The Candid Frame: Conversations on Photography

As curator of 28 exhibitions featuring over 110 international photographers J. Sybylla Smith provides context for an expansive array of image-based work. Her Concept Aware® curriculum provides a unique concept development framework that strengthens creative practice. Amplifying visual narrative, fostering collaborations across disciplines - she believes visual culture creates social change. As an independent curator, she exhibits in traditional and non-traditional settings venues which include; The Griffin Museum of Photography, Harvard University Ed Portal, and Photoville, with a select few traveling to Columbia and Mexico.  Smith consults with individual artists providing collaboration on editing, sequencing,  marketing, and writing artist statements and/or exhibition proposals. Her work with arts organizations and educational institutions includes development, educational programming, and fostering dynamic partnerships.  She is an avid portfolio reviewer participating in photo-centric reviews nationally. She is an active member of the Society of Photographic Educators.    Websites Sybylla Smith   Odette England     Sponsors Charcoal Book Club Lensrentals.com   Education Resources: Using Your Life to Launch Your Photography Momenta Photographic Workshops   Candid Frame Resources Download the free Candid Frame app for your favorite smart device. Click here to download for . Click here to download Support the work we do at The Candid Frame by contributing to our Patreon effort.  You can do this by visiting or visiting the website and clicking on the Patreon button. You can also provide a one-time donation via . You can follow Ibarionex on and .

Laylah Amatullah Barrayn is an award-winning documentary and portrait photographer working in the medium for 20 years. She is a frequent contributor to The New York Times. Her work has also been published in Vogue, National Geographic, The Washington Post, VOX, NPR, BBC, The Nation, Le Monde, The Wall Street Journal, among other publications.  Barrayn is co-author of MFON: Women Photographers of the African Diaspora, the first anthology in nearly 30 years that highlights photography produced by women of African descent.  She is a member of Kamoinge, a pioneering collective of African American photographers founded in 1963. Barrayn holds a Masters degree in Art Politics from New York University. She is currently working on a book about contemporary Black photographers due out 2022.    Websites Laylah Amatullah Barrayn   Liz Johnson Artur Adobe Life Reflected     Sponsors Charcoal Book Club Lensrentals.com   Education Resources: Using Your Life to Launch Your Photography Momenta Photographic Workshops   Candid Frame Resources Download the free Candid Frame app for your favorite smart device. Click here to download for . Click here to download Support the work we do at The Candid Frame by contributing to our Patreon effort.  You can do this by visiting or visiting the website and clicking on the Patreon button. You can also provide a one-time donation via . You can follow Ibarionex on and .

Catherine Sue Opie (born 1961) is an American fine-art photographer. Opie studies the connections between mainstream and infrequent society. By specializing in portraiture, studio, and landscape photography, she can create pieces relating to sexual identity. Through photography, Opie documents the relationship between the individual and the space inhabited. She is known for her portraits exploring the Los Angeles leather-dyke community. Her latest book is the self-titled Catherine Opie and is available for pre-order now and will be widely available in June 2021.    Websites Catherine Opie Sook Kim   Sponsor Charcoal Book Club   Education Resources: Using Your Life to Launch Your Photography Momenta Photographic Workshops   Candid Frame Resources Download the free Candid Frame app for your favorite smart device. Click here to download for . Click here to download Support the work we do at The Candid Frame by contributing to our Patreon effort.  You can do this by visiting or visiting the website and clicking on the Patreon button. You can also provide a one-time donation via . You can follow Ibarionex on and .

