The Lost Boy
An Interview with Fine Art Photographer Ethan DeSantis
Rising, sinking, holding on, letting go. DeSantis navigates turbulent moments of adolescence in his latest photography series The Lost Boy. With a remarkable eye for colour, it’s no surprise that the 17 year old’s work has already been exhibited internationally. I caught up with Ethan to learn more about The Lost Boy - I Feel Free and Triumph*…
Ethan, I would like to start at the beginning. When did you first pick up a camera and how did you become so interested in Fine Art Photography?
I first started taking photos in the spring Lockdown of 2020. I would go around a park local to me, taking photos on my phone and listening to my favourite albums. I remember specifically listening to Flower Boy - Tyler, The Creator and taking photos of the sunset, clouds or anything that caught my eye at the time. Later that summer I stumbled across different ‘Fine Art Photographers’ on twitter and they showed me that photography could be absolutely anything. It really opened my eyes on what I, myself, could make. In September that year, I purchased my first camera and signed up for a photography course at college and from there, the rest is history!
Your series The Lost Boy explores fears around growing up, leaving home and becoming an adult. This can feel like a daunting transitory life period, but often the complex emotions that come with this are dismissed as ‘teenage’ feelings. Why do you think it’s important to recognise the maturity of adolescent teenagers and see that they do in fact experience ‘adult’ feelings?
I think it’s important because a lot of us are struggling more than you probably think, but at the same time, we’re also having the most fun of our lives. There’s a very blurry line at this age of having an addiction and having fun and I think it’s something a lot of us are trying to figure out. With uni on the horizon, I'm 3 weeks away from starting a completely new life, in a new city surrounded by people who are complete strangers to me. It's such a scary time.
Although it might not be intentional, I feel like The Lost Boy draws from several horror motifs. The unnerving repetition of the red balloon reminds me of the film ‘It’, and I can’t help but associate the colourful meadows with imagery from Ari Aster’s ‘Midsommar’. Are you influenced by horror, and what else influences your work?
There was a time where I was hugely influenced by horror films, mainly the way they are colour graded. I like both films - especially Midsommar - and I was definitely inspired by the way the film uses flowers in a melancholy way. Nowadays, music is 75% of my inspiration. It inspires me subconsciously in ways I don’t realise - when I look back on past projects I know exactly what I was listening to. Music fills my brain with substance to make art. Throughout the making of Triumph* I've been listening to a lot of 70s/80s soul music. I think you can tell by the warm, vibrant colours. The other 25% of inspiration is just life in general. I find it very difficult to make art if I have no reason to make it. Life experiences fuels the art a lot of the time.
Tell me more about the context behind the red balloon motif in The Lost Boy series project ‘I feel Free’.
The idea behind the balloon was to make The Lost Boy look more vulnerable. I wanted him to cling onto something like he was clutching onto his last moments of his childhood.
I feel as though ‘I feel Free’ also toys with absence and presence a lot. Sometimes the subject is drowning in their orange coat, and other times it’s as if the coat is a skin or the remains of the subject. Does this compositional decision emphasize how it feels to be ‘lost’?
Definitely! I think the bright orange coat helps because it’s so vibrant, you really can’t miss it but he’s still lost. They contradict each other a lot and I like that because I can relate that to my own life and my art. The jacket placed on the floor was to represent a weight being lifted off my shoulders, and the need to let go of the balloon. This is semi off topic but a couple years back I bought the orange coat to actually wear. Lord knows what was going through my head when I bought it because it’s honestly the ugliest piece of clothing I've ever bought. It’s really funny to see what it’s become now though, maybe I can wear it with pride instead of embarrassment nowadays.
I am in awe of the beautiful warm tones and pastel colours from your project ‘Triumph*’. Why do you use colour to achieve this atmospheric feeling in your work?
Thank you very much! Colour is the greatest tool at my disposal. It’s my favourite part of art in all honesty. The way a perfect colour palette can evoke emotion is key for me. Colours are really what I spend hours trying to perfect, making sure one doesn’t outshine another. I also love trying to find new colour palettes out in real life - I’m always judging if different colours work well together. I really want to use light blue and red in my next piece of work. I’m seeing it everywhere and it works great.
In a lot of this project, the subject is often centered in the composition. Various poses are depicted by him - such as standing up with his head in his hands, levitating, and also sinking into the meadow with an outstretched arm as if he’s drowning or reaching up for help. What do you want the viewer to interpret from this?
Well, the flowers in this project represent what me and others drown ourselves in when we’re struggling. Things that in the eyes of society and teen culture are romanticized and colourful, but in reality they’re slowly killing people. I wanted The Lost Boy to slowly drown into the flowers, then ascend from these habits. I would like for people to relate these photos to a time in their life where they were struggling and had to rely on the ‘flowers’ but ascended from the need to use them.
You describe The Lost Boy Series ‘as a vehicle for me to pour out any negative emotion I’m feeling at the time’. Does photography act as a form of art therapy to you personally?
100%! Photography helps me spit my words out. Things that are not making sense in my head can be brought to life through art and it helps me understand my situation better, I think. However, saying this, it feels so nice to make art about nothing from time to time. You can easily get inside your own head if you make art about your personal problems constantly and it can get very draining.
You’re only 17 and this series has already been showcased in Athens and Barcelona with Art Number 23. I’d consider that such an amazing achievement! What’s next for you?
Thank you so much! It’s something that I'm so proud of. Especially the Barcelona show - as a football fan I’ve loved Barcelona ever since I was a small kid. My favourite players throughout the years have played there, so to have my art in that city was just so, so cool to me. And what’s next for me, I don’t know. Art aside, I want to survive as an actual human and learn how to be an adult when I'm down at uni. I would love to have my own solo show soon, that’s something I think about a lot. I’ve just got to make great art consistently and I guess everything will fall into place. Oh! And to have my art shown in a gallery in Brazil haha.
