#twaoli

DN: At MU I had a busy schedule. I am the kind of person who likes to chip away at projects and work so I didn’t really carry a consistent schedule. But my life did consist of a few key elements. Firstly I was a student; the art department at MU is a liberal arts model, so I was always taking different classes. It’s also a research school, so a good amount of my hours had to be spent taking general education courses. Every semester my schedule had a mix of art courses - primarily photography - art history, and everything else which ranged from 3d modeling to Indian Cinema to Statistics. For the last 2½ years of my time at MU I was also the photography lab manager 20 hours a week. The most important element about this for me was the constant interaction with my colleagues taking photography courses. I was constantly discussing work, influences, and technical problems/solutions that might come up. I think the constant interaction with people interested in photography had a huge impact on me and my work. On top of that I loved working and being there; it really became my home. When I wasn’t in class or working in the lab, I spent most of my time working on my own projects. To that effect, I spent a huge chunk of my free time in the lab after hours or during other shifts. The bulk of that time was spent working on what has now become This World and Others Like It, but I also have been working on some other things that I haven’t released yet, developed and 3d printed a working camera, and various odd projects and ideas. The odd projects typically end up wrapping around and becoming part of one of my bigger projects. So in short I could almost always be found in the photo lab, and when I wasn’t there I was either in class, making photographs, or grabbing lunch.

WZ: In your art practice, the language of imagery you are using is quite open, unlike some artists who contradict analog photography with digital technology, you seem to embrace them in an natural and integrated way. Did it come from your childhood experience?

DN: I was born after the internet was invented. Throughout my entire life I have always had access to a computer and the internet. So my digital existence and my tangible existence have never been separated. They have always been intertwined and are constantly informing each other. I would say the time I was born is important in that way. I don’t think I would see both analog photography and computer generated imagery as perfectly acceptable ways of creation had I been born early enough to have lived a life without these new technologies. I am not interested in ruling something out simply because it is different or new.

WZ: (To continue the question above) In this post-internet era, how do you think the language of photography and image-making will evolve?

DN: I’m not sure I am equipped to answer that question. Being someone who has only seen a post-internet world (and very little of it at that!) I can’t say for certain where we’re headed. I do think there will always be a place for analogue photographic processes. My hope is that new technologies can enter into the photography family and cohabitate with old ones.

WZ: A lot of artists who work with photography define themselves as photo-based artists to distinguish themselves from the traditional notion of “photographer”, but I don’t see this tendency in you. All your images are black and white, including the computer generated ones, which seems like a tribute to photography history, you use large format analog cameras, you have even build a 4x5 mono rail camera using your 3D printer. You have also mentioned in your blog that your relationship towards photography is like a romance. So when did this romance start, and how this romantic relationship has been going?

DN: I didn’t have my own camera until I was in high school. But my relationship to imagery is traceable back to when I first started using the family computer to access everything from MSPaint to online video games. Long before I even had a camera I was tinkering with photographs. Once I had my own camera my love for photography really took off, though. I would consider myself a photographer primarily. I think artists who consider themselves photo-based artists are simply participating in a particular conversation. In the same way, I call myself a photographer because even my computer generated photographs are made with the history of photography in mind. It is simply a difference in the tone that an artist wants to strike, or the conversation they want to participate in. It’s important for me to call myself a photographer because one of the things I am engaged with is a meta conversation about photography and its relationship to the landscape.

WZ: Landscapes, either the ones from real life or from different kinds of screens, seem to play a crucial part in your project This World and Others Like It. The notion of landscape is so broad and it has been drastically expanding along with technology development. I’m curious about your perspective and experience on landscape, as well as landscape photography.

DN: A large majority of my life experiences have been heavily influenced by my relationship to technology. In the world we currently live in, technology and the landscape are very similar, and are bound to each other. Our entire planet has been imaged to some extent, and we can see all of it directly from our laptops. Before I’ve physically been to a place, I’ve already seen it depicted in movies or photographs via technology. This completely alters the way I experience the world around me. My mind is influenced by the imagery I have already seen. When I arrive at that place I then contemplate the differences between the images and the thing itself. So to expand on my original thought, landscape, landscape photography, and technology are incredibly bound to each other and have completely altered the way we experience the world around us.

WZ: You use 4x5 to take photos of images and videos from the screens, for example, the photograph of the astronaut, and the one with deer running outside the windows of the car, did you consider yourself photographing the virtual world when taking photos of the screen? And what do you think about the artist’s authorship and copyright in this age?

DN: The photograph from Apollo 11 of Buzz Aldrin on the moon functions similar to making a photograph of something out of a window. If I show you the window frame in the image, the photograph becomes about looking as opposed to the thing itself. By rephotographing that famous image made by Neil Armstrong through my screen, I position the viewer in a specific location - in front of their computer. A place from which most everything can be explored, and as I say in my statement, the sublime landscape is now only accessible within the boundaries of technology. As for the image of the deer, I see it as functioning similar to how I see the Apollo 11 image functioning. Also though, this is the best way to create the image. I am driving a vehicle in a video game, and computer-loaded deer are running alongside my car. I gave an in-depth explanation of this image during my lecture at 2015 Medium San Diego. I would encourage anyone curious about the image to tune in to around the 26 minute mark. In my own practice I am not trying to hide anything in regard to authorship or copyright in my imagery. For example, the Apollo 11 image mentioned above I think that photograph works best when it is understood where that image comes from. In general, I think honesty is the big player in my mind. Appropriating imagery and ‘rephotography’ have been around for a long time. I don’t have any quarrels with these things or with artists using them. The problem comes when people try to claim things that aren’t theirs as their own. I actually posted about these ideas on my blog several months back. For those interested, take a look here.

WZ: In your exhibition at Aperture, the installation consists many relatively small, framed images, lined up in a strip of three rows in a very firm and orderly way, what was your intention for the installation? Do you see this as your ideal format of installation?

DN: The installation at Aperture was one that I proposed and Aperture approved. So this was something I came up with after quite a bit of deliberations and several iterations. The sequence is meant to be read just like you might read a book - from top left to bottom right. As you go along the sequence it slowly shifts from mostly real, terrestrial landscapes to computer generated photographs. It begins with a very humble landscape made from paper, and ends with a grandiose computer generated photograph. The sequence at Aperture is mostly the same as the one on my website.

As the work currently stands it is my ideal installation form. Of course, over time I imagine the work will change and progress, so it might not be how I would install it in the future.

WZ: Is This World and Others Like It still in progress? What projects are you working on and what are your recent inspirations?

DN: It is. I haven’t reached a point where I feel it’s time to start a new project. The stream of consciousness my photographs have still seems to be consistent. I am working on another new project alongside This World and Others Like It, but I have not revealed anything about it officially. In my last semester of college I took an Indian Cinema class and really enjoyed the films, so I have been watching more Indian films in my free time. My top two right now are Om Shanti Om and Karz. I’m not sure they have directly inspired me, but I’m sure the influence will sneak into my work somehow.

WZ: Last but not least, I know you like reading. Can you recommend some books to us?

DN: I really do! I just wish I could find more time to read. Rebecca Solnit’s River of Shadows is probably my favorite book I’ve read recently. I can’t recommend it enough. I also would recommend The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick. I’m currently reading Infinite Jest and so far I’m enjoying it, but I’ve got about 750 [as of 2/20/2016 I have 360] more pages to go. Another great book I have been meaning to read again is Will Steacy’s Photographs Not Taken. It’s a collection of essays from photographers about photographs they didn’t take for one reason or another.