READERSVOICE.COM: How did you become involved in fecalface.com?

JESSE POLLOCK: I met John Trippe who runs the site when I first moved to San Francisco and gradually started helping out more and more. While the site could always be better, I think it’s an invaluable resource (especially in the Bay Area) and was happy to do whatever I could, whenever I could.

RV: What’s a typical week involve for you at your job as managing editor of fecalface.com?

JP: To be honest, I have been stepping back a bit these days. We have a bunch of interns now so I don’t have to do as much coding grunt work. I used to set up the Free Fridayz contests we do, moderate the calendar listings, moderate the forums, answer emails on a daily basis in addition to site content (interviews, features, podcasts). There are so many things happening on the site that it was usually just a juggling act. Now most of the work I do is finding people I think would make good contributors and trying my best to bring them to the site.

We still have a long ways to go in terms of content outside of San Francisco and I’m always working on that side of things. I’ll also do the occasional interview or feature if I’m on a trip that provides a resource for that sort of thing and I’m still doing daily news posts.

RV: What other places have you travelled for taking photos? Or do you just happen to take photos on the way?

JP: I almost never travel anywhere for the explicit purpose of taking photos.

Most of the places I go are locations that I want to see for myself more than for the camera. For example, I really wanted to go on a train ride out to Utah to see some earthworks style art (i.e The Spiral Jetty, The Sun Tunnels) and I really wanted to rent a car in the mountains of Japan. Those things just happened to yield some great photos but if they hadn’t I probably wouldn’t have cared and I try to keep that aspect in mind.

RV: Do you see any common elements or color schemes or themes cropping up in your photos, and if so, what, do you think?

JP: *sigh* Yeah.. these days I’m always critiquing my work and I’ve been noticing that I use the same angles all the time. I like the angles a lot, but I think they are getting played out. I’m always getting bored by artists who do the same thing all the time and never change up, so it would be pretty hypocritical to not do that myself.

The one thing I’ll never stop taking photos of though, is women. I’ll never cease to be floored by a photo of striking women and hope that never stops happening.

RV: What advice would you give photographers if they wanted to take pictures that kind of rose above the normal photos people take?

JP: If I ever gave any advice, my second piece of advice would be to ignore any advice people give you. It’s all tainted from what they like and who cares about making them happy anyways. Shoot photos any way you want to and if a magazine or something you look up to doesn’t want your photos then it’s their loss. Fuck ’em, and make your own magazine.

RV: How old were you when you moved from Boston to San Francisco and how did that come about?

JP: I moved here about eight years ago after living in Portland for a bit. Why did I leave Boston? Have you ever been there for more than a week? Exactly..

RV: Do you go out in San Francisco very much, and what sort of places do you go at night, say?

JP: It’s summertime so that means night time bike rides. Always a good idea. I also just quit taking certain drugs so that means I have to make up for it by drinking more. Luckily I moved to a new apartment recently which means I’m out of range from my favorite bars. I usually just drink in my living room. Wait.. maybe that’s not lucky.

RV: What do you think makes good, interesting music?

JP: I started a music blog a while back and after running it for a year I realized that I’m the least eloquent person I know when it comes to describing things (which is maybe why I take photos?) I really just started the blog because I wanted to share the music, not because I wanted to talk about it. I really have no idea what makes good music, just don’t make it predictable.

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