Street Photography Magazine Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Our guest this week is Karlynne Wintels who is also the featured photographer in the September 2024 issue of Street Photography Magazine. Originally from the Netherlands, she had been living in Singapore with her family over the past several years. When we spoke to her several weeks ago she was packing to move back to her home country.

Karlynne has always had a passion for photography, even back in 2006 during a family trip to Cuba when she unknowingly captured street-style images with her father’s Nikon. About ten years ago she moved to Tokyo, where she dabbled in urban photography, focusing on shapes and textures rather than people. It wasn’t until her big move to Singapore that things took a serious turn.

In 2020, after a corporate shake-up combined with the pandemic, Karlynne decided to dive headfirst into photography. She enrolled in a part-time diploma course to learn the technical side of things because she was mostly shooting in automatic mode before that. This course opened her eyes to the world of photography, and she connected with some amazing people along the way.

During her time in Singapore, Karlynne really honed her street photography skills. She became part of the Women in Street Singapore community and took part in their local exhibitions. Her photography focuses on capturing candid moments, often portraying the beauty of everyday life, whether on the streets or with families. She’s drawn to those real-life in-between moments, like a mother comforting her child or a spontaneous laugh between family members.

She applies her street-style approach in her family photography business. Karlynne offers a “day in the life” service where she documents families in a natural, storytelling manner. She believes in capturing those intimate, sometimes overlooked moments that represent family life. Her clients often express gratitude for her work, which she finds incredibly rewarding.

Karlynne also embraces the artistic side of photography. She’s been experimenting with both color and black-and-white photography, and she takes great care in curating her online galleries, often telling a story through the images. This ability to see the narrative in her photos really sets her apart.

Now that she’s back in The Netherlands, Karlynne is looking forward to reconnecting with her roots and is eager to see how her photography will evolve in a new environment.

Karlynne Wintels is a storyteller who captures life in all its beautiful, messy glory. If you’re curious about her work, you can find her on her website, kwphotography.com, and check out her Instagram for a peek into her creative world.

Street Photography Magazine subscribers can read Ashley’s in-depth article about Karlynne and a sample of her work when it’s published on September 1. Watch your email box for the the notice.

Links from the show

• Karlynne’s Website
• Instagram
• Faebook

Today on the Street Photography Magazine podcast, we have a fascinating guest who I met in an unusual way – Lynne McPeake, a retired graphic designer and photographer from the Peak District in the UK.

I first crossed paths with Lynne during my travels to Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and the Scottish Shetland Islands early this summer. It was in Shetland – inspired by the TV show “Shetland” – that I stumbled upon the Shetland Museum & Archives in the town of Lerwick showcasing Lynne’s 1971 documentary-style photography of dock workers. Her work was so compelling, it led to our conversation that you will hear on this episode.

Lynne’s journey into photography started with a simple Kodak Brownie camera she received at age eleven. From there, she honed a unique artistic approach by blending her love for drawing and photography. She’s experimented with movement and multiple exposures, bringing a dynamic edge and painterly style to her photos.

During the Covid pandemic, Lynne found herself diving into old black and white negatives, which caught the attention of her friend Colin Smith and photographer who showed the work to the Family History Society in Shetland. This sparked the idea for an exhibition featuring Lynne’s work about local subjects. With support from Smith, and local fine-art printer Lynne creates a display of 18 framed images for her one-woman exhibit at the museum.

As a result of the exhibition Lynne has reconnected with subjects from her old photos, like a 71-year-old former dock worker reminiscing about his crane-operating days.

Throughout our chat, Lynne shares her artistic journey, touching on everything from her time in art college to her recent experiments with intentional camera movement (ICM) and an inspiring online course with photographer Charlotte Bellamy.

She’s got some exciting projects lined up, including an exhibition in Derbyshire titled “A Different Point of View,” where her photos will be showcased alongside a friend’s paintings. Lynne believes in the power of drawing to enhance observational skills, which translates beautifully into her street photography.

Lynne’s insights and experiences demonstrate that old work never dies. Give the show a listen to learn from her passion and creativity.

