Palm Springs Photo Festival Podcast

In our 27th podcast, 48th conversation we chat with photographer Steve McCurry - world famous author of 27 books and recipient of countless prestigious awards. Steve and host Jeff Dunas talk about what it's like to work in the streets with very little gear and only one translator or driver to rock his immediately identifiable images. He talks about how he started, being smuggled into Afghanistan early in his career, Magnum, how to avoid smiles, his teen years fascinated by cars, drugs and girls and most surprising of all, his big, outsized McCurry-esque plans for his work after he takes his last walk down an exotic street somewhere with his camera. Come hang with us.

For a serious photographer, listening to Howard Schatz is like reading a good book you can’t put down. He’s truly a one-off, one-of-a-kind, unique and inspiring individual. Listening to him is like a textbook in how to channel your passion into excellence, be productive, find motivation to create important work and get it out into the world. Intensely curious, knowledgeable and gifted to be sure. In this podcast he demystifies how he arrived at his decision to go from highly respected ophthalmologic surgeon in his early fifties to become one of the most widely published & admired fine art and commercial photographers working over the past 30 years. With close to 25 books of photography to his credit and still counting, sometimes as many as two per year, he is a force to be reckoned with. “Photography is a life of Play.”

Greg Heisler, one of the top commercial portrait photographers in the United States for over 35 years, has made over 70 covers for Time Magazine. In a very entertaining conversation, Greg talks about working for the one & only Arnold Newman as his second assistant job and how naivety and persistence, plus his one suit and tie got him the job; photographing both Mayor Guiliani (standing on the edge of a sky-scraper) and Mayor Bloomberg, standing in a tree); his keen observations about looking forward (analog) and backward (digital); a famous deli in NYC, his advice for keeping it real and how a framework is essential for editorial portraiture. A must listen.

Listen to Legendary photographer Joel Meyerowitz talk about his life and career, friends Gary Winogrand, Tony Ray Jones and Lee Friedlander, looking at the street, the importance of the Bronx, his Robert Frank epiphany, how baseball trained him for street photography, getting away with murder on the streets, the importance of scale, his promise to his audience, it's not too late for fashion, the mystery of his 8x10 Deardorf, the best part of his days in Tuscany and more.

Photographer & Canon Explorer of Light Lindsay Adler “started her business” at 15 years-old in upstate New York. She talks about how she conquered NYC, taught herself myriad lighting techniques, thought she was a fashion photographer but came to see the world of beauty photography was more her thing, muses on what it means to be an outlier, why being active on multiple social media platforms seems completely natural, why photography is her business as well as her profession and her new focussing spot light.

Doug Menuez, photojournalist, gonzo documentary photographer, epic raconteur, bluesman and educator talks about his career choices and the ideas and events that led him to document the birth through maturity of Silicon Valley including his breakthrough introduction to Steve Jobs and all the other first-generation founders of the digital age plus the million images he made there that now reside in the Library of Stanford University.

Photojournalist, political wire photographer & Pulitzer prize-winner David Hume Kennerly has been in the room with his cameras when nearly every major American political event in the latter 20th and 21st centuries took place. White House photographer under Gerald Ford, he's photographed every president since LBJ and most world leaders in his 50+ year career. His often irreverent humor permeates his remembrances and descriptions of the circumstances that led to his greatest photographs in this podcast. Not to be missed. Parts I & II available.

Photojournalist, political wire photographer & Pulitzer prize-winner David Hume Kennerly has been in the room with his cameras when nearly every major American political event in the latter 20th and 21st centuries took place. White House photographer under Gerald Ford, he's photographed every president since LBJ and most world leaders in his 50+ year career. His often irreverent humor permeates his remembrances and descriptions of the circumstances that led to his greatest photographs in this podcast. Not to be missed. Parts I & II available.

Fine art star Mona Kuhn Talks about her meteoric rise, what keeps here there, her early years and her remarkable process. Her relationships with her subjects, the difficulties she deals with on the web and reveals her wonderful approach to life that informs her work. Nudes represent a difficult subject yet Kuhn has found her voice and her seat at the table.

