Dover Street Market New York "Store Story" by Ari Marcopoulos

Amsterdam-born photographer and filmmaker Ari Marcopoulos claims an eclectic career that started as an assistant to the great Andy Warhol and most recently the artist behind the cover art to Jay Z’s multiplatinum album Magna Carta… Holy Grail. Now in his latest collaboration, the 50-something-year-old creative was commissioned by the COMME des GARCONS brand to photograph its newest store – Dover Street Market New York. To add to the revealing imagery, especially for those that haven’t yet had the pleasure of visiting the expansive space, Marcopoulos sat down with DSMNY for a four-part interview in which he touches on the primary objective of his art, his impression of the store, his favorite photographers, and much more. Peep an excerpt from the interview below and click here for the full piece.

There are of course all kinds of photography. What are the primary objectives of your particular photography for you? i.e. Just make a living, create art, tell a story, express a feeling, or other?

“Making a living is part of life so one does that no matter what. There are no singular objectives other then making things that are part of my thoughts.”

I know you love working with film. Why do you prefer it to digital?

“The main difference for me is the latent image, the wait for the film to be developed. Digital allows for immediate inspection and instant reflection resulting into a different way of decision making. It’s not that I don’t like digital but in general I do prefer the alchemical character of film.”