snapped.

photographer: casino nelson.

wg: when you look through your lens, do you think you are capturing reality or creating it?

cn: when i am looking through the camera lens i have a complete vision of what i want to achieve. i set up the lighting, set all the condition and i wait for or provoke the randomness and breakdown that makes for capturing a great picture. a perfect example is the photo titled "the only one of my kind". i brought this 50lbs mannequin in a suit case to venice beach at 8am. so there i am with a with suit and tie on walking down the boardwalk looking to see what random situations i can get the mannequin into. in the first five minutes a cop rides by on a bike yelling to everyone move out of the way. i look down the boardwalk and in the distance i see a marathon coming. i quickly set the mannequin up right in the path. the photo is the result of having multiple controls and letting the randomness of life unfold and freezing those forever. so to answer the question i am effecting the reality i am capturing while at the same time creating it. i think that is the very essence of what a photographer is.

wg: do you have a special style in your photographs that can single you out like strokes in a painting?

cn: i think my over all style evolves around surrealism. its all about balance. equal opposites. questions. the questions are the difficult part. once you have the right questions the answers soon follow. i try to depict the questions.

wg: what is your indulgence?

cn: sex....and photographs. but more importantly the creations of the universe.

hair by jerry park. design by jessica willis.

On a shoot with Casino Nelson from Casino Nelson on Vimeo.

*images courtesy of http://www.casinonelsonphotography.com/Casino/intro.html.