photographer feature: natalie kucken

Name
Natalie Kucken

Website | Blog

Age
17

Location
detroit, michigan, usa

Who or what sparked your interest in photography?
i got into photography by completing a project where i created an image every day for a year in 2009, which was an impulse decision and at first just a way to document my life and growing up and changing, but soon progressed to a love for portraiture and i quickly developed a style and a following. later on i realized that i wanted to focus on fashion and storytelling through my work.

Who are some of your favorite photographers?
my favorite photographers are clarence h. white, sally mann, crystin moritz, and david hamilton.

Do you have any formal education in photography or are you self taught?
i am completely self taught.

Is photography your career?
no, i plan to make it my career when i graduate from high school.

Are you currently working on any photography projects?
i am working on many shoots, mostly fashion-based things where the entire production is by me which is a huge amount of organizing and creating.

If you won a $400 million lottery how would you use it?
i would never want that much money! i would use it all on plane tickets and ridiculous creations i think.

What is your favorite thing to photograph and why?
my favorite thing to photograph is people, and to create something of them and their surroundings. people tell a story and you can capture a fleeting moment with them and their emotions.

Where do you find and how do you instruct your models?
my models are either friends or agency models. i instruct them differently depending on what i want, which can be very specific or very natural.

Do you listen to music while you shoot? If so, what is on your photo shoot play list?
usually no, most of my shoots are too hectic to have music to worry about too. if i do, it's mostly cocorosie, mum, amiina, or the album leaf, quiet and dream-like things.

What do you do when you are feeling uninspired?
sleep and write in my journal about things that have nothing to do with photographs.

Future photography goals?
to be represented and to simply shoot enough to support myself and create beautiful things- whether through paid work or candid moments.

Describe a day in your life that includes photography:
my shoots take up the entire day usually- waking up early to set out and prepare each pre-determined look and location and props, meeting the people i work with in the early afternoon, having coffee or tea and talk over the photos to be created, clothes makeup hair props and location, shoot, repeat clothes makeup hair props and location, repeat, repeat, hopefully eat somewhere in between, send the team home in the evening and try to clean up the destruction of creation.

Three interesting facts about yourself?
i'm always terrible at these things. i can't think of anything in particular or that is a concrete fact about myself- most interesting things are not like that.

What, if anything, do you do to promote your photography?  Approximately how much time do you spend per day/week on promoting your photography online?
i use flickr, tumblr, facebook, email things that i like, just the easy things right now.