Over the past year-and-a-half, Joel Yum has interviewed and photographed over 60 subjects – all emerging artists in Toronto – as part of his blog, The Image Interview. Unlike the traditional Q&A interview, Joel arms each subject with coloured Sharpies and sets them loose onto 3” x 5” blank cards. To complete his tableau, these hand-written comments are placed next to a mix of still life and portrait photographs.

Stemming from the idea that beauty is a reflection of your individuality, the blog started off as a personal project, shooting portraits. Like all things Darwinian, The Image Interview evolved into a platform for promoting creativity, while capturing great people behind great work.

Joel’s unique interview approach, along with his innate ability to capture his subject’s personality, has garnered notable buzz throughout the blogosphere. I recently sat down to pick at Joel’s brain, where he gave insight into The Image Interview, Joel Yum: the man and the meaning of life.