Life, they say, happens in an instant. And New York-based photographer Jeremy Kost's there to capture it. Readers have seen Kost's work here before - namely: his coverage of the Independent Spirit Awards.

The Texas-born artist doesn't spend all of his time on the red carpet, capturing celebs with his signature polaroid style. An aficionado of all things nocturnal, Kost has snapped many a New York night, producing thousands of images. A select few of those images made it into his show at The SoHo Grand: "Not a Play Area". Not a bad achievement for someone who fell into photography on a whim and - more surprisingly - for only about five years.

The 29-year old isn't stopping there, however. He's got loads up his sleeves. Read what he had to say about his seemingly bright future, intimacy and lending Andy Warhol a helping hand. But, first, the important shit: diet coke - can or bottle? Find out Kost's take, after the jump.

To see Kost's show, get that cute little tush of yours over to SoHo Grand. "Not A Play Area" will be up from this very second until April 15th. Plan accordingly. And, of course those of you looking to do a little cyber-stalking, you may be intrigued by his website: RoidRage.

Jeremy Kost: I love Diet Coke from a bottle. It’s really crisp.

Andrew Belonsky: I prefer it from a can – it has more bite, and that’s why I like Diet Coke: the bite.

JK: Really? Because I like the bite from this - I think it’s really crisp when it’s from the bottle like this. It’s the best in the city. You’ll see. It’s good here.

AB: [sips] Yeah, it’s good.

JK: I think the can is gross. It has the potential to be gross.

AB: Your artwork is pretty accidental. You were visiting New York - what was it, 2002, 2003 – and grabbed your friend’s Polaroid and headed out.

JK: Kind of, yeah. I used to promote parties in DC and I became friendly with a DJ named Billy Carroll and so I met him in Philadelphia one weekend [and met] one of my best friends, Scott Thompson, who is also a DJ. Scott and his boyfriend Pedro lived on 19th Street, so I would come up and visit them once a month – almost two and a half years I did it: coming up from DC and sometimes it was more than once a month. Pedro had a Polaroid camera on the wall of his house and I took it out and it’s just kind of turned into this crazy thing.

AB: Were you always intrigued by photography?

JK: Not really.

AB: What did you want to do originally?

JK: I don’t know. It’s really funny – I was a global account manager for an internet company and in DC I used to wear shorts and flip-flops to work. That same company, I transferred to New York with [them] in 2004, but I was wearing a suit. So, I’ve kind of morphed over the years. I don’t know. I didn’t think about it. This kind of happened. If you would have told me in 2002, when I took my first one, [that] I’d be making a living and having a show on the walls here, as a start, I would have [said] you were crazy.

AB: But you’re happy with the way things have gone?

JK: Yeah! I mean, look, I’ll put it this way: last year, I did better financially than I did the year before with a day job, full focused on taking polaroids for a living.

AB: How do you blow them up like this?

JK: The lab I work with, they do a really high-resolution drum scan so all the work that you see - there’s no color correction; there’s no retouching. To me, it is what it is. I’m a big believer in that. I don’t like a lot of surreal computer work afterwards.

AB: Capturing an instant is far more captivating than composing a shot, to me. I saw on your website that you say you’re inspired by Andy Warhol’s New York and - I understand that but I feel like in your work, I mean, I guess you’re not necessarily inspired by Andy Warhol’s work, just his culture, but you remind me of Ron Galella, in a way.

JK: I mean, Andy’s work, there’s some of it that reminds people of Andy’s work. I think there’s one image in the back - the Snow White image. I call it “The Missing Myth”. I don’t know if you remember Andy did a series called “The Myths” with Dracula, The Wicked Witch, Santa Clause and Mighty Mouse and all these iconic American myths. Well, he didn’t do Snow White, so I feel like I’m filling that hole for him.

And then there’s another one – “Fashion Makes Me Scream” – and it’s a direct reference to [Edward] Munch with his shape there and the neon sign [“This is not a play area”], which is kind of a big direction where I’m [going]: more conceptual, [rather] than just taking pictures. It’s a direct reference to Bruce Nauman. He’s kind of an art god, so to speak. He worked a lot in neon – he was kind of the pioneer of working with neon.

AB: Did you make that?

JK: I sketched it and a company that specializes [in neon] made it. But, opening night, there was a big, huge print hanging behind the sign – I’m trying to transcend from simply being a photographer. There are 12,000 polaroids in the archives, so you see sixteen of them –nineteen – but there are 12,000, so the work is there and I’ll always be shooting more, [but] if I’m shooting something, it’s because I think it’s cool or I’m into it.

AB: It would be cool to do an Americana shoot – go across America – polaroids are very American. You know, get the farm hands shoveling shit or Anne Marie in the back of her pick-up with her boyfriend.

JK: There might be something coming like that, but we’re not there yet.

AB: Tell me more about the conceptual work that you want to do.

