Q&A: 3rd Ward's Max Kelly On The Flavor of Food Photography

All photos by Max Kelly

With 3rd Ward's Culinary Incubator on the horizon, food has been on our minds quite a bit (read: nonstop--someone make us something now.) Anyhow, as we yearn for that mouth-watering future, we've been busy feasting our eyes on the food photography of 3rd Ward member Max Kelly. We caught up with him to find out more about how it all began.

You can check out some of Kelly's delicious shots both below and on his new website--but first, our Q&A:

3rd Ward's John Ruscher: So how did you get into food photography?

Max Kelly: I've always known that I wanted to work in a field in which I could physically see my accomplishments at the end of a day's work. Before food photography, I worked as a camera operator on commercial film sets, and realized that while I enjoy video, still photography is where my true passion lies.

The thing I love most about photography is that it's a gateway to any other subject matter that you find you're passionate about. I'm fascinated by the mechanics of cameras, the ways in which light can interact differently with a subject, and the effects of composition on a viewer—and it's a privilege to explore my other interests through this lens.

JR: Where's the passion for food come from?

MK: I grew up in Brooklyn, in a very food-minded family that cooked and traveled often—so I had the benefit of being exposed to many different flavors and cultures at an early age. Food is a vast topic, and one which is universally shared. I'm captivated by the fact that there are infinite possibilities and variations for any dish, and that two people from different parts of the world can look at the same ingredient in totally different ways.

JR: Does food photography require a different approach from shooting other subjects?

MK: Still life photography is more focused on creating an environment than other types of photography. Sometimes, this means rearranging or adding props to a real-life location, while in other instances, "locations" are fabricated from scratch. Creating environments and choosing props that impart visual cues about a dish is a large part of food photography.

Beyond that, there is of course the factor of having a small window of time to photograph the food before the ingredients wilt, dry or otherwise lose their fresh appearance. For this reason, communicating well with your team and having a clear vision of the final product before beginning to shoot is essential.

JR: Did anything at 3rd Ward influence your work in particular?

MK: I found 3rd Ward's classes and coworking space to be a great help when I first struck out on my own as a freelancer. The Branding Your Vision class for photographers drove home the point that it's essential that your work have a unique and consistent look. It helped me create a style that was my own, and not rooted in what I thought was "popular" and "marketable". 

The Business of Photography class gave me insight into how publications hire photographers, as well as the most effective ways to get my work into the hands of photo editors and creative directors.

...and now for some of Kelly's gorgeous attempts to make you eat your laptop:

-- John Ruscher

Portland's Etchpop On Their Woodblock Printing Innovation and Startup Success

When your Kickstarter campaign raises more than double your original goal, you're probably onto something good. That's what happened with Portland-based startup Etchpop last year, and it's clear why they've been so successful: they have a completely simple, completely amazing idea.

With an official launch scheduled this month, Etchpop is a web-base service that allows you to design and order your own custom laser-etched woodblocks. Whip up whatever design you'd like, submit it to Etchpop and you'll receive a woodblock of that design to make handmade prints as you'd like.

How Etchpop works.Having taken out a small business loan to arm themselves with a Trotec laser (even before they launched their Kickstarter campaign), Etchpop's Marshall Tipton and Chester Lindgren have not been messing around. Already, they've put together a handy starter kit to get you printing, and Etchpop's new website--built by Subtext--promises to offer an easy and simple way to upload your designs and order woodblocks.

After encountering Etchpop's exciting and unique combation of cutting-edge technology and hands-on, DIY craftwork, we couldn't resist getting in touch to find out more. Check out our Q&A below.

3rd Ward's John Ruscher: How did you and Chester come up with the idea for Etchpop?

