Emulsions Podcast

Luisa Opalesky joins us to talk about her formative years making photographs, the influence of cinema on her work, the making of her new book, navigating both personal and commercial work, why she loves shooting film and more!

Tim Barber talks with us about growing up with film photography in his family life, being the Photo Editor for Vice Magazine, his diaristic personal work, curating photos submitted to him online, cyanotypes, making his subjects feel comfortable during shoots and much more!

We discuss all things pertaining to film negatives, storing and labeling them, scanning, pro labs and development, the burden of the physical space they take up, the anxiety that comes with keeping them safe, organizing them for major projects, archival DIY techniques and more!

We discuss the controversial work of Terry Richardson, how he changed commercial photography, the allegations against him, point and shoot cameras for important work, a photographer’s responsibility for setting the right environment for their subjects, how different his work looks today and more!

Stephen recaps his show that was 20 years in the making, talks about the fine art world and his DIY show, the legacy of City Kids on its young subjects, the excitement around the show, printing to sell to art buyers, different cross sections of art and culture appreciating the exhibition, the future of City Kids and more!

Ed Templeton talks to us about his artistic journey, how his paintings and photographs are connected, advice to young photographer’s making their first book, having his own darkroom, considering himself more of an archive builder than photographer, skate culture and artistry, not selling out and more!

We discuss how Instagram has changed for the worse since Mark Zuckerberg and co took over, how it's an app the constrains photographers, other options for sharing serious photography online and more!

Stephen talks about his film photography project that's been 18 years in the making, why scanning and printing choices make a big difference, finishing a project about teenagers before social media and smart phones, the moment he knew this would be a long form project, why it took a while for the show and book to happen, why now is the perfect time for a project about teenagers from the y2k e...

We talk about the beauty of medium format photography, how the variety of cameras gives you more options for great images, graduating from 35mm to medium format, different film backs being a game changer, evolving as a photographer and more!

We discuss cinematography, how much of the visuals the director of photography is really responsible for, our favorite color and black and white cinematography from classic movies, why shooting a movie on film today has become a big deal and more!

We cover how tumblr and analog photography are connected, major photographers who had a profile, how the peak tumblr era had people seeing photography on laptops and not phones, the taste level of the 2009-2013 tumblr community, being "tumblr famous" and more!

We discuss Roy DeCarava and his book with Langston Hughes, shooting in low light and embracing the shadows, why his mastery was overlooked, being ahead of his time and more!

Oscar Diaz joins us to talk about going out and shooting everyday in New York, searching for all things vintage, why technical expertise isn't everything, his future plans for his work and more!

We discuss the career of Helmut Newton, his famous portraits, his personal work, editorial photography, how influential he became and more!

We discuss the career of Annie Leibovitz and how she was responsible for the look of Rolling Stone in the early days, started to grow as an artist, moved on to bigger and more commercial productions with Vanity Fair and Vogue, did personal work late in her career, Susan Sontag's impact on her photography and more!

We cover the career of Richard Avedon and his photojournalism background, his innovations in fashion photography, creating his best work later in life, personal work vs commercial and more!

We discuss how Diane Arbus helped make photography an art form to be taken seriously, how her upbringing led to her photographing certain types of people, why unflattering portraits can be great works of art, her work becoming more important after her death and more!

We talk about Ren Hang and his striking images, using a point and shoot to create great art, his unique way of arranging groups of people within the frame, nudity and censorship, creating a signature style, his dislike of digital photography and more! 

Patrick Sansone talks to us about his way of looking out at the world, starting off with Polaroid, his love of shooting slide film, meeting William Eggleston, how movies and paintings influence his photography and more!

Peter Svarzbein talks to us about working at every level of photography, how art and public policy intersect, the El Paso trolley project, always putting time aside for personal projects and more!

Sara Messinger talks to us about storytelling through film photography, working with The New York Times, her long term project with teens in the city, developing and printing in the darkroom, perfectionism and more!

We discuss Bruce Davidson’s documentary work on Brooklyn gangs in the 50s, the Civil Rights era, his famous New York subway project, using flash and gels for art photography, capturing different enclosed communities and much more!

We discuss Nobuyoshi Araki’s prolific work, how he’s both internationally famous yet pigeonholed, censorship, his surprising versatility, obsessions and more!

We discuss the work of Carrie Mae Weems, the art of self portraiture, how her work relates to art history, why gear doesn't always matter, being the first black woman to win the Hasselblad Award, the role of art critics/ gatekeepers and more!

Daniel Arnold talks to us in-depth about his journey from blindness regarding film camera gear, capturing amazing photographs, thinking about light, photography as an addiction, the making of his first monograph book, his history with gallery shows, privately editing and not showing his latest personal work on Instagram, immediately developing rolls everyday, shooting film at the Met Gala, commerc...