Getting to Know: Sean Litchfield

credit: Sean LitchfieldI first met Sean outside the home design shop I used to work at in the South End, J.E.M. (please visit if you haven't already!). He stood shivering in a flannel green and black flannel coat, minimal equipment slung over his shoulder, arriving before even before I opened the shop. I was met with a shy, "Hi, I'm Sean, I'm here to photograph the shop for my portfolio".

With laser focus and barely a word, he delicately explored the room with his camera. The day after his photographs were released to the shop, we were in awe. His ability to bring the eye to moments of unexpected beauty without the frills of lighting and over- editing make for an authentic result. Almost a year later, Sean has moved from working full- time to freely pursuing his passion. Currently Sean is working on a book about the culture of the South and the ruin of the American suburbs there with his boyfriend Zach as well as the a collection of photographs from the Emerald Necklace's various Parks. The beauty of Sean's work is not only revealed by his organic eye but in the audible story behind his shots.

See the intrigue I speak of after the jump...

Meggie: So what have you been up to recently?
Sean: I went to South Carolina to work on a book that I’m doing. I’m collaborating with my boyfriend on it, he’s writing it and I am photographing it. I’ve made a few trips over the last year. It was brutal the month that I went.

M: Where are you from? What was the first experience of picking up a camera like?
S: I’m from the Cape, right before the Canal. I went to the New England Institute of Art in Brookline Village. I graduated May of 2010. I didn’t know that I wanted to photography until high school. I was tossing the idea with being a marine biologist. I love fish, ocean, and swim as much as I could as a kid.

But, to answer your last question, I was at Disney World in Orlando, FL and there was a tacky Mickey Mouse camera – I remember I wanted it so badly, for some reason. Maybe it was the packaging. It was twenty dollars, which is a lot of money in the 90’s. I begged my mom for it. I remember going back to the hotel and photographing my stuffed animals that I had brought. I was into the 100 Dalmatians and I arranged them into a portrait style, studio backdrop. Looking back now I realized that I was different and no five-year-old would do that. It wasn’t until I was old enough I knew something was up.

M: You’ve been in Boston and living in Jamaica Plain. Do you live now with your boyfriend?
S: Yes.

M: How did you and Zachary meet?
S: We met at Pino’s, a pizza shop.

M: A drunken escapade?
S: Oh no no, we had spoken online.  We moved in together in March.

credit: Sean Litchfield

M: Do you love JP?
S: I love it. We were coming from the South End on West Newton Street, in a studio, with two cats. We have a ton of books in our apartment now. Zachary is studying Architecture History at Boston University, getting his P.H.d. 

M: He’s from?
S: Augusta, Maine. He’s hoping to graduate soon, he’s been there forever.

M: So you two are collaborating on a book about the South- what’s the mission?
S: I knew we could always work together- we respect each other’s work without overstepping. I couldn’t date another photographer. We thought, let’s do something on the South and the Bible Belt because it is unfamiliar to the both of us. My parents had moved down there.

M: Why?
S: They were sick of Massachusetts and paying a lot of money for their mortgage.

M: So it’s a New England perspective on the South?
S: We went down not knowing what to photograph or write about. It’s such a horrible place, it’s ugly, new, tons of highways and wide roads. But I wanted to photograph it in a beautiful way. I started referencing the Hudson River School Paintings by Thomas Cole - the picturesque paintings of America, in breaking light.

M: I’m thinking the third floor of the Museum of Fine Arts?
S: Yes. The New Wing, all of that. But the thing is with those is they were not about the landscape. They were about the same thing I’m photographing- the “before” of the land when it turns to humans. There’s always a person or train going through but you don’t notice because the landscape is so beautiful. Thomas Cole wasn’t painting to preserve America’s untouched wilderness, it was rather, “this is what we’re doing to the land”. The project is about the disconnect of the landscape. The suburbs of the South are problematic, dependent on vehicles, everyone wants a piece of land, as opposed to the city where it’s stacked. There, it’s open, and flattened. If there were no oil, everything would fall apart. There is so much cleared land, but no houses yet.

M: Creepy!
S: I’ve felt more scared there than I have in the worst part of the city. You have expectations in the city. But there I don’t know what is around the corner. At night, hearing the hums of air conditioning, it was so creepy.  Or the glow of parking lots.

M: Islands of commercial build-ups….
S: The nearest convenience store is 5 minutes. We’re just trying to photograph and show what it’s about.

M: When will this all be finished?
S: We were hoping the fall, but because of the funding, hopefully by the end of the year… It’d be a great book for people who enjoy photography but also for the intellect, there’s certainly a story behind it all.

credit: Sean Litchfield 

M: How has it been exploring freelance photography?
S: I didn’t know how hard it was until I graduated. I see people on Tumblr doing jobs for AARP magazine and I never would have thought of emailing someone there. Their pictures are beautiful and they let them have a complete run of everything- or for instance, on-flight magazines…

So, the first thing I did was go to Barnes & Noble and write down the name of every photo editor that I thought was relevant. I went through and emailed them all personally, letting them know which features I liked.  I’m starting another “campaign” I guess you would call it, this fall.

M: Nationwide magazines?
S: I’ve been in touch with Dwell. But I love doing lots of different things, I don’t want to be rigid. I love doing interiors… really I would love to take my film camera and not do things that are so high pressure. I would like doing assignments where I can go to a place, photograph it, and follow people around.

M: If an art gallery approached you where would you like to be shown ideally?
S: If a gallery approached me, absolutely! I wouldn’t mind doing a café, restaurant, or really anywhere – I don’t want to be picky at this point.

M: The impression I get from your film is an unspoken commentary.
S: People have told me my work is earnest.  I’m still trying to figure out what that means. I hate trying to describe my work too much. It’s problematic. My work is subconscious and thinking too much about it, I might become too aware. A lot of what I do is walking around and catching things that strike me. It is very therapeutic to me. I shoot first, process later. I don’t want to edit in the field.

M:  A very pure eureka moment.
S: I would never want to photograph something just by pointing a camera at it. I just want to let things come in and out of the frame. I don’t like lighting things or manipulation.

credit: Sean Litchfield

M: What is your commentary on your project “The Tragic American Suburb”?
S: It’s personal for me. I’ve become more aware of the actions that I make every day. Everything has an effect on my everyday.  I salvage, I go to thrift stores. I’m not trying to be preachy or attack the people in the South. It takes an outsider’s point of view. There are alternatives to lifestyle.  I’ve been trying to make as little waste as possible. For example, baking… making loaves of bread for pennies.

M: Would you ever move?
S: Yes, we’re moving to New York.  There’s no pretense down there.  I feel that when you make that decision to go down to New York, you know what you’re doing.

M: What has been the most important thing you have learned along the way?
S: I realized there is never an excuse for anything. I had this professor once who I presented my final to -- I had two rows of prints that were meant to be shown in succession, in one line. It was ripped apart. My professor goes, “What are you doing? You could have gone on to the wall, you could have brought over another table or taken it outside”. I thought, he’s completely right.

M: Be true to your original intention…
S: I wasn’t able to defend my reasoning. I always try now to protect my work.

M: Why not photograph people more?
S: I know.  There is a new portraiture project coming up.  I’ve been emailing a bunch of people that have something in common --I don’t want to talk about what is just yet that they have in common. But, I go in and photograph them, I want to make sure I have lot of content for this one.

M: With freelancing, how do you feel knowing that you’ve finished a day completely on your own will?
S: It’s amazing. I am not living the same lifestyle with a steady paycheck anymore but I am much happier.

credit: Sean Litchfield