Jonathan Blaustein is an artist, writer, and educator based in Taos, New Mexico. He received his MFA in Photography from Pratt Institute in 2004 and has exhibited his work widely in galleries and museums the US, and in festivals in Europe as well. His photographs are in the permanent collections of the Library of Congress, the State of New Mexico, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, among other institutions.

Jonathan is a regular contributor to the popular blog A Photo Editor and spent six years as a photography critic for the New York Times Lens blog. He has also written about art and photography online for The New Yorker, VICE, and Hyperallergic. He taught photography at UNMTaos for many years and runs the Antidote Photo Retreat at his family horse farm outside Taos.

Visit Jonathan Blaustein’s website to see more of his work.

Shop "Extinction Party" Book

Jonathan Blaustein, One dollar's worth of double-cheeseburger from McDonalds

Interview by Dana Stirling

First, Jonathan can you tell us how you first started with photography? What made you originally interested in photography as your art form? How did it all start?

I've got one of those romantic origin stories, as an artist.

I was preparing to take a solo, five day, cross country drive, from New York City to New Mexico, back in 1996. Right before I left, I randomly decided to buy some black and white film for a little point and shoot camera I'd been given as a gift for my High School graduation.

I'd never been into photography, though my uncle was, so it was an out-of-character move.

I fell in love with taking pictures almost instantly, as soon as I hit the road, and by the end of the journey, I was ready to study photography and devote my life to it.

In your new book “Extinction Party” published by Yoffy Press this year, you tackle the notion of party supplies or perhaps party aftermath as an artifact that impacts our planet and in that – our future. We are all in one way or another consumed by these issues – how did this project start for you? What was it about party supplies that draw your attention?

Well, having kids, you end up in the Party City from time to time, to buy the giveaways and such.

So I was familiar with the store in Santa Fe, and it sits right next to Trader Joe's.

One day, in August of 2016, I went down to Santa Fe, intent on going to Hobby Lobby to buy some things to photograph, as I'd done a mini-series in 2009, and wanted to get it going again.

But I went to Trader Joe's first to do the family shopping.

I remember it so vividly, sitting there in the parking lot, staring at Party City, thinking, "I really want to go in there to buy things to photograph. Party City is the story. I can feel it."

As I sat there, all the different options of what I could buy, all the party supplies ran through my mind.

It took me a while to rationalize changing my idea in the moment, but I went into the Party City store, and the rest is history.

Jonathan Blaustein, Yellow plastic fedora and yellow plastic tablecloth

In the book, under every photo you have a little note stating how you find this object, where or what you did to it/with it. For me, it created a feeling of mini stories within the book. Each object became a character that has a meaning within the larger narrative. I t created a flow that gave us a better connection to your actions with these still life objects. Can you tell us more about this aspect of the book?

It's a great question, thanks.

The text on each page is actually the title of the image. As a conceptual artist, over the course of each project, I wanted to have titles that communicated just the right information to set the context of the image.

So "one dollar's worth of potted meat food product" tells you exactly what you're looking at, or My deer paw, or a Yellow mask and yellow plastic table cloth.

Only on the third series, "Recycling My Junk," I did change the titles, at one point, from straight and descriptive to more poetic and narrative.

It was for a museum exhibition, so "My dust brush" became "Dust is mostly made from human skin," back in 2014.

Making the book, the only question was whether to include the tiles on each page, so the viewer always knew what they were seeing, or in an index in the back.

As we started the book with a couple of those narrative titles, I realized we needed to have punctuation, or it would look wrong. (e.g. "I took this from the trash and put it on my face.") In the end, it created a text flow that did change the way the book works, as you picked up on.

It's like you read and look at the book simultaneously, and this aspect kind of came together maybe a bit better than I'd planned.

Sometimes you get lucky.

Some of the captions care “One Dollar Worth of…” you have candy necklaces, shrimp ramen or organic grapefruit from the natural food store to name a few. A dollar is a powerful currency – not just because it is American money, but a dollar can buy you many things from different values and different styles, so it is an interesting motif within the captions. Can you tell us more about your thought process?

When I was a grad student at Pratt, I studied conceptual art for a year, alongside photography. I had a great professor, (shout out to Robert "Zak" Zakarian,) who taught us that when you're working with concepts, simple is better than complex.

Meaning, you never want to give someone a reason to get distracted, or confused. You don't need to give people ammunition to disregard your message.

I took it to heart, so a dollar was the perfect way to create equivalence between commodities, but also to make something that everyone understands.

A dollar is a dollar.

But when it came to food, that meant that 10 blueberries were the equal of 7 packets of shrimp flavored ramen noodles. One offers more vitamins, the other offers more caloric sustenance, but when we compare them to each other, relationships to class and wealth become more evident.

One thing I noticed in the book is the contrast between the primal vibrant colors of the party supplies, to some of the natural photos that are more pale natural colors. Your photographic style also shifts slightly as it seems that you have a more compassionate, softer approach to these natural elements that you don’t always have towards the plastic fake items. Would this be a good observation in your opinion? Can you tell us a little about your experience while taking these photos?

Absolutely. You're spot on.

Because the book represents 10 years worth of work, my vision changed, or evolved, based on the subject matter. At one point in 2018, I gave a lecture on my evolution at UNM by showing the pictures sequentially by date, and you could literally see the saturation of the colors growing over time.

