Real Photo Show with Michael Chovan-Dalton

Part 1 of 2 of my conversations with presenters at the CatchLight Visual Storytelling Summit April 19-20, 2022 at the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco. In part 1 I speak with Mabel Jiménez and Josué Rivas about their then upcoming presentation on who gets to tell the story and how the story is made. We preview the talk and also speak about their own work and experiences in the documentary storytelling world. The summit was recorded and will be posted at https://www.catchlight.io/2022-visual-storytelling-summit This episode covers the following panel: Photojournalism’s Ethical Question: Who Gets to Tell a Community’s Story? With Mabel Jiménez x Felix Uribe x Yesica Prado x Josué Rivas CatchLight Local Fellows Yesica Prado and Felix Uribe alongside CatchLight Local California Visual Desk Editor Mabel Jiménez and CatchLight Global Fellow Josué Rivas dive into the nuances of how to work ethically and collaboratively in communities, particularly those that are disproportionately impacted by crisis. Jiménez will also discuss her work as an SFAC Artist in Residence at SF’s COVID Command Center, which provided unique access to the city’s disaster service workers, COVID-19 response/prevention efforts and mutual aid during the crisis—enabling her to document a crisis, up close. The conversation will be moderated by CatchLight Global Fellow, Josué Rivas—Founder of INDÍGENA, Standing Strong Project, and Co-Founder of Indigenous Photograph. 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. www.charcoalbookclub.com Mabel Jiménez (pronouns she/her) is an independent photographer and reporter based in San Francisco. Being raised in Tijuana, 15 minutes from the Mexico/U.S. border, themes of biculturalism and immigration have influenced her photographic and journalistic work. She has documented San Francisco’s Latino community since 2008 and is the former Photo Editor for El Tecolote bilingual newspaper, where she continues as a regular contributor. During her seven-year tenure in the position, she created, produced and curated a yearly group photography exhibition showcasing the newspaper’s best photojournalism. https://www.mabeljimenez.com Josué Rivas HE (Mexica/Otomi) is a creative director, visual storyteller, and educator working at the intersection of art, journalism, and social justice. His work aims to challenge the mainstream narrative about Indigenous peoples, build awareness about issues affecting Native communities across Turtle Island, and be a visual messenger for those in the shadows of our society. He is a 2017 Magnum Foundation Photography and Social Justice Fellow, founder of the Standing Strong Project, co-founder of Natives Photograph and winner of the 2018 FotoEvidence Book Award with World Press Photo. https://www.josuerivasfoto.com

Photographer Alanna Airitam and I have a fabulous conversation about how she left the corporate world, taught herself photography, and how it may have saved her life. We talk about Alanna's breakout work, The Golden Age, and the process by which anger, frustration, and responding to injustice inspires her to make beautiful and important imagery.   The Golden Age is showing at the Center for Creative Photography starting April 2022. Link below.   https://www.alannaairitam.com https://www.instagram.com/alannaairitam/ https://ccp.arizona.edu/events/3696-alanna-airitam-golden-age   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. www.charcoalbookclub.com   Questioning generalized stereotypes and the lack of fair representation of Black people in art spaces has led photographer Alanna Airitam to research critical historical omissions and how those contrived narratives represent and influence succeeding generations. Her portraits, self-portraits, and vanitas still life photography in series such as The Golden Age, Crossroads, White Privilege, Colonized Foods, Ghosts, and individual works such as Take a Look Inside and How to Make a Country ask the viewer to question the stories of history and heritage we were taught to believe.   Alanna was named on the 2021 Silver List as one of 47 exciting contemporary photographers to follow. She is a 2020 San Diego Art Prize winner and recipient of the 2020 Michael Reichmann Project Grant Award. Her photographs have been exhibited at Catherine Edelman Gallery in Chicago, Art Miami with Catherine Edelman, San Diego Art Institute, Pentimenti Gallery in Philadelphia, Colorado Photographic Arts Center in Denver, and Candela Gallery in Richmond, Virginia. Her work has been acquired for the Virginia Museum of Fine Art’s collection and three prints from The Golden Age were recently added to the Center for Creative Photography’s permanent collection. Airitam has been elected Board Member and led workshops and mentorships for Oakwood Arts and a Board Member for Medium Photo she was the Juror of the 2021 Black Photographers Scholarship Program for Medium Photo, and a Curator/Juror for the MFA Photography Reviews. Born in Queens, New York, Airitam now resides in Tucson, Arizona.

