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Focus on Nature interview with John Paul Caponigro.
By Einar Erlendsson
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John Paul Caponigro in Iceland 2008 / Photo: Ellert Gretarsson
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Q: We had a good discussion last summer John Paul, during your workshop with Focus on Nature, about my 16 years old dream and vision of Focus on Nature photography workshops in Iceland (or the Focus in Iceland Intercontinental Photography Festival which is my long term dream). What is your feeling about this?
A: Good things are worth waiting for. This is a really good thing. Great landscape. Great people. Great vision. Great possibilities!
Q: What are you most looking forward to seeing in Iceland?
A: Iceland’s landscape is so exciting. I’m sorely tempted to try and see it all in one trip. But I think that would be a mistake. It’s too rich to see in one trip. It’s going to take many. But it’s worth it. I’m hooked. So, on my second trip, I actually want to return to a few choice spots I saw on my first trip and fully immerse myself there (the glacial lagoon, glacier caves, and the high volcanic desert cut with many glacial rivers.) Rather than spreading myself too thin, I want to go deep.
Q: Do you see the light in Iceland as being different in some way?
A: Iceland’s light is ever changing. It moves so fast you have to stay alert.
Q: What in the landscape inspires you?
A: Extreme variety. Intense energy. Challenging complexity.
Q: Do you feel that the Icelandic workshop is different or has a character you can explain in few words to participants?
A: Iceland, both the landscape and its people, has a unique character. It’s very complex landscape with astonishing geologic variety – rugged seascapes, glacial lagoons, active volcanoes, Europe’s largest icecap, Europe’s only desert. The culture is simultaneously ancient (oldest European language, isolated genetic strain, different surname conventions) and high tech (cutting edge geothermal and computer technology). The people behind Focus on Nature are all professional photographers each with a lifetime of experience in Iceland. They know all the ins and outs of the place, the hidden spots and unusual people who would go unnoticed by someone without that experience. They’re extremely gracious. When it’s cold, Raggi pulls out a surprise stash of Russian Cognac. When it’s raining, Einar is suddenly found standing next to a student – with an umbrella. Everyday you’ll be surprised. You’ll get lost in Iceland. Be careful. If you go, you may not want to leave and you’ll definitely have to go again.
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John Paul Caponigro in Iceland 2008 / Photo: Ragnar Th Sigurðsson
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Q: What’s your teaching style?
A: Improvisational. I quickly find out what my students want and identify what’s most likely to help stimulate new growth for them. I have so much to offer; I know I can’t do it all. Nothing’s held back. Still, I have to make decisions about how to spend our time based on what they need most. It starts with respect.
Q: What do you like most about teaching?
A: When I see my alumni become truly inspired and empowered to more fully realize their unique visions, I feel I’ve made a lasting contribution of real depth. That’s a life well lived.
Q: What are your students mostly likely to learn?
A: That they should feel empowered to pursue their own unique creative process and make their own unique images, however conventional or unconventional. They have a lot of possibilities and a lot of unleveraged skills and potential. That art is about more than making striking pictures; it’s about being soulful.
Q: When the weather gets challenging what are you most likely to do?
A: Photograph it. If it’s un-photographable (sustained heavy rain); move to a new location. If that will take too much time, review work done so far and make a plan to increase success rates when it clears.
Q: What characteristic do you feel will be of importance for participants to nurture and develop staying with you out in the country during the Iceland workshop, that should last after they return home?
A: Cultivate an open mind. With that anyone will quickly realize how limitless the creative possibilities truly are. Then good note taking skills come in handy, because you’ll be swimming in so many ideas that you’ll lose most of them if you don’t record them down. And there are a lot of ways to do that.
Q: How would you describe your photographic approach?
A: Wholistic. We’ve all got many types of intelligence; intellectual, emotional, physical, spiritual. And we’ve got many types of skills; visual, verbal, aural, etc. Combine them. The resulting synergy is powerful!
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Me and Jon Paul chatting during his 2008 workshop in Iceland
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Q: How would you characterize your visual style?
A: Stripped down to essentials. Subtly surreal. Enigmatically narrative. Open to multiple interpretations. Spiritual. Obsessed with beauty.
Q: Do you ask your self questions in the field to feel passion or gesture or mood that inspires you?
A: I think it’s important to be aware of your creative process at all times. This gives you clarity and choice. When this discipline goes beyond the mechanical, beyond the intellectual, into the emotional and spiritual, then the real work begins. People often talk about the vulnerability of exposing their creative work publicly where it may receive criticism – constructive or otherwise. But it’s rarely discussed that simply doing the work, really engaging the process, is the ultimate act of vulnerability. In order to do it you have to risk change. Doing the work will change you - almost always for the better.
Q: Do you have a personal concept or future project in mind before you travel to a place like Iceland?
A: Focused and open. That’s my motto. I always go into a situation with a clear idea of what I want to do while I’m there. At the same time, I stay open and search for new possibilities. Life is what happens when you’re making plans. Conditions change. The map is not the territory. New discoveries are made. I always have a plan – and a few backup plans. But I constantly update those plans.
Q: Does it make the difference to have been in Iceland last summer, and if so, what?
A:I know the locations, the weather, the people, and what I want to accomplish. I’m even more focused. But I’m still open, looking for the next set of discoveries. I’m absolutely certain I won’t be disappointed.
Thank you John Paul for taking your time.
Einar Erlendsson,
Project Manager
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