At the beginning, I almost became an art historian. That was the renaissance and the surrealism that made the greatest impression on me. I love the organic quality of the renaissance, and I love my wife and my daughter, but I feel most connected to surrealism .
is that it comes out of not just an Eastern tradition of magic stories, but also a Western tradition for which I suppose the generic term is surrealism . And I think I've been very affected as an artist not just by the literature of surrealism ,
And I think I've been very affected as an artist not just by the literature of surrealism , but actually by the visual arts of surrealism -- by the paintings of Rene Magritte, by the films of Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali. And I think their influence is here somewhere in this book.
that the world is marvelous. And so the idea of surrealism was the idea of making it strange, the idea of scratching away that patina that dulls our vision so that we can again perceive the world as wonderful.
And it was right in the middle. You're not struck by the surrealism , but you're not in tune to all of the nuances of film. So, you're probably most apt to sit back and say, "Well, I thought they did a really nice job." I mean, that's it.
came together in a way to give me the way that I've characteristically approached writing. And one of the things that really struck me about surrealism is that one of the key ideas of the surrealists was the idea that when we look at the world, we look at it through eyes that are dulled by habituation, because we're used to things.
And I think their influence is here somewhere in this book. And also, what then developed out of surrealism , which was what was called the theatre of the absurd, playwrights like Eugene Ionesco and Samuel Beckett. So I think that tradition, which to me is the kind of Western counterpart of the Eastern wonder tale-- those two things are the things that
One of the challenges in photography is we have only one word for photography. Now, are we talking about Jerry Uelsmann's surrealism , or are we talking about James Nachtwey's frontline documentary? We expect very different practices as a result.
And I just want to take this point and just mention that another reason that I go toward a very stylized or surrealistic narrative-- "Woman without Men" was based on a magic realist novel-- and the reason I feel so comfortable with dreams and surrealism is because it allows you to make reference to reality, but yet also stay in another place that sort of gives you some space from that.
felt deeply connected to each other because of their love of art, and fashion, and surrealism . So as you can see, a lot of my hats have homages to surrealism happening. And this cocktail parasol hat-- like, I guess you could say I Duchamped it.
suppose the generic term is surrealism . And I think I've been very affected as an artist not just by the literature of surrealism , but actually by the visual arts of surrealism -- by the paintings of Rene Magritte, by the films of Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali.
That was the renaissance and the surrealism that made the greatest impression on me. I love the organic quality of the renaissance, and I love my wife and my daughter, but I feel most connected to surrealism . Then came the machines and the programming.
And it was in conjunction with the Elsa Schiaparelli and Prada exhibition on how Schiaparelli and Prada really felt deeply connected to each other because of their love of art, and fashion, and surrealism . So as you can see, a lot of my hats have homages to surrealism happening.
And because I think my work is as much about existential, universal, timeless, and emotional issues as it is about today's realities and political realities. And I just want to take this point and just mention that another reason that I go toward a very stylized or surrealistic narrative-- "Woman without Men" was based on a magic realist novel-- and the reason I feel so comfortable with dreams and surrealism is because it