Photographer and Filmmaker Richard Kern

A product of the 1980s New York art scene, Richard Kern has been shooting naked woman for over 30 years. Although Kern received a job early on in his career working for a soft-core porn magazine, he has never aspired for his work to be 'sexy'. Instead Kern searches for beauty and the human in the background of his work, focusing on the violence, addiction, humour and of course, nudity.

Unlike many photographers Kern has the ability to make the erotic look relatable. From toothpaste dribbling down ones chin to shooting a girls smoking weed, Kern transforms his topless models, many of whom are just regular women in their apartment, into a unique books of art. You probably recognise his handiwork from the pages of Vice magazine and Purple (to which he regularly contributes), but Kern has also had has work in MOMA and exhibited in over 30 solo shows around the globe.

We spoke with Richard Kern ahead of his talk at Carbon Festival in Melbourne.

Craig Nippierd: How are you loving your job at the moment?
Richard Kern: It's okay I guess.

CN: Does living in New York City inspire you with many ideas?
RK: Living in NYC inspires me to try to come up with new ideas and projects because everyone always seems to be doing something. If you aren't moving forward it feels like death.

CN: Obviously digital technology has changed a huge amount over the past two decades. How have you adapted to this new technology?
RK: I quit shooting film some time ago and I question interns and students when they tell me they are using it. While digital tech has made it possible to steal any kind of media it has also made it possible to produce any kind of media for mass consumption with very little money.

CN: How does it affect the way you prepare for a shoot?
RK: Using the internet, it's very easy to look for shots to rip off.

CN: Do you believe growing up in a time without digital technology made you a better photographer/artist?
RK: I don't know about that. I do know I have a film archive that is worth something since it occupies physical space. A digital archive is basically a bunch of hard drives. The margin of error is so reduced with digi that after using film it almost feels like I'm playing with toys when I use a DSLR or some video camera to shoot.

CN: What is it like working for Vice and what is your relationship with them as a company?
RK: They treat me nicely and they have a good track record for letting me shoot or publish questionable material that no one else will touch. But because they have recently cleaned up their image, that's changing a bit now.

CN: Do you feel that they are very forward thinking compared to other competing media outlets?
RK: Thinking about that kind of stuff gives me a headache. I can only say that they have grown like mad over the time that I've worked with them. The New York office was one small building when I started working with them - now they have a huge complex in Brooklyn. They are a bit less inclined to show female nudity at this stage.

CN: You have a strong collection of films, some punk, some positive, some negative (Medicated), some funny (Face to Panty Ratio) and some quite dark (Cutter), what would be your favourite genre to film?
RK: I haven't done a long narrative so I'm working on one now. I'd love to make some deep Euro intellectual film like Red Desert but I don't' think I'm capable of doing that. I find myself getting twitchy when I'm watching a feature. Music videos are really fun. Cutter to me is almost a perfect movie because I didn't do anything but turn on a camera and it happened. You get plenty of info and insight by watching it. Medicated is also a favourite but I don't know if people care about that kind of stuff. Every movie I've made has been really fun.

CN: Medicated was a brilliant project for its originality and relevance. What inspired you to come up with this idea?
RK: A model I had worked with was helping me organise some shoots in Toronto. She told me that she took Adderal to help her focus. She told me that most of her friends were on some kind of drugs. I asked her if I could shoot her with her pills. The project works on many levels for me. The subject matter is squirm inducing and the models could conceivably be naked or partially clothed because they are in their bathrooms. I started shooting the movie part of the project after I did the photos. Medicated is password protected on my site due to some stuff I can't go into but if anyone wants to watch it, the password is 'kern'.

CN: Dealing with so many woman with certain addictions and mental illnesses does it ever take a toll on you?
RK: I'm clueless about the metal state of the women I work with. I feel that most of them are well adjusted and smart. I feel that the girls I work with are just looking to have some fun and are testing their own limits by putting themselves out there.

CN: It it hard to disconnect yourself and your emotions from these models?
RK: I don't really get involved with any messed up models other than to suggest a visit to AA with me if I notice that they are druggy. In any part of my business, if I figure out that someone is a drunk or druggy, I don't work with them. (Unless they are paying me of course!)

CN: You have always had a knack for being somewhat controversial. It is possible for art to be controversial in today's society?
RK: Try being a 60-year-old, straight, white guy shooting young girls naked in a PC world if you want to experience controversy. It's not all I do but that part of my stuff bugs people to no end. And I totally understand it. It's not an intellectual controversy - it's more of a creep controversy. But yes, it's still possible to be controversial today, I know quite a few artist that are.

CN: I have read about how you started out in performance art as a good way to get your name out and also be controversial. Have you ever considered getting back into performance art?
RK: NO! I hated performance art, I was making fun of it. I enjoy dance, plays etc and some forms of performance but back then (1980s) I thought it was stupid.

CN: What's your opinion on the modern porn industry?
RK: I don't know how the small producers are making money now. One guy I email with has begun making a pretty good living with a website on which the girls never get naked and never do anything sexual. That's a twist.

CN: Does the porn industry still influence your work even today? If so, how?
RK: I rip off porn cliché's all the time for my stuff. All the upskirt stuff and the voyeur photos were ripped off from porn trends. I rip off fashion mags too. They are like porn for luxury.

CN: How did you get in touch with Sasha Grey
RK: That was a Vice hookup. I didn't know who she was. After we shot I looked at some of her films and was shocked. I think she's a great actress and I like her a lot.

CN: You say that you never aim to create 'sexy'. Have you ever encountered yourself with a girl that has tempted you to create something sexy?
RK: Ugg. There's nothing worse than someone trying to be sexy. And I hate the word 'erotic'.

Richard Kern is speaking at Carbon Festival this weekend in Melbourne. Check out more of his here.