Will Burrard-Lucas is a wildlife photographer from the UK. Whenever possible, Will prefers to get close to his wild subjects and use a wide-angle lens to capture a more intimate perspective. Initially, he achieved this by crawling up to unthreatening species. However, he also dreamt of doing this with iconic African animals such as lions and elephants. To achieve this he created a remote-control camera buggy in 2009, which he called “BeetleCam”. The buggy soon proved itself and to this day Will continues to use it to capture fresh perspectives in his work.  Will has also developed sensors to detect animals and automatically trigger his cameras. Deploying these “camera traps” for weeks or months at a time has allowed him to capture rare photographs of secretive and nocturnal wildlife. Will founded Camtraptions Ltd to turn his creations for camera trap photography into products for photographers and filmmakers around the world.  In 2017, Will embarked on a new project titled “Land of Giants”. The aim of this project was to document the last of Africa’s iconic elephants with tusks reaching down to the ground. In 2019, “Land of Giants” was released as a book in support of the Tsavo Trust. His latest book is The Black Leopard.    Websites Will Burrard-Lucas Steve Winter   Sponsor Charcoal Book Club   Education Resources: Using Your Life to Launch Your Photography   Momenta Photographic Workshops   Candid Frame Resources Download the free Candid Frame app for your favorite smart device. Click here to download for . Click here to download Support the work we do at The Candid Frame by contributing to our Patreon effort.  You can do this by visiting or visiting the website and clicking on the Patreon button. You can also provide a one-time donation via . You can follow Ibarionex on and . You can download the latest episode by clicking here. To stream the current episode on your computer, click on the player below.

Melissa Breyer & Emily Sujay Sanchez are street photographers showcased in the new book, Women Street Photographers. Founded by Gulnara Samoilova, Women Street Photographers has brought together photographers from all over the world who share a passion for public photography. After curating several exhibitions, Gulnara has gathered a collection of talented photographers who bring their personal stamps to the genre.  Breyer’s work consists of ongoing themed projects including True Stories, Watchwomen, and City of Clouds. Sanchez is a relative newcomer to the world of street photography. Her focus on the Latinx communities of upper Manhattan and the Bronx results in rich photographs of an overlooked community, especially among street photographers.    Websites Melissa Breyer  Emily Sujay Sanchez Gulnara Samoilova Women Street Photographers   Sponsor Charcoal Book Club   Education Resources: Using Your Life to Jumpstart Your Photography   Momenta Photographic Workshops   Candid Frame Resources Download the free Candid Frame app for your favorite smart device. Click here to download for . Click here to download Support the work we do at The Candid Frame by contributing to our Patreon effort.  You can do this by visiting or visiting the website and clicking on the Patreon button. You can also provide a one-time donation via . You can follow Ibarionex on and .

Inspired by her dad’s enthusiasm for the craft, Erin Ng got her first point-and-shoot camera in fifth grade and has been snapping away ever since. She committed to a career in photography and has been shooting commercial and editorial photos since she graduated. Ng’s subject bias skews toward food for several different reasons. Not only is food delicious and fun to shoot, but to Ng, it is a gateway to new encounters, diverse stories, and is an invitation to learning about different cultures, histories, geographies, and technologies.  Erin is a member of the and her clients include Häagen-Dazs, Ubereats, Michelob Ultra, Beringer Vineyards, June Oven, Chipotle, GFFf magazine, Where Traveler, The Guardian UK, Lucky Peach and numerous bay area restaurants and start-ups.    Websites Erin Ng Maren Caruso   Sponsor Charcoal Book Club   Education Resources: Using Your Life to Jumpstart Your Photography   Momenta Photographic Workshops   Candid Frame Resources Download the free Candid Frame app for your favorite smart device. Click here to download for . Click here to download Support the work we do at The Candid Frame with contributing to our Patreon effort.  You can do this by visiting or visiting the website and clicking on the Patreon button. You can also provide a one-time donation via . You can follow Ibarionex on and .

Acclaimed for her contemporary depictions, Mona Kuhn is considered a leading artist in the world of figurative discourse.  Throughout a career spanning more than twenty years, the underlying theme of her work is her reflection on humanity’s longing for spiritual connection and solidarity. As she solidified her photographic style, Kuhn created a notable approach to the nude by developing friendships with her subjects, and employing a range of playful visual strategies that use natural light and minimalist settings to evoke a sublime sense of comfort between the human figure and its environment. Her work is natural, restful, and a reinterpretation of the nude in the canon of contemporary art.  Kuhn was born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1969, of German descent.  In 1989, Kuhn moved to the US and earned her BA from The Ohio State University, before furthering her studies at the San Francisco Art Institute.  She is currently an independent scholar at The Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles.  Occasionally, Mona teaches at UCLA and the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Mona Kuhn’s latest monograph is Mona Kuhn: Works.   Websites Mona Kuhn Mickalene Thomas   Education Resources: Using Your Life to Jumpstart Your Photography   Momenta Photographic Workshops   Candid Frame Resources Download the free Candid Frame app for your favorite smart device. Click here to download for . Click here to download Support the work we do at The Candid Frame with contributing to our Patreon effort.  You can do this by visiting or visiting the website and clicking on the Patreon button. You can also provide a one-time donation via . You can follow Ibarionex on and .

