Please introduce yourself: What is your name, where are you from, what do you do?
Thank for sharing my work, my name is Rachelle Mendez from California. I live right on the border of Los Angeles County and Orange County. Living in the highly congested landscape has allowed me to have an intense focus on my long running series, Minimal Hardscapes.
This series documents the color and layered geometry within the urban landscape and how we visually confront it.
What is your relationship with photography, and how did you get into it?
Photography has meant different things to me at different times in my life. As far back as I can remember I have always had a camera in hand. I still create using a Polaroid I received as a gift when I was 9 years old. I became much more focused on photography in 2012 when I started my Minimal Rural series of photographs that captured the landscape that I grew up with in Northern California. It was a goal to shoot the images with a graphic and reductive style.
In 2015 I really started to pay attention to my current surroundings of Los Angeles and Orange County, thus Minimal Hardscapes evolved to have a life of its own. In my mind the rural and the urban series intermingle seamlessly as they do in real life. California’s landscapes are a story of constant transitioning, from suburban to commercial to industrial to rural to urban and back again. Photography is an excellent way to capture those visual layers and transitions.
What do you think triggers you to photograph in a certain moment? Is it planned or solely driven by intuition?
Both, usually my photograph comes together in an instant reactive shot...at this point I have a strong conviction of what I like. I studied advertising/ graphic design in college, so my inclination to make a highly graphic and composed frame also come from that experience. I will tell you that more times than not the intuition gives you a solid starting point... a photographer should always be aware of their surrounding scanning for a better frame.
What is the story you want your pictures to tell?
I originally started the work in this series with a strong foundation based on minimalism, which is a rejection of the artist narrative. I like the idea of my work blindly open to interpretation—there is a lot of freedom in that. Whenever someone writes about my work I am usually impressed with their interpretation and I think, «Wow, I couldn’t have said it better myself.». I interpret that as a success.
Which city would you like to visit the most, and why?
I would love to take some time to explore the border cities of California and Mexico.
What is your personal relationship to cities, and how do you perceive them as places in general?
I grew up in a rural outskirt of Sacramento, in Northern California—there were no visual obstructions where I grew up. I could stand in my parent’s field and see nothing but other fields for miles and miles. So, when I moved to Southern California for college it was a culture shock to have so much visual congestion. I think when you are an outsider to a new area you become hyper aware of your surrounding. I have used this to my advantage whenever I visit a new city.
What is the driving force behind creation?
I am looking at the colors, shapes and layers within an urban landscape. Most of my work features architectural structures, however there is a lot of layering that completes the image as a whole. These vertical obstructions take up all of our surrounding information; the sky, fields and mountain ranges. In the highly congested areas of Southern California our consolation prize is a 90 degree graphic, so far removed from the natural world, yet offering an opportunity to forget what we are missing and still be satisfied.
Which project did you never finish?
I made a companion series of photograms using bits of time worn architectural elements. First, I created a photo negative and laid it out in the sun to created to photogram and finally printed them on vellum. Those pieces have this very delicate and haunting/ disappearing quality to them. To me this represent the constant transformation of the landscape and the disposable materials used to create the urban landscape in Southern California.
What is that «one thing» you have never managed to photograph and is now gone for good?
This is a constants. The biggest challenge of this style of photography is being uninvited, but that is also very exhilarating. This is a gorilla style, carpe diem / seize the day way of photographing the landscape. If I see something it has to happen now! I remember listening to a curator give lecture on Ansel Adams, he reminisced that Mr. Adams didn’t necessarily have exclusive access to create his photographs of Yosemite. Adams faced the same challenges you and I would, there was often someone or something in the way of his frame, but he found ways to make it look as no one was around.
I also identify with this, I can’t tell you how often the smallest detail changes everything about the composition. I can scout a great space, but the next time I go there is a car parked in the way or I miscalculated that the light would be better at sunrise vs. sunset...there are so many variables in landscape photography, it is a humbling type of photography, because there is no perfect situation.
If you could travel back/forth in time, what advice would you give your younger/older self?
The advice for my younger self is, «just go get the shot». The sensitivity that you, as the photographer bring to the photo is the most important element. Don’t wait for perfect light, perfect camera equipment etc. None of that will matter if you don’t have the real life experience to understand the nuance of what makes a great photograph. To my older self, I just hope I have the energy to keep pushing myself to see the landscape in new ways.
What do you prefer saying: «to take a photograph» or to «make a photograph», and why?
Specifically, my photography is: «to make a photograph», and that is because I have a stylized objective. I’m looking for genuine complex moments that can be simplified. I am commanding the frame. I have a clear visual end goal. I have moved past pure «documentary» photography and possibly even the observations of traditional new topographic photography.
