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Amy Stein is a photographer from New York City. She has a solo exhibition starting on February 16th at the Paul Kopeikin Gallery in Los Angeles. She also has a great website and blog featuring great insights about the art world. We are big fans of her work and had the chance to get in touch with her this week and plan to check out the gallery so we hope to see you there.  TLS: What was your first camera and how old were you when you started taking photos?
Amy: I didn't pick up a camera until a few years ago. I was living it up in the last days of the dot-com bubble with no thoughts about pursuing a career in anything other than selling widgets for stock options. The bubble burst and I was laid off. I decided to travel through Southeast Asia for six months and when I got back to New York I wanted to go in a new direction with my life. I bought an SLR and started taking photos. The idea of telling stories with my camera consumed me and I decided to get serious with photography. I switched to a medium format camera and pushed myself to move beyond my conform zone to pursue my curiosities. I had the drive, but thought I needed more direction and focus to take my work to the next level. I found that focus after enrolling in the MFA program at the SVA. I graduated in 2006. TLS: The question that a lot of people are wondering about "Watering Hole" from your Domesticated series - is that bear real? Is there a story here or is that a magician's secret?
Amy: That depends on what your definition of real is. All of the images in the series are staged based on real stories. I use a mix of real and taxidermied animals in the photos. The images take place in a sort of unnatural space that exists between the wild and the domestic. Using taxidermied animals to recreate stories that take place in an affected space is an important layer to the work. TLS: Which of the masters of photography do you admire the most?
Amy: Modern masters like Alec Soth, Gregory Crewdson, William Kline, Robert Adams, Martin Parr and Jeff Wall inspire me. TLS: Which of your contemporary photographers do you see pushing the existing limits of what can be done with photography (either film or digital)? Does that even matter? What do you like/dislike about the work of other leading photographers?
Amy: I am not a big fan of pushing limits for the sake of pushing limits. Someone pissing on a photo or freezing a negative doesn't really do anything for me. If you can add a new wrinkle to our basic emotional language then that gets me excited. I really enjoyed Trine S¯ndergaard and Nicolai Howalt's "How to Hunt" series. For me, the technical aspects of the work perfectly complimented the content and the results were stunning.   TLS: I read in an interview that you like to listen to Jonathan Richman on the iPod while driving a Ford Focus rental when you are traveling. I picture you driving up to one of the stranded vehicles and rolling down the windows just as Richman yells through the speakers "I eat with gusto, DAMN you bet!" or perhaps he is in the tree serenading the shot. Any new music that is inspiring to you?
Amy: On the road I love listening to Spoon’s new album, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga and LCD Soundsystems’ Sound of Silver. When I am working on my Stranded series I can cover hundreds and hundreds of miles. I like listening to something that gets me moving in the car seat.   TLS: What is next for you? What projects/subjects are you currently working on?
I see Domesticated as part one of a bigger series. Whereas Domesticated focuses on exploring human and animal interaction in the stasis of habitation, part two of the series will focus on human and animal movement. I want to examine the natural similarities between human and animal migrations and the political differences in how we react to those movements.
Also, I am still working on my Stranded series and I have two more big road trips planned in the coming months.
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