Real Photo Show with Michael Chovan-Dalton

"I think the first thing that happened, which is the big overarching theme of the book, was the missing Malaysian plane…and all the kind of mythology and conspiracy that followed it, and that led to a much bigger more personal theme, which is about Andrew, Tom's cousin, who also died in a plane crash." - Paul Kwiatkowski "The book is not a reflection on how we process grief, it is actually processing grief." - Tom Griggs Paul Kwiatkowski and Tom Griggs stop by SVA to talk about their new book, Ghost Guessed. We have a really wonderful conversation about collaboration and personal and public grief. Tom and Paul talk about the experience of making this book and how Tom's loss of his cousin in a plane crash, and Paul's loss of his grandmother to HIV, allowed them to work in partnership with each other to create this narrative about how we try to create order and reason while experiencing life and processing loss. This episode sponsored by the School of Visual Arts MFA Photography, Video, & Related Media - Charles Traub, Chair. http://www.mfaphoto.sva.edu/ Visit realphotoshow.com @realphotoshow on Twitter/IG/FB Links: http://www.fractionmagazine.com/ghost-guessed https://www.instagram.com/ghost_guessed/ http://www.tomgriggs.net/ https://www.instagram.com/griggstom/ https://twitter.com/uglyboy_paul

This episode was recorded with a live audience at the Noyes Arts Garage reception for the 2018 RAW exhibition that I juried. The episode is actually broken into three parts. The first two parts are at the show during the reception and first I speak with Saskia Schmidt, the Director of Education, and Michael Cagno, the Executive Director of the Noyes. In part two I speak with two of the three juror selected artists, Krista Svalbonas and Sherman Fleming, and in part three you will hear a phone conversation with Jessica Orlowicz because she could not attend the reception. The RAW reception was part of a First Friday at the Noyes Arts Garage so you will hear a lot of background activity during the recording. Special thanks to Saskia Schmidt, Michael Cagno, and Wendel White for this opportunity. Visit http://realphotoshow.com to see winning images. Jessica Orlowicz https://www.peachandport.com/ Krista Svalbonas http://www.kristasvalbonas.com/ Sherman Fleming https://www.shermanfleming.com/ Visit realphotoshow.com @realphotoshow on Twitter/IG/FB Twitter twitter.com/realphotoshow Instagram instagram.com/realphotoshow/ Facebook www.facebook.com/realphotoshow

"I left home because I was getting too comfortable. Comfortable with the type of work I was creating, comfortable around the people I had known for 29 years… " Lynsey Weatherspoon was in New York for Photoville after being named to the Lit List - 30 Image Makers To Watch by the Authortity Collective. Lynsey and I talk about leaving home and taking risks in order change your life and to pursue what you truly want to do. What you will learn about Lynsey is that she doesn't like to get too comfortable or complacent. She changed her home, she changed her profession, and she would start all over again if it seemed like the right time to do so. Lynsey and I also talk about some of her work on Negro League Players, the Gulla Geechee, and a series she did called the Last Cobbler. This episode sponsored by the School of Visual Arts MFA Photography, Video, & Related Media - Charles Traub, Chair. http://www.mfaphoto.sva.edu/ Links: http://www.lynseyweatherspoon.com/ https://www.facebook.com/lnweatherspoon https://www.instagram.com/lnweatherspoon/ https://twitter.com/lnweatherspoon Visit realphotoshow.com @realphotoshow on Twitter/IG/FB

"My first trip after Sarah passed was to the Grand Canyon…so I think that trip and that sense of awe…felt like I was connected to something outside of myself." This episode was recorded during Ryann Casey's artist talk about her show, Loss Event, at the JKC Gallery. Ryann and I talk about combining the personal loss of her friend Sarah, with the public loss of national park land as a means to explore the grieving process and how we don't allow ourselves to fully explore grief. Ryann is a Philadelphia/New Jersey based artist, curator, and organizer. She has exhibited in and around Philadelphia and NYC while also working as an adjunct Professor of Photography, Art History and Critical Theory in New Jersey and currently teaches Art History and Photography at MCCC. Casey holds a BA in Photography with a minor in Gender Studies from Stockton University and an MFA/MS in Photography and Art History from Pratt Institute. https://www.instagram.com/ryann.casey/ https://www.facebook.com/ryannmcasey Visit realphotoshow.com @realphotoshow on Twitter/IG/FB

"The analogy I always use is that we are on this table as a society, but we don't see that we are getting pushed closer and closer to the edge and we're comfortable because we are still on the table, but now we are looking at the edge and we are freaking out." Bunni Elian is an alum of the Bronx Documentary Center and one of the original members of the Bronx Photo League. Her work on the Afropunk music festival earned her a Pulitzer Center grant and was just featured on the Picture Show, NPR's photo story site. Bunni is a multimedia journalist and her work explores the cultural implications of the African Diaspora which is directly tied to Bunni's own journey of finding herself. We talk about politics, race, and how her pre-med education informs her work. This episode sponsored by the School of Visual Arts MFA Photography, Video, & Related Media - Charles Traub, Chair. http://www.mfaphoto.sva.edu/ Links: https://www.hellobunni.com/ https://www.instagram.com/hellobunni/ https://www.facebook.com/MelissaBunniElian/ https://twitter.com/bunnisays https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2018/09/02/643074020/afropunk-brings-the-black-lives-matter-ethos-abroad Visit realphotoshow.com @realphotoshow on Twitter/IG/FB

