Everyday Photography, Every Day: Recent Episodes
M.H. Rubin and Suzanne Fritz-Hanson
Everyday Photography (Every Day)" is a weekly podcast where you get to listen in on a chat between a photographer (Rubin) and a regular human (Suzanne Fritz-Hanson) with an eye on making your pictures amazing and helping you enjoy your photography more. No technical stuff. No talk of gear or software. Just photography for the fun of it. Rubin brings a unique perspective to consumer media: a student of Jerry Uelsmann; an amateur photographer for 40 years; formerly of Lucasfilm, Netflix and Adobe; director of The Rubin Collection of Photography; and founder of Neomodern, he's long been passionate about advancing the language of photography. ** Enjoy show notes at www.neomodern.com/podcast
We're back and catching up on workshops, lessons from the summer, Rubin's new camera and, of course, Suzanne's hat.
The hottest topic in AI is the new "art" creation tool called Dall-E, and after a few weeks of falling down the rabbit hole playing in this new world, and considering the implications on photography (as well as illustration) our hosts invite domain expert Dr. Aaron Hertmann--from Adobe's research team--to explore Dall-E and other aspects of computational photography.
As Rubin explores the world of photo fairs, industry leader Chris Davies takes us into Photo Independent, Paris Photo and NFTs. A must-listen episode for photographers starting to sell their work.
On this Memorial Day Weekend show, Suzanne and Rubin get familiar with the twisting photographic journey of LA architectural photographer Elizabeth Daniels. From her unusual college application (which resonates for Rubin) involving Annie Liebowitz, to her friendships and mentorship from many of the great, this is a fun episode!
Suzanne and Rubin dig into the meaning of "the decisive moment" and how important the concept is for amateur photographers. And then they talk about sculpture.
A spontaneous gathering with Anne Kelly (of PhotoEye) and photographer and professor Bateman. Ed Bateman teaches at the University of Utah and has been a long-time explorer of time, creativity, photographs and history.
Our hosts catch up after a Covid holiday and dig into Rubin's struggles with "pure seeing" photography, as different from inorganic, studio, photographic creations.
Sternburg's book of Los Angeles during the lockdown, "I've Been Walking," was just released in the US, so we sat down to hear about the moments that have lead here and her work.
Rubin and Suzanne go over the application of Zen Arts to learning photography, particularly for beginners, and how his workshop has become one of the more popular online courses at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops. There's an intersection of haiku and photography, that once understood, will completely shift the way you take and look at pictures.
She builds her cameras. She closes her eyes when she shoots. Susan Burnstine is processing her dreams into haunting and beautiful images--a fascinating photographer. Meet her.
For over 40 years Photo-Eye has been an institution of the photographic arts. Their bookstore and gallery is the stuff of legend. We sat down with Anne Kelly to get the scoop on their history, finding new talent, NFTs (!) and the changing nature of photography.
His roster of portraits is amazing--but his career path is inspiring. Meet Jeff Lipsky, who went from Telluride ski bum to Hollywood photographer.
Her classic portraits of stars like Madonna and Prince have been popular from The Village Voice, Rolling Stone, People to book covers and movie posters--spend some time meeting the delightful Deborah Feingold.
Our first guest of the season is Reid Callanan, the founder and director of the distinguished Santa Fe Photo and Writing Workshops.
Where Susan and Rubin catch up briefly on photography and geography, and Rubin debriefs on his first Zen Arts Workshops.
A self-described "blue collar" photographer, Burkard's photos are some of the most beautiful and amazing wilderness images we've ever seen. His work ethic is legend, as his dedication to the environment. His photos, films, books and course are all part of his mission to educate as many people as he can about the wonders he sees on Earth. Meet Chris and be inspired.
For more than 40 years, Shapiro has been the dealer's dealer -- an expert on midcentury modernism (and partner to the Rubin family in developing our historic collection), we spend some time this episode discussing Robert Frank, Man Ray, Kertesz, Cartier-Bresson and the importance of prints.
