Mitchel Gordon:
Paul Jason Klein/Shot by Mitchel Gordon
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Mitchel, thanks for taking the time to answer some questions this evening. Let’s kick things off by telling us about yourself.
Yeah man, my name is Mitchel Gordon and I’m from Portland Oregon, well really I’m from Happy Valley but I’m a 15 minute drive away so I just tell everyone I’m from Portland. I’ve been shooting since my sophomore year in high school. I completely gave up digital for film two and a half years ago, I just kind of got bored with it and sold my digital camera to a friend of mine. I don’t really travel a lot, I’m pretty much a homebody, I like to have a stable home and just hangout with my friends and do my work.
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Do you find that minimizing? Even living in New York for the last few years I’ve found that as time goes on I have to dig deeper to find the next interesting thing or something that hasn’t really been explored, I can only imagine that kind of challenge in Happy Valley…
For sure, I feel if I lived in LA or New York I’d have less of a challenge and it’d be easier for me to find stuff. I literally live in the most cliché suburban town ever; like rich housewives and overall just super-super cliché! Being here though can be nice because no one really knows the models I shoot ‘cause they’re pretty much just my friends from high school. I do have to get creative but most of the time my shots are just of my friends when we’re all hanging out doing whatever.
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The first thing that caught my eye from looking at your Instagram profile was that you’ve gotten the chance to shoot Paul, Jake, and Les from LANY. That’s so dope. Anyone who sees those pictures is going to want to know how that came about.
It’s a long story; I randomly found them on Spotify one day and I really liked them so I went to their concert in Portland. It was actually one of my first times ever shooting film so I just brought a little point n’ shoot with me and I posted one of the photos that I took of Paul and as a complete joke I put #GetMitchelonTourwithLANY2k16. Obviously it was a joke, but then their manager DMed me and was like “Hey man I saw your post where are you from, we’d love to have you out for a show, check out our tour dates and let me know what day works for you.” Turns out the closest location was in San Diego. I had arranged some plans on how to get down there but then they fell through. After being hyped as hell I was super bummed out so I just said screw it and I DMed Paul directly and he got back to me pretty quick. Apparently he loved my photos and he invited me to their next show in Portland. I had to wait four months for them to come back but when I got there, their tour manager met me outside and brought me to this room and Paul immediately got up and was like “Oh my god man, so great to meet you” and was just really stoked to meet me which was weird cause I was super stoked to meet him, you know what I mean?! I ended up hanging out with them for two and a half hours just chilling and talking about music and life. We drank some beers together and just kicked back. Paul is like is one of the nicest dudes ever.
Paul Jason Klein/Shot by Mitchel Gordon
"I remember Paul telling me once that him, Jake, and Les were all three staying together in a studio apartment out in LA, just recording their first EP. Listening to stories like that makes you see that nothing comes easy and you really have to work hard."
What was it like working in such close proximity with such creative people, even on a different platform than photography?
Hanging out with them for the first time was super surreal. The first show of theirs I went to there were about 300 - 400 people, the second time I saw them there was probably about 500+ and the last time I saw them there was over 1000. So it was super cool to watch them grow and spend time with people who have literally “made it”. These are a group of people who have toured the world and their outlook on life is so much different and they’ve just done so many things. They’re obviously musicians and I am a photographer but it all can kind of fall under the same category. I remember Paul telling me once that him, Jake, and Les were all three staying together in a studio apartment out in LA, just recording their first EP. Listening to stories like that makes you see that nothing comes easy and you really have to work hard.
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That’s nuts, how many times have you told that story before to people?
A lot, its crazy hahaha.
I saw you photographed Paul back when he had his long hair so you’ve worked with them before they were global stars. What do you think has made them make that jump – and what makes anyone on any creative endeavor break through and gain recognition/praise on a larger scale?
When it comes to people in general I feel like appealing to the masses or to one specific sub-culture of people is key. If you look at Gunner Stahl for example he takes really washed-out, flash, point n’ shoot photos but if you ask someone like Harry Benson or anyone of these legendary photographers they’re going to tell you something like “oh this easy, this is dumb” but Gunner appeals to a certain sub-culture so I think you definitely need to find your audience. If you look at LANY they do such a good job and it’s so seamless as a collective, they just make such good, chill music that it works, and it’s beginning to appeal to more and more people.
