We call it the #ICMEETSERIES and thought it would be interesting to find out a bit more about the people behind the disposables. We asked a few IC contributors to tell us a bit about themselves and this is what we got in return…
IC MEET SERIES – Q+A with…
Esther Mckenzie
ROLL 1 | ROLL 2 | INSTAGRAM
Who are you?
Esther McKenzie
Where’s home?
Broken Hill, NSW aka middle of nowhere, but I have the tendency to move often. Currently in Newcastle, NSW.
What do you do for a crust?
I’m studying full time Occupational Therapy so I work in disability support. I really enjoy it so far. It’s flexible so it works out well.
Can you tell us about your creative background?
Hmm I play music since I was little, keyboard/piano. Learning guitar. I like to write too. It used to get so hot back in the summer back home, you couldn’t go outside. So I would often write stories for my sister’s amusement. I got into photography as a teenager. I grew up on a property so I would always run to the top of the damn with Dad’s camera to capture the sunsets. I than received a camera for my 21st. But I was always obsessed with dad’s old film photos. I guess because they looked so cool and I got a sneak peek into the life he had before me. I also love going to music festivals. But my phone had the tendency to die and I didn’t like the whole crowd of people witnessing the bands play through their phones. So I started taking film cameras to gigs and festivals. It is the best way to capture the day.
Best advice you’ve ever been given?
“Do what makes you happy.”
What do you do with your free time?
When I’m not studying, I like to watch live music. I like to go to the beach. I like to drink coffee and write things. I also like to read and get lost in films. I’ve just recently got into meditation and I find it hypnotic and soothing between studying.
Tips for making your ideas and dreams come to life… What inspires you to shoot film?
Take risks. Try everything. If it doesn’t work out at least you know you tried. Not trying or not knowing what could have been is something that will stay in your mind.
Friends. My friend Sarah encourages me creatively and sometimes I use her as a subject. I am also a cinema nerd and love cinematography so I try to consider new angles and fresh eyes when I take a shot so it’s unique in some way.
How did you come to connect with Indisposable Concept?
Instagram. This is my first roll sharing with you guys but I have the tendency to “double tap” and like your posts ;).
How did you find the experience of using the disposable camera? Enjoyable or painful?
Always enjoyable..
When shooting with disposables/film, how does it make you feel not being able to see the photos as they are taken?
I love not knowing. Like Forrest Gump says “life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get” – unless its roses and you can read the back of the packaging. But still, that’s the exciting part not knowing what you took, the memory evoked when you took it.
Analogue Vs Digital?
ANALOGUE!!
What do you prefer and why?
As mentioned in my letter, despite the endless abundance of technology – we have receded the point of overly photo shopped images and the flashes of the same moment. What began as an intimate experience and memory has been edited and performed to look flawless, that the sincerity is lost along the way. Film can capture a moment perfectly without interrupting the experience.
It seems film photography and disposables are making a comeback, why do you think that is?
I think one, because the pictures look cool, but two – I think it’s the fact that the moments are more special. They are taken there and then with little to no…
If someone destroyed all the disposable cameras in the world and you had the very last one, what would you capture?
Probably my drunk friends and I. Just be weird and take strange photos that don’t really make sense for the future colonization to somehow interpret meaning, but will never fully comprehend. A mystery!
What does the future hold for you?
Hopefully travel and working in the field of occupational therapy. I would love to do music or film on the side as personal goal. But who knows…we will see.
How would you describe your photographic style?
Reflective and fun.
Who or what influences you creatively?
Music, films my friend Sarah and my sisters.
Where do you find inspiration?
Films (love Sofia Capolla films), books and through people.
What’s the biggest issue facing the world right now? Worry less about….? Focus more on….?
I get pretty bad anxiety when it comes to poor environmental policy decisions. You might say “climate change” but more so the disregard of it, and so the total attitude towards how we treat our overall environment. Plastic, oil spills, species extinction, waste…It’s the attitude towards how we treat our environment is what scares me. Especially when our leaders are not putting this at the fore front of their policy decisions. However I feel optimistic that we will progress with more awareness and coming together to stand up against these issues.
Also the inequality of wealth. I read somewhere that soon someone will earn one trillion dollars. We have people living below the poverty line struggling and yet the wealthiest just keeping getting richer. I heard once, if we want to resolve poverty we need to resolve the inequality of wealth. This is hard to do when the wealthiest control policy decisions to address this…
5 at 5… (For lack of a better name)
5 Fave places to shoot?
1. In the ocean
2. Home in the desert
3. National parks
4. Alleys and lanes
5. People’s intimate bedrooms
5 Instagram accounts that inspire you?
1. @taylorbradyphoto
2. @nickpiss
3. @haydengriffiths
4. @slimesunday
5. @paperhands_
5 things we need to watch on Netflix?
1. Making a murderer
2. Cowspiracy
3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
4. The IT Crowd
5. Nyphomaniac I & II
5 favourite places to eat/drink?
1. Apothocotherapy kitchen
2. Suspension Espresso
3. Shuk Café – North Bondi
4. Opus Coffee Wollongong
5. Drift
5 places on planet earth you’d like to capture with your disposable?
1. Iceland
2. The town where they filmed the ‘Dressmaker’
3. Backstage music gigs (intimate rehearsals)
4. Alaska
5. Cheap LA motels