Photography Chat with Merlin

It was a lot of fun to have @ianazariah in the studio today. He told us about his journey into photography and his adventures into tin type. Shared with us his stories about photography from his childhood and how it has influenced him and about his analog photo booths that he has peppered around Vancouver. Really looking forward to chatting more with him in the future and checking out his Tin Type work in person and his photo booths.

“A simple man with a passion for making bold images, riding things with two wheels, and building treehouses.”

Follow Ian at https://www.instagram.com/ianazariah/

Photography Chat is a weekly Instagram Live @merlindb hosts every Thursday at 5pmPST/8pmEST

Give me a follow if you want to see the episodes live https://www.instagram.com/merlindb/

@studio.c41 was a real treat to have on the chat. It was super rad to hear his story of how he got started and his adventures with his podcast. We talked about the magic of the Kodak factory and then we got into the state of the film world. He educated me on Fuji Film and showed me how to show them a little bit more love. Talked about the film community and getting started with film and what those adventures are like. Then she shared with us the work he is doing in the Atlanta film community offering different options for film and processing. If you’re not following Bill you should give him a follow and keep up with the great work he is doing.

"Bill Manning, is an Atlanta-based photographer and host of the Studio C-41: 1-Hour Photo Podcast interviewing contemporary photographers and manufacturers in the film photography industry. Currently, as a result of the drastic price increases in the photography industry, Bill recently has launched a company called Atlanta Film Co. which works with Kodak Motion Picture and Dunwoody Photo to provide an affordable solution to processing and scanning color negative motion picture film for stills using the ECN-2 process. The same process that major Hollywood production use for their multi-million dollar features."

Follow Bill at https://www.instagram.com/studio.c41/

Photography Chat is a weekly Instagram Live @merlindb hosts every Thursday at 5pmPST/8pmEST

Give me a follow if you want to see the episodes live https://www.instagram.com/merlindb/

@reit_angle was so much fun to have on the chat. We got into some really deep interesting talks about social issues, and community. She told us about how she got started in photography and her love of Polaroid. We had a really great conversation about the way our world is and how we would like to see it improve. I am glad that people like Casey exist in the world, it gives some hope. I really look forward to meeting her in person at an event sometime in the future.

“Casey is a Polaroid and analog film photographer based in Chicago. Her work centers on nature, city curiosities, and solitary spaces. For Casey, photography is a means of exploring vulnerability, memory, and mindfulness. She also enjoys capturing the raw passion of live music performances on film. Casey has been working with Polaroid film since 2019.”

Follow Casey at https://www.instagram.com/reit_angle/

Photography Chat is a weekly Instagram Live @merlindb hosts every Thursday at 5pmPST/8pmEST

Give me a follow if you want to see the episodes live https://www.instagram.com/merlindb/

Brisa is a real gem and it was so nice to chat it out with her for a while. We talked about her life as a veterinarian and got into why cats are better than dogs :p She shared with us how she ended up in San Francisco and how she got into photography. We chatted about all of the rad photography and instant film communities in the Bay Area, so much activity there and so many great photographers. Got into her adventures with cyanotype on fabric which was really cool to hear and then shared our mutual love of Polaroid before wrapping up.

“Brisa Aceves is a San Francisco based analog film enthusiast. Shooting 35mm, med format, instant films and later experimenting with UV reactive dyes contact printing her own images onto fabrics and clothing. She fell in love with film as a teenager, learning traditional black and white darkroom printing in high school and color darkroom printing during a scholarship at CSSA’s summer program at Cal Arts. She has been a darkroom assistant for the photography teachers with The Youth Art Exchange (2017-2019) which provided a full circle moment being able to help teens learn traditional dark room printing. Is a member at the Harvey milk photo center a community darkroom in SF, and a longtime attendee of the monthly SF Instant photo walk.

Though her career has been focused on animals as a full-time veterinary nurse and RVT ( hence If you’ve ever seen her at a meet up in scrubs) she’s kept taking photographs and making photo related art as a favorite past time throughout her life.”

