Spotlight

Emma Anderson

December 14, 2016

Emma Anderson is a photographer from New Zealand, currently living and working in Brooklyn, New York. Her work has been featured in i-D, Mundane, Sumzine, no substance, DEW and Teeth Magazine to name a few.

@emmaxanderson

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Portrait of Emma Anderson

Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do. I’m a photographer living and working in Brooklyn, NY. I moved here around 5 years ago, only planning to stay for a year, but fell pretty hard for the place. It’s a little different to home in New Zealand.

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Anna for Mundane Magazine // Shot by Emma Anderson

Top 3 favorite or most visited websites? Lately my focus has shifted & every day I’m sure to visit the Guardian, BBC, places like Slate, Lenny Letter & of course Instagram way too many times. This past month has been heartbreaking for myself and the people around me so I feel like we are all trying to educate ourselves and keep up with ways to make positive change as best we can.

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Rachel // Shot by Emma Anderson

What is it like living and working in Brooklyn? There are so many more opportunities here than when I was working in Wellington, New Zealand. I have found that people can be really open to giving you a shot and it’s up to you to show up & do the job well. Right now photography is energizing and exciting because I’m working with people I love to collaborate with but it’s a constant hustle to allow for the time & money to do that. It’s an expensive, tough and often isolating place so I find it really important to surround myself with inspiring and driven people.

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Favorite photographers? Social media & the Internet in general make it so easy to find and engage with amazing artists. But I always return to people I discovered when I was first experimenting with photography like Nan Goldin, Viviane Sassen, Lee Miller, Juergen Teller, and Francesca Woodman. I actually moved to America thinking I’d make documentary work in the South after falling in love with Sally Mann.

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Noah for MADE NY // Shot by Emma Anderson

How did your interest in photography begin? With the darkroom.  I was hoooked by the science of photography and the chemical process and experimentation, it took me by surprise but I never wanted to do anything else after that.

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Josefin for ONE Magazine // Shot by Emma Anderson

Favorite cameras? I guess my favorites right now are what I am working on at the moment – Canon mark iv, Nikon FM2 35mm & a Mamiya RB. They all provide a different shooting process and atmosphere, which compliments the environments I want to create depending on the project.

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Mar for no substance magazine // Shot by Emma Anderson

How do you go about directing your subjects? A key thing for me has been negotiating the power relationships involved with Photography and particularly the representation of women. I usually only photograph woman (or landscapes) and shooting for me is always a conversation between the subject and myself. I pretty much bounce off the subject and try to make it productive, rewarding and fun for both of us!

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Rachel for Such&Such // Shot by Emma Anderson

Favorite Brooklyn hangouts? Trophy Bar, Mast Books, the Met & Transmitter Park or Central Park.

Dream collaboration? I want to collaborate with my sister…I just haven’t nailed down the project yet.

What’s your absolute favorite place in the city/the world to be? In the city…Transmitter Park in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. In the world it would be Kawhia, New Zealand.

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Erin for no substance magazine // Shot by Emma Anderson

What are you really excited about right now? Christmas! And a shoot next weekend.

What’s in your bag? A book I’ve half-read by Zadie Smith, wallet, headphones, phone with too many podcasts, and a beat-up 35mm point & shoot.

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