Macayli Hausmann, Emotional Algorithm

Oakland, California, USA

Please introduce yourself: What is your name, where are you from, what do you do?

My name is Macayli Hausmann, I was born in Chicago, IL and spent the last nine years living in Oakland, CA. I recently relocated to St. Louis, MO and work full time as a freelance photographer.

What is your relationship with photography, and how did you get into it?

I am fortunate that cameras and photographs always seemed to be present in my life. I remember using disposable cameras and Polaroid cameras as a child. When I was a freshman in High school I took a dark room photography class and that is when things shifted for me and I began to take photography seriously.

What do you think triggers you to photograph in a certain moment? Is it planned or solely driven by intuition?

I would consider my process to be equal parts intuition and intention. It's typically a gut feeling when I see something I want to photograph.

What is the story you want your pictures to tell?

In my work, I focus more on a collection of off beat moments and observations rather than a linear narrative.

Which city would you like to visit the most, and why?

At this point I haven't had the opportunity to explore much outside of the United States, so I would likely choose to visit some of the major cities in Europe. My work is so strongly influenced by my geographical location so I would be really interested to see how that changes abroad.

What is your personal relationship to cities, and how do you perceive them as places in general?

As a child when my world was much smaller I had a lot of anxiety about being the last one awake at night. I remember watching Uptown Girls with Brittany Murphy, which takes place in NYC and feeling then that if I just moved to a big city, I would never be the last one awake. I still hold onto this notion about cities, as they function as places where you are never alone. In regards to my creative process, I am strongly influenced by my surroundings and have found the visual stimulation and walkability of a city to be very beneficial to my practice. 

Regarding your project Emotional Algorithm: What was your intention, and how did you come up with the idea?

Emotional Algorithm came together organically and was not a project that I had set out to make. The project began in March of 2020 and like so many others I was struggling to make sense of the Pandemic. I spent much of that time walking around my neighborhood creating a visual journal that evolved into Emotional Algorithm. 

Which project did you never finish?

I have an ongoing list in my notes section on my phone of photographs I'd like to make that haven't come to fruition yet.

What is that «one thing» you have never managed to photograph and is now gone for good?

My grandparents and their home. Although it often evolves to something more, much of my studio work begins as a response to core childhood memories, but there are certain scenes that I can't recreate without them physically here. I think often about my Grammy standing in the window next to her front door and watching and waving as I would pull out of her driveway. I wish I had taken that photo.

If you could travel back/forth in time, what advice would you give your younger/older self?

I'd let my younger self know it gets so much better!

What do you prefer saying: «to take a photograph» or to «make a photograph», and why?

I definitely use both terms but I find myself saying «making a photograph» more often — and I think it comes down to the intentionality of the act. 

What is the most interesting experience you have had while photographing?

There have been a number of really interesting experiences I have had when photographing strangers. I try to show up as authentically as possible which ideally invites others to do the same. The closest thing I can relate it to is how people confess things to their hair stylist that they normally would not share with others. I believe the close proximity I have to the subject and the anonymity of the interaction allows for barriers to be broken down in ways that we don't normally experience.

If it wasn’t for photography, what would you be interested in doing instead?

That's a hard question! I've always been interested in telling stories, so perhaps something along the lines of being an author. Or being the person who is responsible for naming nail polish colors, I think I would thrive in that role.

What are you currently working on, and—if there is—what is your next project or journey?

I am still working on «Emotional Algorithm», truly I don't know how I'll ever end it! At this point it feels like such an extension of self.

Thank you, Macayli!

Editorial Notes:

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Photography: Macayli Hausmann
Location: Oakland, California, USA

Links: Website, Instagram

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