View Karli Petrovic’s extensive interview with Lori Nix for Print Magazine:
When looking at Lori Nix’s photographs, it’s hard to believe that each scene was constructed by hand. Perhaps even more amazing is the fact that she avoided using digital manipulation to produce the final prints. In an era where Photoshop illusions can give anyone a beach body or an animal head, Nix chooses to rely solely on the “smoke and mirrors” of lighting and perfectly scaled models built on tabletops. The result is a surreal glimpse at the themes that most influence Nix’s work: danger and disaster. Here’s what Nix had to say about her process, her influences and what people really think of
her photographs.P: You reference The Sublime school of thought as having an affect on your photography in that it attempts to evoke emotions like unease, humor or horror. Have you experienced these emotions when looking at your work? How do people who see your exhibitions react to them?
LN: I have difficulty viewing the final photograph objectively due to the baggage of months of working on it. Throughout the building process, I am more concerned with the physical problems of materials and construction challenges. When I’m shooting, it’s all about lighting and color. That being said, I really consider the mood or ideas I want to express in the initial planning stages and focus the design in that direction. My goal is to make these constructed spaces look as real as possible. Reactions to the work vary from ‘that looks so real’ to hearing that I ‘have a death wish’ (I don’t). Once people realize these aren’t real spaces or events, the images are less threatening. Quite often people end up telling me a personal story that relates to the particular image in some way.
View Lori Nix’s series, “The City”
Browse all of Lori Nix’s work at ClampArt