There’s something charmingly mysterious about the 24-year-old Lithuanian photographer Kimm Whiskie. The name alone sounds like an alias (turns out the second half actually is — Whiskie did time in a rock-and-roll band) and its gender is ambiguous (an embarrassed email straightens this out). A request for an interview is politely downgraded to a Skype chat; when a portrait arrives, it’s a grainy Lomo shot of the photographer lying face down on the pavement. Then there’s Whiskie’s portfolio website, titled Kimm Hides in an apparent nod to the laughable transparency of the Internet. “I’m rather shy,” he says by way of explanation, as you begin to wonder if it’s all an elaborate construct. “My photography is personal and an expression of self, but at the same time art can never be anything but fictional.”
Ultimately, all that matters is that the fictional world Whiskie creates is so compelling: beautifully moody, occasionally imprecise portraits of friends, nature, and strange geometries, all clearly influenced by how and with whom he was raised. “I grew up in a forest in a small town in Lithuania,” he says. “My father was a funeral musician. He didn’t tell me much about it — though he once told me about a gypsy child’s funeral, when the mother jumped into the grave — but I know he must have had interesting experiences during Soviet times. The musicians and gravediggers used to appear completely drunk. At the time I actually thought it was an inspiring job, but now I would agree it’s rather melancholy.”
Event that inspired you to become a photographer: When I was little I used to watch my father develop black-and-white photographs. I’m not sure if it was the inspiration, but it’s as if it was inherited.
First photograph you ever took: Was heavily underexposed. Although I rather liked it, so you can’t really regard it as a mistake.
Style movement you most identify with: I can’t help it, but I get involved in sentimental narratives. I also like it when photography turns abstract or impressionist.
Fictional character who would own your work: I’m not sure, but I’d like it to be the surgeon refugee Dr. Ravic from Erich Maria Remarque’s Arch of Triumph. He fell in love during the worst moment of his life; he drank melancholic Calvados during long sleepless nights. It’s haunted me since my teenage years.
Album most played while you work: Biosphere’s Dropsonde
Favorite shop: Any eco shop. I feel better this way.
What a stranger who saw your work for the first time would say: I hope it would be “let’s be friends.”
Inspiration behind your photography: Beauty and photographers better than me, who trigger constant renewal and prevent stagnation. Photo (c) Kimm Whiskie
I also like a lot of young Lithuanian photographers: Paul Paper and Paul Herbst (above), as well as South Korea’s Hasisi Park, and Sweden’s Erika Svensson.
What you keep around your home for inspiration: Photographs — mostly pictures of nebulae — on the wall and collage narratives on the door. Guests are welcome to paste a sentence or a picture and I enjoy seeing the narrative evolve.
Style hero: My hero is a monster. It has Vincent Gallo’s aesthetics, Swedish filmmaker Jesper Ganslandt’s suicidal-ness, Anders Linden’s tones (pictured), Yuichiro Fujimoto’s gentleness, Ann Woo and Nicholas Gottlund’s ideas and many more.
Favorite camera to work with: A Bronica ETRSi. I like the luxury of being slow, stylish, and having nice results.
Favorite everyday object: A bike. I used to have a very beautiful white one, but it was stolen. Photo (c) Kimm WhiskieFavorite design object: If a sweater can be called a design object, then an Icelandic wool sweater is really beautiful with its colors, patterns, and warmness. Photo (c) Kimm WhiskieThing you love most about where you live: Nature at my door; a forest with squirrels almost in my backyard. At the same time you can easily reach the center of Vilnius by foot. Photo (c) Kimm WhiskieThing you hate most about it: Supermarkets. In Lithuania, two or three families rule the supermarkets, and they do some pretty nasty stuff. Besides, I am not very fond of excessive consumption.
Place you go to be inspired: If it’s possible, a place I’ve never visited before. Dusty roads and distant places are refreshing. Otherwise Reykjavik (pictured) is very inspiring.
Last great exhibition you saw: Tom Friedman’s solo exhibition “Up in the Air” (on view through June 6 at Stockholm’s Magasin 3 gallery). He makes interesting sculptures and objects from everyday materials, turning the ordinary into the extraordinary. Photography works in a similar way, I guess.
Photograph you wish you’d taken: Anything from the “Anomalies” series by Swedish photographer Mårten Lange. Very interesting visual thinking.
Do you prefer to photograph friends or strangers? I’m shy, so I prefer taking pictures of friends. The pictures always come out as if taken when no one’s looking, like a kind of gentle observation. I have a more personal contact with the subjects this way. Photo (c) Kimm Whiskie
An image from Whiskie’s Sisters series. “I suppose it represents the moral stance of a vegetarian. Then again, someone said meaning is overrated.” Photo (c) Kimm WhiskieFeelings about Photoshop: I rarely manipulate my photographs. Usually what you see is what you get. In Light Years, that crazy light is actually made with a diamond in front of the lens. I think it was about 2 or 3 PM, and I had to stand pretty long configuring the diamond and searching for the best light, since I wanted it to look almost 3-D. Photo (c) Kimm WhiskieRight now, Kimm Whiskie is: In Sweden, working on new photographs. Self-portrait by Kimm Whiskie
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