Artist Interview Series

Mandy May Cheetham, Artist Interview No. 1

About This Project

On April 17, 2012, I was meeting up with Mandy May Cheetham in Madison Square Park. I think we were just going to hang out. I brought my FlipCam with me and asked if I could do an interview with her about being an artist.

Like the smart woman that she is, Mandy said, “Yes.”

Thirty-seven minutes later, Artist Interview No. 1 was born.

I’ve long wanted to do extended interviews with artists. I’ve wanted to know how they think, how they perceive the world, and what their processes are. I wanted to benefit from such insights, but I imagined others would benefit from such insights.

During my interview with Mandy, she ate fries from Shake Shack. They provided an interesting thing to watch as we talked. The busy surroundings also did. Since then, I’ve encouraged my subjects to shoot in an interesting environment and to have something in their hands. Food or drink is an easy answer. I move my camera around to catch the activity; its meaningfulness is open to interpretation.

I also make it more of a conversation than an interview, so I will interrupt the subject from time to time. This is not the common way one conducts an interview, but it’s a normal way I have a conversation. However, the interview is not about me; the camera is always on the subject.

I don’t edit these. I let them go until they seem done. Usually that’s around 35 minutes after we start. About 20-25 minutes in, things seem to shift in most of these interviews.

I update the series whenever I feel like it — so subscribe to my YouTube channel if you’d like updates!