Eterea Magazine Interview

I recently did an interview with rad Peru-based online magazine ETEREA. But since most of you probably don’t speak Spanish I figured I would post the English translation here. However if you happen to be an over-achiever and bilingual you can read the original version here and poke around the rest of the site while you’re at it… they post some cool content on there. -Laura

Read the interview after the jump.

The first time I found some of the work of Laura, I found it difficult to not continue the journey. Not only because of the visual impact at first glance, but the peace it gave our eyes which fed the desire to know more about who was behind there images. Laura Austin has excelled in a number of areas and it is very difficult not to consider her a true artist of our time.

A natural conversation allowed us to meet and explore her world, her anxieties, desires and dreams. She offers an explosion of pop culture, and we can only wait with enthusiasm to see what this girl from the mountains of Colorado has to offer next … great talent. Enjoy this chat with Laura Austin while we drink our coffee. - Hilda Mauro (Eterea Magazine)

First of all tell us, since where you interested in photography?

I first got interested in photography in a class I took in high school.We shot on strictly film and had to develop and print all of our own film and photos. I fell in love with the process of the work you had to put in to get an image, it was rewarding. Granted I only shoot film occasionally now and I’m not developing my own photos, but that was what originally got me interested.

Would you like to describe yourself as a photographer?

Ha… I’ve never been able to figure out what to call myself. Calling myself a photographer would probably be an insult to those who strictly shoot photos. I dabble in photography, writing, graphic design, social media etc… so I guess I could call myself a content creator? But generally when people ask me what I do and I don’t feel like elaborating I just say photographer… it saves some energy.

Some of your shoots are focused on xtreme games as you are wrote for one of the x magazines in the business…was this one goals from the beginnig? Or just an oportunity that came up?

I’m not sure if you are asking if it was my goal to write/shoot the X-Games… or work as a snowboard magazine but they kind of fall under the same category. If you asked me 5 years ago what my dream job would be I would say working at a snowboard magazine covering things like the X-Games. I just didn’t expect to have achieved that when I was 20 years old (the age when I started as the online editor at Snowboarder Magazine). I’m cursed/blessed with the desire to always progress so now that I have that under my belt I am looking to see where else I can push myself next. I could just say the position at the magazine just happened to fall in my lap, but I definitely worked my ass off to get to that point.

Photographs or Photographers that inspire you everyday?

I spend a chunk of time everyday browsing photos on Flickr & Tumblr to post on my photo blog www.inspiredbyme.tumblr.com. If you want to see what type of images & photographers get my wheels spinning then check out that blog.

You recently won the Lomography contest “Win Your Dream Space” how was that?

The whole experience involving that Lomography contest has been pretty surreal. I won their gallery space in Los Angeles for the month of November and I managed to get a group of creatives/friends I have been inspired by in some way to be apart of the photo show I put together. It was incredible to have those people involved, have an opening party with an incredible turnout, and do it under the roof of Lomography. It’s been a really good experience for me.

Tell us more about your setup for this contest?

I supplied each of the contributors (Chad Muska, Corey Smith, Jared Eberhardt, Jeremy & Claire Weiss, Natas Kaupas, Ian Ruhter, Danny Zapalac, Jason Lee Parry, and myself) with a Lomography camera of their choice. They then had a month to shoot whatever they wanted to and their 5 favorite photos went on display in the gallery. I held a big opening party for the event and the closing is coming up on the 29th of November.

For the creative process which format you prefer? analog or digital system?

It depends on what I am shooting. For the shoots I am hired to do I prefer to use digital at this point because it is more reassuring when I can instantly look at the photo to make sure I got what I want since there is more pressure with a budget on the line. But lately when I have been shooting for personal purposes I prefer analog, it’s more exciting for me to wait to get the photos developed to see how they turned out.

Live in the house or on the road?

I need to have a balance. When I am stuck at home for too long I get antsy and feel like I need to take a trip… traveling is what sparks my creativity. But if I spend too long on the road then I can get to the point where I miss having a routine. However, at some point I think it would be fun to make my house on the road for a bit… get some sort of RV and just travel for a while. But that’s just me daydreaming.

How do you imagine yourself in 5 years?

As I said before I am cursed/blessed with the desire to constantly progress which has expedited my path a bit faster than I would have expected. If you had asked me this question 5 years ago I would have never imagined I would be where I am at already. So the next 5 years who knows what will happen, but I’ll paint some sort of general picture for you. In 5 years I want to live in/own a house that I am proud to entertain people at, with a man who I can share a passion with (and who knows… maybe even a kid who will grow up to be the most amazing human I know). And be my own boss doing something I love, creating things that not only make me, but other people smile. With a steady enough income where I can afford to take chunks of time to travel to the places I have always dreamed of traveling to… with my man of course who just happens to be the best travel companion in the world. And I want to drive a rad old car with character that could be considered an “adventure mobile” that I will take on everything from trips to the famers market Sunday mornings to collect things for the breakfast I will make when I get home… to the road trips I will take to various national parks throughout North America. If I can make all that happen within the next 5 years I will be one happy camper.