Explore every episode of the podcast Concept Aware®
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| International Women Photographers Series—I’m So Happy You Are Here | 18 Dec 2024 | 00:57:35 | |
A trailblazing book chronicling the fundamental and consequential contributions of Japanese women photographers. Mariko Takeuchi and Pauline Vermare discuss their collaborative project creating a restorative history of Japanese photography. Offering a critical and celebratory counterpoint to the invisibility of Japanese women photographers this expansive and rigorously researched book features 25 portfolios, multiple essays and an illustrated bibliography of photobooks by Japanese women photographers. This bold book embraces emotion, experimentation and provocation in myriad forms of beauty, humor, and deeply spirited connections. In this conversation, Mariko and Pauline discuss, among other things: Pulling back layers of cultural understanding of being a women Expanding vocabulary and objects of study Womanhood, daughterhood and caregiving Physical involvement with the medium Utilizing self-portraiture to reclaim agency over one's body Making tangible that which is invisible An outward expression of internal experience Including the voices of photographers in the essays and text Making and remaking meaning Referenced in the episode: A World History of Women Photographers by Luce Lebart and Marie Robert What They Saw: Historical Photobooks by Women, 1843–1999 by Russet Lederman and Olga Yatskevich Women Making Art: History, Subjectivity, Aesthetics by Marsha Meskimmon Living a Feminist Life by Sara Ahmed World Economic Forum, Global Gender Gap Report 2023 Self-Portraits by Yurie Nagashima Ume-me - Todays Happening by Ume Kayo The Memories of Others - Akihiko Okamura / Photo Museum Ireland | |||
| International Women Photographers Series—Linda Troeller: Sex Death Transcendence | 11 Dec 2024 | 01:02:08 | |
Linda Troeller’s self-portraits are compiled into a luscious tour de force of womanhood, identity and aging. Troeller utilizes her relationship with the camera to understand herself and a woman’s place in the world across decades. Her history traverses that of a beauty contestant, potential lawyer, photojournalism student, model, muse, photo teacher, photographer, provocateur and activist. With conviction, insight and wisdom Troeller celebrates and generously shares her embodied strength and fragility. In this conversation, Lindadiscusses, among other things: Universalizing the personal Provocation aka myth-busting The circular relationship of punctum Linda-ness Self-portraiture, performance and installation Exploring internal and external ageism Sacred water explorations Book decisions - ie: including titles Sequencing, process and collaboration Ghost Ranch, Leonora Carrington, Sophie Calle and Carolee Schneeman Referenced in the episode: | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation With Mary Virginia Swanson and Darius D. Himes | 25 Oct 2023 | 01:25:00 | |
This recent Radius release offers an expansive framework of the principles of publishing including the layered roles and responsibilities inherent within the creation of a photobook. NOT a how-to guidebook, this beautiful object elegantly packages decades of research and provides contemporary resources to illustrate the endless possibilities of the photobbook. Swanson and Himes share the mission to create impactful photography books by encouraging all artists to: slow down idea formation, linger in the making mode, and do thy research.
The biggest challenge - conceiving the idea Fostering a dynamic engagement with one's ideas Seeing the end in the beginning Play, patience & persistence Concept guiding context Stepping outside the medium of photoogrpahy to clarify and deepen your idea Critical thinking Not rushing the monograph The book as art form Photogrpahs as raw material Impact of digital publishing Pivotal role of self publishing University Presses Balancing creative & business perspectives The evolving life of marketing a book | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation With Rehab Eldalil | 04 Oct 2023 | 01:18:00 | |
Photography is innovatively and collectively utilized to create a new narrative challenging the stigma and stereotypes of this indigenous community. This book is a multilingual textural object of beauty and wisdom — a non-linear collective celebration and document of home, belonging, hospitality, reciprocity and the longing to live in communion with the land. In this conversation, Rehab discusses, among other things: Personal exploration as motivation and inspiration Connecting to the protagonists of your stories Seeing with an empathic eye Giving voice to the voiceless Blending practice and process Calling out visual references Internalization of the ubiquitous colonial gaze Being Modern vs Western Progressive traditional gender roles Symbols & Metaphor Empowerment & Elevation Incorporating soundscapes Fashion history as a cultural, socio-political window | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation With Barbara Peacock | 27 Sep 2023 | 01:14:00 | |
American Bedroom: Reflections on the Nature of Life is a messy, energetic, playful and heart-stoppingly poignant romp into the intimate spaces of ordinary Americans. Each portrait is accompanied by text by the subject. The result is an anthropological study of the physical, emotional, spiritual, political and psychological landscape of 21st century America. Peacock brings a wealth of experience and a very expansive heart to this tour de force of human cartography. In this conversation, Barbara discusses, among other things: Leading with the light - especially cascading amber light Grabbing the details Serendipity Being bold and thinking big Following instinct and intuition Envisioning Street photography skills Building an archive of inspiration Brutal editing Choral (collaborative) Editing Crowdsourcing Grants and funding Capturing the climate of the country Social media as help and hindrance Doing the “Barb thing” | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Elizabeth Clark Libert | 20 Sep 2023 | 01:07:00 | |
Elizabeth Clark Libert's bold diaristic conversation with herself is a reckoning with a twenty years old sexual trauma and its impact on raising her school-age sons. Boy Crazy is a masterfully designed melange of self-portraits, environmental portraits, seasonal landscapes and family photos. Interspersed in a searingly honest staccato manner are intimate musings, email correspondence with her perpetrator and snippets of pointed conversation with her sons.
