Communicating Visually: Expert Tips from Photo Editor Sarah Leen at Bild
Release Date: 10/26/2023
NYC Artist Lofts & Brooklyn Rooftops, with Joshua Charow & Josh Katz
B&H Photography Podcast
How much do you know about New York City’s 1982 Loft Law, which established a process for artists to obtain legal occupancy of the raw industrial spaces they inhabited, while also providing rent stabilization and protection from future eviction? Or the pigeon fanciers who were once a fixture across the rooftops of Brooklyn and remain valued as neighborhood sentinels? If these poetic vestiges from Gotham’s storied past have you dreaming about the good old days, then you won’t want to miss our with gen-Z New Yorkers (and good buddies) Joshua Charow and Josh Katz. Their ambitious,...
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Picturing World Cultures: Maxim Dondyuk - Ukraine
B&H Photography Podcast
The dictionary defines culture as “the way of life for an entire society.” But sometimes larger forces create rifts within the whole, inevitably leading to a confrontation between factions. A prime example of this cultural struggle is playing out today within the cities and villages of Ukraine, the focus of today’s episode. Above photograph © Maxim Dondyuk In this sixth installment of our monthly series, Picturing World Cultures, we speak with Ukrainian photographer and visual artist Maxim Dondyuk, and his wife and artistic manager, Irina. Our conversation stretches beyond the...
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Lynn Goldsmith’s Prince Portrait and its Legacy in Case Law
B&H Photography Podcast
For anyone familiar with the photo industry, the mammoth lawsuit between The Andy Warhol Foundation and renowned music photographer Lynn Goldsmith should be no secret. This complex battle over the rights to her 1981 portrait of the artist formerly known as Prince lasted seven years and went all the way to the Supreme Court. But do you know the circumstances behind her original portrait session with the famously reserved musician, and were you aware of all the misinformation about this case that was disseminated in both legal documents and the press? Lynn is a longtime friend...
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Picturing World Cultures: Rita Leistner - Canada
B&H Photography Podcast
Professional tree planting is back breaking piecework—a combination of high intensity sport and industrial labor that requires both technical finesse and remarkable physical and mental endurance. Using techniques more often associated with high-performance athletes, experienced planters (commonly known as high-ballers) leap up and down through uneven and debris-strewn terrain, armed only with a shovel and 30-kg bags of seedlings on their backs. In recent years, tree planting has become a rite of passage among young Canadians not afraid of hard work and dirt under their fingernails. ...
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Still Photography & the WWE, with Brad Smith & Rich Freeda
B&H Photography Podcast
Cozy up to a ringside seat for a behind-the-scenes tour of the wildest shows in sports entertainment, during our insightful chat about the still photos produced for World Wrestling Entertainment, (otherwise known as WWE). In 2023 alone, the WWE photo team traveled the globe, covering close to 170 live events, and producing 2.6 million stills to serve the organization’s various platforms. You might—incorrectly—assume that WWE’s still images are generated from video screengrabs. Well, this couldn’t be further from the truth. In this week’s podcast, we get the full scoop...
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Ecliptic Visions—with Rebecca Boyle, Gabriel Biderman, Atlas Obscura & B&H
B&H Photography Podcast
Where will you be on April 8, 2024? If you don’t already know, you’d better figure it out fast, particularly if you’ve got an interest in observing—and ideally photographing—the awe-inspiring phenomenon of a total solar eclipse. To get you up to speed on essential eclipse details, tune in to our chat with science writer Rebecca Boyle and Gabriel Biderman from B&H’s Road Marketing team. Boyle shares tidbits about Earth’s silvery sister gleaned from research for her book Our Moon, while Gabe discusses preparations (and practice!) for your eclipse photo session, plus...