On a similar note, do you notice a pattern for what pictures or style tend to get you more attention or a positive response from your viewers?
Yeah for sure. I feel like whenever I post a washed-out point n’ shoot picture with the flash on kind of like a Terry Richardson type of look, those definitely tend to get more attention because I think the normal everyday person likes that classic film look. Then there have been photos were I’ll be using a lot of equipment and they end up getting like 80 likes! No love! And I don’t use shoot point n’ shoot cameras just because I know people are going to like it, I genuinely do just like taking a small camera out and just not have to worry about settings. I like to go out a lot with my friends and go outdoors so I like having a small camera. But I guess it varies too ‘cause, my most liked photo was of Paul Klein and it got 1,200 likes and then my photo of Post Malone got 250, so I don’t even know, I guess people just really like Paul!
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And are these pictures the ones you consider your best work? I think it’s interesting because the longer I do this, and the more pictures I take, the more distant I personally think my best pictures align with what others think my best pictures are – Like really, that one? That’s the one you like, huh okay…
Oh definitely, and I think it’s important not to judge other people’s photos but there are tons of photographers especially around my city that all shoot digital, they’re all looking for the same things, and all edit their pictures the same way just to appeal to what other people like. There are some photographers that I follow that aren’t really followed by anyone and I like their photos 1000 times more than someone who has 200k followers who’s posing in the Grand Canyon or sitting on a building with their Jordan 1’s hanging off the edge.
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When you look at other photographers work is there a particular style you gravitate towards?
I mean I really just like shooting photos of my friends and obviously musicians. I’ll never be the guy to have like a venue pass and be on the other side of the barricade in front of the crowd, I like hanging out with the artists and just talking to them whether they’re posing for me or not. My favorite photos are candid, personal and kind of out-of-context shots and that’s super easy to get around my friends. I just like those random shots that create memories and are fun to look back on, I know that sounds super cliché.
"I’ll never be the guy to have like a venue pass and be on the other side of the barricade in front of the crowd, I like hanging out with the artists and just talking to them whether they’re posing for me or not."
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You primarily do portraits. I used to think that if you weren’t shooting pictures of people it wasn’t worth shooting; which in retrospect made me pretty unreceptive to new ideas. Do you like doing other stuff too?
I would love to get into landscapes and living in Oregon there’s a lot of opportunity but whenever I go and try to take landscapes I just think mine come out so boring and aren’t as good as everyone else’s. I follow a bunch of landscape photographers and they can just make a mountain look so f**king good!
Shooting film generally requires less editing because you already know what you’re getting yourself into but take me through your editing process, what’s the first thing you start out with?
I’m not trying to be a weird film buff but I honestly don’t edit my photos all that much. I usually only edit my photos if they’re over or under exposed or maybe my contrast a bit but mainly the exposure. There’s actually one of Paul Klein, which is a favorite of mine where I really needed to play around with the exposure and I hated how much I needed to edit it in order for it to look go but you gotta do what you gotta do.
How much time do you actually spend shooting & editing compared to everything else that comes with committing yourself to photography?
The two things I wait for the most is waiting for the shoot and waiting for my film to get back from the lab. For instance, I waited something like six months for LANY to come back to Portland in order for me to go. I usually book shoots with artists well in advance because I like to be prepared. My film from the lab usually takes like a week and a half and the whole time I’m just anticipating for it to come back to me. I send them to this place in Utah which does a great job (s/o to the Find Lab). I used to use this place in Portland but they messed up a couple rolls of mine so I had to stop going there.
