-
The Unfinished Interview
Very much like Pat Dryburgh’s interview, this one is being posted for archiving purposes as well, with the exception that mine remained unfinished because unfortunately, Ian had to take down his site for personal reasons so the email exchanges eventually seized and the interview itself never got published.
With Ian’s permission, I’m sharing the information exchanged during the process.
The Interview
Ian: First of all, thanks for agreeing to be interviewed. I think this is going to be a lot of fun. Let’s start at the beginning: How long have you kept a weblog, and what made you get started in the first place?
Jorge: Thank you Ian first for the opportunity. Well, even though I’ve been blogging for about 5 years now, I would say I’ve been doing it for 2 because that’s the amount of time I started taking the craft more seriously.
By that I mean, I intially placed no thought in what I wrote, the text was incredibly self-indulgent, boring, and probably read by just one person and had perhaps little to no value to no one but me.
When I first purchased Jorgeq.com, the main purpose of the domain was to showcase some design work which I eventually took down and I got stuck paying a year worth of hosting, so I felt the need of still wanting to establish a presence for myself.
I’ve always had an innate enthusiasm for writing, so starting a weblog combined two of my other prime interest: computers and photography.
Maintaining a log of opinions and imagery seemed like the ideal way to hoard memories. There’s nothing like reading back on your own words or viewing your photographs and being able to recall exactly what you felt when creating any of them.
I never knew where all this work would end up but throughout the process I realized I wanted to produce complete written pieces that at least communicated a message and some have surprisingly generated talk.
Ian: So it sounds like you sort of fell into blogging as a way to get your money’s worth out of Jorgeq.com. If that’s true, I’m glad you did, because I really enjoy reading it.
You mentioned that your blog focuses on your interests: computers and photography. I am curious how those interests developed (particularly photography)?
Jorge: Thank you. The true motivation behind blogging has evolved from the response I get from people with common interests. When you make connections like that, it just inspires you in wanting to do the process even more.
As for photography, it only took one course in college to assure that it would be an activity heavily practiced even after the class. I had an interest in wanting to learn how to use a camera that wasn’t a point-&-shoot but even before reaching this stage, I always had a knack for documenting events and sharing them with stories.
My parents are from El Salvador (a small country in Central America) and it’s a place with sheer differences, great people, beautiful landscape and having lived there with my brother and grandparents for 5 years and it sparked my interest in photography even more.
I’m a fundamentally different person because of my time abroad. Not just because it broaden my mind but because I understand how another part of the world thinks and I love extracting and applying that same curiosity and appreciation of things into photographs. It’s helped me notice things that others may not have in the most mundane of situations.
Ian: I had a similar experience living abroad in Budapest for a semester in college. The experience of living in a place where you are functionally illiterate in the native language dramatically changes how you perceive things in your own, for sure.
You’ve written a number of good pieces that I’ve enjoyed about the iPhone, particularly jailbroken apps. It’s easy to forget, I think, that most iPhone users (or computer users in general) aren’t geeky enough to jailbreak their phone and install extra apps. What encouraged you to jailbreak your phone initially?
Jorge: I think a fully stocked piece of hardware is all and well but when there’s opportunity to customize it, we can’t help wanting to make it more our own and when you roll that concept onto the iPhone, you’ll notice that there really is no opportunity for you to do that unless you jailbreak it.
There’s only so much well crafted icons can do to spruce up the black canvas of an iPhone screen and quite honestly, I found it just plain boring and unappealing to look at. Winterboard has done for the iPhone what Candybar has done for the Mac and that’s prettified it.
The other primary reason for jailbreaking was because Apple hasn’t introduced a way to sample Apps without committing to buying them first. So currently I use Appulous to do just that but even then I still purchase apps because I believe in developers being properly compensated for their work.
Ian: That commitment to ensuring that developers are rewarded is one of the things I’ve come to love about the indy Mac community, and I’m glad you mentioned it here.
Speaking of being rewarded, I remember you posting a quote or a piece some time ago in which you mentioned that the only difference between an amateur and professional photographer is that one offers his services for hire. How has your photography changed over time from when you started to now, and how much paid work do you do these days?
Jorge: Funny thing is that I’ve been very self-conscious about presenting myself as a photographer because up to this point, the majority of my photographs are the product of my travels or random outings and not so much reliant on client work, but I plan to take on more paid gigs and try to really monetize my passion for the craft.
Part of being a photographer is being a director and with that comes inspiring the models to create a picture that conveys a story and that’s something I’ve commited myself to developing in more.
So although I haven’t really generated considerable money from providing actual photography service, the opposite can be said from my humble space Things Shot where I’ve sold a surprisingly good amount of my favorite photographs.
Very much like writing, I’ve become much more judicious in taking photographs. Sounds cliché but quality or quantity has become a best practice and there’s no better feeling than walking away knowing that you took some amazing photographs and not just hoping that at least 2 of 100 shots come out decent.
Ian: I know Pat Dryburgh recently bought one of your photos to celebrate your birthday. Do you have a favorite photo that you’ve taken? One that stands out above the rest?
