Gardner Mounce | “Treat All Advice with Skepticism”

"One day you’re gonna die, okay? Go eat pizza about it."

Introduction

Gardner Mounce

‘Gardner is a self-taught photographer, writer, and visual artist living in Memphis, Tennessee with his wife and pets. He makes his photos with the Canon RF mirrorless system. His photographic process involves lighting each scene with flashes, colored gels, high-powered laser pointers, and LED flashlights rather than relying on post-processing techniques … He graduated from Clarion West Writers Workshop in 2019 and the University of Florida MFA in Fiction Program in 2020.’

“I’ll use my other standard piece of advice: go to therapy.”

Gardner Mounce’s - Website - Instagram - Substack - Etsy

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Interview

Do you think being self-taught shaped your style in a way formal training might not have?

Absolutely. Having been through an MFA program for writing, I’ve seen the ways that workshop and direct instruction have both helped and hurt my creative process. An MFA program gives you a whole lot of two things: advice and opinions. A piece of advice is like medicine—it’s helpful for one condition, harmful for another. When you’re in an MFA program, you’re constantly being fed advice, 90% of which does not apply to you. Imagine getting 100 types of medication over a semester. It’s easy to see how some people get the wrong medication for their art practice and quit entirely. All the bad advice has killed them. If my MFA taught me anything, it’s to treat all advice with skepticism and to trust my gut instead. Same with opinions. Most people’s opinions will not make your work better. (Please also treat my opinions and advice with skepticism.)

Do you approach photography with a clear concept, or is your process more spontaneous?

I never have a clear concept in mind. Sometimes I go out to experiment with a technique or to shoot a specific location, but the final image only becomes clear to me as I’m working on it. We’re lucky as photographers to be able to go out into the world and find the work. I never have to stare at a blank page.

Red appears often in your work, what does that colour mean to you personally or symbolically?

I don’t have a personal or philosophical answer for this. I just like it!

Many of your images carry an eerie stillness, what draws you to that kind of atmosphere?

I love horror. I love to be scared. A lot of the places I shoot are straight out of a Toby Hooper movie, and I guess I’m drawn to things like that. Second, I love vast spaces like the Great Plains and the Mississippi River Delta. Something quasi-spiritual happens to my brain when I can see the horizon. As for stillness, I’ve become drawn to it in my 30s. I used to need noise and activity, but with age and a semi-recent chronic illness I’m much happier with quietude. I live a pretty quiet life. I don’t drink or anything anymore, and I meditate every day. So I suppose all those things feed into my work.

Which visual artists have left a lasting mark on your style?

I’ve always loved abstract expressionists like Gerard Richter and Cy Twombly. I love abstract photographers like Andrea Grützner—I started using flashes because of her. My favorite black and white photographer is Mario Lasalandra. More recently I’ve fallen in love with painter Mernet Larsen’s disorienting worlds.