next, getting an idea, figuring out how to execute it, doing it and having the result very soon afterwards, working with other people in a collaborative way, having things (often times mistakes) bring about results I adore but never expected. I think trying to tell a story or communicate a feeling in one frame is a fantastic challenge. It is also a wonderful way to live, to meet people, to travel and push yourself to do things you’ve never done before. And ultimately, photography is one of the things that moves me most. I find few things excite me like a great photo: the image lasts, it can stay with you forever, as a marker (not to get to theoretical) of something that impacted you or time that no longer can exist or take into another world you’ve never thought of.
FH: Where do you turn for inspiration?
CA: I read a lot, buy tons of books, I love history, films, even blogs, I am always trolling for new information and visuals, anywhere I can find them, scouting locations I drive around from place to place. Wherever I am, I look for ideas for shooting.
FH: What other photographers have influenced you?
CA: I don’t know who has influenced me, as I don’t feel my style is like them, but favorites are:
Bill Henson, William Eggleston, Diane Arbus, Sally Mann, Southworth & Hawes, Memorial Photography, Todd Hido, Juergen Teller, Amanda Freidman’s Nightscapes, Chloe Mallett, Maleonn
FH: If you had a dream assignment, what would it be?
CA: I have a project on children with rare genetic diseases and I would love to shoot the little girl who has craniofacial duplication in India.
FH: What’s next for Chloe Aftel?
CA: All the work I can handle! Just being able to shoot and have so many new images is a dream come true. And maybe shooting Gena Rowlands, who is my favorite actress ever.
Images copyright: Chloe Aftel
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