Real Photo Show with Michael Chovan-Dalton

Shana Lopes, PhD, Assistant Curator of Photography at SFMOMA, joins me to talk about how being a curator perfectly combined her love of photography and art history. We talk about working with both historical and contemporary artists and the questions that need to be answered in order to provide proper context for the work whether done posthumously or with a current artist. We mention some past, cu...

Photographer and educator, Harlan Bozeman and I recorded at Penumbra Foundation at the end of his residency there. Harlan is a 2024 Catchlight Global Fellow and we talk mostly about his work in Elaine, Arkansas that was recognized by Catchlight. The years of work that Harlan created and still creates in Elaine is now called “Out the E” and Harlan speaks extensively about how this town, its people,...

Writer, Curator, and Director of Pier 24 Photography in San Francisco, Allie Haeusslein, joined me at the 2024 Chico Review and we discussed how writing about and curating photography became her passion and we talk specifically about the show, Stacy Mehrfar: The Moon Belongs to Everyone at Filter Photo, to highlight Allie's approach to curating and working with artists. We also talk about how Chri...

Photographer, writer, and educator, Tom Griggs, and I met at AIPAD to talk about his book, A Creature Obeys a Creature That Wants, published by Mesaestándar. A Creature Obeys a Creature That Wants is an exploration of generational depression experienced through Tom’s paternal side of his family. It weaves together text and images from Tom with text and images from his father to tell a spiritually...

Continuing with my recordings at the 2024 Chico Review, Ben Brody joins me to talk about his two books, Attention Servicemember and 300m both published by Mass Books which was started by Ben and Peter van Agtmael. We talk about Ben’s experience as an Army photographer during the American war in Iraq and why he chose to be a civilian freelance photographer during the war in Afghanistan. Ben and I t...

Linda Troeller joins me to talk about her book, SEX. DEATH. TRANSCENDENCE., published by TBW. Linda has a storied life in photography from her early self-portraiture, to her book, The Erotic Lives of Women, and now to Sex. Death. Transcendence., Linda has been exploring the female gaze since the early 1970’s. We talk about her ideas on self-portraiture, healing waters, and her amazing time at the...

As part of an ongoing series recorded at the 2024 Chico Review, I recorded with photographer Raymond Meeks to discuss his latest book, The Inhabitants published by MACK with an extended poem by George Weld. Ray and I talk about how this work, which traces the passages of refugee crossings inside Spain and France, profoundly affected Ray's approach to making work and how he views his role as a phot...

Return guest, Michael Joseph, talks about his new book, Lost & Found, published by Kehrer Verlag. You may already know the work from the Travelers series on his Instagram account. This is a beautifully laid out and printed book and we get into many of the details and decisions that went into making this book. First, the decision to publish this series, connecting with an editor, the fundraisin...

David De Lira (he/they) is a queer, BIPOC, lens-based artist and educator born and raised in northern Mexico. He is currently based in Schenectady & Syracuse, New York. I met David at the Biennial Homecoming show at RIT this past winter. David’s work explores their connection and relationship to a white queer community that he married into with their partner. David’s photographs of this commun...

Photographer, Louis Chavez and I have a conversation about New Intimacies, Louis’ photographic study of gay cruising. It is inspired by Peter Hujar’s work but takes a more experimental approach with more inspiration by writings of José Esteban Muñoz. We also discuss Louis’ work as a curatorial assistant at the George Eastman Museum and, as your teaser, you just might learn a little bit about the S...

Photographer and New York Times Photo Editor, Mikko Takkunen, joins me today to talk about his upcoming book, Hong Kong, published by Kehrer Verlag with an essay by Geoff Dyer. Hong Kong is Mikko’s farwell to the place where he worked for over 5 years the New York Times desk’s Asia photo editor. It is also where he started his family and witnessed some of the greates social upheavals in the countr...

Photographer, founder of Charcoal Book Club and Press, and the Chico Review, Jesse Lenz, is my guest today. We talk about his upcoming book, The Seraphim,  the second book in a series of seven that Jesse calls The Seven Seals septology. We break down what that means and how Jesse sees this life long septology as connected to and inspired by his family, his home, and his life. Jesse and I also talk...

