The PULPARTBOOK began late one night, when edgy photographer Neil Krug and model Joni Harbeck started shooting in their bedroom with a Polaroid camera. Inspired by movie posters and LP covers from the ‘60s and ‘70s, the duo set their sights on capturing the feel and nostalgia of their favorite era.
You are both from Kansas. How did you meet each other?
We actually met through a mutual friend on a job in Dallas, Texas. We were friends for a couple months, which eventually led into dating.... and here we are. Actually, Neil says he has known of me from afar for 10 years, but technically we met last year.
Neil, how did you get into photography?
I've always taken photos during video shoots, but usually as personal documentation that wasn't taken seriously. In the last few years I spent more time experimenting with Polaroid and other film types.
What are your favorite objects d'art?
We both appreciate old vinyl covers, vintage movie posters, and vintage book covers...all of these along with older movies have influenced us with this project.
Joni, you are a supermodel. Who have you been working for?
When I was 19 I headed to Milano for modeling and have since traveled around the world working through agencies for clients in places such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, New Zealand, Australia, and Germany. I have modeled in all mediums -- print, advertising, runway, TV and film -- over the years. During my 20s I took small breaks from my career to work on my anthropology/archaeology degree, as well. PULPARTBOOK has been a thrill because I can actually shoot my creative ideas and style it as I want. This project consists of shooting editorial pieces consistently, which is the kind of modeling I prefer.
Where did the photo shoot for the PULPARTBOOK take place?
The shoots for this project have taken us from our home (shooting around Lawrence and Kansas City, Kansas) to a vintage hotel in Santa Monica, California to filming all over in Kauai, Hawaii. We are shooting photographs and short films and sometimes music videos while on location, so we are very busy and try to take advantage of the area in every way possible.
What inspired you to do the book using expired Polaroid film?
The vintage feel and taste of expired Polaroid and other expired film captures the feel of the PULP project almost perfectly. We are using all kinds of photography mediums, from expired Polaroid to expired 35mm to 120 medium format to digital; which one we use depends on our mood during the shoot, the mood of the pictures we are trying to capture, and of course if we have that film at the time of the shoot. Often the expired film does not turn out, so even when we are shooting we are not sure what we have captured. We have often burned through an entire roll of expired Polaroid shooting great work and then all the Polaroid turn out white or black...it's a Russian roulette of sorts.
That's a smart way to do it, I think, since they've stopped manufacturing Polaroid film. Was that the incentive?
Perhaps a little...Polaroids themselves were never meant to be taken seriously. They were meant for quick pleasure in common and daily life. So to take Polaroids and make something beautiful and unique, to make fine art with casual film, that's part of the incentive.
Neil, what is Joni's best feature?
One of my favorite things about Joni is her versatility. She always surprises me with her ability to become the character we're shooting. When we shot the Jackie Series in Los Angeles, the outfit, makeup, and wig completed transformed the way she looked. Many times throughout the shoot it felt as if I was working with someone else. Moments like those made me aware of her talent and how lucky I am to have her as a subject and muse.
Joni, what´s Neil's biggest talent?
Neil’s greatest talent – professionally -- is his eye. He understands angles and space in photography. He sees what I want to capture. Personally, he is good man with a good mind. I am truly lucky to have such a man in my life.
The photos are quite intimate. How do you think being a couple helped or hindered that?
At the beginning it may have been harder to perform because we are intimately connected and it made us a bit shy. Part of what this industry insists on is a person's ability to be free in character, regardless of the strangers in the room, so suddenly when it's not a stranger but your lover, it can be a bit more vulnerable. Because we are both professionals in our respective fields however, we are used to working and brainstorming with the people involved in a project, regardless of our relationship with them. I think, for all intents and purposes, PULPARTBOOK would still be what it is today, even if we weren’t a couple.
What are your future projects?
We have short films, feature films, and music videos already slated during this next year. A short film, ORANGE MARMALADE, will be filmed next year and may or may not tie into the PULPARTBOOK short films we are shooting currently. Music videos for WHITE FLIGHT are currently in editing and will be released shortly; the MYSTIC SERIES in PULP ART BOOK & PRINTS is closely connected visually with the next video.
Take a look at the commercial:
Links & backgrounds
Into the Wild: MAY + SASA Technology
The brand-spanking new fashion label MAY + SASA Technology was created by two fine art graduates, May Georgia and Lar...
Sam Worthington - Aussie True Blue
It was in early 2009, during the first buzz around Terminator Salvation and Avatar, when Australian actor Sam Worthin...
Pieter Hugo - Nollywood
The Johannesburg-based photographer Pieter Hugo sent waves through the photography world with The Hyena Men, his seri...
Tags for this article:
More about: Art
More about: Lifestyle
latest articles from
- Jan Banning debuts “Bureaucratics” series
In his photo study ‘Bureaucratics’, Dutch photographer Jan Banning documents public administrati...
- TODAY WE LIKE: Cress mini garden
Do you enjoy a nice green view in the morning? Then grow your own whimsical mini garden! The soi...
- Design Vending Machine launched at Berlin Hauptbahnhof
On February 17, Berlinomat’s Design Vending Machine was inaugurated by Mayor Klaus Wowereit at B...
- TODAY WE LIKE: Fuck you very much
As we know, in the real world it is mostly about the ‘I’ and hardly ever about the ‘we’. So, it’...
- TODAY WE LIKE: DJ Ellie D
A three year old girl rocking the turntables like a pro - DJ Ellie D is in the house! We haven’t...
- Ji Lee debuts upside down art installations
Korean artist Ji Lee recently published a new series of artworks titled “parallel worlds” on his...
RSS FEEDS
EB NEWSLETTER
AUSTRIA
CZECH REPUBLIC
GERMANY
write a comment