The Candid Frame: Conversations on Photography

Duane Michals (b. 1932, McKeesport, PA) is one of the great photographic innovators of the last century, widely known for his work with series, multiple exposures, and text. Michals first made significant, creative strides in the field of photography during the 1960s. In an era heavily influenced by photojournalism, Michals manipulated the medium to communicate narratives. The sequences, for which he is widely known, appropriate cinema’s frame-by-frame format. Michals has also incorporated...

Andrew Bernstein’s photography has appeared in thousands of newspapers and magazine covers worldwide, as well as major advertising campaigns for over 30 years. The unique personal rapport Bernstein has developed with athletes over the years allows him exclusive access to special behind-the-scenes moments, some of which were showcased in the 2010 book he co-authored with legendary Hall of Fame NBA coach Phil Jackson, “Journey to the Ring”, documenting the 2009-10 Lakers championship season....

Hernan Rodriguez is the recipient of over 30 international photography awards for his work as a portrait, commercial, product, and fashion photographer. These include a prestigious Black and White Spider Award in fashion as well as two nominations, Hernan Rodriguez operates a successful studio in the heart of Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley. There, he juggles a steady roster of commercial, product, and celebrity photography, along with corporate photography, and portraiture for families....

Barbara Proud is a commercial photographer and for the past 20 years, the president of B. Proud Photography, Inc, She has developed a list of clients including the LPGA, the Human Rights Campaign, the Girl Scouts, the American Red Cross, Meals on Wheels, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKlein, and many more. As a fine art photographer, she has exhibited her work both nationally and internationally in group and solo exhibitions. In 2006, she was one of the two artists featured by the Equality Forum,...

Since opening his studio in New York City in 1983, photographer Stephen Wilkes has built an unprecedented body of work and a reputation as one of America’s most iconic photographers, widely recognized for his fine art, editorial and commercial work. Wilkes’ early career interpretations of Mainland China, California’s Highway One, and impressionistic “Burned Objects” set the tone for a series of career-defining projects that catapulted him to the top of the photographic landscape. Day to...

Allen Clark is a commercial and advertising photographer based in Nashville, Tennessee. He is consistently rated one of the best photographers in the country. His work can be seen on music packaging, magazines, and countless celebrity and Fortune 500 company websites. With over 25 years of experience in photography, Allen has traveled the world doing what he has described as his dream job, with a side of glorified stalking. Over his career, Allen has photographed several celebrities...

Julia Dean is a photographer, educator, writer, and executive director/founder of the Los Angeles Center of Photography. She began her career as an apprentice to pioneering photographer Berenice Abbott. Later, Julia was a photo editor for the Associated Press in New York. She has traveled to more than 45 countries while freelancing for numerous relief groups and magazines. Her extensive teaching experience includes over 36 years at various colleges, universities and educational institutions...

Cheriss May is a visual storyteller and adjunct professor at Howard University, her alma mater, in Washington D.C. She is the president of Women Photojournalists of Washington (WPOW), and co-chair of the photography committee at The National Press Club. Idris Talib Solomon is a photojournalist and portrait photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. In 2016, he was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to photograph Hip Hop culture in Ghana. He is also the host and producer of the Black Shutter...

Erika Larsen is a multidisciplinary storyteller who works in photography, writing, and video. She is fascinated by the way people communicate with the natural world. Her monograph ‘Sami-Walking with Reindeer’, a reflection of her time living in the Scandinavian Arctic, was published in 2013. Larsen was a 2017 Fellow with National Geographic Society for an ongoing project exploring how communities that maintain close ties to nature communicate this relationship through ritual. Her work has...

Chris Suspect was born in the Philippines in 1968. He is a street and documentary photographer hailing from the Washington, DC area. He specializes in capturing absurd and profound moments in the quotidian. His street photography work has been recognized internationally and has been exhibited in Miami, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Romania, Georgia, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. His documentary work on the underground music scene in Washington, D.C., was published as a book,...

