Tell us about yourself.
My name is Chantal Anderson and I’m a photographer and director living in Los Angeles.
How did you get your start?
I grew up in a small town outside of Seattle. Throughout the year my dad would fish for crab in the Bering Sea (think: Deadliest Catch) and be gone for 6 months at a time.This was pre-internet so the only way we could communicate with him was to make a bunch of vhs recordings, drawings, and photos and then mail them to the closest port. He would send us back a package with postcards, notes about Alaska, and life on the boat.
Could you speak about your style and process?
Looking back, this documentary-style I picked up while making videos for my dad really stuck with me and I carry that into my practice every day. I’m seeking a moment of truth with the people, person or landscape in front of my lens. I don’t mean “truth” in the realm of fact or fiction, but rather a personal truth. Something that knocks me off balance and makes me pause. A moment of connection.
How has your work evolved over time? How so?
I’ve become more comfortable with taking risks compositionally. I lean into “mistakes” and outliers that make you question the frame- I like things that feel wrong. We’re inundated with images everyday and I’m less interested in “beauty,” and more concerned with emotion and composition, because that’s what currently intrigues me about imagemaking.
Tell us about a recent project.
I was recently hired by the New York Times to photograph John Corbett for an actor’s profile piece. We shared a few ideas about the shoot over text, and when I arrived we scouted his ranch. He showed me his wife’s corvette (he’s married to Bo Derek), their dogs, and horses. We talked about Tiger Beat magazine and heartthrobs of the 70’s, like Leif Garrett, and how it would be hilarious to reference those images because John is always hired to play that role. We made our way shooting different scenes as the light changed, with John switching out outfits and personas as we went. I thought seeing him in all these different crush roles would be great for the piece.