Follow Brisa at https://www.instagram.com/vyletfemme/

Photography Chat is a weekly Instagram Live @merlindb hosts every Thursday at 5pmPST/8pmEST

Give me a follow if you want to see the episodes live https://www.instagram.com/merlindb/

I enjoyed getting to know @nickcollingwoodvintage more this evening. He talked about how he got started in school doing animation and through some adventures with Polaroid and 35mm he found his way into photography. Talked with us about his experiences falling down the rabbit hole of the film community in NYC and what that experience has been like getting to know different people and places like @brooklynfilmcamera and @the.instantgram and many others. We spent some time talking about social media platforms and the communities on them and also about some of his adventures with his cameras during Fashion Week in NYC. If you’re ever in NYC Nick has put out an open invitation to hit him up and do photo stuff :)

"Nick is a non-stop film enthusiast making a living doing motion design/animation in Brooklyn, NY. He shoots almost any format he can get his hands on but particularly is in love with expired packfilm, large format and Super 8. He's been at it more than a decade now but has fallen much deeper down the rabbit hole in the last 4-5 years after connecting to the film community in NYC and online.

As a huge people-person, he is drawn to portraits as a subject and plays with high-fashion and fine art styles of imagery. He’s also dragged film cameras everywhere including Everest Base Camp and shoots some weddings on Super 8/Polaroids. Catch him teaching workshops, biking around the streets of NYC or in the park, taking large format portraits of strangers"

Follow Nick at https://www.instagram.com/nickcollingwoodvintage/

Photography Chat is a weekly Instagram Live @merlindb hosts every Thursday at 5pmPST/8pmEST

Give me a follow if you want to see the episodes live https://www.instagram.com/merlindb/

@czuckermann is an interesting cat, I always appreciate sharing some time with him, and boy did we ever go on some tangents tonight. We talked about cults, grace, joy, and the human experience. Some chats around childhood trauma and some personal stories from both of us. @zennawong joined us and he talked about how they started @zuckermannwong and some of their experiences. It was so rad to have Charles and Zenna in the studio and on the chat for the 100th episode, looking forward to what the future holds for the chat.

"Zuckermann & Wong are editorial, portrait and commercial lifestyle photographers who do creative shit on the side.

Charles is a 55 year old ex-Montrealer trying to find his way in the photographic world. Strongly based in the entertainment industry, he’s always looking for creative ways to work with different photography mediums. He’d also like to make some money along the way.

Zenna is a 25 going on 75 year old Vancouverite, just trying to figure out what the fuck she wants to do. Give her some time, she’ll figure it out.

Jointly, they are focused on creative lifestyle photography for various brands around Vancouver. Separately Zenna is presently addicted to instax, and Charles is obsessed with art installations."

Follow Charles at https://www.instagram.com/czuckermann/

Photography Chat is a weekly Instagram Live @merlindb hosts every Thursday at 5pmPST/8pmEST

Give me a follow if you want to see the episodes live https://www.instagram.com/merlindb/

Rona brain be damned we had a fun episode tonight chatting it out with @travis_cannady the creator of @betteroffzine and all-around film wizard. He shared how he got started with film and his experiences being a living dip dunk machine processing films for lots of folks in Northern California. We got into aspects of social media, what's been going on with Instagram, and some thoughts around the up-and-coming Grainery app. He also got into his zine making, some of the projects and challenges he has had in the wild world of zines. He has a few projects coming out so make sure to check out the links in his bio to stay abreast of things.

“Travis Cannady is a photographer born and raised in Sacramento, California. He studied Fine Arts at American River College from 2012 - 2017. This is where he found his love and appreciation for film photography while working in the darkroom. While not limiting himself to any one genre of photography, the current focus of his work is on documenting the mundane of everyday life. Other than photography, Travis has found a passion for zines. That includes collecting them from other photographers and making zines of his own work. Also at the beginning of 2021, Travis wanted to share this passion for zine making by starting a new film photography publication in a printed format called Better Off Zine. These zines feature work from a different photographer in each issue with the goal of giving an opportunity for photographers in this ever-growing film community to share their work and to make it accessible to as many people as possible.”

