Everyday Photography, Every Day

Photographer Jake Ricker has spent six years shooting the Golden Gate Bridge nearly every day — not as a single project, but as a daily commitment to seeing the familiar in new ways. His work isn’t just landscape or iconic structure photography: it’s an interior view of a shared landmark filtered through lived experience and constant presence.

Today we get to know Arthur Drooker, a creative photographer I first discovered with his brilliant "Conventional Wisdom" -- peering inside some niche gatherings. But today his book of 37 Views of the Golden Gate has sold out, and we look at his interesting career.

I've long been fascinated by the photographs made by Wallace "Wally" Wilson in the 1970s-1980s; he was a professor of photography at the University of Florida when I was a kid, alongside other historic faculty like Jerry Uelsmann, Evon Streetman, Doug Prince, and Todd Walker. Wilson was part of an exciting time in the history of photography, as well as being a cool example of what I would describe as "haiku photography" -- although he would never have described his work that way.

Today we're joined by John Lambert and William Loftus, successful tech professionals and excellent amateur photographers, who were recent students in Rubin's experimental "The Art of Composition -- Reimagined" workshop. The group discuss the difficult topic and what it means to be a photographer.

The great photographer Elliott Erwitt passed away last November, but we sat down with his son-in-law, the Internationally acclaimed photographer Rick Smolan, to discuss Erwitt's life and work. Few have had such a close vantage on this inspiration to so many photographers today.

Where we catch up and review some travel photography, the definition of photography, the passing of the great Elliott Erwitt, the nature of composition and other various rants.

We're joined by professor and photographic artist Ed Bateman, from the University of Utah, to discuss Rubin's issues with "pure seeing" and the 100-years debate about how much modification can you do to a photo before you change it fundamentally.

We're back and catching up on workshops, lessons from the summer, Rubin's new camera and, of course, Suzanne's hat.

Rubin and Suzanne sit down with emerging Canadian landscape photographer Jason Pettit to unpack how—after only a handful of years behind the camera—he’s already producing quietly powerful, introspective work. Pettit, who lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario, describes his photographs as “emotional equivalents” of his own life; he wants viewers to feel nature rather than simply see it. Drawing inspiration from masters like Minor White, Guy Tal, Eliot Porter and others, he explains how slowing down, working close to home and embracing “border seasons” (those ambiguous weeks between autumn and winter or winter and spring) let him translate subtle landscapes into metaphors for the human condition.

Nina and Rubin meet in Paris and go shooting. Rubin's haiku book is finished and Nina's Duologues book is ready for pre-orders! It's a fun catch up with Welch-Kling! Nina and Rubin discuss their approaches to photography and techniques they use to create meaningful images. They discuss pairing or juxtaposing images to create a story or narrative; They discuss the importance of a shift in scale and the role of adding "magic" or a personal touch to their images. The conversation touches on the theme of transforming everyday life and ordinary objects into something special through the photographer's interpretation and vision.

The hottest topic in AI is the new "art" creation tool called Dall-E, and after a few weeks of falling down the rabbit hole playing in this new world, and considering the implications on photography (as well as illustration) our hosts invite domain expert Dr. Aaron Hertmann--from Adobe's research team--to explore Dall-E and other aspects of computational photography.

As Rubin explores the world of photo fairs, industry leader Chris Davies takes us into Photo Independent, Paris Photo and NFTs. A must-listen episode for photographers starting to sell their work.

On this Memorial Day Weekend show, Suzanne and Rubin get familiar with the twisting photographic journey of LA architectural photographer Elizabeth Daniels. From her unusual college application (which resonates for Rubin) involving Annie Liebowitz, to her friendships and mentorship from many of the great, this is a fun episode!

Suzanne and Rubin dig into the meaning of "the decisive moment" and how important the concept is for amateur photographers. And then they talk about sculpture.

A spontaneous gathering with Anne Kelly (of PhotoEye) and photographer and professor Bateman. Ed Bateman teaches at the University of Utah and has been a long-time explorer of time, creativity, photographs and history.

Our hosts catch up after a Covid holiday and dig into Rubin's struggles with "pure seeing" photography, as different from inorganic, studio, photographic creations.

Sternburg's book of Los Angeles during the lockdown, "I've Been Walking," was just released in the US, so we sat down to hear about the moments that have lead here and her work.

Rubin and Suzanne go over the application of Zen Arts to learning photography, particularly for beginners, and how his workshop has become one of the more popular online courses at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops. There's an intersection of haiku and photography, that once understood, will completely shift the way you take and look at pictures.

She builds her cameras. She closes her eyes when she shoots. Susan Burnstine is processing her dreams into haunting and beautiful images--a fascinating photographer. Meet her.