This week's Shutter Showcase features a photographer that reached out to me a couple of days ago. Even though he currently resides in Iowa for college, he has spent the past twenty years of his life living in and loving the Bay Area landscape. This guy is a very talented photographer, and he is constantly working hard to sharpen his trade. Even though he is miles away from home, we here at SF Solid Gold are very happy to promote this Bay Area artist. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the life and work of Black Mesa.
Alright lets start off by having you tell us your name and where you are from.
"For all art endeavors, I've adopted the name Black Mesa. I used to play the video game Half-Life as a kid and the concept of the Black Mesa top secret research facility always enticed me, in terms of wanting to explore a secret place just like it one day. I only found it fitting to apply that name to my photographic alter ego as I'm always eager to explore. I was born in Miami, Florida, but moved to the East Bay Area as a young child."
What initially made you get into photography?
"It's pretty ironic actually. I initially always wanted to paint, but I can't seem to draw even a stick figure right. Growing up, I used to see kids draw some of the most creative and beautiful things, and I was almost envious that I couldn't even sketch anything legible. Never did I realize that perhaps it simply wasn't my medium. I took a digital photography class during my freshman year of high school and absolutely hated it. My teacher would consistently give me C's or even D's on every single thing I turned in so it turned into something that I went into with a lot of frustration. It's not like I ever detested the process of photography. I just hated how she would give me horrific grades on a daily basis without ever helping me understand why. It frustrated me enough to pretty much throw in the towel and give up on photography.
I don't detest failure, but I detest being unable to adapt and stack up better for next time. I firmly believe that class never showed me how to do anything but fail and be disappointed with my results. Later on, in my junior year, my auntie had bought a DSLR. She had absolutely no idea how to use it. Therefore, I volunteered to try to figure out how to help her utilize it. I took it home for a week, and let's just say I fell in love with photography that weekend so she didn't end up getting her camera back until I bought one of my own!"
Who have been some of your favorite photographers that you've come across?
"Oh man, that list is extensively vast but I'll try to keep it short so I'll just shoot ya a few. I'd say 13th Witness and Trashhand have always been huge to me, in terms of bigger names because I feel like they pioneered the urban exploration field pertaining to the art of exploring everything. Not only are their photos gorgeous, but their work ethic has always been something I've idolized. After watching Trashhand's skill-share sessions and seeing how early he leaves the house to go shoot, I've been truly motivated to get out in the field more instead of cherishing my personal beauty sleep.
The photographic work of Kostennn has also been extremely motivational to me after hearing a little bit about his story. I mean, the kid is a few years younger than I am and began shooting with a broken kit lens but still never made any excuses about his lack of equipment preventing him to get out there and take good photos. I believe that kid will be the definition of self made. I could go on and name photographers forever that inspire me, literally forever but you get the idea. It's vital to look at the work of other photographers to get inspired and learn. Some people consider those in their field competition, but that's absolutely silly and distasteful. A healthy artistic mind should be always eager to learn and encourage their fellow photographers."
Where would you like photography to take you in life?
"I'd just like it to take me to places and spaces, really. I like seeing new environments and can't sit in one place for too long so I suppose I just would love to keep traveling. A lot of people see that as unreal and will lead to an unstable broke lifestyle, but fuck 'em. You don't go into this field looking for stability, and you don't go into it with anything less than a head full of dreams. I hate it when people only see the sure fire problems with artistic life. I haven't had any yet thankfully. My biggest dilemma everyday is whether to murder my diet with a bag of flaming hot Cheetos or a Snickers bar so I'd say my mentality is fairly relaxed. My entrepreneurship teacher told me recently, "Yes, that dream job is difficult to get, but if you don't try to get it someone else definitely will." I'd like to try my hand at it before giving up. As long as photography keeps me on the move and fatigued, then hey, I see that as a lifelong fun problem to have."
Do you have a favorite subject in particular that you like to shoot?
"Urban architecture for sure. Living so close to San Francisco growing up gave me butterflies for big cities. Currently, I'm attending the University of Iowa for my undergraduate education so being trapped in a small town can be lackluster after you've seen city lights."
