Real Photo Show with Michael Chovan-Dalton

"Books make us feel less alone…That's why I make books." -Thomas Roma A special release from thePhotoShow without your co-hosts. Thomas Roma and Susan Kismaric held a conversation about publishing photo books and Roma's launch of SPQR Editions. The talk took place at Affirmation Arts in NYC where SPQR's first five books on were on display and for sale with the photographers on hand to sign all of the books. The books are by Yoav Horesh, Jeffrey Henson Scales, Stephen Hilger, Dennis Santella, and thePhotoShow's very own Kai McBride. Michael Allen, the director of Affirmation Arts will introduce the guests. Just a heads up, the audio is a little rougher than normal. Links: Website: http://www.spqreditions.com Amazon Storefront: https://www.amazon.com/s?marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER&me=A2EX0V4V16T0XO&merchant=A2EX0V4V16T0XO&redirect=true Website: http://www.affirmationarts.com Visit www.thephotoshow.org We are realphotoshow on Twitter/IG/FB Follow us on Twitter twitter.com/realphotoshow and on Instagram instagram.com/realphotoshow/ Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/realphotoshow

"One of the big conversations that Ben and I have always had and always kind of bristled against together is this idea…that all potential is exhausted in photography, and so there is this sense that there is nothing left for photography, which we couldn't possibly believe." -Nat Nat Ward and Ben Alper were busy organizing all kinds of great events surrounding their successful online image-based conversation site, a new nothing when we sat down to record this episode at Nat's Bushwick Brooklyn apartment. A New Nothing promotes visual dialogue between two artists by having them post an image in reaction to the other's post. The site has received a lot of attention which has translated into an exhibition in Moscow, A Great Sum in Parts, and a book, "A New Nothing," that debuted at the Independent Art Book Fair. Links: Website: http://anewnothing.com/ Website: http://www.nat-ward.com/ Website: http://benalper.com/ Moscow Show: http://osnovagallery.com/exhibitions Book: http://theretherenow.bigcartel.com/product/a-new-nothing-ben-alper-nat-ward Visit www.thephotoshow.org We are realphotoshow on Twitter/IG/FB Follow us on Twitter twitter.com/realphotoshow and on Instagram instagram.com/realphotoshow/ Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/realphotoshow Music by @pataphysics-1 on Soundcloud

Michael and Kai met up with Richard Bram while he was getting ready to move from New York to London. Richard's book, Richard Bram New York, had just been published and symbolically it had become Richard's summation of his time as a street photographer in New York City. We discussed his early induction into In Public, a street photographer collective, where he met Matt Stuart, his start as a PR photographer, and how he taught himself photography at a public library. Photo of Richard Bram by John Maloof Links: Website: http://www.richardbramphoto.com Peanut Press Books: http://peanutpressbooks.com/products/new-york In Public Photo Collective: http://in-public.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/photobram Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/photobram52/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/richard.bram.39 Visit www.thephotoshow.org We are realphotoshow on Twitter/IG/FB Follow us on Twitter twitter.com/realphotoshow and on Instagram instagram.com/realphotoshow/ Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/realphotoshow Music by @pataphysics-1 on Soundcloud

"….the fact is most of how we understand life…we do in essentially narrative terms and the moment that you make a photograph you step outside of that. There's no before, there's no after, there's no story, there's only a set of…quite trivial facts that you can look at that imply all sorts of things." Leo Rubinfien believes in working carefully and methodically. He thinks of his photographs as being part of and describing a large global community. Photographs will change in meaning over time and they will change in meaning as more photographs are made and put next to each other. This idea that the resulting body of work is greater than any one moment or person gives him a sense of freedom to travel and photograph at his own pace. Leo was once conflicted about being thought of as a writer as well as a photographer but now he has embraced both aspects of his life, which is great for the rest of us because he has written some of the great essays on photography and photographers and has put together some amazing retrospectives as well. Links: Bio from National Gallery of Art: http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/press/exh/3632/rubinfien.html Photos and Bio from Steven Kasher Gallery: http://www.stevenkasher.com/artists/leo-rubinfien Slideshow of different works mentioned during the show: http://thephotoshow.org/slideshow-leo-rubinfien/ Visit www.thephotoshow.org We are realphotoshow on Twitter/IG/FB Follow us on Twitter twitter.com/realphotoshow and on Instagram instagram.com/realphotoshow/ Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/realphotoshow Music by @pataphysics-1 on Soundcloud

Joe Aguirre and Kramer O'Neill join Kai and Michael for the first multi-guest show. Joe and Kramer both belong to different photo collectives. These modern day international photo clubs/societies have grown simultaneously with the rise of sharing photos through zines, blogs, and social media. Joe and Kramer also share their ideas about what being called a street photographer means, if it means anything at all. Links: Joe Aguirre Website: http://www.joeaguirrephotography.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joe_aguirre_/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joe.aguirre Twitter: https://twitter.com/thoughtlesshero Tumblr: http://joe-aguirre.tumblr.com Kramer O'Neill Website: http://krameroneill.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/krameroneill/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/krameroneill Tumblr: http://picturesofpeopleandthings.com Visit www.thephotoshow.org We are realphotoshow on Twitter/IG/FB Follow us on Twitter twitter.com/realphotoshow and on Instagram instagram.com/realphotoshow/ Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/realphotoshow Music by @pataphysics-1 on Soundcloud

