Grade Solomon

How did you get into making art?

I started taking photos in middle school around 2013 after a friend got a camera to film us skateboarding. Seeing what a DSLR could do compared to an iPod camera felt transformative, and I begged my parents for one almost immediately.

In high school I came across photographers like Todd Hido and Gregory Crewdson through Tumblr, which was the first shift in my understanding of photography from documentation toward expression and story telling.

What are you currently working on?

Right now I’m developing work for an exhibition with a growing focus on physical presentation. Recent pieces use steel and OSB structures to hold multiple images together.

It’s been about a year and a half since publishing my last book with Pomegranate Press, and in that time I’ve felt a noticeable internal shift in how I approach image making. I feel more grounded in the work, which is funny because I can’t always say the same about my life. Feeling secure in the practice but unsure of the more general path forward in my personal day-to-day, which feels like an honest place to be, in spite of the discomfort that sometimes accompanies that.

I feel the swell happening with this current body of work. I’m not directly shooting for another book, but it does feel like it’s naturally forming in that direction.

What inspired you to get started on this body of work?

“Twist” started as a search for clarity and how, ironically, the clarity lives in the pursuit itself. I’ve been thinking about how humanity perpetually feels suspended in a state of uncertainty. The work isn’t necessarily a commentary on that as much as it is a reflection of living within that tension and responding to it through constant looking.

I’m interested in how tenderness and connection surface within that instability. Brief moments of resonance that appear and disappear, often alongside the quieter evidence of our destructive habits.

Do you work on distinct projects or do you take a broader approach to your practice?

For the most part, I’m a compiler. I shoot very intuitively and let my curiosity lead. Whether that means following light or quite literally chasing waterfalls, I do my best to let the images accumulate until it feels like the right moment to release that tension, perhaps in hopes of trying to better understand what I was looking for. Usually, I end up with more questions than answers, but isn’t that the fun of it all?
Photography has always felt like the perfect excuse. It’s an obsession, a motive to meet people, and it allows me to move through the world without a fixed destination. Finding connections between the images after the fact is where the work really comes into focus for me. While most of what I make comes from this intuitive approach, there are moments when I’m after something very specific — a scene or action that requires planning or production — but even then I try to leave room for chance.

What’s a typical day like in your studio?

Most of the actual photographing happens outside the studio which usually includes long drives, walks, or investigating a place of interest. Studio time is more reflective: a lot of screen time editing and sorting through images.

Sequencing is the playful part. I print postcard-sized images and pin them across the walls, sometimes having friends over to move them around like trading cards and find alternative narratives.

Who are your favorite artists?

Paul Kookier, Rinko Kawauchi, Alex Prager, Greg Girard, Nina Hartmann, Trey Abdella, Andreas Gursky, Gordon Matta-Clark

Where do you go to discover new artists?

I’d be lying if I said Instagram wasn’t a major source, at least for keeping up with contemporary artists. @composition & @problemchild.advisory are amazing. I’m lucky to live in New York where there’s constant access to great exhibitions and collections. Dashwood Books is always a go-to spot when I’m looking for inspiration.