“I don’t remember how I first met Isaac McKay-Randozzi, but it feels like it was a very long time ago,” Troy for calibersf. “Mentally, I associate him with: film, black/white, and skateboarding.
“Take a peek at his photo gallery, and you’ll see why. Isaac is both humble and raw in his photographic approach; a real breath of fresh air in the fast-paced, forget-me-now digital era.
“A few months ago, I emailed Isaac some questions about his photography — you can read his answers below…
Talk about your chosen image? When was it taken? Where? Why did you take it? What did you think of your image once processed?
This is a photo of illustrator, board graphic maker, father and muppet toucher Todd Francis. It was the day after the opening night for his show New and Used at the 3131 Clement gallery and I was interviewing him for a video feature on SLAP. He’s not one of those guys who seek attention so he was a little nervous about being in front of the camera for so long.
I shot him in front of some of the graphics he did for Anti-Hero skateboards, the disease series. I’ve always been a fan of his work and that series has that dark humor he does so well. After I got the processed film and proof sheet back, I printed it and was pretty happy with how it came out and made multiple copies of the print. But, I goofed the print. It took me a couple viewings to realize that I had in fact printed it backwards. If you look at the text on the boards, it is backwards. I put the negative in upside down. Aside from that, I dig how his face came out and the shadows look.
Walk us through your current camera gear and workflow.
I have been shooting with the same gear for a couple years now; Olympus PEN FT half-frame, Pentax K1000, Olympus Stylus Epic and a Canon Elph for digital stuff. Due to the cost of processing film, photo paper and darkroom time I haven’t been able to have as quick a turn around as I’d like. But I’m still able to get the jobs done to my satisfaction. When shooting digital I try and download all the photos as soon as I get home and start to edit and color correct. When dealing with the internet I’ve found it to be a beast that is always in need of food. But when you feed it, it’s best to be a step or two back.
Are you working on any current projects? Talk about those.
I’m working on a series of half-frame skate shots, nothing fancy pants just trying to put a new perspective out there. Who knows if it’ll work but the couple that I have done turned out ok. In a couple days I’m going down to LA to do a project for COLOR Magazine out of Canada. A small publishing company (Parking Block Publishing) asked me to put some photos together for a zine. So I’ve been trying to get that together. I’ve been meaning to shoot more night photos as well.
Tell us about a memorable instance where having your camera made an impact of what you were experiencing.
When I lived in the Mission I would always walk to the 16th St. BART station to go to work. One morning I turned the corner and on the ground, covered by cardboard was what I could only guess to be a family of four sleeping with their feet poking out. I pulled out my camera shot two photos and got some weird looks by my fellow commuters. I wish I had shot some of their faces; their looks of disgust at me and the situation were memorable.
Read the full interview from calibersf.com HERE and make sure to keep up with Isaac on his Juxtapoz Blog.
Isaac McKay-Randozzi's website is www.mydumbluck.com