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Picturing World Cultures: Daniel Rosca - Romania
B&H Photography Podcast
There are many different ways to look at culture, and today we take a geographic approach, to distinguish people who live in rural mountain and hilly settings from those of the wider plains and urban areas. Our focus is the country of Romania, where we’ll explore the rustic landscape of small farms, hand tilled fields, and local communities that still identify with the working methods and traditions of the past. Along the way, we’ll follow the cyclical work of farmers and shepherds, gain insight into the Orthodox faith, explore vibrant holiday celebrations, and reveal unique rituals with...
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Photography in the Age of AI, with Stephen Shankland
B&H Photography Podcast
How much can you edit a photo before it stops becoming true? That’s the question CNET tech reporter Stephen Shankland recently asked in the opening lines of his story, . The article, which examines digital photography and advanced smartphone image processing in the era of AI, reaches beyond the polarizing visual minefield of generative AI by delving into aspects of this technologythat’s been quietly pre-baked into most every camera on the market these days. The sophisticated processing under the hood of your digital camera is our jumping off point for a wide-ranging...
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B&H Podcast: Chat with Inventor of the CMOS Chip, Professor Eric Fossum
B&H Photography Podcast
How did a space-age invention become ubiquitous in today’s digital imaging landscape? Learn all about it here in our latest podcast, featuring pioneers of photography and digital imaging. In 1993, noted physicist and engineer Eric Fossum led the invention of the CMOS active-pixel image sensor as part of his work for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Then, as part of JPL’s mandate to seek commercial and consumer applications for emerging technologies, he was active in the transfer of the CMOS sensor’s “camera-on-a-chip” technology to industry. In our informative...
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Picturing World Cultures: Joshua Irwandi - Indonesia
B&H Photography Podcast
While Joshua Irwandi was born and raised in Indonesia, the early pictures he made during his first visit to the region of Asmat, in the province of West Papua, were less than satisfying to him. Yet his fascination with the people and the place stuck, inspiring him to embark on the long-term project Not a Blank Canvas. In this third installment of our monthly series, Picturing World Cultures, we speak with Irwandi about his experiences documenting the people and landscape of Asmat, which offers a window into long-held traditions and the sweeping changes he’s observed there over the past 10...
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Have you ever struggled with editing your images to present in a portfolio or as a story pitch? If so, our conversation in this podcast might be of some help.
We recently had the great fortune to speak with one of the finest picture editors in the business, former National Geographic photographer, photo editor, and director of photography, Sarah Leen, who we interviewed as part of our coverage of B&H’s 50th Anniversary Bild Expo 2023.
Sarah has worked all sides of the table, starting in the field with a camera in hand, then transitioning to a photo editor, and ultimately being tapped to lead National Geographic as Director of Photography in 2013—the first woman ever selected for this role.
Among the topics covered in this chat are Sarah’s shift from picture maker to photo editor and how she gained the credentials to take on such a role. We make the important distinction between editing the work of others vs. a photographer editing his or her own images, emphasizing the added difficulty of disconnecting from personal experience to make objective decisions, and how the guidance of a skilled photo editor can help.
Turning to her career trajectory, Sarah explains the differences between a photo editor and the director of photography, which is a managerial role. And, when it comes to the recent organizational changes at National Geographic—not to mention within the industry at large—Sarah clarifies that, despite ceasing newsstand sales, the magazine will still be widely available in print, yet by subscription only.
We end our chat with details about Sarah’s current work as an independent photo editor and educator, her founding of the Visual Thinking Collective with three former colleagues, and the upcoming release of her latest book project Ukraine: A War Crime, featuring work by 93 photographers.
Above photograph © Sarah Leen
Guest: Sarah Leen
For more information on our guest and the gear she uses, see:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/communicating-visually-expert-tips-from-photo-editor-sarah-leen-at-bild
Stay Connected:
Sarah Leen Website: https://www.sarahleen.com
Sarah Leen Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roseleen
Sarah Leen X: https://twitter.com/sleen3
Sarah Leen Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarah.leen.92
Visual Thinking Collective Website: https://www.visualthinkingcollective.com
FotoEvidence Website and the book Ukraine: A War Crime: https://fotoevidence.com/books/ukraine-a-war-crime-by-ninety-three-photojournalists