Concept Aware® (J. Sybylla Smith)
Explore every episode of Concept Aware®
| Pub. Date | Title | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 Oct 2020 | J. Sybylla Smith, In conversation with Kyle Meyer | ||
The result of a post college grant landed Meyer in Swaziland, now Eswatini, as a journalist exploring the reality of a country with the world’s largest HIV population. He began with a job in a candle factory, spending two years without access to the internet. Led by curiosity and his ability to create community Meyer developed the framework to honor and amplify the visibility of the African gay man. In this book group, Meyer discusses, among other things: blending craft and technology allowing process to drive concept develop the process of creating a book the African LGBTQ community Millhook Residency a glimpse into his next project Resources: Kyle Meyer Website | Instagram In this book group, Meyer discusses, among other things: blending craft and technology allowing process to drive concept develop the process of creating a book the African LGBTQ community Millhook Residency a glimpse into his next project Resources: Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith | |||
| 30 Apr 2020 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Mikael Owunna | ||
The result of a post college grant landed Meyer in Swaziland, now Eswatini, as a journalist exploring the reality of a country with the world’s largest HIV population. He began with a job in a candle factory, spending two years without access to the internet. Led by curiosity and his ability to create community Meyer developed the framework to honor and amplify the visibility of the African gay man. In this book group, Meyer discusses, among other things: blending craft and technology allowing process to drive concept develop the process of creating a book the African LGBTQ community Millhook Residency a glimpse into his next project Resources: | |||
| 23 Apr 2020 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Lauren Walsh | ||
Walsh lays bare the issues which confront fair representation, including limitations caused by censorship, complacency, race and gender inequity. A conversation that lands on answering the question “what is conflict photography?”, with an attempt to enlighten our sense of collective awareness and lessening the distance between us and them. In this book group, Walsh discusses, among other things: what is photojournalism and how is the later perceived by a Western audience politics of representation the impact of the historically Western, white, male gaze in documentary photography grief fatigue technology and war desensitization and public disengagement caused by a lack of empathy Referenced in this episode Everyday Africa/ Everyday Projects Arab Fund for Arts and Culture See my Fall 2020 review in ZEKE, The Magazine of Global Documentary, here. Lauren Walsh Website | Instagram Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith | |||
| 09 Apr 2020 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Fran Forman | ||
Self described as a painter, with a digital palette made of images, Forman discusses her inspiration, and her background, that led her to create the images captured in her book. The breaking of rules, constraints and the frame is discussed as a quiet revolution found within her works.
The conceptual impact of photomontage Being a digital painter Surrealism and cinematic choreography as muses Defying constraints of one’s medium Referenced in the episode Taika Waititi - The Art of Creativity Fran Forman Website | Instagram Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith | |||
| 02 Apr 2020 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Odette England | ||
This book, like England, is generous, respectful and exploratory. The Winter Garden Photograph, which is foundational to the text, is described as a childhood image of Barthes’ recently deceased mother, Henrietta. England posed this query to a handful of colleagues, what to you is a reimagining, an homage or a reflection of this elusive photography? In this book group, Odette discusses, among other things: The Winter Garden Photograph Englands’ process using: materiality, gesture and happenstance a seeding question, and over 200 sprouting responses the collection of essays contributed by a multitude of English contemporary photo curators and historians Referenced in this episode A Photograph Never Stands Alone by Teju Cole Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs by Sally Mann Memories, Dreams and Reflections by Carl Jung Odette England Website | Instagram Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith | |||
| 15 Oct 2020 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Stephen Frailey | ||
Utilizing the name and frame of John Szarkowskis’, Frailey highlights 100 photographers based on Susan Sontags’ premise that photography is an instrument for knowing things, and this is his collection of what he knows. His intention is to provide a platform to repeatedly explore the layered discoveries within a single image. As Frailey notes : “all images traffic in the marketplace of ideas.”
developing sensibility exploring styles outside of comfort zones transitioning from one body of work to another animating still lives degrees of appropriation
John Szarkowski - Looking at Photographs Book Review - Hank Willis Thomas Playboy, Braille Edition - funded by U.S. Congress since 1985 Dear Dave - for a signed copy of the book
Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith | |||
| 29 Oct 2020 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Vivian Keulards | ||
Confronting the societal and familial taboo of addiction, Keulards courageously shares her journey to understand the impact on her brother, herself and their family. Fifteen years following her brother's death by cardiac arrest in a luxury Berlin hotel room due to his drug use, Keulards literally and metaphorically pulls back the curtain to reveal her exploration and discovery of the human experience of addiction. With this tactile book and a companion multimedia installation Keulards creates an immersive experience. In this book group,Vivian Keulards discusses, among other things: Understanding the implications of sharing a family secret How assumptions slip into facts Depicting the human side of addiction The benefits of working with book designers and a publisher Her crowd-sourcing experience to fund the project The magic of serendipity The role of collaboration Referenced in the episode Vivian Keulards Website | Instagram | |||
| 19 Nov 2020 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Ben Brody | ||
Brody debunks lies and shatters delusions by confronting false narratives and simplistic notions of war. Revealed is the perpetuation of military-created propaganda commonly amplified by legacy formats of the media. War, Brody argues, does not contain moral and noble causes nor glorifies or institutes an ideology; it weaponizes human instincts and makes monsters of everyone.
Self publishing realities aka the brutality of bookmaking The key factor of the photographers intention The import of citizen journalism Using the medium of the book to layer concept Essential expertise of book designers Artists who use photo vs photographers who use art Self Licking Ice Cream Cones (see glossary) Starting your own book imprint
Paris Photo/ Aperture Photobook Awards | |||
| 07 Jan 2021 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Matt Eich | ||
Precision, observation, and reflection meet patience, serendipity and courage in this lyrical and poetic visual exploration of the fragile and threatened Virginia coastline. Eich deftly exposes our human gravitational pull to the unspoken and invisible weaving of our relationships, our physical landscape, our shared history and the mortal coil. In this book group, Matt Eich, discusses, among other things: In-camera attention to the edges of your frame The lasting power of the photobook Trusting your subconscious Allowing time between making images and being in conversation with them Essential collaborations with photo editors and book designers The value of tinkering The life-changing power of residencies Using the tool of the camera to ‘speak’ to the present moment and your concerns Referenced in the episode The Seven Cities : Community We Also Move and Breathe Matt Eich - Sin and Salvation in Baptist Town Matt Eich Website | Instagram | |||
| 17 Dec 2020 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Laurent B. Chevalier and Kris Graves | ||
Enough, is a visual tapestry delivering moving witness to the pain, beauty, resilience, outrage, wonder and verve radiating from the heart of Brooklyn; thoughtfully woven with original poetry by Dr. Jamilla Lyiscott. Chevalier masterly constructs a virtual time capsule blending insight, concept and document into testimony, chronicling the embodiment of individual and collective agency and a community focusing forward. In this book group, Laurent B. Chevalier, and publisher, Kris Graves discuss, among other things: Using one’s visual voice to advance representation and social justice The power of being in conversation with your work Discerning threads and themes from existing work The importance of image sequencing The impact of collaboration towards layering concept and strengthening context Music being integral to the creative practice Referenced in the episode Laurent B Chevaliers’ Spotify Playlist Sharon Olds poem, For You, in text and audio Seeing in Black Project : Amplifying Black visual narratives and supporting the following organizations: National Black Justice Coalition Laurent Chevalier Website | Instagram Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith | |||
| 07 Jan 2021 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Denis Defibaugh | ||
Defibaugh, alongside a selective team of scientists, historians, and anthropologists, in collaboration with the National Science Foundation, Nikon Camera and a host of cultural organizations in Greenland, created a modern and multi-media ethnology of life above the Arctic Circle. Living among the Inuit, over 15 months in four progressively remote locations, Defibaugh was able to establish portrait studios and conduct middle school photo workshops with exhibitions of their work, providing a contemporary and interactive visual record of these endangered indigenous people. In this book group, Denis Defibaugh discusses, among other things: Persistence in grant writing - (hint his third attempt was the charm) The power of collaboration across auspices and professions The ability to communicate and form friendship without shared language The value of embedding in a culture to provide a reflective cultural representation The wonders of whale meat, reindeer and wolf fish Santa’s Summer address
North by Nuuk : Greenland After Kent Asanninneq - Hans-Ole Amossen Jam Nanook - Ingerlaliinnaleqaagut
Uummannaq Childrens Home singers; traditional music. Denis Defibaugh https://www.denisdefibaughgreenland.com/about-denis | |||
| 28 Jan 2021 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Michelle Bogre | ||
Bogre honors the foundations of evidential aspects of photography to forge human connection and activate advocacy. She wrestles with the elasticity of the medium as digital capture and distribution impact and change everything. Accountability and authenticity remain essential while construction, portraiture, and installation are broadening the tool kit for visual storytellers. In this book group, Michelle Bogre discusses, among other things: Photojournalism as a subset of documentary photography with its own rules How documentary is in its essence connected to the truth or fact of a story The power of an image based in evidence, witness and narrative How images tell a truth not the truth Documentary as “the canary in the minefield” Content over technique Visual lyricism in stories revealing hidden histories Responsibility to visual literacy The absence of women photographers work being distributed and known and consequently all but absent in the canon of photo history Decolonizing the camera Resources From Memory to Experience: The Smartphone, A Digital Bridge - Stephen Mayes The Four Corners Project - International Center of Photography A Photograph Never Stands Alone - Teju Cole for New York Times iSee - exhibition review J Sybylla Smith On Abortion - book review J Sybylla Smith for ZEKE Magazine The Most Important Picture - non profit organization to continue collaborative work in marginalized communities worldwide Companion Website for the book Decolonizing the Camera: Photography in Racial Times - Mark Sealy VII Photo - Anarchy in the U.S. and IN feed by Chrisopher Morris using 3D scanner app for iPhone with Lidar Michelle Bogre Website | Instagram Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith | |||
| 11 Feb 2021 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Endia Beal | ||
From her own experience of objectification and othering in corporate culture, Beal innovates entry points to spotlight the experience of ‘double consciousness’ as described by W.E.B. Du Bois, currently referred to as code switching, by compiling the stories of 65 Black women. Also collaborating with white students and colleagues she probes differences in human experiences, exposes assumptions, advances awareness, and increases diversity maturity. In this book group, Endia Beal and Michelle Dunn Marsh discuss, among other things: Questioning conformity and “similar-to-me” bias Humanness transcending race and gender Investment in scholarship to place more representative stories in the historical canon The challenges and reality of fear as a maker/creator The impact of others believing in your work Bringing subjective truths to conversations on race and gender Supporting the people who create platforms for conversations on diversity, inclusion and equity Mentorship and community in the creative process Resources Young, Black, Female and Envisioning Corporate Life Seeing being Seen - link to be a co publisher Girl Trek and Black Women’s History Bootcamp Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man - by Emmanuel Acho My Grandmothers’ Hands - by Resmaa Menakem Endia Beal Website | Instagram Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith | |||
| 20 Feb 2021 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with David Campany | ||
Sandwiched between endpapers featuring the 1938 Photogram, Stars, by artist Alexander Rodchenko, 120 photographs by known and anonymous artists reflect how one can think about images - underscoring their uncontainable hybrid nature. His compelling text ignites curiosity, excavates and illuminates intention and process, inviting the reader/viewer to ponder what and how they see.
