B&h Photography Podcast

On the suggestion of a listener, we contacted a few Australian photographers to get their take on the devastating bushfire season that has burned more than 18 million hectares and taken thirty-four lives, since June 2019. We were fortunate to connect with Nick Moir, self-described storm-chaser, wildfire photographer, and current chief photographer at the Sydney Morning Herald. On this week’s episode of the B&H Photography Podcast, we speak with Moir about his experiences photographing this year’s fires, as well as the overall news coverage of this disaster. Moir won a 2003 World Press Photographers Award for his coverage of that season’s bushfires, so he knows of what he speaks, and we talk with him about his approach to shooting such a dangerous subject, including planning, gear, safety measures, and the type of fire photos he prefers to make.  We also discuss with Moir the fire season itself and why this year is so much worse than previous seasons. Finally, we talk about the news coverage of the fires

I don’t know if we’ve ever had two photographers with such divergent styles on the same episode.  It would make little sense to even have them on together, except that their individual work is exceptional, and they are married to each other. This week on the B&H Photography Podcast, we return to a format that has served us well in the past—speaking with a couple who both work in photography. We really hit the jackpot this time, with Joseph O. Holmes and Sara Bennett, not simply because they are interesting photographers and really nice folks but, between them, they embody a wide range of photo skills, from the technical and artistic, to the narrative and journalistic, from portraiture and art photography, to advocacy and social documentary. It’s quite an interesting situation and Holmes and Bennett, each in their own way, offer personal insight into their varied projects, and they also generously allow us a glimpse into how they work together as a couple, raising a family and supporting each other’s work

On this week’s episode of the B&H Photography Podcast, we welcome editorial, fashion, art, and music photographer Olivia Bee. That’s a lot of tags and she’s earned them all in a relatively short time span. Her “origin story” is well-documented in photo circles, so we won’t go into that much, but in a career now a decade old, we discuss where those early successes have brought her, what she enjoys about photography, and what she is working on now.    With clients that include Hermes, Nike, L’Oreal, Sony, and editorial assignments from Vice, Elle, the New York Times, and Complex Magazine, Bee has created a comprehensive body of commercial work while continuing to evolve the personal aesthetic that got her noticed in the first place.  She is also now directing music and other videos and beginning a narrative film effort. We speak with Bee from her bucolic Oregon acreage and discuss a wide range of topics, from the evolution of her gear, including her current use of 8x10” view cameras, to her self-portraitu

Imagine the privilege of being present at the creation of one of the “wonders of the world,” and then imagine being asked to document the magnitude—and the details—of that creation. Our guest on today’s episode of the B&H Photography Podcast has just that privilege and that responsibility and, as he puts it, this telescope may “change the way we understand our universe.”   Chris Gunn has been a NASA contract photographer for almost twenty years but, for the past ten, he has dedicated himself to the James Webb Space Telescope and documenting the construction and eventual launch of this spacecraft, which will replace the Hubble as NASA’s most powerful telescope. We speak with Gunn about all aspects of his job and, specifically, about the gorgeous medium format images he creates that are made available to the public. Gunn is responsible for documenting the construction process, which includes portraits of scientists, as well as macro shots of screws, and he relates how he has “taken the extra step” to evolv

During a little holiday trip, producer John Harris made a visit to the gallery and studio of photographer Clyde Butcher. For anyone who grew up in Florida, Butcher’s work should be very familiar; his photography is often found on the walls of local libraries, municipal buildings, and, as Miami native Jason Tables points out, “every doctor’s office I’ve ever been in.” Butcher’s images of the Florida landscapes, particularly of the Everglades, are legendary, and although he has a brisk print sales business, many of the photos in libraries have the attached placard, “Donated by Clyde Butcher.” Although he is known primarily for his large format black-and-white photography of “the swamp,” Butcher’s photographic career extends back over many decades and includes architectural photography, mountain and western landscapes, filmed documentaries, and decorative color photography. Interestingly, Butcher began his career selling prints at small art fairs and, in the 1970s, he had a thriving business selling thousands of

