“When I was 11 years old, my parents bought me a disposable camera for our family vacation to the Grand Canyon. I ended up getting seven more on that trip,” says Jeffrey Czum. “I loved taking tons of photos and not knowing what would come of it until I developed them a week later.”
This may not seem like the origin story of a photographer who now carefully controls every aspect of his process to ensure a desired outcome, but it is.
Czum combines elements of multiple photographs into a single piece of art. It’s never a crowded collage though, and that may be thanks to one of his main influences.
“I don’t want to say I am a total rip-off of Wes Anderson, but that’s kind of what I see when I even look at my photography,” jokes Czum.
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For the uninitiated, Wes Anderson is the whimsical filmmaker behind “The Royal Tenenbaums,” “Moonrise Kingdom,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and more. Like Anderson, Czum favors isolation and symmetry. His subject is always directly in the center of the shot, completely disregarding the rule of thirds.
“I want to minimize distractions. Less is more,” he says. “I take a ‘cut to the chase’ attitude when it comes to my art.”
His other muse is Buffalo. Czum will spend hours driving around in search of “a kind of character that feels overlooked or forgotten.” He says our city specializes in that. Run-down buildings, vintage cars, abandoned parking lots and open fields of grass are particular favorites. Czum isolates these subjects, then mixes and matches in layers. You may see them paired with landscapes from Southern California, Utah or Arizona he’s photographed to create an “almost post-apocalyptic look.” Whatever it takes to get the shot.
“I really like the idea of giving an older building a makeover,” Czum says. “If I can get someone to notice something that’s been in front of them all along, that’s pretty cool.”
He also does this with beloved Buffalo landmarks. You’ll see Jim’s SteakOut, North Park Theater, the Old Pink and even Wilson Farms in a whole new light.
Speaking of, Czum lowers the contrast and clarity in all his photos. This results in a glossy, dream-like quality. It’s almost as if Czum creates his perfect photograph only to leave it up to our interpretation and let our imagination run wild. Who lives on that street? Who drives that car to work? Who rented movies at that Blockbuster? Can you picture it?
To follow Czum’s work or purchase prints, check out @JeffreyCzum on Instagram.