The paradox of the malleability of an image and it’s fixed singularity The boundary-defying work of women artists who have been largely ignored by traditional canons of art history The symbiotic relationship of text and image Scale and materiality The experimental spirit of the Bauhaus The meaning between photos The muteness of images Photoshop as a beauty parlor References/Resources from this episode: Traveling exhibition: https://davidcampany.com/a-handful-of-dust/ Visual IN Dialog https://davidcampany.com/da-dialogue/ www.instagram.com/dialogue_aandd/, Roland Barthes essay Leaving the Movie Theater, Victor Burgin essay, Seeing Sense David Campany Website | Instagram Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith | |||
| 04 Mar 2021 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Mark Alice Durant | ||
Durant invites us into a fluid free fall with his intentionally sequenced interplay of history, ideas and first-hand knowledge in text and image. Incubating his idea of how still images capture physical, emotional, social, cultural and political states grew to cross geography and time. Evocative and insightful this book is a symphony of authentic voices echoing the harsh and exciting realities of lived experience and the wilds of our collective imaginings. In this book group, Mark Alice Durant discusses, among other things: The semi-conscious states which feed creativity Photo as a porous and democratic medium Performance as a portal, able to renegotiate social contracts Transgressing the specific to the symbolic The beauty and elegance of a rigorous photo How we see our past, photographically The power of exclusion to push innovation and creativity Referenced in the episode Teju Cole, “A Photograph Never Stands Alone” Walter Murch, In The Blink of An Eye Larry Sultan, “Pictures from Home” William Pope L. in conversation at The Walker Arts Center Marco Breuer by Mark Alice Durant Sigalit Landau, “DeadSee” (2005) Mark Alice Durant, “Running, Falling, Flying, Floating, Crawling” Mark Alice Durant Website | Instagram Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith | |||
| 25 Mar 2021 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Andrew Feiler | ||
Andrew Feiler’s visually compelling narrative documents the generational impact of a unique challenge grant program. Created by Julius Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington, it served to educate Black children denied access to public schools. Through extensive research and diligent outreach Feiler weaves the irrevocably impacted life stories, with the historical and political benchmarks of desegregation. The threads reach to current historical figures such as the revered late Congressman, John Robert Lewis, a Rosenwald school alum, who wrote the book foreword, to luminaries such as Gordon Parks, Maya Angelou and James Baldwin, Rosenwald Fellowship recipients. In this book group, Andrew Feiler discusses, among other things: The concept awareness of creative choices to layer the intention of your visual narrative The power of education to change history Art and activism The role of the portrait as foreseen by Fredrick Douglass The impact and intersection of civic involvement, economics, and politics The austere beauty of WIlliam Christenberry and the agency of the land to tell its own story When in Arkansas be sure to visit Toadsuck and Turkeyscratch Referenced in the episode For autographed/personalized books “Rosenwald”, a film by Aviva Kempner Isabel Wilkerson - The Warmth of Other Suns NYTImes - Boston First Black Mayor - in 91 years! Tuskegee Airmen at the White House
Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith | |||
| 10 Apr 2021 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Brian Bowen Smith | ||
Entertainment, fine art and fashion photographer BBS combined his boundless energy and expansive Instagram presence to turn an idea (initiated on a Zoomtail) into a historical record of an unforgettable time. Eleven thousand miles, six weeks and hundreds of engaging portraits later, Smith captures the soul and joy of connectivity. In this episode Brian and Paris Chong, Leica LA curator/director, graciously share their insights and experience in an in-depth Q & A!
Preparation, practice and play are keys to success Aim for a specific goal and train like an athlete “Hit the pavement, hustle, grind, be prepared.” “Feed your soul with what you want to do.” Use camera as light meter and keep a wide center frame Anticipate natural light with the iPhone Sundial app “Street photography is about numbers - always have your camera.” “Art from the heart, please yourself.” Referenced in the episode Purchase Drivebys BBSDrivebys.com LA Leica Gallery City of Angels Exhibit Hotel Chelsea by Linda Troeller Brian Bowen Smith Website | Instagram Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith | |||
| 22 Apr 2021 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Pete Souza | ||
Chief Official White House Photographer, Pete Souza, shares specifics of his career-defining role documenting the Obama presidency. Through our candid conversation and his generous response to questions, we receive insights and behind-the-scenes stories of his iconic images. Pete explains how he, with skill and intent, used the visual archive he created to expose the truth of the Trump years in his book, Shade. In this book group, Pete Souza, discusses, among other things: The primary message is to document for history aka not for social media platforms Being in the room when shit is going down 90% of documenting is the in-between-moments Inspirational documentary photographers Gender parity in the White House Photo Office Editing as the act of selection The value of collaborating with a photo editor Creating a searchable photo archive Secret rose garden weddings and famous pets Referenced in the episode David Guttenfelder, John Moore, Drew Angerer, Mark Ostow Seacoast African American Center Exhibit Pete Souza Website | Instagram | |||
| 29 Apr 2021 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with David Horton and Beatrice Lovely | ||
Boston-based documentary photographer, David Horton, and Swedish model and actress, Beatrice Lovely, share their serendipitous relationship and creative collaboration. What began as a skill-building exercise grew to a mutual exploration of the contours of emotion. The lyrical imagery was sequenced in a self-published monograph, woven with the reality of a recent grief. In this book group, David Horton and Beatrice Lovely discuss, among other things: The magic of following curiosity Working outside your comfort zone Intuition as a guide Location scouting The multiple variables in sequencing and the need to offer a “palate-cleansers-for-the-eye “ The myriad creative decisions to intentionally layer concept Self-publishing options for photographers The power of collective international engagement Referenced in the episode
Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith | |||
| 06 May 2021 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Misha Friedman | ||
Skilled at making invisible the visible, Friedman, sensitively documents the irony and ambivalence found in the parallel experience of exile. The protagonists live in a precarious environment for same sex couples, while their work supports a creative troop who are not allowed to officially perform in their homeland. In this book group, Misha Friedman, discusses, among other things: The challenging puzzle of conceptual projects Know the question your images are seeking to answer Images as adjectives The importance of pre-thinking (envisioning) pre-project Making creative choices based on underscoring the concept Focusing on one emotion The responsibility of composition Matching your personality to the jobs you seek Diverse Humanity, the groundbreaking photobook series of LGBTQ-themed books exploring human relations in all their rich complexity. Referenced in the episode Masha Gessen - New Yorker, August 18th 2020 Never Remember, Misha Friedman Lyudmila & Natasha, Misha Friedman
Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith | |||
| 13 May 2021 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Sonja Thomsen | ||
This tactile hand-bound book is anchored by text excerpts from overshadowed contributions of three female visionary artists whose theses and research are seminal to our understanding of visual culture. Thomsen choreographs light and space to elicit wonder and activate curiosity to imagine post patriarchal structures of meaning and experience. In this book group, Sonja Thomsen discusses, among other things: Simultaneity of mind, body and spiritual experience Co-authoring as a transformative art practice Editors as essential translators of ideas into material and form Books as portals, fluid conduits to generating ideas and innovation Creating language reflective of non-binary experience Defiance of a singular (or linear read) of an image or experience The necessity of rules to create elegant structure for specific design elements Referenced in the episode Resmaa Menakem - Grandmother’s Hands Lucia Moholy-Nagy - Marginal Notes
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| 27 May 2021 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Donna Ferrato | ||
Highly awarded for her vast humanitarian impact with over 500 global exhibitions, Ferrato is known for documenting the truth of domestic violence over the past 50 years. Holy is her call to action to celebrate the powerful complexity of all who identify as female. Combined for the first time are her intimate and unflinching images of survivors, swingers and activists. Three chapters are framed by her recreated Holy Trinity; Mother, Daughter and Other, for all those who honor and protect women. In this book group, Donna Ferrato discusses, among other things Taking time to build narrative (she took 10 years before publishing her legislature-changing images) Knowing and protecting your image rights While an image can influence, collective action is what leads to change Be loud about the images you take - aim point blank at your intention/point Iterate ideas and refine output till power is embedded in the work The need for men to “heal thy penis” Find the right publisher and advocate for your work Provoke, be combative and have a good time Love has nothing to do with violence Referenced in the episode National Domestic Violence Hotline (in the US). Helpline: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) Hot Peach Pages. International abuse information in over 115 languages. British Journal of Photography Achieving Gender Equity - Radcliffe Harvard Institute Undue Motherhood - Kickstarter by Diana Karklin Blood Speaks - Paloma Basu Ferrato exhibit at Vanderbilt University 2014 Current Ferrato exhibit at Newport Art Museum After the eclipse - New York Magazine, 2017 He Threw the Last Punch Too Hard by Hannah Kozak Reproductive: Health, Fertility, Agency, on show at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago. GirlTrek - Black History Bootcamp podcast
Donna Ferrato Website | Instagram | |||
| 03 Jun 2021 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Mona Kuhn | ||