Norma is a fine art photographer whose home—including her art collection, her own analog work, and her camera collection—burned in the Napa fires of 2017. In this episode we discuss the fire and her intimate work.
It's the start of Season 3 and we're warming up, catching up, talking about new projects and my Santa Fe Workshop class with Jason Langer. But yeah, also the fires around Santa Cruz and the real challenges of taking photos of this.
Maggie Taylor is a fine art photographer who transitioned from creating real-world still-life collages into being a master of Photoshop photo montages. Her whimsical creations have been called surreal, but her humor makes them more "quirky".
In which Suzanne and Rubin review their thoughts on Kertesz and her home project and generally catch up.
Andre Kertesz had a long and multi-faceted career producing some of the most iconic, modern, and often enigmatic photos in history. His influence is profound, and it was a pleasure to sit down today with Robert Gurbo, curator of the Kertesz estate and domain expert on this fascinating photographer.
Peter Fetterman offers rich insights into photography collecting and being collected, and the sheer magic in great photographs. As one of the pre-eminent gallerists of photography for decades, his delightful personal tales about the artists is a joy. “What is a photo? I see an image… and i am changed by it; I’m incredibly moved by it. I’m haunted by it. I have to possess it. I learn something from it. I breathe it. I want it to be inside me. That’s a photo to me.” -- Peter Fetterman
Here's a short episode where we go over a few projects you can do at home, with no supplies but a phone, and practice key skills that will make your pictures better.
It's hard to think about photography in Santa Cruz without discovering Shmuel Thaler, the leading photojournalist at the Santa Cruz Sentinel. He's been documenting the community since the late 1980s: from earthquakes and fires, to surfers and dancers—the fabric and heart of the town.
Jeff Carlson has written an astonishing array of books over his career, explaining a range of creative and technical topics—perhaps 20 of them related to photography. His newest book on Luminar4 is out this week, so it seemed a great time to say hi and hear what driving him!
I'd never heard the term "rhyme" used so perfectly to describe a visual experience before... but the wonderful pairings NYC photographer Nina Kling are delightful, mysterious, and enormously satisfying.
Angelica Glass decided on a whim to walk the length of every street in the county of Santa Cruz. Over the course of five and a half years, she walked all of the 4,121 streets in the county. After that, she continued the project in the form of walking every trail in the county. She took photos on each street and chose one to represent each street/trail and through this project fell in love with photography.
It's a bleak time for many, and insane stress for us all -- but there are a few advantages to being forced to stay in. Rubin has converted Neomodern.com from a retail business to a free program of projects to build people's photographic skills: not tech skills but creative ones. Using the content from his Zen Arts curriculum, he's posting daily projects designed to help folks stuck at home.
Rubin formally declares his upcoming book for beginners and pros -- finding a philosophical foundation for his disparate feelings about creative picture taking: the Zen Arts. There are lessons from haiku, kintsugi, enso, ikebana, bonsai and origami (and the principles of wabi-sabi) if you know how to find them. Not how to use photography to practice zen, but how to use zen arts to get better at photography! His recent Petapixel article on the subject is discussed, as is a pair of workshops in San Francisco in March.
In this episode Suzanne grills Rubin on a recent shoot he did that he described as unusually good--what would make one shoot notably different or better than the hundreds that have gone before? Rubin discusses his improvisational approach and digs into some of the issues of being a hetrosexual man who frequently photographs women.
After Rubin's Petapixel essay went viral a few weeks ago, he's been digging into photographic fundamentals; Suzanne and Rubin dig into the ways we compose and how it interacts with our basic tendencies. The show is practically therapy.
Our first anonymous guest, who has a day job in Silicon Valley, but has an alter ego, Foto-Kammer, who shoots luscious landscapes and nudes, and whose work explores the natural harmony of humans in the landscape.
