I Wish I Had More Room for Chaos

Featuring Featuring Nicolas Kern Words by Nastasia Khmelnitski

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An organic merge between form and narrative that demonstrates how a classic approach to photography can evolve into unanticipated disruption - is characteristic of Nicolas Kern's work. Deeply emotional images, as with качалка, exploring the place - a hand-made gym from materials dating back to the ‘60s - and more so the people united by this place. Fashion shots that highlight an experimental approach to the offered gaze on the subject, constructing the story with garments, objects, and movement. Or the book Zeitgeister - a race for time - shot on peel-apart instant film yet here to stay in a book format.

Nicolas Kern, a photographer born in the US and raised in Austria, speaks with us about the launch of his career and the decision to gain experience returning to New York. “You look at pictures differently. And I think it's a shame many people don't learn about photography anymore,” Nicolas shares. We speak about his decision to shift focus towards photography and the preferred way working on set, balancing between spontaneity and a planned script. Nicolas explains his approach to film photography working on Zeitgeister while we dive into a reminiscence of the project Kachalka and the community he encountered in Kyiv.

The Beginning

Hi Nicolas, thank you for taking time for this interview. We’re happy to have you in the magazine! Where were you born — could you take us to some frames from your childhood?   

I was born in the US, raised in Austria. I had a fairly quiet childhood, but I was lucky to be able to experience both the US and Europe from a young age. I think the contrast between the two defines large parts of me to this day.

‘Photography came as a natural solution to the problem of not being able to draw but wanting to put my visions to paper.’

Fashion Photography

What were your first steps into the industry and the field of fashion photography? How did you realize you wanted to become a part of this field? 

Photography came as a natural solution to the problem of not being able to draw but wanting to put my visions to paper. And I love how garments tell this amazing background story to a character, the ability to change other people's perception of the person they're seeing. Somewhere in this magical place, I felt at home.

How did your approach to fashion photography develop — which is very structural, seemingly in dialogue with concepts from architecture, meticulously planned frames, story, with every element that counts?  

Planning is a huge part for me. I like to have a grand plan and then ignore it the moment we're on set. It's kind of like a fallback plan. When all else fails, there's this backup tucked away in the back. The detail-oriented thing is both help and a crux. I love a world in order. But sometimes, I wish I had more room for chaos. I guess the grass is always greener...

‘I don't like when people get snooty about digital. From my experience, if you know what you're doing, people can't tell the difference!’

Zeitgeister

Zeitgeister, your first book, published in 2018, was an attempt to engrave in time soon to be vanished technology of the past, with Fujifilm discontinuing its FP-100C peel-apart instant film. The industry is experiencing this marathon against time, bringing back film photography, not knowing whether it will disappear while the masses turn to other formats. What is your relationship with film photography throughout the years and the revelations it helped you with? 

I try not to take sides as to which technology is better. Zeitgeister didn't either! Film has certain advantages, and so does digital. I don't like when people get snooty about digital. From my experience, if you know what you're doing, people can't tell the difference! Compare it to cooking: in the kitchen, people have a preference from gas to electric to induction, but all of those are just tools on your way to a good meal.

‘My years with Annie, Meisel, and Klein were some of the best experiences I've ever had. I had the opportunity to learn from the very best and be a part of their world for a long time.’

New York

Deciding to move to New York almost two decades ago to assist Annie Leibovitz, later on returning to Austria, how did the themes you’re exploring transformed with time, and what is your main interest today?  

I needed to move to New York back then. Austria is a great place to grow up, but I wanted to see how photography works at the pinnacle. My years with Annie, Meisel, and Klein were some of the best experiences I've ever had. I had the opportunity to learn from the very best and be a part of their world for a long time. You look at pictures differently. And I think it's a shame many people don't learn about photography anymore.

When I started assisting, I wanted to be a fashion photographer, and that's it. Now I have a broader view of myself. I love applying my vision to all kinds of things. Documentary, furniture, still life, portraiture, fashion. All of it. If it can be photographed, I have an opinion on it.

‘So raw and colorful. Beaming with this vintage view of masculinity and wrapped in paint chips and rusting iron.’

Качалка

Tell about this shoot made in Kyiv, Ukraine for Revue Magazine back in May this year, people working out in the streets during warm days of Spring in the most fashionable way. Who were the subjects you photographed, and what was the main emotion you were working to achieve?  

That was a personal project that fortuitously found its way onto the cover of Revue. A sort of meeting of the minds with their team. I found Kachalka on some random blog. I loved the story of it — a few guys made their own gym with building supplies back in the ‘60s/’70s, and it's still around — and I loved how it all looked. So raw and colorful. Beaming with this vintage view of masculinity and wrapped in paint chips and rusting iron. The unexpected element was the tight-knit community that came along with it all. I shot it over several days and really connected with the crowd there. In the end, it became less a story of the place and much more about the people who spend their days there.

Next Steps

What project are you working on or planning as the next one?

It has been incredibly busy! I made a record cover for the saxophonist Guido Spannocchi. It's an epic LP full of dynamic melodies! All played freely in a session with his crew. Then I just got back from LA, where I shot a campaign for a furniture company that I can't wait to share, and there is a campaign for Self Portrait coming out. 

On the personal side, I've been working on a book project about Austria. My wife and I moved there over the pandemic, and I'm exploring how the country and I have changed over the 15 years I've been gone. It's proving to be a very emotional journey.