Week 6

Jerry Friedman has been a friend of mine for the past few years. We met somehow on livejournal neither of us really remember how it came about but its most likely because we both have photography in our interests. Jerry graduated from Pratt in 2003 with a BFA in Graphic Design. When I met him he was living in Jersey but has since moved to Texas where he is a senior graphic designer at a company whose main clients are Frido Lay, Pepisco, Cadbury Schwappes, and Quaker/Tropicana/Gatorade. I know him mainly through his photography so that is what I wanted to hi-light I highly recommend you check out his Flickr page.

I was really surprised when I found out how many people I know actually read this blog and since he is one of them I told him I wanted to interview him for the blog. This is what he had to say:

What do you do with your photography, is it just a passion on the side?

"Being that I pretty much sold out my graphic design, I use it as my personal expression. I don't do very much commercial photography (but I do art direct many shoots). I find shooting for myself very fulfilling and I actually also like taking people along with me and teaching them. I'm considering teaching, actually. The output from my shoots I usually post on my flickr page, make prints, and supply to people featured in the shots if they'd like. I feel it's a fantastic trade... they work with me to get a great shot and they can take it home and show their friends : )"

Tell me about some of the events you frequent mermaid parade etc.

"Im a sucker for costumes, admittedly. I do very much like shooting fringe festivals like Mermaid Parade as it brings out many non-standard individuals that bring their diverse talents out in the open. Even though I see many people shooting at parades, I gun for moments that are more exotic than the standard documentary sideline shots that the crowds get. I prefer to work in the parade line at close range, and thankfully the police have never had any issues with me. The same applies to my street photography, I'm not a fan of surveillance. I prefer to work at closer range with shorter lenses so that my shots show the relationship between the subject and I."