In this conversation, Elizabeth discusses, among other things:
Art as process
Reclaiming agency following sexual trauma
Shooting through ambivalence
Lyricism and raw emotion
Giving context
Collaboration
Being in conversation with your work
Wasabi writing
Finding the structure of the book
Experimenting and refining
Asymmetry
Visualizing
Generating change and opening hard conversations
Being brave together
Visit my website for a full list of resources. | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Anastasia Samoylova | 13 Sep 2023 | 01:16:24 | |
Anastasia Samoylova furthers her exploration of place and the ability of photography to shape our perceptions of reality. Central to her investigation is the geography of human relationships to our natural and man-made environments. Utilizing her masterful ability to collage in-camera, her flattened imagery provides us with a kaleidoscope of ideas surrounding globalization, historical heritage, and cultural idealism. In this conversation, Anastasia discusses, among other things: Geometry of the frame Alignment of elements Figures in the landscape Spatial interplay Illusion of scale Inviting interpretation Dialoguing with a targeted audience Exposing tools of the medium Gendering of cities Feminist geography Stoic philosophy | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Morgan Ashcom | 27 Jun 2023 | 01:26:02 | |
Open enacts metaphor to make visible the layers of oppression experienced by Palestinian apartheid. Exposed documentary images and HTML-coded emails are bookended with Arabic calligraphy and poetry. Delivered in a sealed cardboard film box, this soft-cover book utilizes photography as a tool to activate our imagination, reveal expansive truths and offer a revision of what hope and resilience look like.
The poetic capacity of an image What makes a successful photo Pivoting Enacting of metaphor Chemistry & materiality Experimenting & refining Activating the medium Shifting failure Pointing towards possibility Collaborative sequencing Mythmaking Challenging pretend knowledge Sharing agency
Sign-Up for Email Newsletter for Got Punctum? News and Other Happenings Engage with J. Sybylla Smith | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Brea Souders | 20 Jun 2023 | 01:10:53 | |
Another Online Pervert creates a visual and text dialog between photos from Souders’ image archive and snippets of written copy from a two-year engagement with an AI personality chatbot. Utilizing prompts from her childhood journals, an emotional call and response is created between human sense and sensibility and machine capability and capacity. Photographs, including a few family snapshots, weave a parallel narrative blending the notions of perception that we all possess between time, memory and meaning. In this conversation, Brea discusses, among other things: Real-world vs virtual world Dislodging gendered social constructs Cathartic spaces for non-conformity Enabling surprise Being bot-ified Originality aka going off script Evolution of a project Memory vs past vs time without borders Engaging archives Collaborative editing Mixing formats Mean playfulness Women being erased from technology history | |||
| Artist Talk — Todd R. Forsgren | 13 Jun 2023 | ||
In this conversation, Todd discusses, among other things: Working in archives Thinking in books Approaches to appropriation Running amok Parameters for sequencing Perceived opposites Light leaks Colliding technologies Data corruption Observation & measurement Falsehoods & mystery Artist Resources/Inspiration Discovering Peary Land by Todd Forsgren A Constant Wind Between a Breeze and a Gale Untitled Re:Iterations Photographs from 2000-2014 | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Toni Wilkinson & Susan Bright | 23 May 2023 | ||
Tough Pleasures turns a bright light and witty lens on the conflicting dynamics of femininity and food—revealing appetite and desire. Susan Bright's astute and savory essay provides the perfect table setting for the environmental portraits that follow. Wilkinson masterfully interrupts the repetitive and limiting messaging of unattainable expectations and endless critique by putting power in the hands of her subjects, real women and girls. In this conversation, Toni and Susan discuss, among other things: Shooting intuitively Slow looking Penises Capturing chaos Too muchness Interrogating with light Breaking image sequence with detailed shots Revisiting work and reopening the series Defying prescripted roles Playing with power plays Image-making as a tool to engage in ideas Slog, splendor and sensuality | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Cai Quirk | 16 May 2023 | ||
Episode Notes Cai Quirk deeply explores genderqueer self-portraiture in an original image creation and story formation orchestration. A phantasmagorical world unfurls, as six evolutionary text and image sections weave a mythical interdependency of body, spirit and nature. The result is an invitation to regard all beings and their fluid becoming with a gracious welcoming of honor and respect. In this conversation, Cai discusses, among other things: The queer body in art history Deconstructing gender realities Making myth aka writing new stories Playful ambiguity Image and story as an invitation Intertwining elements Accessibility Children of ambiguity Neo pronouns The fluidity of transness Listening beyond oneself | |||
| International Women Photographers Series—Fast Forward: Anna Fox & Karen Knorr | 04 Dec 2024 | 01:03:20 | |
