JONATHAN CHERRY: What is your current project all about?

BRYAN SCHUTMAAT: The project I’m presently most excited to work on is ‘Heartland’. It’s comprised of a lot of pictures of fields, churches, and things in rural America. My idea behind the project is to make the compositions as simple and straight forward as the way of life they depict, and even though the photos concentrate on topography devoid of human beings, the cultural presence of those who inhabit the land is conveyed in images of where they live, work, eat and pray.

JC: What equipment do you use?

BS: Zzzzzzz

JC: Has something in particular inspired you in the last 48 hours; What was it and why?

BS: I think it was a little over 48 hours ago, but I recently saw Michelangelo Antonioni’s “Red Desert.” It was shot in perhaps the ugliest industrial locations in Italy, yet through astute cinematography, Antonioni and his DP Carlo Di Palma somehow gave the film a magical, expressive quality like nothing I’ve seen before. So much of art and photography is about the pursuit of beauty in unlikely places, and I think this movie is a perfect example of that effort. It made me want to explore.

JC: What was the last photography book you picked up?

BS: I honestly haven’t bought a photo book in about six months, and that was a signed copy of Richard Renaldi’s Figure and Ground. A really good book. Yesterday, however, I bought a photo magazine: Photographs on the Brain Issue #1 edited by Bryan Formhals. I’m looking forward to when it come in the mail.

JC: Can you give some background information on ‘Western Frieze’?

Western Frieze is an examination the American West’s cultural identity from a traveler’s perspective. It all started when I drove from Houston to Colorado in the dead of winter to pick up a cello and a bicycle for my girlfriend. I made some photos along the way that resonated with me. Soon I took a couple of subsequent trips, shooting in New Mexico, Colorado, and north Texas. I’m moved by the mountains, the trees, the open spaces, and all the other natural beauty the American West has to offer. But I’m also moved by the places in between—the old cafes, motels, gas stations, and so on. These days, both the wilderness and these small businesses are in peril as developers move in and drastically alter the physical and economic landscape. With photography, I aim to preserve these aspects of the West that seem to be vanishing fast.  And for some reason, I try to re-create a vision of the West that’s in my mind from childhood, adhering to my first conceptions of the West, either images from popular culture or memories from trips with my family.

JC: What is the story behind the above (first) image?

BS: It’s a photo of a lovely mural that’s painted on the side of a building in New Mexico. The ground in the foreground isn’t part of the painting. The photo is meant to confound viewers and challenge them to decipher where “reality” ends and fiction begins. It’s intended to function as metaphor for society’s collective impression of the West and its mystique. I also think that this photo comments on the very nature of photography.

JC: Any other thoughts?

BS: Be positive. Love life.