After a career as a fine art nude model, Shiva Sharifi today photographs nude and boudoir as well as organizes workshops to introduce photographers to this specialty, coordinating models and students in great settings. She has a wealth of experiences on both sides of the camera in this domain.
It's the 99th episode, and Suzanne and Rubin catch up on holiday events, the state of their photography, and Neomodern's current Kickstarter project for a new kind of photographer's frame.
It's our New Years Show and we're joined by photographer and professor Stephan Sheffield. He describes his whimsical and noirish "selfies" as "more fun than deep" -- still his "Everyman" photos are a curious exploration of photographic storytelling. He's also turned his photographic work into a family project with his young sons. He has some thoughts for new photographers...
For almost 8 years, "This Week in Photo" (TWIP) has been the go-to podcast for photo enthusiasts, lead by industry (and real) veteran Fred Van Johnson. Fred was not only a conflict photographer for the military, but later had stints at Yahoo, Apple and Adobe.
Nate Luebbe is a commercial photographer who specializes in the wilderness. He has made a career out of going hiking and skiing and camping—with his camera—and by all accounts, is living the life. How does a guy go from the beer industry to professional photographer, shooting auroras in Norway and teaching classes across the country?
Suzanne gets a preview of a rare Rubin show, with prints from four of his favorite projects: Nudes, San Francisco, Tikun Olam, and Alcatraz Windows. And somewhere in the conversation they're joined by Lorna Rubin, mother, publisher, and conspirator in the creation of the Rubin Photographic Collection, which she discusses, along with her parenting tips.
Schatz walked away from a successful career as a doctor to pursue his dream of being an artist, and he's never looked back. Schatz' work over the years as a studio photographer has thoughtfully drilled into a number of creative themes -- from "redheads" to "homeless", "powerful women" to "the shape of the NFL." Meet the former ophthalmologist on his visit to San Francisco this week.
Jerry Uelsmann has taught thousands of students about photography; he's in the collections worldwide, but his unusual creative styles were key influences for the Rubin's collection and photography. Even if you don't want to make photographic collages, Uelsmann's approach can be instructive. Listen. (And Happy Thanksgiving!! )
Being an "amateur" doesn't mean your photography is lousy, it means you're doing it for the love of it. Maybe you have a regular job, or just enjoy taking pictures, in this episode we discuss what it means to be a hobbyist and dig into a few photos to discuss the flow. And we finally have our audio recording under control!
His rare photo of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs together could very well fund his vision of a photographic camp for kids -- come meet Asa Mathat, the consummate pro. He's shot hundreds of the most accomplished humans in the world--at TED, EG, D-Conf and other exclusive conferences, and brings distinctive creativity and deep humanity, to every unique shot. (Audio issues are ours, and have since been solved.)
Every photographer wants to be collected, and we all look at photos every day, perhaps never fully thinking about the process we use to judge what we see. In this special episode we dig into how we look and judge and also how we might begin to collect. Get inside the head of a gallery owner.
Photographer, and subject of her own introspective and sensual photographs, Sophie Dimond seems to roam the landscape wrestling with her past. Her beautiful work is created with traditional methods, on medium format film as well as with Polaroids, and is both spooky and alluring. (Apologies for poor audio this episode).
Photographer and teacher Jerry Downs has been taking pictures for more than 50 years, and inspiring other picture takers along the way. His spiritual approach is delightful; and anyone would benefit from engaging with him. We sat down to get to know Jerry better and understand more about his philosophy and background. Listen in!
Rick's career spans amazing gigs at Time, LIFE and National Geographic; he's been played on the silver screen by Adam Driver, and his creative Day in the Life projects have touched millions. He's also the guy who convinced me to move into digital from film (and get a Fujifilm camera --even though he talks about his Sony today...).
As Neomodern gets ready for a gallery show this week, we debate issues in pricing photos, collecting photos and, actually, whether we can call them "art".
