“Come for the breasts. Stay for the heart.”

That’s the tagline to Katie West’s website. Find yourself exploring the site one minute, and an hour later, eyes all bloodshot, mouth still ajar, you’ll see the tagline fitting. West, a photographer from Windsor, Canada is not only not afraid to show either—her breasts or her heart—she’s adept at intertwining the two with an ease that is equally admirable as it is poetic. Through an extensive—and impressive—collection of self-portraits (though not her sole focus, self-portraits are her specialty) you see a gamut of emotions and inspirations. West uses a camera the way a mirror uses people. She is both vulnerable and strong in her pictures, shy and savage. If a picture is worth a thousand words Katie West writes a novel each time the shutter closes. On top of that, West can write. From time to time her blog features passages written as if they were cut at random with scissors, most of them in medias res, conversations about experiences, either fictional or true, that ring like chimes on a windy winter day. They sting. They make you remember you’re alive. Like her photographs West’s writing has the innate gift of being honest. Recently that honesty carried over into West answering a few questions ranging from how she came into photography, to whom are some of her inspirations, to the power the Internet has in helping spread the word on the individuals behind the viewfinder.

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The seeds of creativity had to be planted somewhere along the way. Do you remember your early creative moment(s)? Did they involve photography/taking pictures? If so/not, when did you first get bit by the photography bug?

I always wanted to be a writer. From as soon as I could write, I wanted to be a writer. But I guess continually getting rejected from creative writing classes (but really, who needs them?) took its toll and I focused mainly on my photography. As far as the first memories I have of photography, they all come from modeling for friends. My friends in high school were all very artistic and all went on to attend art school. I can’t draw or paint of sculpt, but I still believed I had an artistic view that I could offer. So I weaseled my way into an advanced photography class and just jumped in. Because I hadn’t taken the first class, I had no idea about technique or the technical aspect of developing film or anything, but I knew I liked it. And then it just went from there. And I still don’t know anything about the technical side of photography.

In your biography it mentions that you’re going to school for a BA in English and Literature. In your various online journals/blogs your writing is part the revealing of everyday stuff with a witty twist, and part poetic snippets that compliment the pictures featured. Is that a cognicent thing, and if so, what comes first, the writing or the photo? Also, why English and Literature and why not Photography?

Well, English Literature because I always thought I was going to be a writer, but I realized I can’t hold a coherent thought after about 2 paragraphs, so I had to switch my focus. And these last five years getting my English degree have been awful; I wish I had taken photography. But I think no one around me really believed that I was serious about photography, I don’t even think I knew. So I just graduated high school, went on to university, did what I thought I was supposed to do. But truth be told, I think it’s ridiculous to have someone decide what they want to do with their life at 18. I also think university is mainly only good for people who want to be a professor, a teacher, a lawyer or go to med school. But that’s just me.

Back to the point! My pictures and writings are usually always separate. Conceived at different moments in time and not usually related in any way. Sometimes the words will come first and I’ll fit a photo with the words, or I’ll look at a picture and remember something from the week it was taken and write about that. People have commented that the way I write reminds them of my photography; short exposures into a life, something they can relate to and something they can appreciate. So perhaps the writing is there to help some people relate to the experience while the photo will help bring the other half of the people into the same experience.

You’ve stated online that you haven’t had any formal training in the art of photography. How would you say you’ve learned along the way? Was it a trial and error thing by shooting your way to feeling comfortable? Was it advice from other photographers? Did you maybe find help/advice/tips by reading photography instructional books?

I’ve taken a photography class, but as I mentioned earlier, it was the second class and I skipped all the technical stuff, so mostly I’ve learned by trial and error, but I also know a lot of very talented photographers. So when I’m stuck on something I can call them up and bother them with questions. I’ve also learned by looking at a LOT of photographers online and thinking to myself, “Wow, I really like how they did that in this photo here, I wonder if I can do it?” And then experiment until I get something I like.

