For Twin V Danielle Levitt photographed the emo youth of Port Orchard. The NYC based photographer has brought her super personal hyper-real style to everyone from Beth Ditto to Scarlett Johansson but it’s her sharp eye for nailing a scene that we love. Her book We Are Experienced criss-crossed America, providing an insider view on the splintering subcultures of today’s youth.

Twin spoke to Levitt about her work…

When did you start taking photographs?

I’ve taken photos my whole life, well not my whole life – the first ten years of my life I don’t think my arms could hold up a camera!

My father had received a camera kit from a friend, which was then given to my mother, stored in some antique furniture and then stolen by me. Oh, how cool I felt taking photos on my Olympus of all my friends.

You’ve got a recognisable, bold style. How has your own work changed since you first started?

Since I am self taught, I had to learn all of the basics on set, through trial and error (a lot of error). My style when I first started was a reflection of my initial learnings, but also could be attributed to the spaces that I continually found myself in.

From the onset I was attracted (unknowingly of course) to these spaces where ceilings were low, where closets and door jams protruded, I could only fit in one corner and would make due.

My images were a reflection of those parameters. As I’ve been shooting longer and have learned the craft that much better, I find that I am able to control the same small spaces with a much greater ease, allowing hopefully for more beautiful images.

What drew you to look at American Youth for your book We Are Experienced?

I had not spent my youth travelling. I grew up in LA, and pretty much stayed put. When I moved to NY and became a photographer, my work brought me to visit cities, states, all over really, to places I’d not been. I was struck continually by the diversity and familiarity of youth while in any given city. I wanted to get to know the kids, I wanted to talk to them, learn how they interpreted contemporary culture and individualized it. Taking their photo was the best way.

Is there a particular experience from shooting the book that stands out in your memory?

There are so many fond and complicated memories making that book, it is hard to isolate specifics. I was touched by many of the interactions. But there was one day when I thought, I am making this book at just the right time. I found myself in Wisconsin in the Dells at a water park. I was randomly selecting kids to photograph and saw these two cute boys on a raft,. They were pretty cool looking kids. I got them to pose for me and when I turned around, they were kissing passionately.

It was 2004 or 2005, and I was really impressed by their confidence and surprised (gleefully so) that they did not have to hide. I knew at that moment, things were very different and I was going to have a book dedicated to that moment where there was such an enormous cultural shift. Those two kids had met online, they had taken a bus to see each other and they were experiencing their first romances.

You’ve photographed everyone from A-list celebrities to those on the margins of society – what is there that you always look for in your subjects?

I want honesty, trust and hope for intimate experiences.

What photograph are you most proud of?

I don’t know… I think maybe the boy with the hair covering his face. It was one of my first of random youths and it was a seminal moment.

How has living New York inspired you as a photographer?

Yes! Yes! NY is so inspiring. It’s the city that never sleeps, that pushes boundaries, that insists that you create. It’s not an optional town. Fall asleep and you’ve not properly taken in what it has to offer

Which photographers or artists’ work do you admire?

Diane Arbus, Avedon, Bill Henson, Katy Grannan , Ryan McGinley, Karl Heinz Weinberger, and on…..

If you weren’t a photographer what would you be?

A rock star! I mean, I can’t carry a note, but there would be nothing more fun then getting on stage, putting on a look and performing.

Have you got any more book projects in the pipeline?

I am continuing with a few projects, all under the youth umbrella, but a few different ones. I’m incorporating video.

Words by Boudicca Fox-Leonard

weareexperienced.com

Twin spoke to Mörel about his work…

When and why did you start Mörel Books?

Mörel started up just about three years ago. I was twiddling my thumbs and had been fumbling with the idea of making books and booklets in small editions. Occasionally I even made a prototype!

I loved, and still love, the book format, not only for its tangibility (i.e. its weight/format) but for its intimacy with the viewer – the way you can sit with it and be connected to someone else’s world and ideas.

At the time I was trying to do some free poetry booklets – booklets with Ginsberg, Orhan Veli, Leonard Cohen as well as some emerging poets – and in the meantime I was also collecting photographs. I’d personally come to the point where I felt I didn’t need to photograph anything as everything had already been photographed. It was just a matter of appropriating the images -an easy excuse for being too broke for film!

I made a small zine out of these “found photos” and it travelled. In the end Gerard Malanga asked to do a photo book and the rest just fell into place.

Which artists did you first work with?

I suppose the first artists were anonymous as they were found photos. Then Gerard Malanga came in with some found photos and this moved onto Stella Vine, Alexander Binder and Jonnie Craig and soon after Ryan McGinley etc. Time slips away so quickly!

How do you build up a relationship with the artists you publish?

I like to keep everything simple and intimate. It’s the artist’s book, so in the end they get full control over the whole thing -I even hope they can design them. I’m just there to help facilitate the process and give input from the side lines.

What do you look for in a particular artist’s work?

Don’t know…still trying to figure that out. I’ve figured it’s not the taste or smell though.

What is your most prized book that you possess?

If prized means the book I pick up the most, its probably a poetry book of someone like Blake, EE. Cummings or Rimbaud. Then again those are sooo battered I couldn’t be bothered to prize them. Photo-book wise, I’m spoilt by the myriad.

What difficulties do you encounter as an independent publisher?

I occasionally carry a suitcase of books around. Try getting through the New York subway, Paris Metro, or London tube drunk with a suitcase full of books.

Is there a dream book that you would like to publish?

Just did it, and now onto the next dream… this is the perfect calling for a wool gatherer

Which artists are you most excited about right now and why?

Not sure. I like emerging artists that can take a tangent from what’s happening on the scene. People who have their own vision. I like beautiful work, and disturbing work. Work that soothes and things that kick your mind a little.

morelbooks.com

Words by Boudicca Fox-Leonard

And after his Pringle film with Tilda Swinton, featured in issue one of Twin, the lovely Ryan McGinley is back on board. The photographer has designed the “John”(McGinley) – a jumper with a seagull on the right shoulder to represent freedom and named after his boyfriend, whilst Tilda creates “The Twinset of my Dreams”, with her designer friend Waris.

The only downside is that we’ll have to wait until September for these innovative goodies from artists Douglas Gordon, David Shrigley, and Luke Fowler hit stores.