What is the most interesting experience you have had while photographing?
About six months ago I had a location burned in my mind. I had already tried to photograph it twice before, but it wasn’t giving me that special something. Never the less my gut was telling me to go back when the light was better.
It was a relaxing Sunday evening and I had just started cooking diner when I looked out the window and exclaimed to my husband and two young sons. «Now! I have to go get a shot right now!» Of course they had absolutely no idea what I was taking about and they were highly unmotivated to indulge me yet again—with everyone hungry we all piled into the car, my husband driving.
Time was running out, we had about a 30 minutes to get to the location that was 30 minutes away. I was on fire with nerves, not wanting to miss the sunlight that was quickly falling into the horizon. When we approached the location I quickly scanned out the car window noting the light and surroundings we just as I hoped! I was really getting excited. I told my husband to pull over.
He slowed the car and I anxiously exclaimed «Pull over». He slowed the car but apparently didn’t pull to the side of the road fast enough—It was at that moment that I flung the moving car door open and jumped out like stuntwoman to casually walk up to the sun drenched wall of an empty industrial park. I quickly framed up and clicked off about 20 shots—by this time my husband had safely parked the car behind me.
Completely satisfied with the footage, I cooly opened the car door. My husband and boys were completely speechless with eyes are large as saucers! On the way home, I had to explain the the kids that it’s not safe to just out of moving cars, even for photography.
If it wasn’t for photography, what would you be interested in doing instead?
Thats a great question—I am interested in so much, and at times photography can be quite unsatisfying for me. I really crave a more tactile and dimensional experience. I think this is why I incorporate different companion series into my photo series; like the photograms and Harbor Blvd (my series of abstract oil paintings on paper). I love looking at printmaking, painting, ceramics and textile art; my interests are never ending.
How would you describe one of your pictures to a blind person?
Imagine the crisp edge of a folded piece of paper; imagine running the palm of your hand across time worn textures; imaging the warm sun on your face in a summer evening.
What are you currently working on, and—if there is—what is your next project or journey?
I will continue to work on my series Minimal Hardscapes and continue to work on my painting series that compliments the photography work. I like the play of different mediums working together to tell the complex story of the California landscape.
Thank you, Rachelle!
If you have a project that you would like to present on this platform, please feel free to share it using the submission form.
Photography: Rachelle Mendez
Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
Please introduce yourself: What is your name, where are you from, what do you do?
Thank for sharing my work, my name is Rachelle Mendez from California. I live right on the border of Los Angeles County and Orange County. Living in the highly congested landscape has allowed me to have an intense focus on my long running series, Minimal Hardscapes.
This series documents the color and layered geometry within the urban landscape and how we visually confront it.
What is your relationship with photography, and how did you get into it?
Photography has meant different things to me at different times in my life. As far back as I can remember I have always had a camera in hand. I still create using a Polaroid I received as a gift when I was 9 years old. I became much more focused on photography in 2012 when I started my Minimal Rural series of photographs that captured the landscape that I grew up with in Northern California. It was a goal to shoot the images with a graphic and reductive style.
In 2015 I really started to pay attention to my current surroundings of Los Angeles and Orange County, thus Minimal Hardscapes evolved to have a life of its own. In my mind the rural and the urban series intermingle seamlessly as they do in real life. California’s landscapes are a story of constant transitioning, from suburban to commercial to industrial to rural to urban and back again. Photography is an excellent way to capture those visual layers and transitions.
What do you think triggers you to photograph in a certain moment? Is it planned or solely driven by intuition?
Both, usually my photograph comes together in an instant reactive shot...at this point I have a strong conviction of what I like. I studied advertising/ graphic design in college, so my inclination to make a highly graphic and composed frame also come from that experience. I will tell you that more times than not the intuition gives you a solid starting point... a photographer should always be aware of their surrounding scanning for a better frame.
What is the story you want your pictures to tell?
I originally started the work in this series with a strong foundation based on minimalism, which is a rejection of the artist narrative. I like the idea of my work blindly open to interpretation—there is a lot of freedom in that. Whenever someone writes about my work I am usually impressed with their interpretation and I think, «Wow, I couldn’t have said it better myself.». I interpret that as a success.
Which city would you like to visit the most, and why?
I would love to take some time to explore the border cities of California and Mexico.
What is your personal relationship to cities, and how do you perceive them as places in general?
I grew up in a rural outskirt of Sacramento, in Northern California—there were no visual obstructions where I grew up. I could stand in my parent’s field and see nothing but other fields for miles and miles. So, when I moved to Southern California for college it was a culture shock to have so much visual congestion. I think when you are an outsider to a new area you become hyper aware of your surrounding. I have used this to my advantage whenever I visit a new city.
