Sketchbook Feature: Hunter Preston

Hunter Preston is a filmmaker, designer, and photographer based in Columbus, Ohio. A self-described “corporate creative by day, experimental Frankenstein by night,” Preston has made a career out of pushing the limits of still and moving image-making. Whether making unique gifs or haunting short films, Preston is a gifted storyteller of ephemeral places and things with a versatile arsenal of analogue and digital formats, ready to capture moments of strange beauty. To see Hunter’s latest images and keep up with his latest adventures across the United States and abroad, you can check out his Instagram and Tumblr. 

Hunter’s Volume 14 sketchbook, “Experimental Photography,” is a great exploration about how an artist’s tools can become rich with creative stories, and how they reflect the artist’s own approach to making work. A favorite by visitors, both familiar and unfamiliar with photographers, each page features an image Preston took with antique and toy film cameras of the bizarre sights and unique places he encountered in his travels. By using these different cameras, some found others given by family members, each image is processed with both a one-of-a-kind style through the lens and film types, but also is imbued with memories from Preston’s own life.

We chatted with Preston about his career in film and photography and about the process behind his experimental body of work. 

Beginning with a blank sketchbook can always be a little daunting, so I’m hoping you can tell me about your process in compiling these images? 

Starting this sketchbook was especially daunting! I was excited, and had big ideas but nothing ever goes quite to plan. It sort of evolved as I started working on it.  As with a lot of projects, there were issues to solve and the project started to shape around those constraints.

I tried to select images that I liked, but that also read well in a 2D and static environment.

Once I had all of my printed photos I picked the ones that complimented each other well for each page spread. Finally, in true artist fashion, I quickly scrawled some notes while on the way to the post office to deliver my sketchbook by the due date!

A wonderful detail you incorporate into “Experimental Photography” is a pair of 3D glasses for viewers to look at a set of specially-printed images. Do you think about your viewer or an audience when you create your works? What role does the notion of interactivity play in your pieces both within and outside of your sketchbook?  

At some point in the process, whether during shooting or editing, I do think about the viewer. Mainly I ask: will this make sense, is it pleasing on some level, is it technically done well? This can be a challenge when it comes to anything experimental.

Sometimes interactivity is really important to me, and other times it isn’t at all. I think it just depends on the project. That said, I do really enjoy interactive elements. Sometimes it can really make the viewer connect with it more as they realize they get to participate in some way.

Back when you submitted your sketchbook, you noted that one of your favorite cameras was an inexpensive one and that “the best camera is the one that you have with you.” What kind of cameras do you bring with you now when you go out on shoots? 

If the project is film-based I’ll grab one of my favorites like the Nishika (4 lens 3D camera that I found for $4.95), Lomography Lomokino (hand-cranked lo-fi movie camera), Holga (plastic lens and body, usually has light leaks), or a cheap old antique store find. I find a lot of my cameras from thrift and antique stores. Usually the weirder the camera and the cheaper the construction, the more fun the roll ends up being. I also like to take old cameras that film is no longer available for and load them with 35mm film. Sometimes I have to take the film out of the cartridge to make it fit, which can be done using a darkroom bag.

If the project needs to be digital I’ll take a mirrorless camera for stills or a cinema camera for video work.

Video and photography are mediums that wouldn’t usually be associated with 2D mediums commonly found in sketchbooks. What does a ‘sketchbook’ look like to you? Do you use them in your work? 

This has been a struggle for me for years, only recently have I started to enjoy using a sketchbook. Mine consist of rough doodles for project ideas, checklists of things I need for a shoot or project deliverables, acetone transfers (transferring laser jet prints into the sketchbook with a solvent), and probably a lot of nonsense that only makes sense to me.

Oftentimes if I’m feeling stuck, I’ll look through my sketchbook. I might find a late night idea scribbled out or a partial thought that I never fully explored that could be the start of something new.

How did you first come to video and photography as your artistic tools of choice? 

When I was little, my parents had a VHS camcorder that I was intrigued with. I loved movies, especially the horror ones that I wasn’t allowed to watch. Once I started making my own home movies, it was all I could think about.

Your current creative practice is a hybrid of digital and film formats, and a wonderful mix of still images, videos, and gifs. How does using all of these different mediums and lenses impact how you see the world?

I often see things that make me think, “this would look good on some grungy black and white film” or “that would be cool frozen in 3D.” The great part about using these various mediums is that an idea can either turn into a fully fledged project or something of a sketch in gif form.

Do you have any advice for any budding artists looking to incorporate video and photography into their work? 

I think one of the things that made the biggest impact on me was not just learning how, but also why. Learn how to use your art weapon of choice, but then also learn why a movie, scene, or image works the way that it does. If you do it right you go from being completely overwhelmed to coming out the other side feeling like you truly have secret knowledge!

How has quarantine impacted your creativity? Where are you finding inspiration during these troubled times? 

The quarantine has been a strange mix of intense inspiration and motivation one day, and then nothing at all the next. My biggest inspiration lately has come from catching up on movies and books from my backlog. Sometimes, inspiration strikes from doing nothing.  I learned a lot from listening to David Lynch about taking time to daydream. It usually doesn’t take long before I hear or see something that sparks an idea.

How can people support your work? 

Follow me on Instagram and reach out if you’re interested in something!