Aya Brackett, San Francisco

Aya Brackett was born and raised in a traditional Japanese house in the mountains of Northern California. She grew up with two wood stoves, a generator for electricity, and a long dirt road. Brackett left California for Brown University, where she received a dual B.A. in Visual Arts and East Asian Studies, and also studied photography at Rhode Island School of Design. For four years she worked as one of the photo editors at Dwell Magazine, where she contributed her own photography and styled food and props for many shoots. She was chosen as one of PDN’s top 30 photographers to watch in 2008. Her love of food and design informs her photography and fuels a constant search for the unusual and inspiring.

You were a photo editor for four years at Dwell magazine before transitioning into a full-time photographer. What inspired you to make this leap?
‘I always shot on my own, even during the four years at Dwell — sometimes as a freelancer, but mostly for myself. I studied photography and art and started to feel restless cooped up in an office. I also was beginning to show my work in galleries and was feeling torn between my responsibilities to the magazine and my personal work. I was too distracted on both ends and wanted to be more focused. I also saw a lot of photography at Dwell, much of which was inspiring, but also some of which made me think I could do better. My time at Dwell was invaluable, however, and it was an amazing opportunity to meet photographers, see portfolios and understand the magazine business’.

Are all of your shoots carefully planned or is there an element of spontaneity to your work?
‘Both. I often see something spontaneously, but intervene to control more of the composition or to re-create the scene myself. I do a fair amount of my own styling and I am not a very good strict documentarian’.

I love seeing the slight imperfections in the food styling. Can you talk about the thought process behind this and do you do all of the food preparation and styling yourself?
‘I am attracted to natural and sometimes quirky compositions — something which seems real and like a frame or moment caught within a moving scene. The challenge I always face is how to create a better composition without it appearing contrived. I’m attracted to natural imperfections and mess, but I’m always trying to simplify the scene to eliminate distracting elements.

‘Again, sometimes the food is found and I re-arrange things or sometimes I completely arrange it from scratch based on an idea or something I’ve seen. Sometimes I disrupt a moment (re-arranging the table) to take the photograph (often to the dismay of my eating companions). Or photos are taken in solitude with me and my collected props. I style almost all the work on my website and this is big part of my process since, after all, you are only as good as your subject matter. For ad or editorial shoots, I’ll sometimes work with stylists, but I’m probably more involved than some stylists are accustomed to!’

Last year you were selected as one of PDN’s Top 30 photographers to watch. What effect has this had on your career?
‘It was wonderful to have been chosen and has had a very positive effect. I was busy before the selection, but I think it’s helped with my credibility and exposure and kept the work constant’.