Words by Jon Ruti, Photography by Jenna Jones, Art by Jonny Cournoyer

Jonny is a man of many talents; photographer, artist, musician, husband, father and finally, good friend (excellent drinking buddy, as well).

I met Jonny through his wife, Jenn Streicher, the well-known makeup artist and founder of a clean beauty empire in the form of her two stores, Duchess & Scout (both here in Bedford & Pound Ridge, NY).

Jonny has been a big supporter of Rivay and when I think of interesting and good human beings to interview for the Dispatch, Jonny is always top of mind. We finally got together in his beautiful barn to peel back the many fascinating layers of this man.

Please enjoy!

JR: Give us a little intro and tell us about the day job…

JC: I am a photographer for film and television productions, shooting behind-the-scenes and capturing stills for publicity and marketing use. I’ve worked for Paramount Pictures and Amazon Studios but have also shot for Apple and Warner Brothers as well. I’ve been doing this since 2014. Previously, I worked for almost a decade in the Los Angeles art world but was burned out being behind the desk at a gallery and selling art by other artists. I was desperate to do something creative again myself. Then opportunity fell into my lap and I went with it.

Photo by Jenna Jones. Jonny wears the Rivay Quinn Denim Shirt over the Slub Cotton Pocket Tee in Pale Grey

The first gig was for a film called ‘The Hollars’ a charming, underrated indie film by dear friend and (then) up-and-coming director, John Krasinski. John knew I could shoot and fought for me to be hired on the crew. If I’m honest, it was his idea for me to be a set photographer (after a wine-infused night of brainstorming about my existential future). He believed my calm temperament, eye and art background was perfect for the role. I didn’t even know it was a job. I never stepped foot on a set, had no idea what anyone else on the crew did and still didn’t grasp the details behind the science of photography. It was all on-the-job training and by far the best boot camp. I found my footing with the camera while relying on my raw creative instincts and soon gained a second family with his production company, Sunday Night (we had epic adventures together in Mississippi filming). Miraculously, I ended up qualifying to join the union on this first job, an incredibly rare result. Sunday Night went on to produce both A Quiet Place films and four seasons of Amazon’s Jack Ryan and my new family and I toured the world together, experiencing epic international adventures.

JR: How did you get into photography?

JC: My parents gifted me a Nikon film camera when I graduated college. I always snapped shots of family, friends, trips, etc. but never considered myself a photographer (let alone a professional one). I was more of a composition-maker, a moment-catcher. I approached photography from a painterly point of view, but still lacked the technical grasp. I loved the documentary aspect of it, freezing moments in time with this magical gadget. I was a fine art major in painting and took a few classes in college (pre-digital, all 35mm). I loved developing in the darkroom; the glowing clock, the water streaming, the peacefulness, how the slightest change in chemistry or time completely alters the image. From there, I just snapped on the side until (fast forward fifteen years) I found myself in Mississippi where it “got real” real fast.

JR: Can you tell us the most rewarding production you’ve worked on and why?

JC: Hands down, the first A Quiet Place film. From the first day, I knew it was something special; the look, the feel, the story. It was a difficult shoot at times, many cold nights in the corn fields of Pawling, NY.

JR: We’re big fans of your art at Rivay, can you take us along the evolution of how you started painting, what you most enjoy about painting and what inspires you?

JC: From the beginning, my mother raised my brother and I with brushes in our hands. We grew up on a tight budget and apart from supplies, painting was free. She took us to parks and lakes to paint plein-air or to the local Ringling Museum, where we’d stare up at the enormous Peter Paul Rubens works and try and copy them.

Photos by Jenna Jones. Jonny wears the Winslow Donegal Shawl Cardigan in Brown, the Series II Garment Dyed Utility Pant in Indigo Rivay Quinn Denim Shirt and the Slub Cotton Pocket Tee in Pale Grey

I enjoy the physicality and emotional aspects most about painting and drawing. I love the materials; paint tubes, brushes, pastels, charcoal, different papers. I shouldn’t go into an art supply store unaccompanied – I’m addicted to the supplies. I'm empowered when they're in my hands. It’s my most natural medium and preferred mode of expression.

Emotionally speaking, painting allows me to temporarily escape the world yet simultaneously document how I envision it via the object that is created in the process. I am inspired by places of importance I see on my travels, but also look locally as we’re surrounded by these haunted, historical hamlets. Places that look the same today as they did a few hundred years ago, places that move us and link us to both past and present. I’m also greatly concerned with climate change and what the world will soon look like. I have a new series in the works specifically exploring this.

Jonny Cournoyer

Along with heady topics like these, I’m constantly influenced by what light is like and how shadows affect color. Early morning and golden hours are hypnotic to me. It’s almost impossible for me to look around and not think about gradients and color values.

JR: What and/or who are some of your biggest influences?

JC: I’m an art history junkie so the list is long and expansive, but it’s not just rooted in the dominant European-based perspective. I love a Lakota winter count painting on bison rawhide as much as I love a Matisse paper cutout collage. I’m a sucker for all things “Français,” whether it’s Van Gogh in Provence or Duchamp in Montparnasse. Lately, I’ve been into the work of Mamma Andersson, Felix Vallotton, Alfred Sisley, Zhang Enli, Willy Ronis and Mary Ellen Mark.

