{"id":1850786,"date":"2026-03-27T12:27:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T09:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1850786"},"modified":"2026-03-27T12:27:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T09:27:00","slug":"podunk-nadia-lee-cohen-and-scarlett-carlos-clarkes-enigmatic-new-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1850786","title":{"rendered":"Podunk: Nadia Lee Cohen and Scarlett Carlos Clarke\u2019s enigmatic new book"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1178\/326-224-1178-785\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442622.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article class=\"main-article standard \">\n<div class=\"article-main-content article-wrapper has-media-but-its-an-image\" data-status=\"loaded\" data-primary-article=\"true\" data-url=\"\/art-photography\/article\/69999\/1\/nadia-lee-cohen-scarlett-carlos-clarke-idea-books-podunk-photo-tokyo-dsm\" data-article-id=\"69999\">\n<header class=\"article-header has-landscape-image no-media\">\n<div class=\"wrapper dg-max-width\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<figure class=\"main-img has-figcaption\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.78\" data-template=\"Standard Article\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Podunk \" class=\"img\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1400\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442622.jpg\" width=\"1920\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"inner\"><span class=\"credit\">Nadia Lee Cohen and Scarlett <span class=\"nowrap\">Carlos Clarke<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"meta\">\n<div class=\"inner\"><time datetime=\"2026-03-27T12:27:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"27 March 2026\"><span class=\"month\">March<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"27\">27,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"titles\">\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<div class=\"sections\"><a class=\"category vertical - art-photography\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\">Art &amp; Photography<\/a><br \/>\n\/<br \/>\n<a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/q-and-a\">Q+A<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"standard-tag-container\"><a class=\"standard-category\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\">Art &amp; Photography<\/a> \/<br \/>\n<a class=\"standard-series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/q-and-a\">Q+A<\/a><\/div>\n<h1 class=\"title\"><span>Podunk: Nadia Lee Cohen and Scarlett Carlos Clarke\u2019s enigmatic <span class=\"nowrap\">new book<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"standfirst\">\n<h2>We talk to the photographers about their latest collaboration, an alluring new project shot in a remote town in the <span class=\"nowrap\">Mojave Desert<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-03-27T12:27:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"27 March 2026\"><span class=\"month\">March<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"27\">27,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-03-27T12:27:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"27 March 2026\"><span class=\"month\">March<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"27\">27,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/p>\n<div class=\"providers\">\n<div class=\"contributors\"><span class=\"contributor\" data-contributor-role=\"Text\"><span class=\"contributor-role\">Text<\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/EloiseCooke\">Eloise Cooke<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article-body-container\">\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"dazed-gallery has-9-images \">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<header>\n<div class=\"info\"><span class=\"heading\">Nadia Lee Cohen and Scarlett Carlos <span class=\"nowrap\">Clarke, Podunk<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumbs\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36896\/0\/nadia-lee-cohen-and-scarlett-carlos-clarke-podunk\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Podunk \" class=\"img\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1620-1080\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442615.jpg\" width=\"1620\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36896\/1\/nadia-lee-cohen-and-scarlett-carlos-clarke-podunk\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Podunk \" class=\"img\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1620-1080\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442616.jpeg\" width=\"1620\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36896\/2\/nadia-lee-cohen-and-scarlett-carlos-clarke-podunk\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Podunk \" class=\"img\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1620-1080\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442617.jpg\" width=\"1620\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36896\/3\/nadia-lee-cohen-and-scarlett-carlos-clarke-podunk\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Podunk \" class=\"img\" height=\"812\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/344-179-1219-812\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442618.jpeg\" width=\"1219\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36896\/4\/nadia-lee-cohen-and-scarlett-carlos-clarke-podunk\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Podunk \" class=\"img\" height=\"785\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/378-172-1178-785\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442619.jpg\" width=\"1178\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36896\/5\/nadia-lee-cohen-and-scarlett-carlos-clarke-podunk\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Podunk \" class=\"img\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1620-1080\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442620.jpg\" width=\"1620\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-footer\">Gallery \/ 9 images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Picking up their new book, your first question for photographers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/scarlett-carlos-clarke\">Scarlett Carlos Clarke<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/nadia-lee-cohen\">Nadia Lee Cohen<\/a> might be: what the hell does <\/span><em><span>Podunk<\/span><\/em><span> mean? It was mine before interviewing them and, in preparation, I armed myself with a Googled etymological history. In modern American slang, it refers to a small, insignificant or isolated town. It comes from the indigenous American language Algonquian, in which it means <\/span><em><span>where you sink in the mire<\/span><\/em><span>. Equal parts ominous and eerie, the word underpins the mystery in this series of stills shot in Lancaster, California, a remote town in the Mojave Desert\u2019s Antelope Valley.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Carlos Clarke\u2019s way into photography was against her original plans. Keen not to follow in the footsteps of her father, photographer Bob Carlos Clarke, she pursued hairdressing after a foundation course. But photography was magnetising, and her knack was natural. Her portrait of her father, shot when Scarlett was only fourteen, was acquired by the National Gallery, making her the institution\u2019s youngest photographer on its books. Her photo book, <\/span><em><span>The Smell of Calpol on a Warm Summer\u2019s Night,<\/span><\/em><span> preceded by an exhibition at Cobb Gallery in London, was published by M\u00f6rel in 2024 (and features none other than Miss Nadia Lee Cohen).