We don't need to tell you how much we like photographer Jason Nocita. You can just read about it here and here. What we do need to tell you is that he’s got another book out, I Heart Transylvania,and it’s amazing. Like his previous books Loads and WAS/IS, his latest is filled with photos that have that uncanny ability to make you feel nostalgia for moments that you’ve never experienced. While Jason has had tons of commercial success shooting campaigns for Nike and editorials for magazines like Spin, Bad Day and Dossier, it's still just getting out and clicking the button at whatever's in front of him that keeps him stoked. You can see proof of that in his printed work and prolific photo blog Loads Daily. That’s why we caught up with him while he was in Toronto to talk about his new book.
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VICE: Are your books and zines often pre-conceived? Like did you know you were making I Heart Transylvania at the time?
Jason: Nah, that happened because I went to Vancouver in 2003 ‘cause my friend Tim Barber lived there, and he was graduating. I kind of had no place to live and things weren’t really happening for me workwise. I used to be a printer for a living, and I did that up until 2002 freelance. But I'd stopped doing that and it was kind of a strange year just doing weird odd jobs, then Tim suggested I go out there and we drive back to the states. So I was like, ‘Well I’ve got nothing else going on in my life,’ so I went out there to take photos and hang out. I'd never been there and I loved it, and then I met my wife Meghan.We hung out a couple nights and had fun and then I talked to her occasionally after that. A couple years later another friend of mine got married in Vancouver, so I went back and hung out with Megan again and after that I just never stopped going back. We started this long distance thing and I realized the second time I was there that I kind of fell in love with her right away. She came and spent a summer in New York and then by 2006 we were engaged and then we got a little apartment together back in Vancouver. Work had been picking up for me so I was travelling a lot, but spending more time in Vancouver. It became a place where I was freed up from work and I could get out to fuck around. It was a place where I really got a chance to explore and take photos without any reason. It was a formative process for me. If I have a style, I would say it was a good time for developing in life, just a different experience, I was really able to shove off and turn on in a different kind of way there. That’s when the first book, Loads, happened. At some point I just realized I had so many photos and thought I could make a good book out of it. Some other shit happened in my life that didn’t work out and I was kind of bummed, so this was something to do. Then David from Dashwood got involved and it just happened.
Jason: Nah, that happened because I went to Vancouver in 2003 ‘cause my friend Tim Barber lived there, and he was graduating. I kind of had no place to live and things weren’t really happening for me workwise. I used to be a printer for a living, and I did that up until 2002 freelance. But I'd stopped doing that and it was kind of a strange year just doing weird odd jobs, then Tim suggested I go out there and we drive back to the states. So I was like, ‘Well I’ve got nothing else going on in my life,’ so I went out there to take photos and hang out. I'd never been there and I loved it, and then I met my wife Meghan.We hung out a couple nights and had fun and then I talked to her occasionally after that. A couple years later another friend of mine got married in Vancouver, so I went back and hung out with Megan again and after that I just never stopped going back. We started this long distance thing and I realized the second time I was there that I kind of fell in love with her right away. She came and spent a summer in New York and then by 2006 we were engaged and then we got a little apartment together back in Vancouver. Work had been picking up for me so I was travelling a lot, but spending more time in Vancouver. It became a place where I was freed up from work and I could get out to fuck around. It was a place where I really got a chance to explore and take photos without any reason. It was a formative process for me. If I have a style, I would say it was a good time for developing in life, just a different experience, I was really able to shove off and turn on in a different kind of way there. That’s when the first book, Loads, happened. At some point I just realized I had so many photos and thought I could make a good book out of it. Some other shit happened in my life that didn’t work out and I was kind of bummed, so this was something to do. Then David from Dashwood got involved and it just happened.
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What was the process for deciding on photos for the book?
Well, it was a love story. It's about my wife and our relationship. There’s tons of personal emails in there. Yeah, it's emo, but it's also gross and real and she’s a part of it in a big way, her personality is in it a lot. My friend, Michael Schmelling, is the one who really wanted to help so he and I edited it and he designed it.How'd you meet Meghan?
Everyday she would walk by this gallery that Tim had his final show in. She would walk by and we'd be like “whoa.” Then, since Vancouver is super small, one night she was at a party and she kind of hit on me.What was her pick up line?
I think she made fun of my t-shirt. I was wearing a Nausea t-shirt, which is a band.Was it nostalgia for that time that inspired the book?
I still have nostalgia for that time. I had a bunch of photos and somebody wanted to make a book, so I did it. I never really thought of it, it’s just my life, that's all it is and that's all I really try to photograph. I like to take photos of where I am. I live in Chinatown in New York and there are a lot of puddles, so I'll take photos of puddles.Does your wife ever get sick of you taking photos of her?
I’ve mellowed out, I mean I'll always take photos of her but I did that and I will be doing it for the rest of my life. In Vancouver it was so casual, like our lives were way more casual, in New York she works all the time as a nurse so we live a much different life. I’m on the road all the time for work and out taking pictures of other things.
