Aug. 11, 2012 | 1:40 PM | Berlin, Germany

Sawyer Scott is a US-Born photographer who now lives and works in Berlin. His latest series, "Dirty Birds", inspired by the Gulf Oil Spill, recently premiered at Create Berlin Galerie.

Smart Magna: Tell us about yourself.

SS: I grew up in Alaska in the 80's. I was a punk. Literally. Not many people know this about Anchorage, but it had a thriving underground music/art scene, so I came of age on punk music and the punk aesthetic.

Years later, I decided I wanted to make films, so I got a film degree in Seattle, Washington. After graduation, I was working part-time at a television station, but I was doing photography on the side. I lived in a loft in Pioneer Square (Seattle's Arts district). I would print out my photos and sell them as cards during the monthly Art Walk. That's how I got my first exhibition.

The curator of a well-known gallery in Seattle invited me to participate in a group show after seeing a photograph I took for one of the artists he represented. My work for that show was a series of three photographs taken at the airport. Blurry, muted abstractions, of airplanes and passengers.

At the time, I was into Uta Barth, a german photographer living in L.A. She showed me that a photograph about just the way light hits the floor could be a beautiful thing in and of itself.

I never studied photography professionally, I am self taught.
As a filmmaker, I was primarily behind a camera most of the time, so it was a natural progression for me to go from moving image, to still. It's still story-telling, but more instinctual and minimalistic. Everything happens in one frame.

My first professional experience was shooting a lookbook for a L.A. based designer Gabriella Giovanni. We shot at an original Art-Deco building in downtown L.A., with professional models and great styling. That is my favorite era, so I was utterly inspired, and I think the photos reflect that. I am grateful to Gabriella Giovanni for trusting me and giving me such a great opportunity to get my feet wet.

Smart Magna: What does photography mean to you?

SS: Photography means sculpture: Sculpting with light. For me it's simply a technique of removing everything that doesn't belong in the frame until there is a sort of radiant, lingering hum. I would say it's a convenient way to satisfy my obsession for geometry and balance, while creating something pleasing to look at.

I look at something quietly from every angle, and then I sort of whittle it down to its essence; whether it's a person, a piece of clothing, or a street scene. It's all subconscious, I guess: Intuitive improvisation with a technical edge. I got hold of a camera early on, probably when I was 15. I used to wander around town, photographing the play of light and shadow on city streets. Anchorage didn't have a lot of interesting architecture, much less the sort of bustling cosmopolitan street life that makes for good street photography, so I started taking portraits of my friends.

Smart Magna: What are your dreams as a photographer?

SS: At the moment I'm trying to find a path that allows me to create positive change in the world with my work. I think the response to the Dirty Bird series activated something in me that I've been craving as an artist; I want to use my work to inspire people to protect and cherish this amazing planet. It's the only one we've got, as they say.

I was recently contacted by Glenn Albrecht, the man who coined the term Solistalgia. He will be using one of the photographs from the Dirty Bird series, aptly titled, 'Solastalgia', for a conference in Louisiana this spring. It is the highest compliment I can imagine.

Ultimately, I want to create images that continue 'humming', years after I make them. Whether that means pictures hanging in a gallery, or photos in a magazine selling Prada suits, doesn't really matter to me. I'm not allergic to money.

Smart Magna: Do you have regular sources of inspiration?

SS: I read about ten different newsfeeds everyday online, from arts news to fashion blogs to the New York Times. Environmental Politics are a big inspiration at the moment. I am generally inspired by Architecture, Nature, Music, and Film, and sometimes just the casual glance of a stranger on the street.

I really love the work of Gray Scott, a makeup artist turned photographer, and Uta Barth, as I mentioned, then there's Man Ray, for my surrealist kick. Annie Liebovitz (for her portraiture and the way she uses light) and all the great street photographers; Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander.

For fashion, probably Peter Lindbergh, Guy Bourdin, Irving Penn.

For people, I guess Edward Steichen, Diane Arbus, for her outsider perspective, and most recently, a fellow Alaskan photographer, whom I discovered online. Stephen Cyzewski,
who manages somehow to make rural Alaska look magical and interesting.

If I had to choose only one who encapsulates everything I love about photography, I would say...I can't.