Etchpop's Marshall Tipton: For as long as we've known each other, we've always been dreaming up ideas for businesses or products that we could bring into world. Chester has always been a bit of the 'mad scientist' type, and myself a little more pragmatic so we compliment each other well. A little over a year ago Chester told me he had access to a laser cutting/engraving machine. The first thing that popped into my head was engraving an image into wood and printing it. I designed a birthday card for my dad and that was when we made our first laser engraved woodblock. The card was a hit. I actually used it for several of my friends and family members who had birthdays around that time. Everyone loved the card. A few weeks later Chester called me late at night, obviously in the midst of another mad scientist brainstorm, proposing the idea of a website where anyone can submit an image to be engraved into wood to make their own woodblock prints. After many months of deliberation and a few empty bottles of whiskey later, we decided to finally 'pull the trigger' on one of our crazy ideas. 

An Etchpop laser-etched woodblock.JR: Did either of you have a background in printmaking?

MT: We both had very little direct experience with printmaking, but we had experienced it vicariously—Chester through his ex-girlfriend who majored in printmaking at PNCA (Pacific Northwest College of Art) and I through my wife who is an artist and my brother who is a graphic designer. However, instead of sitting on the couch in a jealous delirium, we started to nerd out on all things letter-press related, and two years later we feel fantastic.

JR: What has the Etchpop timeline been like?

MT: It's all been alarmingly fast. We came up with the idea in early 2011 and spent a few months ruminating how we might actually get this thing off the ground. By the end of spring, we had decided to turn to Kickstarter and began working on the video in the summer. We posted the video in October, and it's been a blur ever since.

The Etchpop starter kit.JR: What made you decide to use Kickstarter?

MT: We've always been a fan of Kickstarter and we love the platform it provides to help creative entrepreneurs get on their financial feet. It's a great way of finding out if there is a market for a new idea without having to spend a lot of money upfront. We are always emailing each other links to different Kickstarter videos to check out. It's a great source of inspiration to see all the amazing ideas people are funding and watching them come to fruition with the help of the community.

JR: Can you tell us a little about this Trotec laser that you bought?

MT: Trotec lasers are basically the Mercedes Benz in this class of laser machines. They are designed and built in Austria and have Synrad laser tubes that are manufactured in Washington State (just north of us). There are definitely many cheaper options but we wanted a high quality machine that is capable of production day-in and day-out, and Trotec is definitely it. 

The founders of Etchpop.JR: How will the process of ordering a custom woodblock work?

MT: We will have some simple and playful tutorials to help people get their images ready for a woodblock application, but there will definitely be a lot of back and forth to make sure people's blocks turn out the way they should. As Etchpop grows we will be slowly building an image editor that will specifically meet the needs of our customer base, piece by piece as their needs become evident.

JR: Any tips or words of advice for would-be creative entrepreneurs?

MT: Do what you love! We've come up with several business ideas that would have made money, but we just weren't into them all that much and couldn't get behind them. As you will be spending countless hours thinking about it, working on it, designing things for it, returning countless emails about it, redesigning things for it, dealing with unforeseen issues, and redesigning your redesigns, we repeat: you gotta love what you do. These are not complaints by any means; it feels great to overwork ourselves. And even though we've cut all communication with everyone in our lives aside from each other, turning an idea into an actual product is insanely rewarding.

Etchpop woodblocks.The second most important thing when starting a labor of love is to find a good accountant. Almost all businesses are the same when it comes to accounting and these head-shrinkingly boring meetings provide an essential foundation to build upon—which is much easier than trying to remodel the foundation after you've already started building. Forgive the cheesy metaphor but it’s true. It will save you time and money in the future.

Finally, use as many resources you can find, especially when they are free. Go to sba.gov and find a small business development center in your area. There is a lot of free/cheap help out there for people who want to start a new business. Try and find someone in your area that has the same type of machinery you are planning to buy or use, as they may be willing to talk to you, give you tips or suggestions or give you insights on how to get a better price on the machinery. 

JR: Were there any aspects of starting Etchpop that were particularly difficult?

MT: One the most difficult parts has been realizing how much time everything actually takes to get done, if you want to have it done right, that is. We understand that our customers expect professionalism and coherency, so taking the extra thousand hours to perfect a process or idea is definitely worth the time. And although things are moving along somewhat smoothly, we still feel super lucky everyone has been so patient thus far.

JR: Anything else people should know?

MT: Etchpop.com is going live mid-April!

