RAP’s Historic Preservation & Education Coordinator, Laura Lavernia, interviews Nomeus. His work will be on display as part of Restore Jacksonville during ArtWalk on Wednesday, May 2. Nomeus’ photography is featured in metrojacksonville.com’s first book, “Reclaiming Jacksonville: Stories Behind the River City’s Historic Landmarks.” Also, book author Ennis Davis will be present signing books.
LL: There is, of course the reason for an artistic pseudonym given what you do. Why the name? A “Nomeus” is a Portuguese man-of-war? Is it no+me+us?
Nomeus: Know-me-us, you are correct… started using the name in 2000. I used to set up computer networks in a hotel that had all their meeting rooms named after sea life. I didn’t know what Nomeus was for about two years, only thought it was a neat sounding word. It is a small fish that lives in the tentacles of the man of war jellyfish. At first it was just my gmail address and my name on Napster and other websites, it just kinda stuck from there.
LL: Obligatory art questions:
Went to art school? Formal training?
Nomeus: None. I always drew and painted since I was young. I eventually ended up painting murals and faux finishes for some of Florida’s major theme parks. This was around the late 90s and in 1999 I moved to CA. I did some custom faux painting in Rob Zombie’s house with 2 other artists. When that ended I was just hanging out in CA and got my first camera. Been shooting ever since.
LL: Your work is large format photography, no? Video as well is yours?
Nomeus: I shot 35mm film until 2005. I went digital then and never looked back. Cant beat the price when you have to buy film and pay for developing. The videos are also my work but very far from my strong area. I enjoy the videos just to have a different way to show these abandoned sites.
LL: Do you have an artist’s statement, any general themes that run through your work?
Nomeus: If I had a statement this would be it…..
“The abandoned and forgotten buildings hide secrets within. They keep their inner beauty to themselves, away from the curious. Most people don’t even care about these locations anyway. Not only do I want to see these forgotten spaces for myself, I want to share the beautiful decay with anyone who is interested. If at the same time I can show these buildings in another light, both literally and figuratively and raise interest in preserving them, then that is more than I could hope for.”
LL: Lighting seems to be always natural—and central to your work. It is interesting to me that in many of the photographs you sent the light source is coming from a top angle, reminiscent in a way to baroque painting. Any influence there? You do not use any artificial lights, yes?
Nomeus: I rarely use flashlights. I never use flash. As much as I like looking at abandoned photography done by others, I try to keep it to a minimum, as to not influence my own work. I do not study any photographers style, equipment, or editing techniques, nor do I study any other artists methods.
LL: As far as composition, clearly each photograph is well composed—but unlike some contemporary photographers that purposely create sets/physical compositions or fictional situations, it feels that you don’t even move chairs around. Is this so? Do you “stage” your shots?
Nomeus: I have moved objects from time to time but try to keep this to a minimum as well. More times than not, I never have to touch anything because I just happen to be at the right place at the right time when something catches my eye. When the light hits a subject or fills a room the right way, all you have to do is just be there in the present moment.
LL: FLURBEX = Florida Urban Exploration. How long have you been an urban explorer? What’s funny is that so many preservationists are urban explorers. Many of us will never admit it since its illegal, but we’ve all done it.
Most of also grew up watching Indiana Jones, I guess. There seems to be a certain thrill in discovering something that most have forgotten or has fallen off the radar, no? Do you feel that many urban explorers, in a sense, are urban archaeologists – trying to decipher and learn about cultural artifacts from the past (in this case, buildings). Perhaps there is a lot less digging in most sites less than 200 years of age…
Nomeus: Technically, I could say that I was poking around old buildings as a kid, just like a lot of people in the world have done. I feel that many people have done this at least one time in their life. I recall hanging out in the old Little England theme park in Kissimmee when I was about 15 years old. It wasn’t an organized thing then of course. Around 2005, I began to intentionally seek out abandoned buildings to explore and photograph. At first it was just a challenge to see if I could get inside a place and get some rough photos out of it. It didn’t take long before I slowed down and spent more time inside shooting the interiors.
I can’t really speak for anyone else but I would say that many people get into urban exploration for various reasons. Most just want to see behind the wall, others want to add to their list of places and some people just want to destroy anything they can. FLURBEX is strongly against vandalism of all types and we never hesitate to contact law enforcement when we see people destroying buildings.
I made FLURBEX as a way to meet people in my area that were into urban exploring and photography. FLURBEX is the first and only online community for urbex. I have made some really good friends because of it and without them, none of the memories and stories would have been created. So many crazy things have happened since 2006, so many stories, close calls, accidents and good times. Im fortunate to have FLURBEX and the friends I have made in Florida and in other states because of it.
LL: How do you feel your work relates to historic preservation? What are your thoughts on the contemporary historic preservation movement in the US?
Nomeus: After 7 years of shooting abandonments, I have only very recently seen my work going to something worthwhile as far as preservation goes. I always wanted to be able to contribute something back in some way but never really knew what to do. I connected with Ennis Davis at www.metrojacksonville.com and that’s when it all came together. For the first time, I can actually see my work being used for something meaningful and I feel so good about that. Ennis has used my work on the Metro Jacksonville website which lots of people have seen and we have a book about to come out called “Reclaiming Jacksonville”. I am honored to be a part of it all and look forward to bigger things in the future. Even if just one person sees a photo I took of a certain location and that inspires them to want to preserve it or even better, reuse and repurpose a building, then I have exceeded even my own expectations.
As far as the historic preservation movement in the US goes, I have to say that I see way too much neglect with landmarks on the National Registry (Thomas Strawn Citrus, for example) and too many places being knocked down for condos and strip malls. If I had it my way, more buildings would be reused instead of demolished.
LL: You photograph more than buildings, your interests appear to be in the documentation of things that have been rendered useless by the contemporary world…in a sense, you document modern ruins, it seems.
Nomeus: Yes and more than that, I have a collection of items that would have otherwise ended up in a landfill. Old photographs, blueprints, personal effects, etc.. Some may be amazed at what others leave behind. None of these items hold any monetary value but for me, they hold memories of that moment in time when I was there in that space, that atmosphere with the dust, the smells, the tranquility and peacefulness of it all. Too many people are too busy with their daily routines to think about old buildings, houses, schools, and even their own friends and family. Everything is taken for granted and everything seems so disposable. Let me capture it before it is gone forever.
For more information on Nomeus, please visit http://nomeus.tumblr.com/
Tagged: abandoned, decay, exploration, Florida, flurbex, forgotten, Historic preservation, Indiana Jones, Jacksonville, Napster, Nomeus, Outdoors, photography, Recreation, Rob Zombie, urban, Urban decay, Urban exploration, urbex