By blending technique, process and intent Kuhn brings transcendent reflections to light by exploring shadows. Collaborating with her subjects, all enter into an undefined space to await the moment where art and life coalesce. In this session Kuhn’s restless energy generously shares her meditative photographic practice. In this book group, Mona Kuhn discusses, among other things: The humanist influence of Brazilian photographer, Mario Cravo Neto Allowing life to enter one’s work An image which keeps on giving, lasts The role of vulnerability and insecurities to propel work The collaborative role of the subject, their creative freedom which grants them the final decision in allowing publication Being led by shadow Being dressed in your own skin The fecundity of the female Discerning and protecting your visual vocabulary Intuitive intelligence and the abundance of the unconscious Referenced in the episode BODY The Photography Book Nathalie Herschdorfer August Colbert - Origin of the World Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith | |||
| 10 Jun 2021 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Renée Jacobs | ||
Renée Jacobs, a photojournalistic turned civil rights lawyer turned erotic documentarian, uses photography to explore her own sexuality and to listen and give voice to the desire of her co-collaborators. Joyful, intense, alluring and lustful, each image is a story grounded in visualizing felt emotion. Jacobs notes; “ I switched the lens and the lens switched me.” In this book group, Renée Jacobs discusses, among other things: Standing in your own light Carving a space to listen to co-collaborators Desire needing context Twin motivators of loss and longing Relating to Gordon Parks’ experience of needing Paris Widening technical exposure, experiment The luck to have mad genius friends Inspiration from Japanese bookmaking techniques The rule of 6 twists to pop French bubbly Referenced in the episode Sinners Exhibit in Paris Video Smith Colleges - Voice of Feminism Oral History Project Body; The Photography Book - Nathalie Herschdorfer Fan the Flames ; Queer Positions in Photography at the Ontario Art Museum Art & Queer Culture - Catherine Lord & Richard Meyer Aperture 218 Spring 2015 - Queer Joan E Biren - Dyke Show Lesbian Images in Photo 1850 Renée Jacobs Website | Instagram Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith | |||
| 24 Jun 2021 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Jocelyn Lee | ||
In Sovereign, photographer Jocelyn Lee actualizes the democracy she sees between humans, nature and the animal world as she explores their cycles of fecundity. Her sensual and intimate portraits made in collaboration with mature women create fictional narratives which challenge the cultural coding of shunning the aged female body. Using natural light, a medium format camera and film, Lee skillfully composes portraits which expand notions of power, possession and passion. In this book group, Jocelyn Lee discusses, among other things: The camera as a philosophical tool Consciously layering one’s subject with other priorities to inspire and expand imagination Making visible the mythology of cultural codes The beauty of our ‘animal bodies’ The magic of not knowing The dance and performative nature of photography The metaphorical power of portraiture The excitement of exploring new methods and processes Being in conversation with your work Referenced in the episode Recollections of My Nonexistence Jocelyn Lee Website | Instagram Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith | |||
| 23 Sep 2021 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Stacy Mehrfar | ||
Multi-media artist Stacy Mehrfar presents a collision of sensory experience in an actualization of the emotional terrain of migration. Portraits, landscapes, and still life images are purposely devoid of signifiers to place, time and space, inviting a collective encounter of dislocation. Picturing emotion The purpose of a portrait - is about the subject or the photographer? Importance of place and how landscape defines us Subjectivity of color The power of montage The invaluable role of a book desinger
Documentation of TMBTE Immersive Video Installation A Collective Performance, TEDx Live Stream Tall Poppy Syndrome with Amy Stein Naomi Riddle - Running Dog Art
Stacy Mehrfar Website | Instagram Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith Avinu Malkeinu: Anne Vetter on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CUFh_I7Axwx/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link Barbara Streisand: khttps://open.spotify.com/track/25FJtwokc905OMHwyJsEbJ?si=7cc6ee37f6734c05 Phish Live Performance: https://open.spotify.com/track/4dcuDn0bswyBMyPCbLyRLy?si=fe60dcd8b39b4ded David Grisman and Andy Statsman: https://open.spotify.com/track/055U63Cn1Z5EsFQ7K0LjN0?si=48c67e79a99e4236 Hilton Chilchik: https://open.spotify.com/track/68z5UU7tvw1Q5PTCg09I6z?si=3daa117d949b4881 | |||
| 30 Sep 2021 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Cig Harvey | ||
Cig Harvey’s fourth monograph celebrates the sacred and the profane in lush, glossy, saturated color. In a hefty book of french-fold pages chronicles in image and text, Harvey’s courageous exploration of visual storytelling in form and narrative. Utilizing the medium of photography to illuminate the quotidian, Harvey reflects our human paradox, the unbearable lightness of being. In this book group, Cig Harvey discusses, among other things: The camera as a ouija board The subconsciousness of sequencing Living with senses wide open everyday Color as subject Photographing with a point of view Flowers as healing agents and as reflecting the ephemeral nature of life The push and pull of a strong image Knowing the seasons of your own creative clock Referenced in the episode You Look At Me Like An Emergency You An Orchestra You A Bomb Gardening At Night Interactions of Color - by Josef Albers Modern Nature - by Derek Jarman Wednesday is Indigo Blue - by Cytowic and Eagleman The History of Bees - by Maja Lunde InHarmonicity, The Tonal Walkway - by Julianne Swartz Do Walk - Navigate, Earth, Mind and Body - by Libby DeLana
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| 21 Oct 2021 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Odette England | ||
A manual on female dairy cows provides a portal for Odette England to unearth the latent truths of her girlhood, formed in the deeply gendered community of family-run dairy farming. Sequencing hauntingly mysterious images with succinctly insightful text, England explores conventions, offering an expansive and empowering response in their place. In this book group, Odette England discusses, among other things: Listening and living with your work Making photographs as a conversation - before having a context or conceptual frame Employing sincerity An economy of text and image Making in community and the importance of collaboration Color as character “A vertical experience of a horizontal wish” Non-conforming females Photos as slippery storytellers Gifts & Omens Referenced in the episode Sexual Politics of Me - Carol J. Adams Ordinary Affects - Kathleen Stuart Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind The Savage Detectives - Roberto Bolano
Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith | |||
| 04 Nov 2021 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Brea Souders | ||
A master weaver intersecting the past with the future, Brea Souders constructs visual analogies that expose the layered intermediaries of communication. Positing centuries-old existential questions, Souders discovers her own lexicon, creating a language built on correlation, random chance and fleeting reaction. In this book group, Brea Souders, discusses, among other things: How we experience images now Establishing an economy of means in image-making Allowing other viewpoints to influence your creative decisions Accidential observation Science influencing art by experimenting with an objective Being in dialog with your work The creative limbo when between bodies of work The fluid intersections of analogy and digital processes The iPhone as sketchbook Referenced in the episode Good Pictures: A History of Popular Photo by Kim Beil Photography is Magic by Charlotte Cotton
Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith | |||
| 13 Nov 2021 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Geoff Dyer | ||
See/Saw compiles observational musings on over 40 photographers plus reflections on the writings of Roland Barthes and John Berger. Erudite, entertaining and thought-provoking this book is a veritable library of looking. It introduces unheralded imagemakers that capture imagination while sending readers into deep research on the plethora of historical and contemporary references evoked. In this book group, Geoff Dyer discusses, among other things: Talking about meaning versus talking about the photographs Conjuring images in words Writing that combines the critical with the creative Language everyone thinks they can speak Ability of photos to illuminate consciousness Instability and ever-expanding nature of photographic history The aesthethic purity of Walker Evans What constitutes signiifers now A photograph as memorial Referenced in the episode The Street Photography of Garry Winogrand On Photography NYT, The Mysteries of Our Family Snapshots, January 2017 The Suffering of Light by Alex Webb Camera Lucida by Roland Barthes Mirrors and Windows: American Photography Since 1960 Believing is Seeing Errol Morris Antonioni’s Blow Up Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith | |||
| 02 Dec 2021 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Andy Grundberg | ||
Grundberg presents a personal reflection of his on-the-ground immersion in the world of contemporary art during the conceptual hayday of the NYC downtown scene in the 70’s and 80’s. In this scholarly tour-de-force he chronicles over 100 artists as photography became a means to deconstruct and make contemporary art approachable. In this book group, Andy Grundberg discusses, among other things: The popularity of contemporary art being a consequence of photography Women photographers use of photo and performance to challenge the male gaze How photography revealed structures which attracted artists to the medium Arts’ ability to reveal it’s own contradictions Shaping culture with Cindy Shermans’ new variant of self portraiture Susan Sontag's prescient call to consciousness - ‘images consume reality’ The Starn twins barrier-breaking sculptural use of photography Sophie Calle being an avatar of surveillance in photography The import of magazine photography - it is where art photo happened The contextualists (aka digital natives) leading photo forward Referenced in the episode The Piedmont Manifest - Andy Grundberg 10 Female Land Artists You Should Know - Sarah Gottesman Painting, Photography and Film - Moholy-Nagy A.D. Colemen Light Readings : A Photography Critics Writing; 1968-1978/ 1979 Death in Photograph - Andy Grundberg The Photography Reader - Liz Wells
Andy Grundberg Website | Instagram Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith | |||
| 16 Dec 2021 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Sandi Haber Fifield | ||
The Certainty of Nothing continues her intrepid investigation into the limits of the photographic medium. Her palpable agency and precise command belie her playful and organic methodology. With a replete tool kit of mediums and materials, Fifield transforms encounter and experience to illuminate meaning and connectivity across cultures and time.