Two intrepid photographers and professors discuss the myriad educational strategies they activate and lead to enhance and strengthen women’s presence in photography. Anna Fox and Karen Knorr share how they empower visual storytellers by engaging a global network of practitioners, academics and curators who exchange resources, challenges and strategies toward achieving gender parity in photography. We hear how they conceived and built Fast Forward, their multi-pronged research organization responsible for establishing data, developing project-based teaching tools and convening worldwide themed conferences. Lastly, we wrap by learning of their 8-year-long road trip following the route established by Bernice Abbott. In this conversation, Anna & Karen discuss, among other things: Data on the underrepresentation of women photographers Addressing and critically analyzing gender inequalities in workshop formats Impact of motherhood and caregiving roles on professional photographers Teaching as an adjunct to pursuing one’s photographic work Coalition-building, nurturing collaborative efforts and creating global conferences to discover hidden stories of and by women visual storytellers Identifying key gate openers and partnering with willing arts and educational institutions Network-building from exhibition practices Ambition, Synergy and Foresight Reaching for inclusion with innovative strategies Grants, grants and grants History of their multiple road trips photographing together Image and text dialog Referenced in the episode Report on Equity and Inclusion Putting Ourselves in the Picture | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Astrid Reischwitz | 09 May 2023 | ||
Spin Club Stories is a mixed-media reintegration of history, environment, society and self in an interactive dialog spanning centuries. Reclaiming the artform and impact of women’s handiwork, Astrid assembles collages of images and textiles, perforated with hand embroidery. Sourced from family heirlooms, she figuratively empowers her ancestors—and ultimately herself—to transform the future. In this conversation, Astrid discusses, among other things: Rediscovering culture Culture as kaleidoscope Selecting elements to tell her story Textiles and embroidery as connective tissue Allowing materiality to lead process Considering art vs. craft The role of “women’s work” The shifting boundaries that define identities Working with lost knowledge Memory as a key to the future Healing power of art, craft and story Creating new visual language via abstractions | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Karni Arieli | 02 May 2023 | ||
This book forms a collective reframing of the realities of motherhood beyond the mythologized patriarchal gaze. A global array of photographer mothers document, with bold authenticity, the carrying and caring of a human—the feral and relentless shared space of heart-exploding wonder and joy—all seen and shared through the eyes of those who experience it. In this conversation, Karni discusses, among other things: Photographer mothers using the camera to document their reality Confronting the monumental occupation that is motherhood Managing the duality of identities as a mother/artist The politicization of the personal The synergy of interconnectivity and the strength of collaboration Forming a visibility chain Flipping the narratives Righting misconceptions Managing expectations Love and sisterhood Not endorsing motherhood, but endorsing the choice | |||
| Artist Talk — Britland Tracy | 25 Apr 2023 | ||
In this conversation, Britland discusses, among other things: Camera as mediator Gender constructs Male vulnerability Strong opinions, loosely held Human-inflicted trauma Sensationalizing violence Working from a set of rules Creative kinship Serendipity Applied abstractions of visual allegory Interiority displayed | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Peggy Levison Nolan | 18 Apr 2023 | ||
In this conversation, Peggy discusses, among other things: How a camera transforms what we see Being addicted to film Seeing inside the photographer's head Vastness of observation The intelligence (and swiftness) needed to respond to the presence observed The high jinx of black and white imagery The relationship between the image and time moving Teaching strengthens editing The rhythm of a book Loving the gutter Taking the long view A hatbox of 100 mice | |||
| Artist Talk — 10x10 Photobooks Reading Room at the Boston Athenaeum with Russet Lederman and Lauren Graves | 28 Mar 2023 | ||
In this conversation, Russett and Lauren discuss, among other things: What constitutes a photobook The evolution of the photobook Gendered discrepancies and the inequity of access and privilege A lack and/or ambiguity of attribution or authorship The personal and political visual voice of women The artist’s concept as a driving force Telling your own story The image as an agent for social change Sequencing a narrative Context, form and content Publication and distribution The serendipity of open stacks The multiplicity of ways to read a photobook | |||
| Artist Talk — Kristen Joy Emack | 21 Mar 2023 | ||
In this conversation, Kristen discusses, among other things: The power of observation Speaking through photos Commanding the frame Leaning towards iconography Intentionality A circular gaze Reciprocity in relationship with subjects Import of residencies and support of the Guggenheim Performative girl power The evolution of a series and the birthing of a book | |||
| Artist Talk — Jessica Todd Harper | 14 Mar 2023 | ||
In this conversation, Jessica discusses, among other things: Mining family narratives Focusing on what's in front of you Working with light The influence of teachers Wrestling with the materiality of now Transcending the ordinary Photojournalism vs art One ‘good’ photo a month Life fitting into photography Artist Resources/Inspiration Interior Exposure by Jessica Todd Harper and Sarah McNear The Home Stage by Jessica Todd Harper Kinship, The National Portrait Gallery Bo Barlett at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Undo Motherhood by Diana Karklin Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Maine Media Photography Workshops Published by Damiani Editore | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Binh Danh | 28 Feb 2023 | ||
Three deeply researched long-term projects; Immortality: Remnants of the Vietnam and American War, One Week’s Dead, and National Parks are compiled in a sumptuous two-volume slipcase. Hauntingly beautiful chlorophyll prints and daguerreotypes, printed with clarity and depth on dense black paper, animate a living history of war, refugee status, immigration and assimilation. Augmented by essays, poetry and historical material in an all-white soft-covered book, Danh has masterfully married intention with process as a means of transmigration. In this conversation, Binh discusses, among other things: The power of a work of art Public consciousness Cultural identity Innovating chlorophyll prints Receiving history Art being activated by the viewer Decoding the code of daguerreotypes Negotiation of materials Complicated stewardship of the land Bringing light to dark places A mobile darkroom called Louis | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Diana Karklin | 21 Feb 2023 | ||
