Susan Ledgerwood. You might know her via Twitter @SoyGoy. You might be a “Fan” of Susan’s work on Facebook. If you’re not following her on Twitter or have become a fan of her work on Facebook, after reading about her and seeing her work, you will be.
There are many exceptional visual storytellers that make us feel, no doubt about it. The story unfolds so organically, text would feel extraneous, and then there’s Susan…
What makes Susan one of the most incomparable and prolific visual storytellers is her ability to connect and engage on a deeply personal level—her images radiate authenticity. When viewing sets of her images, I feel like I’m a part of the story. Similarly, I feel as if Susan has a profound understanding of each person in the story she’s telling on a soul level. As if she hears their inner thoughts, and has lived their lives, feeling their heartache and heart joy. Susan gets her, technically “subjects”, but really, people, on a super human level, exemplifying the human condition in all of its incantations.
Susan’s work is eclectic; bewitching, stunning, irreverent and intrinsic to her and those who are privileged to be photographed by her.
Susan graciously agreed to allow me to interview her. Not only is she hysterical, she’s wicked intelligent and fast, snappy one-liner fast… Please, how many dames do you know who can discuss anything via a line from a movie, or the name of a movie, among other SoyGoyisms? That’s how SL rolls, yo. One of the many reasons I adore this dame as hard as I do. She’s real, she’s down to earth and she’s approachable.
Note: I asked Susan to blurb her photographs specifically for this interview and she generously agreed.
Katie Schwartz Interview with Susan Ledgerwood
KS: Susan, your work is magnificent and eclectic, each photo tells a story, which makes sense considering you are a visual story teller. Can you explain that to us a bit more in your own words?
SL: Thank you, that’s very kind of you to say. I’ve always been a voracious reader and I love stories of all kinds. When I started getting into photography, the images that spoke to me most were the ones that told an entire story in a single image. I knew immediately that’s what I wanted to do, to share stories, to connect people, and my challenge was, and still is, to do so in one single image. I want each image to have a beginning, middle, and end. No small task, eh?
KS: When did you know you were a visual storyteller, at what age did you discover this passion?
SL: (laughs) I have always been obsessed with photos. When I was like 10 or 11 maybe, I had a Kodak disc camera (So totally dating myself here. Ouch). I *loved* that thing. I took it everywhere and took photos of all my friends at school, but my favorite images and my most vivid memories of that camera are those I staged at home. This is hilarious to probably just me, but I used to take all of my dolls and stuffed animals and create scenes with them and then photograph them with my super amazing disc camera. I specifically remember creating a slumber party scene, complete with fake confetti that I ripped up from construction paper.
And as I got older, I would always look at people’s photos in their homes, those hanging on the wall or photo albums of my friends’ families or my grandparents. My Nana had the best collection of black and white snapshots of her life. They were beautiful. Oddly enough, I HATED the photography class I took in high school. My teacher was a stereotypical photo geek with zero social skills or relatablility. The only thing I retained from that class was how to make a pinhole camera from a Quaker oats box. Yeah, like that’s handy.
KS: What is the difference between a visual storyteller, a filmmaker and a writer?
SL: Great question. I think visual storyteller and filmmaker are sisters from another mister, to be honest. They just use different tools to tell their stories. Directors and screenwriters are visual storytellers, just as photojournalists and all other types of photographers are. It’s a visual expression of a story, a tale. Breakdown the word photograph and it means to write with light. I love that concept and I try to incorporate it in my images. Writers are also visual storytellers in their own right, but they use the craft/art of language and words to paint their picture. There is no direct visual representation, which is cool in its own way because every reader will walk away with a different visual image of the written story.
KS: How does your creative process work? Do you get an idea for a story, or do you take the photograph first?