Coupling images Visual Gestault Photo as source material Magic happening in the studio Stages of engagement with one’s work Connotation and codification of color Importance of slowing down Working with the print vs the screen “Shifting till they sing.” Closing quote by Claire Ping for Musee Magazine: “She uses various techniques to reconstruct images collected over time and create what may be termed visual poems, lyrically opening up new possibilities for looking or even thinking about perception…They suggest the radical potential of the photographic medium to expand our imaginative horizon, and challenge everyday vision.“ Referenced in the episode The New Museum Triennel 2021 - Soft Water Hard Stone 2013 After the Threshold, Kehrer Verlag 2011 Between Painting and Picking, Charta Books 2009 Walking Through the World, Charta Books 1997 Defining Eye: Women Photographers of the 20th century “Nathan Lyons: Selected Essays, Lectures, and Interviews” (2012) edited by Jessica S. McDonald
Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith | |||
| 24 Jan 2022 | Got Punctum?Trailer | ||
My education and professional experience is layered with multiple roles in seemingly unrelated fields, social work, fashion, design, and photography. The common denominator, which links these fields together is my passion, the exploration to uncover and understand the relationship between meaning self-expression and culture. As a curator consultant and educator for over the past decade, my work is to illuminate, elevate and amplify contemporary photography. To participate in a global visual culture conversation. I created a concept development curriculum called Concept Aware to demystify and activate the moving parts of creating visual imagery. So what's, punctum? It's a Latin word coined by Roland Barthes, a French philosopher, as he grappled with how to describe the emotional impact of an image. To paraphrase Barthes, punctum is that which springs from the image to pierce the viewer's heart. In my words, it is the wordless exchange of emotion embedded in an impactful image. My premise is that there is a circular relationship between engaging in one's enthusiasm while making an image and the punctum that is inherent in the image. This podcast explores the intentions, ideas, challenges, and resources of individual artists. We also include voices of publishers, curators, and academics, all the people who are part of the dynamic visual culture conversations. It is a global exchange conducted in the language of photography. Welcome. If you like this show, remember to leave us a rating or review. It really helps. | |||
| 29 Jan 2022 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Rich-Joseph Facun | ||
Black Diamonds seamlessly blends typographic, street photography, portraiture, and pictorial landscapes into a lyrical composition honoring the people and places of the misrepresented coal mining communities of Appalachia. Facun celebrates the strength of this diverse community in 63 square color images within a beautifully muted palette. In this conversation, Rich-Joseph Facun discusses, among other things: Photographing for oneself Photo as play and therapy The fire that is punctum Starting a project is like falling in love Shooting at the edges of your real life Instagram as an editing tool Finding your voice in an edit Accidental beginnings The wisdom of taking the long way home Finding trusting collaborators Aligning vision and intent Referenced in the episode Little Cities of Black Diamonds Council Prodigal Summer: A Novel by Barbara Kingsolver In a pandemic, there’s no place I’d rather be than here in Appalachia by Alison Stine Book Review by Odette England in the Strange Fire Collective What is The Future of Black Appalachia - The New York Times Rich-Joseph Facun Website | Instagram Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith If you like this show, remember to leave us a rating or review. It really helps. | |||
| 04 Feb 2022 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Tabitha Soren | ||
Using an 8x10 large format camera, an iPad, images sourced from internet searches, social media and text messages, Surface Tension animates our layered relationship with technology. In thirty six high gloss images she reveals, reflects and ponders the complex layers between real life and our virtual one. In this conversation, Tabitha Soren discusses, among other things: Creating images that have not been seen before Researching ideas to find entry points and build context Experimenting to fInd the tools that meet the job VIsualizing the unseen impact of technology on psychological states Layering intentions Best practices when using appropriated images Thinking of a book and exhibit simultaneously Viewers keen reading of your image Social critic Jia Tolentino’s insightful book essay Uncertainty as a place of hope Publishers who honor your intention Referenced in the episode E.M. Forster - The Machine Stops Alexis L. Boylan - Visual Culture Surgeon general warns misinformation an ‘urgent threat’ to public health Annie Murphy Paul - The Extended Mind Nicholas Mirzoeff - The Right to Look: A Counterhistory of Visuality Allen deSouza - How Art Can Be Thought: A Handbook for Change Tabitha Soren's Fantasy Life is an Intimate Portrait of Baseball Yoffy Press - TRACE; a Yoffy Press Triptych featuring Kota Ezawa, Tabitha Soren and Penelope Umbrico Sharon Olds - For You Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith If you like this show, remember to leave us a rating or review. It really helps. | |||
| 19 Feb 2022 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Teju Cole | ||
Golden Apple of the Sun animates the quotidian elements of Cole’s kitchen countertop in unposed meditations of color and form captured during a perilous 5-week period. This tapestry of image and text exposes the power of everyday objects to reflect the prismatic spaces we hold during our brief and precious life.
In this conversation, Teju Cole discusses, among other things: Still life images as biography Disappointing expectations Postponing reaction #nofilter Dead bird syndrome Incorporating accidents Positioning and modifications imposed by ethnocentricity Translucence and opacity Being difficult Listening foremost to one’s self Going your own way
Referenced in the episode “A Photograph Never Stands Alone” - New York Times “In Flagrante Two” - Chris Killip “Black Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments” - Saidiya Hartman “A Black Gaze: Artists Changing How We See” - Tina L. Campt Shadows in Nature, Life & Art - William Vaughan The Practicing Refusal Collective - The Sojourner Project
Engage with J.Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith If you like this show, remember to leave us a rating or review. It really helps. | |||
| 25 Feb 2022 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Ed Kashi | ||
Abandoned Moments is a book, an approach, a tool and a philosophy. Kashi reconsiders his deep and expansive photographic archive shot in 100 countries over the past four decades to set them free of their original context. These fluid and engaging images vibrate with the chaos, wonder and complexity of the human experience. In this conversation, Ed Kashi discusses, among other things: Shooting from the hip Visceral cues and animal instincts Becoming one with a camera Play being essential to practice Active investigation of a concept Stumbling into results Listening to ‘talking’ negatives The beauty of decontextualizing images Changes of heart and mind The intoxication of the medium of photography A joyful and collaborative edit Referenced in the episode Engage with J. Sybylla Smith If you like this show, remember to leave us a rating or review. It really helps. | |||
| 25 Mar 2022 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Michelle Dunn Marsh | ||
Seeing Being Seen is a synthesis of Dunn’s multi-decade career of leadership roles in design, publishing, arts administration and academia told in part through images by 36 photographers she has known, worked with or collected. A central theme is the ever-evolving journey of learning and understanding how we see. Included is a Primer, an accessible and portable teaching tool on how to read a photograph. In this conversation, Michell Dunn Marsh discusses, among other things: Ways of thinking about the history of photo The myriad (and often unconscious) factors that influence and inform how we see Matters of history and heritage Dismantling associations and identifying assumption Normailizing difference The neuroscience of seeing The alchemical and iterative process of visual problem-solving, aka design Sequencing as a spiritual practice Portraits as aspirational Intergenerational dialog Publishing options Buying from publishers websites is a smart choice When to guide and when to let go Referenced in the episode All Power (Black Panthers at 50) Exhibit Critical Indigenous Photographic Exchange (CIPX) The Unconcerned Photographer by Charles Harbutt Prague Winter: A Personal Story of remembrance and War, 1937-1948 by Madeleine Albright Michelle Dunn Marsh Website｜Instagram Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith If you like this show, remember to leave us a rating or review. It really helps. | |||
| 08 Apr 2022 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Jess T. Dugan | ||
Jess Dugan utilizes their skilled observation and keen awareness of the dynamics of portraiture to pose questions on love, loss, risk, trust and belonging. Sixty poetic images possessed of affection and agency, are intermixed with poignant and highly personal prose, to create an object of beauty and an accompaniment to the trials and triumphs of a fully lived life. In this conversation, Jess Dugan discusses, among other things: Following desire Being led by attraction Looking to pictures to learn Regulating the emotional space of portraiture Ethics of care Practice as process Protecting creative space Expanding the gaze - beyond identity Capturing ambiguity Personal storytelling as a model of possibility Referenced in the episode Every Breath We Drew - Jess T Dugan To Survive on This Shore - Jess T Dugan, Vanessa Fabbre Strange Fire Collective - Rafael Soldi, Jess T Dugan, Hamidah Glasgow, Zora J. Murff Fine Arts Workshop Provincetown - Intimate Portraits led by Jess T Dugan The Queer Indigenious Artists Reclaiming a Fluid Sense of Gender - The New York Times Style Magazine Notes on Fundamental Joy - Carmen Winant Brainstorm - Rebecca M. Jordan-Young In Lieu of Flowers - Caleb Cole Art After Stonewall 1969-1989 - Weinberg Becoming Sisters: Women Photography Collective & Organizations Jess Dugan Website | Instagram If you like this show, remember to leave us a rating or review. It really helps. | |||
| 15 Apr 2022 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Mona Kuhn | ||
