Growth by Experience: LomoAmigo Jesse Burke

Jesse Burke, an established photographer and director named one of TIME Magazine’s Top 100 Photographers to Follow, shares with us a collection of photos that embrace the complicated relationship humans have with nature, utilizing the Daguerreotype Achromat Lens to blend the two identities in to a dream-like quality.

How old were you when you first picked up a camera? How did you get into photography?

I was in my early 20s when I first started shooting pictures. I took a college photo introduction class and decided I was going to document the skateboarding lifestyle that I was a big part of. I was living in Tucson Arizona and going to the University of Arizona. I was hooked immediately on the spirit of the medium in the way the camera allowed me to show the world our lives and lifestyle.

Are there any memorable shots from the early days that you can tell us about?

My favorite early photos were the ones that I took of my friends in the desert. We were living in the Sonoran Desert which a very specify beauty to it and I decided to take a group of my friends, both male and female, out into the landscape to try and document them in a place that matched how I felt about them personally or the spirit of them visually. It was a really interesting first project and the very first I embarked upon. It was seminal for me. I still document portraits out of the landscape, especially now that I have children.

We love your project with your daughter, Clover- Wild & Precious. Could you explain a little bit about what made you start the project and what it taught you?

I started wild and precious because I felt the need to connect my child with the natural world in a really deep and profound way. I figured the best way to do that would be to transplant her to the locations and landscapes so she could interact with the world in her own way on her own terms. It was amazing in the beginning because I didn’t think of it as a photo project but just a life project, as a way of parenting. I slowly started to document her and her interactions with the landscape and that led to the final pieces. I have learned so much in the process of working wither as a collaborator. I learn things such as patience and perseverance. In the past I always worked alone and instructed my subjects what to do but this time I was working with a five year old child who did what she wanted, with some guidance from her dad. It was a very different way of working. So it taught me to collaborate in a much smarter and profound way. I’m really excited that I’ve been able to learn this because it was something that she had to teach me and that I didn’t even realize I needed to be taught.

The dreamy quality of the Daguerreotype Achromat lens really seems to compliment your images well. Can you tell us about what it was like to shoot with?

It was fun to shoot with the Daguerreotype lens. The way it blurred things out and added a dreamy quality into an already beautiful and soft landscape. It allowed my subject to be sharp in the middle and draw the focus of the viewer right to the things that I wanted them to focus on, such as the subjects hair or face.

Do you have any technical tips for a new user?

Technical tips for a new user would include: shoot with your phone and with your camera, explore all options and every tool you have in your arsenal. I made that mistake in the beginning by thinking I needed to only shoot with the proper camera or proper lenses. I learned that playing around with different tools can sometimes lead to amazing outcomes. For example working with the Lomography lens on my digital camera is something that I would’ve never thought to do but I’m so thrilled to have done it and I love the results. My mind keeps expanding with every new opportunity, and that’s what I love about this medium and being an artist.

Try the Daguerreotype Achromat Lens, available now in the Lomography Online Shop.

Follow Jesse Burke on his Website, Twitter, Instagram.

written by katphip on 2016-09-12 #gear #people #art-lens #daguerreotype-achromat-2-9-64-art-lens