Amy Lombard: In Love with the Outsiders
July 4th, 2020
Photographer Amy Lombard has a particular ability to find offbeat meet-ups and enter the world of popular culture’s outsiders. Whether it’s a pug pool party in Staten Island, or a Juggalo “Clown Lives Matter” protest in Washington D.C., Lombard brings her unique aesthetic to documenting the often unseen side of contemporary community. Public Offerings Ltd. caught up with Amy to talk beginnings, feeling like an outsider and experimenting with “pawdicures”.
POL: To start, we wanted to understand a bit about your background. We read that previously you’ve said that you wanted to be a writer when you where younger, how and why did you decide to focus on photography instead?
AL: I've always loved magazines. Working in journalism was always something that made senses to me. Growing up, working in the realm of art wasn't anywhere on my radar. When I was 15 my friend Sam signed up for a summer photo class in downtown Philadelphia. I decided to join him basically just to get out of the house. It didn't immediately grab me, it took another class at Tyler School of Art to hook me, but it became clear to me that this was a better way to tell stories.
“I wanted to show elements of life that weren’t shown widely, or that were misunderstood.”
POL: Documentary photography is synonymous in many people’s minds with hard hitting subject matter, war and dark human interest stories, how do you find your subjects and have you found it difficult building your audience with a focus on the lighter side of cultural connection?
AL: Often times I start with an incredibly general subject that interests me, and I dissect it further and further to see not only how it has impacted culture, but how it's able to be visualised/communicated. A lot of the time it's me just falling into a black hole on the internet googling nonstop until I am able to find something that feels right related to the subject matter.
I have a lot of respect for conflict photographers - we need those folks. For me, that was never where I saw myself. I worked at LIFE in college, and it was pretty amazing to see this magazine that is associated with some of the best, "serious" photo essays of all time. What's often disregarded are the human interest stories that show the absurdity of how we live. That stuck with me. I wanted to show elements of life that weren't shown widely, or that were misunderstood.
I felt like it was difficult at first to build an audience, but I think the media landscape changed with the Internet in the early 2010's that benefited work like mine, truthfully. I think people craved lighter stories and communities they hadn't seen.
POL: Your subjects are often from the fringe of popular culture and part of niche social groups, do you think there is something about your personality that has attracted you to documenting and sharing cultural outsiders?
AL: Of course. I've felt like an outsider all of my life, so it's something I connect to. Even in my adult life I just constantly feel like I don't fit in anywhere. I think that's a huge reason why I am attracted to these sort of things.
POL: There is a clear focus on American subcultures in your work, do you think there is something particular about America that has allowed for the creation of so many distinct cultural phenomenons and over the top personalities?
AL: I don't know what it is about America that has allowed for such distinct cultural phenomenons. I almost feel like every country could maybe have their own versions of these stories - it's just a matter of capturing it.
POL: There is a large proportion of your work which displayed as a square, something many associate with Instagram, how has the internet and the rise of social media impacted your work and the people you document?
AL: I love the square and I love how images sit within that frame. I started shooting square with my medium format cameras - shooting 6x6 - when I quit my full time job years ago, I even got a square tattooed on my arm.
It has been fascinating to see the cultural shift where the square is associate with instagram as opposed to the larger history of photography/medium format. I have moved away from it quite a bit now that I only shoot digital - it's changed my way of looking at a scene. I still cherish the square, though. And I have this tattoo that reminds me daily, ha!
POL: Your images are shot with a very hard light, as you like to shoot with a strong flash. What drew you to this aesthetic as a hallmark for your work?
AL: When I first started photographing I would only shoot with natural light. I was very sensitive to it, and my images were very different. A friend of mine bought a Sunpak 622, which is an enormous flash. I felt this magnetic pull to it in a way that I had never felt with artificial light sources. He allowed me to borrow it one night, and when I got back the film it was like hearing music for the first time. The world just looked alive. It heightened everyday scenarios and put a spotlight on them. I haven't put down my flashes since.
POL: What would be your dream project, if money and time where no object?
AL: Two things come to mind. One, I'd photograph all of my favourite reality TV stars. Two, in a Post-Covid world, I want to do a roadside America project photographing various niche tourist spots. Whenever Covid is under control, I'll be doing that.
POL: What’s next for you? What are you working on now?
AL: I am working on a new series on “pawdicures”. I have a serious obsession with nails. It's something i've spent a lot of time photographing over the years. Instead of humans I wanted to focus on dog manicures - which are very much a thing.
Pre-pandemic I was planning on teaming up with a creative dog groomer to do this, but now with Covid I am just doing the manicures myself. My one dog is a very patient and beautiful model!
I've discovered I'm actually pretty good at it too, if I do say so myself! I'm excited to release the pictures whenever it's done.
About Amy Lombard
Amy Lombard is a photographer living and working in Queens, NY. Originally from Philadelphia, Lombard moved to New York in 2008 to pursue her BFA from the Fashion Institute of Technology where she graduated in 2012.
As a documentary photographer, her work largely examines the phenomenons and personalities that make up American culture. Her bold and colorful work has landed her clients from the New York Times, VICE, New York Magazine, Vanity Fair, the New Yorker, WWD, T Magazine, M Le Monde, TIME, WIRED, Bloomberg Businessweek, Refinery29 to Samsung, Facebook, Barneys and Swatch among many others.
In 2015, she became one of the recipients of VSCO’s Artist Initiative. She was recognized as one of PDN’s 30 new and emerging photographers to watch for 2016. In 2017, she was included in Magenta Foundation’s annual Flash Forward.