A short interview with 'One Giant Arm' Magazine.

         Grand Canyon, AZ

Where are you from and where do you currently reside?

I was born in Middlesbrough, England, but raised in Hampshire and Dorset until finally settling in Brighton. later after some years spent traveling I now live in Overland Park, Kansas. I have been in the USA for just over four years.

         Rest Stop, KY

What inspires you to make photographs and what is your process?

Being an outsider America has come as a great inspiration to me photographically. The act of orientation itself still continues to be exciting and insightful, weather it has been exploring the neighborhood where I live, or throughout the country as a whole. I'm interested in both the America inside, which I brought with me from England (with all it's myths and legends) and also the America that I'm actually discovering out on the road now I'm here. I am also inspired deeply by the space, or the mystery, which arises from the ether between the two, where my own personal vision is being created and shaped daily through my experiences.

Lost, KY

Do you work or study as a photographer?

In 96 I attended the BA (honors) degree in Editorial Photography at Brighton Uni and graduated with a 1st. I have not worked much in the field professionally, but I've enjoyed the few private commissions I've had. My true passion though, comes from my own personal projects, of which there have been several.

Panhandle, TX

Broadway, KC

Legends Mall, KS

Do you have any projects, publications, news or events coming up?

The main subject of my work is America, but this is always splintering into various sub-projects which take me down different avenues of exploration. Right now I am working on a psycho-geographical survey of Overland Park, the city in which I live and I am also editing another series called 'American Idol' which is almost ready for publication at 'Get The Picture', the photo collective I am a member of. I also curate a Flickr group called 'Altered States of Agoraphobia' which is a public extension of my personal work here in the U.S. and it is made up of work submitted by what I call it's "Resident Aliens". This group is filled with some inspired photographs made by some very talented photographers, who are also invited to put together features using images from the group pool plus a relevant text. These features have also been published at the excellent photography website 'La Pura Vida'. The ASA group, as it has come to be known, also has it's own blog and is linked closely with my own blog of the same name. Presently I am very close to opening another chapter to the ASA project titled 'American Invasion', which will be an investigation into the influence of America (for better or worse) on the native culture and environment of country's outside the U.S. It's a project I am very excited about.

I also have a photo-book in the works, which will be published by PogoBooks, a publisher and gallery based in Berlin. The final edit for this book is now getting close to being finished and will be titled 'Foreign Bodies'. If all goes to plan it will be published at the end of the summer.

NYC

Logan County, WV

Links:

Original (edited) Interview@One Giant Arm:

http://onegiantarm.com/2012/06/28/simon-kossoff/

ASA(II) Blog:

http://alteredstatesofagoraphobia2.blogspot.com/

ASA@La Pura Vida:

http://lpvmagazine.com/2011/01/altered-states-of-agoraphobia-1-no-drag-like-u-s-drag/

Get The Picture:

http://getthepicture.fr/En/Photographes/Kossoff/index_Kossoff.html

Pogo Books:

http://www.pogobooks.de/

Overland Park (XVI)

Here are more images from my ongoing project based in Overland Park KS.

My on-going project about Overland Park, KS has been my photographic playground since I moved here a few years ago and it has been the source of great inspiration and also personal insight. The "Over-Land Park" has become both a window and a mirror, where I have discovered as much about America as I have about myself and my photographic vision. It is where both place and self are slowly becoming one. The objective gravity of my original and now sober statement about this city is dissolving. This is something which leaves me enlightened and confused equally, every time I leave my home (or not) to photograph it.

Original Artists Statement:

Overland Park has been consistently ranked in the top 10 best cities to live in the United States, by CNN/Money magazine. Additionally, the city was ranked one of the ‘best places to raise your kids’ and also ranked 3rd for ‘America’s 10 best places to grow up’. As a photographer this news comes as an inspiration and something of a shock to me and I have decided to explore what it is that gives Overland Park this status.

To see previous Overland Park posts (of which there are 16, with many other single images scattered throughout this blog) please use the 'search' at the top left of this page.

Foreign Bodies. A new book edit.

 

First day of editing It was a year ago that Pogo Books, a publisher and gallery based in Berlin invited me to make a photo-book with them. They had chosen 4 photographers to be part of a new publishing venture to make a large limited edition high quality book and I was lucky enough to be one of them. Unfortunately at that time I was not able to give this project the energy and close attention it truly needed as I was busy both with school and work. Now almost a year later my schedule has finally opened up and with the continued support, patience and enthusiasm of Pogo I can now finally give this wonderful opportunity my full creative focus. The book will eventually contain 80-100 selected images from the entire 4 years I have been in the United States and will be titled 'Foreign Bodies'. After making a radical preliminary first edit of all my photographs, a selection which was made by myself, Claudio Pfeifer, editor and chief at Pogo Books and my dear friend and photographer Marcus Haydock, who knows both my work and creative thinking well, I made 230 4X6 M-Prints at a local camera store and have now began the process of reducing this large number down, sequencing and pairing images together that I believe will work well in book form. From previous experience, especially whilst working on my first book 'Remains To Be Seen' I have discovered that editing on a computer vs editing real prints are two very different beasts indeed and I now understand that whatever may look good sequenced on a screen does not necessarily translate as well on paper. Personally, working with prints laid out on a table helps me to consider the book as a whole - it's subject, ideas and emerging themes and I am able to play with sequencing in the context of the entire edit - both with selected and not yet selected photographs. There is also a wonderful element of chance involved working this way, which I love, especially in the early stages. Random accidents which would not otherwise happen when sat at a computer (in terms of pairing images up) when prints are arranged by either myself or like yesterday for example, when our Cat jumped onto the table, flicked a few prints around in defiance and put a couple of images together in the process himself.. For me editing is exciting and demanding and works out a completely different set of creative muscles. Right now I am not exactly sure what shape this book will eventually take, but I already have a good feeling about it. Pogo Books Website can be found here: http://www.pogobooks.de/ Marcus Haydock's Website: http://www.marcushaydock.co.uk/ Two great articles by Harvey Benge about editing a photo-book: http://harveybenge.blogspot.com/2012/03/photobook-some-thoughts-on-editing-and.html http://harveybenge.blogspot.com/2010/03/photobook-editing-some-thoughts.html