SL: Alcohol and drugs. Kidding! I’m inspired by films, by the work of photographers who really push the envelope (I hate that phrase…it’s like saying outside the box), but I’m mostly inspired by human beings. I’m fascinated by us. Anything that interests me, that makes me ask questions about that particular person or place. I try to capture moments as they are happening, if I’m shooting an event or even a portrait, because I really like the most honest, truthful moments to emerge organically. But I also come up with stories that I want to shoot. I’m working on a motel project at the moment, capturing the random, seedy motels in LA because I’m so fascinated that they even exist. Who goes there? Who stays there? How are these places still in business? I love looking at people and places that others might overlook. I like to put them in front of you, as if to say, “hey, check this out. Chew on that for a while.”
KS: What is your style of photography?
SL: Is porn a style? This is a hard question because style can be so subjective and I’m trying to define it here. I know what I like and what I don’t. I know what I’m drawn to. But you want me to quantify it, don’t you? Hmmm. . .um, glamour meets punk rock meets classic meets iconic meets humorous meets creative visual storytelling? Whatever that means. Talk amongst yourselves.
KS: Your work is very interesting, it’s irreverent and funny and deep and meaningful. In the literary sense, I’d say you were as much a comedy writer as a drama writer. Can you speak to this a bit more?
SL: I would be absolutely nothing without my sense of humor. I love to laugh. I’m a pretty quiet person, but I have a really loud, obnoxious laugh that I’m quite proud of. I love people who make me laugh and it’s a quality I’m most attracted to in other people. My family was very big on teasing/giving each other a playful hard time so I have a lot of experience getting shit from people and giving it right back. I’m totally comfortable laughing at myself and at life, but I don’t like laughing at other people’s expense. That’s a no go. Life is so funny to me, people are so funny. I want to celebrate that in my work. But I’ve also experienced some hardship, just as everyone has. I know the other side of humor and the darker side of life. I also recognize that life can be quite serious at times and the duality or contrast of humor and severity is beautiful to me. It’s like lighting a subject. You are focusing on where the light hits them as much as you are looking at where the shadows are. You need both to get a great three dimensional image of the person, to experience their wholeness. Wow, I sound like I live on a commune.
KS: Do you develop your own photos? What is the process you use?
SL: Ney ney, my friend. This is why G-d invented labs. I did my own processing and printing when I was in school and I loved loved loved the dark room and the act of physically making the art from start to finish with your own hands. But, please, who has that kind of time? Plus, I shoot mostly digital anyway, so when I shoot film, I trust the processing and scanning to the professionals. Can I plug my lab because I love them? A & I Hollywood is the best.
KS: What does each shoot represent to you?
SL: An opportunity to play, to collaborate, to create amazing work with people I enjoy working with, and, most of all, to tell a compelling story. It’s truly an honor and an opportunity whenever I’m asked to shoot anything. A shoot is a chance to do what I love to do, and what could be better than that? Don’t say sex. That’s obvious.
KS: Is there any particular shoot in your past that left an indelible imprint? If so, what was it?
SL: I recently shot my very first wedding. I had been avoiding shooting weddings for a long time. Whenever anyone asked me, I would refer them to friends who are specifically wedding photographers. I was just too afraid to do it because of the great importance those images have to the couple. It’s so different to set things up in a studio or on location and take your time and do everything exactly as you need to. Event photography is all about being at the right place at the right time. I was fearful that I wouldn’t be able to do it. But when my client, who has become a good friend now, approached me and told me the story of her wedding and her engagement, I knew immediately that I had to be a part of it. She is a beautiful person who is also very artistic and she wanted a lot of creativity, photojournalism, and artistic shots. She didn’t want anything traditional, which instantly appealed to me. So, you’ll see in these images that I really aimed for a photojournalistic feel, as well as giving them an aged-feel, as if they’d been shot on a Holga. The Holga was not cost-effective for a wedding shoot, but I was able to post-process them to give them that tint/feel.
