Q&A: Brian Chorski on Film Photography and New Book, "Another Patch of Sky"

Of all the icons that have come to symbolize America, none are as potent as The West. So vast and varied and grand, The West is a place, but it's also an idea, a notion. While there are certain elements we can all collectively agree on—pillared red rock horizons, endless mountain ranges, tumbleweeds and cacti—its representative borders are movable, allowing for different interpretations. In his new book, Another Patch of Sky, photographer Brian Chorski submits his own interpretation of The West with a collection of images that feel both familiar and new, and are always soaked in sun.

Field Mag regulars will already be familiar with Chorski's work—over the years his beautiful film photography has been featured on the site, on @fieldmag Instagram, and on the cover of our first film photo zine, FM01: Summer. In photo essays depicting groups of friends backpacking through the Rockies and searching for surf in Baja, Chorski transmits a version of outdoor adventure that's more approachable and more focused on fun than on epic feats of exploration. Remote peaks, alpine lakes, and wide valleys are there, but there might be a naked figure sunbathing in the foreground too.

Chorski's signature style has earned him more than just a loyal following on social—he is now one of the most in-demand campaign photographers with outdoor industry clients like REI, Mountain Hardwear, and The North Face Japan (a campaign Creative Directed by Field Mag Studio) as well as clients like Mr. Porter and Marriott.

When we recently caught him on the phone to talk about Another Patch of Sky, he was in Italy photographing high-end hotels and Italian road bikes (yes, it's a tough life). Despite jet lag, Chorski stayed up late to chat about how the book came together, how his approach to photography has evolved, and what exactly his version of the American West looks like.

Another Patch of Sky, featuring an afterward by Field Mag founder Graham Hiemstra, is now available for $50 from publisher Guest Editions.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

The first photo essay of yours Field Mag published was from a 2019 road trip. How has your work evolved since then?

That Wyoming/Montana trip that you're referencing was the early days of me adopting film as my primary means of documenting my personal travels, if not the first time I had done that exclusively. This isn't meant to be a digital versus film spiral or anything, but I found it was way easier after converting to analog to separate my "work" ambitions from just capturing my life. It was easier to manage from a post-production standpoint; digital is clunky, man, it's just a lot of gear to bring along. I thought simplifying would be a great choice for me at the time and it turns out it was, and I've just never looked back really. There's a beauty and simplicity that came through that choice, but it also shines through in the photos themselves. I think when you get rid of all the doohickeys, you start enjoying the places you're in first. It's sort of my philosophy, I want to be having fun first and then be taking photos after that.

What inspired you to make a book in the first place?

There was sort of this time-bound pressure that I felt, to bookmark this chapter of my life where I had more time available to do the things that are pictured in the book. It's not as frequent now that I'm able to drag a bunch of buddies out to beautiful places far and wide—that was way easier five to seven years ago. This style of work and this body of work allowed me to build a career, too, which feels significant. It's an artist statement in a way, it's how I see the world.

The book focuses on the American West, how did you land on this subject?

It was definitely not a cognizant choice. I was born and raised in the Midwest; I was born in Wisconsin, spent some time in Minnesota, and moved west to do exactly what is pictured in this book, basically. I wasn't moving west to make a photo book or make photos, I was moving west to enjoy the splendors of it. In the process, I found a voice in how I make my photos and wanted to put it in book format. So it was really just a nice way to pull together how I decided to spend my free time in my 20s, how that was transformative and how I make work now.

How did you and Guest Editions go about curating the collection of images in the book?

I gave them what was probably a folder of over of 400 images that feel like the ones that are ultimately in the book. It was a wider edit at first. Thomas, who's doing the designing over there, he took that and edited it down to about 50. Then, we began sequencing and playing with dyptichs, putting images side by side. I was not expecting to have a 200-image book, but I also wasn't expecting to have a 50-image book. I was thinking something around 100; it went from this scrapbook-y feeling thing that might have even been a soft cover in my mind to him being like, 'No, this is a photo book, hardcover, imposter syndrome be damned.'

A lot of your photos, especially when you're out in the backcountry with a crew of friends, have a playful quality to them. Is this intentional?