Kuhn reimagines a love relationship referenced in the extensive Schindler archives to create a dreamscape of portraiture, still life and landscape of an unnamed protagonist dwelling within the home and courtyard of Schindlers iconic Kings Road house. Solarization offered the perfect photographic tool for Kuhn to cross time and space while honoring the process of the Surrealists which was innovated at the time the house was built. Schindler and Kuhn both see and celebrate moments when light is its own architecture. In this conversation, Mona Kuhn discusses, among other things: Images as semantics Sensory inspiration Embracing the unknown Bringing architecture to light The courage to be yourself Learning to walk again Creating visual poetry Reaching critical mass Editing to bbe true to your story New ways of exhibiting Wunder! Referenced in the episode Mona Kuhn Kings Road installation shots Time and Space - Steidl Interview with Mona Kuhn MAK center of Art and Architecture 835 Kings Road at AD&A at UC Santa Barbara The Gift - Lewis Hyde The Age of Light - Whitney Scharer UNESCO World Heritage Site” Hollyhock House Capture Photo Festival in Vancouver Website | Instagram If you like this show, remember to leave us a rating or review. It really helps. | |||
| 07 May 2022 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Anastasia Samoylova and David Campany | ||
A palpable synergy permeates David Campany’s animated sequence of over 140 images and paintings in Anastasia Samoylova, Walker Evans Floridas. A playful interaction that recontextualizes Evans' archive, also illuminates photography’s unique ability to capture paradox, metaphor and oxymoron. Both Samoylova and Evans investigate deeper truths and the mixed feelings generated at the intersection of myth, reality and the wild possibilities in between. Contributing to the roadtrip canon from a female perspective Looking first Ungendered images Parsimony and composition Showing time in one frame Ability of work to endure Leaving meaning open Nietzsche and Baudelaire Nostalgia Sovereign Sense of scale Referenced in the episode Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith If you like this show, remember to leave us a rating or review. It really helps. *Got Punctum? Podcast Listed on the 70 Best Photography Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/photography_podcasts/ | |||
| 27 May 2022 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Jim Dow and April M. Watson | ||
Over 60 black and white images, many previously unpublished, constitute this erudite book, Signs, a current exhibition and a recent acquisition to the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. With candor and respect, Dow provides a living history of human spirit and ingenuity. Senior Curator April M. Watson’s essay, A Sense of Things in Time, places Dow’s 45-year contribution as photographer and professor within the lexicon of photography. In this conversation, Jim Dow and April M. Watson discuss, among other things: Art school as boot camp How environment shapes us Edgy idealism The point of speculation Recontextualizing one’s work The importance of collaboration Concern for your book audience Consistently learning something new A need for public intellectuals with a functional delivery system Referenced in the episode American Studies Jim Dow Marking the Land Jim Down in North Dakota Discovering the Vernacular Landscape John Brinckerhoff Jackson Being Black in America is Exhausting Jonathan Capehart American Photographs Walker Evans The Danger of a Single Story Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Susan Sontag and Norman Mailer The Elements of Value Eric Almquist On Photography Susan Sontag Sontag: Her Life and Work Benjamin Moser The Burden of Representation; Essays on Photographies and Histories John Tagg A Parallel Road Amani Willett. 2020. If you like this show, remember to leave us a rating or review. It really helps. Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith *Got Punctum? Podcast Listed on the 70 Best Photography Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/photography_podcasts/ 2jAxlFDoKJ3wrVkDdULA | |||
| 10 Jun 2022 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with S. Billie Mandle | ||
Using a large format camera with available light, Mandle compiles 40 color images of confessionals within Catholic churches across America. In illuminating spaces containing moments of grace, Reconciliation offers viewers the opportunity to seek, witness, and contemplate experiences of their own. In this conversation, S. Billie Mandle discusses, among other things: Correlations between confessionals and cameras Photographers as collectors Ways we create meaning as individuals and a society Research impacting and shaping a project Benefits of a design studio Quieting color Following affinities Cold emailing for collaborators Embodying paradox Impact of oppressive societal structures Referenced in the episode Night of the Fiestas - Kirsten Valdez Quade Images As Action and Reflection Panel Mass Cultural Council Berkshire Taconic Artist Resource Trust Fund Rebecca Solnit - The Blue of Distance Sovereignty of Quiet - Kevin Everod Quashie The Land in Between - Ursula Schulz-Dornburg The Poetics of Space - Gaston Bachelard If you like this show, remember to leave us a rating or review. It really helps! Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybylla.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith *Got Punctum? Podcast Listed on the 70 Best Photography Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/photography_podcasts/ | |||
| 15 Jul 2022 | Artist Talk — Jaina Cipriano | ||
In this conversation, Jaina discusses, among other things: Photographing what you can’t see Making space to document what you’re feeling Making a mess Doing insane things Creating a creative team The magic carpet ride of creativity Trusting yourself Sharing your process The wonders of a shower notepad Artist Resources/Inspiration Little Weirds by Jenny Slate Swamplandia by Karen Russell A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self by Alice Miller Stock Scenery Construction Handbook (Third Edition) by Bill Raoul & Mike Monsos On Mental Toughness by Harvard Business Review Directing Actors: Creating Memorable Performances for Film and Television by Judith Weston Catching the Big Fish by David Lynch Crafting Short Screenplays that Connect by Claudia Hunter Johnson ————————————————————————————— Sign-Up for Email Newsletter for Got Punctum? News and Other Happenings Engage with J. Sybylla Smith | |||
| 21 Jul 2022 | Artist Talk — Jason Langer | ||
In this conversation, Jason discusses, among other things: Photography as a tool to explore one’s interpretation of reality Being private investigators of your subject Engaging new book design perspectives Making creative choices that build context Organizational structure’s influence on editing Allowing curiosity to explore one’s feelings Jewish mysticism The power of text How the digital age impacts representation and acquisition Crafting a dream within a dream within a dream This work is traveling to: Museum of History and Holocaust Education, Kennesaw, GA. Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education, Portland, OR. Holocaust Museum, Houston, TX. Artist Resources/Inspiration Books BERLIN by Jason Langer, Kerber Verlag Twenty Years by Jason Langer, Radius Publishing Possession by Jason Langer, Nazareli Press The Art of the Memoir by Mary Karr Memories, Dreams, Reflections by CG Jung Media Wings of Desire (1988) Station to Station by David Bowie (1976) Creative Collaborators Organizations ————————————————————————————- Sign-Up for Email Newsletter for Got Punctum? News and Other Happenings Engage with J. Sybylla Smith | |||
| 29 Jul 2022 | Artist Talk — Daniel Milnor | ||
In this conversation, Daniel discusses, among other things: Respect for straight photography Conceptual photography as the Wild West The 3 most important things to look for in an image The impact of the personal book Adaptation Authenticity and being true to yourself The power of print Cutting the noise by using the postal service Building your own ecosystem—not based on algorithms Shooting in your own backyard Following fascination Reading as a free education Visual creatives’ economic power Artist Resources/Inspiration Organizations Creative Collaborators Media The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog by Kurt K Gledhill Other ————————————————————————————- Engage with J. Sybylla Smith *Got Punctum? Podcast Listed on the 70 Best Photography Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/photography_podcasts/ | |||
| 25 Aug 2022 | Artist Talk — Karen Haas | ||
In this conversation, Karen discusses, among other things: Falling in love with photography (and a photographer) Modernism Media hierarchy moving towards collaborative interdisciplinary exhibits Impacting the breadth of community representation Context & curation Sequencing as the creative act of the curator Consistency of vision within an exhibition Creating critical conversations within an exhibition Collector relationships The medium and the message being one and the same Artist Resources/Inspiration Exhibitions Gordon Parks: Back to Fort Scott Media Curatorial Lecture — Reimagining Ansel Adams Curatorial Lecture — Gordon Parks: Back to Fort Scott Curatorial Lecture — Make Believe Creative Conversations: Daniel Handal and Karen Haas Books Gordon Parks: Back to Fort Scott by Karen Haas An Enduring Vision Photographs from the Lane Collection by Lyle Rexer and Karen Haas Edward Weston The Early Years by Margaret Wessling and Karen Haas Photography by Anne E. Havinga, Nancy Keeler and Karen Haas The Photography of Charles Sheeler: American Modernist by Karen Haas ————————————————————————————— Sign-Up for Email Newsletter for Got Punctum? News and Other Happenings Engage with J. Sybylla Smith | |||
| 22 Sep 2022 | Artist Talk — Colleen Plumb | ||
In this conversation, Colleen discusses, among other things: Awakening to invisible justice Bodily autonomy Animal spectatorship A practice of attention Distilling process Good obsessions Book as archive Puncturing social individuality Sound is time made flesh Sustaining projects is a puzzle Imagining a kind future | |||
| 08 Sep 2022 | Artist Talk — Nancy Grace Horton & Scott Mullenberg | ||
In this conversation, Nancy and Scott discuss, among other things: Exploring what a photo can do The importance of story The impact of presentation Dancing around ideas Photo as sculpture Gendered objects Creative agency Housing fine art work Allowing projects to unfold RELATIONSHIPS The magic of the art residence Artists’ Resources/Inspiration Organizations Creative Collaborators Jessica Hagen Fine Art and Design Businesses Sign-Up for Email Newsletter for Got Punctum? News and Other Happenings Engage with J. Sybylla Smith | |||
| 16 Sep 2022 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Yelena Yemchuk | ||
Yemchuk’s second monograph is a form of visual poetry. Her exceedingly tender portraits exude sensuality, emotion, and kinetic energy. Her controlled compositions form a lyrical arrangement with words by Ilya Kaminsky. Together both artists capture the elusive essence of this magical city, beguiling and beyond time. Sign-Up for Email Newsletter for Got Punctum? News and Other Happenings Engage with J. Sybylla Smith | |||
| 29 Sep 2022 | Artist Talk — Hettie Judah | ||
In this conversation, Hettie discusses, among other things: Gender care gap Gender pay gap Family as a trap for women Domesticity and art Need for subsidized, affordable childcare The time-consuming emotional labor of parenting most often falls on mothers Studio space & residency limitations Commercial gallery's inconsistent gender parity Art school’s ‘mother-sized’ holes Female collectors’ big spending habits Networking solutions Polyvocality Sign-Up for Email Newsletter for Got Punctum? News and Other Happenings The full, messy & beautiful work of parenting | |||
