Underwater with Rebecca Handler

Rebecca Handler is a young and upcoming artist situated in New York, her main medium is photography but throughout the years she has come to experiment with a variety of mediums such as combining digital manipulated works with illustration. This gives Rebecca her own individual flair as an artist and puts her work in a category of its own. Through mixing mediums she creates images that are dreamlike, mysterious and almost surreal. Rebecca tells one small seed more about her work and where she finds her inspiration.

IMAGE : © REBECCA HANDLER

You mix traditional photography methods with digital; can you elaborate on how you came to mix these mediums? Is it important for you to ‘keep alive’ traditional methods?

As technology changes, so does my photographic methods. Digital manipulation opens up the art form for me, allowing me to create what I truly envision without the limitations photography has. I consider this change a multimedia approach to the medium: it is Photo Illustration. I believe photography – as well as photographers – are evolving quite rapidly, along with the fast-growing technology surrounding the medium. I utilize new technology and love it… I have been asked the same question before by many traditionalists. I have no qualms with traditional photography, I fell in love with the art form well before the advent of Photoshop. I just never feared the changes that came with digital; I learned and embraced these changes, and let my art flourish. Traditional methods may always stay alive, I love and respect them. I was so driven as I teenager, I built my own darkroom in my parents basement, It is sad that these methods are slowly becoming less tangible. Embrace the future and technology, it is wonderful!

What is the reaction you want to create from your audience with your work?
I am not so invested in a specific type of reaction from my audience, I am invested in the fact that there is a reaction at all. Love it, hate is, this doesn’t matter to me, but if my audience finds the work to have an impact on them and to be memorable, I consider it successful.

I don’t go out with the intention of creating a reaction, I shoot because I feel a need to create. It is part of who I am, the themes and ideas for my images flow from me like a dream, I do not question or stunt my imagination, instead I create from it.

IMAGE : © REBECCA HANDLER

You have a unique blend of genres, from surrealist, fashion to what seems like photos that contain traces of social commentary as if you want to start a dialogue. How would you describe your photography in terms of a more generalized genre type?

I have had a hard time categorizing my work to one specific genre. People always ask, ‘what type of photography do you do?’ and I always have to think for a while. How do I describe what I do to someone in the most laman terms? I say:

I am a Photo Illustrator. I create illustrative portraits, I also create dreamy imagery, I shoot underwater, and some of my work has a retro flair. The truth is, my work doesn’t fall in a generalized genre. Although I draw inspiration from all around me, I do have certain interests and aesthetic points of view that influence my style. I possess an affinity to sub-culture, past eras, music and movies. I enjoy creating work that is timeless and I feel that my images are little stories told in one picture: they are open ended for the viewer to interpret.

What was the subject of your first-ever photo shoot, how did the product come out and how have you as artist grown from a novice to a professional?

I picked up a camera at a young age and took pictures of everything! I wouldn’t call them ‘photo shoots’, I would rather call it a new obsession, through I have grown a lot as a photographer. I think of the medium completely different now. I use the medium to tell stories to create characters and invite people into my world.

IMAGE : © REBECCA HANDLER

Where do you find inspiration for your work?

Everywhere. I do draw a lot of references from former times, other artists, iconic imagery, trends, subculture, fantasy, movies and surrealism.

Your underwater conceptual series seems almost picture-like, as if it is a range of surreal paintings, how did you come to use this technique?

(Laughs) Should I reveal my secrets? I am a total water bug so I naturally became interested in underwater photography, it started as a mere interest and developed into an obsession. I went as far as a getting scuba-diving certificate during this project, as well as studying breathing apnoea to be able to hold my breath to great lengths underwater. I started with my camera enclosed in an underwater housing and an underwater strobe unit. I created a concept for each character, makeup and wardrobe… Then emerged them in the water. We mostly shot in swimming pools and in the background were animals, which represented the emotional state of each character. All of the sea creatures were images I photographed at Coney Island Aquarium. There is a different world that exists underwater, somewhat magical… this is where my photography takes place. It is a world I create, ‘My World’.

IMAGE : © REBECCA HANDLER

This range, besides the obvious ‘special Rebecca technique’, is almost dreamlike as if it could be illustrations to a fairytale but at the same time it has undertones of something quite adult and dark.

Perhaps surreal or dark. I do draw reference from many fantasy films and I am a big fan of the surreal. I often have a way of taking something or a concept that is very kitsch, and putting a modern twist on it. My work has often been quoted as vintage-inspired or paying homage to the past eras. All this is true, though I retain the vision of making images that are timeless. That is one of my main goals as a photographer, to be timeless. To have work that withstands the test of time.

By nature we all possess a dual personality, we have two sides; dark and fantasy, good and evil, light and dark. These opposites are what creates symmetry in the world and this is something I try to bring into my work. Also the juxtapositions of subject and concept. I create a story in my images, it’s up to the viewer to see the light and fantastical or see the dark and thematic. It’s all there for the viewer to create their own story.

I recently finished a couple of photo shoots. I am currently working on an art project, which may be the shoot you are referring to. This shoot plays on the fantasy-like theme you mentioned in the previous question. The dark and light, good and evil, set in a fantasy realm. Creatures, angelic and demonic, subjects from our dreams, creatures from our imagination. They are glamour shots depicted in a very unique way and will be printed using a very special and uncommon method. Keep an eye out as, Resource magazine will be doing a story on it for their October issue.

If you could whisper one sentence into the ears of an onlooker viewing your work what would you say?

‘So, what do you think?’ I guess this is an odd question to answer. I don’t want to invoke a reaction by speaking to a viewer. I would rather ask them what they are getting out of the image and how they are reacting to it.

image : styledon.com

Any South African Artists or Photographers you like or follow?

Sorry, but there are not many South African photographers I know. I do like some art and culture and music from South Africa though. I saw a ‘Die Antwoord’ show last summer – that was pretty rad.

Interview : Bianca Budricks