EXCLUSIVE
At Home with Maxwell Granger.
NM: The photos of the women in their homes have such a heart warming feeling. Wether is the lighting, location or models. Who are the women in the photos? Did they enjoy being photographed?
MG: Some enjoyed the photos, some didn’t. I wasn’t really sure if any or all of them would, but it was a mixed bag. They are a collection of women that are associated to me in some way, relating to my mum.
NM: From the same series, you have a few shots of outdoor greenery and a shot of black boots. These images remind me remind me of the first few things that are usually seen before entering a family home. It seemed as if you were telling the beginning of a story. Was this your intention? Do you try to include this in all of your work?
MG: I don’t know if I really want to tell a story, more just give a bit of context. Id like to shed light on a perspective of the way these people live to some degree. I don’t think I really try to tell a story in most of my work, but I do like creating a scene.
NM: In a standard family home, the kitchen is a place to socialize, eat, and share quality time with someone. Did you choose to shoot in the kitchen to highlight these activities?
MG:I’d be lying if I said I chose the kitchen in a sense other than that it cohered to this norm of ‘housewives’ that I’ve tried to highlight.
NM: In your other work, you tend to gravitate towards portraits of common people. What attracts you to these types of portraits?
MG:I don’t really know what you mean by common people, but I just photograph people I know, or otherwise people that I get told to photograph.
NM: Where do you find your models?
MG: They’re all my friends, so its only a matter of time before I run out of people to shoot really, which is a shame.
NM: I notice that your lighting scheme is always bright, and often natural. Of course it is said that natural is the best lighting, but why do you like it how does it reflect your style of photography?
MG: I actually shoot most of my portraits with studio flashes indoors, which I feel has this quite homely feel as its something people use a lot in family portraits. With that level of association attached to it as you’ve probably been around family portraiture a lot through family photos and things, it makes it easier to engage with for most people I think.
NM: You have a great series of highlighting teen culture. Why do you choose to shoot teenagers?
MG: I feel like people think its a conscious decision to shoot ‘teenagers’ and I really don’t consider it one. Also most of the people I shoot are actually not teenagers, but just early 20’s. Regardless of age, I don’t think its something I look for when creating work, its more about the accessibility of friends to photograph. I can ask them to stand and sit in a way I couldn’t get someone who models to do, because they’d feel probably misrepresented.