Viewfinders Podcast

This episode marks the start of Season Two of Viewfinders. With the new season comes a tweak in the format. While the new season will still include interviews with industry creatives as it did in Season One, it will also include “shoot diaries” where Nick Fancher gives you insight into his creative process on a particular shoot. This episode will take you behind the scenes on Fancher’s two shoots with Grammy award-winning metal band, Korn. The first shoot was Fancher’s visual contribution to The Nothing, the bands 13th album, and the second was an editorial shoot for Revolver Magazine. Aside from discussing how he concepted and executed his signature techniques in the shoot, Fancher spends a significant portion of the episode talking about how he has been coming to terms with past trauma in his life and allowing it to inform how creative process. Episode References: Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott Creative Workshop Tour Virtual Coaching for Photographers Theme song by Poddington Bear Music by Memory Theory

Maciek Jasik is a Brooklyn-based, Polish-American photographer known for his colorful and experiment portraits, still lifes, and landscape photography. Jasik’s work straddles both the fine art and commercial photography worlds, with his images seeing solo exhibitions and his commercial work landing clients such as Apple and Adidas. In this episode, host Nick Fancher and Jasik discuss a range of topics including social media, aesthetic versus conceptual image making, and how to market your work as a niche creative. Photographers mentioned: Sara Lando Jay Maisel Philip-Lorca diCorcia Neil Krug Richard Mosse Samantha Muljat Al Mefer Luca Tombolini Annie Leibovitz Petra Collins Ryan McGinley Ben Zank Brooke Didonato Theme song by Poddington Bear Music: Chelsea McGough

Kenyan photographer Osborne Macharia is a self-taught photographer who is known for his Afro-Futurist images. He is particularly known for making stylized studio portraits of elderly people in his city of Nairobi. In 2010, while in school for architecture, Osborne came across the portrait work of Joey Lawrence, which so moved him that left his degree to pursue a career in photography. After teaching himself photography and retouching by way of Youtube, he began collaborating with a local stylist on a number of personal projects. One of these projects, which he refers to as “Hip Hop Grandpas”, went viral on Twitter in 2016, leading to a great deal of press, including an interview with CNN. He has found a balance between his personal projects, which generate interest from global brands such as Absolut Vodka and Marvel, which in turn funds future personal projects.  In this episode Nick Fancher chats with Osborne about how he developed his visual style as well as what it looks like for him to work on a personal project, from the first sketches to the gallery opening. Photographers mentioned: Joey Lawrence Joel Grimes Chris Orwig Marcus Eriksson Theme song by Poddington Bear Other music: Tru Genesis ; OBOY

Jay Gullion (https://www.instagram.com/jaygullion/) is a multi-disciplinary creative who works in photo, video, design, creative/art direction, and brand consultant. In an effort to succinctly describe his position, he uses the word “translator”, as he works directly with brands to conceptualize and execute their campaigns. His education is in photography and marketing, and he got his break as an employee at Apple in the mid-2000s. He has since gone out on his own, creating a range of print and digital campaigns as well as activations and installations for a range of luxury brands such as Land Rover, Hermes, Omega, Bose, and Bottega Veneta. His work is largely shrouded in mystery, due to an intention lack of website or social media presence.  In this episode we discuss: - how he has diversified his skill set to be a one-stop shop for brands by understanding the world of marketing  - with the oversaturated market of talented photographers working today, Jay stands out by being able to wear many hats - why he intentionally doesn’t have a website, keeps his Instagram posts vague, and asks brands and celebrities not to tag him - why he prides himself in living in Ohio despite working with international clientele  - what motivates creators to create - creating for yourself as opposed to creating for your followers - his craziest week of work Photographer’s Mentioned:  Alex Strohl- http://www.alexstrohl.com/ Sebastião Salgado- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebasti%C3%A3o_Salgado Hiroshi Sugimoto- https://www.sugimotohiroshi.com/ Steve McCurry- https://stevemccurry.com/ Gail Albert Halaban- https://www.gailalberthalaban.com/ Sean Flannigan- https://www.seanflanigan.com/ Theme song by Poddington Bear All other music by Isaac Joel

