#245: A Higher Form of Noise

We’re starting out the new year discussing transformation — specifically, the transformation that seems to be an essential component to making art with a capital ‘A.’ To help with the discussion, we’re using a terrific Netflix documentary series that traces the foundations and evolution of Hip Hop that brilliantly exemplifies transformation at work. Through interviews and archival footage, we see the origin story that took hip hop from back alleys and front rooms in the Bronx to stadiums all over the world. Kurt William Kamka is our Photographer of the Week.
Pete Souza (@petesouza) • Instagram photos and videos
Behind the Lens: 2016 Year in Photographs – The White House – Medium
Depeche Mode Return With Anton Corbijn, New ‘Spirit’ Record And 2017 Tour
Afrika Bambaataa – Planet Rock – YouTube
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five – The Message – YouTube
Patti Smith Never Wanted to Be Famous – Here’s The Thing – WNYC
Denon Wood Headphones on Amazon
What’s in the Bag of Kurt Kamka? – YouTube
On Taking Pictures – Google+ – Assignment: #beginning
#244: That’s the Arrow That Got Through

This week, trying to reconcile the highs and lows of the past year and how for some of us, when an artist dies, a little piece of our history or even the personal identity that we have associated with the person (or their body of work) dies as well. It’s as if our potential, whether realized or not is inexorably tied to their energy. Also, a little about what’s next for each of us in 2017. Rodney Smith is our Photographer of the Week. Happy New Year everyone.
On Taking Pictures – Google+ – Assignment: #2016
On the Music Dying, and Making it Matter – Chris Osmond
Billy Squier – Christmas Is The Time To Say “I Love You” – YouTube
Aaron Copland: Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra – YouTube
Edward Burtynsky’s Epic Landscapes – The New Yorker
R3 Monobath Developer Lets You Process Your Film with One Chemical Bath
Photographer recounts moment Russian envoy was assassinated – CNN.com
Wired Magazine for $5 on Amazon Prime
Rodney Smith (photographer) – Wikipedia
Rodney Smith, Whimsical Photographer, Dies at 68 – The New York Times
Narrative Portraiture: On Location in New York with Rodney Smith
#243: Can You Make the Logo Bigger?

This week, we’re starting off with a little about gear, specifically the new Microsoft Surface Studio and the uncertain future of desktop Macs. From there it’s on to David Hockney and a somewhat relativistic view of the “good” of art and whether or not one piece of art is really any better than another. Also, are bigger prints always better? Plus, we take a trip to the Crit Wall. Lori Vrba is our Photographer of the Week.
On Taking Pictures – Google+ – Assignment: #isolation
Saul Leiter in Conversation with Vince Aletti – YouTube
A History of Pictures: From the Cave to the Computer Screen
MTA – Arts & Design | NYCT Permanent Art
lori vrba (@lorivrba) • Instagram photos and videos
dr5 Film Lab – dr5-B&W-slide – B&W-negative – C41 – E6 – Film Processing World Wide
Edward Snowden tells Jack Dorsey Twitter’s features are ‘painful’ and ‘terrible’
#242: Lack of Stasis

This week, we discuss TIME’s Person of the Year cover and portfolio, made by Nadav Kandar. Specifically, we unpack questions raised by the potentially subversive nature of the work and whether or not an artist has a responsibility to art before personal belief. As part of the discussion, we also reference a collection of Dorothea Lange’s previously censored photographs of FDR’s Japanese concentration camps. Jack Davison is our Photographer of the Week.
On Taking Pictures – Google+ – Assignment: #framewithinaframe
A Look Into Time Magazine’s Latest Image of ‘Person of the Year’ Donald Trump – Resource Magazine
See Portraits of Donald Trump’s Most Trusted Advisers | TIME
Behind TIME’s Donald Trump Person of the Year Cover | TIME
Platon Tells the Story Behind His Portrait of Vladimir Putin
Green Day are selling all of their albums on cassette with an old school boombox – NME
Nnadav Kander portrait of Scorsese
Dorothea Lange’s Censored Photographs of FDR’s Japanese Concentration Camps — Anchor Editions
First Dinosaur Tail Found Preserved in Amber
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II Hands-on Review – YouTube
2016 MKBHD Studio Tour in 360°! – YouTube
Affinity Photo 1.5 – our biggest update yet
(@billwadman) • Instagram Red Camera
(@billwadman) • Instagram Dead Enigma
Henri Cartier Bresson frame within a frame shot
Great Performers: The Portraits – The New York Times
Jack Davison (@jackdavisonphoto) • Instagram photos and videos
#241: The Final Ten Percent Takes Ninety Percent of the Time

This week, details about the OTP Gift Exchange and some of our book suggestions. Also, how would what you make and release into the world — your art — be different if there were negative consequences to showing it? Plus, is it worth it to print all of your photos? Danny Clinch is our Photographer of the Week.
On Taking Pictures – Google+ – Assignment: #decisiveMoment
Canon EOS 5D Mark III – Wikipedia
William Eggleston: Democratic Camera
A Beautiful Anarchy, “David duChemin”
An Inner Silence: The Portraits of Henri Cartier-Bresson
Regarding Heroes – Yousuf Karsh
The Crown (TV series) – Wikipedia
Donald Trump wants to ‘close up’ the Internet – Dec. 8, 2015
The future president is blocking people on Twitter like there’s no tomorrow
What It Means To Be An Artist In The Time Of Trump | The Huffington Post
Former Cuban Leader Fidel Castro Dies at 90 | TIME
The Last of Us: Part 2 Reveal Trailer – PSX 2016 – YouTube
My Pentax 645z Medium Format Conversion in a Nutshell – Medium
Rock and Roll Photo GOD Danny Clinch the Interview: RAWtalk 138 – YouTube
Anderson Cooper interviews photography “rock star” – CBS News
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#240: The Reins Are Fear

