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.

For over 40 years Photo-Eye has been an institution of the photographic arts. Their bookstore and gallery is the stuff of legend. We sat down with Anne Kelly to get the scoop on their history, finding new talent, NFTs (!) and the changing nature of photography.

His roster of portraits is amazing--but his career path is inspiring. Meet Jeff Lipsky, who went from Telluride ski bum to Hollywood photographer.

Her classic portraits of stars like Madonna and Prince have been popular from The Village Voice, Rolling Stone, People to book covers and movie posters--spend some time meeting the delightful Deborah Feingold.

Our first guest of the season is Reid Callanan, the founder and director of the distinguished Santa Fe Photo and Writing Workshops.

Where Susan and Rubin catch up briefly on photography and geography, and Rubin debriefs on his first Zen Arts Workshops.

A self-described "blue collar" photographer, Burkard's photos are some of the most beautiful and amazing wilderness images we've ever seen. His work ethic is legend, as his dedication to the environment. His photos, films, books and course are all part of his mission to educate as many people as he can about the wonders he sees on Earth. Meet Chris and be inspired.

For more than 40 years, Shapiro has been the dealer's dealer -- an expert on midcentury modernism (and partner to the Rubin family in developing our historic collection), we spend some time this episode discussing Robert Frank, Man Ray, Kertesz, Cartier-Bresson and the importance of prints.

Norma is a fine art photographer whose home—including her art collection, her own analog work, and her camera collection—burned in the Napa fires of 2017. In this episode we discuss the fire and her intimate work.

It's the start of Season 3 and we're warming up, catching up, talking about new projects and my Santa Fe Workshop class with Jason Langer. But yeah, also the fires around Santa Cruz and the real challenges of taking photos of this.

Maggie Taylor is a fine art photographer who transitioned from creating real-world still-life collages into being a master of Photoshop photo montages. Her whimsical creations have been called surreal, but her humor makes them more "quirky".

In which Suzanne and Rubin review their thoughts on Kertesz and her home project and generally catch up.

Andre Kertesz had a long and multi-faceted career producing some of the most iconic, modern, and often enigmatic photos in history. His influence is profound, and it was a pleasure to sit down today with Robert Gurbo, curator of the Kertesz estate and domain expert on this fascinating photographer.

Peter Fetterman offers rich insights into photography collecting and being collected, and the sheer magic in great photographs. As one of the pre-eminent gallerists of photography for decades, his delightful personal tales about the artists is a joy. “What is a photo? I see an image… and i am changed by it; I’m incredibly moved by it. I’m haunted by it. I have to possess it. I learn something from it. I breathe it. I want it to be inside me. That’s a photo to me.” -- Peter Fetterman

Here's a short episode where we go over a few projects you can do at home, with no supplies but a phone, and practice key skills that will make your pictures better.

It's hard to think about photography in Santa Cruz without discovering Shmuel Thaler, the leading photojournalist at the Santa Cruz Sentinel. He's been documenting the community since the late 1980s: from earthquakes and fires, to surfers and dancers—the fabric and heart of the town.

Jeff Carlson has written an astonishing array of books over his career, explaining a range of creative and technical topics—perhaps 20 of them related to photography. His newest book on Luminar4 is out this week, so it seemed a great time to say hi and hear what driving him!

I'd never heard the term "rhyme" used so perfectly to describe a visual experience before... but the wonderful pairings NYC photographer Nina Kling are delightful, mysterious, and enormously satisfying.

Angelica Glass decided on a whim to walk the length of every street in the county of Santa Cruz. Over the course of five and a half years, she walked all of the 4,121 streets in the county. After that, she continued the project in the form of walking every trail in the county. She took photos on each street and chose one to represent each street/trail and through this project fell in love with photography.

It's a bleak time for many, and insane stress for us all -- but there are a few advantages to being forced to stay in. Rubin has converted Neomodern.com from a retail business to a free program of projects to build people's photographic skills: not tech skills but creative ones. Using the content from his Zen Arts curriculum, he's posting daily projects designed to help folks stuck at home.

Rubin formally declares his upcoming book for beginners and pros -- finding a philosophical foundation for his disparate feelings about creative picture taking: the Zen Arts. There are lessons from haiku, kintsugi, enso, ikebana, bonsai and origami (and the principles of wabi-sabi) if you know how to find them. Not how to use photography to practice zen, but how to use zen arts to get better at photography! His recent Petapixel article on the subject is discussed, as is a pair of workshops in San Francisco in March.

In this episode Suzanne grills Rubin on a recent shoot he did that he described as unusually good--what would make one shoot notably different or better than the hundreds that have gone before? Rubin discusses his improvisational approach and digs into some of the issues of being a hetrosexual man who frequently photographs women.

After Rubin's Petapixel essay went viral a few weeks ago, he's been digging into photographic fundamentals; Suzanne and Rubin dig into the ways we compose and how it interacts with our basic tendencies. The show is practically therapy.

Our first anonymous guest, who has a day job in Silicon Valley, but has an alter ego, Foto-Kammer, who shoots luscious landscapes and nudes, and whose work explores the natural harmony of humans in the landscape.

After a career as a fine art nude model, Shiva Sharifi today photographs nude and boudoir as well as organizes workshops to introduce photographers to this specialty, coordinating models and students in great settings. She has a wealth of experiences on both sides of the camera in this domain.

It's the 99th episode, and Suzanne and Rubin catch up on holiday events, the state of their photography, and Neomodern's current Kickstarter project for a new kind of photographer's frame.

It's our New Years Show and we're joined by photographer and professor Stephan Sheffield. He describes his whimsical and noirish "selfies" as "more fun than deep" -- still his "Everyman" photos are a curious exploration of photographic storytelling. He's also turned his photographic work into a family project with his young sons. He has some thoughts for new photographers...

For almost 8 years, "This Week in Photo" (TWIP) has been the go-to podcast for photo enthusiasts, lead by industry (and real) veteran Fred Van Johnson. Fred was not only a conflict photographer for the military, but later had stints at Yahoo, Apple and Adobe.

Nate Luebbe is a commercial photographer who specializes in the wilderness. He has made a career out of going hiking and skiing and camping—with his camera—and by all accounts, is living the life. How does a guy go from the beer industry to professional photographer, shooting auroras in Norway and teaching classes across the country?

Suzanne gets a preview of a rare Rubin show, with prints from four of his favorite projects: Nudes, San Francisco, Tikun Olam, and Alcatraz Windows. And somewhere in the conversation they're joined by Lorna Rubin, mother, publisher, and conspirator in the creation of the Rubin Photographic Collection, which she discusses, along with her parenting tips.

Schatz walked away from a successful career as a doctor to pursue his dream of being an artist, and he's never looked back. Schatz' work over the years as a studio photographer has thoughtfully drilled into a number of creative themes -- from "redheads" to "homeless", "powerful women" to "the shape of the NFL." Meet the former ophthalmologist on his visit to San Francisco this week.