Kit Noble: OceanMinded
Kit Noble is a Nantucket based photographer currently living in Pelada. Earlier this year he spent 2 months living and shooting around the Nosara area. The resulting body of work is his newest gallery show, OceanMinded. Printed on metal to withstand the humid Costa Rica climate, Kit’s photos capture the raw and dynamic beauty of Nosara. We sat down over a couple of green juices to chat about his life and work as we prepare for his exhibit on Thursday at the Juice Bar.
So how’d you get your start in photography?
As the story goes, I’ve been a photographer since I was 12, when I moved to Singapore with my mom and stepfather for 2 years. I was basically pulled away from school and my normal life, and thrown into another world, which I found fascinating and wanted to document. Obviously there was no social media at the time, so I wanted to show my friends in the US where I lived. My parents said if I could pay for half the camera, they’d cover the rest, so I started a car washing business in their apartment building. (There were a lot of dirty cars.) Pretty soon I got my first SLR camera w/ interchangeable lenses and haven’t stopped taking photos since.
What kind of training did you go through?
I was the high school yearbook photographer of course. When it came time for college, I decided to go to a 4 year fine arts school to study photography. After that I went to NYC for 5 years to learn the trade and apprentice, so I was traveling all over the world with these photographers, schlepping gear, setting up lighting and cameras in all these different countries, and I was like yes, this is it, this is what I want to do. So I spent my time learning my craft that way, and then started my own business.
What’s your favorite type of photography to do?
If I’m given a choice it would be portraits. I love working for magazines, and if someone is being featured in a magazine, they’ve probably done something interesting and they’re fun to photograph. I get to shoot people like artists, musicians, and business people at the top of their game.
Any advice you’d give to someone just starting out?
I was told from the beginning to be very specific in your photography direction because you can get really scattered. But if you want to be good at one thing and be sought after, you have to specialize in a certain area.
Who’s your most memorable subject?
It’s a little unfortunate, but for years it was Lance Armstrong. At the time, photographing him was the greatest day of my life, I was heavy into cycling and working for Bicycle Magazine. I was so happy to have the shot in my portfolio, and it’s still a great story for me…it’s just disappointing. I’m like dude, you ruined it for me! (laughs) But I’ve been able to shoot a lot of notables in different arenas.
Who are some of your influences?
Annie Leibovitz of course. Mark Seliger who shot for Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair. But there’s a bunch of people I keep an eye on, especially thanks to Instagram.
Ah, what do you think about Instagram as a pro photographer?
I have a love hate relationship with Instagram. I find it inspiring. I see some of these people, and I say, hey I can do that, and I get inspired. And sometimes, maybe it’s just the mood I’m in, but it’s like, I’m just never going to be that good. And it kinda kicks you in the ass. So I guess it kicks you in the ass both ways.
Instagram isn’t like Facebook for me, it’s for inspiration and to follow creative people, also outside of photography, who are thinking outside of the box and coming up with new ideas. I do approach it like a portfolio. Whatever I put up there, I keep it at a certain photographic level.
Where are you in your career now?
Good question. Right now I am transitioning, not sure how quickly. The type of photography I’ve been doing has been really physical – traveling with a lot of gear, lighting, or doing location work. I still enjoy that part of it, but when I’m 60, am I still gonna enjoy schlepping all this stuff around? So I thought about what’s an option for me, and I came up with fine art. I’ve enjoyed doing it in the past, but never tried to sell it. So 3 years ago I decided to shoot a lot, find a really good printer and framer, and get my stuff into galleries. That’s the primary reason I’m in Costa Rica now.
How did you end up in Nosara?
I came to Nosara for the first time 6 years ago with some friends. A buddy of mine was Costa Rican, so we met up with him, toured the country, and then he dumped us in Nosara and we spent a week here.
Last year I was traveling around the world documenting the travels of a family that I am good friends with. (I was the one person they could think of with all of the following attributes: not married, no kids, no full time gig, and can take good pictures). We covered 11 countries in 11 months, and ended up in Nosara.
I spent time here, got to know the community, and saw a need for artwork. Specifically for me, I saw the need for fine art photography. There are all these beautiful houses with empty white walls everywhere. And you can’t really have art that’s on something like watercolor paper – in a year it’d be a throwaway. That’s why I started printing on metal, for this climate. You can throw your green juice at it and wipe it right off.
Are you planning on being in Nosara full time?
The idea is to spend 8 months in Nantucket, and 4 months in Nosara. I’m not looking to rent space for my work right now, so I’ve focused on doing pop-up spaces like the show at Harmony and Olo Alaia. So far things are working out well.
Do you surf?
Not yet (laughs) I wish I had a better answer. I’d like to learn. But at 5 or 6 in the morning when I have to be on a surfboard I’m taking photos. I’m trying to put a big portfolio together and that’s the time to shoot.
What do you like about Nosara, what do you connect to here?
Well, the initial attraction was how beautiful it is, I love a warm climate and I love the ocean. But in addition to seeing the need for fine photography here, I sense this growing interest in developing a strong artist community, which has always intrigued me, and I’d love to be part of that. So my number one answer for being down here is art.
Join us at the Harmony Juice Bar for an exhibition of Kit Noble’s photographs of Nosara on Thursday, December 13, 6-10pm.
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