Today I give you Copenhagen-based Hot Shot Mette Maersk. Happy Saturday!
Birthplace? Where were you raised?
Copenhagen, Denmark. Fredensborg, Denmark
Your age?
36
What do you do to pay the bills?
My best
What initiated your committed romance with photography?
Instinctive flirting with found footage and discarded photographs at a young age
What artists inspire you, whether they be photographers, musicians, politicians, painters, or the like?
Andy Warhol, Gerhard Richter, David Hockney, Peter Fischli & David Weiss, Lynne Cohen, Len Lye, Man Ray, Stephen Shore, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Ed Ruscha, Oscar Niemeyer, Gordon Matta-Clark, Gabriel Orozco
What do you like most about being a "photographer"?
Being in motion, encounters and seduction. Analog equipment has all the pace and attitude, that I like. I can never fully grasp the implications of what I observe, but I can gradually approach a totality, subsequently. In the meantime, signatures have to be recorded and contours framed, as handles to grasp.
What formal training, if any, do you have?
Mixed and mostly self-taught
What camera do you use?
Yashica Mat, Polaroid SX-70, Richo GR1v ( like to try a Graflex Super Graphic )
What piece of equipment do you fetishize the most and/or what is your guiltiest tech pleasure?
cars, no guilt
What do you find to be the biggest cliche in photography these days?
The urge for asking artists to produce linguistic meaning and define the sense of their work. Curators are better at that.
What are your loftiest goals?
A loft! Frequent field-assigments and artists residencies. Working with photographic books
Do you have any other creative talents?
I am a documentarist, I thus could unfold my gaze to capture yet unknow subjects. Just ask.
What are the top three movies on your queue?
(un-numbered group) Music of Chance, In the mood for love, Ultimo tango a Parigi, Blow up, Chelsea Walls, Soy Cuba, Playtime, The Straight Story, Boccaccio '70, Jules et Jim, Det Perfekte Menneske, The Conversation, La Linea, Sheltering Sky, The Idiots, Down by Law, Lucia y Sexo, Bonnie & Clyde, The Night of the Iguana, Le Mepris
What book connects with your life the most?
Mac Powerbook
What are your favorite websites/blogs?
zoetati.blogspot.com ( and all the links listed on the blog )
patalab02.blogspot.com
Who are your favorite musicians? Do you have an anthem?
John Lennon, Thomas Dybdahl, Nina Simone, Jan Johansson, Kate Bush, Nick Drake, Cat Power, Gotan Project, Bob Marley, Chet Baker, Tom Waits, Eric Satie, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Beck, Omara Portuonda, Aretha Franklin
If you were on a deserted island and could only take one luxury, what would it be?
A swiss army knife with an espresso-machine, a fireplace and a male surf-instructor attached
Favorite food?
cod roe
Favorite possession?
rare collection of toy caravans
Favorite animal?
puppy
Favorite way to kill time?
Fleamarkets