People by Rainer Hosch
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About
The camera work of Austrian-born Rainer Hosch brings him to places all over the world, and he strives to document with authenticity, consistency, and a sharp eye. Rainer Hosch is most known for his candid portrait and people photography. The Iggy Pop shoot in 2003 was the first time Rainer’s ring flash setup hit the mark.
People were requesting the Iggy Pop light, and Hosch went on to photograph many legends in the same light. He says, ‘I worked with Iggy in 2003 in Miami Beach. Being The Godfather of Punk, he did not request any grooming or styling for the shoot, very unusual for stars of his caliber. Also no publicist, just Iggy, my assistant, and I. He brought a pair of jeans and a white shirt, nothing else. I brought my brand new ring flash set up and lots of b&w film, it turned out to be magic on the tanned and leathered skin of this legend.’
Interview
Why do you call yourself ‘The Man with the Camera?’
It started with an article about my father in his Prague 1968 exhibition. The curator had written an essay about the project titled ‘The Man with the Camera.’ While it was about my father, I found it to be a fitting description for me as well. I see myself as the one with a camera, always ready to document moments.
Tell us about your journey from Austria to California. Have you always been dedicated to portrait photography?
I arrived in California by way of New York. A short visit turned into a fifteen-year stay. I arrived in New York in 1998 with a strong interest in fashion photography. It was actually my relationship with Stephen Sprouse that got me my first assignments. Over time I found myself more attracted to documenting the streets of New York than models in the latest fashion. Personalities were more intriguing to me, and portraiture became a natural step, especially given my interests in music, art, entertainment, business, and politics.
How do you approach portraiture? How do you make people comfortable in front of the camera? What is a typical session like?
My approach to a portrait basically always stays the same. The length of the session is a variable that is subject to change, lasting as little as one minute. In whatever time or situation is given, I do my thing. I am always trying to relax the person in front of the camera to catch an authentic moment, mostly by having a conversation and playing some of their favorite music. It also helps me to move through different setups rather than staying in one spot. Keeping my approach the same helps the process and creates a consistent narrative in my portraiture from shoot to shoot. No matter who steps in front of my lens, they will get the Rainer Hosch treatment. How each session develops depends on the subject and what we are trying to achieve, but I tend to take a lot of pictures. I feel it relaxes the subject by taking away the attention from any particular shot.
What is your typical setup for a portrait?
It can go from shooting with an iPhone using available light to an 8 x 10 view camera with film and full-on lighting set up in the studio and everything in between. My favorite light is daylight, but I'm flexible.
What challenges have you faced in your portrait work, and how do you deal with them?
The more people are on set, the harder it is to capture an authentic moment. Publicists especially make it difficult to reveal unguarded moments. It really helps to move away from the set/crowd and look for a quiet spot. I also try to work with people for personal projects, with no one on set, no grooming or styling, and no creative direction. Just the subject and me having a conversation.
How did you first get involved in NFTs?
I first got interested in NFTs in September of 2021 during the Vienna Contemporary Art Fair. Meeting Benoit Pagotto inspired me to mint a CloneX as my first NFT. Within a couple of weeks, I was scammed and lost all my assets. I believe that life happens for you, and therefore I immediately started to look for guidance and community. That search lead me to Mike Hager, and I joined his FoF (Future of Finance) mentoring group. There I learned the ins and outs of NFTs and quickly realized the potential of the technology for artists. My Genesis Collection, called ‘52icons,’ dropped in March of 2022, and the rest is blockchain history.
Tell us about your recent burn for a Justin Timberlake contact sheet.
The Justin Timberlake contact sheet is part of my latest collection called ‘Editions by Rainer Hosch.’ For the first time, I offered a free mint open edition of my work, and it was available for 52 hours. ‘Front Row with Salma’ was minted over 11,000 times. While looking through my archive, I found a long-lost contact sheet of Justin Timberlake. This roll of film captured JT behind the scenes during a commercial shoot for a major brand in New York City. Before Justin got into costume for the rest of the day, we ran a quick light test just the way he came in, with no styling or grooming. These frames turned out to be the most authentic moments of the whole day. I am a big fan of contact sheets and decided to make this my next edition. Holders of two ‘Front Row with Salma’s’ could burn and create one ‘Young Justin #1.’
‘Topanga Beach’ is a series that looks quite different from your portraits. What makes the project unique?
‘Topanga Beach’ is an ongoing project that started in 2016. The root of the project is my lifelong desire to live near the ocean. Driving from Topanga Canyon to my studio in Santa Monica, I started to make a point of always stopping at the beach, soaking in the view and feeling a sense of gratitude that my dream had come true. I soon realized my next project had to be right there. What makes the project unique for me is that the position of the camera never changes. Also, the composition is always the same, with the horizon in the middle and parts of the sky, ocean, and sand. All the images are captured on Large and Medium Format Film. ‘Topanga Beach’ doesn’t involve any interaction with people. It is just me and my camera. The ritual of stopping and taking a picture at this special spot has become a meditation. It helps me to reflect on everything, and it also gives me a role in the community of Topanga Canyon, being ‘The Man with the Camera’ at the beach.
Artist Bio
Rainer Hosch was born in 1970 in Vienna, Austria. His father was a photojournalist, and his mother loved photography. ‘I was raised on Austrian bread, cameras, film, prints, and the smell of developer in the air. I got my first camera for my 8th birthday and first started documenting the underground music scene as a teenager,’ the photographer states. Hosch studied photography at the school of Photography and Audio-Visual Media in Vienna.
Photographer: Rainer Hosch
Twitter: @rainerhosch
Substack:
Instagram: @rainerhosch
OpenSea: 207faces of Iggy
Photos copyright Rainer Hosch
DRAWLIGHTS | 1/1 – one post/one photographer, weekly. Off-chain and on-chain. By Peter Nitsch, lens-based artist, a member of NFT Now 🌐, Jenny Metaverse and lifetime Member of the Royal Photographic Society of Thailand.