TCF Ep. 284 - Matt Sweeney

The Candid Frame: Conversations on Photography

Ibarionex R. Perello

Arts, Visual Arts

4.8 • 768 Ratings

🗓️ 27 July 2015

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Hollywood is a town that has been defined more by its myths than its realities. It's a town built on fiction and endless aspirations. So, photographs that are free from the influence of publicists and marketing teams can seem jarring and surprising. But that can be a good thing. That's what Matt Sweeney's photographs do. They show an unexpected and beautiful side of Hollywood in the early eighties, where the 1-mile stretch between Hollywood and Vine and Hollywood and Highland was a setting of public theater with every kind of character, both big and small. Taken during his early twenties using a Nikon SLR with Kodachrome film, his images of Los Angeles capture a unique time in a way that's rare and wonderful. Resources: http://www.mudstonephoto.com http://mudstonephoto.tumblr.com http://levrukhin.tumblr.com http://www.shootingfilm.net/2013/12/wonderful-color-photos-of-los-angeles.html http://ibarionex.net/thecandidframe/ info@thecandidframe.com

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Candid Frame is supported by donations by listeners just like you.
0:04.7	Help support the show by clicking on the donate button on the website or in the show notes.
0:17.8	This is IbarianX and this is the candid frame.
0:21.6	Photography is often more about memory that it is art.
0:26.6	While a clean composition and beautiful light are always welcome,
0:31.6	the images that often mean the most of us often have very little to do with their aesthetic qualities.
0:38.7	But then there are images that evoke memory, that tug on our sense of nostalgia, and
0:44.1	that do possess that quality that elevate a snapshot into something special.
0:50.8	They're images that, though they may not contain familiar faces, they still produce a connection
0:56.8	to things past.
0:58.7	At least that was my experience when looking at the photographs of Matt Sweeney, who in the
1:03.5	span of a few short years in the early 80s captured a Hollywood that is raw, vivid, and
1:10.8	beautiful. Made on Kodochrome film with a
1:13.9	Nikon camera, these images reflected time in the city where people actually walked in L.A., providing
1:20.3	a sense of the city that seems incredibly elusive today. Matt has been sharing his images on
1:26.5	Tumblr and caught the attention of several of you,
1:29.2	who suggested that I not only take a look at his work, but also consider him as a guest on the show.
1:34.8	So for that, thank you very much, because I wouldn't have wanted to miss this.
1:55.1	Yeah, I mean, when I took a look at those photographs, I have to tell you, it struck home for me because that's the Hollywood I grew up with.
1:56.5	Right on. Where were you living then?
2:04.6	L.A.? Yeah, my parents grew up in South L.A. I mean, I grew up in South L. LA. That's where we were raised. And I used to go to the Boys Club of Hollywood.
2:11.9	Off of the Long Prae in St. Andrew's, St. Andrew's place, not too far from, far from where freestyle photo is.
	...

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