An Interview with Lola Reid Allin
by Neil de la Flor
Neil de la Flor: What is it that inspires you to pick up your camera?
Lola Reid Allin: Rhythms & colors spur me. My photographs document our world: other people, other cultures, architecture (originally my inspiration were the structures of the Ancient Maya of Mesoamerica), flora, and fauna. My images are an experiential record of observation that capture and introduce the transitory realities of our world to those who may not otherwise travel to those parts of our world. In the words of Anais Nin: "It is the function of art to renew our perception, what we are familiar with, we cease to see."
ND: Were you born to be a photographer or did you grow to love it?
LRA: This question reminds me of "were you born GLBT or did you grow to love it?" LOL. I grew to love it. My first love was drawing with pen & pencil and charcoal then oil pastels. At age 8 I enrolled in my first formal art lesson, with a local but nationally known artist.
I do not alter my photographic images other than the traditionally accepted enhancements so, for me, a photograph presents a reality that might not be believed if one presented the same image in painted form. For example, I have an image of a butterfly poised on a flower as if it were two of the flower's petals; both the flower and the butterfly are the same shade of orange. Recognizing this beauty of nature cannot be replicated by drawing. Doctors Without Borders/MSF Canada used this image for many years for fund raising purposes on their greeting cards.
ND: What would you have done if you were born 200 years ago, before the invention of the camera?
LRA: Used pen & pencil.
ND: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you travel and why?
LRA: I would travel to Papua New Guinea to visit some of the many, as yet still rather remote hill tribes that practiced head-hunting.
ND: Of all the things you've photographed - landscapes, people, nature, wildlife, architecture - what is the one thing you haven't captured with your lens?
LRA: I have never thought about this before but I would like to capture an image of a wild cat, preferably a tiger or a cheetah, involved in a fantastic capture scene.
ND: Many of us love to travel. Many of us take tons of pictures when we travel. What is it that makes an ordinary travel picture an extraordinary piece of art?
LRA: To create an extraordinary documentation of a destination, a traveler needs to identify THEIR purpose for traveling to that destination. Your reason may be very different than mine but just as valid as my reason. Whatever the reason, define it, search for it, and wait until that reason presents itself at the very moment you are ready to capture it.
ND: Do you have any tips for budding photographers?
LRA: Participate in a 'learn-to-draw' course. You will learn a new way to visualize and to present your world. This ability will transfer to your photographs.
ND: Are your images inspired by geography or do you find inspiration regardless of where you are?
LRA: Traveling inspires me but with reference to the Anais Nin quote, I am inspired by the flora and the architecture that I see each day. For example, Mapplethorpe's images of flowers altered my perception of each floral component.
ND: Our readers love to travel. What are 3 must see destinations (small wonders in this world of wonders) that should be on everyone's travel itinerary? Could you share some of your images from these places?
LRA: Morocco - Fes (one of the oldest living and functioning Medieval cities in the world), Marrakech's Djemma el Fna (the meaning is not yet agreed upon but sometimes translated as the 'place of [human] hangings'. NOTE: the last public hanging took place mid-19th century so you should be fine now!), and the Southern Oasis Route
India - Varanasi (Kashi, Benares) there are many spectacular places in India however many of these places reminded me of other countries I had visited. But there is only one Varanasi.
Belize - the Ancient Maya city of Lamanai located on the New River Lagoon spectacular 100-ft-tall Maya pyramids dated to 100 BC, decorated with magnificent mask images, ballcourts, protective overarching jungle canopy foliage - a magical location on the Lagoon (stay at the waterfront Lamanai Outpost Lodge.)
