Visual Revolutionary

On this episode of the podcast we get the chance to talk to photographer, alchemist, wet plate collodion pioneer, and all around inspirational figure Ian Ruhter.  Although many know Ian from the short film "Silver and Light" that instantly burst him onto the public stage, he was a very accomplished shooter years before that.  Ian had created a solid reputation as a talented snowboard photographer with a career trajectory that seemed to be moving quicker than he could have ever anticipated.  He was pushing the limits, and became one of the shooters helping to elevate snowboard photography to a world of complicated lighting schematics and big sets.  The work was fun, the money kept coming, and it seemed inevitable that he would most likely head towards the world of fashion and lifestyle photography.  In the midst of what most would consider "success" however, Ian had an unsettling feeling of dissatisfaction.  He began to lose interest in what he was shooting and started to question the rampant consumerism that

On this episode of the podcast we are joined by renowned street photographer and Magnum member Bruce Gilden. Have you ever found yourself walking down a busy street, looking into the faces of those who walk by, wondering to yourself what they are thinking, or projecting your own emotions or stories into their life? That’s what Bruce has made a living doing. Although some critics have accused his work of being exploitive, after almost two hours of talking and laughing with him, I can say with a fair amount of confidence that the only thing he is exploiting is himself. Whether he sees the family figures he grew up with, the old characters of the streets he used to play in, or the pain and suffering of his own journey and struggles, he connects with faces at a very emotional and gut level. He sees a glimpse of himself and tries to capture it. Growing up in Brooklyn, Bruce used to look out the windows and watch the characters of the city go by. His father was a tough character in his own right and someone Bruce f

On this episode of the podcast we get the chance to sit down with Patagonia's own photographer, director, and creative brand agent Jeff Johnson.  Although he's currently pretty busy with his newest adventure of being a father to his 15 month old daughter, he's best known for documenting amazing trips around the world as a writer, photographer, surfer, climber, and all around interesting guy.  At a very early age, growing up in a small town in California, Jeff's father would take him on trips into the mountains of Tahoe to go skiing.  It was during this time that the seeds of adventure were planted.  When skateboarding and surfing came into Jeff's life as an early teen, he finally felt like he had found his calling, and the trajectory of what his future would hold took a turn that would lead him to living in Hawaii right after high school.  It was there, on the North Shore of Oahu, that Jeff started to meet some of the characters that would provide an abundance of stories to tell, and the confidence to tell hi

For our first show of 2017, we get the chance to sit down with one of the most legendary surf photographers in the business, Brian Bielmann.  Although Brian can't say he picked up the camera at an early age and knew he wanted to be a photographer like some of our past guests, he did know from a very early age that all he wanted to do was surf.  From there, he made the fairly logical decision that he would be more likely to make it as a surf photographer than a surfer.  To say he won that gamble would be an understatement.  With over 150 magazine covers to his name, a client list full of some of the biggest brands in the world, and close friendships with almost every superstar surfer you could think of, Brian has made his name known in the world of surfing.  Growing up in Virginia, and looking up to his older brother who was already surfing, Brian would take any chance he could to make the drive to surf the Outerbanks of North Carolina.  Once he graduated High School, he immediately made the journey to the Nor

On this week's episode of the podcast, we sit down with photographer, author, teacher, and all around nice guy Michael Clark.  He's become one of the most respected adventure sports photographers around, working with huge clients like Red Bull, Nikon, and Adobe, as well as almost every sports brand and publication you can think of.  But photography wasn't always his first choice.  Although he showed early promise as a talented artist, Michael chose to study physics in college and pursued a career in science right out of school.  Rock climbing had also come into his life around this time however, and before long he realized that his true calling was to travel and climb. He quit his job in the university physics department and took off on a road trip that would last years.  During that time, the camera became a familiar appendage to capture the adventures that were now ruling his life.  Climbing photography would be what propelled Michael into the world of professional photography, but his science background wo

On this episode of the podcast, we sit down with renowned photographer Glen E. Friedman.  To take a look through some of Friedman's archive is like stepping back into time and getting the chance to live through the subcultures he was there to bare witness to.  He created images that would help define a generation.  From the Dogtown Days of skateboarding with Tony Alva and Jay Adams, to the raw energy of punk with Black Flag and Minor Threat, to the early days of hip hop with the Beastie Boys and Run DMC, Friedman was there with a camera in hand.  The list of recognizable names and artists that he helped visually introduce to the world goes on and on and stands as a testament to his own taste in what he thought was important to photograph.  From a very early age, Glen E. Friedman was attracted to photography and began to realize that some of the people that were shooting the culture he was a part of didn't seem to know how to approach it.  By the age of 15 he was getting published in Skateboarder magazine, and

On this episode of the podcast we sit down with Commercial Photographer, Canon Explorer of Light, and Teacher Joel Grimes.  As a kid, Joel was always creative, but it wasn't until his freshman year in high school that Joel finally picked up a camera and knew that he had found the art form he was looking for.  Although Joel had some early success in the world of photography and was building a national client base, it wasn't until he decided to completely reinvent himself, and his overall look, that he suddenly burst on to the scene as a recognizable name.  Using a three light setup, composites, and somewhat of a grunge look, Joel became a very sought after commercial shooter.  Soon he began teaching others how he created the look and realized that he really enjoyed teaching. After several public speaking events, he created a video tutorial system and started teaching his own personal workshops across the country.  Joel has gone onto to shoot some of world's top athletes, worked on huge ad campaigns, and contin

