Larissa Leclair interviews Joni Sternbach on Surfland

Photography writer, curator, and writer Larissa Leclair has recently published a great interview with Joni Sternbach about her series Surfland.

Lili Along

Head over to powerHouse to read an interview with photographer Lili Along.

Lalla Essaydi

Head to www.lagendagolfe.com to read an interview with artist Lalla Essaydi.

Emily Shur on Too Much Chocolate

© Emily Shur

One of our participating artists in our Conversations series and our upcoming group show, Emily Shur, was recently interviewed by Jake Stangel of Too Much Chocolate. I think it's a great interview to read for those just out of college or those trying to figure out what route to take. I'm really glad we have her to participate in our Volume I book and exhibition in May.

Wager # 3

Wager #3 Santa Barbara Burning © April Gertler

Head over to www.wager-avg.blogspot.com to see & read about April's latest work offered. And stay tuned for our upcoming interview with April on January 15, 2009.

Portfolio Reviewer's Advice

This isn't particularly just for women in photography but for all photographers that attend portfolio reviews. Andrew Hetherington of Whats the Jackanory interviewed photo editor/consultant, Stella Kramer about what to expect out of reviews.

It's always a great to hear criticism from an outsider's point of view whether it sometimes is helpful or not. I've come away with some good and bad reviews, and the worst are when reviewers have nothing to say. So, be sure to speak up and ask!

Ground Glass Interview

Head over to Ground Glass for a very thoughtful intro & interview by Cara Phillips with artist Jesse Chehak.

Amanda Marsalis

Amanda Marsalis, who participated in the second Nymphoto exhibit, has a fantastic eye. Her grasp of light and colors is superb and her images make you want to travel the world.

Watch Amanda talk about her photography here:




courtesy www.brightcove.tv

A Conversation with Sonja Thomsen

© Sonja Thomsen

I'm not sure how I came across the work of Sonja Thomsen. The credit most likely goes to some brilliant blogger. Every time we get a 'yes' on an interview request, all of us at Nymphoto are psyched. We think of it like a gift from the artist and each time, without fail, we discover another outstanding person & artist. And this week is no different.

Sonja Thomsen has a passion for teaching and comes from an socially engaged & culturally aware family. Like many artist she cares about nature and people. Theology and biology interest her both. Her interest & curiosity manifests in her imagery. Sonja Thomsen's work is beautiful, complex and straightforward -- simultaneously, just like life.

© Sonja Thomsen

Nymphoto: Tell us about yourself:

Sonja Thomsen:About me -- Just turned 30 and I am currently living and teaching in Milwaukee Wisconsin my hometown. I was born in Chicago IL, grew up in Milwaukee WI. I studied at Kenyon College in small Gambier OH and received a BA in Biology and Studio Art. After about six months working post undergrad it was clear to me that I wanted to further my art education and I was applying to grad school. I spent three years at

the San Francisco Art Institute, completing a post baccalaureate certificate and my MFA. In grad school I began to pay more attention to water - at the oceans edge, in the dense San Francisco fog and in the small waters in the east bay - developing a fixation with it. Today, working with elements such as water and oil I am further exploring my fascination with natural phenomena. Convergence at the surface – my work is interested in the subtlety of perception. My new video and installation work explores the imperceptible/sacred in the commonplace.

I am an adjunct faculty at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design teaching photography to undergraduate students and in adult education, www.miad.edu. I am passionate about teaching, feeling fortunate to have the opportunity to talk about art making everyday.

The community that I was a part of in San Francisco and the conversation about art making were challenging things to leave. Upon returning to Milwaukee, in order to try and promote a sense of community and dialogue in my midwestern town I was pleased to help found the Coalition of Photographic Arts with a group of local photographers. I was the president of the new found organization for three years, in that time we were able to; bring artists, Alec Soth, David Goldes, Sally Gall, Brian Ulrich and Jen Davis to Milwaukee for lectures; create 5 regional photography exhibitions; develop programming for member education and networking. In those three years the organization grew from 45 founding members to the 180+ members, making an impact in the conversation about contemporary photography throughout the greater Milwaukee

region.

© Sonja Thomsen

NP: What inspires you?

ST:Inspiration --My family – my grandmother would take me to the museum as often as possible, my aunt was the one who introduced me to photography in middle school, my parents who are unfailingly supportive, my grandfather the theologian, my husband who is passionate about justice and is an incredible humanitarian and the artists in my family.

