Paul Herbst (London, UK)

Paul Herbst is a photographer that has been popping up on the de rigeur multiple letter and exclamation marked sites; Ffffound! and Boooooom! as well as several Tumblr pages, impressing with his hauntingly still images of subjects that range from eerie landscapes to aloof objects that are treated to washed out tones. Herbst has recently produced a 40-page limited edition zine entitled 'My Shit is Gold Vol 1' (named after his blog) paving the way for more volumes of golden shit from this intensely observant photographic eye.

Q&A
What's
...your work all about?
It's all about me. Or to be more precise (describing my latest work) - it's all about one aspect of my life. If you look closely to the images in my zine - they are extremely sexually charged. All these phallic and vaginal references just keep popping out. It's funny that I noticed this only when I saw the final design of my book. Now I feel kind of subliminally perverted.
 
...the one photograph you wish you'd created?
I wish I'd documented my life from 1999 to 2004. I wish I could take more pictures of a friend who died last autumn. I keep regretting about lots of photographs I never created. There so much to grief about this... ha ha...

...the world coming to?
It's obvious - the end is near.
 
...the most important thing for an artist to remember?
To brush the teeth in the morning. Never, ever forget to do this.
 
...the most inspiring thing you've ever seen?
My girlfriend smelling her toes.
 
...the cleverest thing you've ever done?
I moved to London
 
...the stupidest thing you've ever done?
I moved to London
 
...next?
I don't know.
 
...the point?
I usually miss the point.
 
What equipment/film do you use?  What do you like about what you use?
For all my latest work I used Fuji GA654 Zi. Basically it's a medium format point and shoot camera. I like vertical orientation of the viewfinder, super sharp zoom lens and auto everything. It's relatively small and light. In the past I used lots of different 35mm, medium and large format cameras.
 
Who/what are your influences - art/film/literature/other photographers?
Tillmans/Fassbinder/I used to read a lot, but I'm not sure whether I drew inspiration form this/Tillmans.