Real Photo Show with Michael Chovan-Dalton

Michael visits with photographer and educator, Stephen Hilger at his studio in Brooklyn to talk about his upcoming book, In the Alley, published by Purple Martin Press. Stephen was a guest on the show all the way back on episode 47 so we don’t spend a lot of time on his history but we do talk alot about the alleyways in Beverly Hills and the creative decisions that went into making this leporello book. Order Here: https://www.artbook.com/9780979776854.html http://www.stephenhilger.com Don’t forget to check out our bonus content: https://www.youtube.com/@realphotoshow This podcast is sponsored by the Charcoal Book Club where members receive signed copies of each monograph, guest curator notes, special edition prints, members-only pricing to our store, and first dibs on exclusive editions. @charcoalbookclub Stephen Hilger is a photographer whose work traces historical memory in the American urban and social landscape. His monograph, Back of Town (SPQR Editions, 2016), chronicles the disappearance of a neighborhood in New Orleans. BLVD, (ROMAN NVMERALS, 2017) presents visual motifs at the intersection of public and private spaces throughout Los Angeles. Hilger’s forthcoming book, In the Alley, (Purple Martin Press, 2023) is currently in production. Hilger has exhibited at venues including Acta International, Rome; Los Angeles Contemporary Art Exhibitions; Black Dragon Society, Los Angeles; Gallery Luisotti, Los Angeles; the Contemporary Art Center New Orleans; and Transmitter, Brooklyn. His photographs are in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the New Orleans Museum of Art. Hilger's photographs have appeared in periodicals including New York Magazine and the New York Times. He has written about photography and contemporary art including for Aperture’s PhotoBook Review and BOMB. Hilger received his B.A. and M.F.A. degrees from Columbia University and was a fellow in the Whitney Museum of American Art's Independent Study Program. He teaches at Pratt Institute where he is an Associate Professor in the Photography Department. Support Real Photo Show with Michael Chovan-Dalton by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/real-photo-show

Photographer and Red Hook Editions partner, Igor Posner joins Michael for a discussion about his book, Cargó, published by Red Hook Editions. Igor is a self-taught photographer whose work explores the psychological impacts of migration and changing immigrant neighborhoods. Michael and Igor talk about how his projects come together and the way he needs to reinvent and change what he does in order to keep making work. https://igorposner.net https://www.redhookeditions.com/books-1/carg This podcast is sponsored by the Charcoal Book Club, a monthly subscription service for photobook enthusiasts. Begin Building your dream photobook library today at https://charcoalbookclub.com. Born in Leningrad (St. Petersburg). After the fall of the Soviet Union, Igor moved to California in the early 90s. He studied molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he first started to take pictures and experiment in the darkroom. Initial infatuation with picture-taking led Igor to explore the silent and haunting experience of walking after dark on the streets of Los Angeles and Tijuana. Collision of social and typical with personal and psychological, this first series of images “Nonesuch Records” savors the strange solitude of the enigmatic region between California and Mexico; amid the streets, bars, night shelter hotels, and disappearing night figures. After 14 years, Igor returned to St. Petersburg in 2006, taking up photography full time, which led to a book project entitled“Past Perfect Continuous”, published by Red Hook Editions in 2017. In 2022, Igor publishes his second monograph, entitled, “Cargó.” The book is a visual exloration of psychological aspects of migration and gradual disappearance of neighborhoods based on  immigrant communities in North America. At present, Igor is based in New York. In 2021, he joined Red Hook Editions, Brooklyn based independent publishing company, as a managing partner.  Igor’s work has been shown in North America, Europe, Russia, and Southeast Asia. He joined Prospekt Photographers agency as a full memebr in 2011.  Support Real Photo Show with Michael Chovan-Dalton by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/real-photo-show