Citret has studied with so many historic icons: Ansel Adams, Pirkle Jones, Willy Ronis... and has taught students, and has influenced my own photography for years. It's a treat to get to sit with him for a bit and talk about pictures. "The world is an endlessly fascinating place..."
Jason Langer's photography is poetic, but the photographer has a lot he articulates beautifully about why we take pictures and how we look at them. I've long been a fan of his moody and noirish images of cities and strangers. But beyond those specifics, Langer describes his process and as expected, it was inspiring. Truly one of the best conversations about photography I've had in ages. A must for any new photography fan.
There's something about Burning Man... maybe its ephemerality (like a sand mandala) that is created with love and then wiped away without a trace, that not only feels like an interesting metaphor for all living, but how it highlights the nature of photography to grasp at the transient and make it permanent. Anyway, its a dusty nightmare that is a photographic dream. My experience:
We met Brooks Fletcher when we started working with Peak Design. But not everyone you bump into in the workworld is as interesting a photographer and artist. Introducing Brooks!
Where Suzanne and Rubin explore the painful conflict between processing grief and the desire to take photos. Pulling a camera out at a funeral or in a hospital room is almost taboo, yet we cannot argue that birth and death are all part of our human experience and the act of photography can be an important part of these natural moments.
Hawk is the quintessential photographic hobbiest, with a goal on publishing a million images over the course of his life. With a busy day job, a large young family, Hawk squeezes his passion into the nooks of his world. [NB: there is some bg audio noise in the first minute that clears up]
Morning meandering thoughts on life with a camera and the lessons of using film, even if you've never used film. Lessons for beginners. And a message from "Sundays are for lovers" - There's a difference between how you look, and how I see you.
When Suzanne and Rubin take a break from guests and dig into some of their favorite quotations about photography, and other meandering photographic thoughts.
Pritchard's new award-winning documentary (Risk: Women on the Frontline) shines light on three remarkable photojournalists.
Burnett's images have long been synonymous with Time magazine — his images of the Iranian Revolution, presidents, historical moments worldwide. Who is this real-life Sean O'Connell (the mysterious globe-trotting photographer in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty")?
Rachael Dunville manages to mix her work with physical intimacy with her photographic portraits, producing wonderfully personal stories of her subjects.
Why can something LOOK cool, and you take a pic of it, but the picture is flat and dull?? What is that? Shouldn't the photo look as good as the way you see it -- and if not, what to do about it.
Photographer-models are a special group, bringing a unique perspective to the ideas of seeing and being seen. Ellian begins our ongoing series of chatting with photographers who are also models.
Jefferson Hayman's photography was already haunting, with images in the pictorialist style... but a few years ago he began finding antique frames and pairing them with his images to create beautiful and unique creations.
Great pictures are just part of the art of photography; selecting a few to tell a story is a totally different skill and critically important, particularly for journalists (but really: for everyone). Meet The New Republic magazine's photo director Stephanie Heimann as we discuss telling stories.
Neomodern isn't the only company with a passion for getting images off your phone and onto your wall: Fracture is a growing company that has tapped into the challenges of printing on glass, in the tradition of Ansel Adams and even back to the original daguerreotypes, all photographic processes on glass.
Why does every wall-sign in the Neomodern gallery include the photographer's age? The answer was a long time in the making...
Photo manipulator Frederick Barnes mesmerizes his 100K followers on Instagram with his complex still-image animations, and his work begs the question whether a non-moving image is enough to capture the interest in the public.
Where we talk about scale, and the power in size to communicate, in addition to an image. Bryant uses his photographs to connect, with nature and himself. I want to say this once: a LIFE SIZE PHOTOGRAPH of a whale. Think about that. And think about the power of an image. To connect us to the things around us, and our place in the world, from our tiny vantage point. I wanted to talk to someone about the importance of SCALE for an image, whether it's small or giant, in communicating about the subject. It's not just an abstract attribute of a photograph, the size itself confers meanings. My guest is a photographic artist who feels deeply about the world, and uses scale to contribute to his thoughtful and powerful photographs.
