Jaimie Warren

Jaimie Warren takes crazy photos. It's that simple. She takes photos of her friends, herself, animals, food... whatever it is, somehow the photos always come out looking really bizarre.

Chief Magazine:  Are you originally from Kansas City? There seems to be a really thriving art community there. Has that always been the case? Was that available to you when you were growing up?

Jaimie Warren:  I’m from Waukesha, Wisconsin! My family there owns a sports bar. My sister is the head bartender and manager. My mom, dad and sister all ride Harleys now. (My mom just quit 30 years of teaching for her new *lifestyle*). I came to Kansas City at 18 for college. Believe it or not, there really is a thriving art community here. It’s small for sure, but everyone is insanely hard-working, which I guess is what happens when you have a community trying to get a name for itself. The struggle here is for the community to be recognized, therefore you really have a lot of hard-working young people trying to help one another with all of their projects. That in itself is actually pretty profound, and at the same time really inspiring. I’ve been a part of a collective running a gallery space here, where our focus was to bring in people who would normally not visit Kansas City. We brought in tons of people like Black Dice, Neil Burke of Men’s Recovery Project, Wolf Eyes, Paper Rad and tons of others. The great part about being here is that you can run a space and have people call you and ask if you need to borrow a P.A. or if you need help sweeping your floors when the show is over. Quite awesome.

A lot of young photographers end up in New York because they think there's more here to work with. It doesn't seem like its the case with you. Is there anything in your head that says move to New York or move out of Kansas City?

Yeah, I think I've asked myself why I’m not in New York maybe every other day or so for the past six years. I guess I would really want to be there mostly because I would really love to have the opportunity to do freelance photography work, like to actually be paid for a job you are enjoying and you're happy with the outcome. Oh, to be creative and do the work you love to do and be paid for it! It’s my dream. But I guess I stay because I don’t think I’d have all this positive energy always pumping through my veins, plus my totally weirdo friends who will do pretty much anything you ask them to, always on the level of a five-year-old. But it’s really fun, and it makes for great pictures. Plus, with the amazing power of the Internet, I'm able to get my work out all over the place, I mean, I can even be in a show in New York or Berlin--or wherever for that matter--and never even see the space. I guess that’s kind of gross or weird or whatever, but at the same time its very handy in a ton of ways.

I have lived in New York briefly and have visited since at least two or three times a year, but I could never get myself into the energy there. Though there is so much culturally to experience and be a part of, it still never seemed as vibrant and colorful as my town, as incorrect as I’m sure that sounds.

Kansas City is weird in a different way, like since it’s a smaller town, you have the craziest parties that are totally nonsensical. You walk in and you're surrounded by all these groups of people that make no sense together, which is I guess what happens when you are in a smaller city where everyone wants to party, no matter what the circumstances are.  Like for instance there's a Jewish Hanukkah Dynasty theme party with a bunch of drag queens and everyone dressed in Dynasty (the TV show) attire, and they had a real Rabbi there to host someone’s birthday. Among the mix were people in tennis uniforms, a group of Mexican bikers and three zombies. Or this other party a few days later, which was an all-pink 50’s beach theme. All the parties make no sense and it’s amazing. It’s sort of surreal and every time I have a friend come in from out of town they’re pretty surprised, for sure. There are plenty of bad things about the scene here, of course, but I think the weirdness and awkwardness that’s so present here is totally where my aesthetic comes from.

Who were photographers or artists that really impressed you as a kid? Or do you remember a time when you saw a photo or a painting and said "Oh, well, that's what I want to do?" Did you like being photographed as a kid?

There's a trend among photographers now, the party shots: Terry Richardson, Ryan McGinley, Mark Hunter... How do you feel about the work that's out there that people would compare you to?

I think that’s a trend, but I don’t think I fall into that trend--or at least I don’t want or try to, and I don’t think these people really do either, I guess. Like, I think Richardson does amazing ads with really smart subtleties, and I think he has really interesting ideas that extend way beyond a party aesthetic. I think McGinley does beautiful posed works, how he takes this like contemporary aesthetic of today’s youth and makes these beautiful images, almost as though they are paintings, sort of a Jeff Wall or Gregory Crewdson in some ways, but not quite as art-history based and not quite as fucked up. And the Mark Hunter stuff, I’ve only recently seen his website, and I think party photos are great but I don’t really see my work as being the same at all. Maybe because the people in my photos aren’t nearly as attractive, which I think has a lot to do with it. I think my friends are like maybe the antithesis of fashion, which is why they are maybe perceived as a little more innocent or wholesome or something, or maybe not as intimidating? I always try to keep it kid-friendly unless there is something really stunning or strange that knocks the factor of the controversial out of any sort of real importance within the image.

I think the advent of digital cameras, Myspace, blogs--all of that, coupled with this trend, has made it really easy for a lot of people to say that they're photographers. Some could say it's excellent that it's easier for people to have a creative outlet. Others could say that it's over-saturating the genre, diminishing the integrity, or just plain schmucks thinking that taking a cool photo makes you an awesome photographer. What do you think of this?

I think anyone who has a camera is, indeed, a photographer. I think arguing as to who is and isn’t one is a waste of time and sort of a boring argument. I am a huge fan of what Youtube.com has done, in the sense that after seeing a plethora of people’s videos from their homes, I am so surprised to be reminded what a beautiful medium the art of video can be. It really made me want to get back into it. I think the explosions of the web/cameras/videos is an excellent challenge, and it’s giving people the opportunity to be seen worldwide, and some of these people are truly talented and we would have never known it. It really brings back a love of awkward people and settings and talent, which I think is what my work is about in a lot of ways.

