Thoughts On Photography

Shane Lavalette is a recent graduate with a BFA from Tufts University in partnership with The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Shane writes extensively about photography through his photo-related blog where he focuses primarily on fine art photography and issues concerning contemporary photographic practice. He features individual photographers, books, exhibitions and interviews. Shane is also the founder and editor of Lay Flat, a new print publication of contemporary photography and writing that uses an innovative magazine format for the articles and actual prints of the featured photographs.Shane, who's personal photographic work has been well received through various exhibitions and awards, represents a new breed of young photographers who are putting as much an emphasis on the contributions they can make to the field of photography as on their own personal work.

In this podcast, I discuss what to do when you have already achieved a certain level of success with your photography (particularly through juried exhibitions) and are wondering what do to and where to go next with the marketing of your work.

Like many photographers, Natalie Young didn't start out with the intention of becoming a photographer but rather, photography found her. She left a career in finance, married a musician and began living the photographic life. After photographing on her husband's family farm, Young eventually realized that she had not only a body of work but had work that could feed her artistically. As with the farm series, Young's approach to photography is usually a reflection of personal life and it is this approach that has given her the success she now enjoys with her photography.

Whether it is her lush photographs of botanticals, images of New Orleans, or her southern landscapes, Victoria Ryan brings a certain atmosphere to her photographs that is so strong, one can almost feel the textures of the plants, smell the decay of the swamp, or feel the thrill of Mardi Gras from the viewpoint of an insider.

Photo contests can be great ways to get your work on there and in front of other people. Photo contests can also help you develop and refine the skills of editing your work for submission. Recently though, more and more contests are developing rules whereby you lose ownership of your photography upon submission. Although the price of entering most contests is free, the ultimate price (the loss of ownership of your photographs) is too high a price to pay.

Ken Rosenthal's images make use of diffusion, blur, and high contrast as a way of exploring his personal experiences through common memories and archetypes that we all share. His images evoke moods that run the gamut from a veiled happiness to a discordant nostalgia with some anxiety thrown in. It is Rosenthal's deep connection to his own psychological thoughts though which is on display and through his lens, we begin to see a bit of ourselves in his images.

Suzanne Revy's commercial portraiture (mostly of children) is truly excellent. Revy has that gift of being able to bring out a child's personality and then capture it on film. The result is something that families cherish for ages. It's no surprise then that Revy's personal fine art work (again mostly of children) captures the essence and personality of her subjects. The different in her fine art work though is that Revy also infuses a sense of place and time that evokes a shared sense of history, nostalgia and time. Also mentioned in this podcast is the Griffin Museum.

There has never been a better time to enjoy fine art photography than now, particularly with all of the new on-line web-based photography magazines that are being published. Cheaper to produce but no less excellent than print-based photography magazines with regards to content, on-line magazines provide a larger, wider venue for photographers to publish their work and get it to a wider audience. Below is a list (by no means comprehensive though) of several on-line photography magazines that you might want to check out:Ahorn MagazineBlueeyes MagazineBurn MagazineDeep SleepF-Stop MagazineFile MagazineFraction MagazineLens CultureSeesaw MagazineVewdVisura MagazineWassenaar

Stella Johnson is a documentary photographer who brings an engaging and captivating approach to her subjects. Her latest book, Al Sol: Photographs of Mexico, Cameroon, and Nicaragua is a great example of documentary photography that also works as fine art photography.

Which is better, black and white or color photography? I've gotten asked this question many times by listeners and I find the question to be kind of strange because it all depends on what you are trying to communicate or accomplish with your photography. Sometimes it comes down to how well you create and develop your photos in one process or another (your skill), sometimes it is a matter of personal preference, and sometimes your subject tells you how to proceed. The bottom line is to follow your instinct and preference and not let anyone (including the marketplace) tell you it must be a certain way.

Podcasts are a labor of love for those who create them however, even love has a price. This podcast outlines some ways you might help support your local podcast (and in particular Thoughts on Photography) by purchasing items from sponsors, click-throughs to sites such as B&H Photo and Amazon.com or just a direct donation through PayPal. Have no fear, this podcast will always be free to anyone who cares to download and listen to it but any way to offset some of the costs of doing the podcast would be greatly appreciated and if you can't help financially, then an email of appreciate goes a long too. Thanks in adavance.

Angela Bacon-Kidwell's photography is the stuff of dreams (literally). Angela uses photography as a way to bring substance to her dreams and sub-conscious thoughts through her photographic imagery. Angela has also found recent success with her photography and her insights and thoughts are helpful and instructive to photographers no matter where they are on the spectrum regarding the promotion of their photography.

In this episode, I explore whether (at long last) inkjet prints can be considered collectible.

In this episode, I discuss my own personal editing process (or workflow) from capture to the final decision regarding which photographs make the cut.

Miksang is a Tibetan word that translates as ‘Good Eye’, and is based on the Shambhala and Dharma Art teachings of the late meditation master, artist, and scholar Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche. Michael Wood is a Miksang teacher and mentor who has been practicing and refining Miksang over the past thirty years. Our discussion focuses on how Miksang can be a direction to take in working towards living a photographic life through the integtration of contemplative photography.

Hiroshi Watanabe's photographic work is both inspiring and engaging. From his "Kabuki Players" series to his most recent (and very different) series "Ideologies in Paradise", Watanabe's photographic sensibilities and his experience help show us a path torward living a photographic life. Note: Due to some technical issues with this episode, you will notice sound drop outs and a recurring blip sound. I apologize in advance and hope you still enjoy the interview.

In this podcast I discuss the isolation we sometimes feel when working on our photography and how, in reality, we are really more connected with other photographers than we realize. In a sense, we are all part of a photographic family and should never forget that fact when we find ourselves struggling to live the photographic life.

Polly Chandler is a fine art photographer based in Austin, Texas. Polly's subjects vary widely and this makes for a diverse and engaging portfolio of work. Her subjects range from portraits to still lives to landscapes to environmental photographs and everything in between yet still her work maintains a certain consistency of style and imagery.

This podcast discusses the book "On Looking at Photographs: A Practical Guide" by David Hurn and Bill Jay. The book is published by Lenswork Publishing and provides some great insights on how to look at , or read, a photograph (which hopefully in turn helps us as photographers make better photographs).

Joe Wigfall is a New York-based street photographer who first came to my attention through a WNYC radio station project and contest highlighting the working styles and philosophies of several working street photographers in New York. The short video of Joe is wonderful to watch (as are many of the other videos made for other photographers). Joe went on to win the contest and I found his photos (and his process for making them) to be truly excellent. Joe's approach to street photography is refreshing, engaging, and above all, motivating.