This week for Feature Fridays, we’re excited to present photographer Aonghais MacInnes, a long-time Brooklyn resident and blogger. I first discovered his work through his “Brand Recognition” collection, which made me laugh and inspired philosophical pause all at once; it’s a study of trash in Prospect Park. And then I realized he publishes a fantastic blog called “Street Level,” which features a tightly-edited collection of street scenes in Brooklyn and beyond — just one of the many styles he’s mastered. I encourage you to check out his photostream for a dizzying array of great photos, and enjoy the interview below!

For the Love of Brooklyn: So, I understand you call Glasgow your hometown — how did you come to find yourself in Brooklyn? Where do you live? Where are your favorite places to shoot?
Aonghais MacInnes: Glasgow as my home town is more of a Flickr concoction, as is the Aonghais (pronounced Angus) moniker (actually Aonghais is the old Gaelic name for the clan MacInnes). I was born in the UK, but we came to the States when I was a kid. I grew up in a pretty nondescript suburb in Northern NJ. However, most of my relatives are still in Glasgow (at least on my father’s side), so it’s probably the closest thing to home I have (aside from Brooklyn). I’ve lived in Brooklyn on and off since the mid 1970s. Most recently, I moved back from Manhattan after a particularly nasty breakup in 2003, and have been here ever since.

I think my current obsession with photographing Brooklyn started in Williamsburg and Greenpoint, although I haven’t been there in a while. I remember Greenpoint as the aluminum siding capital of Brooklyn back in the 1970s. There was also a lot of asphalt shingles, fake stone and brickwork, and rotting wooden siding which made the place look like it was still the 1952. It really stayed this way until the end of the 1990s. In the late 1990s, the over-development of Williamsburg and Greenpoint started happening. Stark glass and metal condos were built right next to aluminum sided 3 family homes, giving the place a very surreal feeling. Then there was the advent of what my friend Miss Heather of newyorkshitty.com calls “Abjectecture.” Out of scale, ugly ornamentation, prominently featured air conditioning units are a big part of it.

Another place I love taking photographs is Brighton Beach. Brighton Beach Avenue is wonderful for street photography. The old bungalow colonies between Neptune and Oceanview Avenues are another place I love to photograph. The bungalow colonies are rapidly being razed and replaced with 8 story condos. Most of my latest photos are taken around in the area between Park Slope and Sunset Park, which is an area I love to photograph. It’s an area that always reminded me of San Francisco, with the hilly streets and views of New York Harbor. It’s also another area that is now rapidly changing. I love all of Brooklyn though, there are photographic opportunities to be found in every area of the borough, and hope to continue to be able to explore.

LoB: What brings you inspiration in Brooklyn? Any specific influences? Neighborhoods in particular?
AM: When I first moved to Brooklyn in the mid 1970s, I didn’t know anyone. I lived in Bensonhurst and would go exploring every weekend, leaving the house and just walking for hours. I explored Borough Park, Gravesend, New Utrecht, Coney Island, Midwood. I loved the diversity of architecture. I didn’t carry a camera in those days, I really wish I had. Of course the Brooklyn of 1976 is very different from the Brooklyn of 2010, in many ways. I supposed I find inspiration in the juxtaposition of the old and new. I also love finding little pockets of areas when it seems little has changed.

As far as photographic influences, I’d have to say George Tice‘s “Paterson” and Ray Mortenson’s “Meadowland” [ed. note: Read a great article about Mortenson's later Bronx-based work here in the NYT] affected me when I first got serious about photography in the mid 1980s. Garry Winogrand, Lee Friedlander, and William Klein were big influences on my street photography. And there are a ton of photographers on Flickr that I follow, just take a look at my contact list, there are some truly incredible artists there.

I also love the Flickr pool for “Mundane Suburban Neighborhood Shots With Partially Cropped Cars.”

Live music is also another area of photography that I enjoy, and to be honest is probably the area I am most proficient. I’ve always been a music lover, and attended many shows at clubs like Max’s Kansas City and CBGBs back in the 1970s. I got my first digital SLR in 2005 and found that with a fast lens and the pretty decent high ISO of my digital SLR I could shoot pretty easily in dark clubs, as opposed to my prior attempts at using 1600 film, which weren’t particularly successful.

LoB: The majority of the work you publish on your blog, Street Level, is very focused and stylized. However, the work you publish on your Flickr stream demonstrates how adept you are at loads of different genres — I’m especially fond of your street portraits, some of which I’ve featured here! How does blogging impact the development of your personal style?
AM: Thank you. When I started Street Level in September of 2007 I really wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it, I knew I wanted to feature photos I took from the street, but I wasn’t sure whether it would be street photography or streetscapes or whatever. It took me several months to work out what I wanted to do with the blog. I’ve always had a love of architecture, so shooting urban landscapes is something I really enjoy. Once I decided on the direction I wanted to go, I kept all the other types of photography off the blog. I think the discipline of shooting a theme on an almost daily basis forces me to look at my subject differently, in order to keep things interesting.

The street portraits are almost all candid, in fact most people don’t even realize I’m taking their picture. I try to not be sneaky, but try to blend in. Street photography can be quite exciting, sometimes pushing the envelope to see how close I can get, etc. Most of my street photography tends to be in Manhattan, although Brighton Beach can be rewarding.

LoB: I also understand you published a photography book last year. Congrats! Could you tell me a little about SOFOBOMO 2009, and any lessons you learned as part of the project or tips for other photographers looking to publish their own?
AM: Thanks, but anyone with a camera and a connection to the internet can participate in SoFoBoMo. SoFoBoMo is short for Solo Photo Book Month. You make your own photo book, start to finish in 31 days. This includes coming up with the concept for the book, shooting the photos, layout, and output to PDF for uploading. It is suggested that there be at least 35 photos in the book. I usually shoot more than 35 photos in a day, but it turned out to be a lot harder than I thought! It took a concerted effort to got a book’s worth of photos in 31 days. I plan on participating again in 2010, and will probably pick a completely different theme, possibly street photography or live music. It is relatively easy to publish your own printed photo book today. Blurb, Adorama, Mpix, and a host of other services offer on demand publishing. It is something I’ve been thinking about doing. And just keep shooting, shoot what makes you happy.

LoB: What’s the craziest photo story you have while shooting in NYC?
AM: I have a lot of different stories about shooting in the city, but two stand out right now. I lived off the Bowery in the Lower East Side when I first got into photography in 1986, and was shooting near the Bowery Bank on Bowery and Grand. The Bowery was still the Bowery then, and one of the street guys grabbed me and said he wanted my camera. I managed to pull away, and found a cop a few blocks away. After I told him he looked at me and said “What the hell are you doing with a camera around here anyway” like I was the criminal! Also around this time I was shooting storefronts around Little Italy. It was before the 4th of July and there was quite a bit of traffic in illegal fireworks. I was told by three wise guy wannabees that if I took a photo of them, they’d shove the camera down my throat and pull it out my ass. Needless to say, I didn’t point the camera their way.

I was also active in the Flickr NYC Social group for a while a couple of years ago…their meet-ups are always good for new stories… they were a lot of fun.

Thanks so much to Aonghais for the wonderful interview and have a great weekend! Enjoy the snow!