But all in all I really do see it as a good thing. It’s simply making us view the medium in a different way, and making us be more (or less) picky about what we think is good art. I also think that if there are more artists doing similar work, you really start to pay attention to the subtleties, or maybe challenging these artists in terms of what they are really trying to make, therefore maybe its even easier to weed out who really is and isn’t talented, you know? No matter what, this challenge is going to pop up left and right as the years go by for numerous different reasons. You mean we’re already finished arguing about digital vs. analog? Tee hee.

I love your self portraits. They seem really cinematic... wigs, makeup, the scenes themselves. Tell me about them and what they're about for you?  Tell me about them and what they're about for you?

Wowee, thank you! Actually it’s strange because I guess I have been taking self-portraits for years and never even realized it or cared, until Tim Barber of tinyvices.com noticed a few and asked me to send more. He really liked them and asked me to send more, and I was going through my photos and I realized that I had hundreds, which was awesome, and he is now even planning on publishing a book of them!

But about them, well I guess, as we talked about my Midwest stuff, that we really do have a lot of weird parties here, like I talked about before, and there’s always a lot of theme-type stuff, dress-up stuff, and we do that for fun anyway, like even just to go get a drink somewhere or to go get the mail or a sandwich or something. It’s weird, too, because when you look at a ton of the images all at once, I really do look like I’ve been a lot of different people, which is cool. And the other weird part is that it’s so awkward to be like “Yeah, man, you should check out my self-portraits!” I mean, that sounds so lame! But whatever. Hopefully if you see them, you will think they are funny.

Oh, here's a funny (self-portrait?) video of me, too.

Well, yeah, like I said before, I always try to take out any controversial stuff. Like for instance, I would never have a picture of someone peeing or a girl’s boobies or someone snorting coke off of someone else’s wiener unless there was something really funny about the photo that was way more important in terms of the content of the image. Actually, now that I think about it, there is not much I dislike more than blatantly controversial photos. Like someone setting their armpit hair on fire or something. That is so frickin' boring. Seriously. I don’t know, I guess I just like fun stuff. Fun and funny. That sounds good. It’s not like I’m a weirdo or a religious person. I’m just over seeing a bruised woman in the subway or someone’s cut and bleeding finger.

Page splits here

You were given a Humble Servant of the Arts award in KC. It seems like you're really on the go and to have someone recognize that must have felt special. Were you surprised by the recognition for your work?

Yeah, that was super sweet of them to do that. My projects range pretty broadly, and that has a lot to do with how much people help one another here. Like, I have been able to take Kansas City shows to Chicago, St. Louis, Miami, New York, and Osaka, Japan. Most of the shows we had tons of KC people come out to help and perform! The most recent project I've been working on has been starting a faux-public access television show called “Whoop Dee Doo” that highlights the totally weird talents of Kansas Citians, not to mention game shows and dance contests and lots of other cool stuff. It’s based of this amazing Chicago public access show called Chic-a-go-go (www.roctober.com/chicagogo) where they invite anyone from the public to just be on the show and dance, and it’s the most weird and amazing thing I have ever seen. Our take on it, “Whoop Dee Doo,” has sort of veered into this weirdo talent show, where we have had all of these different acts, everything from this professional drill team, the Marching Cobras, to stunt dogs and a youth violin troupe to drag shows and opera singers and punk bands, all kid-friendly and costume and dancing encouraged. My friends Jori Sackin and Matt Roche are the main collaborators, but we seriously did it with the free help of literally hundreds of people. I think it’s all of these weird projects that got me that award, and it was really great to feel so appreciated. Oh, here's a quick link to give you an idea. This is the Ssion playing at our show:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=yIHwR5PqbC8
http://youtube.com/watch?v=dxPyhPN6rIc

And our myspace page: www.myspace.com/whoopdeedookansascity

And here is the awesome Ssion website: www.ssion.com

Vice sent you to Tokyo recently to hang around and shoot. Awesome. I read that it was your first trip out of the country, yes? How was it?

It was awesome for sure. It was not my first time out of the country, though. I always try to get out the country if I can find some weird job or grant. A grant got me to Tokyo, and my last time out of the country was taking yearbook photos of students on American military bases throughout Western Europe for four months. Weird, but cool, I think?

The Tokyo thing was crazy because I was there for five weeks with my only job being to take crazy pictures. I got a lot of self-portraits in there for sure and I was luckily with the craziest person I know, Naoko, who also ties with my buddy Peggy as the two best people to take pictures of ever. Peggy also came and visited on the last leg of the trip, so I got some good pics in, for sure.  I did some weird “Tokyo Girl” projects where I was attempting to be a Tokyo girl stereotype on a $10 budget, but basically I was a tourist the whole time, which was weird for me--to not have to work for so long. Especially in a city so crazy and so expensive.

What was your most favorite thing? I've never been to Tokyo but I imagine it's like going into space 700 years in the future. Am I right?

I could never really afford to go to these crazy Tokyo parties, because they are all like $40 or $50 just to get in. But on my last night I did it, and my God was it worth it. Picture 300 four-foot girls holding teddy bears and wearing tutus all dancing to Avril Lavigne like they are on crack, all at the same time. I have never seen anything like it in my life. The outfits there are amazing, no matter what anyone says about their fashion sense dying. No way. I mean, it’s not everyone, of course, but it is quite surreal, especially when it hits you all at once like a ton of bricks.  Other than that, it seems really futuristic at first, but you get used to it really quickly. I think if you stay over a few days anywhere it becomes normal to you. Like once you realize that everyone still toots or gets bored or whines, you realize everywhere is kind of the same.