Martin Høye

MARTIN HØYE
Photographer
City of residence, BERGEN, NOR

WEBSITE

Martin Høye is a self taught photographer based in Bergen Norway. He starting shooting under the monicer "Homegrown Diamonds" when he was 16 years old and quickly started to to make a name for himself after that. His favourite subjects are the human body and the feeling of empty and loneliness which is often reflected in his work.

QA:

COL: Who are you and what do you do?
MH: My name is Martin, I'm a photographer based in Bergen, Norway.

COL: What characterize you work? How would you describe your personal style? 
MH: The feeling of lonely and emptiness. I've never labelled my style, that's for the viewer to decide.

COL: How do your own experiences influence your work?
MH: It makes me able to evolve and get better at what I do. I'm never 100% satisfied.

COL: What will you be showing at the uncontaminated festival? 
MH: Photos of beautiful people and places stuck in time.

COL: What do you want to communicate through your work? Is there a message - political or otherwise?
MH: I often have a political message with my work but I rarely state it under the photos. 

COL: Do artists of today have some kind of of social responsibility? 
MH: I think we all do (Fuck Trump).

COL: What does uncontaminated mean for you?
MH: Freedom.

COL: What is the most important thing in your life?
MH: Freedom to be myself. And my cat.

COL: How do you feel right now?
MH: Hopeful.

COL: If you could change one thing in the world today, what would it be?
MH: Freedom to be yourself for everyone as long as it doesn't hurt anyone.

COL: What are the main reasons you are joining us for the festival this year?
MH: I got asked and saw the other wonderful artists there so I agreed to join.

COL: What is the most important drive for you to create and why?
MH: To express myself and my thoughts in a way that feels natural to me.

COL: Who or what do you value as a great inspiration for you creatively? 
MH: Other creative people. The ability to see what a creative mind can bring to life always astonish me.

COL: Can you elaborate on an important moment in your life where you experienced a big change, chose to make one or another event which altered your way of thinking or your approach to creativity?
MH: When I realised that I was not going to strive for magazines to publish my work but just go along with it and create what I wanted.

COL: How does digital and social media affect or inspire your life and creations?
MH: It's been giving me a great contact network from all over the world that I would never have gotten this early. It also shows me the works of other people that inspires me and that pushes me to work harder myself.

COL: What do you define art?
MH: That's a hard one.

COL: What is your definition of artistic freedom?
MH: Being able to create what I want even if it's considered controversial or not cool by others.  

COL: Is there a difference for you between art and commercial/commissioned work?
MH: I try as best as I can to go all in either way, but I do like commercial work that gives me a bit more freedom to shape the project as I want. There will always be a difference because there's always some restrictions when working with commercial work.

COL: Do you struggle to find artistic freedom in the span between commissioned work and your personal needs to express yourself?
MH: Sometimes.

COL: What do you aspire to? In the near future? In life in general?
MH: I want to be my own boss and live life the way I want working with whatever it is that makes me happy.

COL: How do you feel art and fashion intervene?
MH: Sometimes it can be beautiful and sometimes it can be awful.

COL: What is a great example of a fashion art collaboration in your view?
MH: When it's done because of passion and not based on how much it will sell.

COL: Where do you think art and fashion is heading in our digital age?
MH: Up up up.