The Diffusion Tapes

Welcome to Season 2 of the Diffusion Tapes. In our long-awaited eighth episode, we chat with photographer, educator, and analog lover Rashod Taylor. Rashod Taylor is a fine art and portrait photographer whose work addresses themes of family, intimacy, legacy, and the black experience. He attended Murray State University and received a Bachelor's degree in Art with a specialization in Fine Art Photography. Since then, he has exhibited and published his work across the United States and internationally. Taylor also teaches workshops and presents lectures at various venues around the country. He is currently working on a series called Little Black Boy, where he documents his son’s life while examining the Black American experience and fatherhood. He lives in Springfield, MO with his wife and son. In our Tape with Rashod, we talk about his history in photography, his passion for analog, family and being a parent, the business of being an artist, and his thoughts on identity and legacy.  Thanks to Rashod for spending some time with us and sharing your passion! Recorded February 10, 2023. These are the Diffusion Tapes... 

Happy Halloween! It seems so appropriate that today we release our episode with the 'wildly interesting" Ed Bateman. Edward Bateman is an artist and professor at the University of Utah, where he heads the Photography and Digital Imaging area. The work of Edward Bateman exists in a space between photography and printmaking, although his extensive use of 3D modeling technologies is not common to either medium. Using constructed and often anachronistic imagery, he creates allegedly historical artifacts that examine our belief in the photograph as a reliable witness. In our conversation, we chatted with Ed about his artistic journey, his interest in science, and his love of all things photography, especially when time travel is involved. Recorded February 8, 2023. These are the Diffusion Tapes... 

Welcome to Season 2 of the Diffusion Tapes. We spent some quality time with the illustrious Ann Jastrab for this episode. Ann Jastrab is the Executive Director at the Center for Photographic Art in Carmel California. Ann grew up in the village of Whitsboro, New York. She studied literature and art in college and received her MFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design. Since then she’s been an educator for multiple organizations, a master printer, editor-in-chief, gallery director, executive director, portfolio reviewer, and master of the universe. She still carries around a wooden view camera. In our conversation, we chat with Ann about her journey as a photographer….  Recorded January 5th, 2023. These are the Diffusion Tapes... 

Welcome to Season 2 of the Diffusion Tapes. In our fifth episode, we hear exciting and history-making photography stories from Stu Levy. Dr. Stu Levy lives in Portland, Oregon. He studied with Ansel Adams, and was an instructor at the Ansel Adams Gallery Workshops, and leads photography workshops on the Oregon Coast. He has several books, works in many collections, and is a Portland icon. He’s currently heavily involved with Portland Art Museum’s photography council and he’s on the Photolucida board of directors. In our Tape with Stu he talks about his extensive history in photography, music, and even healthcare. Stu’s wealth of knowledge in regard to photo history is amazing and very inspirational. We could listen and learn for hours, which is why we invited him to the Diffusion Tapes! Recorded Dec 8, 2022. These are the Diffusion Tapes...

Welcome to Season 2 of the Diffusion Tapes. In our fourth episode, we share some time with atomic photographer Harley Cowan. Harley Cowan is a photographer and architect based in Portland, Oregon. He shoots large format and has a keen interest in architectural heritage documentation and historical preservation. In our chat, we learn about his journey into analog photography and he shares some stories from his recent artist-in-residence located on a ship in the Arctic that he had just returned from. Harley, thank you for sharing your story and just being an all-around great guy. Recorded November 29, 2022. These are the Diffusion Tapes... 

Welcome to Season 2 of the Diffusion Tapes. In our third episode, we had a great time chatting with photographer and gallery owner Jennifer Schlesinger. Jennifer Schlesinger is an artist, curator, gallerist, and educator based out of Santa Fe, New Mexico. As we discuss in the Tape, Jennifer has approached her photography, as well as her Director role at both Verve and Obscura Gallery, with an interest in the historical development of photography as an artistic medium. In our talk, we learn how she pivoted from studying law to focusing on fine art photography, her interest in 19th and 20th-century photo processes, and her journey from the non-profit world to fine art photo gallery director. We also learn about her philosophical outlook and her marketing hustle for promoting photo artists. Jennifer, it’s always a pleasure, thanks for spending some quality time with us. Recorded November 2, 2022. These are the Diffusion Tapes...

Welcome to Season 2 of the Diffusion Tapes. For our second episode, we talked with photo artist Molly McCall. Born in Monterey, California, Molly McCall was raised along the rugged California coastline of the Monterey Peninsula. Surrounded by infamous photographers, writers, filmmakers, and painters, their work provided an indelible appreciation and awareness for nature and inspired her to pursue a creative career in art and design. In this Tape, Michael and Blue discover Molly’s rich family history in the arts, her varied career paths, her dedication to the craft of photography and the photo community, her life philosophies, and even her interest in motorcycles and guns (eat your heart out Keanu). We even learned she has a strong distaste for REO Speedwagon. Recorded Sep 7, 2022. These are the Diffusion Tapes... 

