Keep the Channel Open

Aline Smithson may well be the busiest person in photography. Not only is she a brilliant artist in her own right, she is also the editor of one of the top photo blogs in the world, Lenscratch, where she posts new material every single day. On top of that, she teaches workshops around the country, gives lectures at photo festivals internationally, participates as a portfolio reviewer, juries all manner of photo competitions, and still manages to exhibit and make her own work. It's astonishing that one person can do as much as she does, and yet there she is, day in and day out, doing it.

In this episode I was pleased to talk with her about her recent book Self & Others: Portrait as Autobiography, which spans nearly twenty years of her photographic career. And for the second segment, we had a great conversation about the rising role of women as gatekeepers and curators in the artistic community.

(Recorded June 14, 2016)

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• Aline Smithson
• Lenscratch
• Aline Smithson - Self & Others: Portrait as Autobiography
• Blake Andrews - Shoot first, ask questions later
• Aline Smithson - The Lonesome Doll
• Aline Smithson - Hollywood at Home
• Aline Smithson - Revisiting Beauty
• Six Shooters: A Photographic Conversation
• Ashly Stohl
• Bootsy Holler
• Nancy Baron
• Center for Fine Art Photography
• Strange Fire Collective
• What does a female artist have to do to get a major solo show?
• Lenscratch Student Prize, First Place: Lauren Kelly
• The Hunting Ground
• Jon Krakauer - Missoula
• People v. Turner
• 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting

Aline Smithson may well be the busiest person in photography. Not only is she a brilliant artist in her own right, she is also the editor of one of the top photo blogs in the world, Lenscratch, where she posts new material every single day. On top of that, she teaches workshops around the country, gives lectures at photo festivals internationally, participates as a portfolio reviewer, juries all manner of photo competitions, and still manages to exhibit and make her own work. It's astonishing that one person can do as much as she does, and yet there she is, day in and day out, doing it.

In this episode I was pleased to talk with her about her recent book Self & Others: Portrait as Autobiography, which spans nearly twenty years of her photographic career. And for the second segment, we had a great conversation about the rising role of women as gatekeepers and curators in the artistic community.

(Recorded June 14, 2016)

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• Aline Smithson
• Lenscratch
• Aline Smithson - Self & Others: Portrait as Autobiography
• Blake Andrews - Shoot first, ask questions later
• Aline Smithson - The Lonesome Doll
• Aline Smithson - Hollywood at Home
• Aline Smithson - Revisiting Beauty
• Six Shooters: A Photographic Conversation
• Ashly Stohl
• Bootsy Holler
• Nancy Baron
• Center for Fine Art Photography
• Strange Fire Collective
• What does a female artist have to do to get a major solo show?
• Lenscratch Student Prize, First Place: Lauren Kelly
• The Hunting Ground
• Jon Krakauer - Missoula
• People v. Turner
• 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting

Amanda Dahlgren was one of the first friends I made in the San Diego photography community, and I always look forward to a chance to talk with her. Amanda's work combines a strong sense of formal composition with an inquisitive mind, and we had a great conversation about her work, as well as about the benefits of going through art school and the value of community. Building community is something that is important to Amanda, and in the second segment we talked about her work with Open Show and the Society for Photographic Education.

(Recorded June 7, 2016)

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• Amanda Dahlgren
• Amanda Dahlgren - Pre-Abandoned
• Amanda Dahlgren - Not My Daughter (NSFW)
• Medium Festival of Photography
• Museum of Photographic Arts
• San Diego Art Institute
• Open Show San Diego #1
• Beauty and the Beast: The Animal in Photography
• Jonas Yip
• Lenscratch
• Richard Prince
• Doug Rickard
• PetaPixel: Botched Steve McCurry Print Leads to Photoshop Scandal
• Teju Cole: A Too-Perfect Picture
• Bruce Gilden
• Irving Penn: Ethnographic Studies
• Meghan Daum: Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived In That House
• The Poetry Gods
• Society for Photographic Education
• Brenda Biondo
• Stephen Strom
• John DuBois
• Photolab
• The Artist Odyssey

Amanda Dahlgren was one of the first friends I made in the San Diego photography community, and I always look forward to a chance to talk with her. Amanda's work combines a strong sense of formal composition with an inquisitive mind, and we had a great conversation about her work, as well as about the benefits of going through art school and the value of community. Building community is something that is important to Amanda, and in the second segment we talked about her work with Open Show and the Society for Photographic Education.

(Recorded June 7, 2016)

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Support our Patreon | Leave a review

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• Amanda Dahlgren
• Amanda Dahlgren - Pre-Abandoned
• Amanda Dahlgren - Not My Daughter (NSFW)
• Medium Festival of Photography
• Museum of Photographic Arts
• San Diego Art Institute
• Open Show San Diego #1
• Beauty and the Beast: The Animal in Photography
• Jonas Yip
• Lenscratch
• Richard Prince
• Doug Rickard
• PetaPixel: Botched Steve McCurry Print Leads to Photoshop Scandal
• Teju Cole: A Too-Perfect Picture
• Bruce Gilden
• Irving Penn: Ethnographic Studies
• Meghan Daum: Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived In That House
• The Poetry Gods
• Society for Photographic Education
• Brenda Biondo
• Stephen Strom
• John DuBois
• Photolab
• The Artist Odyssey

If there's a recurring theme that runs through photographer Jennifer McClure's work, it's about connection, the presence or absence of it. We talked about her ongoing portrait series of singles in New York, and that led to a rich discussion about working with portrait subjects, finding your own style, and self-acceptance. For the second segment, we started off with the topic of what our end goals are as artists, and that quickly branched out to fallow periods and how we deal with them, self-care, community, and the representation of women among photographers.

