Featured Artist: Kevin Lajoie

Artist: Kevin Lajoie

Location: New Orleans, Louisiana

Featured Project: “The Doodle Project”

"The Doodle Project is simple. I take Polaroids of people, I glue those photos into a sketchbook, then I ask my new friends to draw around their image. What started off as a simple way of making friends and collecting mementos has turned into an ethnographic survey into thinking, expression and identity. With over 550 pages, The Doodle Project seeks to clarify an idea; that anyone can create. We are human, and our ability to communicate is something we all share and is specific to our species. More than any other form of expression, the image communicates across languages. Combining both the Polaroid - an instant representation of the person at the time and place - and the doodle, a direct vein from someone's consciousness, satisfy our need to understand one another. All contained on a 8.5x11 piece of paper."

StartFragmentPhotography and art was never on Kevin’s radar as he was growing up. Thinking he would devote his life to music, Kevin moved to New Orleans in 2012 to pursue a career in the music industry. After discovering the possibilities and limitations of Polaroid cameras, Kevin swore off the music and aimed towards photography. Having photographed for Preservation Hall, he began to sell photography for local artists at the Frenchmen Art Market. Currently working on a series of Polaroid portraits accompanied by drawings called The Doodle Project, Kevin is constantly seeking melancholy moments and inexplicable feelings with his photography.

"I shoot film because nothing else creates the satisfaction from spontaneity."

SFUK: Tell us a little about yourself and your background in photography.

KL: I had no reason to start photography. I was a musician for most of my adolescence and I was sure I would spend the rest of my life making music. Only when I moved away from my childhood home did I decide to buy a Polaroid camera to take pictures of my friends to keep memories. It started an obsession and I dropped music almost entirely. I have since learned how to use different photographic mediums, but Polaroid has always and will continue to be the forefront of my expression.

SFUK: Why do you shoot film?

KL: I shoot film because nothing else creates the satisfaction from spontaneity. Knowing that I have eight exposures creates priority when deciding if the shot is possible. At first, I would only get horribly lit shots or absolutely uninteresting compositions. Now, after getting over the learning curve that such a restrictive medium brings, I have the confidence to know if the photo will come out before even taking the exposure. Once it comes out, that satisfaction is insurmountable.

SFUK: Who inspires you, any favourite people or places you frequently go to for inspiration?

KL: I think Henri Cartier-Bresson's ideas are the most influential to me, but I think I find more influence from the people I encounter rather than specific artists. When someone shares an idea with me, it will sit with me and I try to do everything I can to see that idea in the real world afterwards. It's inspiration by proxy.

SFUK: How would you describe your style of shooting?

KL: Fashion photography wherein the subject is both the person/people and the landscape as a single entity.

SFUK: Do you have a favourite camera or film stock you feel compliments your work?

KL: I always walk around with both a 600 Impusle AF and a SX70 Alpha 1 Model 2. The 600 is the perfect "party" camera; compact, sharp focus and great flash. The Model 2 is just my baby, I've had it for years. It came broken and I fixed it myself. it's been at my side ever since.

SFUK: Do you have any plans for your next project?

KL: As of now, it's just a matter of taking Polaroids and meeting new people.

Keep up to date with Kevin's work at www.thedoodleproject.us and be sure to follow him on Instagram @thedoodleprojectus

Thank you.

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