Photographer, co-founder of Media NINJA, and CatchLight Fellow, Rafael Vilela talks to Michael about some of his amazing visual stories from Brazil. Rafael shares the story behind Invisible Gravediggers, the forgotten workers of the pandemic, and he talks about his current work, Forest Ruins, an ongoing project that addresses the role of cities in the climate crisis from the perspective of the Guarani Mbyá Indigenous people in the city of São Paulo. Forest Ruins is what brought Rafael to the CatchLight Visual Storytelling Summit both as a CatchLight Fellow and recently as a panel speaker along with Anastasia Samoylova at the summit. https://www.catchlight.io/2023-visual-storytelling-summit https://rafaelvilela.visura.co Rafael Vilela is an independent Brazilian photographer currently reporting on climate and economic crisis in his country. He was one of the founders of Midia NINJA, an initiative that today has more than 8 million followers. His photographs are part of São Paulo’s Museum of Modern Art (MAM-SP) permanent collection. In 2014 he was invited by Magnum Photos to be one of the Brazilian photographers in the OffSide Brazil project to report on the World Cup. Rafael was also nominated for World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass in 2013, 2014 and 2015. He has collaborated on international publications such as The Washington Post, The Guardian, VICE, The Intercept and National Geographic. In 2020 he was selected by National Geographic's Emergency Fund for Journalists covering Covid-19 and his work with Covid Latam won the POYLatam and the FotoEvidence Book Award with World Press Photo. In 2022 Vilela was awarded the Catchlight Fellowship and the National Geographic Explorer grant. This podcast is sponsored by the Charcoal Book Club, a monthly subscription service for photobook enthusiasts. Begin Building your dream photobook library today at https://charcoalbookclub.com. CATCHLIGHT VISUAL STORYTELLING SUMMIT 2023: THE CHANGE WE WANT TO SEE  April 29, 2023 - https://www.catchlight.io - Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco  The non-profit media organization CatchLight will hold its 2023 Visual Storytelling Summit on the theme “The Change We Want to See.” Organized with Elizabeth Krist, curator and formerly a longtime photo editor at National Geographic, the event will feature a portfolio review in the morning, followed by presenters and topics spanning artificial intelligence imagery, reporting on environmental issues, reproductive rights, racial justice, and how local journalists are holding power accountable at a time when trust in public institutions is at an all-time low. CatchLight Global and Local Fellows—including Rafael Vilela and Harika Maddala, among others—will discuss their projects along with artists, founders, technologists, and innovative creatives working at the nexus of art, media, journalism, technology, and social impact.    This year’s theme, “The Change We Want to See,” reflects the unique power of photography, visual journalism, and creative practices to drive social impact. “Images are instrumental to how we understand our world,” says Elodie Mailliet Storm, CEO of CatchLight. “Not only do they connect people emotionally to issues, they also promote deeper understanding, build trust, and spark action. I want the Summit to be a place where the global community of visual storytellers, media, and technology leaders can gather, share ideas, and push the field forward through partnership and innovation.”  Support Real Photo Show with Michael Chovan-Dalton by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/real-photo-show

