Meet The Photographers :: Saul Bromberger & Sandra Hoover
Saul Bromberger and Sandra Hoover, Seattle, 2003
SAUL BROMBERGER AND SANDRA HOOVER INTERVIEW
MF: What sparked your interest in photography?
SB: That I could talk and connect with people I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.
SH: I was deathly shy when I was younger, and photography provided me with a way to communicate my thoughts about the world around me.
MF: How has photography transformed you as a human being? What are the key differences you can identify before and after starting photography?
SB: Some years after I became a photographer, I realized that I had a unique voice that I was very interested in sharing - one with my opinions and interpretations and with a social commentary vibe that people were moved by and found to be thought provoking – and that’s how I gained much more confidence. As I became more experienced, I learned how important it is for me to connect with people on a personal level, and now as I’ve gotten older, for my images and those of other artists to move me in a deeply emotional and spiritual way.
When I was a staff photographer on several newspapers in California in the 1980’s, I loved having the access to people I'd never ever meet, to a variety of cultures, events, and people from every walks of life – which brought me to having these stimulating and rich experiences.
Way before I discovered photography, I emigrated with my family from Israel as a 9-year-old and it was difficult for me to assimilate and understand the American culture, especially when I was in high school. I had very few friends, I was too quiet, didn’t have a presence, and I was lacking in social and conversational skills – basically, a major introvert. It was photography then that helped me to get out of my shell and learn social skills, to learn how to talk with people and how to listen, to be curious, and to begin figuring out how to connect with other people.
‘Concert Goers Pleading to be Showered with a Water Hose’, ‘The Us Festival, San Bernardino, CA 1982 © Saul Bromberger & Sandra Hoover
MF: How do you overcome creative blocks?
SB: By being out there, working it out, not overthinking about it, and then one day something will trigger me and I find a scene that is interesting, or people I’ve connected with and I’m back. It’s not the Creative Block I have problems with; it’s finding stimulating and spiritual experiences that will help me to create the photographs that I love to make.
MF: What are 3 - 5 favorite words you use to describe yourself?
SB: Empathy, Connect, Parent, Humor, Friend
SH: Reclusive, Thoughtful, Fiery
MF: Which photographers have significantly influenced your artistic vision, and how can you see their impact in your work?
SB: Emmit Gowin and Sally Mann with their deeply moving family portraits; Keith Carter with his sense of the Holy in our everyday lives and in our communities; Robert Frank, Lee Freidlander, Burk Uzzle, Charles Harbutt, Garry Winogrand, Henri Cartier Bresson, and Bill Owens with their unique personal visions and social commentaries of the way we live and interact with one another in America; Richard Avedon, Diana Arbus, and Arnold Newman with their portraits that I looked at over and over again as I got into photography; W. Eugene Smith, Bruce Davidson, Nicholas Nixon, and Mary Ellen Mark for their commitment to telling important stories about our communities with their photo essays; and Duane Michaels whose personal narratives showed me how important it is for an artist to be comfortable with being vulnerable.
I’ve also had close friends whose work I’ve been influenced by, starting with my closest friend and my partner in life Sandra Hoover, as well as Dennis Lee, Howard Ford, Angela Pancrazio and Tom Duncan – friends whose work brought me to question everything by considering my choices, my values, what I found important to document and why.
I’ve also had a lifelong mentor, John Gray, my photography teacher, at Moorpark College near Los Angeles, who showed and taught me and his classes that more than anything that it’s essential to be kind, to be a humanitarian, and to have empathy in our personal lives and with our work towards the people we interact with.
All these people have demonstrated with their work how they have followed through on their passions, their visions, their values, and that has served me as a guide through my journey as a photographer.
SH: Robert Frank and Mary Ellen Mark
MF: Name 3 of your favorite books on photography?
SB: The Family of Man, Richard Avedon’s ‘In the American West,’ Nicholas Nixon’s ‘Photographs from One Year.’
SH: ‘Robert Franks’s ‘The Americans,’ Danny Lyons’s ‘The Bike Riders,’ and Mary Ellen Marks’s ‘Ward 81.’
MF: Any plans to publish a book? If so, tell us more about it.