The iconic feminist artist, Judy Chicago has been a major chapter for me. In my twenties, I was her studio assistant and registrar. It was “art bootcamp.” Judy and her husband, photographer Donald Woodman, taught me everything about being a practicing artist. I oversaw tens of thousands of her works and helped with the permanent installation of her masterpiece The Dinner Party at the Brooklyn Museum. She used to critique all my drawings and paintings and kept me up to my neck in art supplies. Currently, she has a huge show at The New Museum and is having a true highlight moment in her 60-year career.

JR: You’re a California transport, how did you find your way to the east coast?

JC: My wife Jenn Streicher (owner of Scout and Duchess here in Pound Ridge & Bedford) and I moved with our then seven-year-old son Arrow from Los Angeles during the height of the pandemic. I loved our neighborhood of Laurel Canyon, but Jenn and I both felt the city gave us everything it had (which was a LOT) and we didn’t want Arrow to spend his entire youth in Los Angeles. We escaped to New England to meet some friends and let the kids take the masks off, run around the beach and feel “normal” again. The parents (and some reposado) discussed where the hell the world was going and what the future might hold. One morning Jenn looked on Zillow at Bedford (we had visited a few times by then) and our house was the first listing she saw. She let out a loud “that’s my house!” A week later we were inside touring it. We flew back to Los Angeles and started packing.

Photo by Jenna Jones

JR: We’re shooting in your beautiful barn, tell us about this space…

JC: The barn is circa 1840 and we’re told our house was the main farmhouse for all the plots that run north between routes 172 and 121. It’s in great shape for it’s age and still has chalk writings in beautiful script and haycounts visible throughout. The Barn is a complete time capsule with tools still hanging untouched from a hundred years ago. We were told someone lived in here fulltime in the 1950s.

JR: You have one hour to escape your normal day, what do you do?

JC: If I am down in the city, a quick stroll through the Whitney or MOMA. It’s dreamy being a member of these museums, being able to just pop in and see the heavyweights.

If up here in Bedford, New York I walk Indian Hill Road and get some fresh air or jump in the Jeep and drive some dirt roads, looking for interesting spots to possibly paint.

JR: Now you’ve got 2 weeks…

JC: Saint-Remy de Provence and would send for my things later.

JR: The one hotel that you judge all others by and why…

JC: I’d say Villa Lacoste outside Aix en Provence is hard to beat - the view, the food, wine, service & design, the outdoor art gallery they built into a nature hike, surrounded by vineyards and elevated villages. The bill at checkout is usually not as pleasant.

JR: You can teleport to any bar(s) in the world right now, where to?

JC: Depends on my current mood. If I’m in a dive bar mood it would be The London Bar in Barcelona. If desiring the other end of the spectrum I’m immediately heading to Bar Hemingway at the Ritz Paris. If feeling somewhere in the middle, then Bar Alfalfa in Seville, Spain. A tiny nook where you grab a stool and watch the bartenders sing and dance about.

Bar Hemingway sketch by Jonny Cournoyer

JR: What are you ordering at those bars?

JC:

• The London Bar: May or may not have had true Absinthe here.
• Bar Hemingway: French 75s or Mexican Mules.
• Bar Alfalfa: Where one crushes tapas and Alberino.

JR: What will we always find on your nightstand?

JC: A Mexican mule. My iPad to read books on or sketch using Adobe Fresco (a fantastic art app). And now (sadly), my pair of readers.

JR: You travel quite a bit; do you have a travel hack/piece of travel advice for everybody out there?

JC: Comfortable pants you could sleep in but still look nice, preferably by Rivay. Make sure you have an easy zipper pocket for your passport, I lost mine running with a tote bag once trying to make a connection. Noise-cancelling cans and earplugs-combo on overnight flights. Join CLEAR.

JR: Your hometown?

JC: Sarasota, Florida. Did not appreciate it growing up but now regret not purchasing even a shed near it’s white-sand beaches 25 years ago.

JR: Place we’re most likely to find you if we’re looking?

JC: I’m most likely painting away in the studio or working on the renovation of a small out building on our property. I’m turning it into a proper widdling woodshop as well as a small gallery space to showcase the latest works to clients. Or I am at Bedford Ace Hardware.

JR: Place we’d never find you?

JC: Home Goods.

Okay, final speed round…

JR: What’s on the wrist?

JC: Apple Watch, I only wear it when exercising or at work. It really helps to prevent zoning out on one’s phone during downtime on shoots. I can leave the phone in my bag but still get a text or email if needed. I try and stay timeless otherwise.

JR: You can only have one album playing in your car for the rest of your life – what album?

JC: The Nat King Cole Story, 1961.

JR: Last Google search?

JC: “How much is too much Minecraft for a 10 year old?”

JR: Biggest risk ever taken?

JC: Although it seemed like a no-brainer, leaving Los Angeles for Westchester was major surgery. Our son leaving his life, my wife leaving family and businesses, saying goodbye to dear friends, a lovely home and my giant succulent garden. It was certainly the best decision we ever made though - full steam ahead!

Fin.

Photo by Jenna Jones

Featured on Jonny