Meet Natalie Picht | Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Natalie Picht and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Natalie, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Well, I wouldn’t so much call it a business as an artist collective. (Can you even call it that when you’re the only artist within it?? Who knows?) But in starting my own art, it really was just a thing of passion. Everyone has their own art style, and I wanted to really hone my own style. In recent years, I’ve been working a lot with appropriation and occasionally, pastiche. Really, my goal was to invite people to view new artwork by sort of luring them in with things which they are already familiar.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Like I said, in recent years I’m working a lot with appropriation in my work. Typically, in the art world, this means incorporating materials from others’ work to either make a point, put a new spin on it, or lure people in. For me, I am most proud of a couple of recent projects: a project called The American Dream, in which I insert appropriated images of women of the 50s into photos of abandoned buildings (from my personal archive), as well as a project where I incorporate well known photographic works into well known film stills. One of the pieces people seem to really love is when I put Man Ray’s “Glass Tears” onto a film still of an overdosing Mia Wallace from “Pulp Fiction.” The eyes in both of these works were so similar, it was almost too easy to call attention to it. Professionally, I wouldn’t be here today without all the classes and mentors I had at The University of Arizona. The photography program, my professors/mentors, and my peers really brought a lot of perspective into my life; I didn’t always like what they had to say but it really helped me as an artist (and my art) bloom. I wouldn’t have even gotten into this appropriation mindset if it weren’t for a class I took with the great artist David Taylor, aptly named “Appropriation.” He taught me a lot in my years at the university; he taught more than half of my classes. He really taught me discipline and drive, as well as to keep an open mind when it came to my work. I went into that class thinking I would never use that knowledge (I was really into self portraits that told a story at the time) and I fell in love with it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I think I would start by grabbing coffee at Coffee Rush in Chandler, make a quick stop at Zia Records, and then take them to see the art installations in Danelle Plaza in Tempe. All of them are local artists, and they kind of just set up these art installations in these abandoned store fronts and during the day it doesn’t look like much but at night they all light up with neon and look incredible! Another day I might take them to Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, as they always seem to have really cool pieces. Later that night, I would definitely have a night of partying, starting at Valley Bar in Phoenix. We would also make our way over to Seamus McCaffrey’s in Phoenix, and end the night eating at Welcome Diner. If we still had some energy after that, one of my favorite past times is driving around and looking at abandoned buildings and getting the opportunity to photograph them!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to thank all my peers in the photography program in my 4 years at The University of Arizona! Critique and classes together with all of them really helped shape the artist I am today.

Website: www.nmpphotographyaz.com
Instagram: @nataliepicht for art, @brblookingforalaska for personal
Twitter: @nataliepicht