Although I use myself in my videos, I really see myself as a character. When I look at myself, when I sit and edit, I never think, "That's me." I think, "This is a character, and how do I edit this to tell a story?" Laurel Nakadate More Quotes by Laurel Nakadate More Quotes From Laurel Nakadate Humans like to look. I think that voyeurism and exploitation are often used in the same sentence. But, in my opinion, voyeurism is a beautiful and delightful thing. There is nothing more intimate than really looking at someone. Laurel Nakadate beautifullooksthinking I believe photography is about choosing to live, being brave. Looking is an act of courage. It's terrifying. It's possible to see too much, to witness things that we cannot hold. Laurel Nakadate photographybravebelieve Sometimes, photographs live in our hearts as unborn ghosts and we survive not because their shadows find permanence there, but because that thing that is larger than us, larger than the things we can point to, remember and claim, escorts us from dark into light. Laurel Nakadate lightdarkheart In general, I wait to be approached. I want to be the one who's hunted, I want to be the one who people take interest in. Laurel Nakadate waitingwantpeople Although I get a lot of ideas from things that have happened in my life, I see the final product as a place where my imagination meets my experience. What I love about photography is that nothing is really as it seems. Laurel Nakadate photographyimaginationideas Photography has saved my life, over and over again. Laurel Nakadate savedphotography [Photography] ties back into this feeling of wanting to watch things fall and the moment before they break. Fireworks are that way for me - this lovely thing that blows up and is gone. It all goes back to this desire to record things before they disappear - the original reason we take pictures, right? Laurel Nakadate photographyblowfall I believe that I am some sort of fiction writer and I'm using myself in my work because I'm the person I'm most convenient to use! Laurel Nakadate usebelievefiction I'm more interested in the idea of role-playing in general than the idea of role-playing in art. I like the childlike quality of making pretend or the optimistic idea of pretending something's happening when it's not. Laurel Nakadate optimisticideasart What I love about photography is that nothing is really as it seems. Laurel Nakadate photographyseems It's always a problem - you've got to figure out a place to put your body. You've got to wake up in the morning and deal with the fact that you have this body to lug around. Laurel Nakadate wake-upbodymorning Death is sad, yes, but there are some great laughs you can find there. Laurel Nakadate laughing I find some comfort in running through the worst-case scenario in my mind and seeing how it's all going to go down. Laurel Nakadate worst-case-scenariomindrunning The thing about death is that it's embarrassing. No one wants to focus on it for very long. We're happy to talk about sex all day long but no one wants to talk about the moment where it all ends. Laurel Nakadate focuslongsex I think it's a really good thing to put yourself in a situation where you feel really uncomfortable because I think things can come out of that discomfort. Laurel Nakadate situationgood-thingsthinking I feel like the men who end up in my videos, their biggest crime is being lonely. They're not violent, they're not scary people, they're just men who keep to themselves and have a hard time being social. Laurel Nakadate hard-timeslonelymen A lot of people think that my work is about mocking or making fun of things, but a lot of it is about discomfort and making myself as uncomfortable as the men feel, or putting myself in a situation where I'm revealing my loneliness as much as they're revealing theirs. Laurel Nakadate lonelinessfunmen A lot of people have said that the main thread in my work is loneliness or just wanting to create a world with someone who doesn't really have much in their life, so maybe I'm looking for someone who's lonely and wants to try to create something with me as a subject for my videos. Laurel Nakadate lonelylonelinesspeople I think people like to have everything be perfectly morally clear. When the lines get blurred it worries them. I'm not worried. I don't think the men are either. But I think that the videos bring up feelings in people that they don't want to feel. Sometimes people get really mad. That's okay. Laurel Nakadate worrymenthinking I feel like I'm at a place in my life where I'm really strangely happy, and in awe of how great the world can be, and I think that's because I have gone through periods of looking at the world through a really melancholy lenses. It's all just flip sides of the same coin. Laurel Nakadate lensesgonethinking
