Interview: Jennifer Loeber
Kicking off my interview series is quick-on-the-draw-and-always-accurate Jennifer Loeber.
Liz: I first saw your work, I think, on the Hey, Hot Shot! blog. (We’re both HHS blog alums who never made the final cut.) I really love your portraits—they feel really natural and easy-breezy, even the photos from your Zeig Mal (Show Me) series, where all your subjects are nude. How or why do you think this is? Have you put a lot of effort into making it look effortless? Do you think your natural charm just puts people at ease? ;-) It seems like, especially photographing people who are naked, it’d be difficult to achieve, and yet you do, every time.
Jennifer: I like to set the tone with the nude shoots by saying, “Nice to meet you! Remove your pants please,” within the first five seconds of meeting. It always takes a beat for people to realize I’m joking. So yes, it must be my natural effervescent charm!
Kidding, I guess it’s a combination of things. I’m not particularly precious about equipment so I don’t show up loaded down with unnecessary stuff. I shoot with available light and carry only my camera and possibly a tripod. The fussiness of twelve different lenses and endless gadgetry to fiddle around with doesn’t interest me. My own personal hell would be a conversation about lens speeds or metering sensors. I spent most of my art-school days shooting with a used Rolleiflex from the forties with a sticky shutter and no light meter. Being forced to make do and learn how to think on my feet definitely impacts how I approach work now. I tend not to belabor a shot or linger in a moment that I feel isn’t working. The moment I’m looking for presents itself to me and I know it immediately—if not, I move on, try something different. It involves a lot of fast creative decision making that I think results in a nice feeling of casualness to my subjects.
L: Tell me a little about your background. You were a photo editor, right? For which publications? And you’re now freelancing as a photo editor to pay the bills?
J: Short version: art school, pro lab printer, paparazzi photographer, photo-agency worker bee, magazine photo editor, disillusionment, freelance photo editor. I’ve worked for some big names (Allure, Glamour, InStyle, Us Weekly, to name a few) over the years. I learned a great deal but eventually realized I was just not invested in photo editing the way I was in my own photography. I went freelance about two and a half years ago so I could focus more on my own work.
L: You seem to strike a great balance between business and art. I know you’ve been hitting the pavement and showing your book to editors and such, and your personal work continues on. I guess I’m curious how you seem to do it all. How do you make time for your photography and still have time to pay the bills?
J: Well first off, I love that you make me sound like some sort of modern version of Mary Tyler Moore. If you could see me now, I would be spinning around throwing my hat in the air to theme music while wearing super-cute mod flats. [Click here for sixty seconds of seventies flashback. To get the full effect, I recommend letting it play in the background while you continue reading.—Ed.]
In all honesty though, it’s tough. My husband is also a freelancer (writer), so we like to joke that what we really need to do is jointly marry a nice hedge-fund manager. I take freelance editing work for half of each month to pay the bills so that the other half can be spent shooting, getting my name out there and pounding the pavement. It can be incredibly discouraging trying to make a life in one of the most expensive places in the country and simultaneously starting a career as an artist. In times of exhausted frustration, I have been known to succumb to pity parties and declare I’m pulling up stakes to become a cheese maker or alpaca groomer or something. A recent bout of woe-is-me’s was interrupted by the purchase of some of my photographs by Adobe for a new product line. So that’s a really nice reality check that yes, someone out there likes what I’m doing and maybe this craziness will actually pay off eventually!
L: If you’re given a piece of cake (whatever flavor you like best—I choose chocolate), with frosting that’s to die for (again, any flavor—I choose chocolate, again), do you eat the cake first or the frosting? This isn’t as random as it sounds. My Aunt Nancy, when I was about ten, taught me how to wield my fork to chisel out the several layers of cake from my slice, eat that first, and save the frosting (the best part) for last. For all I know, she may have taught that to my sisters as well, but it was an approach that was perfectly suited to my little organized ten-year-old brain. I am big on the whole save-the-best-for-last bit. The problem with this is that, in the whole being-an-adult thing, there’s so much damn cake and not nearly enough frosting. So I spend all this time getting rid of the cake (working, paying bills, cleaning up dog shit, doing the dishes) that by the time I get around to the frosting (photography), I don’t have any more room. I think if Aunt Nancy had taught me to start with the frosting, my life could’ve taken an entirely different path. (Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration, but you get my point.) So which comes first for you: cake or frosting? And what does that translate into in terms of decisions you make or things you’ve accomplished.
J: Well, I’m not a big fan of typical birthday-party-style cake. Ice cream cake? Bring it. Pie? Definitely wouldn’t kick it outta bed. Sheet cake with chocolate frosting? Not so much. I think all this says about me is that sometimes I’m forced to wait until what I really want is more firmly in my grasp. Not many birthday parties feature pie, ya know? I would ultimately rather go without on occasion than live a life I am not excited by. My accomplishments in photography may come much slower than someone who can focus 100 percent on their own work, but I feel somehow more appreciative of them because of how hard I have to work to make it all happen.
L: I just got a US$37.50 store credit from photo-eye. What one photo book should I put that money toward buying? And why?
J: I think I’m going to have to suggest the Helen Levitt book. I was lucky enough to catch an exhibit of the images from Helen’s book while in Paris this past November. Her work is beautiful, quirky, so full of humor and just about perfect in my opinion. Had my need for a cafe creme not been so extreme, I may still be there, staring open-mouthed at her heavenly greens and oranges and chickens.