On this episode of the podcast we get the opportunity to speak with National Geographic photographer, filmmaker, and writer Pete McBride.  Pete tells us about growing up on a ranch outside of Aspen, Colorado and the first time he remembers picking up a camera.  From his early days as a kid helping his dad herd cattle, to all the days he spent skiing in the mountains, he felt a calling to study land management and the environment around him.  It was this interest, and trying to write for publications on those topics, that finally led him to photography.  Pete quickly gravitated towards travel, adventure, and expedition work.  He wanted to take photos of the far away places and people he had always dreamed about, but he soon began to become disenfranchised with what he would call "adventure porn" and realized there was a story in his own back yard.  Although he had grown up around the Colorado River, Pete realized how little he really understood about it's history and it's destination.  He soon set out to produ

On this episode of the podcast we get the chance to sit down with legendary Magnum photographer David Alan Harvey and talk about the universal language of photography and those who have risen to the level of poets.  His love for this language started at a very early age.  As a child, stricken with polio and confined to hospital wards, David spent a lot of time looking through books and magazines, experiencing what was going on in the outside world through photographs. He also had a lot of time to search the depths of his developing personality and passions and get a head start on knowing who he was and what he wanted to be.  It wasn't until later though, while on a camping trip at the age of 12, that David looked out of his tent one morning and wondered why he didn't have a camera to capture the beautiful scene he was staring at.  From that moment on, David would pursue the art of photography and would stop at nothing less than achieving the dreams he had started to envision.  From his early days as a newspap

This week on the show we get the chance to talk with Actor, Skateboarder, Entrepreneur, and, most important to this show, avid film photographer Jason Lee.  Whether you know him from his days as a cutting edge professional street skater, his cult classic character Brodie in "Mall Rats", the lead singer of Stillwater in "Almost Famous", or everyone's favorite apologist Earl Hickey, you definitely know him.  What you might not have known, is that Jason Lee has spent the last 16 years devouring everything he could learn about film photography and creating a beautiful body of work with an amazing collection of vintage cameras.  Recently he partnered up with Refueled Magazine to create a limited addition coffee table book of his peel apart polaroid work that features images from his travels across the American West.  They are currently working on the second edition and Jason has plans on returning to the road in his old truck to continue shooting.  On this episode we talk about the early days of street skating, th

We're back!! And since winter is in the air, we thought it would be appropriate to kick off Season 2 of the podcast with someone who is definitely familiar with winter, and has been providing us with some inspirational snowboard photos for years.  On this episode of the podcast we talk to Snowboard and Action Sports Photographer Scott Serfas.  He tells us about growing up in the suburbs of Vancouver and the event that would have him trading in his dreams of being a proffesional skier for a snowboard and never looking back.  It was his love of the mountains, and his desire to figure out a way to stay in them, that finally led him to try his hand at photography after walking away from a job in the trades as a plumber.  Although his parents weren't too excited about seeing their son leave a good paying job, it wasn't long before he had landed several publications and started getting some of the validation he needed to think maybe it might work.  Since those early published photos, Scott has gone on to be one of

David Carson is considered by many to be one of the most influential graphic designers in the world.  From his early days with Transworld Skateboard Magazine, to his days at Ray Gun Magazine, to the work he's done for some of the biggest corporations in the world, David has always been leading the charge to push the limits of design.  On this episode of the podcast we get the opportunity to sit down with the legendary designer and talk about growing up in California, his pro surfing career, and what made him leave a secure teaching job to become a graphic designer.   Whether you think you know David's work or not, you've most likely been around it and even influenced by it.  It was his cutting edge typography and "out of the box" ideas on design that began to create the graphic aesthetic that would come to represent skateboarding and so much of the southern Californian culture and would go on to find it's way into branding all over the world.  David grew up surfing at a young age and soon found he had what it

Photographer, surfer, and intrepid traveler Dylan Gordon joins us on the podcast fresh off a trip from Cuba to talk about his current success as a young shooter who has quickly created a client list that many would dream of.  Already, at age 24, he has had the opportunity to travel the world many times over in search of a good composition. Dylan tells us about growing up on a horse ranch in California and the early inspiration he would receive from his very talented father who passed away while Dylan was still in college.  It was during that time that Dylan would realize that one of the greatest gifts his dad had given him was a work ethic and drive that kept him pushing towards his goals of becoming a photographer during a difficult time in his life.  After getting the opportunity to intern with another one of our guests Chris Burkard, and really seeing some of the hustle that went into production and going after clients, Dylan set out on his own and soon got the opportunity to work with Surfer magazine.  Wi

