Interview with photographer Timothy Hutto

Cary Benbow: Why do you photograph?

Timothy Hutto: I photograph because I feel that my images can push against current trends and defy definitions from previous eras of the camera.

CB: What compels you to make the images you create?

TH: It started as a rebellious response to my failures to create images in the vein of the great photographers of history. I had an epiphany where I realized the rules placed on my photographic practice were self imposed and that I could do anything I wanted at anytime. From there, I decided to push my image making as far away from what I perceived as traditional photography as I could. The media, literature and semiotic theory drive the concepts behind the images.

CB: What is the idea behind your images submitted to F-Stop’s issue, Wonder-Full? Are they part of a project, or why did you select these images?

TH: The idea behind the images I submitted was originally to create visual representations of idiom and other clever literary devices. They are all part of a greater body of work that I have been working on for the past three years, but the images I submitted held a personal sense of wonderment I hoped others could enjoy.

CB: In your opinion, what makes a good photograph?

TH: I think that a photograph is good not because it imposes a single meaning on different viewers, but because it suggests different meanings to a single viewer.

CB: What/who are your photography inspirations — and why?

TH: My quick answer is Eggleston, Skoglund, Steichen, Penn, Maisel, Eldridge… the list of the “bigs” goes on and on, but it really comes down to photographers who work in color with a unique point of view (a bonus for a sparkle of humour). A few standouts in the list would be Neil Winokur because I discovered his work about two years into my still life work, and was stunned by his work with objects on color fields. Paul Outerbridge’s pioneering advertising photos, especially the toilet paper and roses, make me smile. Last but not least, Pete Turner because the colors in his Africa work are so vibrant and full of life that they make the world seem extraordinary.

CB: How would you describe your work to someone viewing it for the first time?

TH: Boldly colored still life photographs inspired by mass media with a humorous/subversive point of view.

For more of Timothy Hutto’s work: www.timothyhutto.com

Originally published at F-Stop Magazine.