Today, we get to talk with painter turned photographer, David Aronson. Aronson has taken his love for the feminine figure, and traded his paintbrush for a camera. We get to see some of his work, and what a day in the life is like.
by NAKID FASHION EDITOR – Rachel Lynch
What’s a day in the life like?
“I usually wake up with the sun around 10am. Do my morning ritual of showering, coconut oil, and then make some kimchi dumplings and tea for breakfast. Then I’ll typically have a model come over around noon. More tea usually. Then we start shooting, half an hour of getting to know each other. I’ll always have them spread out their outfits for the shoot on my ping pong table. We’ll shoot with a sunny wall, take some mezcal shots around three. Then I’ll have some photographer friends over to play board games for a couple hours.”
What’s it like living in Williamsburg?
“It’s all about making friends with your fellow uber-poolers. It’s also all about having your little neighborhood spots. I have a tea shop where I know my tea guy, a wine shop where I know my wine guy, and a plant shop where I know my plant girl. I like making my rounds through all the neighborhood specialty shops. I like being able to pick up a bottle of tequila that a friend of a friends produces, or some gin made in Brooklyn.”
Is your home your studio/workspace?
“For the first time in six years of living in New York, I finally live and work in the same place. For five years I had a painting studio about a mile walk from my place. I like being able to shoot a model on a backdrop, rotate it around project a movie onto the same screen later that night.”
You studied painting in college, what was that like?
“I was always focused on painting for the grade, and never really focused on painting for myself until I left college.”
Why the switch now from painting to photography? Was it a natural progression or a conscious switch?
“The work I make is very much a product of my environment and circumstances. Right now, I’m living in the space where there’s all this natural light, so photography has really been inspiring. My last place was too small to do any oil painting or photography. So I started doing collages, where I would shoot the subject against a simple wall and then create an entire world around them digitally.”
What are your collages all about?
“They’re goddess collages — so I ask the model open ended questions like what’s a goddess pose? what god or goddess do you connect most with? I try to bring out the goddess within people, or see the divine within people. From there I use that as a jumping point to add my own interpretation — adding different colors and symbols.”
How do you work with a model on a photoshoot?
“Most important I want to make all my models very comfortable. I work very hard to suppress my own masculine energy so I don’t overpower the shoot. I take a subtle directors approach, and try to bring their personality out as much as possible. I like to keep makeup and hair very natural, so they look like they’re just hanging out at home.”
What’s next for you?
“I’m meeting up with one of my good friends in LA soon, and we’re gonna plan a bunch of shoots. We’re going out to the desert to take photos. I’m looking forward to reaching out to more artists and doing more collaborations.”
see more of David’s work here — instagram
