Everyday Photography, Every Day

In this episode Suzanne grills Rubin on a recent shoot he did that he described as unusually good--what would make one shoot notably different or better than the hundreds that have gone before? Rubin discusses his improvisational approach and digs into some of the issues of being a hetrosexual man who frequently photographs women.

After Rubin's Petapixel essay went viral a few weeks ago, he's been digging into photographic fundamentals; Suzanne and Rubin dig into the ways we compose and how it interacts with our basic tendencies. The show is practically therapy.

Our first anonymous guest, who has a day job in Silicon Valley, but has an alter ego, Foto-Kammer, who shoots luscious landscapes and nudes, and whose work explores the natural harmony of humans in the landscape.

After a career as a fine art nude model, Shiva Sharifi today photographs nude and boudoir as well as organizes workshops to introduce photographers to this specialty, coordinating models and students in great settings. She has a wealth of experiences on both sides of the camera in this domain.

It's the 99th episode, and Suzanne and Rubin catch up on holiday events, the state of their photography, and Neomodern's current Kickstarter project for a new kind of photographer's frame.

It's our New Years Show and we're joined by photographer and professor Stephan Sheffield. He describes his whimsical and noirish "selfies" as "more fun than deep" -- still his "Everyman" photos are a curious exploration of photographic storytelling. He's also turned his photographic work into a family project with his young sons. He has some thoughts for new photographers...

For almost 8 years, "This Week in Photo" (TWIP) has been the go-to podcast for photo enthusiasts, lead by industry (and real) veteran Fred Van Johnson. Fred was not only a conflict photographer for the military, but later had stints at Yahoo, Apple and Adobe.

Nate Luebbe is a commercial photographer who specializes in the wilderness. He has made a career out of going hiking and skiing and camping—with his camera—and by all accounts, is living the life. How does a guy go from the beer industry to professional photographer, shooting auroras in Norway and teaching classes across the country?

Suzanne gets a preview of a rare Rubin show, with prints from four of his favorite projects: Nudes, San Francisco, Tikun Olam, and Alcatraz Windows. And somewhere in the conversation they're joined by Lorna Rubin, mother, publisher, and conspirator in the creation of the Rubin Photographic Collection, which she discusses, along with her parenting tips.

Schatz walked away from a successful career as a doctor to pursue his dream of being an artist, and he's never looked back. Schatz' work over the years as a studio photographer has thoughtfully drilled into a number of creative themes -- from "redheads" to "homeless", "powerful women" to "the shape of the NFL." Meet the former ophthalmologist on his visit to San Francisco this week.

Jerry Uelsmann has taught thousands of students about photography; he's in the collections worldwide, but his unusual creative styles were key influences for the Rubin's collection and photography. Even if you don't want to make photographic collages, Uelsmann's approach can be instructive. Listen. (And Happy Thanksgiving!! )

Being an "amateur" doesn't mean your photography is lousy, it means you're doing it for the love of it. Maybe you have a regular job, or just enjoy taking pictures, in this episode we discuss what it means to be a hobbyist and dig into a few photos to discuss the flow. And we finally have our audio recording under control!

His rare photo of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs together could very well fund his vision of a photographic camp for kids -- come meet Asa Mathat, the consummate pro. He's shot hundreds of the most accomplished humans in the world--at TED, EG, D-Conf and other exclusive conferences, and brings distinctive creativity and deep humanity, to every unique shot. (Audio issues are ours, and have since been solved.)

Every photographer wants to be collected, and we all look at photos every day, perhaps never fully thinking about the process we use to judge what we see. In this special episode we dig into how we look and judge and also how we might begin to collect. Get inside the head of a gallery owner.

Photographer, and subject of her own introspective and sensual photographs, Sophie Dimond seems to roam the landscape wrestling with her past. Her beautiful work is created with traditional methods, on medium format film as well as with Polaroids, and is both spooky and alluring. (Apologies for poor audio this episode).

Photographer and teacher Jerry Downs has been taking pictures for more than 50 years, and inspiring other picture takers along the way. His spiritual approach is delightful; and anyone would benefit from engaging with him. We sat down to get to know Jerry better and understand more about his philosophy and background. Listen in!

Rick's career spans amazing gigs at Time, LIFE and National Geographic; he's been played on the silver screen by Adam Driver, and his creative Day in the Life projects have touched millions. He's also the guy who convinced me to move into digital from film (and get a Fujifilm camera --even though he talks about his Sony today...).

As Neomodern gets ready for a gallery show this week, we debate issues in pricing photos, collecting photos and, actually, whether we can call them "art".

Citret has studied with so many historic icons: Ansel Adams, Pirkle Jones, Willy Ronis... and has taught students, and has influenced my own photography for years. It's a treat to get to sit with him for a bit and talk about pictures. "The world is an endlessly fascinating place..."