Artist Interview: New York Photographers Kat + Duck
Kat and Duck are a hot, New York-based photography duo. I met them each separately, in California, and both in different circumstances. I met the striking Kat a couple of years ago in San Francisco when I was trying to find someone to rent out my part of a photography studio share. At the time, she had the blackest hair and was wearing a long black skirt, boots, and the reddest of red lips. She has a slight English accent (her mother is from England) and we instantly bonded over art, fashion, and photography!
I met Duck through my talented hairdresser friend, Amithyst, over a cocktail at the now extinct Jupiter Room in San Francisco. Duck has always had a mowhawk, a thick Jersey accent, and we bonded over lighting and punk rock. He taught me a lot about studio lighting, actually, and even helped me once at one of my shoots. When he moved away to New York, I was bummed. And then, when Kat moved to New York, the idea hit me that they should meet.
I think you all know how this ended up. Kat and Duck, visited Richard Wayne and me over the summer when they came to California to retrieve Kat’s car. We laughed over sushi, and I promised to visit them in New York. Will that ever happen? I hope so – to be a guest in The Pudding Factory sounds divine. With Kat’s cooking, and Duck’s sense of humor, I know it would be a fantastic time.
We try to split things evenly. It’s really the best way so no one person feels ownership. It’s a partnership. We both have our own strengths that we bring to the metaphoric table, and we try to utilize that as much as possible.”
-Kat+Duck
Name: Kat+Duck
Location: New York
Occupation: fashion photographers
What were you guys doing right before you started this interview?
Retouching, retouching, and more retouching. Catching up on all our shoots so we can update the site (www.katandduck.com), blog about it, and then maybe some marketing.
Tell me about Kat + Duck, how did this partnership begin?
K: Well, some chick suggested that I meet her friend Duck when I got to NYC, and it’s been downhill ever since.
D: When Kat first got to NYC, I decided to be nice and digi-tech for her on a shoot with a designer friend of hers. I think I convinced her to buy me whiskey in trade or something like that. I was checking the numbers on the captures coming in and calling out lighting direction when it dawned on me: Our styles would be awesome if we could figure out a way to mesh them together a bit – we should collaborate on something! Totally downhill, ever since.
K: Mmmmm that was a good shoot, indeed.
Do you split the work evenly? Does one person light/and one shoot? Tell me about your work process.
K: We try to split things evenly. It’s really the best way so no one person feels ownership. It’s a partnership. We both have our own strengths that we bring to the metaphoric table, and we try to utilize that as much as possible. We both shoot. We have different perspectives. And plus, when one is shooting, the other can look at the monitor and see if there is something that needs to be changed or a new angle that should be tried.
D: I’m the crazy one. I love every aspect of lighting. But I totally obsess and can fall into trying to perfect something for hours, if it was up to me. It’s cool to be able to pass the camera off to Kitty and sit back and look at the shoot with a fresh pair of eyes and see what’s working and what’s not. It’s like having an AD on set for every shoot, even tests. We both produce, light, shoot, and retouch. With 2 of us, we get things done twice as fast.
K: But end up with twice as many images to edit through!
Digital or film?
Actually both! Just did a shoot with a Holga! A lot of digital, of course, as the industry commands, but I still hold on to my Mumiya Rz67 with a fondness that comes only from film. People do not form those sorts of attachments to digital cameras.
Favorite photographer?
K: Pierre et Gilles, Irwin Olaf, Joel Peter Witkin, Duck
D: Guy Bourdin, Eugenio Recuenco, Kat, and every photo booth in existence.
K: That’s what we need for the studio – a photobooth! Can we take credit for all it produces?
Do you listen to music when you shoot?
K: Yes, but normally models choice. But you can never go wrong with a little welcome to the jungle!
D: You forgot the essentials: loud punk rock and a touch of Faith No More
K: Oh, and whatever we can find on our MUA’s (Daniel K) iPod, which is usually is a mix of Britney, Foxy Brown, and the “Repo” soundtrack.
Anything that you are currently obsessing over?
K: Those McQueen knuckle dusters, the new 1ds mark IV, video, rye toast with peanut butter, and trying to get ONI to wear a chicken suit
D: An H4D, maybe a Phase Back; sour kids, a retoucher, and the patience to learn Final Cut. Oh, and I’m only slightly obsessing over cool textures, color palettes, and mixed-lighting. But it’s growing.
Tell me about your personal style, does this transcend into your photography?
K: Oh man, personal style. I have never been one to categorize myself that way, since it’s just not something I think about. Personal style just happens - it’s not really a conscious effort. I do like things bright with a darkness to them, if that makes any sense at all. I like images that on the surface are beautiful, but then you look again and think, “Oh wait, there is something not quite right.”
D: If my personal style ever leaked in to our work, it would ring of a slight disaster of sorts.
K: How very true 
What are the plans for Kat + Duck?
K: World domination, preceded today with some retouching and lunch. More magazines, more look books, hopefully some ads. I definitely would LOVE to do a music video sometime soon.
Any last words?
K: Toast
D: I think we need a stripper pole and a permanent heated pool in the studio. And photographers should be the next pop stars.
Kat+Duck
@ The Pudding Factory Studios
kat.and.duck@gmail.com
www.katandduck.com
blog.katandduck.com