Undo Motherhood is a boxed set of soft-covered trifold booklets titled after the predominant feelings identified by regretful mothers: anger, fear, isolation, exhaustion, guilt, resignation and acceptance. Karlkin’s investigation was driven by a single question: “If you knew then what you know now, would you have made a different choice?” Respectful, intimate imagery makes visible a continuum of ambivalence. In this conversation, Diana discusses, among other things: Ideology of motherhood Collective imagination Maternal reckoning Multicultural expectations Innovating approaches to achieve neutrality Visually exploring vulnerability The language of images Dismantling narratives Referenced in the episode Singapore International Photography Festival Elinor Carucci — Mother (2013) Carmen Winant — My Birth (2018) Sheila Heti — Motherhood (2018) Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution by Adrienne Rich The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante Screaming on the Inside by Jessica Grose “Regretful Mothers” by Anne Kingston, Maclean’s “Women who wish they weren’t mothers” by Diana Karklin, The Guardian 1854 Photography on Undo Motherhood, British Journal of Photography Published by Schilt Publishing | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Vince Aletti | 14 Feb 2023 | ||
The Drawer is a visual autobiography of Aletti’s deep canon of inspiration, experience and multi-media obsessions collected over five decades. Created and captured in a single day, each collage is a flurry of free association. This book animates his refined sense of composition, eclectic juxtaposition of image and text and chronicles the tectonic shifts of art and visual culture. In this conversation, Vince discusses, among other things: The intentionality of the photographer Intuitive arrangements between images—in both exhibition and book form Unselfconscious coupling of imagery Art informing how we think Magazine culture Subversion Advertising driving editorial Undermining narratives How to make a life in photography Fun or nothing Being the Bill Cunningham of contemporary photography Referenced in the episode Issues: A History of Photography in Fashion Magazines by Vince Aletti True Homosexual Experiences: Boyd McDonald and Straight to Hell The Moon Is Behind Us by Fazal Sheikh Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation Published by Self Publish Be Happy Sign-Up for Email Newsletter for Got Punctum? News and Other Happenings Engage with J. Sybylla Smith | |||
| International Women Photographers Series—Camera Geologica | 27 Nov 2024 | 00:37:26 | |
Camera Geologica: An Elemental History of Photography by Dr. Siobhan Angus is the lens through which we explore the multi-media artwork of Rosell Meseguer and Kosisochukwu Nnebe. This deeply researched and resourced book contextualizes the dark side of photography, the mining and extraction of elements that make printing possible. Our conversation centers on the many intersections of image-making and resource extraction. The deep scholarship of my guest's practices makes manifest the complex relationship between photography, colonization, labor, ecological, economic and social impact. In this conversation, Siobhan, Rosell and Kosisochukwudiscuss, among other things: Flipping photography on its head Implication and possibilities of the interaction of light with metals Extraction of rare earth elements Process-based practices - artists thinking out loud Ideas, materiality & visibility Art exploring gaps and erasure in archives Chlorophyll printing Colonial histories Food policy, manufacturing and distribution Talking about the past & the present simultaneously Connecting science & art Illuminating economics in our daily life choices Art creating theory Referenced in the episode: | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Odette England, Jennifer Garza-Cuen and Susan Bright | 09 Dec 2022 | ||
In this conversation, Jennifer and Odette discuss, among other things: Collaboration Inherent trust Being reckless Being process driven Allowing the material to speak for itself The social journey of a photograph Playing vs working Simplicity Growing understanding Undoneness Referenced in the episode Photography and Collaboration: From Conceptual Art to Crowdsourcing by Daniel Palmer Lacuna Park: Essays and Other Adventures in Photography by Nicholas Muellner Robert Rauschenberg Foundation | |||
| Artist Talk — Paris Photo In Your Pocket | 03 Dec 2022 | ||
In this conversation, Syb discusses, among other things: Gallery/Artist/Resources
Casemore Gallery/ San Francisco/Chris Grunder Rolf Art/ Buenos Aires, Argentina/Florencia Giordana Braun Julian Sander Gallery/Cologne, Germany/Julian Sander TOBE Gallery/Budapest, Hungary/Tomas Opitz and Bea Puskas Stephen Daiter Gallery/Chicago/ Lukas Deepest Darkest Gallery/Cape Town, South Africa/ Deon Redman Persons Projects/Berlin, Germany/Timothy Person Boogie Woogie Photography/ Hong Kong, China/ Vanessa Franklin Gallery Number 8/Brussels, Belgium/Marie Gomis -Trezise Artist: Resources: Aperture Revolution is Love: A Year of Black Trans Liberation MEP - Boris Mikailov Exhibition Pompidou Center - Unframing Colonialism Musee des Art Decortif Louvre - Elsa Schiaparellili Exhibtion Sustainable Photobook Publishing Network | |||
| Artist Talk — Matt Johnston | 23 Nov 2022 | ||
In this conversation, Matt discusses, among other things: Taking a fixed object to a fluid space Accessibility Readability Intentionality as a central focus The purpose of publishing is to make public Engaging the mobility of books Taxonomy of the photobook Establishing criticality standards Reader-centric vs. maker-centric books Sustainability Stewardship of the photobook Artist Resources/Inspiration Offset Projects, Anshika Varma A Parallel Road by Amani Willett & Tiffany Jones The Content Machine by Michael Bhaskar Photobooks: The Book Club Test (April 2022) The Photobook in Art & Society by JOVIS (2020) Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith Subscribe by email for updates about new episodes! | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Rita Leistner | 18 Nov 2022 | ||