It’s hard to believe that another year of the B&H Photography Podcast is on the books and, as has become our way, we close out the year with a casual conversation about our most memorable episodes from 2019. But before we get started, a recent count showed that we have listeners in all but 15 countries. To us, that’s remarkable, and we’d like to offer a very heartfelt thank you and best wishes for a happy holiday season to all our listeners around the world. We look forward to your feedback and suggestions for photography conversations in 2020. Allan Weitz starts off today’s show with a few of his favorite 2019 episodes, including our talk with photographer Stephen Mallon, who documented the recovery of Flight 1549—referred to as the “Miracle on the Hudson”—from the icy waters of the Hudson River after its forced landing in January 2009. On that episode, we welcomed Denise Lockie, a passenger on that flight. Allan also mentions our conversations with Albert Watson and Vince Aletti as favorites and our

The B&H Photography Podcast wraps up 2019 expanding our minds, with the help of Swedish photographer Erik Johansson. Enabling his playful and slightly sinister imagination with a wealth of design and photographic talent, Johannsson makes images that toy with the veracity of a photo while using relatively basic photographic processes to create them. It is certainly worth viewing Johansson’s website or Instagram feed before (or while) listening to this episode to familiarize yourselves with the images we discuss and to gain a sense of his mastery of scale and narrative. Combining landscape photography, staged scenes with actors, oversized props, and the best of digital collage, Johansson creates images that seem to emanate directly from his dreamy imagination, but are undoubtedly the product of much real-world work, and he kindly takes the time to explain his process and workflow to us. A woman emerges from a shopping mall escalator to find herself in a dark forest, a man pulls a lonely country road across

It’s that time of year again at the B&H Photography Podcast. Now firmly established as a tradition, with the end of the year in sight and gifting season in full swing, we take an episode to talk about the most interesting—dare I say, best—cameras of the year. Our guests include podcast regular Levi Tenebaum and B&H SuperStore camera expert Georgina Diaz. This year, we start with an overview of mirrorless cameras announced in 2019, including the new full-frames from Panasonic, Sony, Leica and Sigma. We also mention the new APS-C and Micro Four Thirds format cameras such as the FUJIFILM X-Pro 3, the Sony Alpha a6600, the Nikon Z50, and the Olympus OM-D E-M1X Mirrorless Digital Camera. Perhaps most interesting are the mirrorless medium format high-resolution cameras that were introduced, including the FUJIFILM GFX 100 and Hasselblad X1D II 50C. Jumping ahead to DSLR cameras, we see that Nikon and Canon updated their flagship models, Canon offering the EOS-1D X Mark II DSLR and Nikon, the D6

With the holiday season upon us (and today's celebration of the 86th anniversary of the repeal of prohibition) we figured it a good time to revisit a wonderful episode on food photography. We will return next week with a new "Cameras of the Year" episode. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Photographing food is far from being a new facet of photography. Whether for commercial or artistic purposes—think William Henry Fox Talbot, Edward Weston, Irving Penn—it can be found throughout eras and styles, but it sure seems like we are currently witnessing a boom in food photography. With the foodie culture exploding and the profusion of #foodstagramming, there is no shortage of photographed meals flying around the Internet. Our guests on today’s episode of the B&H Photography Podcast have a wealth of experience in this arena, having shot food photography for a combined total of... many years. Specifically, they join us to talk about their latest book, "Eating Delancey

On today’s episode of the B&H Photography Podcast, we welcome California-based advertising, sports, dance, and fashion photographer (and director), Alexis Cuarezma, who packs a considerable amount of practical and creative insight into our hour-long conversation. Ostensibly, Cuarezma was joining us to talk about his lighting techniques and, while he does dive deep into lighting schemes, we discuss so much more. Cuarezma is generous with is thoughts on production, composition, models, gear, self-promotion, and marketing really anything that he understands to help him in his burgeoning photo business. Just a glance at his work, and one will realize why Cuarezma is here to discuss lighting techniques, he has shot for Sports Illustrated (including six covers), Fortune magazine, Ring magazine, the New York Times, and his clients include Nike. Cuarezma emphasizes his belief that getting in right “in-camera” is the key to his success, not just for the sake of the final image, but for his creative process. Resea

