What if your photography did not end with the click of the shutter?
In this episode of Lensbaby Presents, host Liz Willson welcomes fine-art photographer, educator, curator, and Lensbaby Ambassador Mara Magyarosi-Laytner for a thoughtful conversation about experimental photography, physical printmaking, visual poetry, creative courage, and building a meaningful artistic practice.
Mara shares her journey from high-school darkroom photography to earning degrees in photography, art education, arts administration, and an MFA in photography. She discusses how teaching and making art work together, why experimentation matters, and how her project-based approach allows her work to evolve over time.
A central theme of this conversation is simple but powerful: make your art real. Photography is not only a digital file or an image on a screen. Mara encourages artists to print their work, experiment with materials, create photo books, pursue exhibitions, apply to open calls, and place their art where it can connect with people.
You will also hear about Mara’s evolving body of work, The Subtle Body of Living Things, which explores memory, time, identity, health, anxiety, absence, and altered perception. Through video, photographic fragments, Polaroid lifts, hand-coated prints, projections, Lensbaby OMNI effects, Edge optics, and experimental processes, she creates work that reflects the disorientation and fragmented experience of lost time.
Whether you are a photographer, artist, creative entrepreneur, photography student, or someone who has been waiting for permission to share your work, this conversation will challenge you to try the hard thing, embrace the learning process, and keep moving forward even when self-doubt shows up.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
● Why your photography should not end with the shutter click
● How to turn digital images into tangible, physical artwork
● Ways to start exhibiting photography in galleries, libraries, hospitals, coffee shops, and local art spaces
● Why applying for creative opportunities matters, even when you expect rejection
● How artists can use experimentation, symbolism, and visual poetry to develop deeper work
● Why ongoing photography projects can evolve over months or years
● How to create a photography book or artist monograph
● How Mara uses the Lensbaby OMNI system, colored crystals, Edge optics, and Velvet lenses
● Why in-camera experimentation can reduce dependence on heavy editing
● How photography, video, alternative processes, and mixed media can work together
● How to work through imposter syndrome, rejection, and creative failure
● What it means to “shoot extraordinary”
Mara also shares the story behind Nova 24 Photo and Film Festival, an experimental photography and film festival she co-founded to create more opportunities for innovative artists and filmmakers. The festival features exhibitions, artist talks, projection galleries, film screenings, and work from artists across the United States and internationally.EP-04-Conversation-Behind-The-Scenes-with-Mara-Magyarosi-Laytner.txt
Creative reminder: Do not be the first person to tell yourself no. Apply for the exhibition. Submit to the open call. Print the work. Share the project. You never know who needs to encounter your art.
Connect with Mara Magyarosi-Laytner
Instagram: @maramagyarosi
Website: MaraMagyarosiLaytner.com
Mara shares her artwork, creative process, exhibitions, and artist opportunities through her website and Instagram.EP-04-Conversation-Behind-The-Scenes-with-Mara-Magyarosi-Laytner.txt
Explore Lensbaby creative lenses, OMNI filters, and photography tools, and use code PODCAST for 10% off as referenced in this episode.EP-04-Conversation-Behind-The-Scenes-with-Mara-Magyarosi-Laytner.txt
Question for you: What piece of art have you been holding back from printing, submitting, sharing, or putting out into the world?
Subscribe to Lensbaby Presents for more conversations with photographers, artists, Lensbaby Ambassadors, visual storytellers, and creatives who are learning to shoot extraordinary.
