Vision Slightly Blurred

After 139 episodes over 3 years, we're wrapping up PhotoShelter's Vision Slightly Blurred podcast. It has been a joy to talk about the intersection of photography, technology and culture and share those thoughts with you, our audience.In this final episode: Andre D. Wagner is awarded the Gordon Parks Foundation Fellowship, Jonathan Blaustein shares his knowledge of the photo book publishing process, Michael Luo finds photo surveillance of Chinese immigrants in the 19th century, Gabriel Sanchez starts a new photo blog, New York Nico photographs some of NYC's best signs, and Sarah and Allen wax nostalgic. Thanks to everyone for listening!

During COVID with little work to be had, Joe McNally hunkered down to write a book that's part memoir, part business instruction, and part technical manual entitled "The Real Deal: Field Notes from the Life of a Working Photographer." After a four decade long freelance career, Joe brings a refreshingly candid point-of-view along with an entertaining writing style. In this episode of Vision Slightly Blurred, Sarah and Allen discuss the book and Allen's interview with Joe.Also: AI Engineer Rashed Haq pushes the definition of "photograph" in Wired, Dimitry Kokh captures a family of polar bears at an abandoned weather station, Miami University sets up an automated photo booth in its career center, and surf photographers capture the massive waves of winter.

Although PDN magazine folded in early 2020, its parent company, Emerald, rechristened the list of up-and-coming photographers as "The 30." This past week, the 2022 edition was released, and as always, the nominating committee and jury did a spectacular job identifying and highlighting some of the industry's most promising talent.In this episode of Vision Slightly Blurred, Sarah and Allen talk about some of their favorite photographers, and compare the look-and-feel of the 2012 edition to see what has changed in the past decade.Also: Satellites and cellphones capture the devastation caused by the undersea volcano in Tonga, writer Caspar Salmon wonders why "hot man in a suit in a pool" is a thing, and Kanye West hires a photographer to document his date with actress Julia Fox.

Still think NFTs are some fringe idea? Yesterday the Associated Press announced that it will start selling NFTs of some of its iconic images at the end of the month. What will the market bear for photojournalism NFTs? Only time will tell.Also in this episode: Getty Images recaps some of its photographers work on the anniversary of the January 6 Insurrection, Reuter's Leah Mills does the same on Twitter, NYC Mayor Eric Adams shares an portrait of his mom in a brandy snifter, Greg Miller has a new photo podcast, Instagram is testing chronological feeds, and the James Webb Space Telescope has successfully deployed its mirrors which will allow it to take the best space images EVER.

The end of the year means photo compilations, and Sarah and Allen go through some of their favorites from the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times with work by Allen Schaben, Francine Orr, Marcus Yam, Kent Nishimura, Wally Skald, Jay L. Clendenin, Ashley Gilbertson, Brenda Ann Kenneally, Sergey Ponomarev, Ryan Christopher Jones, Kholook Eid, Sandy Kim, Adam Ferguson, Kenny Houston, Michael Cialgo and more!Plus Instagram allows users to prevent embedding, and Lina Scheynius wonders why Instagram allows her images to be stolen. Happy Holidays, and here's to a better 2022!

If given the chance to go to space, most photographers would probably gear up. But Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa visited the International Space Station with his iPhone, and still got some stunning images and footage in the process. The best camera is the one you have with you? Also in this episode, photojournalist David Butow chronicles the Trump presidency from election to insurrection in his book "Brink," Mary Berridge captures portraits of autism in "Visible Spectrum," Getty Images gets ready to go public (again), Instagram suspends the @metaverse account of artist Thea-Mai Baumann, and Cook and Jenshel capture a gorgeous photo of the Bryant Park Ice Rink in the New Yorker.

Our first ever live taping of Vision Slightly Blurred features one of our favorite photographers. Longtime National Geographic photographer Jim Richardson held court on Friday, Dec 3 as several hundred viewers joined online. In this episode, Jim talks about how he used Instagram to engage his audience during the COVID lockdown, his recent collaboration with The Grand Rapids Symphony performing Felix Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture, the controversy surrounding the Environmental Photographer of the Year, and Twitter's new privacy policy.

