Interview

Lauren Dukoff has practically made a career out of photographing Devendra Banhart. The two have known each other since before she was an established chronicler of rock n' rollers—like Kim Gordon, Mary J. Blige, and Morrissey—and he was hailed as "Freak Folk's Very Own Pied Piper," back when Dukoff took photos of whatever was around her, and Banhart, then a budding musician, was around her. Dukoff has translated her experiences with Banhart and their colorful band of artist and musician friends into the appropriately named Family (Chronicle), her first book of photography, which spans years of friendship and multiple tours at home and abroad. In addition to Banhart, Family features photos of Joanna Newsom, Bat for Lashes, Vetiver, Vashti Bunyan, among others; a foreword by Banhart; as well as text, artworks, bios, and songs (on digital download) by some of the artists in the book. (LEFT: LAUREN DUKOFF AND DEVENDRA BANHART. PHOTOS COURTESY OF CHRONICLE BOOKS.)

I called Banhart and Dukoff at the studio, where he was laying tracks and she was hanging out, camera ready.


LUCY SILBERMAN: So we're recording... Are you guys in the studio together?

LAUREN DUKOFF: Yeah. I'm outside, he's inside. [LAUGHS]

DEVENDRA BANHART: You're outside, I'm going to go outside too ‘cause I want to get a cup of [IN A NEW YORK ACCENT] coffee. Look there's [musician] Adam Green. Hi Adam!

LS: You know each other from high school, right?

DB: Yeah, when I first moved to America, Lo was like my first friend.

LS: Do you remember how you met?

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For students of film there are surprisingly few resources that provide a true behind-the-scenes look at what can be considered the ultimate insider industry. Enter Natalie Portman, who, at only 27 years of age makes a stunning movie veteran, and Christine Aylward, a consultant who turned her attention to film development a few years ago. A chance encounter on a film set brought them together. Years later, the result, a user-friendly web portal that covers all aspects of the movie-making process called MakingOf.com, launched on Thursday at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Aylward and Portman held court at SoHo's Apple Store in New York City to walk us through MakingOf and to answer questions. Portman, who was quick to point out, "This site, I'm not intending for it to be about me," was the clear center of attention. Apple store handlers turned dozens away from the first-come, first-serve event. Though she described herself as "near Luddite," the young actress-cum-director demonstrated a handle on what she hoped the site would accomplish, and spoke briefly about her role in the design and content of MakingOf, summing the site's features up, "What would I want to see?"

Aylward kept the discussion nailed to the specifics. There's no centralized resource for behind-the-scenes content that shows how films are made. The Mission: To champion the art and the craft of creating entertainment. MakingOf.com includes interviews with well-known directors (Ron Howard on Angels and Demons; John Krasinski on his directorial debut) and actors (Olivia Thirlby on The Answer Man). Soon they will add conversations with everyone from film editors to stuntmen to costume designers. The "Filming Now" section hosts trailers, movie clips, and on-set footage from films in progress. "The Vault" boasts the same features, but for your favorite classics of the silver screen. And "Community" provides a forum for both industry insiders and those trying to claw their way in to discuss... everything, and showcase their own work.

It's a work in progress, but the interest is there. Questions from the audience included what the guests of honor considered the most underrepresented areas of film; which directors Portman would like to work with; if Aylward and Portman have met any resistance to the site; and, perhaps inevitably, dating advice and how to win over Portman—who quipped, "not in an audience". At least one person took the site's message to heart: An actor from Puerto Rico took the opportunity to pitch his film.

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A boatful of beautiful people is headed to scenic Harper's Island, where Henry and Trish, the also-beautiful perfect couple, are soon to be wed. Liquor flows; everyone is ready to celebrate. Or are they? What sounds like an introduction to any other boring ship-wreck or exotic monster movie is actually the set up to a genuine murder mystery program, the likes of which America has rarely seen. The 13-episode series takes cues from British programming by creating an entirely self-contained storyline, in which at least one character is killed off each episode in a surprising and graphic new way.

Christopher Gorham stars as Henry Dunn, the lovable boy next door and seemingly innocent groom to be. Fans of Ugly Betty will recognize their old friend Henry Grubstick, but Gorham is quick to caution that while his character on Harper's Island may initially come off sweet and simple, he couldn't be more different from Betty's Grubstick. Gorham speaks to Interview about the highly secret series.


LUCY SILBERMAN: I feel like I should call you Henry.

CHRISTOPHER GORHAM: Actually, that's all I answer to these days.

LS: Should we just jump right in? Should we talk about Harper's Island?

CG: Yes, please.

LS: How much did you know about the plot and about your character before you started filming?

CG: It was a strange process. I wanted to talk to the show runner [Jeff Bell] to find out how it was going to work. I felt very confident in what he wanted to do, which was to create a closed-end murder mystery story in the vein of Agatha Christie, with some modern elements of Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer—with really great characters that you really care about so that, as they're getting picked off one by one, it matters. We have 25 characters to introduce in the beginning so there's a lot going on.

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The first death shot by Kaoru; Koizumi Kyoko wears Sybilla, 1993. Courtesy Von Lintel Gallery and the artist.

The suitcase is not large, but it fits her curled frame; her possessions (a stuffed rabbit, a clock, what looks like a French horn) provide a nest for the perfectly-coiffed woman who is most certainly dead--or made to look that way. Izima Kaoru has been crafting and capturing the death fantasies of models and actresses in his native Japan for over a decade, photographing his victims from multiple vantage points to tackle a subject that has not always been well-received. And while the cause of death may not always be apparent in his work, Kaoru's fashion photography background (not to mention his penchant for couture) shines through, providing a strange and beautiful contrast to the lifeless forms of his subjects. Izima Kaoru's latest body of work will be on view at New York's Von Lintel Gallery beginning tomorrow.

LUCY SILBERMAN: What's the fascination with death?

IZIMA KAORU: Death is an important moment for every human but we tend to ignore or hide it as if we have no business in it.

LS: You mix this with an interest in fashion.

IK: Fashion photography is a simulation play on everyday lives or life styles, to fulfill the readers' desires for the ideal lives or styles that they want but cannot be courageous enough to lead. I think then, the moment of death can be simulated as a theme of fashion photography, as well.

LS: It already corresponds in the manner of a "fashion victim."

IK: I am at the other end from fashion victims. The reason why I was working with fashion magazines is because fashion photography was, for me, a place to experiment. Where innovative fashion designs are born, innovative fashion photography will be called for and be born as well.

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