Sue Coe

3x3 Interviewer:Tell me a little about your working process now? how do you start?

SC: It starts with direct seeing of some event, that is disturbing, and needs the light of day to shine on it, or an attempt at illumination, such as the most obvious weapons of mass destruction, like factory farming, and poverty - so much is concealed in this culture, so it is my trying to find out the information about these subjects. The images could stay in my mind for years, or minutes, before that scene is filtered through my memory to the paper. Around an image, I do a lot of research to make sure that the series of works is accurate, I tend to work sequentially, in a mode that I think of reportage, or visual journalism. The work process is one of reminding myself, that content creates the form, not the other way around.

3x3 Interviewer: Tell me about one of your most favorite assignments.

SC: I loved working for the NYTimes, all the overnight op-ed page jobs, as coming up with something visually interesting in a few hours, that meets the requirements of editors is a real challenge. Mirko Ilic was the art director, and he did not give a damn, he pushed the envelope of what was acceptable, as he knew he did not want to keep the job for very long! My favorite assignments are ones I give myself, and then get published - and those are issues of which I am ignorant, and am curious about, whether it be how slaughterhouses work, or what makes the avian virus such a threat, or what makes for contradiction and why we accept and cooperate with systems that are not in our interest.

interview here.