Vision Slightly Blurred

Photographers often fault the lack of gear as an excuse for why they don't take better photos. But Allen argues that sometimes acquiring more gear can actually motivate you to photograph more. As he battles his current bout of Gear Acquisition Syndrome, he coerced Sarah to begrudgingly talk about gear for a whole episode!

What piece of gear motivated you to shoot more and better? And what purchased do you regret? Is talking about gear a gendered activity? And how many clouds need to be in the sky to prevent Allen from getting up early to do a timelapse?

A record number of women joined the ranks of the 116th Congress in the 2018 elections, and photojournalist Elizabeth Herman pitched the New York Times on photographing them. Along with portraitist Celeste Sloman, the duo photographed 130 or 131 women in congress in six days, and then worked with photo editors Beth Flynn and Marisa Schwartz Taylor to put together print and online editions that launched in January 2019.

In this episode of Vision Slightly Blurred recorded live at Photoville 2019, Sarah and Allen have an in-depth interview with Herman and Flynn on how the project went from inception to execution, herding cats and convincing Republicans, and the associated book that is being published by Abrams on October 15, 2019. Get your copy now!

"No one is advocating putting mediocre photographers forward just because they're diverse," Tara Pixley told us at a recent interview at Photoville 2019 in Brooklyn. Tara and Mengwen Cao – two board members of Authority Collective – stopped by to talk about their mission to help support, educate and promote women and non-binary photographers in what has historically been a white male-dominated profession.

In this wide-ranging episode of Vision Slightly Blurred, Sarah and Allen (mostly Allen) learn some of the ridiculous and challenging situations that minorities contend with on a daily basis while simply trying to do their job of taking photos, and why diversity matters when telling a story through mass media. 

Korean-born Jinhee Bae dropped by for a visit at Photoville 2019 to discuss shooting long-term photo projects, why she continues to use large format, the state of Korean photography, and even a little K-Pop (Can BTS save photography???).

With a translation assist from photographer Sylvia Kang, Sarah and Allen chat with Jinhee in a surprisingly candid and refreshing interview. 

Travis Fox, the Director of Visual Journalism at CUNY's Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, was inspired by Ta-Nehisi Coates' piece "The Case for Reparations" and decided that he wanted to help tell the story of systemic racism in the USA. But instead of telling the story from the ground, he took to the skies with his drones to show how practices like redlining of neighborhoods have created visible marks on the landscape. Rich neighborhoods abut impoverished ones by a single road, flood zones filled with low income housing, and highways that flow through impoverished areas with no ability to build a political fight.

In this episode of Vision Slightly Blurred recorded at Photoville 2019, Sarah and Allen interview Travis about the impetus for the project, why a middle-aged white man is telling the story, and the future of drones in storytelling. It's an episode you won't want to miss.

Vision Slightly Blurred is recording live from Photoville 2019 at Brooklyn Bridge Park! 

For 20 years, PDN's 30 has been setting the bar for emerging talent within the world of photography. As a part of their 20th anniversary celebration, they've set up a container at featuring the work of both the 2019 cohort, as well as many past winners.

Holly Hughes, PDN's long-time editor-in-chief and photographer Jessica Pettway join Sarah and Allen in St. Ann's Warehouse to talk about the nomination and selection process for PDN's 30 and how winning the accolade can change the trajectory of a career.

Grocery store checkout lines are lined with magazines using photos by the paparazzi to grab our attention and hopefully add one more item to our cart. Although their tactics can be questionable, there's no doubt that photographs (and video) taken by paparazzi have been a crucial chapter in photographic history – even more so in the U.S. where celebrity culture dominates everything from social media to the Presidency.

In this episode of Vision Slightly Blurred, Sarah and Allen discuss icons like Ron Galella, contemplate paparazzi and celebrities suing one another, and remind all photographers to register their copyright! What's your favorite paparazzi photo of all time? Let us know in the comments!

Thirty-five years after his death, Ansel Adams is still one of the most popular (and most searched) photographers. He spent a lifetime creating some of the iconic images in the history of photography primarily using an 8x10 camera and black-and-white film. He developed the Zone System with Fred Archer, wrote numerous books, vigorously corresponded with contemporary artists, and advocated for the environment through the use of photography.

But has nostalgia for the avuncular photographer led us to overrate his impact on the art and industry of photography? In this episode of Vision Slightly Blurred, Sarah and Allen go back in history to talk about Adams' many accomplishments, and why they think there's no possibility of overrating his skill and mark on the art form.

Street photographer Joshua Rosenthal found himself at the center of a rage-fueled campaign by visitors to the Ventura County Fair. Rosenthal's transgression? Photographing people – including some children – in public without explicit consent. 

Street photography has a long history of candidly capturing subjects, but in today's climate, does intent matter? In this episode of Vision Slightly Blurred, Sarah and Allen contemplate the work of photographers Daniel Arnold, Garry Winogrand, Diane Arbus, Mary Ellen Mark, Susan Meiselas, Philip Lorca Dicorcia, Vivan Maier, and Martha Cooper. 

Before the rise of social media and the ubiquity of apps like Instagram, photographers established and flexed their brands through their personal website and blog. Social media took over the industry (and consumer lives in general) in the late 2010s, and ever since then, the website has seemingly taken a backseat in relevance and importance.

But social media like Facebook and Instagram have a number of shortcomings – both from a feature and experiential perspective – that make maintaining a website, in addition to social media profiles, a no brainer from a marketing perspective.

In this episode of Vision Slightly Blurred, Allen and Sarah talk about how photographers and photo editors are using websites and social media to find and maintain relationships with one another.