Well, it was a love story. It's about my wife and our relationship. There’s tons of personal emails in there. Yeah, it's emo, but it's also gross and real and she’s a part of it in a big way, her personality is in it a lot. My friend, Michael Schmelling, is the one who really wanted to help so he and I edited it and he designed it.How'd you meet Meghan?
Everyday she would walk by this gallery that Tim had his final show in. She would walk by and we'd be like “whoa.” Then, since Vancouver is super small, one night she was at a party and she kind of hit on me.What was her pick up line?
I think she made fun of my t-shirt. I was wearing a Nausea t-shirt, which is a band.Was it nostalgia for that time that inspired the book?
I still have nostalgia for that time. I had a bunch of photos and somebody wanted to make a book, so I did it. I never really thought of it, it’s just my life, that's all it is and that's all I really try to photograph. I like to take photos of where I am. I live in Chinatown in New York and there are a lot of puddles, so I'll take photos of puddles.Does your wife ever get sick of you taking photos of her?
I’ve mellowed out, I mean I'll always take photos of her but I did that and I will be doing it for the rest of my life. In Vancouver it was so casual, like our lives were way more casual, in New York she works all the time as a nurse so we live a much different life. I’m on the road all the time for work and out taking pictures of other things.
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Jason Nocito, shot by Aaron Wynia.How'd you get the shot of the flies having sex on the cover?
It was just happening in front of me on the porch of my apartment. I was super stoned one afternoon and happened to have a macro lens in my bag and saw these flies buzzing around and was like 'okay'.A lot of your personal images do look like they were taken by a stoned guy wandering around with a camera. Is that fair to say?
Yeah, I do a good job at that, but I don’t really get high anymore. I eat it now, but not all that much because I gotta keep my head in check and I hate that it's illegal. It's also a bit of a bore, I mean weed culture is a boring culture, I just like being out of my mind. Vancouver was a real cool place to do it.Word. With the increased amount of images were subjected to on a daily basis, what does it take for a photo to get your attention?
Something that I can relate too. It's hard to say what I would be into to. Photography’s hard, I look at a lot of photos all the time. I like a lot of photographers but yeah, I don’t know. I was stoked on the Christopher Wolf show. The Gary Hume show too, Daniel Gordon’s cool too, I think he's pretty amazing. His stuff is relatable to the history of photography across the board, but it's not really like anything before.Do you direct when you’re taking photos of people?
I try not to, but if I do I'll try and make it really fast and of the moment. It's totally different when you’re shooting models. I want to catch things as they're happening. If I had a choice I'd be a still life photographer…
It was just happening in front of me on the porch of my apartment. I was super stoned one afternoon and happened to have a macro lens in my bag and saw these flies buzzing around and was like 'okay'.A lot of your personal images do look like they were taken by a stoned guy wandering around with a camera. Is that fair to say?
Yeah, I do a good job at that, but I don’t really get high anymore. I eat it now, but not all that much because I gotta keep my head in check and I hate that it's illegal. It's also a bit of a bore, I mean weed culture is a boring culture, I just like being out of my mind. Vancouver was a real cool place to do it.Word. With the increased amount of images were subjected to on a daily basis, what does it take for a photo to get your attention?
Something that I can relate too. It's hard to say what I would be into to. Photography’s hard, I look at a lot of photos all the time. I like a lot of photographers but yeah, I don’t know. I was stoked on the Christopher Wolf show. The Gary Hume show too, Daniel Gordon’s cool too, I think he's pretty amazing. His stuff is relatable to the history of photography across the board, but it's not really like anything before.Do you direct when you’re taking photos of people?
I try not to, but if I do I'll try and make it really fast and of the moment. It's totally different when you’re shooting models. I want to catch things as they're happening. If I had a choice I'd be a still life photographer…
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So if not 'art' photography how would you describe your work?
Photography for non-commercial purposes. There are great art photographers, but really they’re artists who use photography. I can't relate to it when it's these huge gallery shows and everything’s a 'project'. I Heart Transylvania became a project but it wasn’t meant to be. Loads Daily became a book but it was a blog. I’m not doing like an Asger Carlsen where I'm mangling things or taking humans and making them non-human. Some of the puddles I shoot can be manipulated—not with the camera, but I'll fuck around with shit when I get there.What's the best book in your personal collection?
Winogrand’s Women [are Beautiful]. Probably the best photo book ever made. I have a pretty crazy book collection.Finally, what do you like about coming back to Canada?
The pizza! You get two slices! I like it cause it's different from New York and I like my slices like I like my women.Lol.
Photography for non-commercial purposes. There are great art photographers, but really they’re artists who use photography. I can't relate to it when it's these huge gallery shows and everything’s a 'project'. I Heart Transylvania became a project but it wasn’t meant to be. Loads Daily became a book but it was a blog. I’m not doing like an Asger Carlsen where I'm mangling things or taking humans and making them non-human. Some of the puddles I shoot can be manipulated—not with the camera, but I'll fuck around with shit when I get there.What's the best book in your personal collection?
Winogrand’s Women [are Beautiful]. Probably the best photo book ever made. I have a pretty crazy book collection.Finally, what do you like about coming back to Canada?
The pizza! You get two slices! I like it cause it's different from New York and I like my slices like I like my women.Lol.
