In conversation with Jeff Burton

What first drew you to photographing Molteni&C?

Aside from the brand’s notable historical design heritage and its long-time collaborations working with artists, I understood that Molteni&C was going to do something different with this book and I’m happy to say that I think we did.

I was introduced to the book project by Beda Achermann, who is a creative director, friend and adventurous fellow collaborator. He explained to me that the Moltenis were also adventurous, open to tell their story, and he felt that we would all get on.

Why did you decide to approach the photoshoot as if you were making a documentary film?

The idea of framing the shoot in the style of a movie was initiated by Studio Achermann. It came about organically, stemming from conversations I had with Beda about how many different hats I would need to wear to capture so many different kinds of images and stories in a very short time. I would be a photojournalist, a portrait photographer, still life photographer etc. Beda approached me because he saw me as the right artist with the right photographic spirit for this project.

A documentary film approach was the right spirit, for many reasons, with which to describe the Molteni world. I knew – we all knew – we didn’t want a book entirely made up of sterile imagery, which is a look often associated with the photographed documentation around design. This story was larger and human too.

The documentary approach freed me from directing “the scene”, so that I could concentrate fully, even meditatively, on being a photographer making images – a cinematographer as much as, if not more than, a director. I didn’t want directed scenes.

The shooting experience was paced like a documentary film unfolding in real time and I approached the image-making very freely. Honestly, I had to by necessity. There wasn’t much time to overthink.

How did the company’s headquarters lend themselves to this cinematic style?

The idea came about because the factory and surrounding spaces look like a Hollywood studio. The headquarters is a location. It’s massive and a hive of activity, with “scenes” playing out in a very diverse set of spaces. It is sprawling and quite interesting what goes on in there, as you can see.

Jasper Morrison, the designer of Molteni’s Tea Chair (2021), once said: “Design in objects should be sensed rather than seen.” Do you think that’s true for photography, too?

I like the sensate and emotional ideas that the Jasper Morrison quote makes me think about. I’d say balance can be an artistic act. Don’t overthink it. Mind and body. “Don’t try too hard” comes to mind.

There’s a note of surrealism in some images – the scene of George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg riding a stack of leather hides, for instance. How did ideas such as this come about?

That was a joyful, crazy, improvisational moment! Beda and I co-directed it based on the subjects’ playfulness and the feeling of the moment. I think that image is more Dada as an art term. There are other images in the book that I think are more surrealist looking.

Did anything surprise you during your time at Molteni&C?

The Moltenis’ hands-off approach, their encouragement for me to shoot freely and their confidence in that decision, as well as the trust given to Beda and me as a creative team in general.

You began your career shooting stills on adult film sets, often focusing on unexpected details – reflections, say, or the furniture. In this project, the furniture is still the centre of your attention. What’s the relationship between this earlier period and your style today?

Your using the word surreal when looking at my work is connected to that early work. Seeing things that are already strange and different in an exciting and different way is where things can get very surreal.

My experience in that industry is a much larger discussion than we have space for here. Surrealism was a part of that vision and language that I loved and I don’t want to give up. Working in that industry in the 1990s was amazing. It was still underground, secret and pre-internet. They needed a lot of photographic assets back then.

I had just received my MFA in painting from CalArts when I began shooting. I had put a lot of effort into painting for years beforehand. It was kind of a perfect storm of creativity and stimulation – an incredible playground in which to develop a unique visual vocabulary. I was working a lot and learning a lot about photography and life, to be sure.

Your work often has a sense of secrecy, or hints at a narrative that the viewer is left to guess at. Do you always have a specific story in mind?

You’re touching on a moving target of a subject. Playing with narratives, disrupting things, is a place where some art can happen. Or at least something new can happen. It takes some courage from clients and sometimes some foolishness on my part, seeing how far off-centre we can go beautifully and still make things work.