Meet The Photographer :: Robert Von Sternberg
Robert Von Sternberg, Quartz Hill, California, 2005
ROBERT VON STERNBERG INTERVIEW
MF: How is your personality reflected in your work?
RVS: My father was a medical doctor while my mother managed our family owned pharmacy and thus they were rarely at home. Additionally my early childhood consisted of 7 different residence changes prior to my 7th birthday and my most vivid memories of that time consist as much of nannies, a guest ranch, and elongated stays with both grandmothers as the limited time spent with my parents.
Each change in a residence introduced significantly different visual environments, each of which required new avenues of personal adaptation and frequently delivered the diminished opportunities for any well rounded development of verbal skills.
The result from all of these transitions may be that while I was non-verbally hyper aware of certain design concepts that involved the visual organization of space--- and this lack of vocabulary long preceded my knowledge of any of the terms used to define most of the important elements of two or three dimensional design. In early childhood I started pencil drawing/illustrating and I took great pleasure in representing objects and spatial relationships, which as a self taught skill probably has had direct relational impact on the organization and content relevance of my photographs.
MF: Do you prefer digital or film & why?
RVS: Monochromatic gelatin silver prints still remain quite exciting to view, but breathing chemical fumes in dim yellow light is best served for me as only a grand memory.
Personally I never related well to selection of paper surfaces or the processes used to produce film based color photographs--- but I have readily and fully embraced the paper surfaces adapted to archival color pigment inks. Interestingly I have trouble identifying the difference between a digitally printed photograph using a high resolution film scan vs an original darkroom produced b&w print. Another important factor and advantage involves the immediacy of digital capture and printing compared to the delays affiliated with film processing and darkroom chemical printing.
MF: What are you looking for in a great picture?
RVS: Immediate and lasting visual impact. Henri Cartier Bresson once said regarding editing one's credible work that "all the maybes should go to the trash".
Wings, Long Beach, California,1963 © Robert von Sternberg
MF: What are 3 of your favorite books on photography?
RVS: Marie Cosindas, Color Photography; Garry Winnogrand, Animals; Joel Sternfeld, American Prospects
MF: Who are the top 3 bands/artists currently on your music playlist?
RVS: Shelby Lynne, Leon Russell, Jamie O'Neal, Leo Kottke, Brandi Carlisle,Hillary Hahn, Indigo Girls, Julian Bream, Gipsy Kings, Toumani Diabate, Amos Lee, Alison Krauss, B.B. King, Blame Sally, Buena Vista Social Club, Dixie Chicks, Jason Isbell, Julie Roberts, Lyle Lovett
MF: If you could have dinner with one of your favorite photographers, who would it be, living or deceased?
RVS: Either Jerry Uelsmann because he was articulate and hilarious (in a Johnny Carson sort of style) at a small dinner gathering that followed Jerry's presentation when Lewis Baltz convinced him to guest lecture at California Institute of the Arts in 1972--- or Jacque Henri Lartique because in my opinion at nine years old he had mastered the the art of relevance and his compositions were as sophisticated as the classic painters of realism.
Hair Bubble, Ocean Park, California, 1973 © Robert von Sternberg
MF: What gear do you use?
RVS: Personally I think of the camera as nothing particularly more than an extension of my left eye--- but designed as a device with the distinct mechanical advantage of being able to instantly freeze an image on a light sensitive surface that is a graphically accurate version of what I believe I am visually experiencing. Regarding camera gear I like to reiterate the redundant notion that whatever camera you left home with is always better than the camera you left behind.
Historically Initially I transitioned to Canon DSLRs following my 40+ year 35mm film era period, which had included equipment ownership ranging from Pentax to Canon to Leica to Nikon often used along with a Hasselblad SLR and several Fujifilm 2 1/4 format rangefinders--- in addition to a couple of Graflex 4 x 5 press style cameras.
When Sony introduced a small Leica M4 style rangefinder aps-c sensor camera body I switched to the Sony product line and now use their 1" pocketable RX series as well as an aps-c and full frame versions. I possess and utilize a variety of lenses which range from very wide angle (15mm) to a modest telephoto lens (525mm)--- but without question nearly all of the non-sporting event images I capture are created with wide angle lenses (in the 15mm to 28mm category).
MF: What sparked your interest in photography?
RVS: In 1961 while I was employed as the sales manager for Jacobs Surfboards, Hap Jacobs decided that he wanted to run an advertisement in the newly published SURFER magazine, and Hap Jacobs asked me to locate a local commercial photographer to generate the images. I had gone to school with two of the well respected and widely published photographer Leroy
Grannis's children and thus approached him for the assignment. During that visit when Leroy observed my obvious and intense interest in his darkroom and cameras, he decided that he was going to share his love of photography with me if I was willing to donate my Friday nights to the lessons. Watching a print first appear in a tray of Dektol was highly addictive and I soon proceeded to acquire a camera and lenses to document my interests. The notion of being in the right place at the right time almost immediately became a reality as the first roll of film I shot of local surfers produced images that John Severson at SURFER magazine accepted and published--- and then he offered me a contributing staff photographer position with the magazine.
MF: What draws you specifically to street photography compared to other genres?
RVS: My background history of commercial photography was usually predetermined by either the client or an art director and whether it involved the editorial portraiture of music celebrities, industry executives, sports products in use, real estate and architectural magazines, or photographing weddings, I never felt that even the most successful of these images were free of imposed structure and expectations.