"For all art endeavors, I've adopted the name Black Mesa. I used to play the video game Half-Life as a kid and the concept of the Black Mesa top secret research facility always enticed me, in terms of wanting to explore a secret place just like it one day. I only found it fitting to apply that name to my photographic alter ego as I'm always eager to explore. I was born in Miami, Florida, but moved to the East Bay Area as a young child."
What initially made you get into photography?
"It's pretty ironic actually. I initially always wanted to paint, but I can't seem to draw even a stick figure right. Growing up, I used to see kids draw some of the most creative and beautiful things, and I was almost envious that I couldn't even sketch anything legible. Never did I realize that perhaps it simply wasn't my medium. I took a digital photography class during my freshman year of high school and absolutely hated it. My teacher would consistently give me C's or even D's on every single thing I turned in so it turned into something that I went into with a lot of frustration. It's not like I ever detested the process of photography. I just hated how she would give me horrific grades on a daily basis without ever helping me understand why. It frustrated me enough to pretty much throw in the towel and give up on photography.
I don't detest failure, but I detest being unable to adapt and stack up better for next time. I firmly believe that class never showed me how to do anything but fail and be disappointed with my results. Later on, in my junior year, my auntie had bought a DSLR. She had absolutely no idea how to use it. Therefore, I volunteered to try to figure out how to help her utilize it. I took it home for a week, and let's just say I fell in love with photography that weekend so she didn't end up getting her camera back until I bought one of my own!"
Who have been some of your favorite photographers that you've come across?
"Oh man, that list is extensively vast but I'll try to keep it short so I'll just shoot ya a few. I'd say 13th Witness and Trashhand have always been huge to me, in terms of bigger names because I feel like they pioneered the urban exploration field pertaining to the art of exploring everything. Not only are their photos gorgeous, but their work ethic has always been something I've idolized. After watching Trashhand's skill-share sessions and seeing how early he leaves the house to go shoot, I've been truly motivated to get out in the field more instead of cherishing my personal beauty sleep.
The photographic work of Kostennn has also been extremely motivational to me after hearing a little bit about his story. I mean, the kid is a few years younger than I am and began shooting with a broken kit lens but still never made any excuses about his lack of equipment preventing him to get out there and take good photos. I believe that kid will be the definition of self made. I could go on and name photographers forever that inspire me, literally forever but you get the idea. It's vital to look at the work of other photographers to get inspired and learn. Some people consider those in their field competition, but that's absolutely silly and distasteful. A healthy artistic mind should be always eager to learn and encourage their fellow photographers."
Where would you like photography to take you in life?
"I'd just like it to take me to places and spaces, really. I like seeing new environments and can't sit in one place for too long so I suppose I just would love to keep traveling. A lot of people see that as unreal and will lead to an unstable broke lifestyle, but fuck 'em. You don't go into this field looking for stability, and you don't go into it with anything less than a head full of dreams. I hate it when people only see the sure fire problems with artistic life. I haven't had any yet thankfully. My biggest dilemma everyday is whether to murder my diet with a bag of flaming hot Cheetos or a Snickers bar so I'd say my mentality is fairly relaxed. My entrepreneurship teacher told me recently, "Yes, that dream job is difficult to get, but if you don't try to get it someone else definitely will." I'd like to try my hand at it before giving up. As long as photography keeps me on the move and fatigued, then hey, I see that as a lifelong fun problem to have."
Do you have a favorite subject in particular that you like to shoot?
"Urban architecture for sure. Living so close to San Francisco growing up gave me butterflies for big cities. Currently, I'm attending the University of Iowa for my undergraduate education so being trapped in a small town can be lackluster after you've seen city lights."
If you could travel anywhere to shoot photos, where would you like to go?
"Japan, Japan, Japan! Every single time I stumble upon a picture of Tokyo, I drool, truly. The architecture, the food, the blinding lights, it's just all so beautiful to me. Perhaps it's also ideal for the urban things I like to shoot so it just makes perfect sense. I'm crossing my fingers trying to send a letter to Sofia Coppola to beg her to first of all make a Lost In Translation sequel. Secondly, allow me to star in it because I don't know how the hell I'm going to get out to Japan otherwise. Third, she should totally bring Scarlett Johansson back as my co-star but not because I think she's pretty or anything. I hope Sofia Coppola can see what an ingenious yet only slightly selfish idea this is."
