After months of back and forth talking, here is the interview with Mark Squires; fashion photographer and great guy. His photographs have always been a favorite of mine and I'm excited to post our interview. Read after the jump.

Interview with Mark Squires
Marksquiresphoto.com
Marksquiresphotodiary.com

What was your first interest in photography?

When I was about 10 years old .. My mother took pics for articles she wrote.. She put the camera in my hands early.. She encouraged me to use my excess energy and emotions visually and creatively.

When did you make the transition into a professional photographer.

After college I went into film production after studying film and photo.. Before u know it, I was producing big commercials at a very young age.. But I wasn't happy.. So I left all that behind to get an internship at the new studio (pier 59) when it opened.. I only would take pics for myself but then was encouraged by Avedon to expand my repertoire and incorporate my vision into fashion. And portraiture.. With those few words.. I set out to make published images that would inspire me and others..

What is a favorite shoot or memory.

Hard to choose a favorite.. As every day I shoot I am generally so happy.  But maybe big trips to Africa for fashion or maybe my first shoots with Gwen and no doubt.. Those gave me the feeling that my picture would have some impact on more people.. I liked that idea

Your photos, especially the black & white ones, seem to have a unique, rich grain to them. What do you shoot with and why.

Haha.. Funny u should ask that.. I had spent a lot of time perfecting a grainless digital image.. My early work was as slick as can be and had heavier retouching.. But over time I have learned how to create a digital grain in the capture.. I have gone back to my film roots asthetically .. Back to the good old tmax 3200 neg, chunck grain feel.. It just seems more me and where I come from than the high gloss I had spent a few years perfecting.. I still shoot with a high res digital back on a medium format camera.. but I treat that the same as my first 35 mm cam that my mom gave me.. 

Can you explain your connection with your hat?

Haha! I just love it.. I have my hats custom made.. If i think about it.. Maybe it goes deeper.. I am a superstitious person.. In general.. I began wearing a hat when i would shoot a long time ago.. Not sure why.. Kinda like a baseball player with his fav lucky boxer shorts.. So i feel best shooting wearing it.. Also I have a shaved head so it would require me to wear a hat to keep warm and then over time I just wore it always.. It became a signature of sorts.. Maybe a security blanket... Sometimes when I am out without it.. People don't even recognize me... That is funny.. One day I began taking it off and letting my subjects wear it.. So now i have a big body of work of models and celebs and babies friends, etc.. All wearing my hat.. I don't know why but I do think with my photography I always got a bit obssessed with an idea or subject.. I remember I had an obsession taking pictures of coca cola machines for years and then of street lights then women.. Etc.. I guess that is how bodies of work come about.. Shit maybe I am a little bit OCD. In this way! Hahaha that is hard to admit

Any upcoming shows or projects.

I just finished shooting a project with Juliette Lewis for s mag's next issue cover story.. So I am working on those images right now.. That was fun cause juliette is a unique and creative woman.. Like me.. She did not want to create a typical image or anything that we thought was not true to both our unique personalities.. No shows or books currently planned .. I think I will just take pics when I can and someday somone will ask me to publish or show a body of my work.. Oh but one thing I am enjoying is my new online photodiary. marksquiresphotodiary.com. Where I get to put lots of pics seen and never seen and get to tell parts of the stories behind them.. I love the process and added level of expression I have allowed my self by just writing a public and yet personal snippit.. Hence why I called it a diary ... Kinda the reverse of where I came from.. My mother used to write articles for newspapers and add her own pics.. Now I seem to do that a bit in reverse..

What photographers or artists inspire you.

That us only tough because of the size of the list..
Ugh..
Hmmm.. Off top of head and short top of the list..
Avedon
Penn
Mathew Barney
So many current photgraphers (my contemporaries)
Choreographer benjamin millipied
Bertolucci
Felinni
Tornatore
Polanski
Tartovski
Bill viola
Oh damn this list will go on and on and on.. K

-Emmett

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