Nadia Lee Cohen, Director and Photographer
Photographs and Interview by Dana Boulos
Nadia Lee Cohen is known not only for being a British photographer and self-portrait artist but also the newest badass director in town. When she's not grabbing your attention with the bright colors and juicy textures of Kali Uchis’ “After The Storm” video (ft. Tyler, The Creator and Bootsy Collins) she’s making you wish you were a character in her short film “A Guide To Indulgence”. Inspired by Hitchcock, Kubrick and Lynch, Cohen celebrates the decadent capitalism America’s past, but makes those retro influences her own. As busy as she is behind the camera, I caught up with her this week and discovered that she kills in front of it as well.
Creativity
I think everyone wants to earn a living from doing the thing they love.
I write down ideas on the notes section of my phone; so I look at that when I’ve got a new project coming along. These are sometimes written half asleep so as you can imagine, some ideas are better than others.
On Locations
If I could film anywhere in the world I’d like to go to North Korea. They have a penchant for weird almost utilitarian symmetry and they combine that with beautiful pastel colors. I would take a camera, a light, a friend, actually two friends and possible lots of money to bribe my way back out of the country.
Literature
My favorite books are maybe "The Secret History" by Donna Tart, "Women" by Charles Bukowski and "The Acid House" by Irvine Welsh.
Day Jobs
The mundane can be the most inspirational.
Representation
When you get to a stage where you can’t answer emails it helps immensely to have representation; but I think nowadays people can manage their own careers pretty well through social media.
Goals
This year I will finish a project that I’ve been dragging out for 3 years.
“The mundane can be the most inspirational.”