When taking pictures are you a planner–i.e. Are you one to plan out/set up a shoot in advance–or are you more the type to just grab your camera and go?

I definitely do not plan my photos. All of them are shot on a whim and all stem from something I’ve been thinking about and something I’ve been feeling; photography as therapy. Every time I try to plan a photo, it’s always so outrageous and grand that I wouldn’t even know from where to start to shoot it, plus they usually involve things I can’t have, like hundreds of stuffed crows, or Chinese restaurants filled to the brim with fetish models, stuff like that. Haha.

In your self-portraits a lot of different looks come across. One shot can feel very Audrey Hepburn while the next is very Shirley Manson or Fairuza Balk. Are these extremes intended, and if so/not, do you see your self-portraits as a role-playing of sorts, where you can be anyone you want to be in the name of art?

I say you can be anyone you want to be in the name of…well just because you can. You don’t need art to justify it. These extremes come across in my photography because they exist inside me. Some days I feel like a sex vixen, other days I feel very alone and vulnerable. But everyday I feel honest, and want to share what I’m feeling with total strangers!

Not so long ago most people probably heard the word ‘photography’ and thought of Ansel Adams or Anne Geddes, something they’d find mass marketed in a mall department store. But that’s changed in large part because of the advancement of the Internet. How has the Internet changed the way you approach/market/spread your photography?

I think it’s ridiculous for someone attempting to promote themselves, whether as an artist, a business, whatever, and not have a web presence of some kind in today’s world of e-commerce and Google. People become famous from having a video on YouTube. People become rich by selling used underwear on eBay. People get lucrative ad deals by posting photos on Flickr. Today’s world basically lives online, and that works out well for me, because in real life, I’m very very shy. I know, hard to believe while looking at pictures of me naked on my kitchen table, but trust me, I don’t do social well. So for me, the Internet is integral to my photography; without it, I would not be answering these questions, because you would not know who I am and you wouldn’t care. I like how the Internet gives those who wouldn’t necessarily get exposure into situations where they can, and how that can lead to real life success. The Internet is basically the only tool I use to spread the good word, as it were. I spend many hours updating livejournal, myspace, deviant art, journals on suicidegirls, gods girls, deviant nation, updating profiles at model mayhem and retro kitten, adding photos to flickr. It’s a lot of work, but worth it.

To pick up on the last question regarding the internet, do you think that it’s completely a good thing, or is there a danger, and a watering down element out there where too many people have too much exposure, and basically everyone has a camera? Does that maybe make it harder to get noticed or be taken seriously?

It might, but maybe it also makes people work harder, because a photographer who is used to having gallery shows and what not might realize that there are people on the internet who are doing things infinitely cooler than what they’re doing, and they think, “Oh shit, I better kick it up a notch.” So maybe it makes for more boundaries being pushed and more creativity being squeezed out of people’s brains. It is true that everyone and their grandma has a digital camera and can upload photos and call themselves a photographer and act super awesome, but I’m sure the majority of people can tell the difference between someone like Holly Bynoe, who is an amazing photographer and someone who is uploading pictures of their feet to post on MySpace.

That old cliché about how sex sells, there are a fair amount of your pictures that have nudity in them. Is the nudity strictly an intimate expression of your art, and possibly yourself, or is it at least in part a way to pull people in and get them to look around at your other stuff?

Haha, no! I don’t use sex to seduce people into my work! Never! Well, I don’t, not really. If I used sex to pull people in to look at my other stuff, they’d be thinking, “Okay, what other stuff?” I think many people look at my work and consider me to be an erotica photographer, and that’s fine with me. Everything I do, I do because I like it, and I like sex, and I like being a woman, so that often appears in my photography. But some of my favourite pictures of mine have no nudity in them, well I’m not usually wearing pants, but pants are overrated anyway.