Welcome to Season 2 of the Diffusion Tapes. My first guest is Michael Kirchoff, who will from here on out be my co-host! Michael Kirchoff is a photographic artist working in the worlds of both commercial and fine art photography, an independent curator and juror, and an advocate for the photographic arts. Based in Los Angeles, California, he is Co-Host at The Diffusion Tapes, as well as Editor-in-Chief at Analog Forever Magazine, Founding Editor for Catalyst: Interviews, and a Contributing Editor for One Twelve Publishing. In our tape we talk about him growing up in LA, how his photography career evolved, some of the folks that mentored him and moments that inspired him along the way, his love of writing and advocacy of photography, and his love for the photo community. I even asked him about his day job working in the entertainment industry of LA and how that relates to all the work he does in the fine art world. You’ll discover after listening to his story that he’s pretty much a YES man and it’s aided in the evolution of his career in the most fulfilling and sometimes surprising ways.  Recorded Aug 9, 2022. Welcome to the Diffusion Tapes, Season 2.

Welcome to Diffusion Tape no. 10 with photographer Ken Rosenthal. You’re listening to our long-awaited season finale. Well, I don’t know if you can call nearly two years of slow-releasing a season, but I’m going with it. It’s been a crazy time for all of us so I’m pleased to close out this chapter of the Tapes by sharing my conversation with Ken Rosenthal, one of my most favorite people I’ve met while publishing Diffusion. Ken Rosenthal received a BA in still photography from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, and an MFA in photography from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His artwork is represented in the US by Klompching Gallery, New York; Etherton Gallery, Tucson; Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco. Rosenthal’s monograph Days On The Mountain, with essays by George Slade and Rosenthal, was published by Dark Spring Press in April 2019 in trade and limited edition book + print sets. In our Tape we talked about him growing up in LA, receiving his first Kodak Instamatic from his parents. His father, also a photographer, at one point owned a camera store on Wilshire boulevard. We talked about Ken going to local clubs and shooting bands, studying photography in college, and later moving to New York, almost on a whim. Later in the chat, we dive into his more recent work and the publishing of his book by Dark Springs Press. Recorded April 29th, 2019, All conversations are recorded face-to-face. These are… the Diffusion Tapes.

Welcome to Diffusion Tape no. 9 with curator Hamidah Glasgow. Hamidah is a member of Strange Fire Collective and is the Executive Director of the Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, Colorado. We sat down for a nice chat during the 2019 Photolucida Festival in Portland. I’m in awe of this woman and I hope you enjoy hearing some of her personal stories as much as I did. We talked about her youth, her path to art, her exciting and unconventional career path (spoiler alert, there’s helicopters), the amazing work she’s done at the Center for Fine Art Photography, and her involvement with Strange Fire Collective. The only thing I think we missed talking about is our mutual love of good bourbon… maybe next time.  Recorded April 28th, 2019, All conversations are recorded face-to-face. These are… the Diffusion Tapes.

Mash-up of Diffusion Tapes guests

Welcome to Diffusion Tape no. 8 with the photographer, curator, editor, writer, and educator Aline Smithson. Smithson wears many hats and in our conversation, we talked about the cultural evolution of photography, female representation in the medium, archiving in a digital world, portraiture, Smithson’s personal art history, her family, and the importance of play in the creation of photography. Aline Smithson is a Los Angeles based artist best known for her conceptual portraiture and a practice that uses humor and pathos to explore ideas of childhood, aging, and the humanity that connects us. She is the founder of the highly popular photo site Lenscratch. Recorded April 27th, 2019, All conversations are recorded face-to-face. These are… the Diffusion Tapes.

Back in March of this year I had the pleasure of sitting down with photographer, writer, and podcaster Mike Sakasegawa while he was in Portland attending a conference. I became aware of Mike a few years back because of his own podcast called Keep the Channel Open where he primarily converses with photographers and writers. In our conversation we talk about his work, the authenticity of photography, his podcasting projects, and his progression as a photographer, writer, and activist. And of course we had to dissect his famous viral lemon video. Recorded March 27th, 2019, All conversations are recorded face-to-face. These are… the Diffusion Tapes.

For Tape no.6 Heather Evans Smith was in town to give an artist lecture at the Portland Art Museum and I was happy to sit with her for an evening recording session. We explored creative beginnings, the development of her artistic voice, plus she shared some entertaining anecdotes from her journey thus far. Recorded March 21st, 2019, All conversations are recorded face-to-face. These are… the Diffusion Tapes.

In Tape no.5 I visited photographer and educator Ray Bidegain at his home here in Portland, Oregon. We talked about his youth, his journey from commercial to fine art and his general thoughts on the craft of photography. Ray also turned the tables on me for the last few minutes of the chat. Recorded January 29th, 2019. All conversations are recorded face-to-face. These are… the Diffusion Tapes.