A selection of Lynne’s work Links from the show

• Lynne’s Instagram
• Shetland Museum & Archives

In today’s episode, Dallas-based fundraiser and street photographer Penny James shared the story of her creative evolution since she first picked up a camera in 2016. With a passion for capturing the spontaneous ballet of urban life, she has become a unique voice in the world of street photography.

Her photographic journey began with a personal connection to her camera and a desire to document the world around her. The turning point came during expeditions to the streets of London and Paris, where she honed her skills and developed her own visual language.

Penny’s work goes beyond mere observation; it’s an extension of her emotional landscape. She revealed the deep emotional investment she pours into her website, a curated digital gallery of her innermost expressions. The authenticity of her work is not just a philosophy; it’s the cornerstone of her approach to art.

In a surprising twist of fate, her interest in clouds inspired a unique self-portrait project during the pandemic. This project resulted in a fusion of surrealistic cloud photographs with evocative self-portraits. Penny’s work during this period reflects a dreamlike atmosphere that has resonated with her audience.

Navigating the ambiguities of the creative process, James spoke candidly about the exhilaration and hurdles she has encountered. From the painful process of self-editing to the connections made while capturing the lives of strangers, her journey has been as much about personal growth as it is about artistic expression.

Despite the challenges of curating photographs for exhibitions and her website Penny’s dedication to visual storytelling remains strong. When reviewing Penny’s website in preparation for her interview we were most impressed by the intention she put into image selection and sequencing of the photos in each gallery. She said is was a painful process that has really paid off. We review countless websites each year and Penny’s is by far one of the best we’ve seen in years. Please don’t miss it.

Penny’s story serves as an inspiration to all aspiring street photographers and a reminder of the possibilities that await around the next corner.

Chapter Summary

07:05 Travel and Street Photography Inspiration
Penny discusses her solo travel experiences to London and Paris, highlighting how being alone with her camera in new places inspired her street photography work.

11:05 Authenticity in Art and Connection
The conversation delves into Penny’s approach to art and self-expression, emphasizing the importance of being genuine in connecting with others through creative work.

17:10 Website Design and Creative Expression
Penny’s intentional and creative use of her website to showcase her photography, discussing the impact of thoughtful presentation in visual storytelling.

24:00 Pandemic-Inspired Self-Portrait Series
Discover how the pandemic sparked a burst of creativity and freedom leading to a unique self-portrait series by the artist.

41:09 Artistic Selections and Editing Process
Delve into the Penny’s process of selecting and editing photographs for her website, showcasing intentional curation and critical evaluation.

46:06 Fleeting Scenes and Insignificant Significance
Explore the artist’s perspective on capturing fleeting moments and the profound significance found in seemingly insignificant interactions with strangers.

51:14 Authenticity and Connection in Photography
Reflect on the power of authenticity and connection in photography, resonating with shared experiences and a sense of community among artists.

Links from the show

• Penny’s Website
• Instagram

Nicolas St-Pierre may come from a small town in Quebec, but by all accounts, he is a world traveler. Nicolas is a diplomat with the Canadian Foreign Service, which has meant extensive travel around the world and even a few stints living abroad in places like China and Japan.

But as has been the case for many of us, a global pandemic brought international travel to an abrupt halt for Nicolas. To keep his creative juices flowing, Nicolas recently embarked on a project called “The Longest Road” about Bank Street in Ottawa. (See the project in the February 2021 issue.) In our conversation, we discussed long and short form projects as well as Nicolas’ experience publishing his project on Blurb.

Interview Links

• Nicolas’ Website
• The Longest Road book
• The Hershey Electric Train Project
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Twitter

A Selection of Nicolas’ Photos

Casey Meshbesher is a street photography, video, and multimedia artist. She is also a researcher, curator, and the founder of @womeninstreet (WiS), a platform we love just for female street photographers. She is also the editor Her Side of the Street, a street photography blogzine for female street photographers.

Casey was kind enough to take some time to chat with us about many subjects, including her own photography, the value of making connections through platforms, and the research that goes into that process.