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Friends for almost a decade, they have always worked together. Carlos Clarke first shot Cohen in 2014. Then, Cohen shot Carlos Clarke and her son, Mosco, for her book <\/span><em><span>Women <\/span><\/em><span>(<\/span><span>first published in 2020 by IDEA Books). Their work continues to explore the weirdness and surrealness of femininity, womanhood and motherhood, pushing the boundaries of what these can look like.\u00a0<em>\u30dd\u30c0\u30f3 (Podunk) <\/em>is their latest project, comprising 128 stills. Carlos Clarke shot Cohen on Super 8 film, in a departure from her previously colourful work.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>I sat down with them before they both flew to Tokyo for the book launch at Dover Street Market Ginza. Speaking from time zones eight hours apart \u2013 Carlos Clark in GMT and Nadia PDT, they were finishing each other\u2019s sentences and cutting each other off, talking with the intimate rapport of siblings; high energy, high octane, and anchored in the joint pursuit of making great art.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Below, Nadia Lee Cohen and Scarlett Carlos Clarke about <em>Podunk<\/em>, what ruins a picture for them, their worst jobs before becoming photographers, and much more.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"104951b5-951c-4919-92ae-b41a00919531\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1920\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442619.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.78\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Podunk \" class=\"img\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442619.jpg\" width=\"1920\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">Nadia Lee Cohen and Scarlett <span class=\"nowrap\">Carlos Clarke<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>Tell us about the title.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong><span> I actually had the name written down for ages. I had it in my notes and I thought it was cool, and then I said it to Nadia, and you were like, \u2018N<\/span>o way, that sounds like&#8230;\u2019<\/p>\n<p><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><span> I said sounds like steampunk. And then she told me what it meant, and I was like, \u2018Oh, actually, it\u2019s perfect.\u2019 But I can\u2019t say it out loud.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> I just thought it was really fitting for the work<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> As soon as you told me what it meant \u2013 and I obviously knew what we\u2019d done \u2013 it couldn\u2019t be anything else\u2026 there\u2019s not a better word that describes it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>How did the project evolve?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> We shot really spontaneously and, to be honest, I didn\u2019t know if we were gonna even use it for anything<\/span><span>.<\/span><span> And then I started pulling stills from it, and I thought, \u2018Okay, maybe this is a thing.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> The stills felt like a black and white art movie \u2013 one of those boring ones. There was something matriarchal about the whole thing \u2013 not a grown man in sight. It reminded me of that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> You\u2019re a sister slash mother, the younger kids could be your kids, or they could be your siblings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>So, did you go into it seeking that sort of ambiguity?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> Yeah, I think so. I\u2019m really drawn to weird family dynamics, and maybe because I\u2019m an only child, it\u2019s something that I&#8217;ve always wanted: a big family.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> So, she did it [had children] quick. And she\u2019s trying to inflict that on me because I didn\u2019t, and haven\u2019t yet. Hopefully, I will one day, unless I\u2019m barren. Please don\u2019t let me be barren. Touch wood.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>\u201cI worked on a burger van. I used to work festivals. People would pay in cash and I would take a quid or two extra, put it in my wellies\u201d \u2013 Nadia Lee Cohen<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>It looks like you were shooting in the middle of nowhere. What was it like?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> I remember you were quite pissed off at the end. There was this desert wind storm and everyone was \u2013\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> Freezing. Every time the sun went down, it was so cold, and that\u2019s something that you don&#8217;t realise when you\u2019re in the baking sun during the day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> It turns very fast\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> Anything cold makes me moody.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> I think you do actually loosen up when you\u2019re really tired.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> Well, it\u2019s like Kubrick\u2019s theory with Shelley Duvall \u2013 get someone at their wits\u2019 end\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>You mentioned it being like a black-and-white movie. Quite a lot of your past work is very colourful \u2013 how come you chose to shoot in black and white for this?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> I did that completely instinctively; I didn\u2019t even think about it. Because I was shooting it on Super 8, it just felt right.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> I feel like you were working really closely with Vincent [Gallo], who knows exactly what he wants and that experience really infiltrated into everything that you were making around that time.\u00a0<\/span><span>Everything went dark in a good way, and in a way that you really considered. I think that that\u2019s the most I\u2019ve ever seen you really think about a project before and after.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> Sometimes shooting stills can feel a bit rigid. With film, there\u2019s something less precious \u2013\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> There\u2019s so much more to extract from. I like that too. It\u2019s why I like that <em>Paris, Texas,<\/em> Wim Wenders\u2019 book. You couldn\u2019t get that same feeling with stills. Automatically, when you tell someone it\u2019s a photo, they pose. I think that\u2019s the difference.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"e2df5e90-c87f-48f8-b5ad-b41a009192c9\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1920\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442618.jpeg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.78\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Podunk \" class=\"img\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442618.jpeg\" width=\"1920\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">Nadia Lee Cohen and Scarlett <span class=\"nowrap\">Carlos Clarke<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>You\u2019ve obviously worked together a lot and both shot and modelled for each other. How does your friendship come into your work with each other?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> We met over ten years ago now. I asked you to be in something. And then I was in one of your projects.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen: <\/strong>She\u2019s brutally honest. Scarlett is not shocked or offended by anything, which is a real rarity and something that I love in a friend, because you know what you\u2019re getting. If something\u2019s bad, you can just say it, rather than having to be like, \u2018Is<\/span><span> that gonna offend that person?