Photograph collage by Jarred Gastreich
A talented young cat, Jarred Gastreich’s found his place in the local photographic community through some editorial work (he was a mainstay with the old St. Louis Beacon and currently contributes to Eleven), lots of personally-driven projects and artistic takes on photographic staples, like the occasional business opening or wedding. Frequently linked to a street photography aesthetic, Gastreich’s got the quiet air of someone who can move into and out of situations, capturing moments with the camera hanging from his neck, but slung low, his fingers clicking away as his subjects are blissfully unaware (or, at least, relaxed) by his calm-and-calming approach.
An avid explorer of the local urban environment, Gastreich’s frequently teamed up in the field with his neighbor, the architectural historian Michael R. Allen, with whom he’s created a body of shots called “Michael Allen’s Big Adventure,” a fairly amusing take on their many outings together. That’s one of many subsections on his site, www.itisalrightma.com, where he’s also documented multiple, creative projects, ones as diverse as Kitchen Kulture, Ian Fisher and The Present, Yellow Tree Farm and the music festivals Wakarusa and LouFest. He’s also known for a continuing meditation on the color red.
Gastreich’s appeared in this space before, cited as one of Virginia Harold’s favorites. He’s among ours, too, and so we’ve posed to him the same seven questions asked of visual artists here every two weeks.
Art school? Self-taught? Some variety of both? Or none of the above?
My opinion of what looks good within a composition comes from a series of Michael Freeman books. He keeps his attention on what the eye looks at first, second, third and so on, and then how to get the eye to recycle through the frame.
A friend once told me one of my images reminded them of a Henri Cartier-Bresson photograph. I didn't know the guy then; now I lust over his photographs. Nobody has done street photography better. Nobody pushed the shutter at a more opportune moment. And his spontaneous compositions are so natural to look at, and include the surroundings as the subject. And he did it all around the time when the mobile camera was first introduced (1930s). I think I learn most by looking at good photographs.
I did some time studying graphic design at the university, too.
Regarding your creative habits, are you a night owl or an early bird?
More like Night Eagle... think Screaming Eagle at Six Flag, at night. Staying up all night is a rush. It feels like the perfect mix of adrenaline and dopamine—a good cocktail for idea-making. There's nothing to distract me at night. I usually procrastinate to the very last moment, so the rush is even more intense. It's a do-or-die scenario. I'll wake up the next afternoon and judge if what I did for hours last night is total poop or not.
When I was working with film, the night was when I headed to the bathroom to develop. That was a more meditative process. I imagine it's like a whittler, whittling piece by piece until the twig finally becomes the image in his mind. I really have to appreciate film 110 percent and take my time with it or I don't do it at all. It's a totally different medium than digital, and now that I understand that, I'm starting to get back into it. But it's a passion project, which means it'll take place at night.
In basic terms, can you describe the set up and vibe of your studio?
Well, either I'm taking photos on the street, or developing them in my bathroom. Doing commissioned event photography and color-correcting in my bedroom. Or snapping a quick one of my life and editing there, on the spot, on my phone.
The Shaw neighborhood crib is really chill and comfortable if you don't mind a mild-medium mess and an occasional Dave Matthews Band poster on the wall. I live in a 100-year-old apartment building and I like to be reminded of that—the radiator clacks don't bother me.
What are your thoughts on crowdfunding for the arts? And is that option any part of your own approach to creating and selling work?
It's not my cup of tea right now. But, I am a member of the Cookie Heart Monster Squad.
Do you have a dream project that lacks only funding (or time)?
While thrifty-ism is somewhat admirable, I'm going to take advantage of it. And while my name still has resemblance to jars, I want to make my photographs available for purchase inside of them.
I'd like to go around the country and find small town street festivals to document. Ever since last year when I went to Chicago for Wicker Park Fest. The best part of the trip was the detour to Whiting, Indiana for their Pierogi Festival. I met the lady who invented the Fried Pop-Tart sundae there. If I can Megabus to Chicago and afford to enjoy a Fried Pop-Tart sundae, I think I have a decent amount of funds and time. I keep my dreams on a short lease tied to my reality.
To what degree do you enjoy having public contact, whether that means selling your work at a fair, a gallery opening, etc.?
Last month my photos were shown in the bathroom of a gallery. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Part of me appreciated the fact that some people had to wait in line to see my work.
A couple photographs hang at the International Photography Hall of Fame right now. They're in the same room as a couple Cartier-Bresson prints and it was my first time seeing those. The public contact I had with them inspired me to appreciate his ritual of including the empty data in the negatives around the frame to show that he did not crop. I remember chatting with a guy about Ansel Adams—how he liked him, how I don't. I met a Webster student who was doing some inspiring projects. I miss the criticism you get with public contact at the university. Public contact is very valuable.
What other St. Louis artists inspire or motivate you?
Michael Allen enlightened me that buildings matter and my perception on a topic has never shifted so passionately before. You can't define inspiration any better.
Working in the "buildings matter" medium, Carly Trosclair's art feels right for St. Louis. Her inventiveness and exploration of the medium is motivating, and in the context of a coon's age, via cathartic imagery I feel the strength of a materialistic story. The blues-struck stories that Justin Kinkel-Schuster (St. Louis expat) writes were probably honed within the same deteriorating environment that Tosclair materializes. Everyone who inspires me shows me that individual stories are important.
To see Jarred Gastreich’s work, visit the aforementioned: www.itisalrightma.com. You can also find him at Instagram: http://instagram.com/itisalrightma#.
