Jun 12

Jun 12 A Dip Into The Archives: Andres Serrano

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Andres Serrano: Anarchy

Anarchy series images are © Andres Serrano, Courtesy Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art, New York

Interview by Andrea Blanch

What is the smartest thing you have done for your career?

Believed in myself even when no one else did.

In what way has your work improved or evolved over the years?

It’s changed and yet it’s remained the same. I use pretty much the same camera, lighting and film I used twenty years ago. I also shoot in the studio as I always have. The only thing that changes is the subject matter and the picture.

How important do you think graduate school is these days for photographers?

I don’t know, I didn’t go to graduate school. I dropped out of high school to go to art school when I was a teenager.

What is the biggest difference in your process when doing commercial work compared to your art work?

I’ve never done commercial work. I’ve done some editorial work for magazines like The New York Times Magazine, New York Magazine and Wired. The only difference is I have to work faster.

You say that when you do commercial work it spawns ideas for your art work, can you give an example?

I don’t consider editorial work commercial work. But an editorial assignment might become a body of work. It’s not that it spawns ideas, but it can become a series. For instance, I once shot a series of “Cycads” or rare prehistoric plants for The New Times Magazine. A dealer in Italy loved them and he presented them as a series.