Part Two of our chatting before the next guest arrives. I road-tripped to LA and had a number of photographic moments... I think this is my favorite episode. Is that nuts?
Suzanne and I look at themes running through our last four episodes in the conversations with four very different photographers: Russell Brown, Doug Menuez, Kris Sanford and Nigel Barker.
After 17 seasons co-hosting America's Next Top Model, Nigel Barker is one of the most famous and recognizable photographers today. He has a wealth of great stories, inspiration, and experience to share!
Kris describes her work as exploring "intimate relationships, specifically queer desire, through the use of appropriated images, video, and text." But she's also a teacher of young photographers and her insights there are fascinating!
Doug Menuez is perhaps best known as the key documentarian of the '80s Silicon Valley, and particularly his work with Steve Jobs. His work is empathic and beautiful; he's balanced a career in both commercial and fine art.
Our first guest is the ever-wacky Russell Brown, a super senior creative person at Adobe, and perhaps more interestingly, one of the founding team of Photoshop along with the Knoll Brothers. His observations about photography, Instagram, photo manipulation are fantastic. A joy!
In which we take a walk through the now-archaic process of silver printing, traditional darkroom work, and what can be gleaned from this background.
There are a lot of important reasons to print your pictures, it being Ansel Adams' birthday isn't one of them...
You'd think that an exhibit of Monet's paintings wouldn't have too much to say to a photographer, but you'd be wrong...
You're not a journalist covering your vacation, so you might want to relax a little when you're taking pictures on your trip. Pick a few moments to "cover". We also discuss the pros and cons of anonymous subjects in your pictures.
You do not need to learn any stupid rules of composition. You need to look at these 50 images, really look, and you will learn composition -- your photos will be better immediately.
It's all about your composition. It's the only thing you have to practice. And it's free and easy.
More explorations of ways to play with your pictures and explore the power in juxtaposition -- whether in collage, book layouts, or wall displays.
Professionals can deliver the goods. So when are those moments when it's worth getting a pro versus just handling a picture yourself? And how do you even hire a pro?
Seems like it would be easy: everyone has lots of pictures and all you have to do is select one and get it enlarged and framed. So what's the problem? Clearly there's more to it than this. We dig in.
It's hard not to want to make your photos "perfect" whatever that might mean -- skin with no blemishes, compositions elegant, no reflections... but embracing the imperfect is part of improving your pictures. Learn about the philosophy of wabi-sabi...
We're back and looking at moody lighting opportunities and how the think about them. Also, we dig into some reasons to limit how much you shoot, and how to organize the things you keep. But mostly it's about the light.
One of the most fun and challenging subjects for photographers is nude figures; but how do you start? what do you say? In this episode Rubin reflects on his process in ways that are applicable to all sorts of every day photography.
Ansel Adams suggested that landscapes are the hardest photos to pull off. They are inspired by our amazing real life experience of the majestic outdoors, but somehow get crushed into little photos. Is there anything that can be done? Oh, and Rubin reveals a secret...
Photographers have a love/hate with Instagram. It uses photos as social currency, which is a great way to get your images seen, but also suffers as a marginal way to experience a photo (small, quick), which isn't always what a photographer wants.
In my ongoing effort to replace traditional composition rules with a practice to exercise these skills, i take you on a visual tour over the radio. You might want the show notes to go with this one...
The Rubin Brothers enjoy a lively conversation about our various interests; photography, magic, media, film and family. While the turkey was cooking, we retreated to his studio for a chat.
Using technologies to capture the "experience" of the photographer is wholly different from what you do when you take a picture.
In this, our first episode, we're starting to figure out this podcasting thing and how to communicate through it. I'd say it took a few episodes before we found our legs, but you'll get the idea...