| 06 Oct 2022 | Artist Talk — Toni Pepe | ||
In this conversation, Toni discusses, among other things: Unpacking seeing The family photo album Pushing expectations of the image Text as a tipping point Enticing touch Engaging viewers physically Being driven by an idea Collective learning Cross-discipline experimentation Stick-to-it-ness Editing being crucial The impact of when birth and death left the home Sign-Up for Email Newsletter for Got Punctum? News and Other Happenings | |||
| 21 Oct 2022 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Holly Lynton | ||
Holly Lynton melds form, content, and meaning in her strikingly beautiful images, capturing the lives of those providing our sustenance, while protecting our land. Lynton’s compositional framing, lush palette, textural tones, and transformative gestures craft a meditative beauty. Accompanying essays provide context for cultural contradictions, associations, and representations — speaking to the role art has played to perpetuate or reveal them. Referenced in the episode Lost in a meditation: Rural American life – in pictures, The Guardian On the Basis of Art: 150 Years of Women at Yale Signs of Return by Grace Elizabeth Hale Questions of Travel by Elizabeth Bishop Hoe Country, Alabama by Dorothea Lange Blurred Identities: The Art and Audience of Lynching Photography History, Photography, and Race in the South: From the Civil War to Now Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver Love Child’s Hotbed of Occasional Poetry: Poems and Artifacts by Nikky Finney Sign-Up for Email Newsletter for Got Punctum? News and Other Happenings | |||
| 26 Oct 2022 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Rania Matar | ||
Matar gracefully investigates womanhood, identity, and empowerment - across time and place. Poetic, soulful, and bold portraits capture the agency of becoming, at the threshold of independence. Matar bridges differences in culture, religion, geography, and nationality, offering the connective experience of our shared humanity. In this conversation, Rania discusses, among other things: Working organically Image as a bonus Being open to collaboration on all levels Serendipity Observing beauty Following curiosity Giving subjects agency The physicality of the print Spending time with the work The importance of hands in portraiture Book design details The impact of grants and awards Referenced in the episode Ordinary Lives (2009) by Rania Matar A Girl and Her Room (2012) by Rania Matar L’enfant-Femme (2016) by Rania Matar She Who Tells a Story at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2013-2014) In her Image at Amon Carter Museum of American Art (2018) https://nmwa.org/exhibitions/live-dangerously/ Women To Watch, National Museum of Women in the Arts Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino Unfortunately, It was Paradise by Mahmoud Darwish https://www.saintlucybooks.com/ https://ayellowroseproject.com/ Sign-Up for Subscribe by Email for notifications about new Got Punctum? episodes. Sign-Up for Email Newsletter for Events and and Other Happenings | |||
| 18 Nov 2022 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Rita Leistner | ||
Photographer and filmmaker, Rita Leistner, blends fine art with documentary in her intensely lit, unstaged, metaphorically-inspired environmental portraits of the tree planters reforesting the cut blocks devastated by commercial logging. In this conversation, Rita Leistner discusses, among other things: Uncanny use of light An innate sense of composition Feeling not with the heart or head — but with the spine The power of artificial lighting What makes communities work Bush legs and tree eyes Capturing visual vocabulary in the real world Light as media The whiteness of the whale Living the work | |||
| 23 Nov 2022 | Artist Talk — Matt Johnston | ||
In this conversation, Matt discusses, among other things: Taking a fixed object to a fluid space Accessibility Readability Intentionality as a central focus The purpose of publishing is to make public Engaging the mobility of books Taxonomy of the photobook Establishing criticality standards Reader-centric vs. maker-centric books Sustainability Stewardship of the photobook Artist Resources/Inspiration Offset Projects, Anshika Varma A Parallel Road by Amani Willett & Tiffany Jones The Content Machine by Michael Bhaskar Photobooks: The Book Club Test (April 2022) The Photobook in Art & Society by JOVIS (2020) Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith Subscribe by email for updates about new episodes! | |||
| 03 Dec 2022 | Artist Talk — Paris Photo In Your Pocket | ||
In this conversation, Syb discusses, among other things: Gallery/Artist/Resources
Casemore Gallery/ San Francisco/Chris Grunder Rolf Art/ Buenos Aires, Argentina/Florencia Giordana Braun Julian Sander Gallery/Cologne, Germany/Julian Sander TOBE Gallery/Budapest, Hungary/Tomas Opitz and Bea Puskas Stephen Daiter Gallery/Chicago/ Lukas Deepest Darkest Gallery/Cape Town, South Africa/ Deon Redman Persons Projects/Berlin, Germany/Timothy Person Boogie Woogie Photography/ Hong Kong, China/ Vanessa Franklin Gallery Number 8/Brussels, Belgium/Marie Gomis -Trezise Artist: Resources: Aperture Revolution is Love: A Year of Black Trans Liberation MEP - Boris Mikailov Exhibition Pompidou Center - Unframing Colonialism Musee des Art Decortif Louvre - Elsa Schiaparellili Exhibtion Sustainable Photobook Publishing Network | |||
| 09 Dec 2022 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Odette England, Jennifer Garza-Cuen and Susan Bright | ||
In this conversation, Jennifer and Odette discuss, among other things: Collaboration Inherent trust Being reckless Being process driven Allowing the material to speak for itself The social journey of a photograph Playing vs working Simplicity Growing understanding Undoneness Referenced in the episode Photography and Collaboration: From Conceptual Art to Crowdsourcing by Daniel Palmer Lacuna Park: Essays and Other Adventures in Photography by Nicholas Muellner Robert Rauschenberg Foundation | |||
| 14 Feb 2023 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Vince Aletti | ||
The Drawer is a visual autobiography of Aletti’s deep canon of inspiration, experience and multi-media obsessions collected over five decades. Created and captured in a single day, each collage is a flurry of free association. This book animates his refined sense of composition, eclectic juxtaposition of image and text and chronicles the tectonic shifts of art and visual culture. In this conversation, Vince discusses, among other things: The intentionality of the photographer Intuitive arrangements between images—in both exhibition and book form Unselfconscious coupling of imagery Art informing how we think Magazine culture Subversion Advertising driving editorial Undermining narratives How to make a life in photography Fun or nothing Being the Bill Cunningham of contemporary photography Referenced in the episode Issues: A History of Photography in Fashion Magazines by Vince Aletti True Homosexual Experiences: Boyd McDonald and Straight to Hell The Moon Is Behind Us by Fazal Sheikh Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation Published by Self Publish Be Happy Sign-Up for Email Newsletter for Got Punctum? News and Other Happenings Engage with J. Sybylla Smith | |||
| 21 Feb 2023 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Diana Karklin | ||
Undo Motherhood is a boxed set of soft-covered trifold booklets titled after the predominant feelings identified by regretful mothers: anger, fear, isolation, exhaustion, guilt, resignation and acceptance. Karlkin’s investigation was driven by a single question: “If you knew then what you know now, would you have made a different choice?” Respectful, intimate imagery makes visible a continuum of ambivalence. In this conversation, Diana discusses, among other things: Ideology of motherhood Collective imagination Maternal reckoning Multicultural expectations Innovating approaches to achieve neutrality Visually exploring vulnerability The language of images Dismantling narratives Referenced in the episode Singapore International Photography Festival Elinor Carucci — Mother (2013) Carmen Winant — My Birth (2018) Sheila Heti — Motherhood (2018) Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution by Adrienne Rich The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante Screaming on the Inside by Jessica Grose “Regretful Mothers” by Anne Kingston, Maclean’s “Women who wish they weren’t mothers” by Diana Karklin, The Guardian 1854 Photography on Undo Motherhood, British Journal of Photography Published by Schilt Publishing | |||
| 28 Feb 2023 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Binh Danh | ||
Three deeply researched long-term projects; Immortality: Remnants of the Vietnam and American War, One Week’s Dead, and National Parks are compiled in a sumptuous two-volume slipcase. Hauntingly beautiful chlorophyll prints and daguerreotypes, printed with clarity and depth on dense black paper, animate a living history of war, refugee status, immigration and assimilation. Augmented by essays, poetry and historical material in an all-white soft-covered book, Danh has masterfully married intention with process as a means of transmigration. In this conversation, Binh discusses, among other things: The power of a work of art Public consciousness Cultural identity Innovating chlorophyll prints Receiving history Art being activated by the viewer Decoding the code of daguerreotypes Negotiation of materials Complicated stewardship of the land Bringing light to dark places A mobile darkroom called Louis | |||
| 14 Mar 2023 | Artist Talk — Jessica Todd Harper | ||
In this conversation, Jessica discusses, among other things: Mining family narratives Focusing on what's in front of you Working with light The influence of teachers Wrestling with the materiality of now Transcending the ordinary Photojournalism vs art One ‘good’ photo a month Life fitting into photography Artist Resources/Inspiration Interior Exposure by Jessica Todd Harper and Sarah McNear The Home Stage by Jessica Todd Harper Kinship, The National Portrait Gallery Bo Barlett at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Undo Motherhood by Diana Karklin Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Maine Media Photography Workshops Published by Damiani Editore | |||
| 21 Mar 2023 | Artist Talk — Kristen Joy Emack | ||
In this conversation, Kristen discusses, among other things: The power of observation Speaking through photos Commanding the frame Leaning towards iconography Intentionality A circular gaze Reciprocity in relationship with subjects Import of residencies and support of the Guggenheim Performative girl power The evolution of a series and the birthing of a book | |||
| 28 Mar 2023 | Artist Talk — 10x10 Photobooks Reading Room at the Boston Athenaeum with Russet Lederman and Lauren Graves | ||
In this conversation, Russett and Lauren discuss, among other things: What constitutes a photobook The evolution of the photobook Gendered discrepancies and the inequity of access and privilege A lack and/or ambiguity of attribution or authorship The personal and political visual voice of women The artist’s concept as a driving force Telling your own story The image as an agent for social change Sequencing a narrative Context, form and content Publication and distribution The serendipity of open stacks The multiplicity of ways to read a photobook | |||
