Gareth Mcconnel

In your series Nightflowers you take photos of flowers, blooms and plants by night. It seems that the night let the blooms glow from within. What does the night mean to you?

Night means the dark and the light.

Similar to your Nightflowers series some of your topics seem like they were shot in the darkness of human life. Are these people somehow like human blooms for you, glowing in the dark of different human realities?

That’s well put…

In your Ibiza Index series you take portraits of young people who are living their dream of freedom there for the short time of the summer. Do you live together with these people and party with them?

I have been going to Ibiza for almost 20 years. I started shooting there 11 years ago with the intention of a decade-long project. I finished last year. I would rent a cheap apartment, hotel or room in a villa depending on how broke I was. I would pound the street during the day looking for suitable subjects. I would hang out in the evenings sometimes, sure. The last time I was there I went to one of the big closing parties and danced all night. It’s pretty special when it all slots together – music, drugs, people, dancing and it’s something I am sure I will be doing for a long time to come.

Do you still have contact to some of the people you met and portrayed in Ibiza? What do they do after the time in Ibiza or during the seasons?

Yeah I hear from people from time to time. In fact I had a pint with one of them the other night to discuss a future project. People do different things obviously but some of the main pursuits appear to be – chasing the party to Australia, Asia, the ski resorts of Europe etc., college, unemployment, dead-end jobs and otherwise waiting for the next season to roll around.

In most of your photos you show the portrayed people at eye height. It seems that the people are familiar with you and your camera. How close are you standing to these people? How much are your photos also a documentary about yourself?

I use a Mamiya rz67 with a 65mm lens for portraits, so yes, pretty close. Ahhh – yes – all about me in a roundabout way I suppose – don’t know about documentary though, more like some second-rate fiction.

 

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