What other photographer can say they were a character in a video game?  That's a great jumping off point to start talking about the storied career of photographer Atiba Jefferson. Although he's had the opportunity to shoot everything from the NBA to celebrity portraiture, it was the world of skateboarding that changed Atiba's life and helped create the amazing body of work he has today.  On this episode of the podcast we talk about his humble beginnings in a small town in Colorado with his single mom and twin brother, and his early passion for skateboarding and the culture that surrounded it.  It was the bad luck of a broken hand that first put a camera in front of Atiba, but once he started seeing the black and white film come to life in the solution, he knew what he wanted to do with his life.  Through a series of "right time / right place" circumstances, and the hustlers mentality and work ethic that comes from being raised by a single mom, Atiba went on to head to Southern California and chase his dream o

Photographer, Director, and Co-Founder of Camp 4 Collective Tim Kemple sits down with us for this episode of the podcast to talk about some of his many adventures in the world of photography and filmmaking.  Kemple tells us about his early childhood in New Hampshire and the influence that came from his family.  His father loved climbing and the outdoors and they would often load up the Dodge Caravan for long road trips out west to explore places like Rocky Mountain National Park.  It was only fitting then, at age 17 when his other friends were taking vacations to Hampton Beach, that Kemple took the path less traveled and set out on his own road trip with a group of friends to experience the world of climbing that they had read about in magazines.  It was this trip where the camera started to become a tool to document his travels, but it would be later during his college years that he really started to see the potential.  After landing some editorial assignments, Tim started to think that he could possibly mak

Today on the podcast we catch up with photographer Chris Burkard as he drives down a highway somewhere in the American West.  Although Chris does not like to be referred to as an instagram photographer, it was his beautiful feed that first led us to his work and his message of getting outdoors and communing with nature.  Chris' early days as an artist and his love of painting come through when you look at his large landscapes that he captures with his camera.  The layers of light, color, and a well placed subject help put you in the places he gets to visit.  Although he still lives in the small Central California beach town that he grew up in, Chris has traveled the world extensively and has a true gift for bringing the viewer with him to amazing remote locations through his photography.  He has an infectious attitude and an amazing work ethic, which has allowed him to become a sought after public speaker, including his own Ted X talk about the joy of surfing in ice cold water.  Chris gave us two different op

National Geographic Explorer and Photographer Ben Horton joins us on the podcast to talk about shooting everything from fashion, to commercial work, to sharks and his newest adventure of starting his own agency Access Network.  Ben tells us stories of growing up in Bermuda with his brother and his artist parents and what would become the foundation of a very creative and DIY mindset.  His father went from cartoonist to being one of the most respected sculptors in America showing Ben and his brother an ethos of what was possible if you put your mind to it, and what "making it" in the creative industry looks like.  Ben's mother, the photographer of the family, gave him a camera at an early age.  When his parents moved the family to Colorado and he began becoming attracted to the mountain lifestyle, the camera started becoming a frequently used tool.  One summer Ben's parents decided they wanted the brothers to travel the world together in order to build a better bond and soon they were telling stories of advent

National Geographic Photographer and Nikon Ambassador Ami Vitale joins us on the show today, fresh off a return trip from China where she has been working on a project shooting the re-intergration of captive born Pandas to the wild.  Although she is not known as a wildlife photographer, she has been thoroughly tested behind the lens and enjoys the pressure of stepping out of her comfort zone and approaching a new subject with an outsider's perspective.  Ami grew up in South Florida and had a yearning to get out and see the world at a young age.  Even then, she rejected the non stop development of her home town and felt the pull towards protecting the natural environment.  After a stint working for the AP News, she finally decided to take the leap and travel the world with a camera in hand and document the human condition.  During her extensive travels around the globe to over 90 countries, she has established herself as a presence in the world of photography and built a career that many people dream of.  She

When award winning director and producer Kohl Norville first set out to try and create his own commercial on spec, it ended up becoming Heineken's signature piece that they aired during the Olympics.  Not bad for a first attempt.  After years of working with ad agencies, and a background in graphic design and art direction, Kohl wanted the opportunity to try and get behind the camera and help create video pieces to go along with some of the advertising ideas he had in his head. Once he hit the first one out of the park for Heineken, the doors began to open for the chance to keep trying.  Kohl would go on to make many memorable commercial spots for a huge roster of clients and continue to hone his skills not only as a director, but as a collaborator and curator of new rising talent.  Recently Kohl was named the director of content for Motive Made Studios and has had the opportunity to help create and direct content for the last three Super Bowls, as well as work on a new documentary series highlighting the eff

Legendary skateboard photographer, editor, and mentor J Grant Brittain joins us on the podcast.  Not only do we talk about his history with photography, but we talk about the history of skateboarding as a whole, and his ever-present role as it evolved into an industry.  Like a lot of kids who grew up in Southern California, Grant fell in love with surfing at an early age, but when the waves weren't good they would ride skateboards and pretend they were still surfing.  After high school he really just wanted to surf and skate, but started taking classes at the local Jr. College and wondered what would come next.  It wasn't until he took a job at the newly constructed Del Mar Skate Ranch that his life as we know it now started taking shape.  One day he borrowed a friend's camera to try and shoot photos of some of the skaters he knew, and from then on he was hooked.  He began to take photography classes at school, and soon was submitting photos to all the skateboard publications he could. This would lead to the