Still Photography & the WWE, with Brad Smith & Rich Freeda
Release Date: 03/28/2024
Black Cowboys & Rodeo Culture, with Ron Tarver & Ivan McClellan
B&H Photography Podcast
Top shot © Ron Tarver Cowboy lore has deep roots in American culture. Yet, black cowboys have lived pretty much under the radar until recently, when songs by pop culture icons Lil Nas X and Beyoncé went viral and catapulted the black western aesthetic into the limelight. In today’s show, we’re getting the inside scoop from two photographers who’ve been fully immersed in these vibrant communities since long before they became a top fashion trend. Separated by a generation in age and with pictures spanning from film to digital, we follow Ron Tarver and Ivan McClellan from their early...
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2024 Photo Gear of the Year with Kevin Rickert
B&H Photography Podcast
Well, 2024 has certainly come and gone in a flash, meaning it’s time once again for us to reflect on new photo offerings in our annual Cameras of the Year episode, now renamed Photo Gear of the Year. Featured in our discussion are new releases from , , , , , , , and . In the words of our recurring guest, Kevin Rickert, B&H’s Senior Sales Trainer for Photography and Lighting, “Everything old is new again” at least when it comes to this year’s most sought-after camera releases. A penchant for pocketable, fixed lens cameras led us to organize our camera offerings by type rather...
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Picturing World Cultures: Marcela Taboada – Mexico
B&H Photography Podcast
Photographers have a magical ability to transport us to hidden worlds, giving us intimate access to facets of society that would otherwise go unnoticed. Above photograph © Marcela Taboada In today’s podcast, we sit down with Mexican photographer Marcela Taboada, whose long-term documentary projects offer revealing glimpses into underrecognized communities, for Picturing World Cultures. Combining a passion for making pictures that let her “see backstage,” with a knack for “knocking doors” and the tenacity to win over resistant subjects, Marcela gained rare access to photograph the...
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Reclaiming a Natural Landscape, with Jade Doskow & Cal Flyn
B&H Photography Podcast
What is the role of landscape photography in a post-industrial world? In today’s podcast, we consider some possibilities in a chat with Jade Doskow, current photographer in residence for Staten Island’s Freshkills Park, and Cal Flyn author of the book Islands of Abandonment. Above image: © Jade Doskow While our two guests work in different disciplines, which leads to divergent approaches to the pictures they make, their shared purpose tells similar stories. Among the topics we discuss are a distinction between romantic landscapes of the past and a more ambivalent attitude...
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Picturing World Cultures: Mark Leong – China
B&H Photography Podcast
In today’s podcast, we sit down with Mark Leong, a fifth-generation Chinese-American photographer, for Picturing World Cultures. Above photograph © Mark Leong From his arrival in 1980s Beijing on a one-year travel fellowship, to his decision to live and work there long-term over the following decades, we follow Mark’s path from his ancestral village to the Beijing art scene, and beyond. He walks us through his experiences in documenting the massive cultural shifts as Chinese society transitioned from uniformity and limited choice to a realm of consumerism and increasing...
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Photography Mentors & Lifelong Learning, with Reid Callanan and Craig Stevens
B&H Photography Podcast
Today we chat with Reid Callanan, founder and director of the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops and renowned photo educator Craig Stevens, formerly of Maine Media Workshops and Savannah College of Art & Design, about photography mentors, lifelong learning, and the role photo workshops play in cultivating community. Craig and Reid share plenty of insight, not just on the requisite trust that’s required in a successful mentor and student relationship, but other topics such as what it means to be truly passionate about photography, collaboration, as well as how to critique the work of others...
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Picturing World Cultures: Fabiola Ferrero – Venezuela
B&H Photography Podcast
Today’s podcast has us sitting down with Venezuelan photographer and investigative journalist Fabiola Ferrero to discuss her long-term photographic projects in Venezuela, for Picturing World Cultures. Above photograph © Fabiola Ferrero Fabiola walks us through her childhood memories of Venezuela and describes how this period contrasts significantly with the country’s current climate. We also discuss how she got started in photography, and how her time spent both in and out of Venezuela helped grow her photography and more. Guest: Fabiola Ferrero Episode Timeline: 2:20: Fabiola...
