Real Photo Show with Michael Chovan-Dalton

"That was at the very end of Thailand, I was just starting to think I didn't want to play poker anymore and I was starting to be drawn to something maybe a little more creative which I had never done in my whole life…" Aaron Berger taught himself photography by studying the tech specs that are included with photos on Flickr® and looking at photographers such as Garry Winogrand on the internet. His path to photography started with a realization that he was not going to be a professional soccer player which lead to a lucrative career in internet poker and a failed attempt to be a YouTube® star. We talk about how all of this leads Aaron to New York with a point and shoot film camera. 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.aaron-berger.com/ http://www.aaron-berger.com/workshops https://www.instagram.com/aaronbergerfoto/ https://www.facebook.com/aaron.berger.9 Photo of Aaron © Andre D Wagner Visit realphotoshow.com @realphotoshow on Twitter/IG/ Michael Chovan-Dalton on FB

"When the shelling got too bad my mom would hide us in the bathroom and say it's just raining really hard and this is the safest spot in the house." Rola Khayyat grew up during the Lebanese Civil War but when talking about her experience she doesn't focus on the horrors, she focuses on the richness of her life and how her mother protected her children and gave them a sense of security and home. Life during conflict is at the heart of Rola's work and also became the creative drive behind the work of her siblings and her mother. We talk about all of this with a focus on Rola's documentary, "From Brooklyn to Beirut" about a community of Lebanese Jews in New York and their connection to Lebanon. https://rolakhayyat.com/ https://www.instagram.com/rolesk/ https://www.facebook.com/RolaKhayyatPhotography/ https://twitter.com/rolakhayyat This episode sponsored by the School of Visual Arts MFA Photography, Video, & Related Media - Charles Traub, Chair. http://www.mfaphoto.sva.edu/ Visit realphotoshow.org @realphotoshow on Twitter/IG/FB

"The people that I dealt with were quite fascinating to me because I came from a completely different perspective and I began following them and I said they support me there's no reason for me not to support them." Peter Kasovitz is the co-founder of K&M Camera which has been in business for 42 years. It's an institution among photographers from all around the world and Peter's generosity and support for students and established photographers is know by many. Peter and I spoke at SVA which was meaningful for the both of us, SVA brought many customers to K&M, including me, and it was while I was a student at SVA that I learned first hand of Peter's generosity. We also talk about Peter's relationships with some great photographers such as Robert Frank and Roy DeCarava. This episode sponsored by the School of Visual Arts MFA Photography, Video, & Related Media - Charles Traub, Chair. http://www.mfaphoto.sva.edu/ Visit www.thephotoshow.org @realphotoshow on Twitter/IG/FB

"There is sort of a desert in Richmond Virginia, there was no photo gallery, there are a couple of blue-chip galleries…but my feeling is I could talk circles around them…where photography is concerned, but I'm still trying to learn the business, that they are very good at." Gordon Stettinius is an artist and the founder of Candela Books + Gallery. He started Candela to help publish and promote well-known, but maybe underrepresented artists, as well as to promote new, and mid-career artists who are pushing boundaries with their practices. It's a big part of Candela's annual open call and exhibition, "Unbound," which is designed to provide an opportunity for artists to further their careers by being part of a larger collection. Michael recorded Gordon at AIPAD, so the sound quality is a little funky and this episode is a little shorter because the Candela booth was very busy. Links Candela Books + Gallery https://candelabooks.com/ Gordon http://www.eyecaramba.com/ Visit www.thephotoshow.org @realphotoshow on Twitter/IG/FB

"I really wanted to kind of tackle women being empowered by physical fitness, and being empowered by sports, and what let me into that was discovering roller derby." Andréanna Seymore's interest in photographing women in sports as a source of empowerment can be traced back to her own experience of giving up sports in school because there was no support or expectation of success for women in sports. She also sees her mother, a lawyer who defended tenants from eviction, as inspiration for her interest in promoting strong women. We talk about Andréanna's work, starting a Literacy and Math Program through Photography, her love of Roller Derby, her father the pirate, and the hazards of wet-plate nudist photography. 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.andreanna.com/ https://www.instagram.com/andreannaseymore/ https://www.facebook.com/pointn.shoot.1 https://www.schifferbooks.com/scars-stripes-the-culture-of-modern-roller-derby-5612.html | Book Visit www.thephotoshow.org @realphotoshow on Twitter/IG/FB

