Thoughts On Photography

Susana Raab describes herself as "a recovering English major who lives to create visual narratives." Her photographs strike a balance between poignancy and humor (with a bit of irony sometimes thrown in). Raab's work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and has received critical recognition from many sources.

Christopher Churchill is a documentary photographer based in Massachusetts whose work has been featured in exhibitions throughout the United States, has been published widely, and is in the permanent collections of several museums. His most recent project "American Faith" examines the topic of faith from within several contexts including religious as well as culture and beliefs.

Morea Steinahuer is a photojournalist who's work has taken her across Latin America and Haiti. Morea most recently has been working on collaborative projects connected to end-of-life care and families effected by migration/immigration legislation.  A person who seeks out environments of collaboration, mutual mentorship, and engagement around social issues - Morea is someone who is always open to exploring new project ideas and forming new partnerships.

In this podcast, Gordon Stettinius returns to Thoughts on Photography to discuss his involvement with Gita Lenz and how that led to publishing a book of her photography and mounting an exhibition as a way of introducing her to a new audience. Gordon also discusses his latest photographic projects as well as his new photographic book publishing company.

Here is a list of my favorite photobooks of 2010: Outside Inside - Bruce Davidson One Block: A New Orleans Neighborhood Rebuilds - David Anderson Coming Back: New Orleans Resurgent - Mario Tama Street Photography Now - Howarth & McLaren Unposed - Craig Semetko The Cubans - Jack Beckham Comb Violet Isle - Alex Webb & Rebecca Norris Webb Zwelethu Mthethwa War is Personal - Eugene Richards Japanese Photobooks of the 1960's and 1970's - Vartanian & Kaneko

Kickstarter.com is a social funding platform for individuals working on creative projects. Using Kickstarter, anyone can pledge money towards a project that they feel is worthy however only projects that reach a certain funding goal within a certain time period will actually result in a pledge being paid out. I recently launched a new Kickstarter pledge drive to raise funds for a documentary project that I hope to do in Haiti in February of 2011. You can learn more about this project by visiting:http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1544246638/ile-a-vache-haiti-a-roadmap-forwardFunding any project like this is costly which is why I have turned to using Kickstarter as a way to connect with people (in a light touch sort of way) and hopefully raise the funds necessary to make this project work. In addition: Anyone who makes a pledge of $50 or more receive a 5″x7″ (approx. size) archival print from the project Anyone who makes a pledge of $75 or more will receive an 8″x10″ (approx. size) archival print from the pr

Leslie Granda-Hill's approach to social documentary photography involves not just making great photographs that tell a story but making great photographs that allow her subjects a way to tell their story from their perspective. Her recent project, Wounded Warriors, exemplifies this personal approach to the photographic essay.

Documentary photographer Eliza Gregory focuses on the lifecycle of communites be they in Cuba, Tanzania, or the United States. In addition to working on photographic projects around the world, Eliza also works for PhotoPhilanthropy, an organization committed to supporting documentary photographers in carrying out their work. 

Gloria Baker Feinstein is a photographer who follows her heart when deciding what to photograph. Her earlier work explored childhood, the relationships between twins, and even the Holocaust. Her latest book, "Kutuuka", focuses on the children of the St. Mary Kevin Orphanage in Uganda and, while a great documentary project in itself, it is the combination of the black and white and color photographs along with drawings made by the children and included in the book which elevate this work to a new level. All proceeds from the sale of the book go towards supporting a non-profit organization called Change the Truth that Gloria started to continue to provide assistance to the orphanage.

In this episode, I discuss the topic of persistence in our photographic lives. While one-hundred podcast episodes is an achievement, in a way, the path that I have travelled in getting to this milestone (with the podcast being a reflection of where I was and currently am in my photographic life at any one time) is really what's important here. Persistence is not only important in achieving our goals, it is one of the keys to living a photographic life.

In this podcast I discuss two specific ways to approach a photographic project that takes into account the many varied kinds of projects that are possible.

In this podcast I interview Matt Eich, a documentary/photojournalist freelance photographer and founding member of the Luceo Images, a photographic cooperative.

Part of living a photographic life is also knowing when to take advantage of photographic opportunities when they present themselves.

Althought I've been (and still am) an advocate of project-based approaches to photography (if only to keep you engaged and making photography regularly), in this podcast I discuss some of the pitfalls to watch out for when using projects as a way to live a photographic life.

In this podcast I discuss my process for retiring a portfolio that no longer reflects where I am as a photographer.

What do wedding photography and Henri Cartier Bresson's decisive moment have in common? It turns out lots as I discovered after photographing my sister's wedding this past weekend.

Jeff Curto wears many hats in his photographic life. He is a professor of photography at College of DuPage and he is the host of two well known podcasts, Camera Position, and History of Photography (which is an exhanced podcast of Jeff's lectures for a course he teaches each term). MOst importantly, Jeff is also an excellent and highly regarded photographer in his own right. In addition to visiting his web site, you can see (and buy) a folio of Jeff's photography which was recently published by Lenswork.

In this podcast I outline some of the costs of getting exposure for your work through juried photographic exhibitions, portfolio reviews, and promotional materials.

I've noticed a recent trend in that calls for entries for juried photographic competitions are continually getting extended past the original due date. Is this a result of the economy and does it mean your chances are better?

This past year has been a very busy and hectic one for both my personal life as well as my photographic life. In this podcast, I discuss the progress on my resolutions from last year for Thoughts on Photography and the new directions I plan to take the podcast going into 2010.