Photographer Rick Schatzberg and I talk about his book, The Boys published by powerHouse Books. It's a book about mortality, vulnerability, and resilience. It reminisces about the lives of 14 men now in their 60's who all grew up as friends on Long Island, including Rick, and the project started when two of the men died within a year of each other.   https://rickschatzberg.com   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. www.charcoalbookclub.com   Rick Schatzberg s a photographer living and making work in Brooklyn, New York and Norfolk, Connecticut. He received his MFA in Photography from the University of Hartford in 2018. Rick holds a degree from Columbia University in Anthropology (1978), played French horn with Cecil Taylor’s jazz ensemble in 1970s, and was a business executive and entrepreneur in the New York metropolitan area for many years. In 2015 he completed a one-year certificate program at the International Center of Photography. In the same year, his first monograph, Twenty Two North (self-published), was awarded first prize at Australia’s Ballarat Foto International Biennale. His second monograph, The Boys, was published in 2020 by powerHouse Books.

Photographer, Chrystofer Davis and I talk about the different decisions and influences in his life that lead him to photography and how he had to diverge from the family tradition of going into medicine. We also talk about the mission he is on to represent Newark, New Jersey in a way that shows the city is more than what we get reported by the media and Chrystofer previews a new book that he is working on. https://www.chrysdavis.co https://www.instagram.com/dolo_foto https://twitter.com/Dolo_Foto/ 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. www.charcoalbookclub.com Chrystofer Davis is a Newark, NJ native and 11-year fine art photographer, teaching artist, & filmmaker, whose work is influenced by street/portrait photography and contemporary culture. During the course of Chrystofer's career he has worked, collaborated, and showcased with world-renowned companies and celebrities, in addition to hosting seminars and lectures. These feats include Michelle Obama, New York Magazine, Leica Camera, Puma, Urban Outfitters, Daymond John of Shark Tank, MTV, Vogue Italia, Rutgers University, and B&H, to name a few. Peerspace quoted him as one of “The 5 Best Fine Art Photographers in Newark”. His works are currently archived in prominent institutions such as The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The Newark Public Library, The Thomas J. Watson Library at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Bronx Museum. As a teaching artist, he is currently using his expertise to facilitate workshops to show the importance of keeping film and developing alive; as well as documenting the many faces and architecture of Newark, NJ.

Patrice Helmar and John O'Toole join me to talk about the Marble Hill Camera Club entering its sixth year. When the pandemic hit Patrice had to figure out how to keep the much beloved photography open mic night going. In collaboration with John M. O'Toole of Oranbeg Press, they landed on shorter virtual evenings with free e-zines for every guest available to everyone. We talk about the past, present, and future of MHCC and the importance of collaboration and generosity when providing platforms for others.   https://www.marblehillcameraclub.com https://oranbegpress.com https://patricehelmar.com https://johnmotoole.com   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. www.charcoalbookclub.com   Patrice Aphrodite Helmar is an artist who was born in Juneau, Alaska. She worked in her father's small town camera shop and darkroom growing up, and continues to work in photography. Her work has been shown at the Jewish Museum, Ortega Y Gasset Projects, Gaa Gallery, and the National Museum of Iceland as well as other spaces. Helmar is currently a Visiting Associate Professor at the Pratt Institute and living and working in Juneau, Alaska and New York, NY.    John M. O’Toole was born in Boston, MA and lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. A photographer, writer, bookmaker, and founder of Oranbeg Press, his work explores the concept of familial roots through the lens of his Irish heritage.    He received his BFA from Syracuse University in 2011 and received his MFA from the Image text program at Ithaca College in 2018 as the inaugural class of the program.

I catch up with photographer and professor, Tony Chirinos about his first monograph, The Precipice published by Gnomic Book.   https://www.tonychirinos.com https://gnomicbook.com/collections/books/products/the-precipice   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. www.charcoalbookclub.com   From Gnomic Book: The Precipice is the summation of nearly two decades spent working as a biomedical photographer in Miami. Chirinos threads the needle between the sometimes delicate, often brutal world of surgical intervention. The book is separated into three main bodies: surgical photographs of living subjects; vibrant typologies of exquisitely photographed tools; and the journey to the afterlife. The Precipice draws back the curtain to a world which most of us never see, where human fragility and resilience coexist in an uneasy equilibrium.   Featuring essays by Michelle Otero and Eugenie Shinkle, and a poem by Claudia Isidron, The Precipice is simultaneously lyrical and bleak, a celebration of life and an unflinching observation of what follows.