"It's just amazing how like when you kind of put energy out, like a certain type of energy that you want to be around and that you want to be a part of, how the world kind of brings that right back to you…" Andre D. Wagner accidentally started his photo career while playing basketball for Buena Visa University as a social work major. He took a photo class thinking it would be an easy grade, but like many first time photo students, he was shocked by the cost and the amount of work involved, but unlike many first time photo students, he didn't give up even after being accepted to Fordham University for a Masters in social work. Andre is experiencing some great successes right now which include, his first book, Here for the Ride, he is a regular contributor to the New York Times, he was included in a campaign on Black History by Hennesy, and he recently married. We talk about his successes, learning to appreciate them but also understanding the need to keep moving forward. LINKS https://andredwagner.com/ https://www.instagram.com/photodre/ https://twitter.com/photoDre http://vsco.co/photodre/images/1 https://www.creativefuture.dk/editions/here-for-the-ride | Book Power in Fleeting Moments: SLIDESHOW with Andre D. Wagner | Vice Video New History Vol. 1 I Hennessy x Andre Wagner | Hennessy Video Visit www.thephotoshow.org @realphotoshow on Twitter/IG/FB

"I don't think I was really ready to break out as a photographer, but I was ready to break out as like my own spirit." Joseph Michael Lopez is a documentary photographer. His interest in photography started while he was a cinematographer. Joseph is mostly self-taught and his work often involves concerns for social justice which is a character trait he attributes to the life story of his mother who escaped Cuba in 1967. Joseph's work has appeared on the cover of M, The Magazine for Leica M Photography, The Sunday Review of The New York Times, New York magazine and The New Yorker, among others. 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.josephmlopez.com/ https://www.facebook.com/joseph.m.lopez https://www.instagram.com/josephmlopez/ https://twitter.com/JosephMLopezNYC http://m-magazine.photography/ceemes/en/magazine/m-magazine-no-3.html Visit www.thephotoshow.org @realphotoshow on Twitter/IG/FB Photo by Rachel Elizabeth Seed

"We talk to other community organizations all the time, they are like, oh how do you get such great community engagement, we do events all the time and the community doesn't come. Well, are you doing events for the community or with the community?" - Eve Biddle "I'm really proud of what we've done, we've worked so hard, it's fabulous, it continues to grow, why don't I just dive deeper." - Jeff Barnett-Winsby The Wassaic Project is a fantastic organization in Wassaic, NY. It's an artist's space, a residency, an after school program, a pizza bar, an event space, an arts festival…or more simply put, it is a place where visitors, visiting artists, and the Wassaic community come together to share who they are and what they do. I visited Eve and Jeff to talk about who they are and how it all started and we had a great conversation about some of beautiful and tragic events that helped launch the project, but we also talked a lot about how it changed the course of their own lives and the plans they had for themselves as working artists. Links: http://wassaicproject.org/ https://www.instagram.com/wassaicproject/ http://www.evebiddle.com/ http://jeffbarnettwinsby.com/ Visit www.thephotoshow.org @realphotoshow on Twitter/IG/FB

"When you're 3 or 5 years old and you're understanding that your grandma fits bras, you don't think about it in a sexual way…I just equated bras with, oh people go see grandma Selma feeling uncomfortable and they leave feeling better." Nomi Ellenson is a body positive and sex positive boudoir photographer. As a freelance fashion photographer, Nomi felt limited by what she was assigned to shoot in terms of promoting a specific kind of beauty. She started her own business so she could help change the narrative on what it means for someone to feel beautiful. She credits her photographic practice to a combination of influences. She is the daughter of two rabbis who believe in community service and putting your whole self into your work. She is also the great-great-granddaughter of the founder of The Town Shop, a well known lingerie store in Manhattan. Nomi describes her shoots as collaborations and those collaborations require that she develop a sense of trust with her clients, something she learned to do as a child watching her grandmother fit women for bras in the family store. We talk about Nomi's path to photography, learning how to run a business, and we even do a bit of tech-talk near the end of the 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.naomiellenson.com/ https://www.instagram.com/nomifoto/ https://www.instagram.com/boudoirbynomi/ Visit www.thephotoshow.org @realphotoshow on Twitter/IG/FB

"That's the thing I get most excited about with photography is what you can hide from the viewer and how you can frame your work to make it something that is very specific or might not be seen just passing by." Katie Kline's photography was influenced by her father's job at Disneyland and their frequent trips to the land of artifice. Now Katie sees a little Disney wherever she travels and you can see it in her landscapes and the way she records the details of places that aspire to be more. Katie also teaches photography at a High School in North Hollywood California and we talk about the benefits of learning photography by shooting film and using a traditional darkroom. 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.katiekline.com/ https://www.instagram.com/katiekline/ https://www.instagram.com/robertkline/ (Katie's father's IG) Visit www.thephotoshow.org realphotoshow on Twitter/IG/FB Twitter twitter.com/realphotoshow Instagram instagram.com/realphotoshow/ Facebook www.facebook.com/realphotoshow