Flickr Showcase: Lisa Wassmann

From sleeping in cars, to getting tarred and feathered in the desert Lisa Wassmann shows us her beautiful pictures from her all American roadtrip.

Dazed Digital: What's your background as a photographer?
Lisa Wassman: I started six years ago taking pictures in clubs around Berlin and creating shots with my friends. I was more into painting before that, but wasn´t really into being alone by myself sitting on an artwork for a couple of days.

DD: Are you inspired by any particular films? Art? Literature?
Lisa Wassman: I love old paintings, especially symbolism. I love Michael Ende´s Neverending Story, movie and book. A Million Little Pieces, Karen Duve, Chris Cunningham, Björk, Martin de Thurah, Arnold Böcklin, Princess Mononoke, Blade Runner, Some Like It Hot... But I get most of my inspirations by looking through old stuff from flea markets like photographs, magazines and paintings.

DD: What about other photographers?
Lisa Wassman: Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Ryan McGinley.

DD: What is your connection to Texas. Was this a roadtrip?
Lisa Wassman: I´m born and raised in Berlin, but I grew up in the west part, so I had the chance to watch a lot of American movies and read 'Lucky Luke'. From far away, Texas was always the place with cowboys, horses, ranches, conservative / religious thinking, typical American food, a red desert and a blue sky. I immediately had the idea to tar and feather somebody and shoot this in the desert... don´t ask me why. And yeah it was a roadtrip we rented a car and slept in it the whole time. I think we went everywhere.

DD: What inspired this series?
Lisa Wassman: Of course my very close friend Caro Paris who joined me, and all the people I met during the trip.
Most picture ideas came up while I was driving. The colours, the lightning everything looked so different...

DD: How long did it take you to create?
Lisa Wassman: We stayed in Texas for three weeks.

DD: There is an interesting mix of constructed images, and others that seem more spare of the moment. Did you construct the whole series?
Lisa Wassman: The only image I certainly wanted to create from the beginning was the tarred and feathered picture
which I did one day before we had to leave. I am a very constructed artist but not in advance because I am very impatient.