Peter Sutherland (right) with his brother Andrew Sutherland in Tokyo.

Peter Sutherland is the NYC-based photographer for all our explorations.

Hypebeast recently interviewed Peter about Tokyo Rising and his work with Palladium.

Along with being our go-to guy, Peter is also an artist, a filmmaker, and a book publisher. He always has a million different projects going at once. We sat down with Peter to talk about what keeps him busy when he isn't exploring the world as part of the Palladium team.

Do you approach your commercial work differently than you approach your artwork?

Oh yeah. Artwork is done on my own terms, commercial work is an assignment and is usually needs to happen in a short amount of time. Both are exciting in their own way.

Do you feel like you are more of a documentarian than a traditional "artistic" photographer? By that I mean with your approach of lo-fi, natural light, minimal posing, minimal retouching do you feel like your work has more in common with aspects of photo journalism than the traditional art world/highbrow photography? Are you trying to capture a moment or does the look of the final piece you envision play a greater role in your process?

Photography is a creative outlet for me. I saw some documentary films and was inspired to start shooting around 2001. They definitely influenced the look and feel of my work and I use a documentary approach to shooting, but quite often I am not interested in documenting, I’m more focused on trying to capture the parts of life that I find interesting, unique, familiar, poetic, etc.

What are your travel essentials? Do you feel like with the amount of travel that you do that you are eternally prepared to run out the door? Do you still get excited about visiting new places? Can you recall a situation where you really felt like you were in legitimate danger — in a foreign country or deep in the wilderness?

I always pack for the plane an hour before I have to leave so it is a mixed bag. The longest I will go without travelling is about three months. I am excited to go to new places but I don’t enjoy the process of flying. The most dangerous place I have been was in a trailer park in California with a lunatic that kept live and dead rattlesnakes in his home. That was on a shoot for VBS. Normally I don't feel like I’m in any more danger than I do when I’m in NYC.

Can you share an experience when traveling that you felt like you were experiencing something incredibly unique or special? Something completely unexpected that really had an impact on you?

There are too many to name. I guess the cumlitive effect of so much travelling has taught me that every day is precious, human life is precious and that we are lucky for every day.

What is one place you haven't been to yet that you would like to explore?

I have not been to South America at all. I want to check out the mountains down there. Please!

You'e done a lot of work that deals in urban setting as well as a lot of work that focuses on nature and the outdoors. Do you have a preference for destinations for personal travel or are your expectations and goals completely different depending on the site?

For personal travel I like the western United States, there is so much open space in the west I like the feel of familiarity mixed with exploration. I feel a connection to it that i don't feel anywhere else. Did I mention I love snowboarding ?

What's next for you as far as film projects?

I love filmmaking but it is a very slow process. I've been slowly working on a film about Richard Prince for the last three years. Hopefully it will be done in a year.

Any new exhibitions that you have coming up?

Two shows in NYC right now. One is "Secrets of the Valley" at the Still House Gallery that opened on September 17th. The other is "Victory Over Darkness" at Half Gallery that opened on September 20th.

Are there any up and coming artists, photographers, musicians, or writers that you have encountered recently who you find particularly inspiring?

I have been working as a resident artist with the Still House guys. That has been pretty killer. Others: Sam Falls, Nick Van Woert, Alex Hubbard, my brother Andrew Sutherland, David Geeting — there are so many people killing it these days.

What are your inspirational staples that you always find yourself returning to in order to recharge your creative juices? What about them gives them such staying power for you?

I get inspiration from seeing movies. I have a sense of how much work it takes and it is for the most captivating medium I can think of. When I feel less creative I can work on busy work for different projects. My priorities are out of whack, I sleep on an air mattress because I’m too lazy to buy a bed but I will work on art and photo projects for days on end. It’s been that way for years, I always feel inspired I guess.

Photo: Gerhard Stochl