Sara Lando is a photographer, mixed media artist, and educator based in Bassano del Grappa, Italy. I met her last February, while teaching at Gulf Photo Plus in Dubai. We had several great conversations about art and life and I also sat in on one of her talks about the online course that she runs: The Support Group For Lazy Photographers. Her ability to see through an artist and their work and call out what they’re too afraid to say (all while not killing their spirit) is unrivaled. In our conversation we discussed the following: why she is hesitant to merge her fine art work with her commercial clientele   why she is fine with people “stealing” her images why she prefers to live in a small town and commute to clients how she learns from hiring other photographers to take her portrait  how photography helped her deal with her anxiety attacks how learning new skills keeps her more honest  her online course, The Support Group for Lazy Photographers why sucking at art (or anything) is important for growth how social media is impacting how photographers create their images how she doesn’t need to be a master of technique— just good enough for her clients how she increases the quality of her work through quantity the creepy things that male photographers say to their female subjects how to figure out which gigs to say “no” to Photographer’s Mentioned: David Hobby- http://strobist.blogspot.com/ Gregory Heisler- https://gregoryheisler.com/ George Lange- https://www.langestudio.com/ Masahisa Fukase- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masahisa_Fukase All music by Podington Bear

In this episode of Viewfinders, Nick Fancher interviews Nashville-based designer/artist/photographer/inventor Jeremy Cowart. They discuss the following: How he transitioned from a graphic designer to shooting Hollywood productions almost overnight  How he developed his many ideas into inventions, business endeavors, and non-profits. such as Help Portrait and See University. His upcoming book, “I’m Possible” His transition from photography into launching the Purpose Hotel What caused him to return to his original passion of painting and fine art How he is implementing major dietary changes in order to clear his head and improve mood Photographer’s Mentioned:  Frank Ockenfels- https://fwo3.com/; https://www.instagram.com/fwo3/ Dan Winters- https://www.danwintersphoto.com/; https://www.instagram.com/danwintersphoto/ Tim Walker- https://www.timwalkerphotography.com/; Annie Leibovitz- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Leibovitz All music by Doctor Turtle- https://doctorturtle.bandcamp.com/

In the second episode of Viewfinders, Nick Fancher interviews Miami-based photojournalist and educator Maggie Steber. Maggie has been shooting for more than three decades, in 64 countries. Her clients include the National Geographic, New York Times Magazine, and the Associated Press. Throughout the years, despite how robust the photography market was (or wasn't), Maggie has continued to land gigs and create jobs for herself based solely on her tenacity, drive, and personal vision. In this interview Nick and Maggie discuss the following topics: What it’s like to shoot long-form assignments Her process of working on a face-transplant story for the National Geographic How she got a job at a local newspaper who said they weren’t hiring women How she transitioned to shooting in NYC after covering an overseas war for two years Her advice on how to pitch story ideas to publications The importance of personal projects How one of her projects led her to win a Guggenheim fellowship How she used her photography to cope tragedy in her life Photographers Discussed in the Episode: Martin Schoeller- https://martinschoeller.com/; https://www.instagram.com/martinschoeller/ Lynn Johnson- https://www.lynnjohnsonphoto.com/ Intro song by Chad Crouch- http://www.soundofpicture.com/ Music by Alan Spiljak- https://soundcloud.com/alanspiljak

In the first episode of Viewfinders, Nick Fancher interviews New York-based photographer and educator Lindsay Adler. Lindsay is internationally known for both her highly polished fashion and beauty images as well as her educational books and workshops. In this interview they chat about the following topics:  - The pros and cons of having a photo agent  - Bidding on commercial work - Creating work for yourself versus work for your client - Curating your Instagram feed - Finding balance between teaching and shooting - How she sells out her workshops a year in advance - How she forged her own path in a male-dominated industry - Her relationship with fellow photographer Chris Knight Photographers referenced in the episode: Albert Watson- http://www.albertwatson.net/; https://www.instagram.com/albertwatsonphotography/ Nick Knight- https://showstudio.com/; https://www.instagram.com/nick_knight/ Mark Seliger- http://markseliger.com/; https://www.instagram.com/markseliger/ Herb Ritts- http://www.herbritts.com/; https://www.instagram.com/herbritts/ Helmut Newton- https://www.artsy.net/artist/helmut-newton Eugenio Recuenco- https://www.eugeniorecuenco.com/; https://www.instagram.com/eugeniorecuenco_oficial/ All music by Chad Crouch. http://www.soundofpicture.com/