HBO's "A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks" shares its name with Parks' 1996 autobiography, and although much of the movie creates a visually stunning narrative of major milestones in his life, the documentary also covers the lives of photographers and directors inspired by his work. Devin Allen, Jamel Shabbaz, Latoya Ruby Frasier, Spike Lee, Ana Duvernay, Adger Cowans and more share how their work and relationships with Parks shaped their work. Allen and guest host Caitlyn Edwards discuss this and more including: "Afghan Girl" Sharbat Gula is relocated to Italy and we go down a rabbit hole of controversy surround McCurry's image, Instagram censors Madonna's nipple, and photographers capture the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

While most ex-Presidents opt for lengthy memoirs, Donald Trump decided on a photo book as the first post-White House tome. A new publishing company formed by his son, Donald Trump Jr, will start selling "President Trump's Official Photo Book" starting next month for $74.99.Also on the show: we celebrate the lives of photojournalist Tom Stoddart and music photographer Mick Rock – both of whom passed away in the past week, Allen interviews Shaun Connell and Nana Kofi Acquah about the winning photo from the Environmental Photographer of the Year, and Leica and Vans team up to produce a checkerboard camera.Happy Thanksgiving!

Dina Litovsky built a career on observing candid moments of various subcultures – with some of her best work taken candidly on the streets of New York. A few weeks after a photo taken by one of her former students, Paul Kessel, caused a ruckus on Twitter, Litovsky chimed in on the subject while also referencing two past articles on the subject of ethics and the legality of street photography.In this episode of Vision Slightly Blurred, Sarah and Allen continue the discussion of photography and ethics.Also: Drew Gurian reveals how he captured Yo-Yo Ma for MasterClass and Aperture and  Paris Photo announced their photo book awards.

In her book "Sovereign," photographer Jocelyn Lee captures the female nude. But instead of the platonic ideal typically captured in the genre, Lee spent 15 years photographing women between 50 and 90 years old with care and compassion. The result is an incredibly compelling and unique body of work.Also in the show: Facebook removes facial recognition from its platform, ART CINEMA asked artists about the one photo that helped shape their work, and the AP's Emilio Morenatti photographs the surreal beauty of the volcanic ash covered landscape of La Palma.

In 1981, Parsons Institute of Design student Lori Grinker set out to document a small slice of boxing history unfolding at legendary trainer Cus D'Amato's home in the Catskill. A 13-year old Mike Tyson was training to become a world champion, and Grinker's timing couldn't have been any better.For a decade, Grinker captured the rise and fall of Tyson, forging a friendship along the way with the shy teen who ascended to the top of the heavyweight division at 20 years old, until his first professional loss at the hands of Buster Douglas in 1991.A set of images is now being sold through the curated design site 1stdibs alongside a forthcoming book "Mike Tyson: 1981-1991". Also in the show: Hannah Morales' stunning photos of whale sharks in the Philippines, Frank Herbert captures the weird and eye-catching design of Russian subway stations, Allen places an order for the new Nikon Z9, and a photo of a owl chick is the most popular post on Facebook.

Ethan Moses – purveyor of 3D printed cameras at Cameradactyl – spent the last few weeks in NYC teaching a color reversal printing process using a self-designed and built 20"x24" large format camera. And Vision Slightly Blurred co-host Allen Murabayashi has the prints to prove it. It's a magical process that uses standard RA4 photographic paper and some chemical wizardry to produce a negative-less, one-of-a-kind print. Also in the show: The New York Times names staff photographer Josh Haner as its Photo Futurist, and Fujifilm releases a wireless Instax Wide printer.

