JESSE FROHMAN INTERVIEW
Jesse Frohman got his start working for the legendary Irving Penn, and has shot for magazines such as Vanity Fair, Interview and Rolling Stone, photographing mainly rock stars, musicians and actors including James Brown, Woody Allen, Daniel Day Lewis, Marc Jacobs, The Strokes, Winona Ryder and many others.
He added to that still life works that were imbued with strength and energy which has garnered many advertising and editorial clients such as Vogue, Bazaar, Clinique, Calvin Klein and Chanel. He has had one man shows at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in New York of his famous last sitting of Kurt Cobain and Opening Ceremony in Tokyo is currently sponsoring an exhibition. He has been included in many group shows and his work is a part of the permanent photography collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York as well as many private collections. MSK Eastside gallery, will be hosting Frohman's debut exhibition in Moscow, an exhibition titled, “NIGHT”, landscapes shot on the east end of Long Island near New York City. Frohman was attracted to the quiet the night brings and the different perspective of landscapes photographed in the dark, lit up by artificial lighting.
Jesse your greatest inspirations or influences?
My inspirations come from all different sources - from newspaper clippings of sports pictures to paintings to police photographs of murder victims. And rarely is a picture of mine a duplicate of the picture that inspired it. It might just be the light that I liked of a raw flash of a murder victim that I duplicated in a fashion accessories story. I've always loved the portraits by Avedon and Penn but have been equally influenced by the likes of William Eggleston - the best color photographer I've ever seen, and Gary Winogrand for his wonderful energy he created within the frame.
Most memorable shoot so far?
That's a tough one. I would have to say James Brown. He had a personality that is larger than his reputation, and the one shoot turned into 2 shoots which turned into a hilarious experience. Just with him getting out of his car on a blistering hot summer day in the middle of nowhere in the deep south with perfectly coiffed hair that looks as if it would break if touched from so much hairspray that he used on it and wearing a polyester bolero suit with 4inch heels was worth everything.
Most interesting response to your work so far? A woman wanted to date me because she liked a rock n roll photograph I took of Kurt Cobain. She had never even met me - just wrote a letter. It was a bit bizarre, and the closest I will probably ever come to feeling like a rock star myself.
How do you see your exhibition at MSK Eastside Gallery or your visit to Moscow for the first time... I'm of course very excited to visit Moscow for the first time. And I am honored to have a show at MSK and to check out the Moscow art scene, although I don't suppose I will get any offers of marriage this time.
About the Curators ZAK and Ja'bagh Kaghado
What does it mean for you guys to be curating and hosting this photographer at MSK?
First of all its always a great pleasure to work with different artists who have different experiences, styles, approach and charisma. We wanted to focus on works that have never been seen before, Jesse is not the conventional landscape or nature photographer. Jesse's NIGHT series have a twisted take on landscapes at night lit specifically and shot in a stylish, maybe even fashionable way. We have known each other since 99' and we are well aware of his work, and as much as his portraiture photography is great we wanted to stay away from that celebrity images that other galleries focus on. So we got the best of both worlds, a great photographer with a twisted take on Nature.
What is the vision of MSK?
The vision is going back to the original thought of what a gallery / artist should be, artist development and exposure. So our main focus is to find and discover new Russian and north Caucasian artists where we invest our time and money to give them the break through in the art world. So its a platform to launch and promote unknown artists. So at the end of the day it is a lot of risk. We also balance the above idea with such artists as Jesse who are already well known and exposed.
Can we know who else you plan to invite?
We will keep you posted Leila but we have a list from hell...
Anything else you'd like to share?
As artists ourselves, it has been a great experience to curate other artists work and to assist, help and promote local talents that have not been given the opportunity. MSK Eastside Gallery is a new generation of gallery.