Photographer, Anastasia Samoylova joins Michael to talk about the 2023 CatchLight Visual Storytelling Summit: The Change We Want to See. This year’s summit emphasizes the unique power of photography, visual journalism, and creative practices to drive social impact. Ana will be talking about her book, Floodzone published by Steidl along with photographer, Rafael Vilela. Their panel is titled Picturing New Frontiers: Environmental Storytelling. Ana and Michael talk about how Ana went from photography to Environmental Design, and back to photography and how her experiences growing up in Russian and living in Florida shapes her work and how she thinks about art and activism. RSVP for CatchLight Summit: https://airtable.com/shrz8sfXJWVrqciWX https://www.catchlight.io/2023-visual-storytelling-summit https://www.anasamoylova.com Anastasia Samoylova (b. 1984, USSR) is a Russian born American artist who moves between observational photography and studio practice. Her work explores notions of environmentalism, consumerism and the picturesque. Recent exhibitions include Fundación Mapfre; C/O Berlin; Eastman Museum; Chrysler Museum of Art; The Photographer's Gallery, London; Kunst Haus Wien; HistoryMiami Museum; and Museum of Fine Arts, Le Locle. In 2022 Samoylova was shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize. Her work is in the collections at the Perez Art Museum, Miami; the High Museum of Art, Atlanta and Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago; among others. Published monographs include Image Cities (Fundación Mapfre / Hatje Cantz, 2023), Floridas (Steidl, 2022) and FloodZone (Steidl, 2019). This podcast is sponsored by the Charcoal Book Club, a monthly subscription service for photobook enthusiasts. Begin Building your dream photobook library today at https://charcoalbookclub.com. CATCHLIGHT VISUAL STORYTELLING SUMMIT 2023: THE CHANGE WE WANT TO SEE April 29, 2023 - https://www.catchlight.io - Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco The non-profit media organization CatchLight will hold its 2023 Visual Storytelling Summit on the theme “The Change We Want to See.” Organized with Elizabeth Krist, curator and formerly a longtime photo editor at National Geographic, the event will feature a portfolio review in the morning, followed by presenters and topics spanning artificial intelligence imagery, reporting on environmental issues, reproductive rights, racial justice, and how local journalists are holding power accountable at a time when trust in public institutions is at an all-time low. CatchLight Global and Local Fellows—including Rafael Vilela and Harika Maddala, among others—will discuss their projects along with artists, founders, technologists, and innovative creatives working at the nexus of art, media, journalism, technology, and social impact. This year’s theme, “The Change We Want to See,” reflects the unique power of photography, visual journalism, and creative practices to drive social impact. “Images are instrumental to how we understand our world,” says Elodie Mailliet Storm, CEO of CatchLight. “Not only do they connect people emotionally to issues, they also promote deeper understanding, build trust, and spark action. I want the Summit to be a place where the global community of visual storytellers, media, and technology leaders can gather, share ideas, and push the field forward through partnership and innovation.” Speakers will include Jonas Bendiksen, Adrian Burrell, Pamela Chen, Hany Farid, Isadora Kosofsky, Lynn Johnson, Sarahbeth Maney, Anastasia Samoylova, Ashima Yadava, Alexey Yurenev. Support Real Photo Show with Michael Chovan-Dalton by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/real-photo-show

Mixed-Media Artist, Shae Detar and Michael talk about her debut monograph, Another World published by Skeleton Key Press. They take a deep dive into Shae’s process from selecting locations, inviting women to be photographed, to hand painting the final images. Shae and Michael also talk about how the book is a celebration of the female nude as well as a personal introspective look at loss and recovery from a repressive religious experience. https://www.shaedetar.com https://shaedetar.myshopify.com/collections/all SHAE DETAR is an award winning and widely published American artist who merges painting and photography to surrealistic effect. Her easily recognized work has been exhibited internationally and featured in many publications including Vogue Italia, Vogue NL, Marie Claire, Interview, i-D, VICE, Dazed, Grazia, The New Yorker, ELLE UK, Huffington Post, New York Magazine, Forbes, NYLON, Teen Vogue, Fast Company, and Refinery29. Another World is her first monograph. This podcast is sponsored by the Charcoal Book Club. A monthly subscription service for photobook enthusiasts. https://charcoalbookclub.com Support Real Photo Show with Michael Chovan-Dalton by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/real-photo-show

