Behind The Camera: Photographer Rus Anson By The Sea

Author: Abby Wilcox
Posted on: Friday March 12, 2010 at 11:00 AM
Filed under: rus anson, rosanna anson, photographer, photography, photo illustratiion, fashion, art

Have you ever wished you could jump into someone's head, Being John Malcovich-style? Well, if so, one person's head that you may really appreciate tumbling around in for a while is that of Barcelonan-born photographer Rosanna Anson (otherwise known as Rus Anson). At least judging from her capricious, airy, fairytale photography....

Below, we trailed her on her latest photo shoot in SF, in which she dragged a 5-foot-long foam fish, an antique bed, a moose head, two chairs, two lamps, lobsters, crabs and foam vegetables to the beach - to craft the following photo montages:

The concept for the shoot was about a centauresque man and beautiful woman - who lived in the watery waves and soft sand by the sea. Impeccable.

Other series? Rus did a French Revolution fashion series that's not sooo innocent....

(That's a real guillotine, people! Luckily it is a prop.)

Rus' rise to success has been quite epic: She got her hands on her first camera - a 35mm Canon Kiss (yes, the name of the camera IS really Canon Kiss) from her boyfriend in Barcelona only three years ago! Only six months later, the Fons Joan Riera Gubau Foundation granted her a scholarship to study photography in the United States and VOILA! she landed herself in the MFA program at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. We've got a feeling you'll be seeing much of her talent to come. In the meantime, here's her take on inspirations and dreams:

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH RUS ANSON:

JT.com: What kind of music do you listen to?

I have been listening a lot of female vocalists lately like Cat Power, Russian Red, Cocorosie or Annie B Sweet. I love their minimalist, poetic and child-like style.

JT.com: What does 'light' mean to you?

Light, for a photographer, is everything. A year ago I was using artificial light in almost all of my images but the chance to start working with 4x5 cameras made me become more interested in the use of natural light. As the Italian photographer Paolo Roversi says: "Everyone can learn the technique of lighting. What is very difficult, and what you can’t teach is a feeling for the light, a sentiment of the light. Lighting is, above all, not a question of technique, but of the feeling. Because, even if you think it is a simple light, it depends on where you put the camera, where you put the subject, what you put behind the subject or beside the subject, the angle of the sun, if there is a cloud in front of the sun." It's so true.

JT.com: What inspires you?

My grandpa's stories, movies, people I see in the streets, Carmen's [friend] hair, Cera's [friend] smile, my neighbor playing the guitar, San Francisco's light, streets and parks, my beautiful green van, music, the big windows of my little apartment, good photographs, smart advertising, my hometown, thrift stores, travel, thinking about my family and friends, children's books...

'Impossible Love' series: Rus' whimsical take on romance ..

JT.com: Tell me about your sketching/drawing of ideas?

I used to draw a lot a couple of years ago and I don't know why I stopped it. But now I am back to sketching. It helps me a lot to visualize the images prior to the shoot and have a better idea of every frame I want to photograph. I like to plan every single detail of my photo sessions and to draw each scene beforehand. It’s definitely a good exercise.

Rus' sketch of the bed on beach scene.

JT.com: Tell me about some of the preproduction that goes into putting together your photo sessions?

Sometimes my shoots just require hanging fabric as a backdrop next to a window, but other times, like in this shoot, it’s necessary to have a lot of time and help from other people. After I came up with the idea for this last shoot I met with Sharon Maloney, an awesome stylist based in San Francisco which I have already worked with a couple of times. We brainstormed about locations, props we were planning to use, time of day we wanted to photograph… The next step is to find the perfect model for the concept, and the hair and make-up artist. Also I need photo assistants, who are usually my friends, willing to help me with the set design and the lighting. It’s definitely team work. And I absolutely love it. It’s awesome to see how every person involved in the photo session put forth so much effort and energy to make of it a success. (Thanks to all of you guys!)

JT.com: What's your favorite color?

Green. Like olives, wet grass and my beautiful van.

JT.com: If you had one dream that comes true in your life, what would it be?

My dream would be to go out for dinner with Irving Penn, Spike Jonze, Banksy, Egon Schiele, Jean Paul Goude and Amelie, altogether, and have some drinks and talk about THEIR dreams.