Tumblr Tuesday: Frank Severe
We’re always scouring Tumblr for up-and-coming artists, photographers and interesting people to follow. On Tumblr Tuesdays we dig a little deeper, introducing you to a new person whose point-of-view we’re reblogging this week.
This week we're taking a look at the work of Frank Severe, a 22-year-old Canadian artist from Ottawa who's using his photography and paintings to share his unique point of view. "I wouldn't exactly say I'm self-taught since I've had a few classes for both mediums, but like any other visual artist I just want to create beautiful images and hope to tell great stories through my work." Here, we take a look at some of Frank's photography work and find out a little bit more about what his day to day life is like.
How did you get started in photography?
I really started shooting after high school. At the time I was very much still in my experimental phase, so I got myself a digital camera and was going through what type of images I liked to capture. I really fell in love with photography when I started messing around with film, so that's when I started to take it a little more seriously. I tried focusing on one thing at a time when learning how to use my new analog camera, but I didn't always have enough money to process all my film because I would take too many pictures and have too many rolls of film to develop; waiting on them was a drag. I was so new to this that I remember being nervous the first few times I got my shots back from the lab. After getting used to my camera and everything that came along with shooting film, it was my favorite waiting game. I've been shooting with analog cameras ever since.
What subjects are you most drawn to?
Right now I'm really into fashion and portrait-style photography.
Favorite gear?
Canon AE-1 and the Polaroid 600se.
What feeling do you most try to convey with your photos?
It depends on the setting and the person I'm shooting with. I try to have a calm, dreamy and nostalgic feeling. But frankly I let music take care of that... Dev Hynes is one of my favorite artists so I sometimes try to have the feeling of his music in my images.
Does your photography style translate to your fashion at all? What is your personal clothing style like?
Just a bit. I like wearing denim on denim, a few sweaters here and there, sometimes distressed jeans... I guess I try to look clean and not too preppy. I think you can sometimes look good without seeming like you're forcing it while still feeling really comfortable. I'm often more interested in neutral colors than patterns. I think I style the people I photograph the same way I dress myself without really noticing. I mostly shoot with girls but I'll try to translate my aesthetics to something they would wear. Ultimately I want them to be comfortable!
Can you tell us a few of your favorite Tumblrs to follow?
These are a few of my tumblr favorites: inmyskyvvys, formelle, neufchats, ame-sans-cible and quentindebriey - I could spend hours looking at his work!
What's one thing you're looking forward to this year?
I'm really looking forward to having multiple trips to New York and being able to shoot there this year. I haven't been there in a while so I think it's going to be great to have the excitement and energy that comes with NYC.
Favorite food: Lasagna
Favorite drink: Cranberry juice
One band you could listen to forever: Hiatus Kaiyote
One place you want to go before you die: Santorini, Greece
Favorite song: Kanye West "Runaway"...the whole nine minutes of it!
Most-worn item of clothing: Probably my Levi’s denim jacket
Personal hero: Martin Luther King Jr.
Tell us the stories behind five of your favorite photos (with photo links, please!):
This shoot was a bit frustrating. I had rented a loft to shoot when my analog camera suddenly malfunctioned. After completely wasting a few rolls of film, I decided to take a break to fix the issue. I went on with the rest of the shoot hoping I didn't break my camera and that the pictures would be fine, and fine they were!
A picture I took of my brother (Joe) on our trip to California before our last day together, which was a well-awaited summer trip followed by a series of unfortunate events. We stayed in LA with my friend Ty and went through a few complications and inconveniences that had us thinking we were in a movie, which we said to ourselves ironically knowing that we were a few minutes from Hollywood. Luckily things started getting better by the days' end. We decided to drive down to Malibu, El Matador, and spent our last few hours in Cali on the beach.
This is Crystal, a really great soul I met in California where she made me try some spicy tacos and took me on a Jeep ride to a place called Lytle Creek.
Not exactly an interesting story behind this, but still one of my favorite photos taken on a rooftop in Montreal.
I think this speaks for itself! A portrait shot of a really good friend of mine (Chanel Mings). Just really one of my favorite photos.
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