Photographer and filmmaker, Rita Leistner, blends fine art with documentary in her intensely lit, unstaged, metaphorically-inspired environmental portraits of the tree planters reforesting the cut blocks devastated by commercial logging. In this conversation, Rita Leistner discusses, among other things: Uncanny use of light An innate sense of composition Feeling not with the heart or head — but with the spine The power of artificial lighting What makes communities work Bush legs and tree eyes Capturing visual vocabulary in the real world Light as media The whiteness of the whale Living the work | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Rania Matar | 26 Oct 2022 | ||
Matar gracefully investigates womanhood, identity, and empowerment - across time and place. Poetic, soulful, and bold portraits capture the agency of becoming, at the threshold of independence. Matar bridges differences in culture, religion, geography, and nationality, offering the connective experience of our shared humanity. In this conversation, Rania discusses, among other things: Working organically Image as a bonus Being open to collaboration on all levels Serendipity Observing beauty Following curiosity Giving subjects agency The physicality of the print Spending time with the work The importance of hands in portraiture Book design details The impact of grants and awards Referenced in the episode Ordinary Lives (2009) by Rania Matar A Girl and Her Room (2012) by Rania Matar L’enfant-Femme (2016) by Rania Matar She Who Tells a Story at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2013-2014) In her Image at Amon Carter Museum of American Art (2018) https://nmwa.org/exhibitions/live-dangerously/ Women To Watch, National Museum of Women in the Arts Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino Unfortunately, It was Paradise by Mahmoud Darwish https://www.saintlucybooks.com/ https://ayellowroseproject.com/ Sign-Up for Subscribe by Email for notifications about new Got Punctum? episodes. Sign-Up for Email Newsletter for Events and and Other Happenings | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Holly Lynton | 21 Oct 2022 | ||
Holly Lynton melds form, content, and meaning in her strikingly beautiful images, capturing the lives of those providing our sustenance, while protecting our land. Lynton’s compositional framing, lush palette, textural tones, and transformative gestures craft a meditative beauty. Accompanying essays provide context for cultural contradictions, associations, and representations — speaking to the role art has played to perpetuate or reveal them. Referenced in the episode Lost in a meditation: Rural American life – in pictures, The Guardian On the Basis of Art: 150 Years of Women at Yale Signs of Return by Grace Elizabeth Hale Questions of Travel by Elizabeth Bishop Hoe Country, Alabama by Dorothea Lange Blurred Identities: The Art and Audience of Lynching Photography History, Photography, and Race in the South: From the Civil War to Now Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver Love Child’s Hotbed of Occasional Poetry: Poems and Artifacts by Nikky Finney Sign-Up for Email Newsletter for Got Punctum? News and Other Happenings | |||
| Artist Talk — Toni Pepe | 06 Oct 2022 | ||
In this conversation, Toni discusses, among other things: Unpacking seeing The family photo album Pushing expectations of the image Text as a tipping point Enticing touch Engaging viewers physically Being driven by an idea Collective learning Cross-discipline experimentation Stick-to-it-ness Editing being crucial The impact of when birth and death left the home Sign-Up for Email Newsletter for Got Punctum? News and Other Happenings | |||
| Artist Talk — Hettie Judah | 29 Sep 2022 | ||
In this conversation, Hettie discusses, among other things: Gender care gap Gender pay gap Family as a trap for women Domesticity and art Need for subsidized, affordable childcare The time-consuming emotional labor of parenting most often falls on mothers Studio space & residency limitations Commercial gallery's inconsistent gender parity Art school’s ‘mother-sized’ holes Female collectors’ big spending habits Networking solutions Polyvocality Sign-Up for Email Newsletter for Got Punctum? News and Other Happenings The full, messy & beautiful work of parenting | |||
| Artist Talk — Colleen Plumb | 22 Sep 2022 | ||
In this conversation, Colleen discusses, among other things: Awakening to invisible justice Bodily autonomy Animal spectatorship A practice of attention Distilling process Good obsessions Book as archive Puncturing social individuality Sound is time made flesh Sustaining projects is a puzzle Imagining a kind future | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Yelena Yemchuk | 16 Sep 2022 | ||
Yemchuk’s second monograph is a form of visual poetry. Her exceedingly tender portraits exude sensuality, emotion, and kinetic energy. Her controlled compositions form a lyrical arrangement with words by Ilya Kaminsky. Together both artists capture the elusive essence of this magical city, beguiling and beyond time. Sign-Up for Email Newsletter for Got Punctum? News and Other Happenings Engage with J. Sybylla Smith | |||
| International Women Photographers Series—WOPHA, Women Photographers International Archive | 25 Nov 2024 | 01:02:30 | |
Unscripted conversations with Aldeide Delgado, co-founder and leader of Women Photographers International Archive, and recent WOPHA Research Fellow and scholar, Dr. Candice Jansen. Each woman shares their expansive practice, leading with curiosity and utilizing inquiry to activate potentiality. As scholars, archivists, writers, curators, and collaborators - their open-ended investigations resist a singular way of seeing. They build evolutionary and community-driven paradigms based on research, and center the importance of the past to envision a more equitable future. In this conversation, Aldeide and Candicediscuss, among other things: Amplifying visual stories of marginalized communities Rewriting photographic history from a feminist perspective Curatorial activism Rhizomatic thinking Trial, error and play Place as process The audience as the protagonist New vocabulary and new definitions - ie. Memorist Photography as a medium and a whole-body experience Establishing terms of visibility Prismatic perception Referenced in the episode: | |||
