A Little Bit Of Chaos
The research of emotions, relations, and the essence of being a human is at the core of Jan Philipzen’s work. The experiments with hyper-realism, the occult, and fashion are distinct to Jan's vision; his photography presents a rare merge between reality and mystery.
The exploration of the occult both in music, Jan’s albums like Witch and An Eternal Fanatic, and photography provide an unexpected angle to consider as the atmosphere in the image is highly influenced by this revelation. Jan explains, “The question of fact and fiction in photography is something I’m still trying to get a better understanding of.”
Jan Philipzen is a photographer from Germany; he currently lives and works in Belgium. From a young age, Jan was fascinated with photography as a result of hours spent with his father, who first brought him in contact with cameras. Jan speaks about studying at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, learning the beauty of print, of the physical image, which wasn’t his favorite outcome of the process of photographing. His recent book Ravedeath Convention, published with Art Paper Editions, is a visual diary, which comes in an attempt to contemplate and decipher the complicated relationships and encounters in the past ten years.
Pre-order Ravedeath Convention Book
I Am
Hi Jan, great to have you in our magazine. Let’s start from the beginning. How did you discover photography?
I have to give a lot of credit here to my father. He was bringing me into contact with cameras when I was still very young. Early on, we made little films together. After that, I could always borrow the camera until I got my own. He also took me to the Helmut Newton Foundation on a trip to Berlin. I was instantly intrigued by that world. From there on, it was pretty much an organic progression.
‘The most helpful thing was getting honest and unfiltered critiques from your teachers and fellow students. This can be very beneficial if you want to tighten the gap between what you intend your work to be versus what other people perceive it to be.’
Royal Academy of Fine Arts
Studying at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, what was the concept which impacted your perception or encouraged you to engage in a different approach in photography?
I think, generally, the most helpful thing was getting honest and unfiltered critiques from your teachers and fellow students. This can be very beneficial if you want to tighten the gap between what you intend your work to be versus what other people perceive it to be. Understanding what specifically they relate to, what their reference points are, and how you fit into the already existing universe of the medium. It also helps you detach from your work a little more, even though nobody is ever fully able to.
Moreover, we were always pushed to print our images, which I hated in the beginning. But it forced me to engage with the photograph as a physical object. That, obviously, was a big influence on my work.
Do you think today's classic studies are helpful in succeeding commercially as a photographer or entering the right circles?
In my opinion, the impact of art school on your financial well-being is limited. It’s certainly not the degree in this case, which guarantees a level of commercial success. But the environment can still be very advantageous as a starting point.
Photo Direction
The atmosphere in your photography is of hyper-realism, a moment in time of an occurrence (as if the camera happened to be in your hands by a mere chance). How do you create this atmosphere?
I think for my approach, it’s important to have a rough framework for orientation. But within that, I leave a lot of things undecided to force a little bit of chaos.
‘Even though I’m usually very critical of religion, I still find myself being drawn to its narratives, symbols, all sorts of artistic practices related to it. The same goes for the occult.’
Occultism
Another theme that is explored in your body of work is occultism, which is manifested in the physical, the visuals, the narrative, and comes as a direct link to your music project. What is interesting for you to explore and research on this topic?
It’s very interesting that you ask that because I’m currently working on a new project, which is very much concerned with this subject matter. I’m not sure where this comes from or why this is something that interests me. Even though I’m usually very critical of religion, I still find myself being drawn to its narratives, symbols, all sorts of artistic practices related to it. The same goes for the occult. Another exciting facet is the state of ecstasy that some people seem to produce while engaging in rituals or religious behaviour more broadly. These states of ecstasy are also what I love so much about music.
How does music influence your photography?
Music influences my photography in several ways. Most musical genres have a very distinct corresponding visual language, and I was always interested in how that reciprocation can eventually evolve into a whole subculture. Furthermore, it looks like there are some technical insights that can be transferred from photography to music or the other way around. I find the relationship between sound and image endlessly fascinating.
Ravedeath Convention
Congratulations on the recent publication of the Ravedeath Convention book of photographs. It is defined as “a hybrid of autobiography and fiction,” what are some elements that present fiction in the series?
Thank you! an image always appears to be somewhere on a spectrum, with some images, of course, leaning much more heavily towards one of the extremes than others.
What I was trying to do is to play with this observation. To always vary the degree of control, I’m exercising over the emergence of a particular image. But more often than not, I find this very difficult to verbalize, and the question of fact and fiction in photography is something I’m still trying to get a better understanding of.
Upcoming Projects
What are your plans for this year? What are you working on right now?
Doing jobs, working on my next project, and working on some music as well. That’s the plan for the rest of this weird year, and that’s also what I’m doing right now.