KS: When I look at these wedding pictures, they don’t feel weddingee to me; they’re so much deeper than that. These photos are rich and earthy, I feel connected to these people. I want to hang these photos in my living room and it wasn’t my wedding. Can you tell us about each of these pictures and the story that you’re telling, outwardly and subtextually?
SL: Outwardly, they are all about love and joy. I’m telling the story of two lovely people, Judy and Yehuda, who met and fell in love, about their families and friends coming together to celebrate this love, and I tried to highlight the grounded-ness and wonderful sense of humor the bride and groom share.
The Bedeken: it’s part of a traditional Jewish wedding, where the groom veils his bride right before the chuppah ceremony. In this image, I tried to capture the moment from the bride’s point-of-view and to convey the absolute joy that is flowing between the bride and the people she’s greeting. I wanted people to see what it’s like to be in the bride’s shoes if even for a moment, to experience the joy and honor of the day. She is the anchor of the image and the joy and the guests are all hovering around her.
Under the Chuppah: I love this image. Yehuda, the groom, is a really talented musician. He played Elton John’s “Your Song” as she processed to the chuppah with her father and while she was circling him. I love the smile on her face and how unaware she is of the camera. She’s caught in the moment and that’s all that matters to me in this image.
Father’s blessing: on Shabbat, it’s customary for the parents to bless their children, and it’s also part of the Bedeken (don’t quote me, I’m no rabbi). Judy’s parents are Survivors and are pretty traditional people when it comes to Judaism, so this was an important moment for Judy and her parents. I love the reverence in her father’s face, you can almost feel the love and blessings he is conveying. I processed this image with a filter that adds tinting/coloring and makes the image look as if it were taken with a Holga camera. I felt this moment called for that aged feeling since it is a very traditional moment.
Yehuda greeting Judy: There’s not much I can say about this photo other than, well, just look at the utter love in Judy’s face. It’s beautiful. ‘nuff said.
Judy and her mom: Okay, my client/friend, Judy, does not like this photo of herself, but this is another one of my favorites from the day. Subtextually, it’s about a mother-daughter relationship on a very important day and I wanted a non-traditional POV, a photojournalistic approach that my client asked me to capture.
Judy greeting Yehuda under chuppah: just look at the love in her eyes. It’s all that matters. This was a small wedding, held at someone’s home, a friend of her family. They threw this wedding together in a very short period of time and all of the “vendors” were mostly friends who helped make their day as special as possible. The caterer is a good friend, the florist, etc. Knowing Judy and Yehuda, it speaks volumes that their wedding was not a lavish affair, but one built on love and that’s the love I see in here eyes here. It’s a love I too understand, and it’s why I immediately jumped on board when she asked me to be involved.
Judy’s dress/shoes: this image is about beauty and about stepping forward into the next phase of your life. I also wanted to capture an element that was obviously a bride but wasn’t cheesy.
Judy and Yehuda: this image was taken with a Lomography Fisheye camera. You have to get right up into a subject’s face with this thing, and I thought it was so perfect for the couple’s photos I took after the ceremony, before they began mingling with their guests. They are not traditional people, even though they honor a lot of traditions, so this image conveys their joy and love in a non-traditional way. I processed it with a sepia tone so as to add that little bit of traditional back into the image.
Happy Couple: I love this image. Yehuda remarked that the way I shot that evening made him feel like a rock star, and I told him that’s because he is. They were the stars of the evening.
KS: What were you drawn to about this story?
SL: Because I instantly felt the deep, abiding love that Judy and Yehuda have for one another. I know that kind of love in my life today and it never fails to amaze me. I really wanted to be a part of a celebration of that kind of love. I wanted others to recognize the kind of joy that kind of love can bring you and everyone around you.
Buff Monster
Buff in front of CHG logo: This is Buff in front of the hand-painted sign for his show at Corey Helford Gallery. One is the original, one is the color-adjusted version. I wanted to darken the ceiling area because I felt those details were not important. What is important is the artist in his bad ass tuxedo shirt and heart-shaped sun glasses. IT’s very Heavy Metal Ice Cream Smile…the title of his show. It’s a mixture of hard and soft, edgy and cute.
