It was our pleasure to speak with our good friend Meryl Meisler once again, this time about her newest book New York PARADISE LOST Bushwick Era Disco. Strand Books describes this book as “an intimate journey to the pandemonium and paradise of the 1970s through early 1990s New York City. Meryl documented a tumultuous time in NYC’s history – epidemics of arson, crime, crack, and AIDS, intensified by a paralyzing blackout, political and fiscal crisis…Her effervescent images are personal memoir – love letters filled with compassion and humor mixed with angst, kept secret for decades until she retired from teaching.”Join Meryl and Bob as they talk about Meryl’s book and all the years of photography that led up to it. Preorder your copy of New York PARADISE LOST Bushwick Era Disco here. A Selection of Meryl’s Photos

Suitcase Joe is an anonymous photographer and activist who uses his work to advocate for the unhoused. He spent a decade getting to know Skid Row and its inhabitants—the largest unhoused community in America—and in that time he gained the trust and acceptance to intimately observe and photograph the inner workings of their daily lives. Suitcase Joe’s photos allow some of L.A.’s most vulnerable people to tell some of the city’s most powerful stories. Get to know the photographer behind this compelling work by clicking on the audio player in this post. Suitcase Joe’s LinksInstagramSuitcase Joe FoundationSidewalk Champions BookA Few of Suitcase Joe’s Photos

Whenever we get together with Michael Ernest Sweet, there’s always plenty to talk about and in this episode of the podcast we certainly covered some ground. We talked about Tim Huynh’s street photography film, Fill the Frame, our thoughts on social media, the lack of community spirit in street photography, the double-edged sword of developing a strong signature in your work, and whether we really need the latest and greatest gear. In addition, we talked about what it means that Canada’s premier print photography magazine, Photo Life, (a journal Michael corresponded for for years) has closed down. Join our chat by clicking on the audio player.Michael’s LinksWebsiteInstagram

German photographer Philipp Meiners discusses his passion for street photography and turning personal projects into photo books. He shares his process of curating his favorite photos, selecting materials, and creating a yearbook. Topics include using Lightroom, choosing the right paper, shooting in black and white, and exploring different locations for photography.

Matt Jerrams is an executive producer who creates television commercials in the UK, who also happens to have a real passion for street photograhpy. As always, Matt Jerrams and I had plenty to talk about in this episode of our podcast. Matt is in London, currently under lockdown again, se he had some free time to spare to talk all things street photography. As always, we had plenty to discuss. We talked street photography news, gear of course (Matt recently got rid of his Leica *gasp* because he didn’t like it.), and what it’s like to be in the middle of lockdown – yet again.A Selection of Matt’s Street PhotosCovid Memorial WallHensFather and Son EastbourneMargate 2017Podcast LinksMatt’s Instagram

Photojournalist and advertising lifestyle photographer, Craig Litten, earns his living making photographs. So he knows the importance of having his work taken seriously. Craig says that one of the most important factors in being taken seriously is to take it seriously yourself. And part of that is to be consistent in the work you show to the world. That means everything whether it’s in your portfolio, on your website, in contests or within editorial pieces. As a coach and mentor or other photographers Craig sees the most inconsistencies in photographers’ black and white work. In one portfolio he often sees monochrome images that are high contrast, some that are flat and others with crushed blacks and so on. He says it often looks like the photos were made by multiple people. It’s all over the place. “Yikes”, I thought, “that sounds like my website.” His recommendation is to tap into your own creative vision, create you own signature black and white style and apply that consistently to all work you show publicly. And do it no matter what camera and editing software you use. The key is to have a repeatable workflow of your own, not a copy of someone else. Craig created a 2-part seminar which he calls The Darkroom in Lightroom that teaches how to apply the Zone System to envision your final image when you take the shot. Then apply a set of basic principles to create your own repeatable workflow (no matter what camera and editing software you use) to achieve a consistent black and white look in each image. Craig will be teaching the 2-part seminar to members of the Street Photography Magazine community beginning Tuesday, April 6 at 7:00PM EDT. See this for more information. Links from the Show Craig’s Website Greg Burnett’s Street Photography Website The Darkroom in Lightroom Seminar The importance of maintaining a consistent B&W lookHere are 9 different photographs of Craig’s shot with 8 different cameras over a 35-year period. Two images were shot on different film types, and the other  photographs were shot on 6 different digital cameras, yet they all have a similar style and feel to the toning.Canon 5D 2008Canon 1D MKII 2007Canon 40D 2008Leica M8 2014Kodak Tri-X 1985Fuji X-Pro1 2013Film 1991Motorola G6 Cell Phone 2019Ricoh GR Digital 2015