Colin Finlay is one of the foremost documentary photographers and filmmakers in the world. For almost twenty-five years, Finlay has chronicled the human condition with compassion, empathy, and dignity. He has covered war and conflict, disappearing traditions, the environment in both its glory and its devastation, genocide, famine, religious pilgrimage, and global cultures. In pursuit of his passion, he has circled the globe twenty-seven times, in search of that one photo that will be a...

Christopher Fernandez is an editorial, commercial and fine art photographer based in London, specializing in portraiture and reportage photography, with an atmospheric style consisting of heightened drama and a cinematic aesthetic. His recent personal project was inspired by the current pandemic and spurred him to solicit the collaboration of portraits created through their apartment windows. His work is often described as documentary photography combined with the fictional world of cinema...

Megan Kwasniak is a physician and an aspiring photographer whose biggest passion lies in discovering new places and meeting new people. My highest aspiration is to ultimately combine my love for photography and my dedication to the field of medicine and use it for the betterment of human health worldwide.Her accomplishments have included exhibits at Miami Street Photo Festival, Women Street Photographers and publications in The Guardian, TRVL and EV magazines She currently works as a doctor...

Kristen Joy Emack is a photographer and educator who lives and works in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She holds a degree in Latin American and Caribbean Studies. She is primarily a self-taught photographer. Kristen recently won 2nd place in the Cambridge Art Association National Prize Show, curated by Steve Locke and Camilo Alvarez, and is a recipient of this year's Mass Cultural Council's Photography Fellowship grant. Her work has been published in PDN, Rangefinder, The Library Journal and The...

Isadora Kosofsky (b. 1993, USA) is a documentary photographer, photojournalist, and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. She began photographing at the age of 14, documenting individuals in hospice care. She takes an immersive approach to visual storytelling, spending months and years embedded in the lives of the people she shadows. For her, the relationships formed with the subjects are tantamount to the image-making. Her area of focus is American social issues, looking at the intersection of...

David duChemin is a world and humanitarian assignment photographer, best-selling author, and international workshop leader whose spirit of adventure fuels his fire to create and share. Based in Vancouver, Canada, David chases compelling images on all seven continents. When on assignment, David creates powerful photographs that convey the hope and dignity of children, the vulnerable, and the oppressed for the international NGO community. When creating the art he so passionately shares, David...

Hugh Brownstone is the owner and founder of Three Blind Men and An Elephant. He is a writer, photographer, filmmaker, and YouTuber; producer of the environmental web series Mariner East; and holder of an FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate. He is also the host/producer of his popular photography YouTube channel that shares the name of his production company. Photographer Links: Hugh Brownstone Photography 3 Blind Men and an Elephant YouTube Channel Henri Cartier Bresson Education...

Francisco Alcalá is a humanitarian and travel photographer with a focus on social and cultural documentaries. The images that he creates are positive, visually compelling and with profound meaning that reflects his artistic sensibility and his great respect for people independently of origin, genre, or socioeconomic level. He founded the Home Storytellers that produces multimedia content for NGOs working with refugee populations. He believes that visual communication is a powerful medium to...

Ben Smith is a London-based documentary, portrait and lifestyle photographer shooting commercial work, editorial commissions and long-term personal projects. He is also the producer of A Small Voice: Conversations with Photographers podcast. The show features a diverse range of talented, innovative, world-class photographers from established, award-winning and internationally exhibited stars to young and emerging talents discussing their lives, work and process. Photographer Links: Ben Smith...

Gus Powell was born in New York City in 1974 and attended Oberlin College where he majored in comparative religion. In 2003 he was selected to be in PDNs 30 under 30 issue and also published his first monograph, The Company of Strangers (J&L Books). His work has been exhibited internationally, including a solo show at The Museum of The City of New York and group exhibitions at The Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Fine Arts Houston and FOAM, NL. His photographs have been published in...