By Seth Kushner
Last spring, I was asked by American Photo magazine, via uberconnector JahFurry, to to produce an 8-page meta “photocomic” about myself making photocomix, something I’ve been doing in my “spare” time for the past two-years as the series, CulturePOP Photocomix, where I’ve profiled such fascinating subjects as; Chuck Klosterman, Moby, Jonathan Ames, Stoya, Reggie Watts, Marc Maron and others.
I decided to title the piece “Understanding Photocomix” (a nod to Scott McCloud) and I used my own words and photos to tell the story of how I first discovered photography, first started working freelance for magazines, how I produced my book The Brooklynites (with Anthony LaSala), how Leaping Tall Buildings came about, and how I learned to combine my loves of comic books and photography into a wholly unique form. I had only a week to put it all together, and it was amazingly challenging, but I am proud of the results which ran in the July/August issue of American Photo Magazine.
Please note: The gallery above has been formatted especially for reading on a monitor, so therefore the layouts differ greatly from how it was originally intended to be seen. Please scroll down to view the four double-page spreads (8-pages) as they originally appeared in American Photo Magazine.
-Seth Kushner
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9 Responses to “SETH KUSHNER’S UNDERSTANDING PHOTOCOMIX” Subscribe
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September 20, 2012
[...] the magazine’s July/August issue, Kushner is now sharing the eight-page strip with everyone, online. The piece, which Kushner says is both a “discussion of a form” but also a personal [...]
This is just sooooo good. I enjoyed see/hearing it at the Trip City Salon, but getting to take a closer look I’m amazed by how much information you compressed into this in a clear and meaningful way. This is a great statement of where you are right now in your work, Seth! Thanks for posting.
Thank you, Hannah. The last image offers a tease for what’s next, which will be far more ambitious that what I’ve done previous and will offer a whole new set of challenges.
Beautiful imagery and story, Seth! Having missed it in print, I’m so glad to have had the chance to read it here. I know I’m not alone in looking forward to seeing where you take your work next!
Much appreciate, Joe.
I picked up the magazine when it was on stands because I’ve made some photocomics in my day and was interested in your take.
You mention that you have some issues with how other people have made photocomics in the past. What kinds of things have specifically felt like failures?
My biggest problem with photo-comics I’ve seen in the past is that much of the character work came off as “bad acting” to me. Lots of mugging for the camera. That, and cluttered design where the comic elements/storytelling and the photos didn’t have synergy. That’s my take at least based upon the work I’d seen.
I know what you’re talking about. One of the things that frustrates me is when photocomics are three large photos on a page instead of a much tighter layout that provides better pacing.
I’m also really frustrated when people don’t take advantage of the kinds of things that photography brings with it – interesting angles, filter effects, multiple exposures, long exposures, etc.
Again, like your CulturePop interviews, a perfect example of how great photo-comics can be, if you know how to tell a story, how to photograph and how to combine both of these things in a layout that presents both in a compelling way.
There are only very few people around who can do this.
Being a photo-comic producer myself – and knowing how challenging it can be to work with actors – I am really looking forward to see how your next project will turn out.
I would love to present both of your projects – culturePop and this new one – on my exclusive photo-comic link list:
http://www.unionofheroes.com/comic-navigation/links/photocomics.html
Could you send me some 468×60 banners so that I can do this, please?
Heroic regards from Germany!
Arne