My peers, I have had the opportunity of working with some very talented artists Lex Thompson, Daniel Cox, Cristina Sitja Rubio, Justine Reyes, Eirik Johnson, Heather

Hambrecht, Jason Nanna, Kristina Wong, and Jason Yi.

Reading: Ernesto Cardenal, Rebecca Solnit, Eckhart Tolle.

Listening to: Art Farmer, Cat Powers, Bon Iver, Angelique Kidjo, Bright Eyes, Sigor Ros.

Looking at: Roni Horn, Harry Callahan, Felix Gonzalez Torres, Masao Yamamoto, James Turrell and Jason Fulford.

Thinking about: World Religions and Biological Science, Charles and Ray Eames’ Power of Ten.

© Sonja Thomsen

NP: How did you find Photography?

It was in high school that I caught the photography bug. I fell in love with the film, the chemistry, the darkness and my 35mm Konica. Richard Zutz was the photography teacher, demanding, supportive and pushed you further. I spent as much

time as I could in the darkroom senior year.

At Kenyon, I studied with Greg Spaid and worked as his TA. Hours spent organizing his slide library began my love affair with images and the desire to learn more about the image-makers.

My time in San Francisco was incredible, I was immersed in the graduate experience as well as discovering a place that will always be a part of me. I realize that sounds

ridiculous but the landscape, the politics, the spiritual consciousness of that city

had an incredible impact on me. I was fortunate to study with incredible faculty such as Linda Connor, Jack Fulton, Henry Wessel, Regan Louie, J. John Priola, Ann Chamberlain and Lonnie Graham. Attending lectures at least once a week hearing from artists such as Emmit Gowin, Adam Fuss, Adrian Piper, and Rebecca Solnit.

© Sonja Thomsen

NP: How do projects come about?

ST: They start from somewhere personal – a recent incident, a loss, a fear, a curiosity – and that inevitably leads me to the land. Looking at elements like water and oil, natural substances that are elusive and whose form is ephemeral, to

reference the transitory, the unknown, and the personal is political.

The piece entitled surface began at the end of graduate school. I had just finished a piece inspired by recent research at the Monterey Aquarium resulting in the statement “a milliliter of water is more complex (genetically) than the human genome. The density of microorganisms living in a milliliter of water was mind blowing; the micro/macro relationship made me reconsidering the “Power of ten” and Zen Buddhist philosophy of nothingness. When creating the photographs I was interested in seeing

flatness and suggesting depth. I was interested in the metaphor of what lies beneath the surface. Shooting down at the water was an interesting way for me to obscure scale in my images so that the photographs themselves push the macro/micro. I have since continued to look at water and more recently oil. In the past two and half years I have been exploring oil through a variety of works: crude, petroleum, hole, and oil self-portrait. These pieces examine the oil most immediate in daily life,

used motor oil.

The current piece entitled lacuna is an installation of images I have collected over the past four year. Images of family and curious landscapes create an emotive

sequence. The word lacuna can refer to a gap in literature as well as a small cavity in bone. I was fascinated in the words reference to what is missing/empty in knowledge and the physical body. The groupings of photographs in lacuna reference physical gaps in the landscape as well as reference gaps in the personal narrative.

© Sonja Thomsen

NP: What is next?

ST:I am currently preparing for an exhibition at the Haggerty Museum of Art in Milwaukee in March. I will be showing oil works, the lacuna installation and a new video piece. The video piece is in four sections; pulse, oil, breath, water. The show, Current Tendencies; Ten Artists from Wisconsin will run March 12 – June 14, 2009.

I head back to Florida in December for another two weeks of my six-week residency at the Hermitage Artist Retreat in Englewood FL. The opportunity to live and work on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico has been fruitful for my process. Reading a lot and shooting along the ocean – I couldn't ask for more right now!

My lacuna work is featured in the multimedia project Pause to Begin, www.pausetobegin.com. The exhibition of the 15 participating photographers will travel in 2009 starting with the exhibition in Rochester NY.

NP: Thank you so much!

To see more of Sonja's work please head to www.sonjathomsen.com.

A Conversation with Erin Patrice O'Brien

© Erin Patrice O'Brien

A few years ago when I worked as a freelance photo-editor I first came across the work of Erin Patrice O'Brien and I really like the energy in her book.

The following interview makes clear that the energy I saw in her pictures is a reflection of Erin herself.