I feel like it parallels our change from an analog, celluloid world to a hyperreal, digital reality.

And as to the Party City project, it was the first time I shot on a tripod, so I think that created a bit of distance, emotionally, that wasn't there before.

Your book has two short stories regarding a deer. One of how you got its paw and the second regarding his head – both of which are photographed in the book. Can you tell us more about the deer and its importance to you and the work?

I've been reviewing photobooks for 8.5 years, and I'm always writing about the experience of interacting with a book. How do you make something that's more than just a succession of photographic reproductions?

And since 2011, when I shot "MINE," whenever I presented the work, in any form, I always found myself telling the two deer stories.

They were a part of my narrative about my artwork, so when it came time to include writing in the book, I felt like they would add meaning and context to the book as well.

Beyond that, though, they seemed like allegories for how we take what we want from the world, when we want it.

I'm a consumer too, so I'm no better than anyone else.

From a book aspect – can you talk a little about the process of editing the book? How did you end up with these selections and what was the hardest part in the process?

Jennifer Yoffy, my publisher, came out to Taos for a ski weekend, and I admitted I felt like I had material for a book, but needed help finding the through-line.

After dinner one night, she asked if she could have a crack at editing a book, and I said sure. After forty-five minutes, she handed me the laptop, and my wife and I loved what she made.

It was tight.

So that was the beginning of "Extinction Party," but as I often tell my students, a book takes about a year to make.

I spent the next 12 months working on perfecting the sequence, along with my friend and the book's designer, Caleb Cain Marcus.

I was aiming for it to be the best I could possibly make, so since we had a good base, it allowed for a lot of tinkering, and Jennifer's original edit is probably 70% in tact.

Honestly, the hardest part was convincing her that if I took more time, the book would be better. She's a go-getter, so it took work to buy more time, but in the end, it was worth it.

In the intro to the book, author Kevin Kwan (Crazy Rich Asians) wrote “…these elemental images bear witness to the waste and inhumanity of an earth catastrophically out of balance. Welcome to our world. Let’s party!” which for me was a perfect summery of your project – how the world of lavish party supplies and the ideas of celebration have become a part of our world declining health. I would first be interested to know how you chose Kevin Kwan for your book intro, and get your POV on his words?

It's not widely known, but Kevin has had many creative incarnations, including being a fine art photographer.

His family moved to Houston years ago, so he actually attended FotoFest as a photographer, and made friends in the industry. As we had mutual friends, eventually we were introduced in 2017, and we hit it off.

I read the entire "Crazy Rich Asians" trilogy, and knew that Kevin was one of the world's foremost experts in wealth and conspicuous consumption.

He's also a great storyteller.

So when I asked him to write for the book, as a favor, I just asked him to set the tone for the book. I trusted that anything he wrote would likely align with my message, given what I'd read in his books, and then he proved me right.

"Extinction Party" would be a lesser book without his contribution, setting the table, in my opinion.

Jonathan Blaustein, Blue streamers and red plastic tablecloth

I was curious about the choice of making 4 different book covers – all the same but various colors. In a way it seems like a play on these party supplies – having the same thing over and over again bringing you in with vibrant flashy colors. Can you explain your decision with the book covers?

Wow, that's a great connection to make. Thanks!

Overall, the book was a team effort, between Jennifer, me and Caleb. And I remember one brainstorming session we had on Skype, (before the world switched to Zoom,) where we were discussing the cover graphic, which Caleb had created from one of my photographs.

He offered up one color version, and I thought the graphic was perfect, but hoped to see some variations on a color theme, to make an informed choice.

Then, before I knew it, he said something about doing four different colors, and Jennifer loved the idea, and within seconds, we'd all agreed.

It was so spontaneous and creative!

As to the colors, I worked hard on the color palette, and did use the "Party City is the Devil" images as the inspiration. You're totally right on that one.

In fact, when I was in the Netherlands, supervising production, the yellow cover came out wrong, at first. It was day-glo, and out of palette.

So I showed the guys my match prints, which proved it, and they let me adjust the color accordingly.

Lastly, because I was so worried about one cover being less popular, and therefore getting left over, I pushed myself to make sure all four were equally desirable in different ways.

Jennifer and Caleb weighed in too, so this was also collaborative, but I took the lead in this area.

Now that the book is out what would you hope the readers learn, gain or remember from it?

All I've ever wanted from these projects was to get people to think about their impact on the world.

I have kids, and am very invested in the human race not creating a habitat that can no longer sustain life.

We're facing an existential crisis, in this century, so I hope when people sit with the book, they'll eventually consider their own consumption habits and patterns, and perhaps make some adjustments.

None of us can save the world on our own, but I do believe artists can at least try to make a difference.

Any advice you would like to share with any young, emerging or even established artists reading this interview?

Sure.

Right now, we're all living through something for which we have no frame of reference.

The experience is new, and the time frame is uncertain.

It's a guaranteed recipe for stress, anxiety and misery.

As a long-time artist, teacher and critic, I know that art can make us healthier on an individual level. It allows us to process our emotions, and take energy from our psyche and embed it in an object.

It allows for the transformation of negative energy into positive energy.

Therefore, my advice would be to ramp up your creative practice, even if you're not feeling up to it. Not only will it make you healthier, but given the crazy world at the moment, you might just stumble into a picture or series that will go down in recorded history.