This an interview to photographer Peter Beste I did in February 2011 then published in Italian on the paper version of Salad Days Magazine issue 7.
“Peter Beste Lives in New York and likes to take pictures.” This is the only information you can get from his official website but in recent years this fella’s name and his pictures became a cult all around the world thanks to having made the ultimate photo book on the True Norwegian Black Metal scene. An intense look from inside at the people and at the landscapes that generated what seems to be the most extreme and nihilistic music scene ever. And this was just the beginning… Beste then achieved getting inside another rather closed music community, the Houston Rap scene. And the two worlds seem now less distant than one would think…
Most of our readers who already know you they do because of True Norwegian Black Metal but your recent work on Houston rap culture will attract a lot of them who are more in tune with the rap and the street culture. However, these two local and distant realities seem to have something in common that makes looking at your work as a single flow. Tell us about your point of view as a photographer…
PB: There are many similarities between these two cultures, but what ties them together for me personally is my childhood connection with both scenes. These two projects aren’t meant to be companion pieces, but there are some similarities between the two scenes. Looking the part, being “real” and existing outside of mainstream society are just a few of the similarities. I shot both of these projects in a similar way. I simply got to know the people involved and over a long period of time, and attempted to take striking and honest portraits of them in their natural surroundings. Very few of the photos are posed and all are taken with a handheld camera with no elaborate lighting set up, only the occasional on-camera flash.
Would you call the Houston rap one a gangsta scene?
PB: I guess it depends on how you define the term. The typical rapper from Houston is considered “gangsta” to most, but in my opinion, the most interesting rappers from Houston are a bit more conscious. They all have at least one foot in the street, but the best ones aren’t confined to those topics. Some examples of this are: K-Rino, Z-RO, Dope E, Devin the Dude.
In True Norwegian Black Metal you said you’ve been welcomed by very solitary, reclusive and obscure characters as long as by other very human ones. The Houston pictures show us tough guys smoking, a lot of weapons and what seems to be another elitist community you achieved having a very special look from the inside. Can you compare this experience with the one you shared with the Norwegians?
PB: Ironically, I felt more welcome half way around the world in Norway than I did at first in my hometown of Houston. Needless to say, a white guy with a camera in the hood is bound to be looked at skeptically at first. With a little bit of time and getting to know people that changed and I was given intimate access. I think the one thing that made me successful in documenting both of these cultures is the fact that I approached them with honest intentions and simply wanted to portray them in their personal environments. I didn’t approach them as a fan or as a pushy journalist. That approach would have gotten me nowhere.
The black metallers rebelled against Christianity considering it the destroyer of the real Norwegian historical heritage and they developed their own ideology. Even if the source of it might be different have you seen something similar among the Houston rappers?
PB: It’s quite different. The Black Metallers didn’t develop their own philosophy against Christianity, they simply borrowed from Norway’s ancient Pagan religions and some from Satanism. Both scenes (Houston Rap and Norwegian Black Metal) have an “us vs. them” mentality. Though their enemies appear to be completely different, ultimately it is the Establishment, or the Imperialistic West that are looked upon with disdain by both groups.
PB: Varg Vikernes (a.k.a. Count Grishnackh, founder of the black metal one man band Burzum and guilty of having killed Mayhem’s guitar man Euronymous) does not appear among your portraits on True Norwegian Black Metal but only by an archive pic. Is this a choice you made, did he refuse to pose or weren’t you allowed to reach him in jail?
PB: I think Varg gets too much attention in black metal so I kept my book to the non-incarcerated players.
Gaahl (Gorgoroth) and Nattefrost (Carpatian Forest) seem to have been given a more important role in the book. Why them?
PB: Simply because I have photographed them more and I think they both embody what black metal is all about.
Any anticipations about your next project? Have you ever thought about portraying the Courage Crew?
PB: In addition to finishing the Houston Rap book that I’m working on with writer Lance Scott Walker (out early 2012) I’ve started a few new projects. All of them are polar opposites of my previous work. It’s premature to discuss, but I will post it on peterbeste.com in the coming months. As for the second part of your question, I come from a Hardcore/Punk background and I find few things more obnoxious than the hardline SxE scene. There is nothing courageous about beating up kids who smoke or drink. To me, they’re just a different brand of jocks.
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