On the nudity angle, do you find that at least on some level that the nudity puts you in a vulnerable position considering that complete strangers see that much of you? It is ever a double-edged sword, where at times it leads to’creep’ mail/email/advances/etc? If so, how do you/would you react to messages like that?

I think the majority of my nude photos don’t really represent a vulnerable Katie. I find that my strongest photos are usually the ones in which I’m naked. Usually when I’m mad or frustrated I take nude photos, I think because I find it to be my most honest and liberating means of expression. I don’t think it’s the nudity or the clothing that makes someone vulnerable or what have you, I think it’s their expression, their body language, their surroundings and how they’re reacting to them. In regards to creep emails, I’ve only honestly received 3 or 4. Most of the time, it seems like the sender doesn’t even realize how creepy they’re being. I understand people have fetishes and if someone asks me for already chewed food or hair or urine, I just say, “I’m sorry, but I don’t sell that sort of product. Sorry about that, thanks for the interest though!”

With programs like Photoshop out there that allow so much manipulation to any given picture is it ever an issue of artistic integrity to leave the picture(s) as untouched as much as possible? Or is it maybe just the opposite, and those programs allow you to enhance a picture as much as possible?

There’s always people who are anti-Photoshop and other such programs, but I like the freedom Photoshop gives me. The words ‘artistic integrity’ to me have more to do with not stealing other artists’ work and claiming it as your own than not manipulating your own work.

Who/what are some of your influences? Who are some of your favorite photographers? What is your favorite photograph of someone else’s?

My main influences and favourite photographers are mainly photographers I’ve found online through sites like Flickr, and I also like fashion photographers: Miles Aldridge is a favourite; I really like high concept photography, though I don’t usually attempt any in my own work.

I like finding photographers through Flickr because I like the interaction that’s possible on a site like that. I can favourite photos I like, I can add people to my contact list and keep track of what they’re doing, I can talk to the artist and discuss their art, I think that’s awesome. Some of my favourite photographers on Flickr are Rose and Olive, Jack Scoresby, Holly Bynoe, Dr. Joanne, Rebekka, Unscene, Nardell, Kristmas Klousch oh god, I could go on and on and on. I’m also influenced by artistic people I’ve met online, like Warren Ellis, J.R. Blackwell and Jhayne Holmes. People who ooze creativity.

In pitting photography against the other arts–writing, music, painting, etc–how do you think that photography is different?

Photography is good for people like me who can’t actually draw or paint or sculpt. It’s good for people who have an artistic mind but have trouble expressing it. Art is so subjective so I’m not even going to argue why photography is or is not an art, but like writing or painting or music, there’s good photography and there’s bad photography. That’s all.

What is the hardest part about being a photographer?

I don’t think there is anything hard about being a photographer. I get to express myself how I can, how I want, whenever I want, whenever I can. I make money doing what I love doing. I guess the hardest part is not making enough money to just take photos all the time and not have to have another job. I think I am very lucky that I do what I do and people respond to it so well. I don’t take any email or comment for granted. When someone takes the time to write me, or to comment on a picture, then I feel very lucky that I was able to create something that they like just as much as I do.

A hypothetical: Someone comes across your personal site, or one of your blog/photo posting sites, what do you want them to get from your photography?

I want them to think, “Yeah, I totally get that. I’ve been there, felt that and I love this because you get it too.” After I post a picture online, it’s not really mine anymore; it can belong to whoever’s looking at it. And they can interpret it however they want to suit their own needs. I don’t like to explain my photography or the things I write, I’d much rather people be able to see themselves and their experiences reflected in my work. I just want people to be affected by my work; whether they’re pissed at all the boobs, happy at all the boobs, empathize with my loneliness, uncomfortable with my honesty, or turned on by it. I want people to “come for the breasts, stay for the heart.”

What does success mean to you in terms of being a photographer?

I would love to be able to do photography and live off of the income it generates. That’s not necessarily success, but it sure would be nice.

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