Sarah Meister became a Curator at The Museum of Modern Art in 2009, having joined the Department of Photography in 1997. Her research has included exploring narratives around twentieth century photography in Latin America, one result of which was the acquisition of more than fifty Brazilian modernist photographs.  Her books have included One and One Is Four: The Bauhaus Photocollages of Josef Albers (2016) and Arbus Friedlander Winogrand: New Documents, 1967 (2017). She was also a co-editor of and contributing author to the three volume series Photography at MoMA (1960 to Now, 1920 to 1960, and 1840 to 1920 [forthcoming]), co-director of the August Sander Project (with Noam Elcott), and the lead instructor for the online course Seeing Through Photographs on Coursera. Working with the Gordon Parks Foundation, she curated a book and exhibition of Park’s work based on a Life Magazine assignment in the late 1950s, The Atmosphere of Crime 1957. Meister will soon be leaving MOMA to head the photographic non-profit organization, Aperture.    Websites Sarah Meister The Gordon Parks Foundation Gertrudes Altschul   Sponsor Charcoal Book Club - Sign up today   Education Resources: Momenta Photographic Workshops   Candid Frame Resources Download the free Candid Frame app for your favorite smart device. Click here to download for . Click here to download Support the work we do at The Candid Frame with contributing to our Patreon effort.  You can do this by visiting or visiting the website and clicking on the Patreon button. You can also provide a one-time donation via . You can follow Ibarionex on and .

William Allen Young is an American actor and director who has starred in over 100 television, stage, and film projects, including two Academy Award-nominated films, A Soldier's Story and District 9. He is best known for his roles as Frank Mitchell on UPN's Moesha, Dr. Rollie Guthrie on the CBS medical drama Code Black, and as Judge Joseph Ratner on CBS's CSI Miami.  His other television credits include ABC's The Day After, General Hospital, CBS's Madame Secretary, JAG, Atlanta Child Murders, and The Women of Brewster Place, among other shows. He is also credited with helping to diversify the ranks of writers, actors, directors and producers in Hollywood through the landmark 2000 TV Network Agreement, which he helped broker while serving as a former co-chair of the African-American Steering Committee of the Directors Guild of America. He can be currently seen on the cast of 911: Lone Star on the Fox Network.    Websites William Allen Young Sponsor Charcoal Book Club - Sign up today Education Resources: Momenta Photographic Workshops Candid Frame Resources Download the free Candid Frame app for your favorite smart device. Click here to download for . Click here to download Support the work we do at The Candid Frame with contributing to our Patreon effort.  You can do this by visiting or visiting the website and clicking on the Patreon button. You can also provide a one-time donation via . You can follow Ibarionex on and .

Alejandro Cartagena, Mexican (b. 1977, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) lives and works in Monterrey, Mexico. His projects employ landscape and portraiture as a means to examine social, urban and environmental issues.  Cartagena’s work has been exhibited internationally in more than 50 group and individual exhibitions in spaces including the the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in Paris and the CCCB in Barcelona, and his work is in the collections of several museums including the San Francisco MOMA, The J. Paul Getty Museum, The Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, The MFAH in Houston, the Portland Museum of Art, The West Collection, the Coppel collection, the FEMSA collection, Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the George Eastman House and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and among others.   Websites Alejandro Cargagena Caroline Drake   Sponsor Charcoal Book Club - Sign up today   Education Resources: Momenta Photographic Workshops   Candid Frame Resources Download the free Candid Frame app for your favorite smart device. Click here to download for . Click here to download Support the work we do at The Candid Frame by contributing to our Patreon effort.  You can do this by visiting or visiting the website and clicking on the Patreon button. You can also provide a one-time donation via . You can follow Ibarionex on and .