This week, making decisions. Sometimes moving through fear means letting go of the reigns — emotionally, creatively, maybe even geographically. But once you do, how much control do you actually have to change course? Are you at the whim of inertia, or do small moves open up new territories, whether you want them to or not? Plus, is monetization after the fact different or better than having it as a goal from the beginning? Frederick Sommer is our Photographer of the Week.
On Taking Pictures – Google+ – Assignment: #onemile
Court Dismisses $1 Billion Copyright Claim Against Getty | PDNPulse
Casey Neistat and His Beme App Just Got Acquired by CNN for $25 Million
Does Decision-Making Matter? – The New York Times
Shirley Muldowney’s Official Website
100 Photographs: The Most Influential Images of All Time
The Unknown Berenice Abbott – Berenice Abbott – Steidl Verlag
Frederick Sommer – Frederick & Frances Sommer Foundation
The Art of Frederick Sommer: Photography, Drawing, Collage
Pentax 645Z bajo el agua – YouTube
GeForce GTX 970 Memory Issue Fully Explained – Nvidia’s Response
#239: True to the Show

This week, what would you do as an artist without the right to express yourself freely? Do you censor your work or do you use your voice and push harder to make your point of view known? Also, what would you give up creatively in order to immerse yourself in something new? Plus, a couple entries from the Crit Wall. Ruth Gruber is our Photographer of the Week.
On Taking Pictures – Google+ – Assignment: #provocative
YouTube Casey Neistat Ending Daily Vlog | Mediaite
Episode 751 – David Crosby — WTF with Marc Maron Podcast
Taylor Wessing photographic Portrait Prize 2016 – Prize Winners
Now your photos look better than ever – even those dusty old prints
Shooting the Phase One XF 100MP Camera System on a Drone – Live View shooting in Iceland – YouTube
100MP Phase One Alpa Hands-on Review – YouTube
Visiting Sir Elton John’s Dazzling Modernist Photography Collection | Fstoppers
Ruth Gruber, a Fearless Chronicler of the Jewish Struggle, Dies at 105 – The New York Times
A Woman Of Photos And Firsts, Ruth Gruber At 100 : The Picture Show : NPR
Ruth Gruber, Photojournalist | International Center of Photography
Ahead of Time:The Extraordinary Journey of Ruth Gruber
#238: There Will Always Be A Minority Report

This week, we discuss the recent election not from a political perspective, but rather from the standpoint of making art and how to translate the reactionary energy into something good. Also, what are some differences between good and great street photography? Are there objective markers or is it merely great by degrees? Vicki Dasilva is our Photographer of the Week.
On Taking Pictures – Google+ – Assignment: #congestion
President-Elect Trump: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) – YouTube
Artist talk with Photographer Albert Watson | Smithsonian American Art Museum
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Equinox Gallery Vancouver – Two Men in Fog by Fred Herzog
Photography by Thomas Leuthard
Thomas Leuthard (@thomas.leuthard) • Instagram photos and videos
“Doctor Who” Blink (TV Episode 2007) – IMDb
Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man.Documentary 2005 – YouTube
“What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve” by Rufus Wainwright – YouTube
#237: The Flow of the Slinky

This week, with the proliferation of low cost gear and the barrier of entry so low, have the mechanics of making become too easy? Also, is there such a thing as “objectively good” and if so, how do you know it when you see it? Plus, has photo software reached the tipping point in terms of features? Jerome Liebling is our Photographer of the Week.
Bruce Campbell on 16mm film, iPhones and why horror must go ‘up the butt’ – CNET
UNDERFIRE – Tony Vaccaro Studio
Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times Covers After the World Series
Pirsig’s metaphysics of Quality – Wikipedia
The Shape of Things: Photographs from Robert B. Menschel | MoMA
Buy Adobe Photoshop CC | Download photo editing software free trial
Latest Creative Cloud version | Adobe Creative Cloud features
New features summary: Photoshop CC 2017 release
When Pictures Tell Stories We’d Rather Not Hear
Jerome Liebling, Photographer and Mentor, Is Dead at 87 – The New York Times
The Still-Life Mentor to a Filmmaking Generation – The New York Times
Jerome Liebling at Steven Kasher Gallery
#236: The Next Switchback on the Plateau

This week, we’re talking about the ups and downs we go to when we just can’t seem to connect with what we make. How do you keep moving forward when it feels like your wheels are just spinning in the mud. It’s not the feeling of being stuck because energy is still being expended — there’s just the feeling of not moving. Plus, does innovation happen by committee or does there need to be a single vision that the committee then supports? Shin Nogouchi is our Photographer of the Week.
On Taking Pictures – Google+ – Assignment: #outoftheordinary
The interview: Robert Pirsig | Books | The Guardian
William Eggleston: The Democratic Forest: Selected Works
William Eggleston, the Pioneer of Color Photography
Reel Pieces: Philip Seymour Hoffman on Capote – YouTube
Photoshop to work with MacBook Pro Touch Bar this year – CNET
Apple says LG’s new 5K displays were designed for the new MacBook Pro – The Verge
Microsoft Surface Studio | Powerful workstation designed for the creative process
Artist talk with Photographer Albert Watson | Smithsonian American Art Museum
Shin Noguchi (@shinnoguchiphotos) • Instagram photos and videos
