Interview: Photographer Mike Schreiber
Polaroids, papayas, and perspectives: a photographer's journey from urban expression to island living
My interview with photographer Mike Schreiber was recorded live at NeueHouse Venice Beach on November 9, 2023.
I rarely say no to a chance to sit and talk about photography. Last week, that opportunity came with photographer Mike Schreiber. I knew Mike from his work across music and his contributions to URB over the years. His M.I.A. boombox shoot (below) for us was featured in the Contact High exhibit.
We sat down at NeueHouse Venice Beach for the opening night of his new exhibit, Bright Moments. The show features an intimate series of Polaroids captured across three days in July 2013 while Schreiber was in Paris. His friend Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def) happened to be there performing at the city’s Nouveau Casino, so he signed on to document the shows.
The behind-the-scenes images are informal and decidedly low-fidelity. They show Bey backstage with Erykah Badu, atmospheric details, and fan interactions. The 3-inch prints feel like postcards from an era before megapixels and infinite camera rolls dominated our senses.
Our 30-minute conversation ranged from Schreiber’s mercurial friend and subject to the imperfect beauty of Polaroid film. During the pandemic, he also fell in love with Hawaii (also, he jokes, to avoid starvation due to New York City’s dwindling food supply), now his second home.
Schreiber noted that the Impossible Project film used to create the series hasn’t aged well. Invented during Polaroid’s bankruptcy, the film is prone to fading and color shifting. Like the scenes featured in Bright Moments, some things are meant to remain ephemeral.
Special thanks to NeueHouse Venice Beach: Martine Bury, Kate Sims, Lucas Denyer-Ho, and Florence Granteral Fall. Bright Moments is on view in Annex 73 at NeueHouse Venice Beach from November 9 2023-February 8, 2024.
“You could have an expensive car. Or you could buy a lot of film. That is the choice. I have a Subaru.”
—Mike Schreiber