Chapters
00:00 Why Photography Should Become Physical Art
00:26 Make Your Art Tangible, Printed, and Real
01:20 Where to Share Your Photography Beyond Galleries
02:13 How Art Can Bring Hope and Healing to Others
03:11 Why You Need to Share Your Work
04:16 Welcome to Lensbaby Presents
04:45 How Mara Magyarosi-Laytner Started Photography
05:27 Discovering Photography in High School
05:56 Learning Through the Darkroom
06:24 From Photography Degrees to Fine Art
07:16 Teaching, Arts Administration, and an MFA
08:17 Building a Career as a Fine-Art Photographer
09:06 Why Artists Must Keep Making Their Own Work
09:57 Creating More Opportunities for Experimental Photography
10:32 The Story Behind Nova 24 Photo and Film Festival
11:26 Supporting Experimental Photo and Film Artists
13:30 Project-Based Photography, Symbolism, and Visual Poetry
14:06 Why Experimentation Creates Unexpected Results
15:07 Photography Does Not End With the Image
15:36 Alternative Printing and Experimental Photo Processes
16:09 Combining Photography, Video, and Mixed Media
17:14 How Mara Begins a Photography Project
18:28 Exploring Creative Methods Before Knowing the Outcome
19:30 Building Inspiration Boards for Art Projects
20:38 The Beginning of The Subtle Body of Living Things
20:51 Anxiety, Vasovagal Syncope, and Altered Perception
22:48 Searching for Peace Through Photography
23:44 Using Video, Crystals, and the OMNI System
24:33 When Video Began Reflecting a Personal Experience
25:32 Photography as a Medium for Exploring Time
26:01 Creating Images From Missing Pieces of Time
26:37 Polaroid Lifts, Film Fragments, and Experimental Books
27:27 The Aftermath: Art as a Conversation With Yourself
28:07 Music, Rhythm, and the Disruption of Time
28:40 Why an Art Project Can Remain in Progress
30:13 Knowing When a Photography Project Is Complete
30:40 The Untended Garden Photography Project
31:37 Turning a Long-Term Project Into a Photography Book
33:28 Experience Creative Freedom With Lensbaby
34:26 Why Mara Makes Physical Prints
35:20 Hand-Coated Paper and Visible Brushstrokes
36:13 What Comes After Creating the Digital File?
37:03 Art, Time, and the Value of Long-Term Creativity
38:50 Imposter Syndrome, Failure, and Trying Big Things
39:20 Why You Should Not Be the One to Tell Yourself No
39:48 When a Printing Experiment Does Not Work
41:04 The Reality of Rejection in the Art World
41:47 Applying for a Guggenheim Fellowship
42:56 Why Rejection Does Not Mean You Do Not Belong
44:00 Keep Trying, Learning, and Moving Forward
45:24 Living for the Hope of It All
45:44 How Creative Risk Builds Confidence
47:24 What Mara Is Creating Now
48:17 The Intersection of Photography and Film
48:46 Creating Effects In Camera Instead of Editing
49:06 How Mara Uses Lensbaby Tools
49:48 Why the OMNI System Changed Her Work
50:41 Using Colored OMNI Crystals for Artistic Expression
50:59 Creating Self-Portraits With the Velvet 56
51:17 Why Mara Loves the Edge Lens and Tilt-Shift Effects
52:23 Lensbaby as the Beginning of the Creative Process
53:32 Speed Round: Photography Inspiration and Creative Rules
53:56 The Photography Gear Mara Loves Most
54:02 The Most Overrated Photography Rule
54:24 What Makes a Photograph Instantly Interesting
54:42 A Subject Mara Always Photographs
55:00 Photography Is Better When You Are With Friends
55:06 What It Means to Shoot Extraordinary
56:43 Curiosity, Growth, and Pushing Photography Forward
58:04 Where to Find Mara Magyarosi-Laytner
59:19 Artist Open Calls and Creative Opportunities
01:00:07 Final Challenge: Make Your Art Real
What does extraordinary creative freedom mean to you as a photographer? Our mission is to give photographers the tools to move through their fear of shame, judgement, guilt, and being a part of the status quo. Photography isn't about fitting in. Photography is about discovery, risk, getting out of the box, saying no to what everyone else is doing and being EXTRAORDINARY as defined by you.
We believe that creativity isn't about what THEY do. Photography is about what YOU want to do!
What does being a photographer mean to you?
How do you #ShootExtraordinary
Learn more about Lensbaby Https://www.Lensbaby.com
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.Instagram.com/Lensbabyusa
Elizabeth (Liz) Willson
Website: elizabethwillsonphotography.com
Instagram: @Elizabethwillsonphotography
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@elizabethwillsonphotography
#Lensbaby #LensbabyPresents #ExperimentalPhotography #FineArtPhotography #PhotographyPodcast #PhotographyEducation #CreativePhotography #AlternativeProcessPhotography #MixedMediaArt #PhotographyInspiration #ArtistInterview #OMNISystem #LensbabyOMNI #PhotographyExhibition #PhotographyPrints #VisualStorytelling #CreativeProcess #ShootExtraordinary