SB & SH: Our book project is about the 3 photo essays we’ve done about the LGBTQ community from 1984 -2021, 3 moments in time that document the community's battle for its civil rights with our essay about the San Francisco Gay & Lesbian Freedom Day Parade from 1984-1990, our essay documenting people's fight to live in their last months of life due to the horrific effects of AIDS at the Bailey-Boushay House, the 1st AIDS hospice in the USA, from 1992-1995 & 1997, in Seattle, WA., and portraits of the people who are now 'Long Term HIV Survivors,' who are older and are living with the consequences to their bodies of taking medications through the years to help them live with HIV.
‘PRIDE: Hearts of the Movement – The San Francisco Gay & Lesbian Freedom Day Parade: 1984-1990’
House of Angels – Living With AIDS at the Bailey-Boushay House: 1992-1995, 1997’
Portrait of the AIDS Generation: 2015 – 2021’
MF: How would you describe your unique style in street/documentary photography?
SB: My style and approach are that I’m interested in sharing my observations and reactions to the American way of life and cultures that I define as my ‘social commentary’ work.
‘The Omak County Fair’, Okanagan, WA 1994 © Saul Bromberger & Sandra Hoover
MF: What are your thoughts on the ethical considerations of street photography, especially regarding privacy?
SH: I don’t think privacy exists anymore.
MF: What strategies do you use to remain inconspicuous while capturing candid moments?
SB: I do my best to blend in, be quiet, not be disruptive, and just be cool and relaxed. I can’t disappear but I can be part of the scene, so that after a while people don’t take as much notice of me. While I’m doing this, I’m taking in the scene and the people all around, soaking in the vibes and paying attention to how I’m feeling, and eventually, at least that’s the hope, something happens, or I see something or someone that triggers a feeling in me, and I take the walk towards that.
SH: I don’t have any strategies, because I’m an older woman now and I am socially invisible.
MF: How do you define "authenticity" in documentary photography, and how do you strive to capture it in your work?
SB: For me, capturing authentic moments go way beyond what is photographed but are moments that have a universal element to them, where people from all over the world can relate to them - moments that capture our common humanity.
SH: Being truthful to my subject and to myself.
MF: Can you explain a time when you captured a particularly powerful moment on the street and what made it special?
SB: the back story about this photograph: ‘Castro Street, Men and Dalmatian Dog on Rooftop’, The International Gay & Lesbian Freedom Day Parade, San Francisco, CA 1989
1989 was the 6th year of us photographing ‘The San Francisco Gay & Lesbian Freedom Day Parade,’ and we were looking for scenes that we had not seen yet, scenes that would surprise us, continue to elevate our project, and help make it a valued documentation of the LGBTQ community for many years in the future.
The parade started in the Castro District in 1989 as it had in 1988, because street renovations were happening where it had always started near the Embarcadero district.
I remember walking on Castro Street as the parade started, looking for something I had not seen before, when I looked up at a 2-story building and saw a group of people watching the parade from the rooftop. I soon found myself up on the roof and saw two men and their Dalmatian dog and set about to capture a scene that I hoped would tell a story of community and friendship, as marchers were marching below them on Castro Street.
This was 16 years before we bought our first digital camera, shooting with 35mm b&w TRI-X film back then at 36-37 frames per roll, and as the marchers on Castro Street were marching and proudly holding high the banner of the ‘20th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots,’ I was nearing the end of my roll of film. I had maybe 4 frames left as they got closer and then closer and I quickly realized that I needed to make a good decision here - should I change the roll of film and maybe miss the moment of these marchers, or should I stay patient and wait for the moment when it all came together.
Photography is often like conducting a symphony for me - all the notes must hit, and if one misses then the whole image may miss the mark.
So, this happened on the last and 36th frame of the roll as I decided to be patient and wait for it to all come together.
I remember just keeping cool and being in the moment, while focusing on getting all of these storytelling elements that I saw unfolding before me in 1 frame. I remember fighting the light pole so it wouldn't come out of someone's head, keeping the Bank of America sign because I wanted to include the symbolism of Corporate America, waiting for the 'Stonewall 20' banner and the marchers to walk below me, to include the big crowd to show the community, wait for the dog to be attentive, and most importantly, to show the couple before me in a close and intimate moment."
And wouldn’t you know it - this has become one of the iconic photographs from our project.
‘Castro Street, Men and Dalmatian Dog on Rooftop’, The International Gay & Lesbian Freedom Day Parade, San Francisco, CA 1989 © Saul Bromberger & Sandra Hoover
