The Birds
Dear Shaded Viewers,
DP: Where did you grow up?
Unlimited Love
DP: Do you shoot on a daily basis?
RR: No, I don't even carry a camera with me. I prefer to think thoroughly about what I want to shoot. I'm interested in unusaul people, people that I consider beautiful at a different level. And interested in relationships of all kinds, friends, couples, etc…that have intense interactions.
The Birds
DP: Can you tell me how you met the couple in The Birds and how you got them to trust you enough to allow you to enter into their private moments?
RR: "The Birds" is a message of hope for younger generations, and focuses on the loving relationship of Anne and Derek Parker, who live in Yorkshire, North England. Together for over forty years they push society's perception of what is socially acceptable for people in their sixties. The images are very intimate and real, and even if we don't see them as sexually attractive, we will hopefully be attracted to the love that they show for each other after a lifetime together-giving the rest of us all hope for the future. I met them in the street, and it took months of convincing for them to allow me to go up to their house and start the project. The images were in my head and written down for a year, so they knew from the beginning what was expected of them…but after my first weekend shooting with them, they accepted me as if I were their family and I gained their trust. From then on, it was easy.
Unlimited Love
DP: Love seems to be a recurrent theme in your work, can you tell me about your first love?
RR: My first true love is my girlfriend, Paloma, we've been together for 5 and 1/2 years.
DP: Did you suffer any dramatic heart breaks that influenced your approach to photography or film?
RR: I don't know. I'm intense when dealing with people, and maybe that shows in my work. I think that we all suffer a lot in life, we are all in the same boat, and maybe for these reasons I like work that is intense and which has an emotional impact. But I could not tell you exactly what made me go this way.
Unlimited Love
DP: How did your approach differ from the older couple to the young girls?
RR: They are both the same story, as they deal with strong love. In the case of the girls, it's a different kind of love, as they are sisters. But their relationship is very intense, they need each other in the same way as Anne and Derek.
Unlimited Love
DP: Who are they and how did you enter into their lives?
RR: They are my two sisters and the best thing that has happened to my family. They were born and raised in an orphanage in Russia till they were 4 and 6 years old, which is when my parents adopted them and brought them to Spain. They are now 10 and 12. Their names are Ana and Daria.
Unlimited Love
DP: I love the clothes did you work with a stylist or were these from their personal closets?
RR: I did this on my own, but with close attention to what pieces I was using. The project is about showing kid's problems as important as our own, by focusing on the intense relationship of two women, who are played by my sisters. The girls bring their own past experiences into the project, and though I didn't want them dressed as women, it was important that they were not dressed as kids either. I either used some of their clothes, my mother's, my girlfriend's or stuff that I got from vintage stores.
Unlimited Love
DP: Your photographs seem to be in a series and very cinematic, what is your background in film?
RR: Yes, I studied Film in college and then the photography thing sort of happened as a hobby at first, then by assisting Bob Richardson. When my photos took a narrative approach, my storytelling needs were already fulfilled, so I completely forgot about film.
Unlimited Love
DP: Do you work with a team on your films? Do you shoot video or film?
RR: I used to shoot film, never video and my films did also involve realationships, but I never really developed any film work after college. Only now do I feel interested in going back to film after what I've learned with my photography work.
Unlimited Love
DP: Who are your favorite film directors?
RR: Pier Paolo Pasolini, Michelangelo Antonioni, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, David Lynch, Hal Ashby, Francois Truffaut, Bob Rafelson, the Cohen Brothers, Stanley Kubrick, Terence Malick..
Unlimited Love
DP: Would you ever consider putting together a book or making a feature film?
RR: Yes to both. "The birds" and "Unlimited Love" will hopefully make it into books.
DP: Can we expect the film, maybe around this series of photos to be submitted for ASVOFF 2?
RR: Yes, I will start shooting film (video) for "Unlimited Love" in two weeks, and can't wait. Thanks for the offer.
Below is a series that appeared in ANOTHER Magazine by Robi Rodriguez of Nicolle Meyer. "Simon Pury put me in contact with her, he said that I would be right to do a project on her. She only modelled from 1977 till 1981, and never worked again in the fashion industry. She was hesitant to work with me because of the nature of the photos from "The Birds", but she went for it anyway. Many people think that Guy Bourdin's best work was when she modelled for him, and hence the publication of A Message for you, which is two volumes of all his best work with her." said Robi.
Reproduction of any of these images is strictly forbidden.
Later,
Diane