The 2021 Milan Photo Festival catalog includes a group exhibition by students at the Istituto Italiano Fotografia on the topic of Dante's Inferno. One of the students, Andrea Sacchetti, produced an image that is virtually identical to a well-known image by Ethiopian artist Aïda Muluneh without attribution.After @AFWomeninPhoto tweeted about the plagiarism, photo Twitter shook its collective head in dismay, and the Festival issued a statement that "here was no will to plagiarize against such a prestigious author." Nevertheless, Sacchetti's images remain in the exhibition. Muluneh subsequently issued a video response in which she stated "Just because there’s been one post shared and a couple of messages sent, it’s not the end of the conversation."Also in the show: Nicola Dove captures Daniel Craig in his final outing as James Bond in "No Time to Die" and you can support the rebuilding of South Louisiana following the destruction of Hurricane Ida through PhotographsForLouisiana.com

An image of a young mother in a short dress on a New York City subway raised ethical questions and the ire of some commentators on Twitter. Some found the "award-winning" photo to be stunning, while others questioned the photographer's methods – sitting across from the woman for 45 minutes while holding his camera on his lap.Unlike the conversation around "newsworthy" images and the First Amendment, street photography often occupies a much creepier and ethically ambiguous space. But what exactly made this image so objectionable? Sarah and Allen discuss.Also on the show: Emily Ratajkowski tries using the Fair Use defense in her copyright infringement suit, World Press Photo shifts to a regional model, and photographer/director Joshua Kissi says LinkedIn is the real social network for pros.

Magnum photographer Jonas Bendiksen was troubled by potential for photographers to fabricate a story and photos from scratch using technology and social media to propagate a false narrative. He was so frightened that he "decided to try to to this myself."The Book of Veles was a conceptual exercise built from background plates photographed in Northern Macedonia and computer generated people. No one in the photojournalism industry seemed to notice, and Bendiksen was even offered an evening presentation at Visa Pour L'Image. But an eagle-eyed Benjamin Chesterton (@duckrabbitblog) spotted a social media avatar that matched one of the subjects in the book, and the intentionally deceptive tale unraveled.In this episode of Vision Slightly Blurred, Sarah and Allen discuss the reaction to the project and the ethical lines that it crosses.In addition: Paul Ratje's misinterpreted images of Haitian migrants on the US/Mexico border, Instagram postponed the launch of Instagram Kids, and the New York Public Library keeps its image collection open for public browsing.

60 years in the making, Christo's Wrapped Arc de Triomphe opened over the weekend – thrilling Parisians with the artist's first posthumous piece since his death in 2020.  But the installation will only be on display until October 3, after which the pieces will be struck and recycled. Like all of Christo's works, the art lives on in sketches, plans, and photos. In this episode of Vision Slightly Blurred, Sarah and Allen discuss the role of photography in ephemeral art and compare other works by Ai Wei Wei and Banksy.Also on the show, Photoville celebrates The New York Times staff photographer Michelle Agins, Facebook knows Instagram is toxic, and Sebastian Salgado wins the Premium Imperiale 2021 award.

With the benefit of two decades of hindsight, Sarah and Allen re-examine the "iconic" photos from September 11 and talk about the need for photographers to re-share their images and experiences with others. In the episode, we look at photos from Steven Pyke, Aristede Economopoulos, Stan Honda, James Nachtwey, Suzanne Plunkett, Shannon Stapleton, Robert Clark, Alex Webb, Richard Drew, Robert Clark and more.

Simu Liu, the Chinese-Canadian actor who stars in Marvel's latest blockbuster, revealed that he was once paid $100 to be a stock photo model. Since that single photo shoot in 2014, Liu says he has seen himself on ads hawking everything from software to YMCA memberships. His advice: Think twice before doing a stock photo shoot.Also in the show: Adam Ferguson documents climate change for TIME over the course of 5 weeks, more and more photographers are publishing newsletters using tools like Substack and Facebook's Bulletin, Facebook apologizes for comparing Black men to primates, and Apple puts its child safety features on pause after experts weigh in.

In late June 2021, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri declared that the service was no longer a photo sharing app, and that the team was focused on "Creators, Video, Shopping and Messaging." While most of the world shrugged, some photographers expressed outrage at what seemed like a betrayal of the medium that put them on the map. In this episode of Vision Slightly Blurred, Sarah and Allen discuss the implications for photographers and whether  Glass – a new, subscription-based photo sharing app – can fill the void.Also: Ed Templeton photographers Jonah Hill for GQ, and Professor Michael Lesy goes nostalgic with found photos from the 1970s.