\u2019 <\/span><span>In terms of how we met, you put me in a pregnant stomach [in <em>The Smell of Calpol on a Warm Summer\u2019s Night<\/em>]. You\u2019re always trying to make me into a mother.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> I keep doing that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen: <\/strong> It\u2019s interesting.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> Yeah, it\u2019s gradually stripping back the layers with someone\u2026 we\u2019re getting to Nadia\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen: <\/strong>That\u2019s why I don\u2019t ever speak. Because it ruins it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> But I think that\u2019s a good thing, though.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen: <\/strong> So do I. When you\u2019re working with someone you trust, you\u2019re not asking, <em>i<\/em><\/span><em>s it shit? <\/em><span>to yourself, you\u2019re asking it to somebody whose opinion you value and that makes a big <\/span><span>difference.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> It\u2019s also hard if you\u2019re in it. There\u2019s probably work in the book and pictures of you that I think are, you know \u2013\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen: <\/strong> Yeah, your favourites are not mine<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> All the faffing that goes on around shoots ruins the vibe. Like this job I did recently where there were eighty people on set. Everyone has an opinion, everything is watered down and, basically, you wanna get to the point where you are one-on-one with who you\u2019re shooting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen: <\/strong> Yeah, the less people, the better. The last shoot I did in LA was without any permits, sort of how I used to shoot when I first came here \u2013 running around with a light on a stick.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> You don\u2019t have to have those stressful shoot days where there\u2019s no time to do a shot. It doesn\u2019t need to be like that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen: <\/strong><\/span><span>Whenever I\u2019m doing something for a big corporation, there\u2019s a lot of Hollywood talking and nothing actually happening. I think that\u2019s why recently I\u2019ve reverted back to the sense that if I want to make something, I will just make it the same way I did when I was in school.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> I think that\u2019s why I want to go back to just working with friends. Because then, everyone\u2019s pushing for the same thing: to make good work.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Do you guys do non-work stuff together?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen: <\/strong> I actually realised I work with all my friends, I don\u2019t think that I\u2019d describe it as work. When we went on holiday to Greece, we were just messing about on the balcony, taking pictures, and what was it you were doing? You were putting yoghurt on your tits and it was just \u2013\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> Attention seeking\u2026 that\u2019s why it\u2019s fun. <\/span><span>I mean, maybe everything with us is work. Even when we were walking down the street in Hydra, you were stopping to take photos of a woman who had a tattoo on her neck saying \u2018I AM That, I AM\u2019. It\u2019s things like that \u2013 noticing the details.<\/span><span> I see everything as playing. I see what we do as an excuse not to get a proper job, really.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen: <\/strong> I\u2019m really thankful that I like what I do. Because I\u2019ve worked before in jobs I didn\u2019t like.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>What was the best and what was the worst?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> For me, bar work was kind of the worst.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> Did you work in a bar?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> Yeah, I worked in pubs pouring Jaeger bombs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> I worked on a burger van. <\/span><span>I used to work festivals. People would pay in cash and I would take a quid or two extra, put it in my wellies. At the end of the day I\u2019d walk home, sounding like a knight; <\/span><em><span>ka-ching ka-ching ka-ching,<\/span><\/em><span> because of the stolen cash in my boots.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> I worked in a hair salon. I did all the training, and then I was assisting someone who worked on a lot of editorial shoots. And it made me think, \u2018Okay maybe I should be doing photography.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> I<\/span><span>&#8216;ve also worked in a hairdresser\u2019s, but they never let me hold a pair of scissors. I was just sweeping, washing hair and making tea. You were in a really different kind of hairdresser\u2019s to me. In mine, I\u2019m not sure anyone would know what an editorial was.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> That\u2019s more inspiring.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> It was. Remember when people used to bring in a photo they\u2019d cut out of <em>Heat<\/em> magazine of what haircut they wanted.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> I can see how that\u2019s fed into your work. I always tried really hard to avoid doing photography because <\/span><span>it\u2019s what my dad did.\u00a0<\/span><span>I tried really hard to not do it. I was like,<em> \u2018<\/em><\/span><span>I just want to get a proper job and be paid.\u2019 S<\/span><span>o that\u2019s what I did. I did a foundation and then I went straight to do [hairdressing]. And then obviously I was around other artists and I was like, \u2018Oh, shit.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> [Photography] is\u00a0what you\u2019re supposed to do.\u00a0<\/span><span>You\u2019re not supposed to cut hair, I don\u2019t think. Not with that haircut you gave Mark.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> I have done really bad haircuts on people.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>What would ruin a photo for you instantly?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> I think posing\u2026 someone who\u2019s doing a pose they think looks great.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> I hate anything high-def. I don\u2019t understand why we need that. No one is supposed to see themselves or anyone else in one of those seven-times-zoom hotel mirrors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"f1d37a15-11f8-4846-a4a7-b41a00919971\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1920\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442621.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.78\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Podunk \" class=\"img\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442621.jpg\" width=\"1920\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">Nadia Lee Cohen and Scarlett <span class=\"nowrap\">Carlos Clarke<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>Do you think that\u2019s shaped by social media?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><\/span> I do. We used to want people to look beautiful.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong><\/span> Now everyone responds more to an iPhone picture, don\u2019t they?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><\/span>Yeah, for sure. Well, there\u2019s a reality to [that], but there\u2019s also something about higher definition that feels cheap and invasive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>How do you think social media has shaped how each of you photographs, or is photographed?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><\/span> I take more portrait pictures so they fit on a phone screen.