Interview of Allison Barr by Sophie Pellegrini
Tell us a bit about yourself!
My name is Allison Barr, and I’m a 21-year-old visual artist from Portland, Oregon but lived in Brooklyn for the summer. My pronouns are she/her/hers.
How did you get started in photography? What drew you to the medium?
I got started in photography because I got really into movies at age 15, and my aunt mailed me her old camera so I could start making short films. But, her camera was so old it didn’t even have a recording option, so I started taking pictures of my friends and I fell more in love with that instead.
Do you have a favorite thing to photograph?
I really love photographing people. I love people.
Do you plan out your shoots ahead of time, or do you prefer to photograph moments organically without plans?
I like to capture both staged, editorial inspired shoots and candid moments. Though I want to continue pursuing both, I want to focus more on doing more lifestyle, documentary photography.
Who are the models in your photograph? How do you choose the people you photograph?
I photograph a lot of people that I meet through Instagram. I love shooting my friends, but I mainly meet up with people from there because we usually become really good friends after it. That’s how I met people when I transferred schools and lived in New York.
What are some of the key influences on your work?
She might be surprised by this, but I’m really inspired by one of my best friends, Dakotah Francis. She shoots purely film, and all her photos are very youthful and lively. I also really look up to Petra Collins’ mainly old (and new of course) work.
Do you have any projects you’re currently working on that you can tell us about?
I’m about to move back to Oregon, which I’m really excited about. While I’m there I want to start working more meaningful series, and features on people. Kind of a photojournalism style. I’m planning on starting a series about womxn who listen to punk music today, and kind of the tie between the punk scene and gender, gender roles, etc.
When you aren’t taking photographs, how do you spend your time?
I spend most of my time at the movies or trying new gluten free food. 🙂
List 5 things that fascinate you.
A very small list of the things that fascinate me: Womxn doing really badass things, arts and culture history, the 70’s rock/punk era, people, and movies that are so obscurely deep that I have to read about them afterwards.
How can we keep up with your work?
Instagram is my favorite! @alliisonder