Follow Travis at https://www.instagram.com/travis_cannady/

Check out Better of Zine https://www.instagram.com/betteroffzine/

Photography Chat is a weekly Instagram Live @merlindb hosts every Thursday at 5pmPST/8pmEST

Give me a follow if you want to see the episodes live https://www.instagram.com/merlindb/

Chatting it out with @jamieswick was a lot of fun. She shared with us her immense love, of Polaroid, the medium, the cameras, and the community. Jamie is a fellow die hard believer of the Polaroid medium. She shared with us some of her aging tricks to get certain results from Polaroid film. She shared with us about some of her upcoming projects, one of them being a book. So give her a follow and stay tuned to her feed if you want to see where that goes. Thank you for hanging out this evening.

“PNW PHOTOGRAPHER Jamie Swick spent a childhood oscillating between the mountains and rocky coastlines of New England. These places show themselves throughout her work as foundational footprints, foreshadowing her deep-rooted interest in the ethereal and quiet.

Captivated by cold places, isolation, decay, memory, and the environment, her work explores solitude and stillness, a slowing down and extraction from America’s demanding modernity. Working with Polaroid film for over a decade, she has mastered the beautiful imperfection of this medium with her atmospheric images. Evidence of contemplative practice, poetry, and curiosity lingers toward the edges of her work while inviting the viewer to step into the scene and breathe a while. She works with SX-70 and SLR680 cameras.”

Follow Jamie at https://www.instagram.com/jamieswick/

Photography Chat is a weekly Instagram Live @merlindb hosts every Thursday at 5pmPST/8pmEST

Give me a follow if you want to see the episodes live https://www.instagram.com/merlindb/

Talking with @thepolaroidjay made me really miss the Bay Area. Such a rad dude that is part of so many great film communities in the Bay Area. He shared with us how he got into Polaroids and some of his more memorable moments. We talked about Polacon and the radness involved with that community and he shared his love of Pizza with us. Quality time with a quality human this evening, hope y’all had as great of a time as we did.

"Polaroid Jay is a first-generation Filipino-American living in the Bay Area, California. He's been shooting Polaroids for about 10 years. Most of his work is portraits and documenting music scenes, art scenes, as well as different communities around the Bay Area, from car culture to corgis to Cosplayers."

Follow Jay at https://www.instagram.com/thepolaroidjay/

Photography Chat is a weekly Instagram Live @merlindb hosts every Thursday at 5pmPST/8pmEST

Give me a follow if you want to see the episodes live https://www.instagram.com/merlindb/

It was pretty hilarious hanging out with @zennawong in the studio. Her better half @czuckermann of @zuckermannwong wasn’t able to make it today so we will have to do a follow-up episode with him later. Thanks to a couple of @topochicohardseltzerca things got a little weird today. We did talk about some photography stuff but also cartoons, how to pronounce words, and other random things. We had a great time and we hope you did too hanging out with us for the live or listening in on the recording.

"Zuckermann & Wong are editorial, portrait and commercial lifestyle photographers who do creative shit on the side.

Charles is a 55 year old ex-Montrealer trying to find his way in the photographic world. Strongly based in the entertainment industry, he’s always looking for creative ways to work with different photography mediums. He’d also like to make some money along the way.

Zenna is a 25 going on 75 year old Vancouverite, just trying to figure out what the fuck she wants to do. Give her some time, she’ll figure it out.

Jointly, they are focused on creative lifestyle photography for various brands around Vancouver. Separately Zenna is presently addicted to instax, and Charles is obsessed with art installations."

Follow Zenna at https://www.instagram.com/zennawong/

Photography Chat is a weekly Instagram Live @merlindb hosts every Thursday at 5pmPST/8pmEST

Give me a follow if you want to see the episodes live https://www.instagram.com/merlindb/