Brian Kaldorf
Brian Kaldorf is a Pittsburgh based photographer specializing in editorial and conceptual photography. His photographs have been described as everything from quirky and colorful, to hyperreal and emotive. His work has appeared in local, regional, and national publications as well as many private art collections.
We had the following interview:
How did you get into photography?
Good question, I often wonder this myself! The short answer is that I got tired of working a 9 to 5 job that I didn’t find fullfilling in the least. I needed a creative outlet and my sister was getting into photography at the time. She showed me a beautiful black and white print that she had made and I was instantly hooked. Within the next two weeks I had gone out and bought my first real camera and the rest is history.
What sort of equipment or software do you use?
It really depends on what it is I’m trying to create. The bulk of my work is very concept driven and I’ve gotten comfortable bringing my ideas to life digitally. I learned to shoot on film, but when I really figured out what I wanted to say with photography it was clear that I was going to have really implement a digital workflow. That’s not to say that I don’t shoot film anymore, I actually do a bit of personal work with 120 film and an old medium format camera that I love. I’ve used Canon equipment pretty much from the start, right now I’m shooting the bulk of my work with the 5DMkII which is great for detail. For postprocessing I use a combination of Adobe lightroom and Photoshop.
Do you have any favorite subjects you like to photograph?
I guess I feel most comfortable photographing people within a context. I get the biggest thrill in creating a scene in my head and then playing it out in the studio. I surround myself with creative people who are good at what they do and together we try to play out the concept to the best of our abilities.
I love how bright and colorful your work is; is it inspired by a photographer you like, or just a preference?
Thanks! A big influence while I was in art school was David Lachapelle. I loved how off the wall his photos were and I tried very hard to create that same sense in my photos. I’m also a big fan of Dave Hill, Tim Tadder, Jim Fiscus, Nick Vedros, Glen Wexler- the list goes on and on! I guess more than anything I’m inspired by other people who aren’t afraid to push the envelope and take their imagery into crazy new directions.
Do you have any projects or upcoming work you’d like to promote?
Absolutely, I’m always working on one project or another. Right now we are in pre-production for doing a retelling of the classic Alice in Wonderland story. I’ve always been enthralled by the quirkiness of the story and I thought it could be a lot of fun to do a series on it. We’re hoping to generate a book from it and maybe an art show, should be a lot of fun!
Viewers can view more colorful examples of his work at www.briankaldorf.com.
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