Prints made with an Etchpop woodblock.

-- John Ruscher

Members With 9-to-5's // Q & A with Sonia Katyal, Fordham Law Professor & 3rd Ward Member

3rd Ward members are experts in all sorts of things. Sure, we've got our fair share of master woodworkers, bad-ass photographers and makers of all sorts of other amazing things, but there are many other talented and accomplished folks among our ranks that you might not expect. 

One of those is Sonia Katyal, a Professor of Law at Fordham Law School, author and award-winning scholar on intellectual property and civil rights.

She kindly took some time to tell us about her work and give us some insight into current events like the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act and Occupy Wall Street.

Hit the jump for our Q&A with Katyal, where we talk SOPA, outsider movements and how artists now have the very real ability to subvert branding experiences in a positive way.

3rd Ward: What attracted you to intellectual property and the areas of law related to art and culture?

Sonia Katyal: I have always been interested in the intersection of law, art and culture for as long as I can remember, probably because I have had a hard time deciding whether to be a lawyer, an artist-in-training, or both. As an intellectual property lawyer and scholar, my work focuses on the intersection of property entitlements and social change, particularly with respect to artists, activists, disobedients, etc.  In my work, I study how legal entitlements—i.e., copyright or other types of property rights—might unwittingly exclude particular groups from protection. These days, I'm particularly interested in studying artists who use brands, logos and trademarks in their work and some of the intellectual property issues that arise in cases of appropriation art. Andy Warhol was among the first to become famous by using everyday brands in his art; my work studies how his legacy has inspired generations of future artists and activists who seek to respond to the ubiquity of advertising in our public commons.

3W: What's your take on the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)?

SK: SOPA is a powerful symbol of how certain content owners have been able to capture Congressional attention at the cost of consumer and user interests. By brandishing the ever-present issue of piracy, content owners have been able to succeed in drafting a law that casts an overbroad net that implicates the interests of innocent parties. The result is a dangerous set of risks to First Amendment issues and innovation. That's the pessimistic angle. The optimist in me, however, is heartened by the massive social movements that have sprung up in opposition to SOPA—everyone from innovation and tech enthusiasts to the White House have finally stood against SOPA, and hopefully their Congressional sponsors will take notice. 

3W: You've published a book about property law. What sort of topics does that cover?

SK: In Property Outlaws: How Squatters, Pirates and Protesters Improve the Law of Ownership, my co-author, Eduardo M. Penalver, who teaches at Cornell Law School, and myself focused on how certain types of disobedience can counterintuitively improve the evolution of property and intellectual property law. Within property law, we argued that the law has a tendency to become static and fall out of step with the needs of society. By studying the behaviors of "property outlaws"—the trespasser, squatter, pirate, or file-sharer—we show how some (but not all) types of nonviolent disobedience have induced legal innovation so that it responds more dynamically to the needs of others. In our book, we also looked at different types of intellectual property disobedience, like the copyright protests that accompanied the famous mashup The Grey Album, those that were also organized around the legendary civil rights film Eyes on the Prize, and patent activism around HIV medications by the Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa. 

3W: How do you see current movements like Occupy Wall Street in relation that?

SK: Much of the powerful rhetoric of the property outlaw is echoed in the Occupy Wall Street movement.  Eduardo and I recently wrote a little piece about how the Occupy Wall Street movement is reminiscent of earlier social movements around property, like the sit-down labor strikes that started in Flint, Michigan in the 1930s, the occupation of Alcatraz Island in 1969 by Native American activists, and of course the lunch counter sit-ins in the civil rights movement around that same time. Our general feeling is that activism that leads to shifts in our legal system can be valuable and instructive, and to the extent that OWS has captured the needs for those shifts, it has valuably helped people organize and articulate the need for a systemic political transformation.

3W: You also have a new book, Contrabrand: Art, Advertising and Property in the Age of Corporate Identity, on the way this year from Yale Press. What's that going to be about?