Alexandra Huddleston is a photographer, writer, and walking artist. Michael and Alexandra talk about her latest book, Traces of Time, walking the Jardins de l’Abbaye de la Cambre in summer, a hand-bound, limited edition artist’s book. Born in Freetown, Sierra Leone and raised in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, and Bamako, Mali, her upbringing has led her to explore landscape and culture from an international and interdisciplinary perspective. Between 2009 and 2014, she walked thousands of kilometers on pilgrimage in Spain, France, and Japan, journeys that led to her current walking art practice. She has won a Fulbright Grant, and her work is in the collections of the Smithsonian and the British Library. https://www.alexandrahuddleston.com Bonus Content: https://www.youtube.com/@realphotoshow This episode is sponsored by the Charcoal Book Club, a monthly subscription service for photobook enthusiasts. Working with the most respected names in contemporary photography, Charcoal selects and delivers essential photobooks to a worldwide community of collectors. Each month, members receive a signed, first-edition monograph and an exclusive print to add to their collections. Begin Building your dream photobook library today at Charcoalbookclub.com Alexandra Huddleston is a photographer, writer, and walking artist. Her most recent projects describe landscape as a space of dynamic change. It’s a vision gained by walking thousands of miles in the last two decades. Alexandra brings motion through time and space into her work, expressing what it’s like to be within an ever-changing landscape. Through this process, she has radically expanded how landscape is represented photographically. Alexandra’s research into the impact of walking on perceptions and depictions of landscape is conducted both independently and with the support of art organizations like Cow House Studios, Ireland and Cill Rialaig, Ireland. Between 2009 and 2014, she walked thousands of kilometres on pilgrimage in Spain, France, and Japan – solitary journeys that led to her current walking art practice. Most recently, she explored the Rurban landscape in the Netherlands during a masterclass at the Jan van Eyck Academie (2019) and photographed the project Traces of Time while an artist in resident at the Boghossian Foundation – Villa Empain (2021 Belgium). Alexandra presents her work to the public through her books, exhibitions, and lectures. Her books and prints are collected in archives around the world, including the British Library, Harvard University’s Hutchins Center Library, New York University’s Bobst Library, the Smithsonian Institution, and University of Cape Town’s Oppenheimer Library. As creative director and co-founder of the Kyoudai Press, Alexandra’s major publications include Lost Things (2012), 333 Saints: A Life of Scholarship in Timbuktu (2013), East or West (2014), Vertigo (2016), and Traces of Time (2022). Born in Freetown, Sierra Leone and raised in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, and Bamako, Mali, her upbringing has led her to explore landscape and culture from an international and interdisciplinary perspective. In 2007, she won a Fulbright Grant to research and photograph traditional Islamic scholarship in Timbuktu, Mali. Alexandra holds a Masters of Letters in Fine Art Practice from the Glasgow School of Art, Scotland. She studied broadcast and print journalism (MS) at Columbia University, USA and fine art and East Asian studies (BA) at Stanford University, USA. Support Real Photo Show with Michael Chovan-Dalton by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/real-photo-show

Today’s episode features a former student of Michael’s, Val Dagrain who is finding his way in the film and tv industry after leaving Trenton, New Jersey, and after years in the music business as a rapper. Val is working in New Orleans as a PA, a data manager, a camera assistant, and now coming full circle from his days with Michael, starting as an on-set photographer, the job he has been working towards.  https://www.instagram.com/valdagrain/ Check out the YouTube Channel for bonus content: https://www.youtube.com/@realphotoshow/videos This episode is sponsored by the Charcoal Book Club, a monthly subscription service for photobook enthusiasts. Working with the most respected names in contemporary photography, Charcoal selects and delivers essential photobooks to a worldwide community of collectors. Each month, members receive a signed, first-edition monograph and an exclusive print to add to their collections. Begin Building your dream photobook library today at Charcoalbookclub.com  Val Dagrain is a 2nd Camera Assistant / Data Manager on film sets in the Gulf Coastal regions. mostly in New Orleans, but also Houston, Austin & Jackson, MS. He is from Trenton, NJ and attended Mercer County Community College for a year before leaving to pursue a career in music. Val pivoted to being a film/tv as a crew member and has begun to work as an on-set photographer. Support Real Photo Show with Michael Chovan-Dalton by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/real-photo-show

Photographer, RIT Professor, and owner of Booksmart Studio, Eric Kunsman talks about his ongoing multi-faceted and social activist project, Felicific Calculus, Technology as a Social Marker of Race, Class, & Economics in Rochester, NY. Eric discusses how the work started and was influenced by his experiences growing up in declining steel town and later, as an adult, his family faced a dire financial crisis. Eric and Michael also talk about their connection at Mercer County Community College. https://www.erickunsman.com Bonus Content: https://youtu.be/9dZ_vpIY1gg More Vidoes about Eric’s work: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWeP6Y6BGspCNvTEOh4AN4w This episode is sponsored by the Charcoal Book Club Charcoal Book Club is the monthly subscription service for photobook enthusiasts. Working with the most respected names in contemporary photography, Charcoal selects and delivers essential photobooks to a worldwide community of collectors. Each month, members receive a signed, first-edition monograph and an exclusive print to add to their collections.   Begin Building your dream photobook library today at Charcoalbookclub.com  Eric T. Kunsman (b. 1975) was born and raised in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. While in high school, he was heavily influenced by the death of the steel industry and its place in American history. The exposure to the work of Walker Evans during this time hooked Eric onto photography. Eric had the privilege to study under Lou Draper, who became Eric’s most formative mentor. He credits Lou with influencing his approach as an educator, photographer, and contributing human being. Eric holds his MFA in Book Arts/Printmaking from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia and holds an MS in Electronic Publishing/Graphic Arts Media, BS in Biomedical Photography, BFA in Fine Art photography, all from the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. Currently, he is a photographer and book artist based out of Rochester, New York. Eric works at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) as an Assistant Professor in the Visual Communications Studies Department at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf and is an adjunct professor for the School of Photographic Arts & Sciences. Support Real Photo Show with Michael Chovan-Dalton by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/real-photo-show

