We recently gave away 10 disposable What Youth film cameras via our Instagram (@whatyouth) in our #Rememberwhatyouth contest. The contest was aimed at sifting through the sea of amateur photographs on Instagram in hopes of delivering a real camera to some of you to show us your world for real. One of those people was Christopher Krieb and we liked his photos enough to post them here in this new One Roll.
Keep in mind this is the entire roll Christopher shot on his disposable camera. Hopefully this is just more proof that your camera matters less than your creativity. Go shoot, you might surprise yourself.
What Youth: Who are you?
I’m a 26 year old photographer with a curiosity complex and an obsession with documenting the world around me.
Where are you from?
I’m originally from a small one-square mile town on Long Island called Sea Cliff. It’s a suburban, hippie, beach community filled with extremely talented artists, musicians, skaters, surfers, BMX riders etc.. So growing up, I was always surrounded by talented creative people. In the beginning of September 2014 I packed up my car with two of my friends and took some time to drive cross country and explore things we’ve never seen before. After a lot of partying, camping, and near death experiences I wound up in Venice Beach where I lived out of my car for a while but now have an apartment in Mar Vista.
Inspiration?
Photography, film cameras, salt water, paint on pavement, paint on clothing, paint on skin, macaroni and cheese (at least three strong cravings for it daily), my golden retriever, my family and friends, my sisters (soon to be) new born son, dirty hair, dirty people, high fives, cursing, mosh pits, drinking, exploring, adventuring, tattoos, necklaces, rings, ripped shirts, silence, noise, thunderstorms, writing, reading, whiskey, leather jackets, hats, tie-dye, temptation, spontaneity, bison (not in burger form), breaking glass, collaging, garage sales, trampolines, jumping off.. anything, bad drawings, middle fingers, people who stay up late, dive bars, cheap beer, head scarves, sunglasses, bare feet, girls with accents, loud live music, meeting new people, forgetting new people, pineapple socks.
Do you have any photography experience?
I started shooting seriously in my sophomore year of high school. The school had a darkroom so I learned on my Pentax K1000 and shot strictly black and white 35mm film. At the end of my senior year I had a gallery in my school show casing my work from that year — it was a documentary series about the surf culture in New York. After that, it was “time to go to college and pursue a real career” so I unfortunately put down my camera for a little while. Five attempts at college later (dropping out of three and being politely asked to leave two) I started working maintenance, but also began using my cameras again. An ex-girlfriend had given me a Fujifilm instax a few years ago and receiving that is what reminded me how much I love to document life through photography. Now I have a treasure chest in my room filled to the top with polaroids and instax images. Eventually, I went back to school. I took a one year conservatory program at the New York Film Academy and learned everything I needed to know about digital photography and the rest is history.