Science photographer Felice Frankel is acclaimed for the striking beauty of her images, which have been displayed in museums, published in multiple books, and even featured in the background in one of Ang Lee’s films. Yet she insists that she doesn’t think of herself as an artist. Her academic background is in biology, she began her working life doing cancer research at Columbia University, and she doesn’t see her photographic work as a form of self-expression. Instead, the subtle decisions she makes in setting up a composition, taking the photo, cropping it, and so on, are all in the service of creating an image that will communicate vital facts about the phenomenon she’s capturing. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t also want her images to be visually gripping and aesthetically appealing, but for her, the science always comes first, and any manipulations that obscure the truth are unacceptable. In this episode, Frankel talks with host Sarah Hansen about stumbling into a career as a science photographer, about sparring with researchers over photographic design decisions, and about what happened when she attempted to use AI to duplicate one of her images.

Check out the Video version of this interview on YouTube

... and check out her most recent work on OCW, Generative AI and Science Photography, here ➟ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I8S6diyDjw

Relevant Resources:

MIT OpenCourseWare

The OCW Educator portal

Felice Frankel’s personal website

Felice Frankel on Wikipedia

RES.10-001 Making Science and Engineering Pictures: A Practical Guide to Presenting Your Work on MIT OpenCourseWare

Phenomenal Moments (book)

Video version of this interview on YouTube

Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions

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Credits

Sarah Hansen, host and producer 

Brett Paci, producer  

Dave Lishansky, producer 

Jackson Maher, producer

Show notes by Peter Chipman