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B&H Podcast: Authentic Photographic Documentation vs AI Generated Images
B&H Photography Podcast
In today’s podcast, we chat with Boris Eldagsen, visual artist and AI pioneer, and Miles Astray, documentary photographer, on a plethora of issues surrounding AI-generated content. Boris and Miles share a ton of insight into the nature of AI-generated images, from the implications of it becoming more prevalent, the possibility and dangers of the spread of misinformation all the way to the need to rethink how we engage with social media. These are just a few of the points raised in our discussion with them. If you haven’t already listened, This episode is part of a wider series tracing the...
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Picturing World Cultures: Naina Helén Jåma – Norwegian Sami
B&H Photography Podcast
In today’s podcast, we’ll be talking with Norwegian photographer Naina Helén Jåma about her documentation of indigenous South Sami culture in Norway and her career as a press photographer in Scandinavia. Jåma details her childhood growing up in the small rural village of Snasa, where, at the age of 15, she began her career while working as a cultural interpreter and archivist at the Saemien Sijte Museum. From there, Naina takes us on a journey through her fascinating career as a photographer, from her training at the Nordic School of Photography to her work for world-renowned...
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Say Less, with Dr. Greg Gulbransen
B&H Photography Podcast
In today’s podcast, we’ll be talking with Long Island-based pediatrician and self-taught photographer Dr. Greg Gulbransen, whose newly released book Say Less documents the three years Gulbransen spent embedded with Malik, the paralyzed leader of a Crips’ set in the Bronx. Gulbransen details his journey from wildlife and fashion photography to documenting the lives of at-risk members of the Bikes Up Guns Down club to his most recent (and most daunting) project: photographing members of a violent street gang. Gulbransen also touches on his years-long campaign to require auto makers to...
info_outlineCozy 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 about stills from WWE’s Vice President of photography, Brad Smith, and Senior Director of photography, Rich Freeda.
Among the many details we unpack: The learning curve required for shooting a WWE event, the importance of showing all aspects of the spectacle in pictures, and the delicate dance between still photographers and TV camerapeople, who are tethered together and both wearing headphones while capturing a show.
In addition to live event coverage, the photo team creates high-level studio portraits of WWE Superstars, which necessitates complex studio set ups at each venue. Given the relentless schedule of three live shows weekly, two of which are traveling, studio gear is circling the country all year long. As Rich Freeda puts it, “We could be a Consumer Reports testing lab.”
And when it comes to the type of photographers best suited to covering WWE shows, Brad Smith sums things up nicely. “[At first,] I instinctively thought, if we’re going to hire new people, they have to be sports photographers. And now I don’t think that at all. I’ll tell you who I’d rather have. I’d rather have a photographer who’s a tour photographer for Bon Jovi than somebody who’s the Yankee’s photographer, because they understand that event is the important thing.”
Psych yourself up for WrestleMania 40 with our WWE episode from the B&H Photography Podcast!
Guests: Brad Smith and Rich Freeda
Above photograph © Rich Freeda/WWE
For more information on our guests and the gear they use, see:
Stay Connected:
WWE Still Photography Page: https://www.wwe.com/photos
Brad Smith Website: https://www.bradsmithcreative.com/
Brad Smith on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradpix/
Brad Smith on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Brad-Smith-Creative/
Brad Smith on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nybradsmith
Rich Freeda Website: https://www.richardfreeda.com/collections
Rich Freeda on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/richfreedaphoto/
Rich Freeda on Twitter: https://twitter.com/richfreedaphoto
Rich Freeda WWE Profile: https://www.wwe.com/videos/the-photography-of-wrestlemania-with-rich-freeda-making-wwe