![]() Is it weird to think of people wishing that they'd been able to witness the things you witnessed, the birth of skate culture and LA's hardcore scene? It was a somber Chicago style that established a sense of "cultural mafia" that didn't effectively crumble until the rise of electrified country, R&B, and rock 'n' roll on the nation's airwaves. ![]() By the 30s (likely due to the repeal of Prohibition) it had all cooled to a sober (and ironically so), big-shouldered, double-breasted, modest-hemline-and-hairdo, lumbering-sedan world that included the West Coast as well. It was probably the last holdout of East Coast–style rebellion against the status quo and misguided missionary zeal. When did you fantasize about the flapper age? What specifically appealed about it to you? Sure, why not? Haunted house? I don't know about that but I have seen ghosts. I once wished I had lived in the 1920s with the flappers, gangsters, speakeasies, and jazz joints. We've all pined for living in a time we were never part of. It's why America has such a fascination with the Wild West and a "rugged individualism" that maybe never existed. It's very marketable and does a great job of spinning history into easily digestible hot dogmas and popsicle politics. It doesn't have to exist but culture tends to impose a "longing for times gone by" and "the other side is always greener" mentality on perception. Nostalgia is a byproduct of action and memory. The photos are beautiful but I think you manage to show almost nude young women in a way that's not sexy and punk bands in a way that's not romantic. When I look at the pictures in this book I feel zero nostalgia for this world. They may represent these but they are also actual colors. People mislead themselves in thinking that black and white are just representations of absences and oversaturations. Gray is the domain of black-and-white photography. You just do it, make mistakes and figure out what works and what doesn't for what you're trying to do. How did you develop the techniques and choices that you show in this book? You portray the colorful worlds of beach people, bikini girls skaters and punks in a palette of grays. In photography, the viewfinder should not be a limitation-it's merely one part of a larger vision. Y'know, using improvisation and gut feelings as frameworks for rhythm and composition. It's really the basis of all language and if you're serious about the experience of music, you learn to keep both sides of your brain open and rely upon instinct rather than premeditation. I learned to play back in the days when AM radio was king (years before FM rock came along) and, even though AM was kinda "low-res" and broadcast in mono, you're still listening with both ears. Spot: First and foremost, I'm a musician and everything else I've ever done has been based on that. VICE:When did you come up with the title Sounds of Two Eyes Opening? You mention in your introduction that photographers have to keep both eyes open when they shoot. I got to talk to Spot recently about that. ![]() ![]() He cuts through the artifice to the real humanity and he forgives his subjects for their flaws and pretenses. His girls in bikinis aren't titillating, his punks aren't dangerous, his skaters aren't gods. Although Spot strips away any sense of glamour or coolness from his subjects, his work never feels cruel or like he's trying to be mean or judgmental. ![]()
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