Kaleb Starr

Kaleb Starr

"I've always thought that fun is where you make it... Or is that home? Fun is where you make it?

 Is that a thing? Anyways, if I do get a free minute to do something fun, it's usually something creative, whether editing a misplaced group of photos, shooting new ones, or reading about contemporary art. Other than that, I'm a huge fan of live music, exploring the outdoors, and the occasional adult beverage.When I'm not out shooting photographs/video, you can find me bar tending nights at my family's establishment, Piraña Grille in Ormond Beach, Florida."

"I've always enjoyed creative writing, which I really try to pull into my artist statements, but also personal chronicles, which I've filled piles of notebooks with over the years.

 I've just recently though, began to take interest in more antique, alternative, and hands on methods of photography. I've found photography can be a unique extension of myself, my ideas, and my feelings. Also, because I'm a shitty painter."

"Over the past few years, I’ve been making an attempt to piece together the blurry bits of life that seemed to have raced by me.  At one point I became obsessed with staying indoors, became very anti-social, and became ridden with horrible anxiety.  A lot of these photographs are a first hand account of a “re-birth”, so to speak.  I have another series that relates more directly the issue, but these I can look at and literally feel that moment when each were captured. They lend themselves to a more document-driven approach. "

"The “gritty” series of photographs most definitely takes on a more candid vibe, which came about from having a camera (or 3) with me constantly and stopping to capture that particular moment I felt when it come my way.  I feel it carries more of a “poetic”(for lack of a better term) vibe or nostalgia in comparison to the “sophisticated” side of photos, which were executed from a preconceived notion."

"In our era of “Instagram fame” and dime a dozen photographers, I feel like it’s important to inject a certain level of “real” into my female portraits. I’m not a fan of the “airbrush” look. I’d rather show the true textures of the face and body (i.e. scars, stretch marks), because it shows that person how they truly are, which to me is beautiful. I try to stay away from anything that seems exploitative or demeaning, unless that particular photo calls for it conceptually. I consider myself to be a feminist, so I want my portraits of females to have a certain strength and almost goddess-like vibe.  There can be a fine line between sexy-empowering and sexy for the sake of sex."

" Lately, I’ve been trying to reach the next plateau, artistically. 

 Allowing motion to be a part of my photos has been inspiring, I find. Finding ways to explore my work through odd compositions, less than sharp subjects, and even partially destroyed negatives. 

 I’ve always thought that having a ten thousand dollar camera and the latest/greatest lenses doesn’t make someone a good photographer or artist. The challenge, to me, is pulling out that ragged plastic camera and expired film, and with them, creating something magical. 

 It’s the person and their individual eye that makes the photograph, not the camera. "

(Interview by Carli Rentsch)