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• Jennifer McClure
• Jennifer McClure - Singles
• Maggie Steber
• Jennifer McClure - You Who Never Arrived
• Hanya Yanagihara - A Little Life
• Jennifer McClure - A Certain Distance
• Jennifer McClure - Lullaby a Broken Song
• Lisa M. Robinson
• Susan A. Barnett - Not In Your Face
• Esmé Weijun Wang
• Women's Photo Alliance
• Anastasia Taylor-Lind - How a Lack of Representation Is Hurting Photojournalism
• West Austin Studio Tour
• The Elevated Selfie
• LightBox Photographic Gallery
• Griffin Museum of Photography

If there's a recurring theme that runs through photographer Jennifer McClure's work, it's about connection, the presence or absence of it. We talked about her ongoing portrait series of singles in New York, and that led to a rich discussion about working with portrait subjects, finding your own style, and self-acceptance. For the second segment, we started off with the topic of what our end goals are as artists, and that quickly branched out to fallow periods and how we deal with them, self-care, community, and the representation of women among photographers.

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Support our Patreon | Leave a review

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• Jennifer McClure
• Jennifer McClure - Singles
• Maggie Steber
• Jennifer McClure - You Who Never Arrived
• Hanya Yanagihara - A Little Life
• Jennifer McClure - A Certain Distance
• Jennifer McClure - Lullaby a Broken Song
• Lisa M. Robinson
• Susan A. Barnett - Not In Your Face
• Esmé Weijun Wang
• Women's Photo Alliance
• Anastasia Taylor-Lind - How a Lack of Representation Is Hurting Photojournalism
• West Austin Studio Tour
• The Elevated Selfie
• LightBox Photographic Gallery
• Griffin Museum of Photography

Carrie Elizabeth Thompson is a photographer whose work I've been following for several years. Her work is rich in storytelling, and I was drawn in by its complexity and emotional honesty. We recorded our conversation the day after Prince died, and of course that was on both of our minds as we started talking. But as we talked about her work one idea we kept coming back to was the idea of sharing, and how being open lets other people feel like it's OK for them to be open as well. For the second segment, Carrie and I talked about love, and particularly about where love goes after it's gone.

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• Carrie Elizabeth Thompson
• Carrie Elizabeth Thompson - Goma
• Carrie Elizabeth Thompson - Notes From My Therapist
• Carrie Elizabeth Thompson - I Hope We Go Together
• Broken Family Road Trip
• Medium.com: Carrie Elizabeth Thompson
• Notes From My Therapist (Pre-Order)

Carrie Elizabeth Thompson is a photographer whose work I've been following for several years. Her work is rich in storytelling, and I was drawn in by its complexity and emotional honesty. We recorded our conversation the day after Prince died, and of course that was on both of our minds as we started talking. But as we talked about her work one idea we kept coming back to was the idea of sharing, and how being open lets other people feel like it's OK for them to be open as well. For the second segment, Carrie and I talked about love, and particularly about where love goes after it's gone.

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Support our Patreon | Leave a review

Tweet this episode | Share to Facebook

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• Carrie Elizabeth Thompson
• Carrie Elizabeth Thompson - Goma
• Carrie Elizabeth Thompson - Notes From My Therapist
• Carrie Elizabeth Thompson - I Hope We Go Together
• Broken Family Road Trip
• Medium.com: Carrie Elizabeth Thompson
• Notes From My Therapist (Pre-Order)

I met San Diego artist Pastilla in March at the MAS Attack event at the San Diego Art Institute, and after talking with her for a few minutes I knew that I wanted to continue the conversation. We started off talking about the piece of hers that had moved me so much when we first met, "La Metamorfosis de Kafka F2," about the story behind its creation, the frustration and tension in the piece itself. For Pastilla, the act of creating art functions like meditation, and we talked about her background in photography as well as the idea of accessibility. For the second segment, she chose as her topic the ways in which an artist can engage with and impact her community, which led to a discussion of stereotypes and stories.

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Show Notes:

• Pastilla
• La Metamorfosis de Kafka F2
• MAS Attack 12
• San Diego Art Institute
• Natalie Krick
• Jenny Zhang
• "There's no spectrum of nuance for why people might expose themselves"
• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story

I met San Diego artist Pastilla in March at the MAS Attack event at the San Diego Art Institute, and after talking with her for a few minutes I knew that I wanted to continue the conversation. We started off talking about the piece of hers that had moved me so much when we first met, "La Metamorfosis de Kafka F2," about the story behind its creation, the frustration and tension in the piece itself. For Pastilla, the act of creating art functions like meditation, and we talked about her background in photography as well as the idea of accessibility. For the second segment, she chose as her topic the ways in which an artist can engage with and impact her community, which led to a discussion of stereotypes and stories.

iTunes | Google Play | Stitcher | SoundCloud | RSS

Support our Patreon | Leave a review

Tweet this episode | Share to Facebook

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Show Notes:

• Pastilla
• La Metamorfosis de Kafka F2
• MAS Attack 12
• San Diego Art Institute
• Natalie Krick
• Jenny Zhang
• "There's no spectrum of nuance for why people might expose themselves"
• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story