It’s hard not to be transported by photographer Miguel Flores-Vianna’s images. A table, a corner and a windowsill look like high art through his lens. The former editor-turned-photographer takes some time out to talk to Tory Daily about his process, work, and the lensmen who inspire him.
The photography inspiration…
About nine years ago I went to a camera store in Midtown Manhattan to buy a new scouting camera for my job as a magazine editor. I got distracted in the second-hand camera section and ended up buying a Hasselblad film camera instead. That afternoon, as I walked out of the shop with my new camera in hand, I knew that my life was going to change. Nine months later I resigned my magazine job and became a photographer.
The first photo I took…
I did not know how to operate the camera so I hired someone to teach me. We went upstate to a house owned by a friend, one of those beautiful 19th-Century Hudson River mansions, where my “assistant” started teaching me how to use the camera. The first photo I took that weekend was of my friend’s bedroom, painted in a grayish blue color. The room was a bit messy, all rather beautiful: un-made bed, piles of clothes on the chairs and so on. It is still one of my favorite pictures.
My favorite locations to shoot…
Old places that have grown and matured as interiors through the years, so any country in Europe is a natural favorite location.
The colors I’m drawn to…
I like all colors and if they clash, it is even better! I love patterns, and patterns on patterns even more. I do not like the color black myself (I almost do not understand it). I have noticed that people do not like brown too much either; any picture with too much of that color tends to go unnoticed.
I especially love photographing…
Rooms — my love of rooms made me become a photographer. Naturally, I like all things that make a room: the architecture and the “stuff” in it. “Stuff” is what makes a room interesting, it is the geography of someone’s life or at least it should be, and if the room reflects a real life then, to me, most of its elements are interesting. Since I moved to Europe, I have started doing more and more lifestyle pictures, and I love it. I remember India Hicks asking me, soon after I became a photographer, if I had become bossier since taking up the new profession. Then, I didn’t quite understand her question, but now that I am doing more and more portraits and lifestyle photos I have to admit that I enjoy “directing” my subjects as I shoot them to record their lives.
Favorite time of day to shoot…
I don’t have a particular time of the day to shoot. I like light to be suggestive and moody, and that with interiors tend to be dictated by the source of light rather than the time. I try not to take images when rooms have frontal light as it tends to flatten the image. I like light to come from the sides — to me, it gives a better sense of depth and perspective. I also love winter northern light. Even though it is cold, I love its softness — it makes rooms look as though they have been caressed by feathers.
The photographers who inspire me…
Horst was so ahead of his time — he understood things then that we now take for granted, such as the combination of high and low. He understood youth, the beauty and freshness of it and yet had great respect for old world elegance. His book for Vogue under Diana Vreeland is my all-time favorite. The shots he took in Cy and Tatiana Twombly’s Rome apartment still take people’s breath away. I also love how Bruce Weber shoots interiors. He is not impressed by the possessions but rather by the lives within those walls. I love images that transmit a mood more than anything else, because a “mood” is ultimately more important than any specific piece of furniture on its own.
And favorite creatives to follow on Instagram…
@paper.maker, a businessman from Yorkshire, who runs a paper mill with a great eye for architecture and landscape. Another is @minnieolga, a graphic designer and store owner from Northern California with a wondrous, child-like eye for color and adventure.
My tips for taking a beautiful picture…
1. Less is more. Sometimes pictures where there is too much going on are less effective and of lesser visual impact.
2. Play with the light and remember that light is a friend and should always be taken into consideration.
3. Always shoot what you like, never second guess.