Jeffery Saddoris Podcast Archive

“We are all unique in the way we see things — the worst thing is to copy. The best thing is to be who you are.” As I sat down to write the intro to this episode of Process Driven, I struggled a little trying to come up with words that would convey some of my thoughts and feelings about the work of photographer Olga Karlovac. I then realized that the words had already been written by Koci Hernandez...

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about art – specifically, what really counts as art? Is the art the thing that we make? Or, is in the doing? The making itself. Or is art in the reaction to work — the results of the doing? Or, is it something else entirely that is personal to each of us? I really don’t know. Historically, I have been very hesitant to call the things I make art, regardless of the d...

I first interviewed photographer and author David duChemin in 2013 as one of a series of conversations I hosted for Faded & Blurred, a website and photo community that I helped build while I was teaching Photoshop at a photography school in Southern California. What followed over the next decade-plus was something I couldn’t have scripted — a friendship, a creative partnership, and more conver...

I first interviewed photographer and author David duChemin in 2013 as one of a series of conversations I hosted for Faded & Blurred, a website and photo community that I helped build while I was teaching Photoshop at a photography school in Southern California. What followed over the next decade-plus was something I couldn’t have scripted — a friendship, a creative partnership, and more conver...

“I used to think art with a capital ‘A’ had to be about these big ideas. I started finding work that was really playful and finding that quality in myself.” Have you ever sat down to watch something on Netflix only to spend whatever time you set aside just trying to find something to watch? It’s amazing how often I find myself in that exact situation. A few months ago, Adrianne and I were scanning...

A week or so ago, I was talking to my friend Gareth about how frustrated I was in not feeling like I had a clear and consistent creative voice. It’s not uncommon for me to feel overwhelmed and frankly paralyzed by the number of options I have and unable to get out of my own way to take action on any of them. “You need to talk to Vari,” he said. “Like today. Don’t put it off. I’m going to tell her...

Are you happy? If not, why do you think that is? For a lot of people who make things and share what they make online — myself included — we have a tendency to abdicate our happiness to the fickle whim of the mob. Not enough likes, or hearts, or dollars can send us careening into a creative tailspin, questioning what we do and even who we are. If this sounds familiar to you, hopefully this conversa...

I first interviewed photographer and author David duChemin in 2013 as one of a series of conversations I hosted for Faded & Blurred, a website and photo community that I helped build while I was teaching Photoshop at a photography school in Southern California. What followed over the next decade-plus was something I couldn’t have scripted — a friendship, a creative partnership, and more conver...

I first interviewed photographer and author David duChemin in 2013 as one of a series of conversations I hosted for Faded & Blurred, a website and photo community that I helped build while I was teaching Photoshop at a photography school in Southern California. What followed over the next decade-plus was something I couldn’t have scripted — a friendship, a creative partnership, and more conver...

I first interviewed photographer and author David duChemin in 2013 as one of a series of conversations I hosted for Faded & Blurred, a website and photo community that I helped build while I was teaching Photoshop at a photography school in Southern California. What followed over the next decade-plus was something I couldn’t have scripted — a friendship, a creative partnership, and more conver...

I first interviewed photographer and author David duChemin in 2013 as one of a series of conversations I hosted for Faded & Blurred, a website and photo community that I helped build while I was teaching Photoshop at a photography school in Southern California. What followed over the next decade-plus was something I couldn’t have scripted — a friendship, a creative partnership, and more conver...

I first interviewed photographer and author David duChemin in 2013 as one of a series of conversations I hosted for Faded & Blurred, a website and photo community that I helped build while I was teaching Photoshop at a photography school in Southern California. What followed over the next decade-plus was something I couldn’t have scripted — a friendship, a creative partnership, and more conver...

I’ve always tried to be honest with you about what’s been going on with me—from the deaths of my parents, to my struggles with depression, to what led me to ultimately leave California for the East Coast. Today I want to share something that I haven’t really talked about but is something that has affected me for years and in many ways been at the core of some my darkest days. You won’t find a ment...

One of my favorite photo documentaries is Darkness & Light , which is a fantastic look into the mind and work of Richard Avedon. A lot of people know Avedon from his photographs in the American West – bold monochrome portraits set against stark white backgrounds or “that poster.” You know the one – it features a nude Nastassja Kinski lying on a concrete floor entangled with a massive Burmese p...

One of the struggles in making, regardless of what it is that you make is the tendency to compare ourselves to the artists who inspire us. But what do you do when the work you produce isn’t even close to the work of your creative heroes? Some give up, while others see slight missteps and outright failures as necessary components in the creative process. Disappointment with what we make can be crea...

I first interviewed photographer and author David duChemin in 2013 as one of a series of conversations I hosted for Faded & Blurred, a website and photo community that I helped build while I was teaching Photoshop at a photography school in Southern California. What followed over the next decade-plus was something I couldn’t have scripted — a friendship, a creative partnership, and more conver...

I had a realization recently that the type of photography I was pursuing really didn’t hold much interest for me. I enjoy the process of making pictures, but the subject matter is leaving me feeling disconnected and frankly disappointed with the pictures I was making. I was talking about it with Jon the other day and he asked me how the work I want to create differs from the work I think I should...

I first interviewed photographer and author David duChemin in 2013 as one of a series of conversations I hosted for Faded & Blurred, a website and photo community that I helped build while I was teaching Photoshop at a photography school in Southern California. What followed over the next decade-plus was something I couldn’t have scripted — a friendship, a creative partnership, and more conver...

“With each of the studies we’ve talked about, I’ve had to have the motivation, the passion, the interest, the fascination with the subject and I’ve needed to go out and make those photographs.” My introduction to the work of Richard Beaven came via a text message from Jon Wilkening , which read simply “you need to talk to this guy” with a link to his Instagram. I think it took all of two images to...

Kristopher Matheson is one of my favorite people to talk to. Not only is he a terrific photographer, he’s also funny as hell. We don’t talk often, but when we do, I always come away inspired and wanting to dive a little deeper into my own work. Not too long ago, Kristopher started posting images from a series he calls “ Behind Glass .” I love pretty much everything Kristopher posts, but there was...

In my last Iteration, I was talking about social media, specifically how this year I was looking to refine or even completely redefine how I use it, personally and professionally. One of the biggest challenges for me historically has been consistency, both in terms of what I make and how I share it, and I think the bulk of the challenge comes around just how much I’m trying to do and the fact that...

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how photographs influence our memories—not just of people and places, but events in our lives. For example, I have realized that there are memories of certain aspects of my childhood that are rooted not in an actual event but rather in the photographs depicting the event. There are multiple “important” events in my life where the time surrounding the event its...

In the last episode, we talked about how I—and maybe even you—rewrote the memories of childhood so they would fit the narrative we crafted about it as an adult, and what happens when childhood photographs begin to poke holes in the story. We also talked about some of the challenges of monetizing our work to the point where we can actually make a living as an artist. In this conversation, we’re tal...

One of the things that I enjoyed the most — and miss the most — about doing a weekly podcast like On Taking Pictures is having discussions in between episodes with friends and listeners. Sometimes we would go a little deeper on conversations that were started on the show, other times they would prompt related discussions connected to things going on in our lives. I think the in between moments are...

“I want to love taking pictures of whatever it is. It’s making something interesting out of everyday objects that intrigues me.” Kevin Mullins never planned on being a wedding photographer – or any kind of photographer really. His daily routine was a two and a half hour tube ride each way to an IT job in central London. One one particular ride home, he flipped open a magazine someone had left on t...