Highschool Poppers

thisiswander:

Lexis-Olivier Ray
Manhattan, NY
Pentax K1000 | Canon Sure Shot Owl | Canon EOS 60D

What brought on the decision for you to exclusively shoot in film?

I just like it better. The list of reasons seems to be endless for me, but that’s just me. The camera is only a tool for a photographer. I like that most of the cameras that I use are inexpensive and easy to replace because I’ve broken a lot of cameras, and digital is so expensive to fix. I usually shoot with one type of film, sometimes with cameras that have fixed apertures and shutter speeds, so at the end of the day, I think it’s more about getting the shot, and the mise en scène than anything else. Film and digital are just formats. Everything gets digitized eventually, I do all my editing and printing digitally so in that regard I find there’s very little difference in the final product… For video, I shoot digitally because I’ve been shooting a lot of documentaries and that’s what they call for. Just choices.

You’ve completed a few road trips across the US recently. Are there any more that you have planned for the near future that we can look forward to seeing on your blog? Tell us about them!

Yes it is definitely time to get back on the road. My road buddy Peter is actually setting off for Colorado in a few days. He’s been trying to convince me to join but I keep telling him I’ll be in NYC until the 21st for the NY Art Book Fair… I think. Recently I’ve been doing local trips in the tri-state area around New York. One trip I’ve been dying to do is a drive to a ghost town in upstate New York about 3½ hours away from the city. I went once in the winter with my girlfriend and it was one of the coolest and creepiest places I’ve ever been to. We walked around but didn’t really get to explore the place in depth the way I wanted, which I’ve regretted ever since. There are literally more abandoned buildings than there are regular buildings. It used to be this place where rich Jews went to vacation in the early 20th century so there are hotels and spas that have been unoccupied for decades. 

Other than that, I’ll be in California later this month and would love to get back to the Sierras before winter. I would eventually like to do a road trip oversees as well! South America would be unbelievable, or I also have some friends that are planning to take an old bus to Belize. I’m as open as the road about where and when I travel.

Tumblr: highschoolpoppers
Website: LexisOlivierRay.com
Instagram: thepopguru
Twitter: thepopguru

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