INSIDE THE BEAUTIFULLY UNCANNY WORLD OF ROMAN AGEE
Photo: Roman Agee | Model: Allan @allangachi
Roman Agee (he/him) is not like other photo bros. Amidst a seemingly endless digital landscape of shadowy florals perched on tables and pretty girls with loose strands of hair strewn across perfectly symmetrical faces, Roman points his lens at something very different. Something much more haunting. His aptly named practice, Something Something Studio, pushes back on content for content’s sake. His work presents subject matter that is simultaneously cinematic, surreal and, at times, chilling.
Each of Roman’s subjects plays a role in an allegory—some of which are satirical while others, slightly macabre. A simple scroll through his Instagram will intro you to his cinematic universe. One character sports a haute couture look made from bamboo umbrellas in a grass field while another brushes their hair, seated on a toilet in a lovely flower field. A pair of limp arms dangle from the sides of a pile of car tires. Gross, but good! Really good.
Photo: Roman Agee | Model: Declan @saibaboii
With imagery that is cinematic enough to make you wonder if you’re looking at a photo or a still from an Ari Aster film, Roman’s conception skills combined with his eye for composition make him an excellent storyteller—whether he knows it or not. In our interview, Roman reflects on the stories he’s trying to tell while dropping a few breadcrumbs about his own.
PC: How long have you been taking photos?
RA: Five years. I got my first camera five years ago.
PC: Seriously?
RA: Yeah.
PC: Only five years! And where did you learn?
RA: Well, my first real photo shoot was when I was in Bali. That's where I started with portraiture. My friend, who is a model and singer, wanted me to take photos of her. I was more into landscapes at the time. I ended up doing more of the swimsuit photoshoot type of thing in Bali.
When I got back to Vancouver, I didn't want to continue in that direction. I didn’t know how to approach people and didn't have other work to show them so that they’d want to shoot with me. I didn't take photos for two years after that. As far as where I learned? It's been YouTube. I've been lucky enough to have a couple of close friends who are film photographers and professional photographers. That's been helpful as well.
PC: So how did you start building up your portfolio? What was that trajectory like?
RA: Honestly, it started with taking photos of friends and partners. Some ideas were just pretty shoot concepts, like "this outfit would look cool with his." Then eventually, they’d turn into higher concept shoots with deeper meanings behind them, where I’d want someone to figure that out through the image.
PC: Your concepts are quite unique and very compelling. Do you create the concept first and then plan the shoot? Or do you just kind of freestyle it?
Photo: Roman Agee | Model: Shoya @shoya.rafushinsuki
RA: The concept definitely comes together beforehand. It does vary. Sometimes I just see something like a cool outfit at a vintage shop or a nice backdrop. I'll be driving and see a nice field or I'll be on Facebook marketplace and see 100 umbrellas for $40. Just random things like that. But the concept always comes before the shoot. Some of them are political, some of them are personal and some of them are just to create space for unique people and to tell their stories.
PC: What stories are you most interested in telling?
RA: Stories that are meaningful to me. I want to take photos of things that we're not seeing and the things that matter to me. For example, there are immigrants who are drowning while we're all caught up in billionaires and submarines. Thousand upon thousands of people die just trying to escape oppression.
Photo: Roman Agee | James @james.olam
RA: Then there are other stories…I did this photoshoot with this great model who had just had top surgery and had scars on their chest. They were just so powerful to see. I was thinking, how I could portray this person as a warrior? The whole concept was to portray them as a gladiator. There were many layers to it. Gladiators were slaves, they would fight for their freedom. Some of them would get their freedom, and when they would, they would be given their wooden training sword or wooden spear as a symbol of their freedom. I had the model with their gladiator chest piece draped showing their scars, holding their wooden training sword, which is a symbol of their freedom. Then they're wearing a laurel wreath, a symbol of victory, it’s what generals would wear when they were returning from war. To me, that person embodied the modern victory, they overcame so much just to be where they were and I thought that was beautiful.
Photo: Roman Agee | Model: Kai @andwhocouldforgetdearratboy
PC: Something that I think is really interesting about the stories I see you tell is that they can be quite grim. Where did where do you think the grimness comes from?
RA: I wouldn't say I specifically try it and go for grim. But I think more humorous.
PC: Like the shoot you did with that person sitting in the middle of the field on a toilet? Where did that idea come from?
RA: That actually happened. That was definitely supposed to be humorous. When you're with someone long enough you just start to fully see them, even when they do all their business. I think one morning I was just going to go to the washroom and they were just sitting on the toilet and brushing their hair. I think they might have been brushing their teeth and they were just looking beaten and not wanting to go to work, but I was still like, “Can’t they see how beautiful they are?” Its just so funny, because you could look at it like a painting or something. I was like, “I have to do this photoshoot and make this look like some sort of Venus-type character.”
Photo: Roman Agee | Model: Brenna @brennametz
PC: So you’re based now in Vancouver, but can you tell me a little bit about what it was like growing up in Qualicum Beach?
RA: It was a great time to be a kid. You're going down to the river to fish, you're going to ride BMXs in the forest and you're gone until dinnertime. Nobody had cell phones, and that was pretty cool. I got to just be a kid. It’s a beautiful town and I’m definitely privileged that I got to grow up in a place that looked like that. But it left so much to be desired in terms of diversity. There were two Asian families and one brown family. I mean, there were people who didn't believe it, but there was actually quite a bit of racism, and obviously a ton of homophobia at that time. It was an interesting upbringing.
PC: When did you leave?
RA: I moved away when I was 18 to Vancouver.
PC: And what did you do when you got here?
RA: I moved over with a backpack and slept on my friend's couch while he was going to school. I worked on the Sea to Sky highway doing construction while they widened the highway for the Olympics. Pretty glamorous stuff. Once the project ended, I got a call from a friend I had worked with and they reached out to me and asked if I wanted to come work in the film industry. I’d never worked on a movie set before and didn't know what that was all about. Long story short, I started working in film.
PC: Are there filmmakers or cinematographers that you have looked up to?
RA: I would say like, I do really appreciate cinematography and also just storytelling. I don't have any specific people that I'm directly influenced by. It's the storytelling.
PC: Where, in a dream scenario, would your photos live?
RA: It would feel pretty cool to be in a little gallery somewhere, someday. That's the goal. You know, on a wall, not on your phone.
Learn more about Roman’s work via his website and be sure to follow him on Instagram.