| Artist Talk — Nancy Grace Horton & Scott Mullenberg | 08 Sep 2022 | ||
In this conversation, Nancy and Scott discuss, among other things: Exploring what a photo can do The importance of story The impact of presentation Dancing around ideas Photo as sculpture Gendered objects Creative agency Housing fine art work Allowing projects to unfold RELATIONSHIPS The magic of the art residence Artists’ Resources/Inspiration Organizations Creative Collaborators Jessica Hagen Fine Art and Design Businesses Sign-Up for Email Newsletter for Got Punctum? News and Other Happenings Engage with J. Sybylla Smith | |||
| Artist Talk — Karen Haas | 25 Aug 2022 | ||
In this conversation, Karen discusses, among other things: Falling in love with photography (and a photographer) Modernism Media hierarchy moving towards collaborative interdisciplinary exhibits Impacting the breadth of community representation Context & curation Sequencing as the creative act of the curator Consistency of vision within an exhibition Creating critical conversations within an exhibition Collector relationships The medium and the message being one and the same Artist Resources/Inspiration Exhibitions Gordon Parks: Back to Fort Scott Media Curatorial Lecture — Reimagining Ansel Adams Curatorial Lecture — Gordon Parks: Back to Fort Scott Curatorial Lecture — Make Believe Creative Conversations: Daniel Handal and Karen Haas Books Gordon Parks: Back to Fort Scott by Karen Haas An Enduring Vision Photographs from the Lane Collection by Lyle Rexer and Karen Haas Edward Weston The Early Years by Margaret Wessling and Karen Haas Photography by Anne E. Havinga, Nancy Keeler and Karen Haas The Photography of Charles Sheeler: American Modernist by Karen Haas ————————————————————————————— Sign-Up for Email Newsletter for Got Punctum? News and Other Happenings Engage with J. Sybylla Smith | |||
| Artist Talk — Daniel Milnor | 29 Jul 2022 | ||
In this conversation, Daniel discusses, among other things: Respect for straight photography Conceptual photography as the Wild West The 3 most important things to look for in an image The impact of the personal book Adaptation Authenticity and being true to yourself The power of print Cutting the noise by using the postal service Building your own ecosystem—not based on algorithms Shooting in your own backyard Following fascination Reading as a free education Visual creatives’ economic power Artist Resources/Inspiration Organizations Creative Collaborators Media The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog by Kurt K Gledhill Other ————————————————————————————- Engage with J. Sybylla Smith *Got Punctum? Podcast Listed on the 70 Best Photography Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/photography_podcasts/ | |||
| Artist Talk — Jason Langer | 21 Jul 2022 | ||
In this conversation, Jason discusses, among other things: Photography as a tool to explore one’s interpretation of reality Being private investigators of your subject Engaging new book design perspectives Making creative choices that build context Organizational structure’s influence on editing Allowing curiosity to explore one’s feelings Jewish mysticism The power of text How the digital age impacts representation and acquisition Crafting a dream within a dream within a dream This work is traveling to: Museum of History and Holocaust Education, Kennesaw, GA. Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education, Portland, OR. Holocaust Museum, Houston, TX. Artist Resources/Inspiration Books BERLIN by Jason Langer, Kerber Verlag Twenty Years by Jason Langer, Radius Publishing Possession by Jason Langer, Nazareli Press The Art of the Memoir by Mary Karr Memories, Dreams, Reflections by CG Jung Media Wings of Desire (1988) Station to Station by David Bowie (1976) Creative Collaborators Organizations ————————————————————————————- Sign-Up for Email Newsletter for Got Punctum? News and Other Happenings Engage with J. Sybylla Smith | |||
| Artist Talk — Jaina Cipriano | 15 Jul 2022 | ||
In this conversation, Jaina discusses, among other things: Photographing what you can’t see Making space to document what you’re feeling Making a mess Doing insane things Creating a creative team The magic carpet ride of creativity Trusting yourself Sharing your process The wonders of a shower notepad Artist Resources/Inspiration Little Weirds by Jenny Slate Swamplandia by Karen Russell A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self by Alice Miller Stock Scenery Construction Handbook (Third Edition) by Bill Raoul & Mike Monsos On Mental Toughness by Harvard Business Review Directing Actors: Creating Memorable Performances for Film and Television by Judith Weston Catching the Big Fish by David Lynch Crafting Short Screenplays that Connect by Claudia Hunter Johnson ————————————————————————————— Sign-Up for Email Newsletter for Got Punctum? News and Other Happenings Engage with J. Sybylla Smith | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with S. Billie Mandle | 10 Jun 2022 | ||
Using a large format camera with available light, Mandle compiles 40 color images of confessionals within Catholic churches across America. In illuminating spaces containing moments of grace, Reconciliation offers viewers the opportunity to seek, witness, and contemplate experiences of their own. In this conversation, S. Billie Mandle discusses, among other things: Correlations between confessionals and cameras Photographers as collectors Ways we create meaning as individuals and a society Research impacting and shaping a project Benefits of a design studio Quieting color Following affinities Cold emailing for collaborators Embodying paradox Impact of oppressive societal structures Referenced in the episode Night of the Fiestas - Kirsten Valdez Quade Images As Action and Reflection Panel Mass Cultural Council Berkshire Taconic Artist Resource Trust Fund Rebecca Solnit - The Blue of Distance Sovereignty of Quiet - Kevin Everod Quashie The Land in Between - Ursula Schulz-Dornburg The Poetics of Space - Gaston Bachelard If you like this show, remember to leave us a rating or review. It really helps! Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybylla.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith *Got Punctum? Podcast Listed on the 70 Best Photography Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/photography_podcasts/ | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Jim Dow and April M. Watson | 27 May 2022 | ||