Of course, there are several renowned photography book publishers, but if you know just one name in photo book publishing, it should be Aperture. Edward Weston, Diane Arbus, Stephen Shore, Sally Mann, Deana Lawson, and Martin Parr are just a few of the artists who have had at least one of their most significant books published by Aperture Publishing. Book publishing is just one of the ways that this non-profit organization, founded by Minor White and others, supports the art and craft of photography; they produce their quarterly magazine, host exhibitions, workshops, panel discussions, sponsor book and portfolio awards, and publish The PhotoBook Review and the Aperture blog.       On today’s episode of the B&H Photography Podcast, we welcome Lesley Martin, Creative Director at Aperture and Publisher of The Photobook Review. Who better to speak about the process of photography-book publishing and, in general, the state of the photobook community today? With Martin, we discuss the important books from their

With an exhibition of his 40-year photographic career opening at the Rubin Museum of Art, in New York,  photojournalist and social justice activist Shahidul Alam was kind enough to join us on the B&H Photography Podcast to discuss the current exhibit, his career, and the state of photojournalism around the world. Also joining us is scholar, archivist, and the author of Conversations on Conflict Photography, Dr. Lauren Walsh.   Truth to Power is the name of the Alam’s exhibition and it is “a tribute to the numerous acts of resistance all across the globe and gives hope to those who continue to believe that a better world is possible.” As the name indicates, Alam’s work confronts the injustices in his native Bangladesh, where he has spent a career photographing natural disasters, social inequalities, street protests, migrant workers, and investigating those murdered or kidnapped. He also founded the Chobi Mela Photography Festival and the Drik and Majority World photo agencies, which has enabled countless

On today’s episode of the B&H Photography Podcast, we welcome photojournalist and sports photographer Nick Didlick to our show. Didlick has been a freelance shooter, a staff photographer, an agency photographer for Reuters and UPI and, while covering the world news, was nominated for two Pulitzer Prizes. He also is an accomplished videographer, editor, and producer, and has served as Photo Chief for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and as Director of Photography at the Vancouver Sun, where he oversaw the staff change from film to digital photography. As a photographer, Didlick has always been ahead of the technological curve, willing to try new cameras and transmission systems and push existing technology to its limits. He joins us to discuss his technical evolution as a sports photographer and the features that he considers important to balance technological advances with age-old experience of craft. We ask Didlick to look back on his career and discuss important steps in the evolution of his kit, inc

Our offices are just a few blocks from the convention center where the annual PhotoPlus Expo is held, and each year we wander over with our portable recorders to chat with the exhibitors whose new gear catches our eye. We approach large vendors and small and try to give our listeners a peek into the “the largest photography and imaging event in North America.” This year, we spoke with representatives from Sky-Watcher regarding this company’s motorized astro-photography mounts; Chimera about its new lighting products; and Orangemonkie about its portable lightbox studios. We also chatted with a rep from Fujifilm about the new X-Pro3 Mirrorless camera; with folk from Hahnemühle, the oldest active paper mill in Germany, and their new natural line of inkjet papers; with a representative from Viltrox, about their new lenses and adapters; and finally, with Allesandro Gibellini, the founder of Gibellini cameras and its beautiful large format cameras.   After a short break, we are joined by the two winners of ou

Perhaps there is one thing that all photographers agree on: we love to photograph our pets. From amateur to professional, a simple photo of our dog, cat, or guinea pig making “that face” is almost irresistible and, based on the current exhibit at The Museum of the Dog, this fascination with photographing our pets reaches into the past for as long as the medium has existed. On this week’s episode of the B&H Photography Podcast, we welcome author and vernacular photography collector Catherine Johnson and Alan Fausel, Executive Director and CEO of the Museum of the Dog, to discuss the current exhibit on display at this museum. Johnson began collecting archival photos of dogs as a young girl, mostly from local flea markets, but over the years has amassed a unique collection of images—snapshots, posed portraits, cabinet cards, tintypes—dating back to the 1880s. This collection was made into the 2007 book, Dogs, and is now a wonderful exhibition at the Museum of the Dog, during the inaugural year in their new

