A little about your background, please. I grew up in a small California town called Clovis.  I was a sophomore in High School when I started taking photos and spent the next two years in the dark room.  Then I went away to film school.  Then I came back to photography and have been shooting steadily for the past 6 years.  But aside from my high school photography classes, I haven’t had any formal education.

What inspired you to study film? It was just one of those things that ‘clicked’ for me as a teenager.  It instantly grabbed me and gave me something to hang on to during those dark, dark teenage years.

You’re an actor, director, and photographer, but which are you constantly motivated by? I don’t fancy myself as an actor.  I’ve done a couple of films, but it’s never been something I’m out there trying to make happen.  It seems to find me. But I’d have to say that I’m dedicated to both directing and shooting equally.  They’ve always gone hand in hand for me.  Around age 16, I started making short films, but I would still shoot stills at the same time.  It’s not as if one took precedent over the other.

What cameras do you use? I’ve always shot on Hasselblads.  I primarily use an H2.  But I go back to my 501 pretty frequently.

Do you prefer film or digital? I shoot film.  It’s what I’m most comfortable with.  Maybe one day down the line I’ll go digital, but I don’t see it happening anytime soon.

A lot of poeple are into Holgas, Fish Eye, and Lomography cameras lately, are you a fan of any of those cameras? Those are all fun cameras to use.  I played around with those about six years ago.  A photographer friend of mine, Seth, introduced me to the Lomo LC-A.  They’re fun and have their place.  

How would you describe your style of photography? I always refer to my photography as, “quiet.”

What’s your philosophy behind photography? I don’t have a deep philosophy behind what I do.  I get inspired by music or things that I pass by that spark some type of visual in my head and then my goal is to make that image happen on film.  I shoot what I find interesting.  And I like my images to carry some type of narrative.  These aren’t snapped candid moments.  These are staged pieces and I don’t try to hide that.

It seems as though the scenes are usually perfectly set with perfectly awkward people, and I can’t help but compare it with Napolean Dynamite! Did you take care of the props and setting for that movie also? I can’t take credit for the props there.  I just shot the stills for that film since it was a close friend of mine who directed it.

I think people know you as that Kip guy from the movie, would you rather have them know you as something else? I don’t get that actually.  Most people who know me for my art find out much later that I was in “Napoleon Dynamite.”  Not the other way around.

The people in your settings look kind of lonely, why? I don’t like to pose my models too much.  I usually ask them to relax as much as possible.  And most people naturally go into that ‘look’ when they fully relax their face.  I also don’t like images where the model is self aware.  That doesn’t interest me.  That’s why I typically don’t have my models looking into the camera.  It’s the moments when their mind starts to wander that I like to capture.

I notice that you are drawn to clocks, is there something special you feel about them? I like the look of big numbers.  And clocks tend to have numbers.  It’s also one of those elements that lend to the narrative of the image.  If ever I see an image with a clock in it, I try to make out what time it reads and for some reason that influences the rest of the image for me.

Any works/film/advertising you’re working on currently? I’m always working on something.  I leave tomorrow for NY to direct a couple campaigns.  I recently finished a commercial campaign for Volkswagen.  I’m doing an art project for Paper Mag that I’m excited about.  And I’m finishing a script for a feature that I plan to direct next year.  

This came up while I was searching about your background on Google, but have you ever searched up: “Aaron Ruell died”? It is ridiculous!…here I am interviewing you, what’s with that? I guess there was an internet rumor saying that Jon Heder (who played Napoleon) had died.  And then one week later they started one saying that I had died.  That was all really odd.

www.aruell.com

Interviewed by Jeanne Le, featured in issue No.4.

(Source: titlemagazine.net)

Posted 10 months ago with 6 notes
Tags: art  art interview  photography  aaron ruell