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> Y<\/span>ou\u2019re actively doing portrait?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><\/span>Unconsciously doing more than I would if the phone didn\u2019t exist, yes. I used to be informed by <\/span><em>does this look like a film? <\/em><span>And that would always be landscape. And now, even subconsciously, I\u2019m thinking, is it <\/span><em>filling <\/em><span>[the phone]. You basically want to fill the space of whatever you\u2019re in.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong><\/span> I\u2019m doing the opposite.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><\/span>You&#8217;re rebelling.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong><\/span> I\u2019m self-sabotaging, yeah. I\u2019m <\/span>not<span> giving the people what they want.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><\/span> I think it\u2019s good that you\u2019re not doing it. Because also, it looks good in a book.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong><\/span> I think now more than ever, it\u2019s gonna be so important going back to that process of developing, printing, making books.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><\/span> Making something physical puts a line under a project for me.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong><\/span> I now look at my old work, and I\u2019m like, \u2018W<\/span><span>ell, that could be AI.\u2019 <\/span><span>It couldn&#8217;t, but it kind of could.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><\/span> Right, I think it\u2019s that basic childlike thing, you make something and you show it to someone and say, \u2018L<\/span><span>ook, here\u2019s this physical thing I\u2019ve made.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m self-sabotaging, yeah. I\u2019m not giving the people what they want\u201d \u2013 Scarlett Carlos Clarke<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s an influence that you guys would never usually admit to?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><\/span>I can\u2019t admit it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> M<\/span>y new thing is that I don\u2019t want references.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>No mood boards?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong><\/span> Ugh, the word mood board.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s something that\u2019s overreferenced right now?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong><\/span> I wouldn\u2019t know what\u2019s overreferenced. Nadia\u2019s work?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><\/span> Ahahaha.\u00a0<\/span><span>The word \u2018iconic\u2019 \u2013 that needs to go on Nicky Haslam&#8217;s Tea towels as common. I don\u2019t know why everything has to be a \u2018moment\u2019 at the moment. Hardly anything is actually iconic.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>So, your influences\u2026?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> It changes, doesn\u2019t it?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><\/span> It does change. People think that you\u2019re gonna be able to do good work all the time and \u2013<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong><\/span> \u2013 I think you have to do shit work as well<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><\/span> I don\u2019t know that you do. I just think you need to take a fucking break.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong><\/span> I love this, coming from you\u2026 It\u2019s not like it was for my dad\u2019s generation, where you could make mistakes and experiment and work wouldn\u2019t necessarily be discovered. Everything exists online forever now.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>And why launch it in Japan?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><\/span> There\u2019s something ominous about Scarlett\u2019s work that I think must have been passed down to her from her father, which I\u2019m really drawn to. The footage from this film felt like one of those incredibly dull but beautiful black-and-white art movies that you\u2019re supposed to show off that you\u2019ve watched. Particularly <em>Onibaba<\/em>, because of the grass, the landscape, the characters. It\u2019s a Japanese movie about women fighting to survive while men are away at war. There was a parallel matriarchal theme \u2013 so that\u2019s the crux of it. Plus, who doesn\u2019t want an excuse to go to Japan.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong><\/span> This was just an excuse for you to go to Japan, wasn\u2019t it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>What are you excited about in Japan, <\/strong><strong>apart<\/strong><strong> from the launch?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> There\u2019s a restaurant where an old Japanese couple make dinner in their living room. They have a shrine to Burt Bacharach and one of his albums plays from a CD player on repeat.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Podunk <em>by Nadia Lee Cohen and Scarlett Carlos Clarke is published by IDEA Books. RSVP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ideanow.online\/podunk\">here<\/a> for the Tokyo launch on 27 March 2026.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<footer class=\"article-footer\">\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<div class=\"article-series\">\n<h4 class=\"heading\">More on these topics<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-series\"><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\">Art &amp; Photography<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/q-and-a\">Q+A<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/scarlett-carlos-clarke\">Scarlett Carlos Clarke<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/nadia-lee-cohen\">nadia lee cohen<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<div class=\"grid\">\n<div class=\"lava-lamp\">\n<div class=\"lava-lamp-text-container\">\n<h3 class=\"lava-lamp-subheading\">Expand your creative community and connect with 15,000 creatives from around the world.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"grid section-header\">\n<div class=\"section-header__link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/69999\/1\/art-photography\"><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"section-header__title\">READ MORE<\/h2>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"grid tag-article-list\">\n<div class=\"swiper swiper-latest\">\n<div class=\"swiper-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"swiper-slide list-element\">\n<div class=\"scard-latest__section\">\n<div class=\"card-latest__wrapper\"><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/69955\/1\/whispers-against-my-neck-photo-book-us-youth-culture-chafetz-boulden\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Whispers Against My Neck\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-83-1964-1306\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442234.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Whispers Against My Neck: These photos document the chaos of youth<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/69989\/1\/guillaume-bihan-daria-vertilova-photography-danube-portraits-youth-culture\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Of Streams and Lighthouses, and In Between\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-2-3000-1995\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442561.jpeg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">This photo series depicts youth culture in summer along the Danube<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/69935\/1\/the-unexpected-history-of-nike-s-air-max\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\">\n<p class=\"optional-paragraph\"> Nike <\/p>\n<p><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"1080x1080_Swoosh_V1\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-1-1080-718\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442031.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">The unexpected history of Nike\u2019s Air Max<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"swiper-slide list-element\">\n<div class=\"scard-latest__section\">\n<div class=\"card-latest__wrapper\"><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/69987\/1\/circulations-festival-paris-emerging-photographers-interview-highlights\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"T2i &amp; NouN, manman dilo\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-690-1999-1330\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442547.jpeg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">5 emerging photographers to watch from Circulation(s) in Paris<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/69978\/1\/join-liz-johnson-artur-brixton-black-balloon-archive-london-black-culture\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"liz johnson artur\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/25-38-1151-766\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442394.png\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Liz Johnson Artur is inviting you into her studio<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/69965\/1\/barbara-kruger-dazed-spring-2026-issue-interview-artist-supreme-imagination\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"DC291_CB2_BarbaraKruger_Archive_03\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/30-117-848-564\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442326.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Barbara Kruger: \u2018Never be shocked. Shock is a failure of imagination\u2019<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"swiper-slide list-element\">\n<div class=\"scard-latest__section\">\n<div class=\"card-latest__wrapper\"><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/69970\/1\/meet-the-12-dazed-club-creatives-featured-in-our-spring-issue\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Dazed Club Spring Issue Clubbers 16x9\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-0-1624-1080\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442495.png\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Meet the 12 Dazed Club creatives featured in our latest issue<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/69960\/1\/language-we-share-gordon-parks-beverly-price-washington-dc-photography\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A Language We Share: Beverly Price and Gordon Parks\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/78-40-1670-1111\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442268.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">This show paints a then-and-now portrait of Black life in the US<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/69922\/1\/marilyn-minter-artist-interview-pretty-dirty-elder-sex-porn-grid\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Marilyn Minter\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/127-205-2384-1586\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442299.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">A guide to Marilyn Minter\u2019s subversive art, in her own words<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"swiper-slide list-element\">\n<div class=\"scard-latest__section\">\n<div class=\"card-latest__wrapper\"><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/69967\/1\/larry-clark-james-gilroy-bedtime-stories-boys-girls-book-photo-kids-interview\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Bedtime Stories for Bad Boys and Girls\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-380-1323-880\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442361.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Larry Clark and James Gilroy\u2019s advice for young artists<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/69951\/1\/chanel-victor-paris-dancers-portraits-venus-noire-burlesque-photographs\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Chanel Victor\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-332-2114-1406\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442127.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">These portraits capture the charismatic performers of Paris nightlife<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/69949\/1\/marina-abramovic-seven-deaths-maria-callas-opera-cisternerne-copenhagen\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Marina Abramovi\u0107, Seven Deaths\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-0-2536-1687\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442073.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Marina Abramovi\u0107 hopes this exhibition will heal your broken heart<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline\" data-newsletter hidden>\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"dazed-gallery has-9-images \">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<header>\n<div class=\"info\"><span class=\"heading\">Nadia Lee Cohen and Scarlett Carlos <span class=\"nowrap\">Clarke, Podunk<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumbs\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36896\/0\/nadia-lee-cohen-and-scarlett-carlos-clarke-podunk\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Podunk \" class=\"img\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1620-1080\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442615.jpg\" width=\"1620\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36896\/1\/nadia-lee-cohen-and-scarlett-carlos-clarke-podunk\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Podunk \" class=\"img\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1620-1080\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442616.jpeg\" width=\"1620\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36896\/2\/nadia-lee-cohen-and-scarlett-carlos-clarke-podunk\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Podunk \" class=\"img\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1620-1080\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442617.jpg\" width=\"1620\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36896\/3\/nadia-lee-cohen-and-scarlett-carlos-clarke-podunk\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Podunk \" class=\"img\" height=\"812\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/344-179-1219-812\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442618.jpeg\" width=\"1219\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36896\/4\/nadia-lee-cohen-and-scarlett-carlos-clarke-podunk\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Podunk \" class=\"img\" height=\"785\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/378-172-1178-785\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442619.jpg\" width=\"1178\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36896\/5\/nadia-lee-cohen-and-scarlett-carlos-clarke-podunk\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Podunk \" class=\"img\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1620-1080\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442620.jpg\" width=\"1620\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-footer\">Gallery \/ 9 images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Picking up their new book, your first question for photographers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/scarlett-carlos-clarke\">Scarlett Carlos Clarke<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/nadia-lee-cohen\">Nadia Lee Cohen<\/a> might be: what the hell does <\/span><em><span>Podunk<\/span><\/em><span> mean? It was mine before interviewing them and, in preparation, I armed myself with a Googled etymological history. In modern American slang, it refers to a small, insignificant or isolated town. It comes from the indigenous American language Algonquian, in which it means <\/span><em><span>where you sink in the mire<\/span><\/em><span>. Equal parts ominous and eerie, the word underpins the mystery in this series of stills shot in Lancaster, California, a remote town in the Mojave Desert\u2019s Antelope Valley.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Carlos Clarke\u2019s way into photography was against her original plans. Keen not to follow in the footsteps of her father, photographer Bob Carlos Clarke, she pursued hairdressing after a foundation course. But photography was magnetising, and her knack was natural. Her portrait of her father, shot when Scarlett was only fourteen, was acquired by the National Gallery, making her the institution\u2019s youngest photographer on its books. Her photo book, <\/span><em><span>The Smell of Calpol on a Warm Summer\u2019s Night,<\/span><\/em><span> preceded by an exhibition at Cobb Gallery in London, was published by M\u00f6rel in 2024 (and features none other than Miss Nadia Lee Cohen).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Friends for almost a decade, they have always worked together. Carlos Clarke first shot Cohen in 2014. Then, Cohen shot Carlos Clarke and her son, Mosco, for her book <\/span><em><span>Women <\/span><\/em><span>(<\/span><span>first published in 2020 by IDEA Books). Their work continues to explore the weirdness and surrealness of femininity, womanhood and motherhood, pushing the boundaries of what these can look like.\u00a0<em>\u30dd\u30c0\u30f3 (Podunk) <\/em>is their latest project, comprising 128 stills. Carlos Clarke shot Cohen on Super 8 film, in a departure from her previously colourful work.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>I sat down with them before they both flew to Tokyo for the book launch at Dover Street Market Ginza. Speaking from time zones eight hours apart \u2013 Carlos Clark in GMT and Nadia PDT, they were finishing each other\u2019s sentences and cutting each other off, talking with the intimate rapport of siblings; high energy, high octane, and anchored in the joint pursuit of making great art.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Below, Nadia Lee Cohen and Scarlett Carlos Clarke about <em>Podunk<\/em>, what ruins a picture for them, their worst jobs before becoming photographers, and much more.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"104951b5-951c-4919-92ae-b41a00919531\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1920\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442619.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.78\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Podunk \" class=\"img\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442619.jpg\" width=\"1920\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">Nadia Lee Cohen and Scarlett <span class=\"nowrap\">Carlos Clarke<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>Tell us about the title.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong><span> I actually had the name written down for ages. I had it in my notes and I thought it was cool, and then I said it to Nadia, and you were like, \u2018N<\/span>o way, that sounds like&#8230;\u2019<\/p>\n<p><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><span> I said sounds like steampunk. And then she told me what it meant, and I was like, \u2018Oh, actually, it\u2019s perfect.\u2019 But I can\u2019t say it out loud.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> I just thought it was really fitting for the work<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> As soon as you told me what it meant \u2013 and I obviously knew what we\u2019d done \u2013 it couldn\u2019t be anything else\u2026 there\u2019s not a better word that describes it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>How did the project evolve?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> We shot really spontaneously and, to be honest, I didn\u2019t know if we were gonna even use it for anything<\/span><span>.<\/span><span> And then I started pulling stills from it, and I thought, \u2018Okay, maybe this is a thing.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> The stills felt like a black and white art movie \u2013 one of those boring ones. There was something matriarchal about the whole thing \u2013 not a grown man in sight. It reminded me of that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> You\u2019re a sister slash mother, the younger kids could be your kids, or they could be your siblings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>So, did you go into it seeking that sort of ambiguity?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> Yeah, I think so. I\u2019m really drawn to weird family dynamics, and maybe because I\u2019m an only child, it\u2019s something that I&#8217;ve always wanted: a big family.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> So, she did it [had children] quick. And she\u2019s trying to inflict that on me because I didn\u2019t, and haven\u2019t yet. Hopefully, I will one day, unless I\u2019m barren. Please don\u2019t let me be barren. Touch wood.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>\u201cI worked on a burger van. I used to work festivals. People would pay in cash and I would take a quid or two extra, put it in my wellies\u201d \u2013 Nadia Lee Cohen<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>It looks like you were shooting in the middle of nowhere. What was it like?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> I remember you were quite pissed off at the end. There was this desert wind storm and everyone was \u2013\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> Freezing. Every time the sun went down, it was so cold, and that\u2019s something that you don&#8217;t realise when you\u2019re in the baking sun during the day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> It turns very fast\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> Anything cold makes me moody.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> I think you do actually loosen up when you\u2019re really tired.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> Well, it\u2019s like Kubrick\u2019s theory with Shelley Duvall \u2013 get someone at their wits\u2019 end\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>You mentioned it being like a black-and-white movie. Quite a lot of your past work is very colourful \u2013 how come you chose to shoot in black and white for this?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> I did that completely instinctively; I didn\u2019t even think about it. Because I was shooting it on Super 8, it just felt right.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> I feel like you were working really closely with Vincent [Gallo], who knows exactly what he wants and that experience really infiltrated into everything that you were making around that time.\u00a0<\/span><span>Everything went dark in a good way, and in a way that you really considered. I think that that\u2019s the most I\u2019ve ever seen you really think about a project before and after.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> Sometimes shooting stills can feel a bit rigid. With film, there\u2019s something less precious \u2013\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> There\u2019s so much more to extract from. I like that too. It\u2019s why I like that <em>Paris, Texas,<\/em> Wim Wenders\u2019 book. You couldn\u2019t get that same feeling with stills. Automatically, when you tell someone it\u2019s a photo, they pose. I think that\u2019s the difference.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"e2df5e90-c87f-48f8-b5ad-b41a009192c9\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1920\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442618.jpeg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.78\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Podunk \" class=\"img\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442618.jpeg\" width=\"1920\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">Nadia Lee Cohen and Scarlett <span class=\"nowrap\">Carlos Clarke<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>You\u2019ve obviously worked together a lot and both shot and modelled for each other. How does your friendship come into your work with each other?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> We met over ten years ago now. I asked you to be in something. And then I was in one of your projects.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen: <\/strong>She\u2019s brutally honest. Scarlett is not shocked or offended by anything, which is a real rarity and something that I love in a friend, because you know what you\u2019re getting. If something\u2019s bad, you can just say it, rather than having to be like, \u2018Is<\/span><span> that gonna offend that person?\u2019 <\/span><span>In terms of how we met, you put me in a pregnant stomach [in <em>The Smell of Calpol on a Warm Summer\u2019s Night<\/em>]. You\u2019re always trying to make me into a mother.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> I keep doing that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen: <\/strong> It\u2019s interesting.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> Yeah, it\u2019s gradually stripping back the layers with someone\u2026 we\u2019re getting to Nadia\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen: <\/strong>That\u2019s why I don\u2019t ever speak. Because it ruins it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> But I think that\u2019s a good thing, though.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen: <\/strong> So do I. When you\u2019re working with someone you trust, you\u2019re not asking, <em>i<\/em><\/span><em>s it shit? <\/em><span>to yourself, you\u2019re asking it to somebody whose opinion you value and that makes a big <\/span><span>difference.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> It\u2019s also hard if you\u2019re in it. There\u2019s probably work in the book and pictures of you that I think are, you know \u2013\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen: <\/strong> Yeah, your favourites are not mine<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> All the faffing that goes on around shoots ruins the vibe. Like this job I did recently where there were eighty people on set. Everyone has an opinion, everything is watered down and, basically, you wanna get to the point where you are one-on-one with who you\u2019re shooting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen: <\/strong> Yeah, the less people, the better. The last shoot I did in LA was without any permits, sort of how I used to shoot when I first came here \u2013 running around with a light on a stick.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> You don\u2019t have to have those stressful shoot days where there\u2019s no time to do a shot. It doesn\u2019t need to be like that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen: <\/strong><\/span><span>Whenever I\u2019m doing something for a big corporation, there\u2019s a lot of Hollywood talking and nothing actually happening. I think that\u2019s why recently I\u2019ve reverted back to the sense that if I want to make something, I will just make it the same way I did when I was in school.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> I think that\u2019s why I want to go back to just working with friends. Because then, everyone\u2019s pushing for the same thing: to make good work.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Do you guys do non-work stuff together?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen: <\/strong> I actually realised I work with all my friends, I don\u2019t think that I\u2019d describe it as work. When we went on holiday to Greece, we were just messing about on the balcony, taking pictures, and what was it you were doing? You were putting yoghurt on your tits and it was just \u2013\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> Attention seeking\u2026 that\u2019s why it\u2019s fun. <\/span><span>I mean, maybe everything with us is work. Even when we were walking down the street in Hydra, you were stopping to take photos of a woman who had a tattoo on her neck saying \u2018I AM That, I AM\u2019. It\u2019s things like that \u2013 noticing the details.<\/span><span> I see everything as playing. I see what we do as an excuse not to get a proper job, really.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen: <\/strong> I\u2019m really thankful that I like what I do. Because I\u2019ve worked before in jobs I didn\u2019t like.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>What was the best and what was the worst?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> For me, bar work was kind of the worst.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> Did you work in a bar?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> Yeah, I worked in pubs pouring Jaeger bombs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> I worked on a burger van. <\/span><span>I used to work festivals. People would pay in cash and I would take a quid or two extra, put it in my wellies. At the end of the day I\u2019d walk home, sounding like a knight; <\/span><em><span>ka-ching ka-ching ka-ching,<\/span><\/em><span> because of the stolen cash in my boots.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> I worked in a hair salon. I did all the training, and then I was assisting someone who worked on a lot of editorial shoots. And it made me think, \u2018Okay maybe I should be doing photography.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> I<\/span><span>&#8216;ve also worked in a hairdresser\u2019s, but they never let me hold a pair of scissors. I was just sweeping, washing hair and making tea. You were in a really different kind of hairdresser\u2019s to me. In mine, I\u2019m not sure anyone would know what an editorial was.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> That\u2019s more inspiring.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> It was. Remember when people used to bring in a photo they\u2019d cut out of <em>Heat<\/em> magazine of what haircut they wanted.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> I can see how that\u2019s fed into your work. I always tried really hard to avoid doing photography because <\/span><span>it\u2019s what my dad did.\u00a0<\/span><span>I tried really hard to not do it. I was like,<em> \u2018<\/em><\/span><span>I just want to get a proper job and be paid.\u2019 S<\/span><span>o that\u2019s what I did. I did a foundation and then I went straight to do [hairdressing]. And then obviously I was around other artists and I was like, \u2018Oh, shit.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> [Photography] is\u00a0what you\u2019re supposed to do.\u00a0<\/span><span>You\u2019re not supposed to cut hair, I don\u2019t think. Not with that haircut you gave Mark.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> I have done really bad haircuts on people.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>What would ruin a photo for you instantly?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> I think posing\u2026 someone who\u2019s doing a pose they think looks great.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> I hate anything high-def. I don\u2019t understand why we need that. No one is supposed to see themselves or anyone else in one of those seven-times-zoom hotel mirrors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"f1d37a15-11f8-4846-a4a7-b41a00919971\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1920\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442621.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.78\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Podunk \" class=\"img\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442621.jpg\" width=\"1920\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">Nadia Lee Cohen and Scarlett <span class=\"nowrap\">Carlos Clarke<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>Do you think that\u2019s shaped by social media?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><\/span> I do. We used to want people to look beautiful.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong><\/span> Now everyone responds more to an iPhone picture, don\u2019t they?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><\/span>Yeah, for sure. Well, there\u2019s a reality to [that], but there\u2019s also something about higher definition that feels cheap and invasive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>How do you think social media has shaped how each of you photographs, or is photographed?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><\/span> I take more portrait pictures so they fit on a phone screen.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> Y<\/span>ou\u2019re actively doing portrait?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><\/span>Unconsciously doing more than I would if the phone didn\u2019t exist, yes. I used to be informed by <\/span><em>does this look like a film? <\/em><span>And that would always be landscape. And now, even subconsciously, I\u2019m thinking, is it <\/span><em>filling <\/em><span>[the phone]. You basically want to fill the space of whatever you\u2019re in.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong><\/span> I\u2019m doing the opposite.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><\/span>You&#8217;re rebelling.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong><\/span> I\u2019m self-sabotaging, yeah. I\u2019m <\/span>not<span> giving the people what they want.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><\/span> I think it\u2019s good that you\u2019re not doing it. Because also, it looks good in a book.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong><\/span> I think now more than ever, it\u2019s gonna be so important going back to that process of developing, printing, making books.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><\/span> Making something physical puts a line under a project for me.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong><\/span> I now look at my old work, and I\u2019m like, \u2018W<\/span><span>ell, that could be AI.\u2019 <\/span><span>It couldn&#8217;t, but it kind of could.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><\/span> Right, I think it\u2019s that basic childlike thing, you make something and you show it to someone and say, \u2018L<\/span><span>ook, here\u2019s this physical thing I\u2019ve made.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m self-sabotaging, yeah. I\u2019m not giving the people what they want\u201d \u2013 Scarlett Carlos Clarke<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s an influence that you guys would never usually admit to?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><\/span>I can\u2019t admit it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> M<\/span>y new thing is that I don\u2019t want references.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>No mood boards?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong><\/span> Ugh, the word mood board.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s something that\u2019s overreferenced right now?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong><\/span> I wouldn\u2019t know what\u2019s overreferenced. Nadia\u2019s work?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><\/span> Ahahaha.\u00a0<\/span><span>The word \u2018iconic\u2019 \u2013 that needs to go on Nicky Haslam&#8217;s Tea towels as common. I don\u2019t know why everything has to be a \u2018moment\u2019 at the moment. Hardly anything is actually iconic.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>So, your influences\u2026?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong> It changes, doesn\u2019t it?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><\/span> It does change. People think that you\u2019re gonna be able to do good work all the time and \u2013<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong><\/span> \u2013 I think you have to do shit work as well<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><\/span> I don\u2019t know that you do. I just think you need to take a fucking break.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong><\/span> I love this, coming from you\u2026 It\u2019s not like it was for my dad\u2019s generation, where you could make mistakes and experiment and work wouldn\u2019t necessarily be discovered. Everything exists online forever now.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>And why launch it in Japan?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong><\/span> There\u2019s something ominous about Scarlett\u2019s work that I think must have been passed down to her from her father, which I\u2019m really drawn to. The footage from this film felt like one of those incredibly dull but beautiful black-and-white art movies that you\u2019re supposed to show off that you\u2019ve watched. Particularly <em>Onibaba<\/em>, because of the grass, the landscape, the characters. It\u2019s a Japanese movie about women fighting to survive while men are away at war. There was a parallel matriarchal theme \u2013 so that\u2019s the crux of it. Plus, who doesn\u2019t want an excuse to go to Japan.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><strong>Scarlett Carlos Clarke:<\/strong><\/span> This was just an excuse for you to go to Japan, wasn\u2019t it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>What are you excited about in Japan, <\/strong><strong>apart<\/strong><strong> from the launch?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Nadia Lee Cohen:<\/strong> There\u2019s a restaurant where an old Japanese couple make dinner in their living room. They have a shrine to Burt Bacharach and one of his albums plays from a CD player on repeat.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Podunk <em>by Nadia Lee Cohen and Scarlett Carlos Clarke is published by IDEA Books. RSVP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ideanow.online\/podunk\">here<\/a> for the Tokyo launch on 27 March 2026.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/69999\/1\/nadia-lee-cohen-scarlett-carlos-clarke-idea-books-podunk-photo-tokyo-dsm&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1178\/326-224-1178-785\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442622.jpg&#8221;] Nadia Lee Cohen and Scarlett Carlos Clarke March\u00a0 27,\u00a0 2026 Art &amp; Photography \/ Q+A Art &amp; Photography \/ Q+A Podunk: Nadia Lee Cohen and Scarlett Carlos Clarke\u2019s enigmatic new book We talk to the photographers about their latest collaboration, an alluring new project shot in a remote town in the Mojave [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,76],"class_list":["post-1850786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1850786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1850786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1850786\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1850786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1850786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1850786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}