INTERVIEWS,  Interviews

A Creative Life, Well Lived and Well Observed – Interview with Mobile Photographer – Susan Rennie

2016-09-30 / 2 Comments

“I am inspired by Susan Rennie’s photography, within each image I sense devotion, desire, wit, uncompromising passion and a frantic climax that accumulates as a photographic portfolio of a creative life, well lived and very well observed”.  Joanne Carter, the Founder and Editorial Director of TheAppWhisperer.

Photographs by Susan Rennie

Susan Rennie first became interested in photography in the late 1960’s whilst a doctoral student at Columbia University. Spending many an afternoon roaming the galleries of MOMA, photographing viewers looking at the artwork (there were no restrictions on photographing artwork at that time). As she developed these images in her makeshift darkroom, she realised an epiphany. Her images told stories. As a natural story teller from childhood, she had now, by altering the medium, defined the frame to let the story unfold. 

 

Heavily influenced by a wide range of photographers including Lyon, Frank, Arbus, Kertesz and Friedlander. However, it was after taking an eight week master class with Lisette Model, that Rennie was utterly seduced. The Street Photography seed had been planted.

 

Caught up in the women’s movement and taking her feminist aspirations into academic and women’s health activism, photography with her beautiful Leica’s took second place for many years. However, that changed following retirement and her discovery of mobile photography four years ago. Having read an article in the New York Times about the app Hipstamatic and further sharing of her images via Oggl, Rennie was asked by another Photographer if she had heard of TheAppWhisperer.com, a website that promoted ‘mobile photography’.

 

“TheAppWhisperer rocketed me into that universe of mobile photography. My God! Contributors to TheAppWhisperer guided me through the teeming offerings and provided mini-tutorials on usage” Rennie exclaimed. Following this explosion of knowledge, Rennie, “joined the revolution, [I] put away my “big girl” cameras and lenses, and luxuriated in walking about with my camera, studio, and darkroom in my pocket”. 

The aesthetics of Rennie’s street photography are heavily influenced by Lisette Model’s work and teaching. The ‘up close and personal’ approach of Model’s style arouses Rennie’s creativity, inspired by “the irony, the humor, the pathos, the bravado of the human condition with an intensely empathetic connection with her subjects”. Rennie contrasts this with work from Model’s most famous student, Diane Arbus. “There’s no sense of humiliation or cruelty or separation in Model’s powerful images; and, I hope, these are the values that inform my choices of the quick candid photograph, the snapshot, which is street photography”. 

When looking retrospectively at her images, Rennie explains that she enjoys “the sense of whimsy that I see in many quite disparate subjects, an antidote for me to the pain, grief, and misery that colors so much of our world. Even when I photograph a “dark” subject I seem to find redemptive aspects in the story; for example, the homeless woman sitting in front of the chimera mural. She may exude anger, but it’s balanced by the strength and determination in her look”. 

Two images that particularly stand out for Rennie as favourites are “The Man in the White Suit,” and” Fellow Travelers.”  She explains, “What I prize about the first is how the camera renders a very distinctive subject almost invisible through the juxtaposition of color. In the second I am moved by the powerful relationship of two companions, canine and human, brought out in a quite prosaic activity”. 

(Footnote: MOMA included several of Susan Rennie’s images in their 1970 Annual Report.) 

View our Artist Portfolio Directory

Joanne Carter is a British photography journalist, editor, curator, and the founder of *TheAppWhisperer.com*, one of the world’s leading platforms dedicated to mobile photography and art. Since its launch in 2009, TheAppWhisperer has become an international hub for artists of all levels to discover, learn, exhibit, and engage with contemporary photographic practice.Built on principles of inclusivity, accessibility, and artistic excellence, Joanne has spent almost two decades championing mobile photography as a serious artistic medium. Through interviews, critical essays, exhibitions, competitions, and education, she has helped shape and document the evolution of mobile art on a global scale.Her work has taken her internationally, lecturing on photography and mobile art at institutions and events including the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, alongside appearances in the UK and Europe. She has served as a juror for international photography and mobile art awards across Portugal, Canada, the United States, South Korea, Italy, and the UK.Joanne is also the founder of *TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com*, one of the first online galleries dedicated exclusively to collectible mobile art, connecting artists with collectors across Europe, the United States, and Asia.Before founding TheAppWhisperer, Joanne worked extensively in print journalism and photographic publishing, including roles at a paparazzi photo agency and as deputy editor of a leading photography magazine. Her freelance journalism, criticism, and commentary have been published widely in both the UK and the US, with bylines in *The Times*, *The Sunday Times*, *The Guardian*, *Popular Photography*, *NikonPro*, *DPReview*, *Which?*, *Vogue Italia*, *LensCulture*, the *BBC*, and more recently, the *Financial Times*, where her published letters on photography continue to contribute to wider conversations around the medium.Alongside her editorial and curatorial work, Joanne’s own photographic practice has been exhibited internationally across the UK, Europe, South Korea, and the United States. Her work increasingly explores themes of grief, loss, death, memory, and the body.Her current research interests centre on grief, death, and poverty, with forthcoming postgraduate study leading towards doctoral research in these areas.Joanne is currently developing new long-form writing and photographic projects and is available for commissions, editorial projects, speaking engagements, and collaborations.Contact: joannetheappwhisperer@gmail.com)

You May Also Like

recipe

The Recipe I Can’t Live Without with Catherine Caddigan from the United States

2019-06-20

Mobile Photography & Art – My Top Five Apps by Marguerite Khoury from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

2017-11-22

‘Brought to Light’ – Mobile Photography / Art Interview with Christine O Sobczak from Wisconsin, United States

2017-06-30

2 Comments

  • Donna Deitch

    2016-10-01 at 09:58

    I’m mesmerized by this photographer’s eye – her ingenuity and empathy. I want to see all her work!

  • Meri Walker

    2016-10-01 at 13:09

    I couldn’t be more delighted to see this interview with one of my fave mobile photographers, Joanne! Bravo to you, Susan Rennie. You give me reason to live!