Preston Rescigno has straddled the worlds of photojournalism and fine art photography for all of his photographic life. When I spoke to Preston he was getting ready to drive his son to college and he was recently unemployed. Preston was the New York Desk photo editor for a very large photo agency for many years. We talk about his background in the news business, his time working for Lee Friedlander, his early adoption of digital photography, going to the School of Visual Arts and Columbia University, and getting back to photography now that he had some time. Links: Website: http://www.preston-rescigno.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pkfr/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/preston.rescigno.9 Visit www.thephotoshow.org We are realphotoshow on Twitter/IG/FB Follow us on Twitter twitter.com/realphotoshow and on Instagram instagram.com/realphotoshow/ Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/realphotoshow Music by @pataphysics-1 on Soundcloud

"Even for my students that naturally have a lot of enthusiasm and interest in the natural landscape, we talk about the natural landscape in political terms because there's no part of the world, no matter where you go, that hasn't been impacted by both the presence of humans but also the political decisions and impact that human beings make." Wendel White is the Distinguished Professor of Art at Stockton University in his life-long state of New Jersey. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and multiple New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowships. He had just finished his takeover of @SmithsonianMagazine IG account for his series called #redsummer, former sites of race riots in the U.S. Kai and Michael spoke to Wendel about his current show at the Fordham University Lipani Gallery entitled Schools for the Colored and his other projects that deal with African American and African lives and experience. We also spent some time speaking about art education and the diversity of our classrooms. Links: Website: http://wendelwhite.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wendel.white/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/cameraimages Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wendelwhite Visit www.thephotoshow.org We are realphotoshow on Twitter/IG/FB Follow us on Twitter twitter.com/realphotoshow and on Instagram instagram.com/realphotoshow/ Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/realphotoshow Music by @pataphysics-1 on Soundcloud

"Right now I know that for me the gallery model isn't working and so I go into this new chapter with much more confidence in what I am going to be doing day to day than I actually do right now." Sasha Wolf is well known in the photography world for her gallery and her passion for photography. Kai and Michael sat down with Sasha just a couple of weeks before the final closing of her gallery in the Lower East Side of New York. The gallery closed on a high note with great reviews for the Sasha Rudensky show, but the model of having a permanent gallery just wasn't working anymore for how Sasha wanted to represent and collaborate with the photographers she so admires and considers to be family. We talk considerably about the kind of photographer Sasha looks for and how she plans to continue to represent photographers. Links: Website: http://sashawolf.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sashawolfgallery/ Visit www.thephotoshow.org We are realphotoshow on Twitter/IG/FB Follow us on Twitter twitter.com/realphotoshow and on Instagram instagram.com/realphotoshow/ Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/realphotoshow Music by @pataphysics-1 on Soundcloud

"It's almost the opposite of daring…I find life to be difficult sometimes, this is my way of dealing with it. I photograph the deepest fears, or happiness, or joys, or flaws or whatever, and I share them with the world and then they are no longer a secret. There is something very healing and liberating about it." Elinor Carucci is a photographer because she discovered from her very first photographs that this process had the potential to create a deeper and more complex understanding of her life and the people who are in her life. Elinor uses photography as a way to stay connected to her family and herself and she sees the act of publicly sharing these intimate descriptions as a means of keeping her relationships open and honest. Kai and Michael sat down with Elinor at her home in Manhattan to talk about how she got started, her three books, a Guggenheim Fellowship, some heart-wrenching editorial work, teaching, belly-dancing, and family. Photo of Elinor by Eran Bentheim Links: Website: http://www.elinorcarucci.com/ Gallery: http://www.houkgallery.com/artists/elinor-carucci/ Facebook: @elinorcarucci https://www.facebook.com/elinorcarucci/ Instagram: @elinorcarucci https://www.instagram.com/elinorcarucci/ Visit www.thephotoshow.org Follow us on Twitter twitter.com/realphotoshow and on Instagram instagram.com/realphotoshow/ Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/realphotoshow Music by @pataphysics-1 on Soundcloud

"There's this idea for me of like time travel…the closest we get to time travel is this awareness that photographers have …that things will change…and also I've lived long enough that now I can look back 30 years ago…and I've lost some people over the years like there's been people that you know and I'm kind of like I can't believe I didn't take a picture that day." Greg Miller is a Guggenheim Fellowship recipient, an instructor for the International Center of Photography, and one of the hardest working photographers in the business. His work has been widely published and shown. Be sure to check out his 8x10 photography on his website. Kai and Michael sit down with Greg to discuss his successes in both the editorial and the fine art worlds of photography and the mentors and inspirations that have helped make him the photographer that he is today. Michael and Greg also do some catching up to makeup for some lost time and to reconnect after 20+ years. Links: Website: http://www.gregmiller.com/ Facebook: GregMillerPhotography Instagram: @gregmillerfoto Twitter: @gregmillerfoto Linkedin: gregmillerfoto Tumblr: gregmiller Vimeo: gregmillerfoto Visit www.thephotoshow.org Follow us on Twitter twitter.com/realphotoshow and on Instagram instagram.com/realphotoshow/ Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/realphotoshow Music by @pataphysics-1 on Soundcloud