A Conversation With ... Molly Steele
Image by Kevin Russ
Scrolling through the pages of Molly Steele’s prints on her website, it’s hard to believe this L.A based artist wasn’t wandering around America in the 70’s. With rugged landscapes of Arizona that ooze with the warm and gooey hues associated with perpetual Summer, Steele’s work permeates across my computer screen and often has me thinking about how much these photographs look like the vintage postcards you find in your parent’s old picture-albums. Working class adventurers and people who look like they are perfectly happy to explore the world as their home litter themselves throughout Steele’s work, a fact that is so relatable, dreamy, and humbling that it really isn’t any wonder why her work is so well-received within the photography community. We sat down on opposite sides of the Pacific, and interviewed Steele about the more poetic side of her photography; how home, retrospective attitudes, and thinking about what’s next, have shaped her artistic practice.
BYO: What does photography mean to you?
Molly: Photography is a method of extending beyond itself the moment of encounter. Somewhere between smell memory and a ripple, if it’s successful. For me, I do a lot of conjuring from my analog work. I think I’m drawn to photography as a method for communizing aspects of an experience or encounter.
BYO: What is your idea of ‘home’? And how has this changed whilst travelling extensively through America and the world?
Molly: I’m feeling loquacious today, so…Home is a complex topic for me because I didn’t have a stable living situation when I was a kid. From there, I moved across the country to LA as a teenager, alone. The only home I’ve ever really known is myself. I really rely on that and when I travel it’s in search of experiences of “home,” that I’m looking to find or create. I always have to bring some symbols of home too, like things in a particular palette, or a blanket that can provide some constant.
BYO: When you go back over your archives, what do you think about, or how do you feel about the work you’ve produced?
Molly: I’ve actually spent about 30 hours going through and organizing my digitized and analog archives over the last few days (S.O.S. please sent blue-light glasses), so I’ve done a lot of reviewing and reflecting. One of my first thoughts is usually, “Omg, I’m so sorry for the people that had to look at these terrible photos!”, or, “thank god I stopped using that scanner”. But generally it’s interesting to watch the progression in my life that occurs in the narrative of the archives. From years of shooting only landscapes, to a timid entrance into a social world, and then the beginning of building trust with people close to me and strangers alike, where my photography enters into a project of engagement.
Image by Purienne
BYO: You mention in a few previous interviews that you wish you could improve on your ‘partnership’ skills…how do you translate heartbreak (romantic or otherwise) and/or longing for a particular person into your work?
Molly: Wow, deep cut haha. I’m realizing that I’m not interested in people the way that others are, or that I thought we all were supposed to. I’m really proud of the work I do both on myself and in relationships of all kinds, but lost sight for a while in the wake of people who really who really broke me down. Luckily, I channel emotional energy into traveling, and stepping up my game to be a better friend. My work is sometimes made on the trips I take when I need to get away, but the work I make usually grounds me into my integrity and present, and out of the longing.
BYO: You mention in another interview “Some of my favourite places I’ve been are also linked to extreme fear.” Do you think fear is a prime motivator for making exceptional photographic work? What do you think fear conjures up inside of us?
Molly: I hope that fear is not a prime motivation for many people….cortisol in excess is a pill. More than fear, I think my curiosity leads me to places and is more powerful than most of my fear, which can be a fuel or a fence. For me, fear usually conjures up a lot of reflection and expands my capacity moving forward.
BYO: What’s the latter end of 2019 looking like for you?
Molly: The remainder of 2019 is posing a transitionary opportunity into the vita activa. I feel like I’ve spent the last 3 years hibernating, taking time, and doing personal work. Now there’s a horizon I’m stepping toward and finally feel ready to show and publish work, as well as make changes in my own life. There’s a strong desire to give up my house after 8 years and use that freedom to invest and look into distant projects and friendships. I’d like to do more international work and am thinking of a book …