On the other side of my commercial experiences, all of my photographs that were published in surfing magazines were created on my own terms and as such served as a perfect gateway to "social landscape" aka "street photography".
Both my wife Patricia and I have always immensely enjoyed traveling both to new and old favorite locations where visuals are fresh and inviting. (She has a BA in Design and an MA in Photography and takes great joy in spotting image possibilities that might fit within our image notion of a label category that could be titled "crowded vacancy".) The image category of "street" intrinsically implies the possibility of an unrestrained interpretation of continually shifting environments and events with the magical challenge of seeing how certain basic elements of design might provide an opportunity for the capture of a defining moment.
Specialty Concession, Los Angeles County Fair, Pomona, California,1971 © Robert von Sternberg
MF: How would you describe your unique style in street photography?
RVS: If possible I would substitute the phrase "integrity of continuity" in place of "unique style" as I tend to rely on familiar and trusted environmental design elements in order to generate images. The idea that Rembrandt dramatized his paintings with chiaroscuro lighting has long been an exceptional source of inspiration for my approach to simplify excess subject matter. During my last years of high school and for two years of college I worked evening hours and developed an easy affinity for night time landscape lighting. This was eventually followed by five decades of creating night lit photographs and currently continues to be an area of exploration in tenebrism. While many artists excel with complicated compositions, my efforts frequently render overly busy image renditions of my intentions and thus I may subconsciously revert to the prerequisite simplicity of composition necessary to create successful surf photography.
MF: What are the key aspects of a great street photograph for you?
RVS: The viewers immediate recognition and identification of the intended center of interest irrespective of the environmental elements within view of the subject. (The center of interest does not necessarily imply the physical center of the composition and is basically dependent upon the content graphics rather than positioning.) A powerful and compelling content is only further enhanced by the proper alignment between basic design elements and intriguing subject matter. I genuinely appreciate the freedom of pursuing non-sequential and unique personal environmental encounter visual reference photographs simply as a fleeting reaction to the moment I find myself in.
MF: What strategies do you use to remain inconspicuous while capturing candid moments?
RVS: When I use a wide-angle lens, I’m usually so close to my subjects that they’re fully aware of my presence. If they feel uncomfortable, the moment never truly exists — and there’s no real opportunity to capture that special visual connection.
MF: Do you believe it's important to understand the surfer’s persona to capture their essence in a photograph?
RVS: In order to anticipate the capture of "the decisive moment" any amount of familiarity with a person's particular athletic style in conjunction with the knowledge of prominent locational characteristics and specific swell conditions enhances the chances of a properly timed shutter release. This was a decidedly more valid consideration in the era of hand held light meters and all manual camera adjustment with the context of levered single frame film advance. Today's high frame rate motor drives reduce but do not completely negate the advantage of a familiarity of the sport.
George Merickel, Olowalu, Maui, 1966 © Robert von Sternberg
MF: What makes a good surf photo?
RVS: A good surf photograph should contain all of the elements visually important to the intended viewing audience--- and a great surf photograph may possibly appeal to an increased and more universal selection of viewers. The design elements which generally apply to all genres of art are no different when the special interest targeted viewer involves sport photography.
MF: Can you share a story behind a particularly iconic image you captured? (include the actual image with title, date, year)
RVS: I am old enough to have known the "golden era" of surfing, a time well before the mass commercialization of the "sport of kings". I first seriously entered the ocean with the intention of mastering stand up surfing in 1959 when crowded conditions were nonexistent and locals were often resentful of low skilled outsiders. Wetsuits and leashes had not come to market and the fiberglassed surfboards were heavy and required a serious commitment of time in order to achieve any level of competence. Falling without the benefit of a leash or wetsuit often guarantees a long and bitterly cold swim unless you spent time in Hawaii during winter months. My friends that surfed were passionate about wave riding and the general public at that time viewed them as fringe social outcasts well prior to the 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High. I was beyond passionate and possibly better described as being obsessed--- which fortunately accelerated my level of skill and within one year I was equipment sponsored and gainfully employed in the tiny but growing surfboard industry. With time and increased popularity of the sport came wetsuits, leashes, and lighter weight polyurethane surfboards leading rapidly to the onset of seriously crowded conditions.
My obsession was fueled by high quality conditions and minimal participants in the water which led me to acquire a boat to surf a remote area of Santa Barbara County in California, and often spent all of January on Kauai avoiding the overcrowded Oahu surf scene. When the 1992 Hurricane destroyed my affordable rental on Kauai I discovered Australia and New Zealand where I managed 18 visits before crowded conditions overwhelmed even the smallest communities there.
Surfing the Hollister and Bixby Ranches required a round trip total of a 120 mile car ride plus a 90 mile boat ride. When the conditions are in alignment the ranch waves are world class.
Surfing Lennox Head in New South Wales, Australia (1992 population total 2,800)--- which holds one of the best surf breaks in Australia represented a one hour drive to Los Angeles International Airport, check in followed by a three hour wait prior to boarding, a 16+ hour flight to Sydney, then a transfer to domestic flights, a one hour wait prior to boarding, a one+ hour flight to the Gold Coast, deplaning and locating a car rental, then driving south for 2 hours to Lennox Head. We always stayed for 5-10 weeks before returning home.
The 2 images below illustrate examples of extremely excellent waves without the problems generated by too many people in the water all vying for the limited number of waves possible on any given day.
Cojo v.II, Bixby Ranch, Santa Barbara County, California , September, 2010 © Robert von Sternberg
Lennox Head, NSW, Australia 2005 © Robert von Sternberg