JK: I’m really inspired by people like Terence Koh and Banks Violette. To me, whether I think about it or not, the white and black Polaroid camera, I don’t know, is taking notes from Terence. Not notes, but taking inspiration. He and I just did this small collaboration for this magazine called, M.

AB: [Conceptual work] will take so much more planning, though. It would be such a departure from that instant.

JK: Hopefully, given the opportunity, people are going to see this whole new body of work from me. It’s not just taking pictures of things that are happening, but shooting pictures that talk about something.

[Points to wall] During the opening - hanging underneath the black Polaroid camera – there was a series of pictures of a boy in a bathtub covered in raw meet with a knife. It was kind of a direct reference to sexuality being primitive and raw and aggressive: the root of what sex is. It told the story [by] going from very calm and serene to being very sexual at the end, as they cascaded down the wall. They’re really great. I’m [also] working on a series that refers more to intimacy and blurring the lines of sexuality, but with an intimate texture. I mean, these are all intimate, but they’re public intimate.

AB: It’s funny you should say that – “the public intimate” – because I’m reading Saturday by Ian McEwan and he has this bit where he talks about how the public square is the perfect arena for private dramas. People feel isolated in big, public space, which is really counter-intuitive.

JK: Yeah, but it also detracts from being more intimate. It allows you to not worry about being who you are, as much.

AB: Do you find it hard to be intimate with people?

JK: It depends, I guess. I mean, some people it clicks right away. Others, it doesn’t. It may take me a minute. I don’t have a problem with intimacy at all, it’s just a varying degree of it and what the end result is, you know? If it’s more personal, an emotional kind of intimacy: I’m okay with it, but it takes me a while to get there. I don’t date very often, I don’t hook up, I don’t fool around. I’m pretty boring when it comes to that. It’s funny, because I promoted parties for so long, I kind of went through this phase of “Oo, I want that, I’m going to get it.” Now, I go out and I’m with my friends. I just don’t think about it. Then I work five, six days a week. I just don’t care.

AB: You’ve worked with Terence. Who are some other artists with whom you’d like to collaborate?

JK: There [are] a lot of them. There’s a big collaborative project that I’m not talking about right now. It’s in proposal stage. Thirty-five artists are involved. It’s going to be big and it’s going to make some noise. It’s a fun one.

AB: How did you select the artists?

JK: A lot of them are people whose work I like personally. It’s not this big altruistic kind of thing. It’s “Oh, I like your work, let’s see what you can do with this.”

AB: Do you ever get tired of [photography]?

JK: Generally speaking, no. I love what I do. People are always like, “You’re working so hard! You work non-stop!” But if it’s not work – if it doesn’t feel like work – it’s not work. Whether it’s pictures or talking about my art, whether it’s about continuing the thought process when it comes to art. Whatever, it’s not work.

AB: What was your first show [of your work]?

JK: I produced a show at Crobar for Flaunt Magazine’s fashion week party in February of 2005.

AB: You’ve had a remarkably short career.

JK: Things are moving very fast.

AB: Which is fitting, considering your work is instant. It must feel nice.

JK: Dude, it’s kind of bizarre to think about it. Something that happened by mistake has kind of transcended into a job and is now allowing me to explore myself creatively, emotionally, intellectually.

AB: Why do you think people are drawn to your work?

JK: I don’t know. I think there’s an intimate connection with it. Each one of these pictures makes you feel like you’re part of a moment that maybe you should or shouldn’t be a part of. “Lips” – which is actually Amanda [Lepore] and Richie [Rich] – you kind of think, “Maybe she’s looking at me in her mirror”.

AB: Do you consider yourself ambitious?

JK: No, I just don’t fuck around. I think you have to. In New York, you either sink or swim. And, let’s face it, what I do and what I’ve built up is not something you can do half-assed. Taking Polaroids for a living. If I weren’t so aggressive and focused, it never would have happened. I’m very focused on being accepted and succeeding in a fine art world. That’s my laser focus goal.

AB: Where do you see yourself in fifteen years?

JK: God, who knows? That’s so crazy. I think in two-year chunks, generally. I think “where do I need to go now, what do I need to get done?” In fifteen years, I’d love to be doing bigger, more conceptual, art-driven things. Six or seven a year or something like that, not working 24/7. Hopefully by then I’ll be able to slow down a little bit.

Kost ain't slowing down anytime soon. In addition to the aforementioned collaborative project, he's busy working on a jewelry line, has plans for a bit of sculpture and his continuing series on Thai transsexuals. And, of course, seeking out the city's best Diet Coke. For the record, our lovely editor remains unconvinced: "Diet Coke from a can's the shit", he says.

Images: Kost as envisioned by Jacques del Conte
Jeremy Kost, "Untitled" 2006
Jeremy Kost, "Missing Myth" 2006
Jeremy Kost, "Fashion Makes Me Scream" 2006
Jeremy Kost, "Stuffed and Waiting" 2006
Jeremy Kost, "Lips" 2006