Ivar Wigan: On Kilts, Bullets, And Little Cinematic Moments

Los Angeles-based photographer and filmmaker Ivar Wigan made a career out of his talent to capture wild and wonderful subcultures right at their core. From documenting strippers in Mississippi to shooting high fashion in New York, his lust-for-life series’ are the fruits of adventures worthy of some of the great American writers. In conversation with Container Love, Ivar told us about his new screenplay, surviving being shot at, and his bulletproof method of checking if a Scottish gentleman wears his kilt the proper way.

What is your earliest recollection of taking pictures?

Polaroids, I was given a Polaroid camera when I was ten. My family’s Scottish and we’d go up North for family parties. I used to put the Polaroid camera underneath the men’s kilts and take photographs to see if they had underpants on because in Scotland it is forbidden to wear underpants with your kilts. So, I got some really good shots. It’s a horrible angle for a fella. I made enemies everywhere doing that. It was a great beginning in photography.

What happened to these pictures?

They were all confiscated and burnt. No one wanted that kind of content in circulation.

Very well. How did living in London influence the color charts of your next photographic projects?

London’s a bit slow so as soon as possible I headed to the US, where there was more skin on show and louder music. I started in Miami in 2010 and shot a series around the new Trap music scene. Surprisingly no one wanted this kind of content at the time either but I carried on building up an archive for four years and eventually, it became a hot topic and I got an offer from a gallery to do a show. The show was a hit so I moved to Jamaica and shot another documentary project there. These were places where I could get into new scenes, and the world opened up for me.

How was it shooting street documentary as an outsider in America?

I arrived alone and spent a whole lot of time hanging in the street. Americans are more open than the Brits so I met people from all walks of life. I shot in the streets and on the beaches, then pool parties, and later I found out about strip clubs. The strip clubs in the South were where the new music scene of the time was unfolding the new tracks dropped in the strip clubs and everyone in music was there. I met couples, hen groups, a priest, all kind of random characters, it was very open and inclusive. I still visit the South to take pictures and the movie I’m developing is based on the characters I met in that era.

And how about the Jamaica years?

I had a Jamaican girlfriend, Susie, and moved there to be with her. She was a Dancehall DJ performing as Mystery. We traveled the country taking pictures at parties in every parish, often rolling with her brother Kem. In 2016 Kem was murdered, and we went to be with their family for the burial. After the funeral, the gunmen came back and shot down his younger brother, Dada. Susie and her family went away into hiding. I continued traveling Jamaica for two years. In that time, five more of my friends there died violently and eventually someone came for me in the night, shooting into the car windshield while I was parked up outside a bar. When I got home there were three bullet holes in the windshield around my head and one through the back door panel. I was the lucky one who got away.

Heavy. Do you return there still?

I do, Jamaica’s the most beautiful place I’ve been to, the culture packs a big punch. It’s a very creative society. I just had to learn to grow up a bit and keep my eyes open, but yes, I’ll always be going back and I’d be glad to be able to live there again.

And now you do fashion too? How did you get into that?

I was approached by a gallery in LA, Little Big Man. Nick and his wife Lina who own the gallery are a wonderful creative team and they helped me get going through their studio, Be Good. Lina was working on creative with Virgil Abloh at the time, so for my first job, I shot a film for LV. Nick Haymes is one of greatest living film photography experts – in shooting, printing and in publishing, he taught me a lot.

The fashion world was alien to me and a completely opposite approach to the work I’d been doing but ultimately you’re still just hunting for a meaningful image, so the goal is the same. It did take a few more years before I understood fashion.

And you came to love it?

Only if I feel aligned with the brand. Much imagery is still designed to leverage insecurity and yearning for validation but I do enjoy the creative part of fashion and I’ve met some lovely people. My last job was with Alexander Wang and it was inspiring to meet someone who has achieved so much so young. The brand feels authentic and modern, and I felt at home with the aesthetics and casting decisions there at AW too.

How does the documentarian origin of your photography influence your more commercial projects now?

With documentary photography you can evolve your ideas by clicking away. When I sold my first ‘pro’ model camera ten years ago it had 1 million actuations, out of the million shots I probably made 50 good pictures. I worked out what I liked by getting it wrong – so I got it wrong plenty 😉 It’s probably how most people start shooting – we are all documentarians now. Fashion images are still ‘documenting’ but it’s more contrived so you get to refine your aesthetics in these more premeditated setups which does make you a more consistent image maker.

So you’re now happy in the studio as much as the street?

For sure, the difference is that in the studio you need a team so making a good picture is more collaborative. Street photography is the lone wolf, snatching fleeting opportunities, studio is a collab.

When you’re taking pictures of someone for the very first time, what is something that catches your attention, and helps you to get a better understanding of who they might be?

With documentary pictures I like to think: we are what we do – so it’s not about who’s in front of the camera, but what they’re doing. The ‘identities’ we assume are often superficial, but you can understand a lot about people by their actions. So in documentary I like action shots. I was always waiting for someone to do something or the scene to change, waiting for little cinematic moments that might tell a story within a picture. Action shots will always be more exciting for me because it’s the actions taken that give a life meaning.

Figures posing for the lens have more symbolic interest. In fashion, it doesn’t matter if the images are more top line as long as you honor the model in how they would like to be presented.

You are writing and directing too. How easy was the transition between these mediums for you?

My first dream was to become a movie director so my early jobs were all on set at British movie studios, Pinewood, Elstree and Shepperton. My movie industry career peaked when I won a job as ‘Assistant Baboon Wrangler’ on Tomb Raider II. I drove Angelina around in a golf buggy but it didn’t feel creatively engaging so I left the industry to take photos.

Movie sets can look pretty intimidating and 18-year-old me didn’t have a whole lot to say in terms of storytelling, life had just been going to school and taking care of my Ma. Now things have unfolded and I’m ready to tell the stories, so screenwriting’s become the main occupation and in 2020 I wrote and directed a French Neo Noir film, Kassandra. Now I’m developing a feature of The Gods in Hollywood. There are enough stories in my head to keep me writing till I’m dead so I’m here now laying it all down.

All images by Ivar Wigan from the Southern USA, 2010-2014.

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