| 18 Apr 2023 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Peggy Levison Nolan | ||
In this conversation, Peggy discusses, among other things: How a camera transforms what we see Being addicted to film Seeing inside the photographer's head Vastness of observation The intelligence (and swiftness) needed to respond to the presence observed The high jinx of black and white imagery The relationship between the image and time moving Teaching strengthens editing The rhythm of a book Loving the gutter Taking the long view A hatbox of 100 mice | |||
| 25 Apr 2023 | Artist Talk — Britland Tracy | ||
In this conversation, Britland discusses, among other things: Camera as mediator Gender constructs Male vulnerability Strong opinions, loosely held Human-inflicted trauma Sensationalizing violence Working from a set of rules Creative kinship Serendipity Applied abstractions of visual allegory Interiority displayed | |||
| 02 May 2023 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Karni Arieli | ||
This book forms a collective reframing of the realities of motherhood beyond the mythologized patriarchal gaze. A global array of photographer mothers document, with bold authenticity, the carrying and caring of a human—the feral and relentless shared space of heart-exploding wonder and joy—all seen and shared through the eyes of those who experience it. In this conversation, Karni discusses, among other things: Photographer mothers using the camera to document their reality Confronting the monumental occupation that is motherhood Managing the duality of identities as a mother/artist The politicization of the personal The synergy of interconnectivity and the strength of collaboration Forming a visibility chain Flipping the narratives Righting misconceptions Managing expectations Love and sisterhood Not endorsing motherhood, but endorsing the choice | |||
| 09 May 2023 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Astrid Reischwitz | ||
Spin Club Stories is a mixed-media reintegration of history, environment, society and self in an interactive dialog spanning centuries. Reclaiming the artform and impact of women’s handiwork, Astrid assembles collages of images and textiles, perforated with hand embroidery. Sourced from family heirlooms, she figuratively empowers her ancestors—and ultimately herself—to transform the future. In this conversation, Astrid discusses, among other things: Rediscovering culture Culture as kaleidoscope Selecting elements to tell her story Textiles and embroidery as connective tissue Allowing materiality to lead process Considering art vs. craft The role of “women’s work” The shifting boundaries that define identities Working with lost knowledge Memory as a key to the future Healing power of art, craft and story Creating new visual language via abstractions | |||
| 16 May 2023 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Cai Quirk | ||
Episode Notes Cai Quirk deeply explores genderqueer self-portraiture in an original image creation and story formation orchestration. A phantasmagorical world unfurls, as six evolutionary text and image sections weave a mythical interdependency of body, spirit and nature. The result is an invitation to regard all beings and their fluid becoming with a gracious welcoming of honor and respect. In this conversation, Cai discusses, among other things: The queer body in art history Deconstructing gender realities Making myth aka writing new stories Playful ambiguity Image and story as an invitation Intertwining elements Accessibility Children of ambiguity Neo pronouns The fluidity of transness Listening beyond oneself | |||
| 23 May 2023 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Toni Wilkinson & Susan Bright | ||
Tough Pleasures turns a bright light and witty lens on the conflicting dynamics of femininity and food—revealing appetite and desire. Susan Bright's astute and savory essay provides the perfect table setting for the environmental portraits that follow. Wilkinson masterfully interrupts the repetitive and limiting messaging of unattainable expectations and endless critique by putting power in the hands of her subjects, real women and girls. In this conversation, Toni and Susan discuss, among other things: Shooting intuitively Slow looking Penises Capturing chaos Too muchness Interrogating with light Breaking image sequence with detailed shots Revisiting work and reopening the series Defying prescripted roles Playing with power plays Image-making as a tool to engage in ideas Slog, splendor and sensuality | |||
| 13 Jun 2023 | Artist Talk — Todd R. Forsgren | ||
In this conversation, Todd discusses, among other things: Working in archives Thinking in books Approaches to appropriation Running amok Parameters for sequencing Perceived opposites Light leaks Colliding technologies Data corruption Observation & measurement Falsehoods & mystery Artist Resources/Inspiration Discovering Peary Land by Todd Forsgren A Constant Wind Between a Breeze and a Gale Untitled Re:Iterations Photographs from 2000-2014 | |||
| 20 Jun 2023 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Brea Souders | 01:10:53 | |
Another Online Pervert creates a visual and text dialog between photos from Souders’ image archive and snippets of written copy from a two-year engagement with an AI personality chatbot. Utilizing prompts from her childhood journals, an emotional call and response is created between human sense and sensibility and machine capability and capacity. Photographs, including a few family snapshots, weave a parallel narrative blending the notions of perception that we all possess between time, memory and meaning. In this conversation, Brea discusses, among other things: Real-world vs virtual world Dislodging gendered social constructs Cathartic spaces for non-conformity Enabling surprise Being bot-ified Originality aka going off script Evolution of a project Memory vs past vs time without borders Engaging archives Collaborative editing Mixing formats Mean playfulness Women being erased from technology history | |||
| 27 Jun 2023 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Morgan Ashcom | 01:26:02 | |
Open enacts metaphor to make visible the layers of oppression experienced by Palestinian apartheid. Exposed documentary images and HTML-coded emails are bookended with Arabic calligraphy and poetry. Delivered in a sealed cardboard film box, this soft-cover book utilizes photography as a tool to activate our imagination, reveal expansive truths and offer a revision of what hope and resilience look like.
The poetic capacity of an image What makes a successful photo Pivoting Enacting of metaphor Chemistry & materiality Experimenting & refining Activating the medium Shifting failure Pointing towards possibility Collaborative sequencing Mythmaking Challenging pretend knowledge Sharing agency
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| 13 Sep 2023 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Anastasia Samoylova | 01:16:24 | |
Anastasia Samoylova furthers her exploration of place and the ability of photography to shape our perceptions of reality. Central to her investigation is the geography of human relationships to our natural and man-made environments. Utilizing her masterful ability to collage in-camera, her flattened imagery provides us with a kaleidoscope of ideas surrounding globalization, historical heritage, and cultural idealism. In this conversation, Anastasia discusses, among other things: Geometry of the frame Alignment of elements Figures in the landscape Spatial interplay Illusion of scale Inviting interpretation Dialoguing with a targeted audience Exposing tools of the medium Gendering of cities Feminist geography Stoic philosophy | |||
| 20 Sep 2023 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Elizabeth Clark Libert | 01:07:00 | |
Elizabeth Clark Libert's bold diaristic conversation with herself is a reckoning with a twenty years old sexual trauma and its impact on raising her school-age sons. Boy Crazy is a masterfully designed melange of self-portraits, environmental portraits, seasonal landscapes and family photos. Interspersed in a searingly honest staccato manner are intimate musings, email correspondence with her perpetrator and snippets of pointed conversation with her sons.
In this conversation, Elizabeth discusses, among other things:
Art as process
Reclaiming agency following sexual trauma
Shooting through ambivalence
Lyricism and raw emotion
Giving context
Collaboration
Being in conversation with your work
Wasabi writing
Finding the structure of the book
Experimenting and refining
Asymmetry
Visualizing
Generating change and opening hard conversations
Being brave together
Visit my website for a full list of resources. | |||
| 27 Sep 2023 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation With Barbara Peacock | 01:14:00 | |
American Bedroom: Reflections on the Nature of Life is a messy, energetic, playful and heart-stoppingly poignant romp into the intimate spaces of ordinary Americans. Each portrait is accompanied by text by the subject. The result is an anthropological study of the physical, emotional, spiritual, political and psychological landscape of 21st century America. Peacock brings a wealth of experience and a very expansive heart to this tour de force of human cartography. In this conversation, Barbara discusses, among other things: Leading with the light - especially cascading amber light Grabbing the details Serendipity Being bold and thinking big Following instinct and intuition Envisioning Street photography skills Building an archive of inspiration Brutal editing Choral (collaborative) Editing Crowdsourcing Grants and funding Capturing the climate of the country Social media as help and hindrance Doing the “Barb thing” | |||
| 04 Oct 2023 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation With Rehab Eldalil | 01:18:00 | |
Photography is innovatively and collectively utilized to create a new narrative challenging the stigma and stereotypes of this indigenous community. This book is a multilingual textural object of beauty and wisdom — a non-linear collective celebration and document of home, belonging, hospitality, reciprocity and the longing to live in communion with the land. In this conversation, Rehab discusses, among other things: Personal exploration as motivation and inspiration Connecting to the protagonists of your stories Seeing with an empathic eye Giving voice to the voiceless Blending practice and process Calling out visual references Internalization of the ubiquitous colonial gaze Being Modern vs Western Progressive traditional gender roles Symbols & Metaphor Empowerment & Elevation Incorporating soundscapes Fashion history as a cultural, socio-political window | |||
| 25 Oct 2023 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation With Mary Virginia Swanson and Darius D. Himes | 01:25:00 | |
This recent Radius release offers an expansive framework of the principles of publishing including the layered roles and responsibilities inherent within the creation of a photobook. NOT a how-to guidebook, this beautiful object elegantly packages decades of research and provides contemporary resources to illustrate the endless possibilities of the photobbook. Swanson and Himes share the mission to create impactful photography books by encouraging all artists to: slow down idea formation, linger in the making mode, and do thy research.