Ritchie Roesch is a Fuji photographer who lives in Salt Lake City. In his college days, he studied photography under June Van Cleef and has been a part-time/hobby photographer for two decades now. He’s also the author of the Fuji X Weekly photography blog, a blog dedicated to all things Fujifilm. He started out shooting 35mm film (like a lot of us) and eventually switched over to digital, although his love for that “film feel” never died.We got together to geek out about Fuji and chatted about what it takes to run a photography blog, how to tweak the film settings in a Fuji camera, and much more. Interview LinksFuji X Weekly BlogFuji Film Recipe AppA Selection of Ritchie’s Photos

Gulnara Samoilova is the founder of the Women Street Photographers project: a website, social media platform and annual exhibition. She also happens to be just the person who curated a new photo book called “Women Street Photographers” – a fantastic collection of photos showcasing images by 100 contemporary women street photographers from around the globe, accompanied by personal statements about their work.Gulnara was kind enough to take a few moments to chat with us about how the book came together and how she hopes it shapes the world of street photography – particularly for women street photographers. The book is now available for purchase. Buy your copy here.Interview LinksWomen Street Photographers BookWomen Street Photographers WebsiteWomen Street Photographers on InstagramA Selection of Images from “Women Street Photographers”“Red Upsweep” by Jane Levine, 2019“Shoulder Birds” by Dimpy Bhalotia, 2018“The Serpentine” by Efrat Sela, 2017“Cloud Eaters” by Gulnara Samoilova, 2018“Sun Worship” by Laura Reid, 2017“A Dance of Joy” by Regula Tschumi, 2019

Nicolas St-Pierre may come from a small town in Quebec, but by all accounts, he is a world traveler. Nicolas is a diplomat with the Canadian Foreign Service, which has meant extensive travel around the world and even a few stints living abroad in places like China and Japan. But as has been the case for many of us, a global pandemic brought international travel to an abrupt halt for Nicolas. To keep his creative juices flowing, Nicolas recently embarked on a project called “The Longest Road” about Bank Street in Ottawa. (See the project in the February 2021 issue.) In our conversation, we discussed long and short form projects as well as Nicolas’ experience publishing his project on Blurb.Interview LinksNicolas’ WebsiteThe Longest Road bookThe Hershey Electric Train ProjectInstagramFacebookTwitterA Selection of Nicolas’ Photos

Casey Meshbesher is a street photography, video, and multimedia artist. She is also a researcher, curator, and the founder of @womeninstreet (WiS), a platform we love just for female street photographers. She is also the editor Her Side of the Street, a street photography blogzine for female street photographers.Casey was kind enough to take some time to chat with us about many subjects, including her own photography, the value of making connections through platforms, and the research that goes into that process. For example, WiS started on Facebook in 2016, and is now on Instagram, Medium, and an IG/YouTube channel. Women in Street is a global network built on research, a community forum, a publication that showcases emerging and seasoned talent, and a movement to strengthen visibility of women.  It functions as a collective of sorts where collaborators come and go.  Contributors may be long or short  term, handle special projects, curate, or contribute to the blog. Galleries are a popular feature with a new guest curator and theme each month, and have public submissions from hundreds of regular participants in Facebook. Nowadays, WiS Instagram has over 25,000 followers, 2,000 members in its Facebook group and a strong blogzine following as well. It’s become a community where opportunities abound for female street photographers – something that didn’t exist just a few years ago. What kind of opportunities, you ask? Here’s a good example: One big part of the project has been the world map of female street photographers, a researched database linking the global network.  It has been used in consultation with publications, festivals, organizations.  Featured speakers have been identified via the map and consulting with WiS. When traveling, women use this feature to look one another up, and friendships and collaborations have been formed. Many have said that they knew very few female street photographers before encountering them through Women in Street’s platforms.Find out more about the birth and growth of WiS, the photography of Casey Meshbesher, and the growing community of female street photographers she has helped to bring together in this audio interview. At Miami Street Photography Festival, L to R: Susanne Baumgartner, Niki Gleoudi, Nancy Moon, Adriane Ryan, MSPF co-founder Lynne Kaplan, Casey Meshbesher, 2018 WiS curator and admin Eleonore Simon, Melissa O’ShaughnessyInterview LinksWomen in StreetWiS Community LinksCasey Meshbesher’s WebsiteCasey Meshbesher on InstagramA Selection of Casey’s PhotosA friend of this woman’s alerted her that she was in this photo and she contacted me, very excited, and shared it on her profiles. This has happened a few other times, always a positive reaction, a plus for a smaller city.