Thank you everyone for listening to the show and I hope we have a healthier New Year. -Michael (My apologies if this episode showed up twice. I had a corrupted audio file.)

Karen Marshall is a documentary photographer and Chair of the Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism Program at ICP. We talk about her recent book, Between Girls published by Kehrer Verlag. The project started in 1985 when Karen began photographing a group of teenagers in New York City. A decade older than them, her intent was to look at the emotional bonding that happens between girls at age 16 and document the emblematic relationships that often develop at this time in their lives. 10 months into the project Molly Brover, Karen' first and closest connection in this project, was killed while on vacation and the project became more than its original idea. Between Girls is a 30 year long visual story of the lives of the core group of friends that started with Molly Brover. http://www.karenmarshallphoto.com 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. - www.charcoalbookclub.com Karen Marshall is a documentary photographer whose work examines the psychological lives of her subjects within the social landscape. Her photographs have appeared in numerous publications including The New York Times Magazine, the London Sunday Times, The Atlantic, New York Magazine, NPR Picture Show, GUP Magazine, and PDN. Marshall is the recipient of artist fellowships and sponsorships through the New York Foundation for the Arts, as well as grants and support from private foundations. Her photographs have been widely exhibited internationally and are part of several collections, including the Feminist Artbase at the Brooklyn Museum. Karen Marshall is Chair of the Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism program at the International Center of Photography in New York City.

Chris Facey is a documentary and portrait photographer. We talk about his three current projects, #DadDutyProject, which focuses on debunking the myth of absentee fathers in the Black and Brown community, Being Careful: Carrying More Than A Burden, where he hopes to bring awareness and change to the safety concerns of women, and Tale of Two Pandemics: Racism and Covid-19 which has been published in different forms in The New Yorker, New York Magazine, and The New York Times. Chris and I also talk about how he started photographing while serving in the army at Fort Drum, his decision to attend the School of Visual Arts, and how almost all of his decisions revolve around being a role model for his children. https://www.cocobuttershutter.com 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. www.charcoalbookclub.com About Chris Facey Chris Facey (b.1990) is a photojournalist and portrait photographer raised in Brooklyn, NY and currently resides in Raleigh, NC. Chris has the ability to create images that are powerful yet tender. Inspired by the works of Gordon Parks and W. Eugene Smith, he documents communities with a softness and allows space for emotional depth, while still covering hard hitting issues such as the racial injustices in civil rights to Women's Safety in New York City. With both vigor and a trained eye, Chris has been making work centering around the Black community throughout his career. Being a father himself, Chris has been working on his #DadDutyProject, which focuses on debunking the myth of absentee fathers in the Black and Brown community as well as his " Being Careful: Carrying More Than A Burden" project, where he hopes to bring awareness and change to the lack of Women Safety. A School of Visual Arts BFA graduate and an Army veteran, Chris is on a strong path to success with his photo documentary projects which has landed him opportunities to be featured in publications such as The New Yorker, New York Magazine , The Cut & The New York Times. He is currently available for assignments

Photographer and poet, Nat Ward returns to the show to talk about three of his latest projects. Nat created his first monograph in 2020 titled Big Throat, published by Kris Graves Projects. His web collaboration with Ben Alper, A New Nothing, was published as a three volume series each one curated by three different artists, John Pilson, Dan Paz, and S*ean D. Henry-Smith, published by Sleeper Studio. And Nat's photography and poetry are included in a recently published book, Return to the Field, edited by Gabriel Kruis and Martha Tuttle and published by Wendy's Subway. https://nat-ward.com --- https://www.krisgravesprojects.com/book/bigthroat --- https://sleeper.studio/ANN --- https://www.printedmatter.org/catalog/59044 --- 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. www.charcoalbookclub.com --- Nat Ward is a photographer based in Brooklyn, NY. He received his MFA from Columbia University in 2013 and was a resident in the Sharpe Wallentas Studio Program from 2015-16. He has exhibited internationally since 2008 with work in exhibitions presented by The Jewish Museum, Rail Curatorial Projects, and The Tel Aviv International Photography Festival. Ward’s practice takes form in books and large-scale, multi-image installations that explore the fictive potential of visual narrative sprawl. He is also the co-creator of the photographic online project space “A New Nothing.