Me: So, tell me a little about yourself.
Catherine Trestini: Well, I’m a senior. I’m in Thesis. And, I study Comparative Literature and I really like photography, so that’s my concentration.
Me: I am a B.F.A., a senior here, and Sculpture is my major. I tend to do mostly welding, wood working, and plaster, because that’s what I enjoy most.
Catherine Trestini: For photography I started out when I was about fifteen just taking snapshots with a little point and shoot camera. Then when I came to Mason Gross I didn’t even know, because I was so young, that photography was actually an Art, that people took it seriously and studied it. So when I came to college I learned photography as an art, I learned the dark room and film, so I started getting interested in that. I’ve taken a lot of film in black and white and color. I can show you some here. But primarily right now I’m just using digital because it saves you so much money. Ok, so let me show you some of my film stuff, and some of my digital. That’s actually digital that you‘re looking at. So these were two different theories, so these were together in one. This is called October in New Brunswick. I really like to take pictures of things that are sentimental to me. I think a lot of people would look at these kind of as candids, I mean tell me if you have any opinion. To me they’re memories. Fall’s my favorite season.
Me: You can definitely tell by the color choices.
Catherine Trestini: Yeah, right? I actually got a lot of criticism from my class. Which is great, you know, I like constructive criticism. About how they didn’t really speak to them and they didn’t seem very concise, but I think what was so important about this series is that I was happy with it.
Me: I think that’s what it all ends up coming down to, is if you’re happy with it.
Catherine Trestini: yeah, like being confident in your own work.
Me: these are great actually. It’s about that capturing that moment, just your everyday life. You know, these are things you see, and do, everyday. I like that.
Catherine Trestini: Thanks. It’s been something that it’s hard for me to do in my work. What’s the difference between candids and fine art photography? In my mind I’m trying to make a series or any type of body of work I want to take it seriously, I want to be taken seriously, you know. But I feel like some people are like “Oh, that’s your friend” or “Oh, that’s a pumpkin”. The biggest criticism that I got about this is that it’s so cliché. “These are cliché pictures of Fall”. But, I don’t know. There’s just something about the way I approach photography is that I see something that I find beautiful and then I photograph it.
Me: I think there’s more coming out of these, that have meaning to you, than to wonder off to some place you have never been before and try to capture an amazing picture that has really no meaning to you. These are way more meaningful, and you can see that there.
Catherine Trestini: You’re right, actually I tried doing some street photography and I find myself just not really connecting with that. Taking pictures of strangers and stuff like this, I mean it’s really great for technique and such, putting yourself out there and challenging yourself. But what really matters to me I guess, I don’t know, I’m a little nostalgic. These are all from digital, and you can tell that this series I made them warm as well. People were saying that it gives them like a dreamlike feeling.
Me: yeah, it’s like when you’re driving down the road for a long time, and everything’s just kind of so blurry, and calm, and pleasant.
Catherine Trestini: That is exactly how I felt. It’s interesting because I was going through a hard time and my friend Matt took us for a ride in his pick up truck, and we drove out to this country land and we just drove, and drove in farmland. It was so peaceful because you know you can get wrapped up in that Rutgers bubble kind of, and he just took us away and we took pictures and we laughed. I was just so glad, because these pictures, that’s what it represents to me and you can see that.
Me: Yeah, It’s just one of those things. I mean you can almost see the morning dew. It’s that general malaise you get when you’re just so content and at peace.
Catherine Trestini: So yeah, this was like my other series. This represented a good time for me, a good memory. I just wanted to represent that in my own way
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