The Upcoming

Filmmaker and photographer Lyle Owerko is set to launch his Boombox Project at XOYO Dec. 1, 2011. Most will know him for his iconic shots of the burning World Trade Center, as featured in the September 11 issue of Time Magazine.

In conjunction, his book “The Boombox Project: the machines, the music, and the urban underground” uses Owerko’s own archival imagery and features an introduction from Spike Lee, and commentary on the boombox culture by Ad-Roc, The Beastie Boys, Fab 5 Freddy, Kool Moe Dee, LL Cool J, Rosie Perez, DJ Spooky, Pras of The Fugees amongst many others; and the book, like the photos, is an amazing historical document.

The Upcoming caught up with Owerko ahead of the launch.

Ok, let’s start at the beginning. When did you first pick up a camera and what type was it?

I first picked up a camera in my late ‘teens – it was a Pentax 35mm SLR – not too sophisticated, but I loved its touch. For years I carried a Ricoh GR-1 taking snapshots everywhere I went. Film cameras required a lot of discipline and patience. I’m glad I had that foundation before moving over to digital tools and gear.

Your photography is an inspiration, what inspired you to go at it as a profession?

Photography was a a creative outlet for me with a lot of immediacy associated with it. Taking pictures allowed me to render the world in the hues, shapes and with a gravity of personality that no other medium offered. As a profession, Photography opens a lot of doors to travel and explore the world. I liked that and that’s why I’ve stuck with it.

I was flicking through the pictures of the Boombox Project on your site and found one of my parents’ old JVC boombox! I look at the youth of today and how they play their music in public on their mobile phones – do you think they’re missing a trick?

It’s strange, the blasting-of-music-out-of-a-mobile-phone phenomenon – the bass is missing and, as Don Letts says: “Bass
is Fundamental” – I’m sure when kids started carrying around and blasting music out of their Boomboxes it was strange too – however, those Boomboxes had a mission and a presence. Also a footprint of authority saying: “see me, hear me, notice me”. I’m sure the same premise goes for the blasting music out of a cellphone phenomenon (just on a much smaller scale). People blasting music out loud either from a car stereo or a cellphone want to be paid attention to, on one scale or another…

Is there much left in music to boom about?

Sure – whenever there is social disorder, change in the air, societal unrest of some sort then there’s a good chance the music will echo the pulse of society, there’s a lot of great music out there right now. Great wonderful things going on below the top 40 surface. It doesn’t take too much effort to find music that is worth booming about! You just have to be willing to stay off the major media tract and self-curate a soundtrack for yourself.

You’ve directed music videos as well… are they a past, present or future aspiration?

Directing is such a fun endeavor – a love that initially landed on my lap, disappeared for a while and now recently re-appeared. I’d say its a future aspiration to build on the efforts of my past and grow a new body of work moving forward from the accomplishments in my stills work. I like motion, I think well in the medium and now want to use the new tools out there to expand on my inner thoughts and visions.

There’s a bit of aesthetic theory that looks at what “a picture” wants. Do you ever have this relationship with your photos? Have any of your photos ever haunted you?

Yes, I have many photos that haunt me – it’s the latent echo of the result of framing an image that burns deeply into society – as much as others see the picture, when I look at some of the things I’ve done I not only see the image but remember the sounds, the smells, the impression on my skin and the tactile mark on my soul… One never shakes that. It’s the gift and the burden of this craft.

There was a great deal of braveness required to shoot those iconic Twin Towers pics. What other qualities do you think make a good photographer?

Intuition, good listening capabilities, instinct. Those qualities and a whole lot more including curiosity make a good photographer – the profession is open for a wide range of voices and so many exist. Many artists of this profession found their way into it through alternative studies of everything from political science to painting. From that baseline one can really excel. It’s not all about knowing the right cameras to use, the right Photoshop techniques, the right file processing – it really comes down to voice and those that choose to have a voice really shine through, not only becoming a good photographer but a great one!

There’s something of a universal cultural quality to the September 11 photos, in that it was a universal cultural moment, but it seems you tend to focus on subcultures and the margins – of the western culture at least. What are you looking for?

I’m always on the hunt for authenticity, for conviction, for character –it’s often found in the fringes. That’s why I am there. When 9/11 happened I was running through the streets of a relatively calm day to find the source of an explosion in my neighborhood. What existed on the fringe of a large American city that day soon became a major global event. Everything on this planet is connected in some manner. Sometimes the fringe becomes the center of the world, in other instances it takes some time before it does. It’s all about the relative context. Rather than sit in the center of things I seek out the rare genuine situations and then try to render them in the most interesting and cognitive way I can.

Photography and photographs are proliferating, especially on social media. What impact do you think this has on the value of photography?

Images are so easy to create now – simple small ones from a cellphone cam’ can be really cool-looking on a computer screen. I’m very much interested in taking pictures and making prints. The value now in photography is going to shift to prints. Prints that are outstanding in quality and tangible in both scale and vibrancy are the next steps for photography. The other offshoot is motion-capture. With SLRs now becoming state-of-the-art filming devices the key is to be a great storyteller – the real gravity of this craft is the ability to tell stories – the value in great stories will hold up no matter what the platform or mode of delivery.

What other projects can we look forward to?

I’ve got a few things cooking, but am not ready to pull the curtain back yet!

Lastly, any tips for people who enter photography with the same artistic passion as yours?

Keep shooting, keep studying, keep pushing and never never ever give up – follow your instincts and passions while believing in yourself!

“The Boombox Project” by Lyle Owerko presented by Whisper will be exhibited at XOYO from 2nd December – 15th January and at Whisper from 9th December – 14th January. For more information visit whisperfineart.co.uk

Ramis Cizer