On Taking Pictures

Sometimes, you need to take stock of the path you’re on to make sure you get where you’re trying to go. Other times, you may need to change the destination entirely. This week, we’re talking about looking at where we are and what to do if it’s just a little off. We’re also talking about new projects and how sometimes just rolling up your sleeves and doing the work is all that matters. Jerry Schatzberg is our Photographer of the Week.

We’re starting out the new year discussing transformation — specifically, the transformation that seems to be an essential component to making art with a capital ‘A.’ To help with the discussion, we’re using a terrific Netflix documentary series that traces the foundations and evolution of Hip Hop that brilliantly exemplifies transformation at work. Through interviews and archival footage, we see the origin story that took hip hop from back alleys and front rooms in the Bronx to stadiums all over the world. Kurt William Kamka is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, trying to reconcile the highs and lows of the past year and how for some of us, when an artist dies, a little piece of our history or even the personal identity that we have associated with the person (or their body of work) dies as well. It’s as if our potential, whether realized or not is inexorably tied to their energy. Also, a little about what’s next for each of us in 2017. Rodney Smith is our Photographer of the Week. Happy New Year everyone.

This week, we’re starting off with a little about gear, specifically the new Microsoft Surface Studio and the uncertain future of desktop Macs. From there it’s on to David Hockney and a somewhat relativistic view of the “good” of art and whether or not one piece of art is really any better than another. Also, are bigger prints always better? Plus, we take a trip to the Crit Wall. Lori Vrba is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, we discuss TIME’s Person of the Year cover and portfolio, made by Nadav Kandar. Specifically, we unpack questions raised by the potentially subversive nature of the work and whether or not an artist has a responsibility to art before personal belief. As part of the discussion, we also reference a collection of Dorothea Lange’s previously censored photographs of FDR’s Japanese concentration camps. Jack Davison is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, details about the OTP Gift Exchange and some of our book suggestions. Also, how would what you make and release into the world — your art — be different if there were negative consequences to showing it? Plus, is it worth it to print all of your photos? Danny Clinch is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, making decisions. Sometimes moving through fear means letting go of the reigns — emotionally, creatively, maybe even geographically. But once you do, how much control do you actually have to change course? Are you at the whim of inertia, or do small moves open up new territories, whether you want them to or not? Plus, is monetization after the fact different or better than having it as a goal from the beginning? Frederick Sommer is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, what would you do as an artist without the right to express yourself freely? Do you censor your work or do you use your voice and push harder to make your point of view known? Also, what would you give up creatively in order to immerse yourself in something new? Plus, a couple entries from the Crit Wall. Ruth Gruber is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, we discuss the recent election not from a political perspective, but rather from the standpoint of making art and how to translate the reactionary energy into something good. Also, what are some differences between good and great street photography? Are there objective markers or is it merely great by degrees? Vicki Dasilva is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, with the proliferation of low cost gear and the barrier of entry so low, have the mechanics of making become too easy? Also, is there such a thing as “objectively good” and if so, how do you know it when you see it? Plus, has photo software reached the tipping point in terms of features? Jerome Liebling is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, we’re talking about the ups and downs we go to when we just can’t seem to connect with what we make. How do you keep moving forward when it feels like your wheels are just spinning in the mud. It’s not the feeling of being stuck because energy is still being expended — there’s just the feeling of not moving. Plus, does innovation happen by committee or does there need to be a single vision that the committee then supports? Shin Nogouchi is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, how do you know — or can you know — when a piece of work will be more than what you thought it would be going into it? Can you predict greatness or is it only available in hindsight? At what point do you call the game if you’re not going to win? Also, a discussion around how appreciating art can often be affected by the room or the way it’s displayed, using the newly reopened East Wing of the National Gallery of Art in DC as an example. Plus, Erin Margaret Allison Rambo is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, Bob Dylan wins the Nobel Prize for literature and it inspires a discussion around boundaries as they pertain to art and creative pursuits. Does Dylan winning this re-define what qualifies as literature? How does this discussion pertain to photography? Is portraiture more valid than street photography? Is shooting wildlife somehow “better” than shooting weddings? Also, how much does creative efficiency figure into your own creative process? Are you looking for the shortest line between to points or do you prefer the more scenic route? Jonathan Mannion is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, we’re discussing changing directions creatively inspired by both new gear and a new environment, which raises a couple questions for us that we’d like to also ask you. To what degree does what you use affect what you make? Aside from tools, how does the environment you create in contribute to the work you produce? Also, once you make a dramatic shift and have the necessities locked in, how do you decide what comes next? Fred Lyon is our Photographer of the Week.

This week a few thoughts around the new National Museum of African American History & Culture and how photography was sourced and is used throughout the museum. Also, rock and roll photography — has increasingly limited access to the band and performances limited the resulting quality of the work? Sails Chong is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, we’re in a few different directions and we begin with a discussion around the Smithsonian’s newly opened National Museum of African American History and Culture. Specifically, do you feel an obligation to visit places like these - places that are as much a historical record as they are a cultural cautionary tale? Also, a followup to the gear discussion that we started last week. Plus, a terrific email from a listener inspires this week’s G+ group assignment. Claude Cahun is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, we begin with a discussion around how we actually discuss art, including some of the collective meaning of the terms we use. Also, can concepts like “commentary” and “criticism” be as effective if they are non-verbal? For example, is a jazz improvisation an appropriate response to a particular work of art? Also, we spend some time talking about gear, from Hackintoshes, to the slew of new cameras announced (or “pre-announced”) at this year’s Photokina. Alexey Titarenko is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, we’re talking about getting work out the door, and some of the difficulties that can arise around trying to figure out how and why to make the changes necessary to do it. Sometimes the best thing you can do is to take a step back from the thinking and the strategizing and just make. Also, we discuss the Documerica project and how differently a similar project might look today. Jacob Riis is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, we’re doing another Q&A show and, as usual, you all sent in some terrific questions that we had a great time going through. Topics include: how often to update your website, whether or not to shoot DNG, how to get more engaging street shots, whether or not to print in-house and a bunch more. Marc Riboud is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, a discussion around photojournalism inspired by the Netflix series Conflict that raises a few questions for us to chew on. Would you ever put yourself in harm’s way for a photograph? If you already do, why? Is it for the photograph or the thrill of the shoot? Or some combination of both? Is a photograph more valuable than the life that is potentially lost capturing it? Also, does taking photos at important or milestone events enhance or take away from your ability to enjoy/remember said event? Plus, a teaser for next week in the show notes: what do you see when you look at art? Richard Tuschman is our Photographer of the Week.