On Taking Pictures

This week, are you a multitasker? Or is multitasking merely a buzzword to make us feel like we’re actually getting things done? A voicemail from a listener has us discussing our approaches to managing multiple projects. Also, it’s not always about the picture — story is still important, especially when you’re pitching ideas to magazines and editorial outlets. Plus, 30 years after Chernobyl, our fascination with abandoned places and a terrific Crit Wall entry from the G+ Group. Tim Walker is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, Instagram’s change from a time-based feed to an algorithmic one has us discussing the value of platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Flickr, etc. as viable means of sharing work, especially when it’s got a commercial component to it. We also talk about flow states – those periods of creativity when time seems to stop — both from the standpoints of controlling when they happen and what to do when they don’t. Plus, how many memories do you need? We talk about the often overwhelming size of photo collections and some of the ways to manage them. We tackle a couple Crit Wall entries from listeners and Peter Goin is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, we discuss what happens when you can no longer do what you love. What do you do if you can’t shake feeling that your best work is behind you? Malcolm McLaren’s son Joe Corré wants to burn his £5m collection of punk memorabilia. Here’s a question for next week: Do collectors of art or cultural ephemera have a responsibility to keep it or is personal meaning (or the lack thereof) more important? Chime in at podcast@ontakingpictures.com. Barbara Crane is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, a follow up from a listener about our “what makes a professional?” discussion from last week, specifically the idea of professionalism in behavior vs gear/appearance, etc. We also talk a little about regional aesthetics in art and photography and wonder how much of the technical limitations or defects that seem important to people making the work matter to larger audiences. Plus, a few things to think about ahead of next week's show. Alen MacWeeney is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, what does it mean to be a professional? Is it merely making a living from one’s endeavor or is there something else? Is photography something you need to do to achieve some greater sense of fulfillment, or is it simply a vocation? And is one more valid than the other? Also, we talk a bit about a new Van Gogh film that uses an oil painting for every frame. Ryszard Horowitz is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, how digital technology helped Emmanuel Lubezki shape the natural light on The Revenant. Also, we discuss the often cryptic presentation of online tutorials and ask: “How do you learn something new?” Plus, letting what you know affect what do and how far you’re willing to push outside your comfort zone. Check the show notes for teases of next week’s show. Ernesto Bazan is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, we’re discussing the good and the bad of habits—making them, breaking them and learning how to recognize when you may need one over the other. Also, a follow up on last week’s audiophile/photography discussion, particularly around street photography. Plus, we geek out a little over an interview with Photoshop Master Bert Monroy in which he talks about his massive 750,000 layer Photoshop illustration of Times Square. Robyn Beeche is our Photographer of the Week.

Paris Photo LA is cancelled permanently and what that means to collectors and fans of photography. Where do you fall when it comes to awards and competitions? Are they worthwhile endeavors and potentially valuable experiences or simply distracting popularity contests? Also, we discuss an interesting connection between audiophiles and photographers and the suggestion that where you came to photography from has an influence on the type of work that you produce or are drawn to. Sebastiao Salgado is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, we’re starting off with Cindy Crawford—she’s worked with some of the top photographers in the world and in her new book, Becoming, she shares what she’s learned from them. Also, we discuss the seesaw that is balances humility and confidence and how we may need to find a new struggle. Plus, technical details from Taylor Wessing and Instagram gives you more ways to share. Gilbert Garcin is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, we talk a little about the recent Gregory Crewdson show at the Gagosian in NYC and how seeing a photograph in person can be vastly different than seeing it on a screen. Also, how you feel about meeting your heroes? Would you like a one-on-one, or do you prefer to keep them in your imagination? Plus, a trip to B&H sparks a discussion around gear—both the limitations of it and the notion that regardless of how well a piece of gear works, there’s something to how it feels in your hand that impacts how you use it. Miles Aldridge is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, an experiment we proposed on the show a year ago yields some terrific results for a listener. Also, is the bigger problem getting beyond a plateau, or realizing that you’ve reached one in the first place? Plus, Instagram has grown beyond food photos and into a robust platform for discovery, particularly for photojournalism. Alfa Castaldi is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, is art just a shell game of semantics? Do the names and labels matter at all as long as you’re making mistakes, making work and moving forward? Why do we get so spun up over something so nebulous? Also, do you buy photobooks to enjoy, or simply to leave them shrink-wrapped on a shelf, hoping that they will appreciate in value? Are collectors screwing it up for the folks who want to enjoy the work? Plus, Tyler Shields is a genius...or is that just what he wants you to think? Richard Mosse is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, a discussion partially prompted by the passing of David Bowie on living your art. Does the work/art you create exist apart from you or is one an intrinsic part of the other? Also, a conversation with Gregory Crewdson about his new body of work. Plus, is there such a thing as “the perfect size” for printing and displaying your photos? How do you determine what’s too big or too small? Belgian photographer Marc Lagrange is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, we’re taking a look back on 2015 and discussing what worked, what didn’t and what we’d like our respective 2016s to look like. We’re also responding to a listener question around changes in the industry and what the career of a maker may look like moving forward. Plus, you asked for some of our favorite Lynda tutorials, so we’ve each picked our top three. Jing Huang is our first Photographer of the Week for 2016. Welcome to the new year everyone.

For the last show of the year, we’re doing a Q&A show and taking a stab at answering some of your questions. We can’t thank you enough for not only listening week in and week out, but also for helping to build a community of makers that we are both extremely proud of. We are very much looking forward to 2016 and can’t wait to see what all of you are up to. If you have ideas, comments or suggestions, or you just want to say hello, email us at podcast@ontakingpictures.com. Happy New Year everyone!

This week, is boring art bad? Then again, who is to say whether any art is either good or bad? That said, do we miss part of the conversation if we don’t “get” a piece of art from the start? Or, should expecting to connect aesthetically to a particular piece or body of work be enough? Also, is there such thing as taking a perfect photograph and would you try 720,000 times to take it? Plus, we discuss a couple of your Crit Wall entries. Arthur Meyerson is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, we’re discussing a letter from a listener who offers observations on the intellectualizing of modern art and how we tend to find it difficult to relate when we look at it emotionally. Also, another letter from a listener sparks a discussion around what to do when a shoot (or a project) doesn’t turn out the way you wanted it to and how we gauge success or failure. Next week, we’re looking at an NPR article that asks whether or not it’s bad if art is boring. Check the show notes. Roy DeCarava is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, we discuss what to do when you feel like you’ve said all you want to (or can) say creatively, including some recent examples of creators who have decided to make dramatic changes to both what and how they create. Also, TIME has updated their contracts, which looks to have a dramatic affect on how freelance photographers are able to monetize their work. Plus, David Bowie has a new album and video that’s full of cultural references and surreal imagery...and isn’t that exactly what we’ve come to expect? Kevin Russ is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, we discuss a terrific NPR article on how people prefer to consume and contextualize information. It may offer some insights into how we as creators present our own work and how and to what degree a given audience may respond. Also, what do you do when what’s popular isn’t the way you see? Do you try to bend your own aesthetic to fit in, or stay in the familiar and let them come to you? Plus, we tease up a few items for next week, so be sure to check the show notes. John Chiara is our Photographer of the Week.

This week, we’re talking about leaps—not leaps of faith, but rather those unconscious leaps in process, technique or vision that serve as lines of demarcation for the work that came before and after them. Also, a listener writes in for advice about how to position the services he offers. Plus, a couple Crit Wall selections and a teaser for next week’s show around the stages of an artist’s life and career. Brigitte Lacombe is our Photographer of the Week.