What's one album you could never get tired of listening to and why?
"Hmm, that's a hard one. I'd probably have to lean with J Dilla's "Donuts", and I really like The Misfits "Static Age".
What's your favorite concert that you have ever attended?
"Rock The Bells. I saw the Wu-Tang Clan. Enough said."
What would you say is your best photo that you have ever taken?
"Realistically, I hate all my work after roughly 24 hours. However, if there's one photo I have a good memory to I would say that it was my first time taking a long exposure at Grizzly Peak of the San Francisco Skyline. It's a extremely cliche photo but I'd say that was the first time I really explored anything roughly noteworthy. It started this chain of just trying to find new spots and different views."
Where do you see yourself 2 years from now, and where do you see yourself in 5 years?
"Oh dang, I really don't know. My mother always grills me on this very question because she's scared that I'm obviously not going to be an engineer at Google and to her that's kind of the holy grail of jobs. I like to just take one step at a time and tackle opportunities as they present themselves to me. The future is too scary to worry about. I'd like to think that by giving it 100% everyday, instead of thinking too far ahead, things might just work out for me."
Where can people go to follow your progress and find your photos?
"I'm working on building a personal website, but for now to keep up with my daily explorations and beautiful Ryan Gosling-esque face, blackmesaphotolog.tumblr.com works just fine."
Anything else you would like to say before you go?
"Explore, explore, and explore children. Oh, and his quote by Rust Cohle that I've always found beautiful.
"Life's barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you get good at."
Awesome, thank you for your time man. Before you go, I have one last question for you. If you could have written any song in history, which song would you choose and why?
"Metallica's "Fade To Black". It's cool and hard at the same time."
"Japan, Japan, Japan! Every single time I stumble upon a picture of Tokyo, I drool, truly. The architecture, the food, the blinding lights, it's just all so beautiful to me. Perhaps it's also ideal for the urban things I like to shoot so it just makes perfect sense. I'm crossing my fingers trying to send a letter to Sofia Coppola to beg her to first of all make a Lost In Translation sequel. Secondly, allow me to star in it because I don't know how the hell I'm going to get out to Japan otherwise. Third, she should totally bring Scarlett Johansson back as my co-star but not because I think she's pretty or anything. I hope Sofia Coppola can see what an ingenious yet only slightly selfish idea this is."
What's one album you could never get tired of listening to and why?
"Hmm, that's a hard one. I'd probably have to lean with J Dilla's "Donuts", and I really like The Misfits "Static Age".
What's your favorite concert that you have ever attended?
"Rock The Bells. I saw the Wu-Tang Clan. Enough said."
What would you say is your best photo that you have ever taken?
"Realistically, I hate all my work after roughly 24 hours. However, if there's one photo I have a good memory to I would say that it was my first time taking a long exposure at Grizzly Peak of the San Francisco Skyline. It's a extremely cliche photo but I'd say that was the first time I really explored anything roughly noteworthy. It started this chain of just trying to find new spots and different views."
Where do you see yourself 2 years from now, and where do you see yourself in 5 years?
"Oh dang, I really don't know. My mother always grills me on this very question because she's scared that I'm obviously not going to be an engineer at Google and to her that's kind of the holy grail of jobs. I like to just take one step at a time and tackle opportunities as they present themselves to me. The future is too scary to worry about. I'd like to think that by giving it 100% everyday, instead of thinking too far ahead, things might just work out for me."
Where can people go to follow your progress and find your photos?
"I'm working on building a personal website, but for now to keep up with my daily explorations and beautiful Ryan Gosling-esque face, blackmesaphotolog.tumblr.com works just fine."
Anything else you would like to say before you go?
"Explore, explore, and explore children. Oh, and his quote by Rust Cohle that I've always found beautiful.
"Life's barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you get good at."
Awesome, thank you for your time man. Before you go, I have one last question for you. If you could have written any song in history, which song would you choose and why?
"Metallica's "Fade To Black". It's cool and hard at the same time."
To be featured for a Shutter Showcase, please click here. Thanks for reading!
Written By: Jacob D. Schmidt
All Photos By: Black Mesa
SF Solid Gold
Written By: Jacob D. Schmidt
All Photos By: Black Mesa
SF Solid Gold