Ari Marcopoulos on 40 years of photographing everything

“Still and film cameras are part of my life. There isn’t a day I don’t use them – I’m actually holding one in my hands right now,” says Ari Marcopoulos, speaking to us from New York where the photographer has lived since emigrating from his native Holland in the 80s. He’s just finished promoting his latest monograph, Not Yet, a project his creative collaborators at Rizzoli New York publishing house describe with concision: “It’s a definitive exploration of his 40-year career.” An ‘exploration’ it is, featuring archived images that are both old and unseen.

The portraits balance bigger names with unknown kids and family relatives. A cover shot of Jay Z’s 2013 album Magna Carta Holy Grail appears alongside an exclusive documentary of the Beastie Boys, Marcopoulos’ sons as small children are always featured, as is an iconic self-portrait. When we asked the photographer about this career-spanning selection, he tells us that although his subjects are worldwide and varied, his approach is unchanging: “I know that my work is very subject-driven, as is photography in general, so in order to widen my practice I try to take pictures in which the subject might be abstract or so mundane that nothing really stands out.”

“I roam, I am roaming and I just so happen to document everything I see and the people I meet” – Ari Marcopoulos

Following the book’s release last month, there has been common misconception that this, Marcopoulos’ first retrospective, was produced with biographical intent. It’s easy to see why – each of Not Yet’s chapters has been edited by a different celebrated artist or family member – all close to the photographer – a composite feature working to imbue these candid images with intimacy, all the while drawing a-more-complete portrait of his oeuvre. Some are fellow artists; others like Kara Walker and Paul McCarthy are creative collaborators. Marcopoulos’ sons Cairo and Ethan are also integral to the curation of the book, as they are to the photographer’s complete body of work. However, falling in line with a plethora of works past, Marcopoulos remains steadfast as he dispels all biographical connotations with clarity: “Not Yet is not biographical. None of my work is. It’s all non-linear narrative. My life is often dictated by photography and vice versus – this is where the overlap comes into play, it is also the point in my work when people begin to read a biographical narrative.”

As he describes his career to date, Marcopoulos explains how he began to understand his own art, and how he started to use photography as a way of exploring the world around him. “There is a stillness in Holland, that can not be found in New York. Movement here is incessant and because of that change is natural. It was here, in New York, where my work developed a common core, a thread, bringing together the evolution of the present moment. That’s what I work to capture.” It is his fixation with the present moment and his insatiable curiosity for the world that sets Marcopoulos up as one of the most crucial documentarians of American culture.

How would you, in your own words, describe your approach to photography?

Ari Marcopoulos: Still and film cameras are part of my life, they are with me every day and have been for the last 40 years. So, my life dictates my work in many ways, and also works in reverse. I like to keep things simple – this is the key for me. There is a direct connection that runs with immediacy from brain to camera and seems to prompt this sense of reactivity. I can only describe my approach as an impulse that comes off the back of this brain-camera connection. Maybe it’s because I’m so used to having a camera right there, maybe? Sometimes I do feel cornered by the medium, it isn’t always as simple as an immediate connection, but that leads to exploration and experimentation. Most of my work addresses environment and Not Yet is no exception to that rule. I roam, I am roaming and I just so happen to document everything I see and the people I meet.

Has this approach ever deviated or taken on a different form over the last 40 years?

Ari Marcopoulos: There’s always slight change. I have spent so much of my life here in New York, where evolution is incessant. My work does change, usually a direct result of moods, feeling and thoughts, either my own or of the people I photograph. I can sense progression in my work all the time, but it always drawn together by a connecting thread which is largely influenced by my fixation with the present moment. I never look too much back into the past. This is why my style lends itself to monographs, photo books and particularly zine format.

Everything I photograph or film is an extension of my own interests – music, skateboarding etc. Sometimes I find myself wishing that I could document all of my interests, and then through selection decide what should be published but that isn’t realistic. I need to accept that I can’t photograph it all. I also love that which hasn’t been photographed. Just seeing it is enough – it’s important that we don’t lose sight of that feeling entirely. Some things should be enjoyed through experience alone, they don’t need to be captured.

Did you feel a sense of conflict between the past and the present when producing Not Yet as a retrospective?

Ari Marcopoulos: Not really, I see Not Yet as a piece of work, which, like everything I do, captures the things that happen in your life – it doesn’t look back and dwell on them or tell a story about them. Some of the images were taken in the past, but that ‘past’ was once a present moment. Time is key to the book, and Not Yet spans a lot of it. In a way, it links periods of the once-was present at the same time.

Each chapter has been edited by someone dear to you, what was your thought process behind this?

Ari Marcopoulos: Yes, I encouraged others to get involved in the editing process. The people I asked to co-curate have a great understanding of me and my work, I was interested in finding out what they would/wouldn’t include. In my ways, it’s my work filtered through those who know me best. The images then took on a whole new meaning for me.

This editing technique has encouraged biographical readings, what do you think about that interpretation?

Ari Marcopoulos: Not Yet is not biographical. None of my work is. It’s all non-linear narrative. It’s open for the viewer to interpret and experience on their own terms. I mean, it’s ok if someone thinks it’s biographical, and even better if they relate to it finding correlation with their own experiences. I have no choice in the matter, I just produce the images – but this project and the editing process was not introduced to prompt biographical undertones.

Your interest for publishing is clear, and even more so following the launch of CHAOS Books, your own publishing arm. Is this something you find yourself navigating towards?

Ari Marcopoulos: For sure. I’m always thinking about more books. Books, books, books – my own and some for others. CHOAS Books is my own imprint and publishing arm. I love photo books, and everything that goes into the process of creating a book.

Not Yet is published by Rizzoli and available now