Over 60 black and white images, many previously unpublished, constitute this erudite book, Signs, a current exhibition and a recent acquisition to the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. With candor and respect, Dow provides a living history of human spirit and ingenuity. Senior Curator April M. Watson’s essay, A Sense of Things in Time, places Dow’s 45-year contribution as photographer and professor within the lexicon of photography. In this conversation, Jim Dow and April M. Watson discuss, among other things: Art school as boot camp How environment shapes us Edgy idealism The point of speculation Recontextualizing one’s work The importance of collaboration Concern for your book audience Consistently learning something new A need for public intellectuals with a functional delivery system Referenced in the episode American Studies Jim Dow Marking the Land Jim Down in North Dakota Discovering the Vernacular Landscape John Brinckerhoff Jackson Being Black in America is Exhausting Jonathan Capehart American Photographs Walker Evans The Danger of a Single Story Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Susan Sontag and Norman Mailer The Elements of Value Eric Almquist On Photography Susan Sontag Sontag: Her Life and Work Benjamin Moser The Burden of Representation; Essays on Photographies and Histories John Tagg A Parallel Road Amani Willett. 2020. If you like this show, remember to leave us a rating or review. It really helps. Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith *Got Punctum? Podcast Listed on the 70 Best Photography Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/photography_podcasts/ 2jAxlFDoKJ3wrVkDdULA | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Anastasia Samoylova and David Campany | 07 May 2022 | ||
A palpable synergy permeates David Campany’s animated sequence of over 140 images and paintings in Anastasia Samoylova, Walker Evans Floridas. A playful interaction that recontextualizes Evans' archive, also illuminates photography’s unique ability to capture paradox, metaphor and oxymoron. Both Samoylova and Evans investigate deeper truths and the mixed feelings generated at the intersection of myth, reality and the wild possibilities in between. Contributing to the roadtrip canon from a female perspective Looking first Ungendered images Parsimony and composition Showing time in one frame Ability of work to endure Leaving meaning open Nietzsche and Baudelaire Nostalgia Sovereign Sense of scale Referenced in the episode Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith If you like this show, remember to leave us a rating or review. It really helps. *Got Punctum? Podcast Listed on the 70 Best Photography Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/photography_podcasts/ | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Mona Kuhn | 15 Apr 2022 | ||
Kuhn reimagines a love relationship referenced in the extensive Schindler archives to create a dreamscape of portraiture, still life and landscape of an unnamed protagonist dwelling within the home and courtyard of Schindlers iconic Kings Road house. Solarization offered the perfect photographic tool for Kuhn to cross time and space while honoring the process of the Surrealists which was innovated at the time the house was built. Schindler and Kuhn both see and celebrate moments when light is its own architecture. In this conversation, Mona Kuhn discusses, among other things: Images as semantics Sensory inspiration Embracing the unknown Bringing architecture to light The courage to be yourself Learning to walk again Creating visual poetry Reaching critical mass Editing to bbe true to your story New ways of exhibiting Wunder! Referenced in the episode Mona Kuhn Kings Road installation shots Time and Space - Steidl Interview with Mona Kuhn MAK center of Art and Architecture 835 Kings Road at AD&A at UC Santa Barbara The Gift - Lewis Hyde The Age of Light - Whitney Scharer UNESCO World Heritage Site” Hollyhock House Capture Photo Festival in Vancouver Website | Instagram If you like this show, remember to leave us a rating or review. It really helps. | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Jess T. Dugan | 08 Apr 2022 | ||
Jess Dugan utilizes their skilled observation and keen awareness of the dynamics of portraiture to pose questions on love, loss, risk, trust and belonging. Sixty poetic images possessed of affection and agency, are intermixed with poignant and highly personal prose, to create an object of beauty and an accompaniment to the trials and triumphs of a fully lived life. In this conversation, Jess Dugan discusses, among other things: Following desire Being led by attraction Looking to pictures to learn Regulating the emotional space of portraiture Ethics of care Practice as process Protecting creative space Expanding the gaze - beyond identity Capturing ambiguity Personal storytelling as a model of possibility Referenced in the episode Every Breath We Drew - Jess T Dugan To Survive on This Shore - Jess T Dugan, Vanessa Fabbre Strange Fire Collective - Rafael Soldi, Jess T Dugan, Hamidah Glasgow, Zora J. Murff Fine Arts Workshop Provincetown - Intimate Portraits led by Jess T Dugan The Queer Indigenious Artists Reclaiming a Fluid Sense of Gender - The New York Times Style Magazine Notes on Fundamental Joy - Carmen Winant Brainstorm - Rebecca M. Jordan-Young In Lieu of Flowers - Caleb Cole Art After Stonewall 1969-1989 - Weinberg Becoming Sisters: Women Photography Collective & Organizations Jess Dugan Website | Instagram If you like this show, remember to leave us a rating or review. It really helps. | |||
| International Women Photographers Series—Collaboration | 20 Nov 2024 | 00:42:30 | |