Liz: I first saw your work, I think, on the Hey, Hot Shot! blog. (We’re both HHS blog alums who never made the final cut.) I really love your portraits—they feel really natural and easy-breezy, even the photos from your Zeig Mal (Show Me) series, where all your subjects are nude. How or why do you think this is? Have you put a lot of effort into making it look effortless? Do you think your natural charm just puts people at ease? ;-) It seems like, especially photographing people who are naked, it’d be difficult to achieve, and yet you do, every time.
Jennifer: I like to set the tone with the nude shoots by saying, “Nice to meet you! Remove your pants please,” within the first five seconds of meeting. It always takes a beat for people to realize I’m joking. So yes, it must be my natural effervescent charm!
Kidding, I guess it’s a combination of things. I’m not particularly precious about equipment so I don’t show up loaded down with unnecessary stuff. I shoot with available light and carry only my camera and possibly a tripod. The fussiness of twelve different lenses and endless gadgetry to fiddle around with doesn’t interest me. My own personal hell would be a conversation about lens speeds or metering sensors. I spent most of my art-school days shooting with a used Rolleiflex from the forties with a sticky shutter and no light meter. Being forced to make do and learn how to think on my feet definitely impacts how I approach work now. I tend not to belabor a shot or linger in a moment that I feel isn’t working. The moment I’m looking for presents itself to me and I know it immediately—if not, I move on, try something different. It involves a lot of fast creative decision making that I think results in a nice feeling of casualness to my subjects.
Copyright © Jennifer Loeber
L: Tell me a little about your background. You were a photo editor, right? For which publications? And you’re now freelancing as a photo editor to pay the bills?
J: Short version: art school, pro lab printer, paparazzi photographer, photo-agency worker bee, magazine photo editor, disillusionment, freelance photo editor. I’ve worked for some big names (Allure, Glamour, InStyle, Us Weekly, to name a few) over the years. I learned a great deal but eventually realized I was just not invested in photo editing the way I was in my own photography. I went freelance about two and a half years ago so I could focus more on my own work.
L: You seem to strike a great balance between business and art. I know you’ve been hitting the pavement and showing your book to editors and such, and your personal work continues on. I guess I’m curious how you seem to do it all. How do you make time for your photography and still have time to pay the bills?
J: Well first off, I love that you make me sound like some sort of modern version of Mary Tyler Moore. If you could see me now, I would be spinning around throwing my hat in the air to theme music while wearing super-cute mod flats. [Click here for sixty seconds of seventies flashback. To get the full effect, I recommend letting it play in the background while you continue reading.—Ed.]In all honesty though, it’s tough. My husband is also a freelancer (writer), so we like to joke that what we really need to do is jointly marry a nice hedge-fund manager. I take freelance editing work for half of each month to pay the bills so that the other half can be spent shooting, getting my name out there and pounding the pavement. It can be incredibly discouraging trying to make a life in one of the most expensive places in the country and simultaneously starting a career as an artist. In times of exhausted frustration, I have been known to succumb to pity parties and declare I’m pulling up stakes to become a cheese maker or alpaca groomer or something. A recent bout of woe-is-me’s was interrupted by the purchase of some of my photographs by Adobe for a new product line. So that’s a really nice reality check that yes, someone out there likes what I’m doing and maybe this craziness will actually pay off eventually!
L: If you’re given a piece of cake (whatever flavor you like best—I choose chocolate), with frosting that’s to die for (again, any flavor—I choose chocolate, again), do you eat the cake first or the frosting? This isn’t as random as it sounds. My Aunt Nancy, when I was about ten, taught me how to wield my fork to chisel out the several layers of cake from my slice, eat that first, and save the frosting (the best part) for last. For all I know, she may have taught that to my sisters as well, but it was an approach that was perfectly suited to my little organized ten-year-old brain. I am big on the whole save-the-best-for-last bit. The problem with this is that, in the whole being-an-adult thing, there’s so much damn cake and not nearly enough frosting. So I spend all this time getting rid of the cake (working, paying bills, cleaning up dog shit, doing the dishes) that by the time I get around to the frosting (photography), I don’t have any more room. I think if Aunt Nancy had taught me to start with the frosting, my life could’ve taken an entirely different path. (Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration, but you get my point.) So which comes first for you: cake or frosting? And what does that translate into in terms of decisions you make or things you’ve accomplished.
J: Well, I’m not a big fan of typical birthday-party-style cake. Ice cream cake? Bring it. Pie? Definitely wouldn’t kick it outta bed. Sheet cake with chocolate frosting? Not so much. I think all this says about me is that sometimes I’m forced to wait until what I really want is more firmly in my grasp. Not many birthday parties feature pie, ya know? I would ultimately rather go without on occasion than live a life I am not excited by. My accomplishments in photography may come much slower than someone who can focus 100 percent on their own work, but I feel somehow more appreciative of them because of how hard I have to work to make it all happen.
L: I just got a US$37.50 store credit from photo-eye. What one photo book should I put that money toward buying? And why?
J: I think I’m going to have to suggest the Helen Levitt book. I was lucky enough to catch an exhibit of the images from Helen’s book while in Paris this past November. Her work is beautiful, quirky, so full of humor and just about perfect in my opinion. Had my need for a cafe creme not been so extreme, I may still be there, staring open-mouthed at her heavenly greens and oranges and chickens.
Labels: books, day job, Helen Levitt, Hey Hot Shot, interviews, Jennifer Loeber, Mary Tyler Moore, paparazzi, photographers, TV
posted by Liz at 9:35 AM
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