Vision Slightly Blurred

Free stock photo site Unsplash entered the news cycle again when the UK government used a photo of an Atlanta-based dancer as the subject of their "Cyber First" ad campaign, suggesting that dancers would be better served with a job in cyber security. 

Photographer Krys Alex, who previously had uploaded the image to Unsplash, was horrified that her image could be appropriated in such a way. But folks, that's how Unsplash works! It's almost like Zack Arias told you so...

Also: The Grammy's encourage artists to #GiveCredit, photographers band together to encourage voting in the States of Change print sale, Maggie Shannon's midwives essay, the NYT's on-going "World Through a Lens" travel column, and the winners of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

Adobe Photoshop Element's Face Tilt feature allows you to repositions faces in your photos to direct their gaze back towards the camera (or anywhere else you see fit). Washington Post photo editor Olivier Laurent asks whether Adobe has gone too far.

Photographer Melissa Golden gets critical of pandemic portraiture, Gary He launches a subscription-based food newsletter to diversify his income, and we celebrate Indigenous People's day and the work of Edward Curtis.

A small controversy occurred this past weekend when the AP circulated handout photos taken by White House photographer Joyce Boghosian of President Donald Trump signing documents without a mask while being treated for COVID-19 at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Were they staged? How are presidents depicted while they are sick? Sarah and Allen discuss the details and nuance of staging photos for political propaganda.

Also in this episode, Chrissy Tiegen releases photos on social media following the loss of her unborn child, and a bird's eye view of cruise ships being dismantled in Turkey.

Since its inception, Photoville has used outdoor space to display a wide range of incredible photographs on the Brooklyn Bridge waterfront – which ironically makes it a perfect way to celebrate photography in the era of COVID-19. This year's show runs from Sept 17 - Nov 29 at multiple locations around the NYC, so check it out.

Also in the show, TIME tapped multiple photographers for its TIME 100 issue of influential people, and Sarah and Allen tell you why it doesn't create visual cohesion; PhotoShelter's Caitlyn Edwards interviews Isadora Kosofsky who gained access to an all-COVID-19 nursing home; Antwuan Sargent interviews Joshua Kissi; Luke Gilford's upcoming book "National Anthem: America's Queer Rodeo"; HONY raises $2.6m for an incredible woman, and Sarah loves cake.

Last week, New York Magazine's The Cut published a lengthy essay written by model Emily Ratajkowski on her experiences working as a model, actor, and influencer entrepreneur. She gives numerous examples where she felt unable to control her own image from being sued by a paparazzo, having two Instagram posts appropriated by Richard Prince, and being sexually assaulted by a photographer who later sold photos taken the night of the assault as "art" without her consent.

Sarah and Allen try to unpack all the legal scenarios and talk about ethics within the modeling and photo industry.

Flak Photo's Andy Adams asked his followers for their website URLs early this month, and was surprised to find that a number of them didn't have a website. Instagram has become the dominant way to follow photographers and see updates, but that doesn't mean it's a good replacement for a website. In this episode of Vision Slightly Blurred, Sarah and Allen discuss the limitations of social media, and the value of building your brand and SEO through your own website.

The British Journal of Photography recently released their 2020 Ones to Watch list – a globally diverse list of talent that includes a number of photographers that we've talked about in previous shows. 

Also, SFMOMA creates a series of short animations to introduce some of the pioneers of photography. The animation is kitschy, the info is high quality, and you'll want to read up on the names you've heard before, but probably forgot since your college photo history course.

On September 5, 2020, The New York Times published the latest entry in their "The America We Need" Times Opinion series to examine two neighborhoods on Chicago's North Side and South Side and the enormous disparities in wealth and health.

The NYT hired an out-of-towner – Magnum Photos' Alec Soth – to cover the sensitive and complex topic of the effects of segregation and racism, only to discover that Chicago photographer Tonika Johnson had done nearly identical work with a significantly greater depth for years.

In this episode of Vision Slightly Blurred, Sarah and Allen discuss the controversy and complexities surrounding the NYT's article, plus John Divola criticizes MFA student William Carmargo, and Jeff Mermelstein photographs your texts for #nyc.

Sarah is back in NYC, and we're ready to talk photography! In this episode, a network of surveillance cameras captures the California wildfires, the Whitney Museum tries to mount a show with Black photographers with images from a charity print sale, Texas Isaiah becomes the first trans photographer to land the cover of Vogue UK, and remembering Chadwick Boseman in pictures.

#WakandaForever

Today's episode is an audio version of Allen Murabayashi's piece entitled "What Photographers Can Learn from the Whitney Museum & See in Black Debacle" which can be found at blog.photoshelter.com