Celebreak

Interview with B-Boy Photographer Carlo Cruz

Posted on January 17, 2009

In addition to movies and films, breaking has been spread another way—through photos. From magazines to newspaper articles, photographers have been there since the beginning, capturing b-boys in a single moment…and then eternalizing them. I recently interviewed Carlo Cruz, an amazing b-boy photographer from Long Beach, CA

What’s up Carlo, please  tell introduce yourself for the readers

Hey everyone! My name is Carlo Cruz and I live in Long Beach, California. I have been a photographer for about 8 years now. I originally started with film but moved to digital a few years ago.

Are you a b-boy yourself? How did you get interested in it?

Unfortunately not. My cousin, who’s an excellent breakdancer, attempted to get me into it 6 years ago but I failed miserably. We used to watch b-boy videos for hours and hours. During that time, he breathed, ate and lived breaking. I’m glad he shared his passion with me.

How would you say breaking has impacted your life?

I’ve always been fascinated with breakdancing. It’s the human form pushing the limits of anthropometrics in an expression fused in beats and steps. It demands a lot of passion and I admire every “true” b-boy and b-girl for it. It gives yourself a different perspective… an outlook simple but pure.

What do you try to capture in your shots?

I try to capture what breakdancing really is.  It’s not just a style of dance. It’s an expression, an art, a lifestyle and a culture.

You’ve used bathrooms, trains, stairwells and other non-traditional dance environments. What gave you the idea to use these unique places instead of regular dance floors?

I think part of the essence of breakdancing is its non-exclusivity. You’re not bound by race, class or location–it is accessible by anyone, anywhere, and that is what I’m hoping to show with each picture.

Do you have any preferred locations or environments?

Outdoors and on the street. Also, when possible, I like shooting in places where there’s an identifiable element that would tell my subject’s location, like the Needle in Seattle or Times Square in New York.

The energy level shines in your photography. How do you consistently manage to pull that off?

My set-up is light and  portable. Since it’s mostly done on public areas without a permit, we try to be fast and spontaneous. I think this is what makes the photo effective…there’s nothing too elaborate that would make the shoot look staged.

Thanks once again! Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Anytime! If you want to see more of my work, you can visit my website at www.carlocruz.net. And also watch out for the video “Souled Out ”, a documentary that my friends and I are doing. It contains action footage of the b-boys in my collection.

Related Posts:

• Interview with B-Boy Photographer Peter Tsai

3 Comments »

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1. Nice interview! This guy is amazing….I saw him on morethanastance.com…and I love his work. Well Done!

   Comment by breakernyc.com — January 18, 2009 #

2. sweet. I like what he does with light and texture, very nice. pic of B-boy sandy is stellar, it totally blurs the line between photography and animation. very trippy. and the grainy texture with B-Boy Sky, nice, very nice

   Comment by MB — January 19, 2009 #

3. [...] Celebreak.net MorethanaStance.com [...]

   Pingback by Breaker NYC » B-Boy Photographer Carlo Cruz… — January 22, 2009 #

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