Always Party Non-Stop: The Photography of August Castell-Castell August 25, 2010

Born in Salzburg, Austria, August Castell-Castell is a photographer who captures very consistently the moment where the collective joy and tempestuous energy of a party is at its peak. We caught up with him after being introduced at the Stroke.02 Urban Art Fair. Check out his work and words, in our interview below:   A lot of your photos take place when people party. Do you think that there's intimacy involved in party portraiture? Yes. I think that there is a high pressure of intimacy when people party; dancing or relaxing, when they are losing it, as they escape from the daily grind, whatever. That's the life you can see in my photos. How has street culture influenced your photography? Urban culture has always taken a place in my life, it surrounds me a lot of the time. I like hanging out with different people, and that's what I take pictures of. Your work's got some great urban skate photography: As a kid growing up in the 80s in L.A. I remember looking at pictures in Thrasher Magazine, of all these skaters pounding cans of Budweiser and shooting guns, and that was my first exposure to photojournalism. Do you think of yourself as a journalist? I used to skate. I photograph my environment...so in that way I'm a journalist. What inspires you most often to take pictures? People. Do you ever prefer to shoot film instead of digital? I like both, and think digital is as good as film. Who's your favorite photographer and why? Terry Richardson - I really like his style. You seem to have a great feel for when a party and its people are performing at their peak: Is that something you consciously seek to capture? Do you ever find yourself shooting pictures when the party is past its prime? Yes, that's exactly what I want in my photos. Rough but sexy, full of energy. I don't think that a party is ever past its prime for shooting pictures =) It's good to have you on MINIspace.com, we're excited to share your work! -Thanks!   August photographed events at Munich's PAVILLON 21 MINI Opera Space in July. Learn more about the event and visit the photo galleries here. More about August Castell-Castell on the Web: