When she's looking for something to shoot, photographer Michelle Groskopf goes after the everyday, the banal, the suburban. "I’ll shoot anything," she tells Refinery29, "But the things that stand out the most to me is imagery that triggers that feeling of my childhood."
Groskopf grew up in a suburb of Toronto in the 1980s, but as an adult, she distanced herself from her suburban background, moving first to Europe and then to New York. It was only when she relocated to Los Angeles four years ago that the markers of her childhood — strip malls, senior citizens, an air of affluence — started to inspire to her.
"[After] moving to L.A., I just kind of embraced my childhood and embraced where I come from," she says.
However, this is hardly to say that the resulting images themselves are banal. They manage to capture the ordinary while reminding viewers that if you take a moment to look around, hardly anything is truly ordinary. Groskopf compares her process to storytelling: Anything, if viewed the right way, can become a story. While her images are rooted in reality, they portray a heightened, starker portrayal of it — shot on the fly and with plenty of flash.
"When you look at my work, you’re entering my world," she says. "I’m your tour guide to this suburb in my mind."
Click through to view a selection of Groskopf's work and get a glimpse of a reimagined suburbia.
"This photo hovers somewhere between a very banal moment and the raging ocean. I love how the colors of her sweatshirt and the waves blend to highlight the pink of the ice cream and the pink of her chin. I often choose to frame out a face in order to make the scenario feel more universal; it’s not her experience I’m highlighting, but a type of experience and a type of woman."
"I’m obsessed with braces. Probably because I wore them as a teenager for five horrible years. I have several photos of this young woman. I run at her to take her photo excitedly every time I see her, and she never gets scared. She’s me at that age."
"I love this photo; I’m obsessed with it. The nails, the skinny cigarette, the fur coat. High drama. It throws me back to my suburban childhood and to the '80s. It’s everything to me."
"For me, it’s all about that bloody cut, the wrist guard, and that red bag. She was wearing men’s clothing, all a bit too big for her. I imagined they belonged to her late husband."
"This photo features two details I’m generally obsessed with: colored nails and an abundance of jewelry. These are elements of my childhood that get me very excited when I see them in the street. They conjure up memories of my family and a certain kind of woman that is familiar to me."
"This photo tells a clear story of a couple sneaking away for an intimate moment in the park. I love the tangled shape of their bodies and the sweater in lieu of a blanket. I also love the thrill of sneaking up on people, grabbing the shot and then sneaking away without being seen. It’s a crazy challenge."
"It’s not hard to imagine what he dreams and desires for himself, this self-made young man. I think about him often."
"There is so much exuberance, joy, and freedom in this photo for me; and the colors are so satisfying. It has a very visceral quality. As a child, I spent a lot of time alone playing in this ravine near my house. It was a wild place. I understand her instinct to want to cover herself in the mud."
"This woman is everything for me. She represents my childhood, my family, my grandmother with her lemon water. I love her defeated look, as if expecting to lose the inevitable battle she must now face against this giant slice. Straight out of my subconscious."
"It says a lot when someone will eschew the experience of playing on the beach to paint it instead, or in my case, photograph it. In that moment, I felt so connected to him. I think it’s one of my most successful photographs to date."
"I took this in Beverly Hills, which I love to shoot. I saw this car pulling up to park. It was full of seniors and I sensed an opportunity. I waited patiently on the curb and pounced when the door opened. I was rewarded with this gift from the gods. I had no idea I would be witness to this dog in a dress."
"I live not far from the chaos of Hollywood Boulevard. I love the energy and stream of faces. This kid was hanging outside of a subway station. He was shielding his eyes from the glaring sun, perhaps on the lookout for someone. He’s so beautiful, I couldn’t resist. It was as if he was posing for me. Those dirty fingernails."
"I began to notice this very well-dressed, glamorous older woman collecting recycling from people’s bins along my street every afternoon. She’d wander up my driveway with her bags looking like an aging fashion icon. I grabbed this photo of her one day. Her name is Lisa."
"Always be looking up and down, for that’s where the forgotten action lives. The colors of their skin, the way his hand wraps around the calf. It’s a perfect detail shot for me. I got on my knees for it. I was shaking because I knew it was so good."
"This was taken at Muscle Beach. I love the sort of surrealism that plays very small, like the way his arm is so giant and she is so orange with fake tanning spray. His big watch and her little bikini strap play the foil. You can really feel the moment he grabs her even though it has yet to happen."
"These girls represent a type of girl I grew up with. They often made my life difficult, and for that, I still idolize their power. Braces and best friends forever!"
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