This seminal book, a compendium of image-based projects, illuminates the subtle evolution of ideas of photographic practice over time. This book offers a non-authoritarian systematic deconstruction of photo history to expand ways of making, seeing, and thinking about the multi-layers of relationships within photography. Five revered photographers, teachers and scholars innovated ways to visualize process and reinvestigate archives. Their collaborative project results in a prismatic view, new vocabulary and an essential teaching tool. In this conversation, Susan Mieselas, Wendy Ewald and Laura Wexler discuss, among other things: Opening new relationships within the event of photography Limits of visual vocabulary Methodologies that favor listening, learning and unlearning The malleability of ideas and associations Seeing across time Photo with the blinders off Creating vocabulary Seeing threads and weaving them Discovering what is missing Building understanding Dynamics of visual culture Referenced in the episode: | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Michelle Dunn Marsh | 25 Mar 2022 | ||
Seeing Being Seen is a synthesis of Dunn’s multi-decade career of leadership roles in design, publishing, arts administration and academia told in part through images by 36 photographers she has known, worked with or collected. A central theme is the ever-evolving journey of learning and understanding how we see. Included is a Primer, an accessible and portable teaching tool on how to read a photograph. In this conversation, Michell Dunn Marsh discusses, among other things: Ways of thinking about the history of photo The myriad (and often unconscious) factors that influence and inform how we see Matters of history and heritage Dismantling associations and identifying assumption Normailizing difference The neuroscience of seeing The alchemical and iterative process of visual problem-solving, aka design Sequencing as a spiritual practice Portraits as aspirational Intergenerational dialog Publishing options Buying from publishers websites is a smart choice When to guide and when to let go Referenced in the episode All Power (Black Panthers at 50) Exhibit Critical Indigenous Photographic Exchange (CIPX) The Unconcerned Photographer by Charles Harbutt Prague Winter: A Personal Story of remembrance and War, 1937-1948 by Madeleine Albright Michelle Dunn Marsh Website｜Instagram Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith If you like this show, remember to leave us a rating or review. It really helps. | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Ed Kashi | 25 Feb 2022 | ||
Abandoned Moments is a book, an approach, a tool and a philosophy. Kashi reconsiders his deep and expansive photographic archive shot in 100 countries over the past four decades to set them free of their original context. These fluid and engaging images vibrate with the chaos, wonder and complexity of the human experience. In this conversation, Ed Kashi discusses, among other things: Shooting from the hip Visceral cues and animal instincts Becoming one with a camera Play being essential to practice Active investigation of a concept Stumbling into results Listening to ‘talking’ negatives The beauty of decontextualizing images Changes of heart and mind The intoxication of the medium of photography A joyful and collaborative edit Referenced in the episode Engage with J. Sybylla Smith If you like this show, remember to leave us a rating or review. It really helps. | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Teju Cole | 19 Feb 2022 | ||
Golden Apple of the Sun animates the quotidian elements of Cole’s kitchen countertop in unposed meditations of color and form captured during a perilous 5-week period. This tapestry of image and text exposes the power of everyday objects to reflect the prismatic spaces we hold during our brief and precious life.
In this conversation, Teju Cole discusses, among other things: Still life images as biography Disappointing expectations Postponing reaction #nofilter Dead bird syndrome Incorporating accidents Positioning and modifications imposed by ethnocentricity Translucence and opacity Being difficult Listening foremost to one’s self Going your own way
Referenced in the episode “A Photograph Never Stands Alone” - New York Times “In Flagrante Two” - Chris Killip “Black Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments” - Saidiya Hartman “A Black Gaze: Artists Changing How We See” - Tina L. Campt Shadows in Nature, Life & Art - William Vaughan The Practicing Refusal Collective - The Sojourner Project
Engage with J.Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith If you like this show, remember to leave us a rating or review. It really helps. | |||
| J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Tabitha Soren | 04 Feb 2022 | ||
Using an 8x10 large format camera, an iPad, images sourced from internet searches, social media and text messages, Surface Tension animates our layered relationship with technology. In thirty six high gloss images she reveals, reflects and ponders the complex layers between real life and our virtual one. In this conversation, Tabitha Soren discusses, among other things: Creating images that have not been seen before Researching ideas to find entry points and build context Experimenting to fInd the tools that meet the job VIsualizing the unseen impact of technology on psychological states Layering intentions Best practices when using appropriated images Thinking of a book and exhibit simultaneously Viewers keen reading of your image Social critic Jia Tolentino’s insightful book essay Uncertainty as a place of hope Publishers who honor your intention Referenced in the episode E.M. Forster - The Machine Stops Alexis L. Boylan - Visual Culture Surgeon general warns misinformation an ‘urgent threat’ to public health Annie Murphy Paul - The Extended Mind Nicholas Mirzoeff - The Right to Look: A Counterhistory of Visuality Allen deSouza - How Art Can Be Thought: A Handbook for Change Tabitha Soren's Fantasy Life is an Intimate Portrait of Baseball Yoffy Press - TRACE; a Yoffy Press Triptych featuring Kota Ezawa, Tabitha Soren and Penelope Umbrico Sharon Olds - For You Engage with J. Sybylla Smith https://www.jsybyllasmith.com Instagram @jsybylla and Facebook @j.sybylla.smith If you like this show, remember to leave us a rating or review. It really helps. | |||