Andrew Zuckerman: Flying High

I had the pleasure of interviewing photographer Andrew Zuckerman in his New York office back in the fall of 2008 for a feature we did on his high-speed photography. In ‘08 we discussed his books Creature and Wisdom, both of which showcase their respective subjects against white backgrounds. As you may have heard Zuckerman has a new book out called Bird which features an almost encyclopedic list of birds against, you guessed it, a white background.  In our interview last year I asked Zuckerman if he had an overarching message in his bodies of work that were joined by the common white background and he responded “I gravitate towards reductive work and minimalism. I try to create an arena that’s really clean and clear so that my subject or my collective subjects are easily understood and not clouded by style or extraneous information. I tend to elevate my subjects by reducing the elements around them. I’m interested in the bare essence of the subject.“ I found Zuckerman to be a very thoughtful and intelligent photographer, in addition to being a very effective marketer. I’m sure, especially considering he’s only in his early 30’s, that we’ll be seeing a lot more from him.

I recently asked Zuckerman a few questions about Bird, his answers plus an enjoyable behind-the-scenes movie follow below.

Where did the idea for Bird originate?

During the Creature project I had made an image of a Macaw from the back – it was one of those images that demanded more investigation.  So I made more pictures of birds and eventually I had enough for a book.  I was also very interested in a subject that had been explored for so long.  Imagery of Birds are found in all ancient art and have been repeatedly used throughout history – I was curious if I could add something to this tradition.  The Audubon collection has always fascinated me specifically because of his ability to strip away context and focus our eyes on the bird itself, the drawing s are incredibly detailed which also amazes me.  So, like any project, a number of factors from past and present in ones life add up to the inevitable reality that one must commit and create.

How did you get access to this incredibly diverse group of animals?

Access is always the issue – it is the number one factor in making my pictures.  In this case I had the fortune of already publishing Creature and therefore having a calling card to begin a conversation with collectors and institutions.  I travelled to places as diverse as Qatar and Pittsburgh.  The most fruitful locations were at the aviaries, where I was able to setup my studio in a large free flight room and coax the birds to fly across the white set (usually with food).  In addition to the aviaries in San Diego and Pittsburgh I was fortunate to shoot at a conservationist center in Doha where I made the image of the Spix’s Macaw- probably the rarest and most endangered of all of the birds in the book.

Please describe you basic lighting and technical approach to these shoots.

My choices in lighting are driven by the desire to reduce the information in the image to just subject – no shadows or background elements that could distract,  In the case of the birds moevement was of course a major concern which led the decision to use Broncolor Grafit A4 with pulso twin heads for short flash duration.  For the camera I used the Leaf Aptus 75s tethered to a laptop.

You have a real affinity to the clean white background, do you ever have an impulse to break away from this tradition?

I use the white background because it is a void.  The void is one of the determining factors in allowing the subject to stand alone and rise to surface of the image.  My long term published projects all work in a tradition of cataloging – almost encyclopedic – and the consistency is very important to me.  The impulse to make images not on white is something I dont ever think about.  I make lots of different images – many not on white- it is just the on white work that is most focused and thorough and therefore most recognized.

First was your book Creature and now Bird, anymore animal projects in the pipeline?

Working on the next one with Insects.  I imagine I will be working on this project for many years.