Harrison Sanborn American Cinematographer and Photographer

SUNRAY MAGAZINE has the pleasure to interview to the wonderful director, Cinematographer and Photographer Harrison Sanborn

Hi Harrison thankyou so much for this interview

SUNRAY: Tell us about you
Harrison: Thank you so much for having me, I really appreciate it. in general, I am a curious person and have to always be learning new things. I love the unexpected merging of the technical elements of film and the story elements. I love nothing more than working toward a creative goal with an awesome team of people. I’m someone who prepares and then over-prepares in a slightly strange attempt to prepare for any possible eventuality. (This sometimes comes in handy. Haha)

SUNRAY: When started your passion for photography and Cinematography ?
Harrison: Growing up around aviation and photography from my dad’s company really introduced me to those things, but I think my passion came later, after high-school from working on a couple very small projects. I always found the convergence of artistic and scientific elements of photography or cinematography to be unusual and an exciting challenge to grasp.

SUNRAY: How did your style evolve since you started with photography?
Harrison: I think that when I was younger, I was obsessed with naturalism for the sake of naturalism. I still appreciate and use many natural elements so things feel grounded, but I’ve become much more experimental with lighting and composition. Sometimes it’s important to use bold elements in style or lighting that are completely unnatural to help tell the story or evoke a strong feeling in the viewer that makes it memorable.

SUNRAY: What equipment do you currently use?
Harrison: I currently use my Arri Alexa for most of my projects. Even after many years, I still think the Alexa produces the best and most natural image of any digital camera. I also have my Pentax 67 and other film cameras that I use regularly for still photography.

SUNRAY: What and who are your influences?
Harrison: Directors like Steve McQueen, Chris Nolan and Sam Mendez have definitely influenced the way I look at storytelling. They’re all so unique in their own ways. I would say I also get inspiration from science and science fiction in general.

SUNRAY: What is your favorite, the photography or Cinematography?
Harrison: Both have unique challenges and I really enjoy them both. Photography is about telling the story in one moment, but cinematography is about telling a story over time in a way that holds the viewer’s interest and I think that is a fun artistic challenge.

SUNRAY: Talking about you as a director and cinematographer, how is work with your friend the director Michael Bolten making videos for the great Rock band “Palaye Royale” ?
Harrison: Michael and I have known and worked with each other for over 10 years now and I think our styles of working have grown in parallel as well. We always have a great time working with Palaye Royale. We did their first video “Morning Light” and one of their more recent videos “Hang On To Yourself” together and I would say once a framework is established for the video, the Palaye Royale guys always welcome cool and creative ideas with visuals or story. They are very creative professionals and they want new and experimental ideas, so it’s awesome that they give us a lot of freedom with these projects. There’s a very close atmosphere of friendship and artistic collaboration that is hard to find anywhere else. Michael and the band guys always bring a great energy and are just fun to work with in general.

SUNRAY: You have been taken photos to gorgeous Actress Lily Collins and Madelaine Petsch, talk us about that experience
Harrison: I’ve done a fair bit of work on some branded fashion film content and had a great time doing cinematography for our wonderful director Blair Waters on the Lily Collins shoot. We were lucky to have an amazing location downtown which really lent itself to the early 20th century aesthetic of the film. Many times, the crew is very small and there’s not time to set up lots of lights, so you really have to get creative and use location and the equipment you have to your advantage to make something special. One correctly placed light looks better than ten.

SUNRAY: Do you have any upcoming projects?
Harrison: Yes, I’m actually working with the Palaye Royale guys on some still photos that should be out soon and I’m in pre-production on a couple other music video projects.

SUNRAY: Tell us where we can find you (social network, websites…)
Harrison: Instagram: @HarrisonSanborn
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/harrisonsanborn
Interview by Maria Fernanda Capici

SUNRAY MAGAZINE is grateful with the fantastic Harrison Sanborn for this interview, we wish him the best!
Interview by Maria Fernanda Capici

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