Photographer Interview: Kalen Na’il Roach
“Me, My Brother, My Cousin” from the series This is and This isn’t My Family
Copyright Kalen Na’il Roach
D&B: Where are you from and where do you work/live now?
“Uncle” from This is and This isn’t My Family Copyright Kalen Na’il Roach |
The party itself is already an escape and the backdrop is just that extra bit of fantasy that you can stand in front of and present yourself. Almost as if by simply standing there and taking a photo you have entered into a new reality provided by that backdrop. The polaroid, which itself is already a illusion, then becomes the only piece of that reality that you can take with you when that party ends. I think its just fascinating and seeing my family in these photos presenting themselves the way they did in this reality while having experienced them personally was a very strange dynamic/feeling that hit me hard.
“Stepmother” from the series This is and This isn’t My Family Copyright Kalen Na’il Roach |
At ICP I remember seeing what seemed like almost life-size prints of this series. Why did you choose to print them so large?That choice came after a lot of back and forth and a lot of making. I tend to create a lot of iterations of things and from my process I found that at a larger scale the image was less about novelty of the polaroid picture and more about the image itself. Also in the process of creating, when standing in front of the images, I was able to see and respond to the people I saw more effectively. I could detach myself from the preciousness of polaroid and focus all on what the image of the person in the photograph meant to me. With that out of the way the image became more emblematic as if the people in the photos were not family but concepts.
“Mother” from the series This is and This isn’t My Family Copyright Kalen Na’il Roach |
X-ACTO knife) and building my own became very interesting to me. All of this is done in an effort to bring the family I experienced into photos before me. I was and still am bending, building, destroying, and altering the illusion of the photograph as if I was testing the limits of the medium to see how much of reality can really lie within a photograph. What can one really know about a person from looking at a photograph of them? How much of that person is there? I think asking these questions can be a bit like running into a wall, however, I still enjoy asking them.
“Self“ from the series Family Ties and a Fool’s Paradise Copyright Kalen Na’il Roach |
“Self“ from the series Family Ties and a Fool’s Paradise Copyright Kalen Na’il Roach |
“My Father and His Brother“ from the series My Dad Without Everybody Else Copyright Kalen Na’il Roach |
2. Constant creation. I need to create, almost like it’s an impulse. I feel that if I’m not making something I can get lost and it’s just very unfulfilling. When I’m in the middle of making something I find that I am super comfortable and constantly thinking of what to do next. It’s and exciting process of discovery through making.
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Dodge & Burn is a blog dedicated to documenting a more inclusive history of photography and supporting the work of photographers of color with photographer interviews.
This blog is published by visual artist and writer, Qiana Mestrich. For regular updates on diversity in photography history, follow Qiana on Twitter @mestrich, Like the Dodge & Burn Blog page on Facebook or subscribe to Dodge & Burn by email.
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