Jorge: Yes he did and I would also like to thank Patrick Rhone for the purchase as well.
A photo that is among my personal favorite would have to be one of the initial shots I took when we arrived in Venice during our honeymoon cruise.
Venice has always been a city I’ve wanted to visit and the time there was an occurrence that didn’t fully sink in until I looked back at each photo I took.
As a photographer, I was most affected by the vivid colors of the homes and the strong sense of art history that surrounded us. The cobblestone alleys we purposely lossed ourselves in reminded me of the centuries of lives we must have been passing and the view of seeing a gondola parked outside homes was pricesless.
Rather than just focusing on shooting prominent landmarks and scenes, I take more joy in walking along the streets where the locals live and capturing everyday details.
I find that more challenging and often results in more personal and expressive photos. I learned this by skimming through photography books in a local bookstore we visited when we vacationed in Paris.
Perhaps I’m looking to deep into the situation but being there taking this shot was a complete undescribable sensation; I was overwhelmed with joy and excitement. I learned that the world is far more complex, that there are other ways of seeing art and indeed the rest of the world.
Ian: I can totally empathize with your feelings about wandering the neighborhoods rather than focusing on landmarks. I’ve been to some of the most renowned cities in the western world—New York, Philadelphia, London, Paris, Edinburgh, Budapest, Barcelona, et al—and I have always found that I enjoy walking “off the beaten path” far, far more.
When you’re taking shots like that, how do you usually approach it? I must confess that, though I’m a great appreciator of photography, I’m quite ignorant of the methods that go into composing and excellent photograph.
Jorge: It may sound like too simple of an answer but the only thinking I apply when photographing is visualizing what the shot will look like already framed at home.
I was design major in college and the understanding I obtained about balance, values, use of color and pattern has all contributed to my awareness of what I think is aesthetically pleasing to look at in a photo.
I’m the person in the family who can’t admire a photograph for what it is because I start thinking about what lens was used, was it shot handheld or on a tripod, what time of day would be best to acheive a similar effect, etc. I have to admit it drives me crazy sometimes but that’s the same curiosity the drives me to experiment and continue photographing.
But I think the most common mistake when photographing is in trying to incorporate too much in a photo which results in a mundane picture and where nothing really stands out. I always seek out to focus on something specific because that’s what adds interest to a photo and it’s all about training your eye to look at photographic opportunities.
There’s so many great photography books that teach you all the technical stuff that I think is first necessary to learn so as to feel confident in that every photo you take is a great one but the one that has added so much meaning to my approach to things has to be one by Chris Orwig called Visual Poetry. That along with spending time viewing other people’s photographs on Flickr to gain inspiration has assisted a lot.
Ian: Alright… I’m going to try that next time I get the chance to travel (though who knows when that will be).
From who do you draw the most inspiration as a photographer? And as a writer/blogger?
Jorge: Friends often ask me this question about photography and inspiration a lot and it’s a topic I want to explore and will most likely write more about in the future because I know it can be a challenge sometimes to just go out and photograph especially when it involves not being on vacation.
Photographers that inspire me are mostly the ones that take a documentary route with their shots. I’m not the type that would jump at the opportunity of working in a studio although I certainly respect those who are consistently excellent at doing it. For example, someone as young and talented as Joey Lawrence.
He’s done some amazing commercial work for reputable companies but the work that largely appeals most has been the shoots he did in Ethiopia. That’s the the type of raw approach in photography that I love. Caputuring moments and people in their milieu.
Once you’ve recognized what technique appeals to you, it’s all just about taking the time to search and look at photographs that related to what you will be shooting. This not only inspires me, but gets me in the creative mindset I like to be in for a shoot.
Undoubtedly, Flickr continues to be my main recurring source of inspiration. The more photographs you look at, the better your eye will become and it will improve and you’ll begin to notice a big difference in your work as time passes.
With the photography, I think it’s how you identify an inspired idea and incorporate it in your work that defines your personality and your individual style and that’s something I admit to always be working on by just staring at a computer browsing at other people’s work.
As for the writing, that goes hand in hand with reading. As a writer, I think you should also be an avid reader and although I devour a good amount of books in a year, the majority of my reading stems from blogs with a good portion of content coming from several Fusion Ad members.
Continuing with the “raw” capturing aspect that I love in photography, I’m equally inspired in trying to do the same with my writing by presenting everything I published with a good story.
Shawn Blanc in my book excels at this and it amazes me how regardless of whether he’s reviewing software or just expressing his esteem for a piece of Apple hardware, his articles are always accompanied with good anecdote that makes the reading experience personal and that you somehow can’t help relating to.
I don’t like to think that I over analyze everything I publish but if the reader doesn’t leave my site knowing something they weren’t aware of before the visited or if they don’t feel moved by the combination of words and subject, then I don’t feel I’ve done my end of the job.
If I had no interest in photography, it would have taken this impressive article by Craig Mod for me to take curiosity in the craft. It’s beautifully written and these are the kind of writers that inspire me to want to evoke the same feeling.
This is as far as we got with the interview and despite not finalizing it, it was a pleasure digging deep to respond each question from Ian.
