Jerrod La Rue x Luna

JERROD LA RUE

“I WAS A STRANGE KID. I WAS TOO OBSERVANT FOR MY OWN GOOD.”

A colorful persona of life reminisced in film photographs, Jerrod La Rue’s photographic journey began as a casual hobby which turned quickly into something serious. At the age of 15, La Rue was gifted his first digital camera by his dad despite previously showing no interest in photography. Quickly he became hooked and was completely taken by its craft. La Rue immersed himself in research and learned about digital photography intently, in part because he wanted to make his dad proud, but also due to his own growing interest. The encouragement and trust that his dad instilled in him led to the unraveling of other photography experiences, including the Kids National Geographic photo contest he won for an early morning long exposure photo he captured. The artist’s initiation and dedication can be observed even at a young age, still not withered to this day. But like any reflective and evolving young artist, his art form has also gone through transformations.

As an observant individual, he began to contemplate the tones within digital pictures. The more he got experienced in digital photography, the more he began to realize that he preferred his pictures unedited for their raw quality. This led him to contemplate the quality of his photographs and question if he even wanted to continue it. However, before he had lost his passion, he was introduced to film photography, which regenerated his whole enthusiasm again. Due to the raw, intimate and tangible quality of films, he began his new journey. Experiencing both digital and analogue process of photography, he appreciated its extensive history and loved it for how it had advanced.

La Rue is interested in the organic expression of emotion and calculated accounts of the fleeting experiences of life. Photography to him is a gateway to many other creative endeavors, such as writing. Thus naturally he started writing journal entries at the back of these photos. However, these pictures eventually began to compile. In response to his ever-growing collection of diaristic photographs, he mailed these pieces to houses in his local area, often without names or a return address. After doing this a couple of times, he once sent out 12 photos with his email alongside his writings to which 10 people responded, saying “Thank you” and other lovely words. This fueled his obsession with creating series and exploring a project to its very extent, giving rise to many beautiful series to come in the future.

The specific nature of his photographs stems from a vulnerable place of emotions. And as a result, the main source of his inspiration was often his own internal feelings and experiences. He stopped looking for inspiration from other artists as he felt that it was a sort of distraction that ended up swindling his real expression. La Rue felt most inspired by a deep sadness for it was his and his only. “The only thing that feels slightly original to me is the way that I feel”. All emotions are private to an individual but simultaneously it is something familiar and shared amongst everyone. “Everything I loved the most was when I was in some of the darkest places of my life”. Most artists can relate to the type of art that is born out of a confusing state of mind, often creating a conflict in their state of mind. With that said, La Rue never wanted to romanticize being sad but used it to understand and express the very deepest human emotions.

The more confused he got with his identity, the more he tried to recreate himself. In trying to figure out his purpose, he felt that “...being inside my head, where its like a million of me running around and I am pointing my finger at every single one of them. Which one of me is not a made up person”. Growing up he never felt like he was being himself. There was a distance not only amongst other people but also within him. In recreating himself, he renamed himself, going by the name “Momo”. He didn’t want to be addressed by his first name and found his new name as a way to defend himself from the confusing and strange world of his childhood. Not necessarily to fit in but to fit in a very specific way, in a way that he was in control of. In a way that was calculated.

Throughout the years of his artistic journey, he started numerous series, all reflecting the time and state he was in. All though darker emotions provided inspiration for a lot of his work, “Thoughts After midnight” was a series that allowed him to create outside of his sadness. This explored his feelings associated with being a black person, after night. Although seen through a personal lens, this series allowed him to explore social issues such as racism. “Most people are affected by suburbia especially if it is not catered to their ethnicity”. The alienation he felt growing up in Palmdale is reflected in his pictures, especially in the ambiance of “Thoughts After Midnight” series. His photographs have a lonely feeling capturing a quiet moment observed by the spectator. It’s photographed from a distance without featuring any other person. “I value everyone that was in my life then, but I still felt so out of place that it wasn’t about fitting in anymore...it was about how could I suddenly melt away into a warm place in my head, without obviously shutting everyone out”.

In regards to his future ventures, he doesn’t stress on any specific goal. Planning and structuring his future only adds pressure on him and his art. However, with his dedication and self-awareness, he is manifesting many unsaid goals. Those goals, as he likes to say, we will find if we “stay tuned till next time”.