SK: I focus on the intersection of art and trademark law within the First Amendment, and discuss some of the constitutional challenges the branding movement has created. I focus on a particular movement in popular art and culture, the "anti-branding" movement, which I define to include the expressive activities of artists and activists who direct their energies towards challenging advertising. Contrabrand investigates how artists transform—and successfully subvert—the power of branding, and how the law has both enabled and silenced their work. While the law normally protects the freedom of individuals to express themselves, those freedoms generally stop short when they conflict with the branding rights of others. As a result, the expansion of trademark law has ushered us into a disturbingly overprotective regime that risks sacrificing social and artistic commentary for the protection of the brand and commercial expression.

3W: Anything else people should know?

SK: I'm always looking for appropriation artists or activists to write about—so send me suggestions! You can email me through my website at Fordham Law School.

-- John Ruscher

Q&A // All-Analogue UK Photographer Ellen Rogers on Her Process, Inspirations and New Book

We find it painfully difficult to stop looking at Ellen Rogers' photographs. They're content and composition is mezmerizing and otherworldly, as though they might be long-lost images from some distant era. The fact that she works without the aid of any digital technology, opting instead for the painstaking processes of film, darkroom, vintage cameras and analogue experimentation, makes her photography that much more awe-inspiring. We're reminded of the beautifully wrought fancy portraits of Julia Margaret Cameron and the dreamy, soft-focus images of David Hamilton.

In late 2010, we featured her images in our winter magazine, though last week we caught up with Rogers to ask her a few questions about her work and her new book, Aberrant Necropolis. Check out the Q&A and a selection of Rogers' photographs (beware: some are likely NSFW) after the jump.

3rd Ward: Can you describe your creative process?

Ellen Rogers: I can certainly have a go.

If we are talking 'process' in the existential sense, it is absolutely bloody chaotic. 

I will read something or see a tree and think of black branches. I could see a face I can't forget or mimic a feeling I can never speak. All these intangible and abstract notions need to become solid. So I go about making them something I can hold. I guess that's when it becomes arduous.  I need to explain to people that I have some hair brained notation and that it needs to be something stupid like 'solid' and they lose faith, stare at me and think I'm weird. All this I am used to but try doing this every week with ten new people who think you are potentially mad or dangerous. So I spend time with the teams, explaining things, rushing about manically and somehow eventually they know what I mean or they at least pretend to. It is at that point that I make a set, or do a horrible drawing, or find a model and things are more 'tangible.' 

Things are changing though as a direct need to be more clear about who I am and what I believe is good and bad.

3W: What has made you stick with completely analogue equipment and methods?

ER: Primarily my dad, he is so critical of my work. He was an analogue photographer (obviously) and he always says things like, 'These stink you never wash your prints long enough, they won’t last,' or 'That’s too blown out, watch your exposures,' etc etc. So I became infatuated with pleasing his eye. I always try to make perfect something so entirely imperfect like film. I always aim for absolute skill and creative control but add to it anomalies that breathe in new chaos. But, goodness me, I’m terribly fussy about prints, I actually carry a magnifying glass around to check grain. I have so, so much to learn too. The world of analogue lends itself to such adventures in the 'po-face' that annoying people like me can indulge in.

3W: What are some of your influences or inspirations?

ER: House of Leaves, Magma (the band), Fentiman's Curiosity Cola and many more.

3W: How did you decide on the title Aberrant Necropolis?

ER: It's quite literal actually, and I am glad you ask as so many people email about it. It is, 'Aberrant' as in Chromatic aberration (lens distortion) and 'Necropolis' as in city of dead people. That’s how I have come to see my work ever since this experience.

3W: Tell us more about the book...

ER: It is a puzzle, to be solved, harbouring a key inside that unlocks unseen material online. That said it is also a picture book including 72 photos and a lovely forward by my friend and master of the Internet, Warren Ellis. 

3W: What are you working on right now?

ER: Sorting my life out, I have become a rather chaotic and bizarre person in the last year. I fear I may be going slowly and irreversibly mad. Aside from the terminal sanity I have moved into a beautiful new place and I am trying to remedy those cerebral aliments. I will let you know if it works out.

As for work, I am doing a project with Vania Zouravliov who I admire tremendously.

--John Ruscher