Randall Phenning is 21 and has over thought an opening line to the point of insanity. 

MOSSLESS: So how did you get into photography? It seems you’ve had a very similar progression as myself, starting with shooting surf then moving on to a more contemporary style.
RANDALL PHENNING: My dad loaned me our family’s digital camera on a vacation. I was around 16 at the time and didn’t think much of it until we got home and my dad told me that a few of the photos turned out nicely. He gave me that same digital camera eventually, an olympus five megapixel point and shoot jobbie that was too expensive (I think it was $800) to give to a 16 year old. I was constantly scared I was going to break it or get sand in the lens. I remember I had a 128mb memory card for it and thought it was incredible I could shoot so many photos. I don’t remember how or when I became interested in film. I’d like to imagine it was an aesthetic choice but more likely it was just a matter of cost, film cameras being a little less expensive than their digital counterparts. I started out taking snap shots of the surf simply because it was what was in front of me at the time. I was/am surfing multiple times a week so photography and the beach are equals to me though I stopped shooting a lot mainly because of the single faceted nature of the craft. I can basically sit on a beach with a 600mm or I can sit in a barrel with a 15mm, either way I am going to be shooting a photo that has been done before and better so why even waste my time when I have more fun actually surfing? Not to mention the lack of emotion in surf photography. Rarely do I see a photograph of a surfer or the beach that rises to the notch above sterile or even begins to relate what it is like to be in the water. I don’t feel like I have the skills or the imagination to change either of those trends so, again, why waste my time? Things do look good though because there are a few up and comers that are definitely game changers. Morgan Maasenn is very good and has been at it for quite some time now.Contemporary photography just came out of a curiosity about what else was out there. Google led me to Magnum, Magnum led me to Gilden, Gilden to etc. An over-simplification, for sure, but that’s basically how it went for me to where I am now. 

ML: Do you shoot with projects in mind from the start?
RP: I kind of play it by ear. My photographic habits are pretty counter-intuitive towards grouping images together to collectively convey an idea or emotion so it is difficult for me to lay out exactly what I want and how I want it from the get go. I enjoy having spontaneity in my photography as I feel that style lends itself more to the kind of subjects I am photographing. With so much going on that I don’t want to control it is difficult to get exactly what I have in my head without speaking up. I can get close enough to my main idea most times. I think this attitude is lent from a lack of formal education in the subject of photography. Hopefully I can better organize and articulate my thoughts as I become older and more educated. 

ML: Who or what have been you biggest photographic influences?
RP: I’ve always struggled with being influenced by others because I feel like the results are always a bastardization or derivative of the idea I was been inspired by and are never true works of my own. As pretentious as that reads I really do feel that way. I want my photos to look like my photos and not like Gilden’s, Meyerowitz’s, Sanchis’, Hido’s, or Nachtwey’s. (The fact that these are a few of my go-to individuals when I want to appreciate some photography rather than do it is notable, though.) Obviously comparing my stuff to theirs is beyond ridiculous but I think my point is valid enough, even with crazy examples like that. I might see a subtle look that they can do or can capture and try and work it into the way I see things. Overall I put a lot more weight into what those whose work I enjoy say than what they do visually. If I like your work very much and you tell me you like what I did here or here or that you didn’t like what I did there then I might change my ways based on that. Not on whether or not I can put aluminum foil in front of a gel’d hot light then pour some fog juice into a fog machine (which I can do and plan to abuse in the future) and make my stuff look exactly like Luis Sanchis’. He is amazing at what he does but copying him isn’t going to do anything for me. 

ML: You mentioned you’re about to start studying art, how do you see and how would you like to affect your work? 
RP: The only real apprehension I have is that the curriculum will marginalize me into shooting weddings 5 days a week just to make my bucks. That isn’t to say I feel I am above the classes at all, quite the opposite.  I just feel that the surge of new information along with being forced into styles of shooting I am uncomfortable with will destroy my roots instead of nurture them. It is something that is a bit of a necessity nowadays though, a college degree. I need to pay closer attention to how I am photographing so that I don’t unknowingly change my style. I recently started an internship with Alex Prager that I am really excited about. I feel like I can almost learn more in interning with her than I could at a university, but who knows (certainly not me). One “educational” thing I want more than anything is to get outside of the United States. I’ve never been outside of the country and I feel like I am missing out on a lot because of it.

(Guest interview by Bryn Donkersloot)