1. Your work evolves between two areas or practices of photography, portraiture and documentary, and two cultures, Lithuania and the US, yet there are many unifying similarities across all your series: a distant intimacy with your subjects, a poignant attention to revealing details of their lives, and a sense of care and affection as if your work was also meant to make them exist more photographically. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, and the lending of your eyes to the viewer is a revelatory experience of photography. Can you describe a little how you work as photographer?
Recently someone described my work as “compassionate exploitation.” I laughed at first, but then I realized this is a pretty accurate description of what I do. I strive for intimacy and I try to get as close as I can to my subjects. But from another side intimacy can also look like exploitation when you show people in a very “real” way with all their human flaws and vulnerabilities. But this is how I work and what I find beautiful. The people I photograph are often at the edges of society, but in my mind they are often more interesting than what you find in the “center.” And I’m not using “interesting” to define people in some exotic, weird way, but rather as people who are important and worthy of attention. I get in conversations with people who say I choose “exotic” subjects or sub-cultures. But usual this is a way of dismissing my work and suggesting that it’s outside the real world. My DISKO project has received a lot of criticism in the Lithuanian press lately. Some thought I was making fun of people in villages or purposely showing parts of Lithuania that they considered exotic or ugly. But I also think some just didn’t like being confronted by the intimacy in my photographs and people and places they consider below them or unworthy. The camera has some power to level the playing field. The “edge” got too close to the “center” and it caused some friction.
2. You started working in photography during the 1990s at a time film was the dominant artistic medium: are you still working primarily on film, and have your photographic practices changed since then?
Not much has changed for me since the 1990s in terms of how I photograph. I use the same cameras, lighting equipment, and film. It can be a little clumsy and not very efficient, but I feel most comfortable working with the tools I have.
The one big change is that I make digital c-prints instead of analog prints. I used to enjoy making my own c-prints and working in the darkroom, but today it’s close to impossible to find a darkroom with a color processor. The expense of analog printing has also become prohibitive. And I probably don’t have the patience to work in the darkroom anymore and make all the small adjustments needed to produce a perfect print. It took me a while to get used to scanning my film, working with Photoshop, and making the digital c-prints, but I really like it now. Perhaps something is lost in the digitizing of negatives, but the Imacon scanners seem to do a good job of scanning the grain of the film and getting close to a traditional c-print. In many ways it’s even better. But I still like using photo paper (c-prints) instead of inkjet printing. There’s something nice about a paper that absorbs light. The ink from the inkjet seems to sit on the surface in a way that doesn’t appeal to me. But when you frame a print and put it behind glass it’s difficult to tell the difference between an inkjet and digital c-print. And, of course, I might have to make a change someday if photo paper disappears.
3. Do you photograph digitally as well? If yes, what’s your rationale for it?
I’ve been carrying around a small digital camera the last few years. Mostly I use it for sketching and photographing things I wouldn’t normally shoot with film. It’s like a diary of my travels. I’ve played with mixing these images with my film images. The contrast between film and digital is interesting, but I’m not sure I’ll end up putting them together. But I would like to show some of the videos I’ve been making. This aspect of digital photography I like a lot. I’m not shooting with a super high quality camera, but the kinda low-fi look is nice. I like when digital looks “digital” and doesn’t just try to replicate the quality of film.
4. You are based in Seattle, Washington, USA and often travel back to Vilnius, Lithuania to pursue your photographic projects and assignments: how is the film photography industry doing now in Lithuania? Do you still find easy access to photographic labs and analog photography stores in Vilnius?
I’m really lucky in Vilnius. I work with a very good professional lab that processes film and has an Imacon for scanning. There’s also a Kodak supplier where I can by film at close to wholesale prices when I stock up. It’s actually easier for me to work in Lithuania than Seattle. Our big photo lab in Seattle closed several years ago. My friends who shoot 4×5 have to send their film to Portland to get it processed.
5. FOTOFILMIC is dedicated to promoting the new generations of photographers attached to film today: what essential advice or recommendation would you have for them?
I studied photography with Jerome Liebling. He never gave us assignments or technical training. We’d find our own projects, experiment, and figure out what equipment and film we needed. At critiques, Jerry always had the same basic question for everyone, “Why is this subject important to you?” Many students (myself included) found this very frustrating. We wanted to talk about framing, light, what art galleries were showing or some concept we had. Jerry thought all this was secondary and mostly unimportant. He believed art making and photography have existential significance and should help you figure out who you are and what’s important in your life before you die. Heavy stuff. Jerry was a serious dude. I’m very grateful to him for teaching me that photography is not just about craft and technique, but can (and must) grapple with big ideas too.
6. What have you been up to recently? Any recent achievements, projects, news?
In November I published my new book DISKO from my series about Lithuanian village discos. I’ve been spending the last few months attending book fairs and promoting the book. There is more info about the book on my website here: http://www.andrewmiksys.com/disko-book/
7. If anything was possible, what would be your next ultimate project photography-wise (or else)?
I’ll be happy if I can just keep doing what I’m doing. I have several other projects that I’d like to publish as books. Photography has many ups and downs, much more failure than success. Just managing to keep working is a major achievement.
All images by Andrew Miksys. From the series Disko.
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FotoFilmic’s new FILM TALKS series is all about sharing experienced views, artistic endeavors, industry outlooks and how to reshape the contemporary practices at the center of the film photography medium today. FILM TALKS invite advanced artists, independent publishers, photo editors and art dealers, as well as the broad creative crowd of visual arts to engage in insightful dialogues with FotoFilmic about film photography in all aspects.