For example, WiS started on Facebook in 2016, and is now on Instagram, Medium, and an IG/YouTube channel. Women in Street is a global network built on research, a community forum, a publication that showcases emerging and seasoned talent, and a movement to strengthen visibility of women.  It functions as a collective of sorts where collaborators come and go.  Contributors may be long or short  term, handle special projects, curate, or contribute to the blog. Galleries are a popular feature with a new guest curator and theme each month, and have public submissions from hundreds of regular participants in Facebook. Nowadays, WiS Instagram has over 25,000 followers, 2,000 members in its Facebook group and a strong blogzine following as well. It’s become a community where opportunities abound for female street photographers – something that didn’t exist just a few years ago.

What kind of opportunities, you ask? Here’s a good example: One big part of the project has been the world map of female street photographers, a researched database linking the global network.  It has been used in consultation with publications, festivals, organizations.  Featured speakers have been identified via the map and consulting with WiS. When traveling, women use this feature to look one another up, and friendships and collaborations have been formed. Many have said that they knew very few female street photographers before encountering them through Women in Street’s platforms.

Find out more about the birth and growth of WiS, the photography of Casey Meshbesher, and the growing community of female street photographers she has helped to bring together in this audio interview.

At Miami Street Photography Festival, L to R: Susanne Baumgartner, Niki Gleoudi, Nancy Moon, Adriane Ryan, MSPF co-founder Lynne Kaplan, Casey Meshbesher, 2018 WiS curator and admin Eleonore Simon, Melissa O’Shaughnessy Interview Links

• Women in Street
• WiS Community Links
• Casey Meshbesher’s Website
• Casey Meshbesher on Instagram

A Selection of Casey’s Photos

• A friend of this woman’s alerted her that she was in this photo and she contacted me, very excited, and shared it on her profiles. This has happened a few other times, always a positive reaction, a plus for a smaller city.

Juan Jose Reyes has been running one of our favorite street photography festivals for several years now, the Miami Street Photography Festival. When a pandemic threw a wrench in the works for the 2020, Juan was quick to shift the festival from an in-person event to an online one – no small feat.

Listen in to hear about how he managed to make a success of the festival despite the challenges, upcoming festival plans in Milan for 2021, workshops going on now, and find out more about Juan’s personal street photography work.

Juan’s Links

• Miami Street Photography Festival
• MSPF Workshops
• Juan on Instagram

A Selection of Juan’s Photos

Fredericksburg Street Photography is an enthusiastic collective that started up just about a year ago – right before the pandemic really hit hard in the U.S. About 20 members meet up regularly at artsy coffee shops and local watering holes to discuss photography and learn from each other. They describe themselves as a group that is “more hipster than pixel peeking” that enjoys “getting out and shooting free style photography as [they] search for subjects and settings that best reflect the city and community of Fredericksburg.”

Links

• Fredericksburg Street Photography Website
• Ted Nelson’s Instagram
• Shawn Faherty’s Instagram
• Ian Soper’s Instagram

A Selection of Fredericksburg Street Photography Photos

• Shawn Faherty
• Shawn Faherty
• Shawn Faherty
• Ted Nelson
• Ted Nelson
• Ted Nelson

This is just a quick reminder registration for the Publishing a Photo Book Workshop taught by Harvey Stein will close this coming Sunday (January 24) at midnight.

The 7-week course begins Tuesday, January 26 at 1:00 PM Eastern time.

It’s designed to help photographers who either have a completed project to publish but don’t know how to find and approach potential publishers or are thinking about arranging their images into a book form.

Click Here to learn more.

Our Guest Valérie Jardin

Our guest today is Valerie Jardin who needs no introduction. She is one of the preeminent women street photographers of today. Originally from France she now lives with her family in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

She leads workshops worldwide, writes books, produces a weekly podcast, and is an official X Photographer for Fujifilm USA.And she’s the host of the very popular podcast Hit The Streets.

Although the pandemic has slowed down her workshop schedule she doesn’t let that or the bitter cold in Minnesota keep her down. She’s proof the none of us should complain that we can’t pursue our photography because nobody is out, everyone is wearing a mask or that it’s too cold.

For example, Valerie began a project called On Ice where she has been photographing the community of people who enjoy life on the frozen lakes of Minnesota.

