Todd Hido on Landscapes, Interiors, and The Nude

"Anyone who's ever renovated a house knows that interiors are all about surfaces. The kind of flooring, the kind of wallpaper, the color of the paint—these all add up to create the environment of a house. I think the surfaces that we grew up with are imprinted in our memory in a really deep way. People respond immediately to 1970s wood paneling, for example. They recognize that it's not a typical part of our surroundings anymore. So this one detail can carry you back to the past and elicit memories. I think there's something profound about how that happens. A picture is not contained by its frame. The space we exist in within the home is incredibly important. Each room in the house has a different meaning. A picture taken from the perspective of someone watching TV in the basement has a different meaning than one of a bedroom because so many different activities happen in that room. Certain things happen in a bed, and a photograph of a single bed tells a different story than one of a double bed. All of these details matter to the mood and meaning of a picture. A picture of a bed is not necessarily a picture of a bed—it could be a picture about a relationship, it could be a picture about sexuality. It could be a picture about loss or love, or it could be a loveless picture." Featured image, "#1843," and text excerpt are reproduced from Todd Hido on Landscapes, Interiors, and The Nude, the newest book in Aperture's acclaimed Photography Workshop Series.