Summer Cooper
Photographer
Where were you raised? Has the landscape of that place influenced your work in any way?
I was born and raised in LA- South Bay. I was a moody, romantic goth kid, sweating in black under the bright sun. To me, Los Angeles really has an energetic balance of light and dark- healthful optimism and existential dread. Maybe everywhere does though. Especially these days. Most things I've made reflect a hint of that sort of psychological contrast. The pictures I post publicly are things I see in my everyday life so they directly reflect the city I live in. I'm always looking around. Some pictures are simple, straightforward snapshots of the landscape, but I often tend to move closer to whatever it is I'm observing until it becomes a simplified, iconic little moment or turns into abstraction. For me, taking pictures and making things is a hopeful, connected action that in the moment of discovery, detaches me from my fears and anxieties.
How do you re-charge your creative battery?
Deep sleep. Listening to music. Looking at art. When I find myself in a downswing of energy, music acts as medicine. I become seasonally obsessed with albums and listen until I've fully absorbed the sounds into my body. The creative energy of artists can make my limbs less heavy and propel me into action. I get re-charged by conversations with friends engaged with their surroundings and the larger world. Strong women in my life inspire and encourage me to nurture and share my gifts.
What book are you reading?
I listen to a lot of audiobooks while I work. Two recent ones were Know My Name, by Chanel Miller and My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell. Two physical books I'm reading are The Kiss: A Memoir by Kathryn Harris and How To Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi. I have a high tolerance for heavy subject matter but I also find escaping into lighter genres very necessary!
What was the last thing that you fell in love with?
Well... We're currently in the middle of a pandemic, so very recently I've fallen in love with the digitized talking heads of all the people I care about via FaceTime and Zoom. Enforced social distancing has just begun and I'm already missing my three dimensional loved ones.
What do you love most about yourself?
My ability to listen to and empathize with others. That I have the capacity to accept and embrace the grayscale elements of life- nuance, contradictions and deviations are everywhere. I love that I can find beauty and interest wherever I am. I'm never bored.
What do you think is the most important quality in a human?
Self reflection (as opposed to self centeredness), as well as the ability to go outward- to consider and care about the experience of other people, animals, the earth. Empathy. Also, our capacity for fun- that we can dance and laugh and play.
Do you have a spiritual practice?
Hiking, taking walks, moving my body and connecting with nature is where I find serenity. Continuously observing the way light falls on earth and the countless details of my surroundings taps me into the vastness of the universe- reminds me that I am a small part of it all. Getting out of my head and into the present, helping others, and practicing gratitude are daily goals of my spiritual practice.
Who are your role models?
My mother, who raised me. She leads with kindness always and dedicates her life to animal activism. She is part of the solution. On a larger scale, my role models are people who find the strength and will to turn their struggles into fuel for action, whether that be to fight for a cause, to make art, or to take whatever it is they care about all the way. I want to be that kind of person.
If you could change one thing about our world, what would it be? Is there a individual or an organization doing work in this area that you want us to know about?
We would each individually be thoughtful caretakers of our earth. Misogyny in all of its forms would be eradicated. Toxic masculinity and gender violence would become an antiquity. VDAY is an organization founded by Eve Ensler doing just that.
Before I die I want to….
Have a long head of silver curls. Lose my inhibitions.
All photos courtesy of Summer Cooper