What is the driving force behind creation?
I am looking at the colors, shapes and layers within an urban landscape. Most of my work features architectural structures, however there is a lot of layering that completes the image as a whole. These vertical obstructions take up all of our surrounding information; the sky, fields and mountain ranges. In the highly congested areas of Southern California our consolation prize is a 90 degree graphic, so far removed from the natural world, yet offering an opportunity to forget what we are missing and still be satisfied.
Which project did you never finish?
I made a companion series of photograms using bits of time worn architectural elements. First, I created a photo negative and laid it out in the sun to created to photogram and finally printed them on vellum. Those pieces have this very delicate and haunting/ disappearing quality to them. To me this represent the constant transformation of the landscape and the disposable materials used to create the urban landscape in Southern California.
What is that «one thing» you have never managed to photograph and is now gone for good?
This is a constants. The biggest challenge of this style of photography is being uninvited, but that is also very exhilarating. This is a gorilla style, carpe diem / seize the day way of photographing the landscape. If I see something it has to happen now! I remember listening to a curator give lecture on Ansel Adams, he reminisced that Mr. Adams didn’t necessarily have exclusive access to create his photographs of Yosemite. Adams faced the same challenges you and I would, there was often someone or something in the way of his frame, but he found ways to make it look as no one was around.
I also identify with this, I can’t tell you how often the smallest detail changes everything about the composition. I can scout a great space, but the next time I go there is a car parked in the way or I miscalculated that the light would be better at sunrise vs. sunset...there are so many variables in landscape photography, it is a humbling type of photography, because there is no perfect situation.
If you could travel back/forth in time, what advice would you give your younger/older self?
The advice for my younger self is, «just go get the shot». The sensitivity that you, as the photographer bring to the photo is the most important element. Don’t wait for perfect light, perfect camera equipment etc. None of that will matter if you don’t have the real life experience to understand the nuance of what makes a great photograph. To my older self, I just hope I have the energy to keep pushing myself to see the landscape in new ways.
What do you prefer saying: «to take a photograph» or to «make a photograph», and why?
Specifically, my photography is: «to make a photograph», and that is because I have a stylized objective. I’m looking for genuine complex moments that can be simplified. I am commanding the frame. I have a clear visual end goal. I have moved past pure «documentary» photography and possibly even the observations of traditional new topographic photography.
What is the most interesting experience you have had while photographing?
About six months ago I had a location burned in my mind. I had already tried to photograph it twice before, but it wasn’t giving me that special something. Never the less my gut was telling me to go back when the light was better.
It was a relaxing Sunday evening and I had just started cooking diner when I looked out the window and exclaimed to my husband and two young sons. «Now! I have to go get a shot right now!» Of course they had absolutely no idea what I was taking about and they were highly unmotivated to indulge me yet again—with everyone hungry we all piled into the car, my husband driving.
Time was running out, we had about a 30 minutes to get to the location that was 30 minutes away. I was on fire with nerves, not wanting to miss the sunlight that was quickly falling into the horizon. When we approached the location I quickly scanned out the car window noting the light and surroundings we just as I hoped! I was really getting excited. I told my husband to pull over.
He slowed the car and I anxiously exclaimed «Pull over». He slowed the car but apparently didn’t pull to the side of the road fast enough—It was at that moment that I flung the moving car door open and jumped out like stuntwoman to casually walk up to the sun drenched wall of an empty industrial park. I quickly framed up and clicked off about 20 shots—by this time my husband had safely parked the car behind me.
Completely satisfied with the footage, I cooly opened the car door. My husband and boys were completely speechless with eyes are large as saucers! On the way home, I had to explain the the kids that it’s not safe to just out of moving cars, even for photography.
If it wasn’t for photography, what would you be interested in doing instead?
Thats a great question—I am interested in so much, and at times photography can be quite unsatisfying for me. I really crave a more tactile and dimensional experience. I think this is why I incorporate different companion series into my photo series; like the photograms and Harbor Blvd (my series of abstract oil paintings on paper). I love looking at printmaking, painting, ceramics and textile art; my interests are never ending.
How would you describe one of your pictures to a blind person?
Imagine the crisp edge of a folded piece of paper; imagine running the palm of your hand across time worn textures; imaging the warm sun on your face in a summer evening.
What are you currently working on, and—if there is—what is your next project or journey?
I will continue to work on my series Minimal Hardscapes and continue to work on my painting series that compliments the photography work. I like the play of different mediums working together to tell the complex story of the California landscape.
Thank you, Rachelle!
If you have a project that you would like to present on this platform, please feel free to share it using the submission form.
Photography: Rachelle Mendez
Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
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News—Features • Artists • Publishers • Submissions • Newsletter • About • Imprint • RSS
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