Photojournalist Barbara Davidson, 3-time Pulitzer and Emmy winning Guggenheim Fellow talks to PSPF about her early years as a self-described hellion in Montreal, her captivity in Croatia, her heroes and her jobs for leading US news media over a 20-year career. Her comments on her process illuminate how she’s risen from modest beginnings to the top of a male-dominated field to be amongst the most recognized practitioners in the world.

In a raucous, candid and humorous interview Diltz tells of the historic Laurel Canyon days of the sixties with pals like Steven Stills, Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, the Doors, James Taylor, Mama Cass, John Sebastian and the whole range of American rock, folk music and pop culture legends he photographed before they were famous and over the next 50 years. It’s thought that Henry may have sold more prints than any photographer in history.

One of the most collected contemporary photographers working today, Roger Ballen speaks about what brought him to the unique vision he is so known for; the legendary music video, Fink You Freaky; five years living with rats; the psychology of the inner mind, Roger's theater, shelters; Johannesburg; Platteland, Outland, Boarding House, Dorps, Shadow Chamber; basketball, Berkeley, Woodstock and more.

Legendary fine art photographer Ralph Gibson talks about 60-years of making images, 40+ books, The Somnambulist, Robert Frank & Dorothea Lange, The right side of the street, photo-book making, pal Helmut, his weekend in Pennsylvania, the frigate in the North Atlantic, Lustrum Press, Larry Clark, B&W, color & his favorite lenses of all time.

Stephen Wilkes is riding the wave. Wilkes shares his process for making EPIC images, his Jay Maisel stories, his seamless bridging of commercial & fine art & the depth of his passion for moving the needle. Tick off his new feature film documentary, Taschen monograph, Nat Geo stories and his success selling prints at the high end of the market and his famous chicken suit story.

In our second, one-person (new series) conversation, we talk with one of the few photographers known by just one name: DUANE. Duane Michals talks about life, death, "art", sex, age, humor, nostalgia, past, present, Andy Warhol, McKeesport, creativity, personal style and more. Michals is one of the true legends from the latter 20th Century and 21st Century. At 88 - still going strong as hell!

For the first time, we dedicate an entire podcast episode to photographer Dan Winters who will conduct his master class for PSPF 2021. We’ll talk about Dan’s reverence for tools, the difference between a photo session and a sitting, guide numbers, Diane Arbus, Nadar, ASA, Ektalure, Jay Maisel’s wedding, thyristors, the splendors of the rebate area, angle of incidence, Nicephore Niepce and more. Get ready!

Master of the recreated crime scene Fine Art Photographer Melanie Pullen talks about her plan to keep the ball rolling and distinguishing between the photo and broader fine art market; The man Adobe calls for input, Photoshop guru and best-selling author Ben Willmore explains his approach to Photoshop in everyday language plus discusses when to use Lightroom vs. Photoshop & the energetic talker and good listener Heidi Goverman, West Coast rep from the Workbook talks about your marketing goals and the way to get on the marketing highway.

Erwin Olaf, famous Dutch fine art and commercial photographer talks about his mega-project, Palm Springs, and how to walk on the edge of the volcano. DAM (Digital Asset Management) gury Peter Krogh reveals what makes his own Lightroom catalogue so amazing and what you need to do to get yours in shape. The Wizard Larry Abitol, founder of one of the largest pro labs in the world, Bay Photo, talks about how the lab grew organically by listening to pros and riding the digital wave.

Rockstar Architecture Photographers Tim Griffith and Scott Frances both discuss their careers, approaches and methods for their work. These insights are valuable for all photographers so enjoy these conversations! Nazraeli Press publisher and founder Chris Pichler talks about his passions for book making, photography, LA in the 60s, Central Coast ranching, olive oil and his two cows. Chris has made a magic life and published over 600 photobooks.

Entertainment photographer extraordinaire Art Streiber talks about constantly promoting his work even though he is published constantly in many magazines, Minor Matters book publisher Michelle Dunn Marsh who brings intelligence and diversity to the PSPF symposiums talks about how books are vital to our lives and Canon's Rebecca Nichols who shares a new free download link allowing you to use your Canon DSLR or Mirrorless for your Zoom calls.