A selection of Valérie’s photos

Links from the show

• Valérie’s Website
• Valérie’s Instagram
• Valérie’s Workshops
• Valérie’s new book: Street Photography Assignments
• Hit The Streets Podcast

I’m writing this on January 15 which means we have just published the January 2021 issue of Street Photography Magazine.

We are super excited because the January issue kicks off our year of women street photographers with a special issue that features work by all women. And throughout the year each issue will feature a super talented woman street photographer.

Publishing a Photo Book Workshop

Also this month we are holding our very first remote workshop, Publishing a Photo Book with Harvey Stein.

If you’re planning to publish or even thinking about it I encourage you to check it out. Harvey is a very inspirational teacher.

Harvey is a longtime New York street photographer who teaches at the International Center of Photography in New York, also called ICP. He has also published nine monographs over the year with the 10th scheduled for next spring.

This lively, 7-week interactive workshop will be held each Tuesday on Zoom beginning January 26th from 1:00 to 4:00 PM Eastern time.

And you don’t have to be a street photographer to get something out of it.

Some of the takeaways form this course are:

• Generate book ideas
• Sequence images
• Identify potential publishers
• What and how to present to publishers
• Evaluation of your project
• And much more.

If you’re planning to publish or even thinking about it I encourage you to check it out. Harvey is a very inspirational teacher.

Click Here to learn more about the workshop.

Interview with Michael Ruggiero

Our guest this week is Michael Ruggiero. He’s passionate life-long photographer, former photo journalist professional chef.

Michael has been heavily influenced by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Lee Friedlander, Mary Ellen Mark and Garry Winogrand. In fact while living and photographing in Paris in the early 1980s he had an opportunity to meet both Cartier-Bresson and Andre Kertesz. He even shares the story of how he met Cartier-Bresson in the interview.

He has had solo exhibitions in Fort Collins, Colorado – Philadelphia New York and Boston.

As a black and white film photographer, Mmch of his work comes from a number of long-term projects including Over the Road about American long-haul truckers. In fact we will be publishing part of that work in the March issue of Street Photography Magazine.

A selection of Michael’s images

Links from the show

• Michael’s website
• Michael’s Instagram

Happy New Year and welcome to 2021. Twenty twenty is finally in the books and perhaps we can all have a sigh of relief.

Anyway I am very happy to announce that we have declared that 2021 will be the Year of Women Street Photographers.

So each month during the year we are choosing a woman to be the featured photographer of the month. And our first issue of the year, which will be published on January 15th, will feature street photography created by all women.

Keith Dannemiller

Our guest this week is Keith Dannemiller, an American photojournalist who has been living and working in Mexico City for the past 30 plus years.

Keith is no stranger to Street Photography Magazine. He was the featured photographer in September 2016 and has contributed content to the magazine and podcast over the years. So it was good to catch up with him to see what he’s up to during the pandemic.

Keith is currently independent, but over the past 31 years he was associated with two US photo agencies: Black Star and Saba. In Latin America, he has covered a wide variety of situations, ranging from Nicaraguan Recontras to street children in México City to life on the US-México border and the evolution of a refugee camp in the Mexican state of Chiapas into a thriving community today.

As a photojournalist he covered the First Intifata in the occupied territories of Palestine the late 1980s. In our interview Keith told me the story behind this assignment and how he came to cover an event on the other side of the world and how it became a book project 30 years later.

That’s right, he’s currently working on two books at the same time.

My favorite project of Keith’s is about LaBestia, which means The Beast. It’s the nickname for a freight train that travels from the southern Mexican border through the length of the country to the US border over 1600 miles away. Hundreds of migrants, men, women and children, escaping economic hardship and gang violence in Central America risk their lives riding atop the freight cars. He uses his camera and heart to tell a powerful story of desperation and hope for a better life.

La Bestia ©Keith Dannemiller 2014

He lives with his wife in the Colonia Nápoles of Mexico City and often conducts street photo tours of this unique metropolis.

You will learn this and more when you listen to my conversation with Keith Dannemiller.

Keith’s Links

• Keith’s Website
• Keith’s Instagram
• Keith’s Facebook
• Eyes on Main Street Festival