I was at a photography store picking up film the other day, and I had to get out as soon as possible because I was completely uncomfortable. You know in Harry Potter when he’s having those crazy nightmares about Voldemort and he needs to wake up in order to escape, well that was me! I don’t really know what I’m doing half the time, I just kind of throw stuff together, experiment, and see how it works. Hearing all these photography goobers talk about the next Bluetooth carbon fiber tripod and the crystals inside their lens makes me want to sink into a hole. So basically my question is this: what’s a pet peeve of yours in photography or when you interact with other photographers? Wow, sorry it took so long to spit that out, I’m new to this, bare with me…
I’m kind of a hypocrite for this, but within the film community there are certain cameras which by all means are amazing cameras but are overhyped. Like there’s the Contax T3 which like 5 or 6 years ago you could buy that camera for like 600 bucks and now people like Frank Ocean and Drake have been photographed using it and they’re going for like two grand these days. Stuff like that. When people feed into the hype and only buy equipment because it’s hyped up. But I also own a Contax G1 which is a super hyped camera and a Yashica T4 which is what Gunner Stahl used to use. I mea, I use them because I feel like they are superior cameras but a lot of photographers use those cameras because they’re are like “oh this what everyone else is using I should use it too” you know what I mean? The best camera that you can have is the one that you already have! Just use that old Canon A-1 your grandparents have in their attic, it’ll do just fine.
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Favorite VSCO preset...
I don’t use VSCO all too much any more but when I did… Probably A6.
Nikon or Canon?
Definitely Canon, I never used a Nikon before. I’ll probably stick with Canon for the rest of my life.
Your house is on fire, digital files don’t exist, only prints. What’s your one picture you’re grabbing?
Honestly I only probably only have like a 100 prints of my photos in my house, but if I had to pick I’d probably just pick a group picture of me and my friends, just like a good nostalgic memory.
If you found a bag with SD cards filled with pictures from some of the world’s most renowned photographers, that have never been released, would you pass them off as your own if you could get away with it completely?
I’d probably want to, but I wouldn’t just ‘cause I wouldn’t be able to live with myself, the guilt would eat me up.
Favorite iPhone App?
Instagram or Reddit.
One place you’d like to travel?
Honestly the only place I’d like to travel to is the U.K., probably Manchester specifically. I’m a really big fan of The Smith’s, Oasis, the Beatles, and just a bunch of bands that came from the U.K. I’d be super interested in seeing where they derive from and everything, their culture there is just amazing to me.
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You’ve also photographed Post Malone, what was that interaction like?
Super random actually. I got asked to do that shoot about three days prior and obviously I was stoked. Post is definitely the most fame I’ve been around and it was awesome to see that he’s the same nice guy that he portrays himself as. We all hung out and drank a few beers, smoked a couple cigarettes. It was a good time.
Post Malone/Shot by Mitchel Gordon
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Next camera equipment you’re going to buy?
I actually just got a new camera yesterday. It’s a Mamiya 645 medium format camera. I’m super stoked to use it, I’ve never really tried medium format out. I found a good deal for it so I was like ‘why not?’
Your favorite piece of clothing in your closet right now?
Probably this 2005 MTV Jackassshirt I have. I found it online for really cheap, I grew up watching Jackass, Viva La Bam, Wild Boys and all that stuff. I don’t know it’s just nostalgic and funny to me.
Say something cool.
That’s the hardest question so far…wow… that is hard! The coolest thing I can say is I have Paul Klein’s number and we text a pretty regular basis. That’s probably the coolest thing I can come up with hahaha.
People say my go to subject is an old man with a cigarette, what would your friends say is your go-to subject?
All my friends seem to think that I’m super big on clothes and fashion so they’d probably say something like taking photos of a guy wearing like a Supreme hoodie or something hahaha.
What type of film do you use?
Kodak Portra 400 or Kodak Gold 200.
Only Kodak film.
"Post is definitely the most fame I’ve been around and it was awesome to see that he’s the same nice guy that he portrays himself as. We all hung out and drank a few beers, smoked a couple cigarettes. It was a good time."
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Burn-out or fade away?
Burn out or fade away? Wait, what? What’s the difference? Am I dumb for not knowing that?
Hahaha no you’re not dumb, I think Kurt Cobain said it or something. I guess burning out it’s like putting all your energy into something and peaking really high before crashing, and fading away would be that your presence and importance slowly diminishes over time…
I’d probably want to fade away I guess, I’d want to get to a peak and then just kind of have people be like ‘Oh what happened to that guy?’
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What are you looking forward to in the future of your photography?
Honestly, I’ve been talking to a few different musicians on Instagram that I like I just need to wait for them to come perform in Portland and I’m just excited to take more photos of artists and my friends and see where I go.
Peep more of Mitchel’s work @mitchelgordonbrauns