© Erin Patrice O'Brien

Nymphoto: Tell us about yourself.

Erin Patrice O'Brien: I live in Brooklyn with my husband Pablo and my daughter Maya. MostlyI work for different editorial magazines and ad agencies specializing in portraits. I tend to do about half celebrities and the other half more reportage style portraits of real people. We spend part of the year in Buenos Aires where Pablo is from and I try to improve my Spanish. I have always loved photographing my family. I come from a big Irish-American family and they have always been an inspiration for me. I have always loved traveling and have lived and visited so many different countries.

© Erin Patrice O'Brien

NP: How did you discover photography?

EPOB: I studied fashion design at Drexel University and took lots of classes in photography. After a brief internship in fashion I realized I hated it and wanted to concentrate on photography.

I moved to NYC in 1995 after shooting weddings for 2 years for a totally conservative photo studio in Pennsylvania. I wanted to assist photographers whose work I liked but I really didn’t know what I was doing in the beginning. I worked for a lot of photographers. Eventually I assisted some people who were doing good work. I spent all of my free time shooting and printing for my book. I felt like I lived at Printspace. I learned everything technical from assisting other people and eventually figuring it out myself.

© Erin Patrice O'Brien

NP: Where do you find inspiration?

EPOB:I have always been inspired by people who I think are doing something positive for the world. On the project I just finished, (Mamás Adolescentes: NYC 2006-2007) I was greatly inspired by Dr. Yvette Martas who was the obstetrician for the girls.

On a basic level I’d say that I’m inspired by light, color and movement. And more than anything I love to laugh. I love people who are funny. I’m inspired when the person I’m photographing is relaxed and having fun. I have ended up photographing a lot of comedians.

I am fascinated by any kind of counterculture Especially people who define themselves and their group visually. I would love to photograph an FLDS polygamist family or a gypsy family in Argentina. Any kind of ritual or uniform is always interesting to me.

Other inspirations have been the work of Mira Nair, Wes Andersen, David La Chapelle, David Hockney, Helmut Newton, Peggy Sirota, Cleo Sullivan, Livia Corona, Chris Buck, Martin Parr,

Elaine Constantine, Nan Goldin, Diane Arbus and Brenda Ann Kenneally.

My husband Pablo has always been a great inspiration for me. He’s a musician and we are constantly coming up with new ways to shoot

his band for posters and albums. He has an offbeat sense of humor.

From The Mamás Adolescentes: NYC 2006-2007 project © Erin Patrice O'Brien

NP: How do your projects come about?

EPOB: The Mamás Adolescentes: NYC 2006-2007 project came about because I wanted to do a long term project. I had just had Maya . My idea of what it would be like to have a child versus the reality were very different. I wanted to know what it was like for a teenager. I had help and a career and even with that it was overwhelming for the first year. My doctor introduced me to the head of the Adolescent Clinic at Bellevue. I have found with photography that sometimes it’s just meeting the right person. Before meeting Dr. Martas, I had approached organizations but people were very wary of me. Nowadays there are so many privacy issues. I would go to the clinic every Monday that I wasn’t working and hang out and meet the girls. I convinced them to let me come to their homes and photograph them there. I wasn’t interested in the hospital setting. I started with about 10 different teenagers. Some were American and some were Mexican. I had to adapt to their schedules with no expectations. Many times I would show up at an arranged time and they wouldn’t be there. Or I would have to wait an hour while they took a shower.

I decided to present the work in a book format online. I worked with an Argentine web designer, Maria Onis. Even though I love books in print I felt like more people would see it online. For the gallery show we did really big prints and I went back and interviewed the girls. Their babies are now two. For the most part they are all having a pretty hard time. For so long I was working away at this project alone with the help of my assistants. In the end I met some great writers, Yesenia Ruiz and Franziska Castillo who helped with the interviews and gave me a greater understanding of some of the more linguistic nuances I was missing with the Spanish.

From The Mamás Adolescentes: NYC 2006-2007 project © Erin Patrice O'Brien

NP:What's next?

EPOB:I just returned from Argentina and am really interested in the online teen culture which is developing there. I plan to return in the early winter to start a new project of photographing these kids.

NP: Thank you so much!

To see more of Erin's work please visit her website: www.erinpatricobrien.com.

Lane Collins highlighted

New Work from Lane © Lane Collins

Head over to Hey, Hot Shot's blog to read some more about Lane Collins. And/or revisit our conversation with Lane.

