When I first heard of photographer and director Robyn Von Swank, I felt like I had found my long lost love, or BFF, or something. I spent hours looking through her website, her blog, and all of her photos. She is a comedy nerd! We are totally into the same people! The same music! In fact I was pissed I was just now finding out about her. (Thanks Mike Burns.) SO is art, comedy, and fashion, and Robyn is an artist who shoots comedians (amongst many other things) and has great style! Her photos look like stills out of a movie, provoking your imagination to create some wild backstory to what you’re seeing. From Jon Hamm to Zack Galifianakis to Sasha Grey, you really feel as if you’re getting to see a side of each person no one else is getting to see, a behind the curtain sneak peek. These people are having fun, truly, and it comes out in each photo. Continue reading for your own personal peek into Robyn Von Swank, and some of her amazing work.

Serial Optimist: Hi Robyn! Thanks SO much for taking the time to chat with us! Where did you grow up, how long have you been in LA, and what is you favorite late night snack?

Robyn Von Swank: I grew up in Victoria, B.C., Canada and I have been in LA for 4 years.

I like Mac & Cheese and will scour the city at random hours for it. I will also push small children out of the way if I have to. They should not be awake anyhow.

Jon Hamm & Michael Gladis

SO: When did you first start taking photos? When was the moment you realized this is something you were really talented at, and could make a living at, as opposed to something you just really enjoyed doing?

RVS: I have taken photos all my life, ever since I can remember. My parents were always very supportive of the fact that I wanted to make movies and document things since I was 5. Every picture I take has meaning to me. When I was about 20 I realized that this was something I did not suck at (although now when I look back on those pictures, they totally suck), so I just started doing it more and more and eventually people gave me money for it. Fin.

Lizzy Caplan

SO: How did your style of photography develop? How would you define your style?

RVS: I am always trying new styles and ideas, and it’s always evolving. It’s weird for me to step back and see that I have a style, but I can totally see it from other people’s perspectives now. I don’t know how to define it really because I do feel like I have a few completely opposite looks in my arsenal, and I enjoy playing with all of them.

Zach Galifianakis

SO: You have a portfolio that is full of amazing pictures of the best comedians around. How did you end up in that niche? Was that something you seeked out?

RVS: I just wanted to be a part of something I am extremely passionate about. I am a huge comedy geek. I just went after what I love.

Aubrey Plaza

SO: Have you been directing as long as you have been taking photos? Is directing equally as important to you as photography, and what do you hope to do more of behind a video camera?

RVS: Directing is really fun, and I like it a lot. I’ve been doing it as long as I have been taking photos but just not as frequently. Music videos are the best! I would not turn down another music video, but I tend to focus a bit more on photography.

Aziz Ansari

SO: What was the inspiration behind the Joe Holiday photos?

RVS: There was this crazy woman who believed the world was going to end on 7/7/7 and Jesus was going to come to Echo Park and save us all. So I joined the strange crowd of people who went to wait for him to rise out of the water and take us away on a magical cloud made on unicorn tears and farts. Weirdly though, he did not come! Anyway, that is where I met Joe Holiday. He was just hanging out. Made sense. So I took his photo.

Nick Thune

Guest question from our friends at Streetwater: Are cigarettes used as props? Is it something you ask certain people to do while shooting? (ex: Nick Thune)

RVS: As I do not condone the cigarette industry, and think it’s really evil (I am an ex-smoker myself), but alas I think smoking looks SO COOL. I am sorry; I cannot get around how goddamn cool it looks. I love photographing smoke. It’s like a little Don Draper with devil horns pops up on my shoulder and tells me to do it.

Annie Baria

SO: Have you ever had a concept for a shoot, put lots of time into it, and then realized: “Oh my, this is not good, this just isn’t going to work!”

RVS: Yes. But within that, there are a bunch of things that can be done, so there is no way I will not walk away with something I am not in love with. I can always change something at the last minute. I work well like that.

Sarah Silverman

SO: How much input do the people you’re shooting have in the actually shoot? Do they come up with or pitch ideas to you about what they want? Is it a collaborative effort, or do you already have the vision set pre-shoot?

RVS: It can go either way- sometimes people come to me with an idea, or half idea. We usually collaborate and work it together. Other times I just think of people in these scenarios, or I see them with a certain style, and we just do it.

Nick Offerman

SO: I imagine the shoots with pretty much all of people you work with are a blast. If you could do a photo shoot with one comedian that is no longer alive, who would it be?

RVS: Gilda Radner. She was my hero when I was 7, and I used to watch her on SNL and I thought she was the coolest chick ever.

Martin Starr

SO: What kind of things are you into outside of photography and directing? What are your other passions, no matter how small, silly, or big they might be?

RVS: I like cooking a lot. I want to make cheese, and I just started making pickles. I also like putting hats on tiny dogs. And of course, booty dancing to Ludacris.

Armen Weitzman & Rob Huebel

SO: I love that I’m now picturing you doing all of those things. Big smiles.

SO: Where do you find inspiration? What kinds of things in life make you smile?

RVS: I like wandering around new places and experiencing new strange people. Anything new is inspiring. One of my favorite things to do is walk to the post office in Hollywood and talk to weirdoes on the street, and then watch everyone else in the post office. I really look forward to that, actually. I like the lady who works there, she has long grey hair and looks like a spider.

SO: If you can find the inspiring and the interesting from the post office, then you no doubt are living life in a beautiful way. Love it. Thanks Robyn!

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SO Note: For The Comedy, The Faces, The Moments, The Horror, and The Music go to Robyn’s awesome website www.vonswank.com, check out her blog at www.vonswank.tumblr.com, view her photostream here and follow her on Twitter @vonswank!

*All photos by Robyn Von Swank. Copyright 2010.