Episode description

On today’s show, we discuss a portrait and interview project that was created for B&H Explora, our online magazine and home base of the B&H Photography Podcast. The project is titled “What is Photography?” and, as the name suggests, we asked prominent members of the New York photo community—editors, artists, curators, technicians, and many photographers—for their definition of the medium. The responses are as varied as the individuals who participated, but it is the accompanying portraits, by photographer Cory Rice, that make this series so interesting. 

Using a simple combination of elements—an Oliphant backdrop, a Hasselblad medium format digital camera, and the north light of the Highlight Studios, at Penumbra Foundation—Rice created a stylistically uniform body of work that depicts his subjects with an honesty that reflects the community-building nature of the series and also hints at their unique relationship with photography. The subjects include Pulitzer-Prize-winning photographers, editors from the New York Times, curators from the International Center of Photography, Magnum Foundation fellows, and other leaders in their field. We talk with Rice about the conception and production of the series and intersperse excerpts from an artist’s panel with several of the project's participants discussing their take on photography.

Toward the end of the episode, we speak with the winner of our recent Lumix Day Sweepstakes to see how his new DMC-GX85 Mirrorless camera with 12-32mm and 45-150mm lenses has advanced his photography. Join us for this interesting episode and check out “What is Photography?” on the Explora website.

Guests: Cory Rice, Sam Cannon, Maciek Jasik, Miranda Barnes, and Stanley Steril

Photograph © Cory Rice