A Conversation with Susana Raab

Liz Kuball's blog is where I first encountered the work of Susana Raab. And when I saw her mesmerizing images from Bolivia for the New York Times recently, I just wanted to get on a plane to South America to follow Susana's footsteps and explore Bolivia, that is how excited I was by her photographs. Since that was not possible right away, I proceeded to do the second thing that came to mind, which was to email Susana and request an interview. She kindly agreed and very compellingly spoke about her process and how to keep the pictures coming.

Bolivia © Susana Raab

NP: Tell us a little about yourself.

SR:. I am terrible at answering open-ended questions! I live in D.C., right across the street from the zoo, with my partner, Stephen Crowley, also a photographer, and our dog, Ted. We love it. I have been a photographer here since '98 when I returned from a wee sojourn in outer Mongolia teaching English to D.C. and began taking steps to become a photojournalist. I took a break with 2 years at Ohio U getting a Masters from 2003-2005. Since I've been back I've been trying to refashion my career from photojournalist to doc/editorial feature/travel/portrait/fine-art photog -- is the best way to describe the amalgam I'm aiming for.

Mongolia © Susana Raab

NP: How did you discover photography?

SR: It was really a Eureka moment. I was in graduate school in English at University of Oregon and I stumbled across a copy of Truth Needs No Ally by Howard Chapnick, Black Star photo agency founder. It really resonated with me - the mix of art, social purpose, communication, anthropology. I love intertextuality - and photojournalism, as I saw it then, was a fantastic vehicle to have all these conversations captured in one rectangle. I had always taken photographs, been designated the de facto documentor of all events, and have had cameras in all the formats to prove it: the beloved disk; the 126mm, the 110mm, there were others now forgotten. But I had never before seen photography as a vocation, as I feel it now. I've always loved museums and art, reading the paper. I had been searching for a purpose, and really trying to find something I wanted to spend the rest of my life practicing - I had no idea what I was doing and then suddenly it was right there in front of me.

Peru © Susana Raab

NP: Where do you find inspiration?

SR: I'd say most of my inspiration comes from reading. I'll pick up anything to read. I troll waiting rooms just to sample new literature (well, not quite). Lately it's been the sun magazine, Wendell Berry, The Washington Post, Biography of Edna St. Vincent Millay. Then there is walking and just getting to that blank head space where free thought just outs itself, and then ideas just come. Also just being curious and following through leads you to a lot of inspiring things.

D.C. © Susana Raab

NP: How do your projects come about?

SR: Of the 3 personal projects I'm working on right now, two were started as school assignments (though I knew I was going to pursue consumed before I went back to grad school and it was a major reason I wanted to go back was to develop something like this), and one was a newspaper travel section assignment (a sense of place) to photograph Flannery O'Connor's farm inMilledgeville, Georgia. But I have 3 nascent projects additionally right now - one is just a portrait of my adopted hometown, D.C., b/c why not? It's a really interesting city that most people have no clue about beyond the white pillars and podiums, one idea I'm going to work on this winter, is an idea I'm developing from a conversation I had with someone I met at a conference, and the third is about Peru, my country of birth.

If you mean, how do I fund them or get them published? I just save my nickels and dimes and live low-budget, especially when traveling. I ansel-adams it in my photo-safari wagon and get looks of disapproval from campground matrons for traveling solo. I prefer a nice Lutheran campground. Not so judgmental. ; )

And then getting published is the usual rigamarole of taking your wares around to your contacts and wringing your hat and telling your story and hoping they will bite. But I am looking for other ways to modify this process. For example, via my blog and website, I am selling a limited edition magazine, rank strangers, of work from my consumed and off-season projects, and will debut a second from the Sense of Place series later this fall. If these ventures are successful in paying for themselves, and adding a little more to the production pot that will be fantastic to help me produce more work. Maybe it is too micro-business, who knows?

The hardest thing for me since I am so over the map with all my projects and always pursuing something, b/c I get burned out on one, and inspired by another, and then the situation reverses, is finding the time to get them all done. But I enjoy the process so much, so if I can earn a living and still produce the personal work - then I'm not in a huge hurry for completion, because making it is the best part.

A Sense of Place © Susana Raab

NP: What's next?

