© Luigi Ghirri

This week, we discuss the connection between purpose and happiness. Are they connected? Does one precede the other? What happens to our work when we no longer feel any purpose in engaging in it? Does it merely become practice? If so, to what end? Also, a reflection on the life of Gene Cernan and men like him, who dared to leave their home behind “just to see if they could do it.” Luigi Ghirri is our Photographer of the week.

On Taking Pictures – Google+ – Assignment: #bookCover

2017 Presidential Inauguration

Getting Tickets to the 2017 Inauguration

Studs Terkel “Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do”

I Earned More From Photo Gigs in 2016 With My iPhone Than My DSLRs

Lightning to SD Card Camera Reader — Apple – Apple

Download Lightroom for mobile | Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for mobile

Home | The Last Man on the Moon

Luigi Ghirri – Wikipedia

Luigi Ghirri – Selected Works – Matthew Marks Gallery

Luigi Ghirri | Dazed

MACK – Luigi Ghirri – Kodachrome

Luigi Ghirri’s Kodachromes Revisited | TIME

© Jerry Schatzberg

Sometimes, you need to take stock of the path you’re on to make sure you get where you’re trying to go. Other times, you may need to change the destination entirely. This week, we’re talking about looking at where we are and what to do if it’s just a little off. We’re also talking about new projects and how sometimes just rolling up your sleeves and doing the work is all that matters. Jerry Schatzberg is our Photographer of the Week.

© Kurt William Kamka

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.

epson p800 | B&H Photo Video

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

anton corbijn

Hip-Hop Evolution

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

La La Land retro poster

Denon Wood Headphones on Amazon

Kurt William Kamka

What’s in the Bag of Kurt Kamka? – YouTube

On Taking Pictures – Google+ – Assignment: #beginning

© Rodney Smith

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.

© Lori Vrba

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

Hip-Hop Evolution

Inside the Mind of Martha Cooper, Iconic NY Street Photographer & Graffiti Documentarian | The Hundreds

The Genius of Photography – Episode 02: Documents for Artists – Watch Free Documentary Online – BBC, Tim Kirby, Denis Lawson (narrator)

MTA – Arts & Design | NYCT Permanent Art

Union Square ‘Subway Therapy’ Post-It Note Wall Moving to Upper West Side – Upper West Side, NY Patch

Lori Vrba

lori vrba (@lorivrba) • Instagram photos and videos

Kirsty Mitchell Photography

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’

© Jack Davison

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

Jon Wilkening

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

National Geographic Picture Atlas of Our Universe: Roy A. Gallant, Margaret Sedeen, Michael Collins: 9780792227311: Amazon.com: Books

A rare half-male, half-female butterfly — and other photos of evolutionary wonders – The Washington Post

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

JACK DAVISON

Great Performers: The Portraits – The New York Times

Jack Davison (@jackdavisonphoto) • Instagram photos and videos

© Danny Clinch

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

OTP Gift Exchange Post on G+

Canon EOS 5D Mark III – Wikipedia

William Eggleston: Democratic Camera

A Beautiful Anarchy, “David duChemin”

Saul Leiter: Early Color

Road to Seeing – Dan Winters

Magnum Contact Sheets

Annie Leibovitz at Work

Gregory Heisler: 50 Portraits

An Inner Silence: The Portraits of Henri Cartier-Bresson

Regarding Heroes – Yousuf Karsh

Churchill-ok.jpg (1939×2282)

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

FORSÅ Work lamp – IKEA

fit (1400×700)

Former Cuban Leader Fidel Castro Dies at 90 | TIME

Graham Sutherland – Wikipedia

The Last of Us: Part 2 Reveal Trailer – PSX 2016 – YouTube

My Pentax 645z Medium Format Conversion in a Nutshell – Medium

Danny Clinch

Rock and Roll Photo GOD Danny Clinch the Interview: RAWtalk 138 – YouTube

Anderson Cooper interviews photography “rock star” – CBS News

who-shot-rock—roll-4-danny-clinch-tupac-shakur_2048.jpeg (800×1043)

© Fredrick Sommer

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

Karl Taylor The Naked Camera #TheNakedCamera – Master Natural Light Portraiture Professional Photography Education

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

Frederick Sommer – Wikipedia

The Art of Frederick Sommer: Photography, Drawing, Collage

Pentax 645Z bajo el agua – YouTube

GeForce GTX 970 Memory Issue Fully Explained – Nvidia’s Response

© Ruth Gruber

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

Beme – Wikipedia

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

Crit Wall – Seth Wade

Crit Wall – Johann Trojer

Ruth Gruber, a Fearless Chronicler of the Jewish Struggle, Dies at 105 – The New York Times

Ruth Gruber – Wikipedia

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

© Vicki Dasilva

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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herzog-curtains-1972-time.jpg (1500×1000)

Equinox Gallery Vancouver – Two Men in Fog by Fred Herzog

Photography by Thomas Leuthard

Thomas Leuthard (@thomas.leuthard) • Instagram photos and videos

ABANDONED – VICELAND

“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

VICKI DASILVA

Gideon Kendall