Photographer and curator, Anne Immelé and Michael have a fascinating coversation about curating shows that take into account both sight and sound. We also talk about Anne’s new book, Les Jardins De Riesthal or Riesthal Gardens, a series of poetic portraits of family and landscape within a community garden that Anne tended to with her family for a period of 15 years. http://www.anneimmele.fr https://charcoalbookclub.com/collections/recent-books/products/les-jardins-de-riesthal Bonus Content: https://youtu.be/hppeViU9kaM This episode is sponsored by the Charcoal Book Club https://charcoalbookclub.com Charcoal Book Club is the monthly subscription service for photobook enthusiasts. Working with the most respected names in contemporary photography, Charcoal selects and delivers essential photobooks to a worldwide community of collectors. Each month, members receive a signed, first-edition monograph and an exclusive print to add to their collections. Anne Immelé, Ph.D, has worked as an exhibition curator, building on theoretical, committed research, since her Master’s degree in Visual Arts at the Université Laval in Quebec, Canada (1997). She analyses the spatial installation of photography and the medium of the exhibition itself. Her curatorial research stems from a Doctorate of Arts thesis, entitled "Constellations Photographiques" submitted in 2007 at the University of Strasbourg and published by Médiapop Éditions in 2015. Anne Immelé lives and works in Mulhouse. Her photographs question our relationship to the territory in its multiple dimensions: geographical, human, social but also memorial and poetic. She is the author of several books, including WIR with the philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy published by Filigrane, ou Oublie Oublie, published by Médiapop in 2021. Her photographic work is regularly exhibited. Professor at HEAR, Haute Ecole des Arts du Rhin, she co-founded in 2013 the BPM – Biennale de la photographie de Mulhouse, of which she is the artistic director and curator of certain exhibitions. Support Real Photo Show with Michael Chovan-Dalton by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/real-photo-show

In this episode of Real Photo Show with Michael Chovan-Dalton, Michael and photographer, Vanessa Winship, have a wonderful conversation about two bodies of work she made in the United States, She Dances on Jackson, published by MACK, and her most recent book, SNOW, published by Deadbeat Club. Vanessa talks about how both of these books began, the former as a proposal and the latter as an assignment. Vanessa also describes her experience of traveling around the United States and witnessing both beauty and turmoil. https://www.vanessawinship.com https://deadbeatclubpress.com/products/vanessa-winship-snow Real Photo Show is sponsored by the Charcoal Book Club, an amazing way to add to your photo book collection. https://charcoalbookclub.com Since 2005 Vanessa Winship is a member of Agence VU. After leaving Britain in 1998 she worked in long term projects in the Balkans and countries surrounding the Black Sea along with her husband, photographer George Georgiou. She is the author and subject of six photographic monographs, Schwarzes Meer (Mareverlag GmbH 2007), Sweet Nothings (Foto8/Images En Manœuvres 2008), she dances on Jackson (MACK/HCB 2013), Vanessa Winship (Fundación MAPFRE 2014), And Time Folds (MACK/Barbican 2018) Sète#19 (Le Bec en L’air / Images Singulières 2019) and a box set, Seeing the Light of Day (B-Sides Box Sets 2020) She is the recipient of a number of awards, including two World Press Photo prizes, 1998 and 2008, Sony photographer of the year, 2008, and the Henri Cartier Bresson foundation prize, 2011. She has exhibited at numerous festivals and institutions, nationally and internationally including the Barbican Art gallery in 2018, Sete, 2019, Cumbria, 2021 Her first mid-career-survey show was held at Fundación MAPFRE, Madrid, Spain, 2014. With George Georgiou she teaches a number of photography workshops, and separately as guest speaker, reviewer, curator, editor and mentor. Support Real Photo Show with Michael Chovan-Dalton by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/real-photo-show