"I was like, If I spend as much time working on my own stuff as I do working at this desk I could probably make just about anything happen, so goodbye." Nicole Craine's successes in the documentary/photojournalism world can be attributed to her ability to know when it's time to walk away and when it's time to lean in. Nicole has walked away from a couple of steady photo related jobs in New York that others would kill to have in order to pursue her work and, one time, so she could meet Quest Love, more on that in the show. Those moments created space in her life where she could then lean in to pursue opportunities by not being afraid to just call people up. This led to getting into the Eddie Adams workshop, joining the Everyday Project, showing her work to the New York Times, and receiving some serious interest in her family-based project. We hit upon a lot different topics in this episode such as race, politics, censorship, and the getting work as a female photojournalist. This episode sponsored by the School of Visual Arts MFA Photography, Video, & Related Media - Charles Traub, Chair. http://www.mfaphoto.sva.edu/ Links: https://www.nicolecraine.com/ https://www.instagram.com/everydayruralamerica/ https://www.instagram.com/nicole_craine/ https://www.facebook.com/nicole.craine https://twitter.com/Nicole_Craine Visit realphotoshow.com @realphotoshow on Twitter/IG/FB

"I want nuanced reflections and questions…that's why I like literature…if a book didn't do that you would not be interested and you would throw it away…so I think photography should beckon the same kinds of responses…" Sarah Blesener dropped out of school at an early age to pursue alternative forms of education which included a year of flight school. She describes herself as very goal driven with a desire to get things done quickly, which accounts for how much she has accomplished in a relatively short period of time. Sarah has an impressive list of awards, clients, publications, shows, and lectures all within the last 3 years. We talk about her work and how having it out in the world for others to interpret filled her with self-doubt at first but then gave her a better understanding how the photograph can create conversation and it also helped Sarah get a better sense of where she wants to go philosophically with future work. http://www.sarah-blesener.com/ http://www.sarah-blesener.com/instagram/ https://www.facebook.com/sarah.blesener https://twitter.com/sarah_blesener This episode sponsored by the School of Visual Arts MFA Photography, Video, & Related Media - Charles Traub, Chair. http://www.mfaphoto.sva.edu/ Visit realphotoshow.com @realphotoshow on Twitter/IG/FB

"As an artist I began to feel that I was making collectibles for wealthy people…with apex I turned into more of an educator…and the fellowship is the program that I would have liked, that I think I should have gone on." -Steven Rand As part of a series of events related to the exhibition, Light in Wartime, curated by Rola Khayyat (ep.68), I was invited to speak to Steven Rand, the Founder of apexart. It was a panel discussion with Steven, Rola, Margaret Ewing, Director of Programs, and former board member, Jon Kessler. We talked about apexart's history and the its unique models for inviting curators and accepting fellowship candidates. We also talk about it's "art-avoidance" fellowship program which Steven created, in part, from what he thought was missing during his own development as an artist. Special thanks to Rola for offering me this chance to be part of her show and a big thank you to Ryan Soper, Director of Production, and Elizabeth Larison, Director of Operations for all of the setup and work they did to make the show happen.

"I looked back on my life and was like, I've done a lot of tearing down, a lot of dismantling of my life to move on to something else and grow, and I thought maybe I don't need to do that…" Reuben Radding's path to photography can be traced through his love of music. He dropped out of High School to play music and to be with a community that got him away from his abusive father, who was also a musician. Music brought him to New York City in the early 90's where he played at the Knitting Factory, which would eventually lead to his love of photographing in New York. There were times when Reuben tried to break-up with music by pursuing writing, but he would always come back to music. Even now, Reuben judges his photographic compositions the way he would a musical composition, by how well it organically all comes together. We talk about all of this and more, including how Reuben ended up writing for porn magazines and testing software for Microsoft on this episode of Real Photo Show. This episode sponsored by the School of Visual Arts MFA Photography, Video, & Related Media - Charles Traub, Chair. http://www.mfaphoto.sva.edu/ Links: http://www.reubenradding.com/street-work https://www.instagram.com/reuben_radding/ https://twitter.com/ReubenRadding https://www.facebook.com/reuben.radding Visit realphotoshow.com @realphotoshow on Twitter/IG/FB

"I think even in storytelling and making pictures there's so much noise and it's so busy and here's this conflict and this violence and for me it's just about people, I just want to see them." Sara Hylton uses portraiture to tell the stories of the oppressed, abused, and the underrepresented. Much of her work focuses on discrimination against women and their resilience in the face of systemic class and gender bias. We talk about how Sara developed this sense of social justice, how she chose photography as her method of communication, and what it takes to gain the trust of those who have every right to be suspicious of others. http://www.sarahylton.com/ https://www.instagram.com/sarahyltonphoto/ https://twitter.com/sarahyltonphoto https://www.facebook.com/sara.hylton.12 This episode sponsored by the School of Visual Arts MFA Photography, Video, & Related Media - Charles Traub, Chair. http://www.mfaphoto.sva.edu/ Visit realphotoshow.com @realphotoshow on Twitter/IG/FB