Comments on: The Light-Painter of Mojave D: An Interview with Troy Paiva

By: Friday finds « STEVENHARTSITE

Friday finds « STEVENHARTSITE — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 12:09:45 +0000

[...] Troy Paiva was photographing Vermillion Sands before he even knew about the place. Now that he does, he can understand why people kept making the comparison. [...]

By: zoran kralev

zoran kralev — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 17:21:41 +0000

halo halo halo….

By: DUMPSITE » Blog Archive » “We’re drawn to ruins…”

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 22:13:01 +0000

[...] “…We’re drawn to ruins. It’s just how we’re wired as a species. Whereas the 20th c… [...]

By: DUMPSITE - “We’re drawn to ruins…”

DUMPSITE - “We’re drawn to ruins…” — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 20:24:12 +0000

[...] “…We’re drawn to ruins. It’s just how we’re wired as a species. Whereas the 20th c… (From an interview with nighttime abandonment photographer Troy Paiva on ballardian.com. Well worth reading, in spite of the lack of Chicago-related content.) [...]

By: Dr. Light

Dr. Light — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:34:12 +0000

Troy’s work is amazing. I loved reading this interview, keep us updated on any of his future work.

By: mark

mark — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 05:18:53 +0000

Wow, excellent article. Thought provoking stuff. I’ve just learnt about Troy through flickr. He is very articulate about his craft and very giving of his knowledge. I’d like to pick up on this knowledge and have a go myself. From Mark, Sydney Australia.

By: mikey

mikey — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 18:37:14 +0000

Old Air Force brat as a kid, Mojave desert rat too, old paratrooper and black/white photographer here. Came across Troy’s great Ft. Ord pictures by accident. Spent the rest of the night enjoying the rest of his art work.

God, does he have the Minds Eye for creative photography, Absolutely beautiful and haunting work! I walked those barrack streets as a young Sgt. just back from Nam when they were, clean, bustling with troops and that long gone Army Post was fully functioning. It was for me and many others…another Time and World.

The HotSeat 2 photo, among others are mind blowing and the interviews great insight paragraph about older people that have been there and done it is very true and fantastic. You had to be there, in those places and time to feel the full impact but if you weren’t, you can still easily enjoy the feelings throught Troy’s work.

” I see it as embracing the idea of death rather than fearing it. It’s about accepting it and having fun with this darker side of the human condition. My work tends to inspire melancholia, especially in older people, because they remember these places from their youth. It reminds them of their own mortality, but I think that palpable sense of transience and loss in these places is actually exciting and inspiring rather than sad or futile. I suspect that feeling runs strong in many urban explorers.

Melencholia, motality and the darker side, yeah. But I’m like Yossaian in Joesph Heller’s book “Catch 22″. I plan to “Live Forever…or die in the attempt” I love it.

Also just bought his book, will dust of the Cannon and will haunt the Nights trying a little night night lighting. Maybe I’ll bump into you some dark night searching for the Mojove desert phone booth or the Lost Sidewinder Mine Troy.

By: DUMP SITE

DUMP SITE — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:28:59 +0000

[...] “…We’re drawn to ruins. It’s just how we’re wired as a species. Whereas the 20th c… [...]

By: dumpsite ›

dumpsite › — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:57:53 +0000

[...] “…We’re drawn to ruins. It’s just how we’re wired as a species. Whereas the 20th c… [...]

By: Night Vision

Night Vision — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 02:53:31 +0000

[...] Vision The Light-Painter of Mojave D: An Interview with Troy Paiva (previsouly) about his photography and his new book, Night Vision: The [...]

By: StellaVista

StellaVista — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:22:14 +0000

Thanks for this brilliant article! I found the comparison with the work of his brother especially interesting. Their pictures are actually different like day and night (ahem!)

The title is a stroke of genius, by the way!

I linked to this article from my site.

By: Simon Sellars

Simon Sellars — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 02:50:25 +0000

I’d love to see Troy’s work on Ballard covers, also! Mark, in light of your comment, you might be interested in two pieces I’ve previously run regarding Ballard cover art:

http://www.ballardian.com/collapsing-bulkheads-the-covers-of-crash
http://www.ballardian.com/rick-mcgrath-jg-ballard-cover-art

By: Mark Roth

Mark Roth — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 00:55:57 +0000

Thanks for posting this. There is definitely a surrealist tone to these images. Hot Seat 2 reminds me of Salvador Dali. I also love Canted and Speedlines. The cover for Night Visions is excellent as well. I enjoyed this post thoroughly. It would be great if publishers would use some of Troy’s images as covers for future printings of Ballard’s books, would be much better than what they are using now, I’m thinking of those awful black and white Harper Collins covers in particular.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 12:22:00 +0000

Troy’s pictures are eerily beautiful and thought-provoking. I’ve come to see the US military as basically a massive job creation scheme.

By: dsankt

dsankt — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:45:55 +0000

Troy’s work has long been an inspiration to me and though it’s been a few years since I’ve seriously shot typical night photography style subjects (in favour of underground infrastructure mostly) his words are inspiring me to pack the hot chocolate, don the down coat and spend some quality time by moonlight. Keep it up!

Good interview, my commendations for treating urbex as far more than ‘omg look at what those crazy kids are doing.