A lot of those images didn't end up making it into the book despite them being some of my personal, sentimental favorites. There's a sense of mystery slash whimsy slash this-could-be-you with the book where it stands now that make it feel a little bit more accessible. Not everyone's got, you know, five friends they can drag out into the backcountry at all times. Those read a little bit more as lifestyle photography where a lot of the subject matter in this book feels a little bit more like art. I'm glad he pushed me in that direction because I didn't really see my work that way until he deemed it so. My attitude toward making photos has never been to make a photo book, which is kind of ironic considering we're there now.

What are some of the locations that we're seeing in the pages?

California is pretty dominant. Wyoming, Arizona, Utah, Baja Norte.

The theme of The West, capital W, is a particularly loaded symbol, and it's also a highly photographed place. So many iconic images and photographers (Ansel Adams, Richard Avedon, Laura Wilson) have sought to capture its essence. How would you describe your version of "The West"?

It's a fairly trope-y place, the West. I think what hopefully differentiates how I see it versus how others have documented it—incredibly well and thoroughly—is this romanticism that I have, that the 16-year-old version of me had, picturing what my utopia looked like at that time in my life, and who would I be hanging out with out there, what would we be doing? I was initially inspired by just the landscapes themselves but I think where I differ from other people that have documented that incredibly wide range of landscapes is that I've found most of my joy in photographing how people enjoy it. I mean, people do that too, but I think that's what I'm drawn most to and I haven't seen quite as much of that in in the work from the greats in the past. Ansel Adams wasn't, to my knowledge, publishing photos of people hanging out in these places casually. I'm not by any means comparing myself to him, but just to use that as a benchmark. I love his work, I love other people's work from the West.

What draws you to these places?

There's obviously the novelty of going somewhere new for the first time and experiencing that with people. It's not that I don't see anything new anymore because the West is so vast and wide, but it matters less to me. I can go back to a place I've seen before and it could be just as fun. There's still that bone in my body that craves wanting to conquer a new thing, too. The western landscape is just fucking impressive, to be honest. There are layers to it that are harder to find in other parts of the country. It's just big and grand, there's not as much stuff in the way, and you can play in those spaces a little bit differently.

How did you think differently about curating the book, versus a photo essay for online publication or an Instagram feed?

I found myself gravitating toward images that didn't necessarily have to have, let's call it like grid pop. Or, you know, thumbnail appeal. I kind of dropped all the inhibitions I might have had on a selection process that involved picking things that had the quintessential makeups of good photo. I think there are some that are still prevalent in the book, but there are also some selections that are just things I thought were worthwhile, despite not adhering to the protocols of what would pop off.

I went into the wide edit with like a different mindset, which was a refreshing practice to get into. If you think about how something lays across a couple pages, that is something I kept in mind too. Like, the entire left side of this landscape photo could be an image in itself. Generally speaking, I opened my mind up to stuff that I didn't necessarily think would have mass appeal, but if you sat and looked at it a while, it might change your mind.

Where did the title, Another Patch of Sky, come from?

Initially I was so gung-ho on wanting it to involve sun in some way. I'm really drawn to these sun-drenched scenes, I hardly shoot in overcast admittedly. But because we were so stuck on that, we ended up omitting it. We were like, alright, what's next? And the publisher helped me land on "Another Patch of Sky" because it sort of represents this whimsy and carefree-ness that I feel is pretty well portrayed in my work. You know, you happen to stumble upon another patch of sky, sun, or vista as opposed to this end-all be-all destination that I feel like a lot of people might tend to gravitate toward in their adventures. I felt like my work changed a lot and was representative of that title in that you're unbothered, you're just out enjoying the next thing that's presented to you.

Everyone will want to know: What cameras and film did you use to fill these pages?

A lot of Yashica T4, Nikon F3, Fuji GA645. We're going back to my Mamiya 645 days in some of these, there's even some Pentax 645 stuff in here. It's really a mixed bag of cameras, but the film is predominantly Kodak Gold or Portra 400.

Another Patch of Sky by Brian Chorski is now available for $45 from Guest Editions.

BUY THE BOOK HERE