Spotlight Interview … Photographer Terri Gold

JRP: Terri Gold’s photographic portfolio is diverse and memorable. Terri has been kind enough to take some time out of her busy schedule to share her thoughts with JRP Blog. Thank you Terri for sharing some of your time with us.

Where is home for you Terri?

Terri Gold: I am based in Manhattan and the Hampton Sand I spend a lot of time in Northern California.

JRP: How did your photographic career begin? Have you had any formal training in photography?

Terri Gold: My earliest memories are of spinning a globe, always drawn to the last mysterious corners of the world, to studying tribal cultures and sacred sites. As long as I can remember, I wanted to visually capture images that explore our human connections as they’re being made. No matter where I am, I always feel more comfortable with a camera in my hand.

My influences are the early explorer/photographers like Osaand Martin Johnson, Edward Curtis, and currently Chris Rainier, Phil Borges and Nevada Wier. I have some formal training at ICP in N.Y. and many seminars and workshops but I continually study and read on my own. Photoshop User Magazine is a constant source of inspiration and new ideas on the technical end these days.

JRP: What camera equipment and software do you make use of in your work production?

Terri Gold: Camera Equipment: I use a Canon 5D MarkII, Canon EOS 5D converted to infrared (IR); Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L USM, EF 24–105m f/4L IS USM, EF 70–200m L IS, and 16–35m USM lenses; Hasselblad XPan with 45mm lens; Mamiya 7 with 43mm lens; Zero Image pinhole camera; and Diana camera. Software: Adobe CS4 Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom 2 and Corel Painter and Photo-matrix Pro.

JRP: How do you classify your style of photography and what inspires you most about the type of work you do?

Terri Gold: I am always looking at the Still Points… inspired by a line of poetry by T.S.Elliot. We are still and still moving… I see my work as still points in a turning world.

My work is interpretive in nature. I am looking for the grace notes, for the sense of wonder in our world and in our connections to each other. I feel compelled to make these images. I believe images that share our stories can have a positive impact on our world. We need to experience our common humanity. We all celebrate the same joys, we all bleed the same too…

JRP: I really like your infrared images. Please take us through some of your thought processes as you set up a shot of this type.

Terri Gold: I have always been attracted to creating imagery using the invisible infrared light spectrum. It adds an element of mystery and surprise when creating the work and then to its presentation.

I shot infrared film for many years, traveling with changing bags and developing the film myself and then lith printing the images in the darkroom. Now I use a digital camera converted to infrared by http://www.lifepixel.com/. I am always looking for the dramatic skies that work so well with infrared but I actually use it in all light conditions.

JRP: What is it about groups and their activities that attracts you to photograph them?

Terri Gold: I love Festivals and Parades, Weddings and Celebrations of every kind, where people let go and are living in the moment, the unguarded moment.

I am drawn to the Rituals we all create that bring us together, that celebrate the human spirit.

JRP: What would you say is more important to you, technique or vision in your photography?

Terri Gold: I see my technique as an integral part of my vision.

JRP: Do you have any special projects that you are currently working on?

Terri Gold: I am painting encaustic wax on my prints now. I missed the additional element of surprise and the reaction to it with the digital process as compared to many of the traditional alternate processes. I used to work with Polaroid transfers and lifts and hand-painted my work with oil paints and pastels. Lith printing itself was a dance in the darkroom and no two prints ever came out the same. I find the digital world equally as creative but I missed the tactile processes. I mount the work on wood and then paint or pour hot encaustic wax over the prints and use some color pigments also.

I am continuing my series Still Points in a Turning World, a Series working with Dancers and working on images from Coney Island and the Mermaid Paradebut now re-examining some of these series as Wax Works.

JRP: Please share the best advice you have received so far about photography?

Terri Gold: Shoot what you love. Practice the arts of attention and seeing.

JRP: What advice would you like to personally share with photographers in today’s market place?

Terri Gold: Always keep learning and studying ones craft and vision. “There are no days in life so memorable as those which vibrated to some stroke of the imagination.” Ralph Waldo Emerson.

JRP: To view more of Terri Gold’s wonderful images follow this link: http://www.terrigoldworldimagery.com/