I was lucky enough to meet with the very talented photographer Andre Wagner over my Christmas break. He took the time out of his busy schedule to find me sitting in the middle of the after Christmas shopping hustle and bustle in New York City. Over coffee and what I believe was a rice krispie treat, I picked his brain for a few hours.
Okay, so the public knows you as Dre the photographer from New York – tell us more about yourself.
Well I’m actually from Nebraska and went to Buena Vista University in Storm Lake Iowa. I moved to New York last January with $70 to my name to last me for a month.
$70!! For a whole month? That must have been tough.
Oh it definitely was. I would have to find ways around paying for transport around because it was something I simply couldn’t afford. I’d have to jump the barriers at the subway station or walk as far as I could.
That’s impressive.
You do what you have to do
Okay so talk to me about photography, how did you get into that?
I actually played basketball for most of my life…
Really?! I play now…
I thought so, with the height and all [laughs] – but once my basketball career ended, my photography started. It was always something I was interested in, almost like an outlet for me and so my sophomore [second] year in college, I started taking classes.
What made you choose photography over basketball?
I had to choose between the two – I could have either played overseas or get a degree in school. I would have been the first college graduate in my family and so; college was the route I took.
That’s inspiring – many people would take the immediate dream rather than look to the future like you did. But right in this instance, if you were offered a chance to play overseas, would you do it?
That’s a good question! I’ve never been asked something like that before. Um, I probably would. I do love the city and see myself living here for a very long time but I’ve always wanted to travel outside of America – really, the most traveling I did was with basketball; so, if basketball gave me that opportunity I’d definitely have to take it – I’ve always wanted to visit Amsterdam actually.
I would recommend that. Would you try and continue photographing wherever you went?
Oh most definitely.
So let’s talk about that camera of yours. For the photography geeks out there, what is in your toolbox – what do you use to shoot such beautiful pictures?
[laughs] – many people would be very surprised to know that I actually only use one lense – 35mm1.8 for my Nikon d7000
I wish I knew what that meant – I just know you take wonderful pictures. How did you get your name out there, with just one lense?
I really just started with word of mouth. I started freelancing first, just trying to get my name out there – but you know, that’s something that can either be successful for you, or not. It depends on if your name gets to the right people or not rather than solely your talent. You just have to persevere.
So is that something you’d advise to budding artists out there?
Yes and no. Honestly, for any artist out there, I always question their motives – and they have to question their own intentions as well. Like, why do they want to do what they’re trying to do? It’s more than just taking a picture for me. I don’t go outside and be like, “oh look, a lamppost, I’ll take a picture” – nah, I have to connect with it on a mental level. So, I always advise that artists connect with what they’re doing rather than just going out into it blindly and doing it just for the sake of saying they did it. I was asked to do a video for a magazine once and I had to refuse to do it because it represented everything I didn’t want to represent. I was getting paid for it, but it was something I just couldn’t do and so, I guess that’s something else I would advise – don’t sell your soul.
I completely agree – that’s how I feel with my poetry and I never really thought about it in ways outside of that, but it definitely applies to everything doesn’t it?
So recently, and to my delight since I’m like the ‘poet’ of Y&Y, we’ve written a few posts about Strivers Row members Miles Hodge and Joshua Bennett – we know you’re heavily involved with them. In fact, you are the mastermind behind the amazing video for Miles Hodge’s ‘Harlem’ – talk to me about that.
Well, the poem ‘Harlem’ was around long before I started shooting Strivers Row. Miles and me though, we both had somewhat similar ideas and this was the end product. It took only a day to shoot, but about two months after that for me to edit. It was beautiful – like the kids that are in the video, we didn’t just go looking for black kids to sit around while he recited his poem. I just told him to go and start and the kids just started to surround him. It was amazing that it kinda just came together the way it did. Most people don’t even know that right in the beginning, it’s actually Langston Hughes who was some inspiration behind the poem, but that’s’ the kind of thing I’m talking about – I don’t think the video would have been as complete without that.
So is that normally your process with your pictures? Talk to me about The Passion Project.
Man, every chapter of that project is like the different chapters of my life. Like, ‘This Is Me’, is all about, well me. I used the nudity to represent someone being stripped down because “sometimes it’s just hard to see past all the layers” and I don’t think people understand that. I was able to use natural light, which I really prefer to use in my pictures, which brought more of me into the project. I like everyone to see the struggle I’ve been through so they know it wasn’t as easy as people may think.
So is that your style?
Oh yes. I like to be outside, I love natural light. I’ve done fashion look books and some studio work but my style will definitely be outside.
Who is your favourite photographer?
Without a doubt, it would be Gordon Parks. He did what I want to do through photography and that is change people’s lives. He shot a photo essay about a really poor Brazilian boy named Flavio da Silva, who was dying from bronchial pneumonia and malnutrition. But through his photo essay, he was able to bring in donations that saved Flavio’s life and paid for a new home for his family. I mean, if that isn’t inspiring…
That is amazing. Really amazing – is that the type of thing you aim to do with your past, present and future projects?
Of course. There is this project I have in the works right now with my friend, Rog Walker. We wanted to show people what happened around New York City while they were sleeping. So between the hours of 2am and 6am, we would go around taking pictures of the city while everyone was sleeping just to show people that it doesn’t end when they’re sleeping, you know? There was this homeless guy I would see sometimes, and I was about to take a picture of him while he was sleeping, and just as I snapped it, he looked up – that has gotta be one of my favourite pictures so far. It was just so real and natural and I would hope it would touch people as much as it touched me – like look at how this man is surviving you know? That’s all any of us are trying to do – survive.
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