Episode 7. Joseph Cochran II
For the seventh episode of our OnAIR series, we joined Joseph Cochran II in Highland Park, East New York, Brooklyn, as he chronicles how he started his journey with photography, and his pursuit of the medium as a way that spans communication and social exchange. Cochran’s photography takes one through an envious array of life and its minutiae, through moments, time, and emotion captured only through a lens of someone who undeniably grasps this place we all call home and it’s temporality in a way that is unteachable, and only arrived at with multitudes of experience. While Cochran’s approach is entrenched in the craft of photography, drawing on the medium's specific tools, its real magic may stem from his ability to measure time, and space, in millimeters and milliseconds.
WATCH.
CONNECT.
Where do you find yourself working the most often? Is there anywhere that holds significant meaning for your practice?
“When I was a kid, I used to sneak out of my place, go and pick an avenue and just walk as far as I could. During this time, you see the whole spectrum of humanity, and that is really wonderful to me. Right now we are in Highland Park, East New York, Brooklyn. Throughout my youth, especially in my teenage years, I would come to Highland Park with contemplation. To process a lot of things in my life, mess around with my friends. Very early on, in my pursuit of the medium, I had misgivings about photographing in public, I was a little scared of it, scared of the reaction of people, with this notion of you can’t touch strangers. I would drag my friends here, sneak off into the wooded areas, sneak off into the basin, and make images. I would make a lot of portraits of them, shoot a lot of nature.”
Joseph Cochran II, Mbare, 2024, Chromogenic Print, Edition of 3, 15 H x 19 W in. 38 H x 48 W cm.
Can you tell us a bit more about your practice and how its evolved over the past years?
“Over the last five years or so, my work has taken two parallel legs. The work I’ve been doing here, has focused more on the decay of the city, as people know, New York City is going through an unprecedented crisis in terms of homelessness and mental stability, and public institutions are failing, so a lot of the work I’ve been doing has been to capture that moment and hammer home the need for renewal, urban renewal. Abroad, I’ve been focused on building an archive that speaks to the myriad of issues of immigration in the Mediterranean, mostly along the European and African connective routes. That work has taken me from Morocco to Italy, Spain, all around, Malta.”
Joseph Cochran II, Uptown, 2019, Chromogenic Print, 20 x 30 in. / 50.77 x 76.2 cm
Joseph Cochran II (b.1990), Birzebugga, 2024, 2024, Chromogenic Print, Edition of 3, 13 3/8 H x 20 W in. / 34 H x 51 W cm.
Is there anything you like to listen to/watch/read/look at for inspiration?
Everyday I wake up, I read the news, something I’ve been doing since I was a child. Though it has a plethora of different manifestations and terms like “News”, “dependable” and “truth” have elastic definitions, it still is among my largest source of inspiration.
When I am outside, I like to look at people - not in an obvious I’m taking a photograph way - more in the sense of observing scenes, looking at behavior, seeing what the space I’m in is giving me today. Eventually this turns into talking with strangers, probably my favorite activity to then, if my pre-requisites are met, an image is made.
I also heavily invest my time into what some would consider pop culture. Often while working I watch basketball, football, boxing or have movies play on silent - anything made in Japan between 1925 and about 1985 (can’t stress enough how great Kurosawa’s Ran is) I’ll just have run while I edit, sequence or read. Reading comics, playing video games and watching anime or live action series also give me ample inspiration. Like Kubrick, I think remaining tethered to what we call popular culture teaches us more about the various psychological profiles of humans than any academic could.
Other than that, I read a bunch of academic texts, going in and out of them, trying to mix and match notes in an attempt to synthesize new ideas for myself. Lately this hodgepodge has seen me put Hito Steryl, Bifo Berardi, Achille Mbembe and the Frankfurt school ( Marcuse and Byung Chul-Han) in a blender.
What tool or art supply do you find yourself using most?
My favorite tool is still the camera.
Name your favorite drink spot
As in alcohol? If so, then a few places. I like Sharlene’s, Jimmy’s, and Alibi. They are even better if I don’t see you there.
Name your favorite coffee spot
I don’t drink coffee, but if I did my favorite would probably be at Mike’s Coffee Shop.
Name your favorite Sunday spot
Hmmm probably seated on the Balcony of my brother Duke’s crib.
LISTEN.
I would recommend that regardless of where you fall on the socio-political, socioeconomic spectrum, to listen to everything . Right, left, center, most of that shit matters less than you think and is clear as day when you listen to a competent human being speak for more than ten minutes.
Some podcasts I love to listen to:
The Racket (Matt Kennard)
Doomscroll (Josh Citarella)
Deconstructed (by the Intercept)
The intercept Briefing (by the intercept)
Fifth Column
Art persists
Slow Burn
E-Flux (when they decide to drop)
The Joe Budden Podcast
Chapo Trap House
Red Scare
I have to emphasize this again, LISTEN TO EVERYTHING, because the smart people you think are on the other side of your beliefs certainly are.
