EP 16: Tara Kerzhner
May 4, 2020
Tara Kerzhner is an award-winning photographer, cinematographer, and accomplished rock climber. We talked about being creative while stuck at home, the importance of shooting what you love, balancing her work with art and climbing, becoming a more powerful climber, and telling stories through film. You can learn more about Tara at http://www.tarakerzhner.com/about
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, Google Podcasts
Patreon:
Follow-Ups:
thenuggetclimbing.com/follow-ups
Meet Tara:
Mentioned Photos:
Greg climbing ‘Mr. Yuk’ at Smith
Day of the dead photo (painted eyelids)
Woman walking down the street during festival
‘Last Waltz’ light sliver shot at Smith
Micah Humphrey on ‘Pornstar’ at Little Si
My Favorite Films of Tara’s:
‘Last Light’ (my all-time favorite)
Fun videos:
‘Thought Diary “Cactus”’ video by Daniel Koren
‘Working From Home’ Instagram video
Other:
The Stoke Cast podcast episode
Products:
Sony a7r (Tara’s photo/stills camera)
Z cam E2 (Tara’s new film camera)
Routes Mentioned:
‘Mr. Yuk’ 5.14a, Smith Rock, OR
‘Last Waltz’ 5.12c, Smith Rock, OR
‘Pornstar’ 5.13d, Little Si, WA
‘Astroman’ 5.11c, Yosemite, CA
‘Moonlight Buttress’ 5.12+, Zion, UT
‘Don’t Call Me Dude’ 5.13c, VRG, AZ
‘Magnum Opus’ 5.13c, The Grail, UT
‘Vicious Fish’ 5.13d, Smith Rock, OR
‘Couleur Du Vent’ 5.13b, Ceuse, France
‘La Femme Noire’ 5.13a, Ceuse, France
‘To Bolt Or Not To Be’ 5.14a, Smith Rock, OR
’El Sendero Luminoso’, El Potrero Chico
‘Monkeyfiinger’ 5.12, Zion, UT
‘Logical Progression’ 5.13, El Gigante, Mexico
‘Cloud Tower’ 5.12a, Red Rocks, NV
‘The Silverback’ 5.12+, Zion, UT
Tara’s Links:
Nuggets:
2:06 – Hangout out with friends
2:51 – Cactuses
5:50 – Working from home, “the snack loop”, and Tara’s favorite tea
11:33 – Working in restaurants, learning to manage money, not having mentors, and a sheltered upbringing
15:21 – Learning to believe in herself, “garbage collecting”, and increasing your percentage of good photos
17:37 – “Shoot what you love”, being grounded for 6 months, and taking risks
19:29 – Some of Tara’s favorite photos and what made them memorable
23:51 – Learning about storytelling and film making, and why Tara feels like she hasn’t made her best film yet
25:16 – Tara’s new film camera
26:50 – Tara’s photo tick list, shooting “new” angles, and Jim Thornburg
29:59 – Balancing working with art and climbing, sending ‘Vesper’, and going in and out of shape
34:24 – Why Tara is considering doing more strength training for photo/video work
38:22 – “Un-Smithing” herself, seeking out more powerful climbs, and ‘Don’t Call Me Dude’,
44:26 – Why grades “don’t really make sense”
47:06 – Tara’s goal routes at Ceuse, trying ‘Sprayathon’, and the irrelevance of grades
50:38 – ‘To Bolt’, and why climbing it would be such a meaningful route for Tara
53:33 – Alex Honnold’s free solo big wall tick list
55:02 – Multipitch sport climbing, wanting to go climb ‘Logical Progression’, and why multi-pitch trad climbing isn’t always type 1 or 2 fun
57:55 – Why free climbing El Cap isn’t a current goal
58:53 – Cats
1:00:08 – House cat —> ocelot
1:01:39 – What Tara feels especially grateful for
1:04:25 – Sladies 2, the ethics of what we choose to do right now (during COVID), and why Tara isn’t planning any trips right now
1:06:40 – Why Tara is excited to explore more editorial/journalistic photo and video work in the future, shooting in Fiji, and photos vs videos
1:08:50 – Tara’s website, Instagram, and why she prefers email when responding to people
1:10:32 – Climbing on the home wall, why 45 degrees might be the hardest angle in rock climbing, and “it’s all about body positions”
1:12:13 – Wrap up, why Tara doesn’t like some of her earliest films, and “it’s good to be up on the wall”