SR: The website redesign/update. Then perhaps a trip to Kentucky this fall to work on additional writing for Sense of Place. A portfolio review and road trip down to New Orleans to Photo NoLa in December which will also mean 2-3 weeks off from paying gigs, a road trip! And lots of new work for 3 different projects, hopefully. Then this winter a trip to Peru, to work on a new series. In between hoping to be doing a lot of assignment work!

NP: Thank you so much!

To see more of Susana's work visit her website: www.susanaraab.com, to read her blog head to: www.susanaraab.wordpress.com or ro browse her prints & books shop, click here.

Find more Nymphoto Conversations, here.

TGP News

© The Girl Project 2008

We recently checked in on The Girl Project blog to see how the project was involving and man did it gather steam! Congrats!
Head over to their blog to find out more: thegirlprojectblog.blogspot.com
And you can re-visit our interview with Kate Engelbrecht (the woman behind The Girl Project), here.

PopPhoto Interview: Rineke Dijkstra

Take a look at this year old interview for PopPhoto .com by Anne-Celine Jaeger with the very talented Rineke Dijkstra: www.popphoto.com

Two Nymphoto Conversations in One Week!

While we interrupted our 'regular scheduled programming' yesterday to announce the joining of Jane Tam, we will feature our usual Thursday conversation tomorrow. The interview was conducted by Jane herself and the artist is Polixeni Papapetrou - who has a show opening at Foley Gallery next week.
Stay tuned for this great conversation.

A Conversation with Cynthia Wang

the light series, © Cynthia Wang

the self (portrait) series, © Cynthia Wang

Cynthia Wang is a long time friend of mine and always on the creative brigade of ideas. I don't particularly see much photography like her's and always believe she sees and experiences moments and events unlike everyone else. Her photographs are emotional and sometimes whimsical but always leaves you in a state of wonder. She was kind enough to share a little bit about herself as well as her BFA thesis, currently untitled.

NP: Tell us a little about yourself.

CW: I grew up in Brooklyn. I am hearing impaired and sometimes I like to read lips on conversations from afar. Sometimes it is fun and yet sometimes I feel like a little spy. Growing up hearing impaired, I rely a lot on my eyes to compensate for my ears. It helps me understand and put me in place to where I can grasp the sounds that I hear.

let's go, © Cynthia Wang

NP: How did you discover photography?

CW: I am not sure when I first became interested in photography. I always admired classic black and white photographs and the Polaroids that I found in family albums. I first took a photography class during junior year of high school. I started shooting black and white film and became intrigued with the darkroom, the pinhole camera and the various experiments I've learned from my teacher, Ann Hunt Currier.


NP: Where do you find inspiration?

CW: I guess I would say, a lot of random things, life in general, both weird and beautiful things. I like watching film and getting the idea of how a certain depth of camera movements are taken or being seen from a view. Whether it is the mood or the moment I am drawn to the scenery, I become interested in capturing that one second of a frame.

the film series, © Cynthia Wang

NP: How did this project come about?

CW: I was a senior at Syracuse University and at the time, I was struggling with my ongoing project for the BFA show. I did not know how to present the work or myself. After some time, I realized that some of the reasons for this work is part of my complex visual perception. I had an eye infection last year and I felt I was on the verge of losing my vision. My relationship with my ears and eyes became difficult because of the fact that I am hearing impaired and near-sighted. I collected my ideas in response to the dichotomy of discovery and loss. When I was photographing these images, I took out the focus to disorientate the perception by creating a visual complex world that visually compensate to the aural.


NP: What's next?

CW: I recently graduated from Syracuse and I am not sure where to go from now. I have been taking a break on and off. I want to travel and I want to do so many other things that I have not done before. And who doesn't? Maybe eventually something will lead me on the way.

NP: Thank you so much. We hope to see more of your work!

Head over to her Flickr page to grab a closer look at her photographs. To contact her, shoot an email at cynthiadwang [at] gmail.com.

Hilla Becher

Over at Conscientious, there's a great translation in full of a recent interview with Hilla Becher published Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin. Read it here.

Hilla Becher: "Klar waren wir Freaks"

The work of Bernd & Hilla Becher is currently on view at MOMA - through August 25, 2008.
Joerg Colberg just posted touching experts from an interview with Ms. Becher on his blog Conscientious. Since the original interview(by Tobias Haberl and Dominik Wichman) was published in German for the Suedeutsche Zeitung Magazin, Joerg took the time to translate parts of this interview. See his transcript here.