Nighted Life Presents: Devin Briggs

One look at his collection of photos will tell you he’s super dedicated to catching nutty shit on film. We’ve been following his stuff for a while, now we get to find out what goes into it.

You snag a lot of those ‘once in a lifetime’ shots. How do you do that?
I just walk out my door and hope to see something horrible. I usually never see anything, but when I do I’m stoked.

What’s a normal day like for you? Do you work a day job?
I work in the video dept. at Vans HQ as a video editor monday-friday, so I usually don’t get to go outside til the weekends. A normal day for me would be going to work, driving home, figuring out what I’m going to have for dinner, playing with my cat, then walking downtown with my girlfriend Erin. We just sit on this corner and watch people until something amazing happens, like a fight or a car accident. I live a very boring life.

What’s a good day?
A good day would be a day off from work, and going somewhere new to take pictures and catch tags.

Do you have certain cameras and films that you prefer?
I mainly use point & shoots because they’re less threatening to people. If someone catches me taking their picture, they think my camera’s like a joke. My favorite camera I own and use everyday would be my Ricoh GR-1. And for film, I like to use Tri-X, Arista 400, or Portra.

You don’t shy away from dropping some sick cell phone shots, too. Thoughts on digital vs. analog?
Film is always better than digital. I hate digital cameras though for some reason. It seems like cheating or something, but I love iPhone photos. I feel like you still gotta put effort into iPhone photos, and it still has that nostalgia that it came from a phone. I don’t like to mix film and iPhone pictures in a zine though.

Seems like there’s some commentary on the place you live (Huntington Beach, CA) in your shots. Is that intentional?
Yeah, I love Huntington, I grew up here and there’s so much history here that people ignore. All the raddest pro skaters lived here and the whole skate industry seemed to be here. The punk scene grew a lot here in the 80’s as well. Now Huntington is a joke due to all the bros, white power dudes, and lifted trucks everywhere. So I like to capture that side of Huntington, I think it’s funny.

You skate?
Yes, I’ve been skating since I was 2, so I guess that means for 20 years. My Mom taught me. She’s rad.

What’s up with all these cats?
I hated cats growing up. I was a dog person. My girlfriend turned me on to cats when I met her, and recently we adopted a cat and I love her. Now I’m obsessed.

What’s up with that zine you did with Remio?
The Sleepner zine Remy published came out great. They sold out fast, maybe we’ll do another run of them if people want it. We have a cool project coming soon! Just you wait…

Check out his photos and zines at DevinBriggs.com!