On Taking Pictures

This week, a new book from photographer Danny Lyon sparks a great discussion about intent and we unpack the idea of creating a body of work versus living your way through it. We also ask the question: “Is art a part of our lives or are our lives a part of some greater art?” Jeff Wall is our Photographer of the Week. Please help us grow the show by sharing it with your friends via Twitter or Facebook.

On the heels of Paris Photo, this week we’re talking about inspiration and how art is too often priced for collectors, rather than fans. Is taking great pictures enough to be a great photographer? Also, making art doesn’t always have to be a painful experience. Plus, Art Kane is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, we discuss experience versus results and how process sometimes trumps outcome. Also, do photographers, particularly photojournalists, have a responsibility to filter what not to show? A listener question about placing a value on our work - why is it so difficult? Carl van Vechten is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, we discuss obsession as both a motivator and a meditation and whether or not photography might be just one big performance. Also, do you worry about what you’re not shooting as much as what you are? Plus, living for your resume vs. your eulogy. Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Anja Niedringhaus is our Photographer of the Week.

Big Q&A show this week as we attempt to tackle some of your questions from the Google+ Community. We got some great questions on process, intent and even the business side of creativity. Danny Lyon is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, we discuss authenticity - is the quest for authenticity real or just a hoax perpetuated by hipsters and organic farmers? Also, thoughts on Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art - realizing what you are and getting down to business. Could this book be a good candidate for a group discussion? Plus, Lee Friedlander is our PotW.

Episode 100! Thank you so much for coming along with us each week. This week, we discuss how a place can (and should) get under your skin to help fuel creativity. Also, is technology killing creativity and prosperity? Would you pay real money to increase your social media reach? Facebook thinks so. Plus, fashion photographer Erwin Blumenfeld is our Photographer of the Week.

For this last double-digit episode, we talk about the entitlement of an artistic life. Should society reward creativity? Also, more on the seemingly endless question of whether social media works or is simply a distraction. Plus, we question whether photography has to be good to be important with our Photographer of the Week, Terry Richardson.

Big show this week as we take a look at some of the latest art and photography news and how the stories may affect making a living as a creative. Content may be the new black, but who really wins if all of it is free? With no roadmap to navigate, we raise more questions than answers. How do you find your way? Lewis Hine is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, we talk about how technology is affecting branding and marketing. With so much noise and so many choices, how do you know what works? Also, can your future self be your present hero? Plus, transformation - how much is enough? Fantastic dance photographer Barbara Morgan is our Photographer of the Week.

Is your photography business your own? We discuss one interesting case where the answer was no. We also talk about image, not the one you’re making but the one you’re living, which helps set the stage for next week’s discussion on branding. Plus, surf photographer Mickey Smith on a present worth remembering and UK photographer Thurston Hopkins is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, when is enough really enough? How do you know when it’s time to make subtle corrections versus charting an entirely new course? We also discuss the potential of collaboration and how narrative is changing the way we view photography. Portrait photographer Brett Walker is our Photographer of the Week.

This week is a Q&A show where we take a bunch of listener questions and try to answer them without sounding like idiots. But first, do you miss the good ol’ days of analog? We discuss Bill’s recent (and expensive) foray into large-format film on an 8x10 portrait shoot. Photographer, professor and MacArthur Fellow An-My Lê is our Photographer of the week.

This week, we discuss the little voice - the gnawing (knowing) inside all of us that pushes us forward. How do you choose what to listen to and what to dismiss? Where do you draw the line between what you can do and what you will do? Plus, where has the mystique around photography gone? Ormond Gigli is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, we chime in on a recent NY Times article that questions the new definition of photography. Should using a camera somewhere in the process be a prerequisite to calling something a photograph? Are curators simply throwing stuff at the wall and hoping that Art is the only thing that sticks? We also discuss a listener email that centers around the flood of tutorials and techniques available to photographers, which begs the question “What should I learn?” Plus, National Geographic shooter Bruce Dale is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, a discussion about The Secret Life of Walter Mitty gets us talking about art, specifically whether or not we tend to romanticize the life and work of the artist (spoiler: Penn should have taken the shot!). Also, with so many resources available, how do we step away from the learning and get down to doing? Our photographer of the Week, Duane Michals make brilliant use of mixed media and image sequences to tell stories not possible with a single photograph.

This week, we go further down the rabbit hole of Mentorship and discuss our most important mentors as well as what type of mentor each of us could benefit from now. We also talk about how AI may affect or even remove the choices we make in the not-too-distant future via the film Her. Brilliant architectural photographer Julius Schulman is our Photographer of the Week.

For the first episode of 2014, we discuss how the tools that we use shape the way we use them. We also talk about the photographer/subject relationship and discuss how to better connect with the people you are photographing, which may even inspire Bill to take on a new project. Master vs. Mentor - one is about status while the other is about a relationship. Stephen Shore is our Photographer of the Week.

For the last episode of OTP in 2013, we discuss looking back to look forward. We look not at creating resolutions as much as mantras, concepts to drive us ahead and allow some wiggle room for the things that don’t work out exactly the way you think they will. Also, we look at ways to refine/expand the OTP G+ Group, which has now crossed 800! Iconic photojournalist Steve McCurry is our Photographer of the Week. Thank you so much for your time, your energy and your willingness to let us wrestle with the things we do week after week. We couldn’t do it without you.

This week is all about you, the listeners, as we try to answer some of the questions you’ve asked via email, twitter and the Google+ group. We also talk through some camera and photo related news. Conceptual portrait slash fashion photographer, Miss Aniela is our Photographer of the Week.