Thoughts On Photography

Here is a list of my favorite photo or photo-related books of 2009 (in order by author):War is Only Half the Story Volume II - Aftermath Project (Kathryn Cook, Natela Grigalashvili, Tinka Dietz, Pep Bonet and Christine Fenzl)Photowisdom: Master Photographers on their Art - Lewis BlackwellTo Walk in Beauty - Stacia Spragg-BraudeThe Spirit & the Flesh - Debbie Fleming CafferyFirefly: Photographs of Children - Keith CarterSummer Heart - Thekla EhlingKutuuka - Gloria Baker FeinsteinLooking In: Robert Frank's The Americans (Expanded Edition) - Robert Frank and Sarah GreenoughEmmet Gowin: Photographs - Emmet GowinThree - Ed KashiFun and Games - Lisa KeresziMemories of Myself - Danny LyonsAsylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals - Christopher PayneSurfland - Joni SternbachViolet Isle: A Duet of Photography from Cuba - Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb

In this podcast I talk about some of the ways in which we photographers can sometimes veer from the photographic life for one reason or another and I offer up some suggestions that have worked for me to get back on track with my photography.

Eliza Lamb's most recent photo series explores the neighborhood ofAstoria, Queens in New York City and how people use their yards as a public display of their religious beliefs. Lamb was fascinated by thewillingness or need to share these beliefs so openly while also hiding their personality and nature at the same time.

Lauren Semivan creates imagined events through the use of staged photographs. This approach gives her both the control necessary to tell a story while incorporating autobiographical elements into the narrative such as dreams, preoccupations, desires, anxieties, and the collective unconscious.

Lisa Kereszi's latest monograph "Fun and Games" explores places where some people might go to escape from the boredom and challenges of everyday life. Boardwalks, dance halls, the great outdoors, and even strip clubs are all places of interest for Kereszi but rather than give us a glamorized travelogue, Kereszi scratches below the surface, sometimes deeply, to show us what these places of interest are really like and, in a way, that makes them even more interesting (and maybe even fun).

Currently in the photographic art world, style and process seem to be the means by which we measure photography worthy of the title "art." This is why I found Lori Vrba's photography to be so exciting. Her total devotion to the subject matter to her photographs, rather than to "how" the photographs were made, set Lori apart and provides a welcome and refreshing journey.

Elizabeth Fleming's photography captures the small moments of everyday life. Children at play, objects in our everyday world, and the non-events that surround us provide opportunities to slow us down so that we can appreciate the wonderful subtleties that life offers us every day, that is if we will only take a moment to be stopped by it.

Ralf Bruck's photographs focus on architecture, landscapes, and people. Educated at the Duesseldorf School of Photography, Bruck's street photography, we might call it the social landscape in the United States, rarely show a complete situation but rather, he focuses on the small details that are typically overlooked through casual observation thus creating a new dialog between the images themselves and their relationship to the viewer.

Tootie Nienow enjoys exploring photography through experimentation both in terms of tools, technique, and subject matter. Her photography is both conceptual and sublime and at the same time her work is also intriguing and engaging, and yes, even beautiful too.

Beth Kientzle's photographs, which focus mostly on urban and natural landscapes, are made using alternative tools and techniques. This allows her to play with abstract shapes, light, and motion in her photographs. Although Kientzle's approach introduces an element of chance into her photography, it is chance tempered with a distinct and unique vision.

This is the third podcast in a three part series where I explore in greater depth the idea of using projects to guide your photography. Today I'm talking about projects without end.

This is the second podcast in a three part series dealing with the issue of projects. Today I talk about working on multiple projects. Below are some links to various resources mentioned in the podcast.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_maphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mind_Mapping_software

I'm continuing with my exploration and discussion of photographic projects with a 3-part podcast series. In this first podcast, I want to explore the concept of ideas and how they may or may not lead to projects.

Liz Kuball is based in Southern California. She began photographing in 2006 and since then has been exhibited in Los Angeles, New York, and Detroit. Her work has appeared online in the Humble Arts Foundation group show, FILE Magazine, and Flak Photo. In 2009, Liz was selected by the Humble Arts Foundation for inclusion in the Collector's Guide to Emerging Art Photography. Liz"s most recent and on-going body of work called "California Vernacular” is a perfect example of the social landscape. Whether the photos are taken in the city, the suburb, or a rural place, Liz manages to capture the essence of our human existence in the natural environment. The result is sometimes poignant, sometimes whimsical but always engaging.

Alan George is a San Francisco-based photographer who came to photography not through the halls of higher learning or by becoming enamored with photography as a child or as an artist in another medium who discovers photography as their "true” medium but rather, as someone who used a camera in much the same way as most people do, to record life's events . . . in other words, he was a snap-shooter. In 2003 photography became a more central part of Alan"s life, a way of exploring the social landscape.   The process of searching, selecting and examining something that would otherwise go unnoticed helped him to feel more conscious, more aware, more engaged, more alive.

I'm frequently asked by listeners if I can give them a comprehensive critique/review of their photography. Although very brief comments regarding one's work is fine and I do this regularly when asked, a comprehensive review can be time-consuming for me to do. A solution, and a way to support the podcast at the same time, is for me to offer a critique/review service to listeners. A one-hour session is available via phone for $100. All proceeds go towards supporting this podcast. Listen to this podcast episode for more details about what is included.

Puerto Rican-born Manuel Rivera-Ortiz uses his camera to explore the world and tell the stories of people who have no voice and must struggle for their existence. His photographic projects in Bolivia, India, Turkey, Cuba, and Kenya highlight the toll extreme poverty can take on the human condition and at the same time, he captures the triumph of the human spirit as people struggle to overcome the extreme conditions that they must deal with daily.This is to date the longest interview I have conducted for Thoughts on Photography and is probably one of the most poignant and thought-provoking both from a photographic and humanitarian viewpoint. It shows how truly powerful the camera that you hold in your hands can be when used to bring attention to the human condition.

Christy Karpinski’s undergraduate degree in Women's Studies gave her the chance to focus on issues of identity and of how we make sense of ourselves and others in the world. She later went on to earn an MFA in Photography from Columbia College Chicago and this provided her with the opportunity to engage with the issues self and identity in her photographic work where she now explores the realms of childhood and childhood spaces.

What is a photographic education and do you need one in order to be a photographer? Is school the way to go to get an education or are there other options? The pros and cons of studying photography at the academy are discussed as well as the role of a photographic education as a part of the photographic life.

Julio De Matos is based in Portugal and I first got to know of Julio's work through his book "Fading Hutongs" which are photos of hutongs taken in China and through that work, I came to discover other significant bodies of work. Incidentally, "Fading Hutongs" was one of my favorite books of 2008.Part of Julio’s initial work deals with and explores interconnections using alternative photographic processes. His later work, while on the surface, could be labeled travel photography, goes deeper into social commentary in the documentarian tradition by raising awareness of the survival and extinction of ancestral cultures.Julio’s most recent work is closer to home and explores the influence of Brazilian architecture on the architecture of Portugal as well as the confluence of digital interventions in the landscape and subsequent print. Julio’s photography has been widely exhibited and he has had several books of his work published. I find exploring Julio’s work like peeling an onion with many layers, each one more