“One can’t wait for inspiration. I think one has to create it.” are the truly inspiring words by Sam Hessamian, an amazing New York based photographer and film maker, whose work has touched us with visual, untamed beauty- yet it radiates something deeper than just the appealing surface. His words about beauty, his work and life are profound and I am surprised at what he told us about the current energy of NYC…

You are surrounded by beauty – what is beauty for you?

I’m not sure I am surrounded by beauty. I don’t mean that necessarily in aesthetic beauty. But energy. There’s very little energy in NYC right now. I find it odd that art in this one case is not reflecting culture – or better put, reflecting the economy. There is beautiful work out there, but very little of it reflects the culture of the moment. Perhaps there is no such thing, and perhaps this is why much of the work produced reflects nothing but aesthetic beauty, which is also fine.

Your images and videos are just incredible. Where does your love for black/white photography come from?

Thank you. My love for black and white photography comes from French and Italian cinema of the 1950s and 1960s. Specifically, the early films of Jean-Luc Godard, Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni. My love for black and white actually started before my film education. I found I related more with black and white photographs. They conveyed how I felt. But that is slowly starting to change. I’m shooting much more color now.

One of your recent tweets says: “Went through a very uninspired, drunken phase, but my motivation is now back. The discipline never wavered while in that phase, though. ”So how do you usually pick up your inspiration again?

It wasn’t so much that I was uninspired; I was exhausted and needed a break. I worked all the time during that phase, though, and continued to shoot consistently. Now I’m not sure I need inspiration. I create it based on what I’m shooting. If I shoot something I like, it makes me feel inspired to shoot more. One can’t wait for inspiration. I think one has to create it.

And where in NYC can we mostly find you in your drunken phases? ;)

It depends where people drag me to on a given day. I don’t really care where I go as long as I like the company. I could have fun at an insurance seminar with people I enjoy. But I drink much less now. I’m self-destructive by nature, so I have to keep a certain balance.

It is people and places that inspire you, – any place or person in particular?

There are specific people who inspire me. Jean-Luc Godard. Anna Karina. Jimi Hendrix. Charlie Parker. Jean-Michel Basquiat. Arthur Rimbaud. James Dean. There are also people I’ve shot who inspire me. I’m probably most inspired by them. I’ve learned much from them all. And I’m inspired by places in general, which is why I shoot mostly on location. Setting is important to my work. It reflects where I’m living and breathing at any given time, so I show it in my photos.

You have also lived in London and Paris. What are the things that you have been able to take with you from that experience?

There was something more personal about shooting in Paris. NY is impersonal. It is like a factory system. And that reflects in the spirit of a place. As I said earlier, there’s very little energy in NY right now. And you see that in much of the work that is produced out there. You don’t see much work that reflects how people live in this city. You primarily see people standing in front of walls. There’s no energy to shoot, so people shoot walls. I shoot subjects in front of walls, too, from time to time, because it’s beautiful and it has its place. But that happens when I’m not living.

Is there a difference of working within photography/ film in Europe or the US?

The differences are all in the aesthetics naturally. For example, a photographer from Paris can move to L.A., but he or she will still shoot Paris in L.A. There is much less red tape, as well, in Europe – at least during the time I was shooting there to develop my book. There were more people willing to help in Paris. For example, model agents with whom I was working consistently set up appointments for me with magazines. In NY I’ve never once had that happen. I think photography is more encouraged and supported overseas. You feel you’re part of a universal movement, however small or large. In NY you feel a separation from the collective.

You said that the hardest part about photography is the business side to it. How do you manage this way?

One day at a time. I’m getting better at it with time. I much more enjoy meeting with people now.

In a few years you want to?

Make a film. I will eventually make films. Though not right now. I have little patients for that now. But I have started writing a three-part story – three movies – based on the rise and fall of two people.

What is the most important thing for you in life?

I hate to say it because it sounds so sappy – but I would have to say the most important thing is love. Love has saved me many times from the darkness we all fall into from time to time. A few times all it took was an encounter with someone, who then made me want to break the monotony that misery can bring and look at things with a fresh perspective.

www.samhessamian.com
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