Frank Ockenfels is a kind of wizard.
His arcane powers (presumably acquired from forbidden books bound in human flesh) are the stuff of legend, even if few – or any – would agree with my assessment of his magic. Some might even suggest he isn’t magical at all; that in fact, the world of photography doesn’t involve small demons trapped inside torture boxes but are instead innocuous cameras that anyone can master. As Ockenfels himself insists, photography has become the domain of anyone with access to a smartphone.
“What’s amazing is that everyone is taking pictures now!” he enthuses. “It used to be when you’d get your portrait it was a big thing. I mean, back in the day, you had to be dead! You couldn’t move at all – so that really shows just how far photography has come. First, you had to die. Then it started to progress, and you’d have to go into somebody’s studio and stand tremendously still. But jump forward and now everyone is taking selfies.
“I think it’s amazing that people are becoming more aware of photography. You can almost shoot in darkness now with these cameras. Someone can be sitting in a bar looking at their phone, and you can take their photo from the light on their screen. That’s exciting – that at any moment you can capture images, you can be spontaneous.”
Ockenfels is visiting Australia for his solo exhibition at Black Eye Gallery in Darlinghurst. There, a wide selection of his portraiture will be showcased, reflecting decades of work capturing celebrity and everyday faces alike. His reputation has developed not simply because of the gamut of renowned personalities he has worked with – though the list is mighty impressive – but largely due to the imaginative scope of his work. Snapping off a simple profile shot is one thing; capturing a moment that may outlast the subject themselves is something else altogether.
“I think it’s always finding new opportunities, seeing what else can be done. I like the imperfection of things. Going to museums, I always liked to see the edges of the canvas, seeing the paint spatter at the edges where things weren’t really perfect. I think that went along with my vision. If I’m going to shoot your portrait, there are so many different ideas and approaches. And there’s always the obvious picture, sure – you can just show up, get a very flat piece of light, get them to look at you and take a picture. But the other approach was, what could you possibly do to find some other moment, some other use of light? It’s like dipping your finger in ink. Nine times out of ten, that splatter is the most interesting part – this wonderful, unknowing, haphazard result.”
[Angelina Jolli by FrankOckenfels]
More often than not, his results are stunning. In addition to his portrait photography, one need look no further than his work on television series such as American Horror Story, Breaking Bad and Mad Men to see his arresting imagery in full flight. While he has become a seasoned hand in finding that moment of frisson between subject and lens, Ockenfels treats his work very much as a dialogue; the final image is a meeting of minds.
“You want people to be themselves. Nowadays I might be one of six photo shoots that a celebrity is doing that day. You need to find that moment, talk to them. Years ago I worked for a photographer called Josh Green, and Josh used to say you treat famous people like they’re nobody, and nobody like they’re famous. You need to find that common ground. If I walk in the door and I’m in adoration of who I’m standing in front of – ‘Oh my God, I love your work’ – no matter how normal that person is, you’ve then separated yourself. There’s this unease where they know they have your awe, and they’re then in control of the situation.
“You want an equal conversation. You want to sit there and engage, go back and forth and disagree. I like when people say, ‘I don’t like that picture.’ It makes me think, ‘OK, then I’m missing the point here, let’s find the picture together.’ My ego is totally in check on that. I’m happy to say, ‘Great, give me two or three words about why you don’t like it, and we’ll figure out something amazing.’”
At the end of the day, despite his numerous accolades and a CV littered with shoots for journals such as Rolling Stone and Time – and despite the fact he probably isn’t an evil wizard – Ockenfels’ passion remains at heart a rather simple, timeless joy.
“I guess I just like taking pictures. I could care less about the celebrity aspect of it. I love it when people don’t know who I am, but they know the work. The work should be more important than the person taking it, and I love that I’ll teach sometimes and people don’t know me, but they’ll know my work. I’ll hear people say that they’ve followed my work for years, but they don’t know my name. And that’s the point. That’s what I work towards.
“I want to take a picture that will make you stop in your tracks, that takes you some place else. It shouldn’t be, ‘Hey, that’s a shot of David Bowie.’ It should be, ‘Wow. That’s a great picture.’”
[TOP: David Bowie by FrankOckenfels]
The exhibitionFrank Ockenfels 3runs until Sunday October 25 at Black Eye Gallery.