“A wiser feller than myself once said, ‘Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear, well, he eats you.’ ” A few of our listeners may recognize this quote from a certain 1998 movie but, for others, well, it may just be a confusing adage. For today’s episode of the B&H Photography Podcast, however, we did indeed “eat the bear” and are very fortunate to welcome actor, musician, and photographer Jeff Bridges to our show. In addition to being an Academy Award-winning actor, Bridges photographs the “behind-the-scenes” making of his movies with a Widelux swing-lens panoramic film camera, and over the years has collected those images in private editions, made for the cast and crew. In 2003, he published a book called, Jeff Bridges: Pictures, and in October 2019, is releasing the incredible Jeff Bridges: Pictures Volume 2, which “expands on Bridges' intimate vision of Hollywood behind-the-scenes. Included within are rare looks at the famed actors, top directors, talented costumers, and makeup artists, ski

We welcome to the B&H Photography Podcast two photographers who have brought their talent and dedication to bear on the complex and beautiful lives that exist on the U.S.-Mexican border. Our first guest is photographer Stefan Falke, who is engaged in a 10-year portrait project called LA FRONTERA: Artists Along the US-Mexican Border, which is dedicated to documenting the “influence that artists have on their community.” He has photographed more than 200 artists, writers, singers, and photographers who live on both sides of the 2,000-mile-long border. With Falke we discuss the development of this project, his style of shooting, how he met the many artists he has photographed, and the complications and joys of shooting in border towns in the U.S. and Mexico. He also discusses how he pared down his camera and lens choices for this project to just his trusty Nikon D850 and a 24-70mm lens. After a short break, we welcome photographer Monica Lozano, who is included in Falke’s project, and describes her portrai

When one of the world’s most “followed” photographers is available for a conversation, you make the time to talk with him, and when that photographer is acclaimed adventure, landscape, travel, and surf photographer Chris Burkard, expect that conversation to include some serious insights into the passion and ambition that it takes to create the beautiful images he makes.  On this week’s episode of the B&H Photography Podcast, we speak with Burkard about a range of subjects—and this conversation does not disappoint. We get right into it by asking about his penchant for shooting in frigid locations and how stubbornness and even persistence can be the enemy of good photography when shooting in sub-zero temperatures. We discuss the composition of his photographs and how that is indicative of his views on nature, and we dig into his “origin story” and why clients began to come to him for the kind of photography he creates. In general, however, we stick to the nuts and bolts of his photography and learn why he

On today’s episode of the B&H Photography Podcast, we revisit our conversation with Stephen and Bette Wilkes in honor of the release of Wilkes’s great new book Day to Night, and the accompanying gallery show at the Bryce Wolkowitz gallery, in New York. We also spend a bit of time reflecting on a few of the legendary photographers who have died recently. The Day to Night series that Stephen Wilkes has been working on for ten years has received much-deserved attention and has grown from its New York roots to encompass locations in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. These photographs, which capture a full 24-hour cycle in one frame, are awe-inspiring when viewed as a whole; fascinating when analyzed in detail; and monumental when considered as a production. On today’s episode of the B&H Photography Podcast, we speak with Stephen Wilkes and Bette Wilkes—his wife, business manager, and the behind-the-scenes producer of these incredible photographs. Our conversation is easygoing and bounces back an

On today’s episode of the B&H Photography Podcast we take a deep dive into one bag and then into another one, and another. We welcome Jeannette Garcia and Yaakov Katz, two experts from the B&H SuperStore, to discuss the materials, capacities, features, and styles of camera bags and cases that are available today. We start with a simple question for each of them: what should one ask when purchasing a new camera bag? Both offer simple yet insightful answers to that question as they walk us down the path to finding the right camera bag for our needs. From slings to messenger bags, holsters, and pouches, we examine the differences in materials and mention the features that might serve one’s particular photographic application.   We also consider rolling cases, hard cases, lens cases, designer camera bags, and inserts and run down a list of various brands to get feedback from Garcia and Katz, including several well-known bag companies that were founded by photographers, such as Think Tank, Te