Vision Slightly Blurred

Slightly over 40 years ago, photographer Rick Smolan convened 100 of the world's best photographers to photograph 24 hours in Australia – an audacious and self-published effort which yielded the first in a series of massively successful photo coffee table books under the "A Day in the Life" moniker. 

The intricacies and logistics of producing the books are only eclipsed by the life experiences that led Smolan to embark on the project, and continue to inform his activities as a photographer, author, and speaker. In this episode of Vision Slightly Blurred, Sarah and Allen interview Smolan and even get him to share his thoughts about NFTs.

We like the quirk, and that's what photographer Enoch Ku captured while cruising around his hometown of Sacramento, CA. A set of hedges cut into the shape of playing card suits, a manhole cover ambiguously lined up with a street's divider lines, playful shadows cast by a bike rack. Ordinary Sacramento is the name of the project.

Also in this episode: Tim Kane creates a photo/video package of the isolated town of Yellowknife in the Northwestern Territories of Canada which closed itself off to all outsiders during the pandemic to protect its indigenous elders, project images of the fallen on the Brooklyn Bridge, Rally Studios' amazing FPV drone in a bowling alley, Hannah McKay captures the vigil and protest for Sarah Everard, and Nadine Ijewere lands the cover of Vogue US as the first Black female photographer. 

Oakland-based Chanell Stone continues to receive recognition for her "Natura Negra" project, which explores the relationship between land, nature and African-Americans in an urban setting. The photos are rich with meaning, and surprising presented as a series of luscious black and white images.

Also in this week's episode of Vision Slightly Blurred: David Morris captures a "flying ship," James Crombie photographs a murmuration in the shape of a bird, Titleist hires Johnny FPV to capture a golf ball in flight, and follow-ups on a number of recent stories.

This week on the podcast, Sarah and Allen discuss the inaugural Silver List, Juergen Teller's controversial covers for W Magazine, Dispo app, MyHeritage's "Deep Nostalgia" and uncanny valley of @deeptomcruise on TikTok.

Since their rediscovery in 1976, the images of slaves known as the Zealy Daguerreotypes have been held by Harvard's Peabody Museum. The images were originally commissioned to provide visual evidence of the racist theory of polygenesis as expounded upon by Harvard professor Louis Agassiz.

For years, Harvard exerted strict control over the use of the images and extracted "hefty" licensing fees for their use. In 2019, Tamara Lanier who claimed to be descended from two of the slaves sued Harvard for possession of the images.  And in 2020, Aperture and Peabody Press published a book entitled "To Make Their Own Way in the World: The Enduring Legacy of the Zealy Daguerreotypes" – a compendium of essays that examined the historical creation and context of the images as well as contemporary interpretations of their meaning.

In this episode of Vision Slightly Blurred, Sarah and Allen delve into issues of intent and consent, and how inequity in photography should be addressed in the 21st century.

PLUS Coalition co-founder and CEO Jeff Sedlik filed suit against LA Ink star Kat Von D for infringing his copyright by using his 1989 Miles Davis portrait in a tattoo that she used to promote her businesses. Some have compared the case to Richard Prince and called it fair use. Others have said it resembles the AP's lawsuit against Shepard Fairey for his Obama "HOPE" poster. But the devil is in the details, and Sedlik registered his copyright.

Also: a lawyer buys a building and finds a trove of photos in a hidden attic, including a portrait of Susan B. Anthony,  the New Yorker reviews Seiichi Furuya's latest book Face to Face, and Alec Soth vlogs about William Eggleston's "Democratic Forest."

Out-of-focus end zone shots and The Weeknd's meme-worthy "dance" with a camera raised a lot of eyebrows. Innovation or gimmicks? Sarah and Allen discuss all the Super Bowl coverage.

Also: The Biden White House is live on Flickr,  a free PhotoShelter webinar on the Social Effects of Photography, and RIP to photographer Ricky Powell, the "4th Beastie Boy."

MoMA photography curator Sarah Meister was named Aperture's new executive director after a year long search to replace Chris Boot. Meister worked her way up from intern to full curator after receiving her degree in art history from Princeton. 

Also in the show, the incredible portraits of Sioux by Frank Bennett Fiske and Artists for Uyghurs wants you to donate the sale of your art  to raise money for the Uyghur Tribunal; a People's Tribunal investigating China's mistreatment of Uyghur Muslims.

While covering the inauguration of President Joe Biden, AFP photographer Brendan Smialowski focused his camera onto Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders for two quick frames. Somehow the totally unremarkable photo perfectly captured Bernie's spirit and a thousand memes were born much to Smialowski's chagrin.

In this episode of PhotoShelter's Vision Slightly Blurred, hosts Sarah Jacobs and Allen Murabayashi discuss Bernie Memes, Quil Lemons becomes the youngest photographer to get a Vanity Fair cover, Marzena Skubatz captures an Icelandic weather station, and NY's MTA remembers the employees lost to COVID with a beautiful portrait exhibit.

Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, Nick Ut of "Napalm Girl" fame, received the National Medal of the Arts from President Trump. While many celebrated the achievement, a number of people expressed dismay over Ut's decision to accept it from the twice impeached President. 

In this episode, Allen and Sarah discuss the controversy, and also tackle the copyright grab at Penn State's Collegian, and Joe Biden's official White House photographer, Adam Schultz.