Buff B/W metal hands/horns: Buff is total metal head. I am not, but I can certainly appreciate one’s love for music. The giant ice cream cone behind him was an inflatable sculpture he had made for the show and was centered in the middle of the gallery. I love how metal and rock-n-roll his expression is, but I tinted in black and white to give it a traditional feel. Again, I like to mix the traditional with the non-tradish.
Buff color ice cream cone: I love this image. The juxtaposition of such a serious Buff in front of his cutesy smiling sculpture cracks me up.
Buff sunglasses in front of ice cream cone: this image really shows you more of the ice cream sculpture and some of his paintings in the background. It’s more of a traditional PR shot, but the Holga gives it that aged feel.
Buff art in background/with watch: I loved the print in Buff’s painting and thought it would make a great background against that tuxedo shirt. I was also trying to play up his big pimpin watch. He’s got mad style in addition to amazing talent. I wanted that to come across.
Buff w/fists: Buff is currently studying tae kwan do and is about to test for his black belt. He loves it and it’s such a part of his personality that I wanted a little tkd in one of the shots. And those sunglasses are super porn! I love it!
Buff super creamy painting in background: I love this image. It makes Buff look Super Creamy.
Buff and me: taken at the end of the shoot with my Lomography Fisheye camera. Just for the hell of it!
KS: These pictures are hilarious, what made you take these pictures?
SL: My friend Dan Levy of the Pretty Picture Movement whom I admire and love working with set up a publicity photo shoot with Buff Monster. Dan invited me to shoot with my Holga and Lomography Fisheye cameras. I’ve known Buff for a while also and I love his work, so I was like, “hell yeah!” Dan had his photographer there shooting digital images, and I just weaved in and out between the other photographer’s shots. The Holga images have a very specific aged look to them, and the Fisheye is this crazy wide angle plastic camera. I’d wanted to do some portrait work with them for a while.
Buff is an awesome subject. He looks so great in these shots, he’s so willing to play and create and he’s such a nice guy and we’ve become better friends recently. I wanted to have some alternative portraits and to work with my friends, so voila. That’s how it all went down.
KS: What is the outward text and subtext of this story? To me it feels dark and funny.
SL: The outward story is about a man and his art. Buff’s work mixes cute and heavy metal and he’s been inspired by Takashi Murakami. I don’t know. I’m really bad at this.
KS: What did this shoot mean to you?
SL: It was an amazing opportunity to play with people I love and to use toy cameras for my portrait work. It was a chance to be more artistic and creative with portraiture. It was such an honor!
Last questions
KS: Where can I go to find out more about your work?
SL: You can visit my website, SusanLedgerwood.com (launching this week 11/17) and check out Flickr or Facebook.
KS: Can I buy your work?
SL: Show me the money! Sure, let’s tawk.
KS: Will you be showing your work at galleries online and offline?
SL: You’re pushier than my mother, jeez. I’m working on it. Fine Art photography has not been my focus thus far, but I’m going through my body of work to choose images I feel could work in this area.
KS: Do you ever collaborate with writers to spin a yarn?
SL: I haven’t yet but I’d love to.
KS: What are your three favorite curse words and why?
SL: Fuck, Motherfucker, and Cocksucker. The hard consonants make them so gratifying to say. (Katie, those three curse words are my favorites, too!)
KS: Finally, how can I contact you if I want to buy your work or hire you for a shoot?
SL: Drop me a line! soygoy@gmail.com is best for now.
There you have it, a remarkable dame with a remarkable story. You can find Susan’s work online at: Flickr or Facebook and follow her on Twitter. Her new site is going live sooner than later, stay tuned and Bookmark it: www.susanledgerwood.com.
Susan, thank you for stopping by! You are a peach.