Erin Hoyt is the Director of Operations at Filter Photo, owns and operates a successful wedding photography studio, and is a cotemporary photography collector, and a photographer. Erin learned photography and business outside of academia through internships, work experience, and just being highly self-motivated. We talk about all of these things and about Erin settling in after her recent move to...

Photographer and former student, Dan Bassini and Michael talk about how Dan has been cutting his own path in photography through sheer will and the use of an old plastic camera. Dan talks about his series, No Invite, a fashion/portrait zine made annually during Fashion Week in New York. Dan also shares the stories behind his current books, Cruel Summer, I Still Feel It, and we talk about an upcomi...

Photographer and educator, Lara Shipley talks about her book, Desire Lines, published by Overlapse. Desire Lines combines imagery and text, both contemporary and historical, as a vehicle to have a thoughtful and contemplative discussion about immigration. It looks at  our current humanitarian crisis at the southern border and views it through the larger context of human migration and shifting bord...

Photographer, director, designer, and composer, Umberto Nicoletti talks about his first monograph, Asylum, published by Rizzoli New York. Umberto uses his skills as a fashion and celebrity portrait photographer to share the experiences of members of LGBTQI+ refugee community and to portray them, not as victims, but as role models who have survived acts of violence and discrimination from the count...

Nigel Baldaccino is a multi-media artist and architect based in Malta. Michael and Nigel talk about his interest in architecture and how it influences his work. Nigel also discusses how his experience with anxiety disorder affects how he interacts with the world and makes art. Michael makes a lot of references to Nigels projects in this episode so you may want to check his website while listening....

Photographer Emma Hardy and Michael talk about her first monograph, Permissions, published by Gost. Emma talks about recognizing how inauthentic family photos seemed to her even at a very early age. This desire for authenticity when photographing her children and her life has been a driving force in her personal work as well as a guiding principle in her commercial work.  Permissions,  is a tender...

Michael visits with photographer and educator, Stephen Hilger at his studio in Brooklyn to talk about his upcoming book, In the Alley, published by Purple Martin Press. Stephen was a guest on the show all the way back on episode 47 so we don’t spend a lot of time on his history but we do talk alot about the alleyways in Beverly Hills and the creative decisions that went into making this leporello...

Photographer and Red Hook Editions partner, Igor Posner joins Michael for a discussion about his book, Cargó, published by Red Hook Editions. Igor is a self-taught photographer whose work explores the psychological impacts of migration and changing immigrant neighborhoods. Michael and Igor talk about how his projects come together and the way he needs to reinvent and change what he does in order t...

Photographer, co-founder of Media NINJA, and CatchLight Fellow, Rafael Vilela talks to Michael about some of his amazing visual stories from Brazil. Rafael shares the story behind Invisible Gravediggers, the forgotten workers of the pandemic, and he talks about his current work, Forest Ruins, an ongoing project that addresses the role of cities in the climate crisis from the perspective of the Gua...

Photographer, Anastasia Samoylova joins Michael to talk about the 2023 CatchLight Visual Storytelling Summit: The Change We Want to See. This year’s summit emphasizes the unique power of photography, visual journalism, and creative practices to drive social impact. Ana will be talking about her book, Floodzone published by Steidl along with photographer, Rafael Vilela. Their panel is titled Pictur...

Mixed-Media Artist, Shae Detar and Michael talk about her debut monograph, Another World published by Skeleton Key Press. They take a deep dive into Shae’s process from selecting locations, inviting women to be photographed, to hand painting the final images. Shae and Michael also talk about how the book is a celebration of the female nude as well as a personal introspective look at loss and recov...

Alexandra Huddleston is a photographer, writer, and walking artist. Michael and Alexandra talk about her latest book, Traces of Time, walking the Jardins de l’Abbaye de la Cambre in summer, a hand-bound, limited edition artist’s book. Born in Freetown, Sierra Leone and raised in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, and Bamako, Mali, her upbringing has led her to explore landscape and culture from an internati...

Today’s episode features a former student of Michael’s, Val Dagrain who is finding his way in the film and tv industry after leaving Trenton, New Jersey, and after years in the music business as a rapper. Val is working in New Orleans as a PA, a data manager, a camera assistant, and now coming full circle from his days with Michael, starting as an on-set photographer, the job he has been working t...