The biggest challenge - conceiving the idea Fostering a dynamic engagement with one's ideas Seeing the end in the beginning Play, patience & persistence Concept guiding context Stepping outside the medium of photoogrpahy to clarify and deepen your idea Critical thinking Not rushing the monograph The book as art form Photogrpahs as raw material Impact of digital publishing Pivotal role of self publishing University Presses Balancing creative & business perspectives The evolving life of marketing a book | |||
| 06 Nov 2023 | J Sybylla Smith, In Conversation With David Campany | 01:26:53 | |
David Campany pays tribute to the multidisciplinarian artist Robert Cumming, known for his rigorous dedication to the aesthetic tonality of the B & W image and his uncanny investigations into the philosophical nature of perception. Lusciously printed images from original 8 x 10 negatives are evidence of Cummings' masterful camera work marrying his fascination with photography’s ability to simultaneously describe and mislead. David Campany's equal sensibilities are evident in an erudite, witty essay and compelling image sequence. In this conversation, David discusses, among other things: Nonsense & Sensibility Chicanery & wit Craft and camera work Fluid interchange of media Transition of an object into an image Looking at work in the round Not getting pigeonholed Specialism Modernist Ideals Thinking of scale Landing in the middle Viewers response to the work provides its meaning All you can do with a watermelon | |||
| 22 Nov 2023 | Artist Talk: Paris Photo In The Rearview Mirror — 2023 | 00:44:24 | |
A decade of attending this fair has honed my ability to select from the staggering amount of concurrent offerings - astounding amounts of work, panel discussions, book signings and outside Prsi Photo happenings during a packed week in Paris. In this conversation, Syb discusses, among other things: Vernissage New discoveries Elles x Paris Photo platforms and anniversary book Robert Cumming happenings - including a new documentary Book Awards AI and digital photography taking a foothold at the fair Polycopies Sophie Calle taking over the Picasso Museum Bleak yet authentic reflections on maternal relationships at Le Bal | |||
| 06 Dec 2023 | J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation With Danielle Ezzo | 01:30:46 | |
Danielle Ezzo is a new media artist pioneering the lossy space of photography through a process of sourcing from the vast digitized open-access archive of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This beguiling book animates McLuhan's semiotic principle, the medium is the message, by activating the ability of photography to simultaneously communicate and mediate. Ezzo’s rephotographed art objects unleash an open-ended exploration into how history is shaped and its potential to propagate the future. In this conversation, Danielle discusses, among other things: Viewer as curator Non-linear looking Intuitive response led by the aesthetics of formal qualities Freeing artifacts of origins Subjectivity of documentation Categorization matters Lossiness Letting go of presuppositions (aka prescribed notions) Sensibilities change How images circulate now Sky as inspiration and analogous to virtual space Reimagining artistic communities NFT’s Economics of being an artist Synthetic images Museums' role as cultural arbiters Cultural lag Number Theory | |||
| 14 Nov 2024 | International Women Photographers Series—Leica, Latin America Team | 00:23:25 | |
This is an introduction to the Leica team in Mexico, Central, and South America, which is actively highlighting and amplifying the visual voices across Latin America. Meet: Aurora Bruzon - Latin America Marketing Manager Betsy May - Commercial Director Latin America Manolo Marquez - Gallery and Akademie Manager for Leica Mexico Each one shares specifics on their mission to bring diverse services and expand programming with Latin artists. Aurora, Betsy and Manolo discuss among other things: Fostering community among passionate visual storytellers Building global bridges Bringing Leica values to a larger audience Implementing ways to see the world through a Leica lens News from the flagship Mexico City store and gallery Expansion of programming across the region The 29 Leica Galleries around the world Framing photography as an expressive art Promoting diverse work Commercializing a variety of photographic genres Referenced in the episode: | |||
| 20 Nov 2024 | International Women Photographers Series—Collaboration | 00:42:30 | |
This seminal book, a compendium of image-based projects, illuminates the subtle evolution of ideas of photographic practice over time. This book offers a non-authoritarian systematic deconstruction of photo history to expand ways of making, seeing, and thinking about the multi-layers of relationships within photography. Five revered photographers, teachers and scholars innovated ways to visualize process and reinvestigate archives. Their collaborative project results in a prismatic view, new vocabulary and an essential teaching tool. In this conversation, Susan Mieselas, Wendy Ewald and Laura Wexler discuss, among other things: Opening new relationships within the event of photography Limits of visual vocabulary Methodologies that favor listening, learning and unlearning The malleability of ideas and associations Seeing across time Photo with the blinders off Creating vocabulary Seeing threads and weaving them Discovering what is missing Building understanding Dynamics of visual culture Referenced in the episode: | |||
| 25 Nov 2024 | International Women Photographers Series—WOPHA, Women Photographers International Archive | 01:02:30 | |
Unscripted conversations with Aldeide Delgado, co-founder and leader of Women Photographers International Archive, and recent WOPHA Research Fellow and scholar, Dr. Candice Jansen. Each woman shares their expansive practice, leading with curiosity and utilizing inquiry to activate potentiality. As scholars, archivists, writers, curators, and collaborators - their open-ended investigations resist a singular way of seeing. They build evolutionary and community-driven paradigms based on research, and center the importance of the past to envision a more equitable future. In this conversation, Aldeide and Candicediscuss, among other things: Amplifying visual stories of marginalized communities Rewriting photographic history from a feminist perspective Curatorial activism Rhizomatic thinking Trial, error and play Place as process The audience as the protagonist New vocabulary and new definitions - ie. Memorist Photography as a medium and a whole-body experience Establishing terms of visibility Prismatic perception Referenced in the episode: | |||
| 27 Nov 2024 | International Women Photographers Series—Camera Geologica | 00:37:26 | |
Camera Geologica: An Elemental History of Photography by Dr. Siobhan Angus is the lens through which we explore the multi-media artwork of Rosell Meseguer and Kosisochukwu Nnebe. This deeply researched and resourced book contextualizes the dark side of photography, the mining and extraction of elements that make printing possible. Our conversation centers on the many intersections of image-making and resource extraction. The deep scholarship of my guest's practices makes manifest the complex relationship between photography, colonization, labor, ecological, economic and social impact. In this conversation, Siobhan, Rosell and Kosisochukwudiscuss, among other things: Flipping photography on its head Implication and possibilities of the interaction of light with metals Extraction of rare earth elements Process-based practices - artists thinking out loud Ideas, materiality & visibility Art exploring gaps and erasure in archives Chlorophyll printing Colonial histories Food policy, manufacturing and distribution Talking about the past & the present simultaneously Connecting science & art Illuminating economics in our daily life choices Art creating theory Referenced in the episode: | |||
| 04 Dec 2024 | International Women Photographers Series—Fast Forward: Anna Fox & Karen Knorr | 01:03:20 | |
Two intrepid photographers and professors discuss the myriad educational strategies they activate and lead to enhance and strengthen women’s presence in photography. Anna Fox and Karen Knorr share how they empower visual storytellers by engaging a global network of practitioners, academics and curators who exchange resources, challenges and strategies toward achieving gender parity in photography. We hear how they conceived and built Fast Forward, their multi-pronged research organization responsible for establishing data, developing project-based teaching tools and convening worldwide themed conferences. Lastly, we wrap by learning of their 8-year-long road trip following the route established by Bernice Abbott. In this conversation, Anna & Karen discuss, among other things: Data on the underrepresentation of women photographers Addressing and critically analyzing gender inequalities in workshop formats Impact of motherhood and caregiving roles on professional photographers Teaching as an adjunct to pursuing one’s photographic work Coalition-building, nurturing collaborative efforts and creating global conferences to discover hidden stories of and by women visual storytellers Identifying key gate openers and partnering with willing arts and educational institutions Network-building from exhibition practices Ambition, Synergy and Foresight Reaching for inclusion with innovative strategies Grants, grants and grants History of their multiple road trips photographing together Image and text dialog Referenced in the episode Report on Equity and Inclusion Putting Ourselves in the Picture | |||
| 11 Dec 2024 | International Women Photographers Series—Linda Troeller: Sex Death Transcendence | 01:02:08 | |
Linda Troeller’s self-portraits are compiled into a luscious tour de force of womanhood, identity and aging. Troeller utilizes her relationship with the camera to understand herself and a woman’s place in the world across decades. Her history traverses that of a beauty contestant, potential lawyer, photojournalism student, model, muse, photo teacher, photographer, provocateur and activist. With conviction, insight and wisdom Troeller celebrates and generously shares her embodied strength and fragility. In this conversation, Lindadiscusses, among other things: Universalizing the personal Provocation aka myth-busting The circular relationship of punctum Linda-ness Self-portraiture, performance and installation Exploring internal and external ageism Sacred water explorations Book decisions - ie: including titles Sequencing, process and collaboration Ghost Ranch, Leonora Carrington, Sophie Calle and Carolee Schneeman Referenced in the episode: | |||
| 18 Dec 2024 | International Women Photographers Series—I’m So Happy You Are Here | 00:57:35 | |
A trailblazing book chronicling the fundamental and consequential contributions of Japanese women photographers. Mariko Takeuchi and Pauline Vermare discuss their collaborative project creating a restorative history of Japanese photography. Offering a critical and celebratory counterpoint to the invisibility of Japanese women photographers this expansive and rigorously researched book features 25 portfolios, multiple essays and an illustrated bibliography of photobooks by Japanese women photographers. This bold book embraces emotion, experimentation and provocation in myriad forms of beauty, humor, and deeply spirited connections. In this conversation, Mariko and Pauline discuss, among other things: Pulling back layers of cultural understanding of being a women Expanding vocabulary and objects of study Womanhood, daughterhood and caregiving Physical involvement with the medium Utilizing self-portraiture to reclaim agency over one's body Making tangible that which is invisible An outward expression of internal experience Including the voices of photographers in the essays and text Making and remaking meaning Referenced in the episode: A World History of Women Photographers by Luce Lebart and Marie Robert What They Saw: Historical Photobooks by Women, 1843–1999 by Russet Lederman and Olga Yatskevich Women Making Art: History, Subjectivity, Aesthetics by Marsha Meskimmon Living a Feminist Life by Sara Ahmed World Economic Forum, Global Gender Gap Report 2023 Self-Portraits by Yurie Nagashima Ume-me - Todays Happening by Ume Kayo The Memories of Others - Akihiko Okamura / Photo Museum Ireland | |||