Today we share the work and words of Joseph O’Neill.  One of the selections in the 2017 Call for Entry.

Would you please tell a little us about yourself?

I was born in Brooklyn, raised on Long Island, and for the past 28 years have lived in New York City, my muse. I had no formal education in art, but I did go to culinary school. I love to travel when I can. I’ve always found some way to be creative.

How did you get started in photography?

My interest in photography was a fluke! I gave my girlfriend a camera for her birthday, and then swiped it. I now get to combine my two passions in life: wander lust and photography

Would you share with us one image (not your own) that has stayed with you over time?

 Le Violon d’Ingres by Man Ray, I saw this image for the first time when I was 12 years old and my mother went back to college for an art history course. A personal highlight of this year was getting to see an original print at The Pompidou Museum.

Which photographers’ and other artists’ work do you admire?

Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, Francis Picabia, and the Dadaist of New York, Eugene Atget, Joan Miro, The Impressionists, Rodin, Irving Penn, to name a few.

What has been your most memorable experience as far as your photographic work is concerned?

Seeing my work in print for the first time, hung on a wall that wasn’t in my apartment for the first time, my first solo exhibition, my first exhibition. Walking into The Oculus in New York City and saying to myself  “What can I do with this?” and  then feeling the creativity start to flow. The communal experience I felt when I was photographing a sunrise from the Brooklyn Bridge with two to three hundred other people.

 

Please tell us about the portfolio of work you submitted to our call.

This portfolio seeks to spotlight overlooked urban buildings. By showcasing details of these edifices with dynamic movement and a sense of shifting light, using sharp architectural forms and contrasting darkness and light, I offer each locale a life of its own. My work endeavors to  envelope the senses, inviting the viewer to re-think the images and encourages them to enter a new way of seeing this environment and experience this anew for themselves.

What Image of yours would you say taught you an important lesson ?

There are two photographs I shot in 2012 made me realize, first that playing around with the AEB (Automatic Exposure Bracketing) setting on my camera I could alter the look of a photograph dramatically,  and in the second was when I found my aesthetic.

What makes a good day for you creatively speaking ?

Walking into a new space, sitting, becoming excited about what I am seeing, and then transposing what my mind’s eye is seeing into a photograph

Do you have any favorite pieces of equipment that you find essential in the making of your work?

My Canon t5i with an Ultrasonic 28 to 135mm lens  and my iPhone for music

What is on the horizon ?

Artistically I have been moving into portraits, nudes and photograms. I also have been working on the idea for a short film.

To learn more about the work of Joseph O’Neill please visit his site at Joseph O’Neill.