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_outlineA photographer’s success hinges on access. This is an underlying thread in the tapestry woven in this week’s show. Our discussion covers multiple facets and cultural attributes of Indian society, as seen through the eyes of a photographer with a knack for being in the right place at the right time.
In this month’s episode of the series, Picturing World Cultures, we speak with Indian photographer Pablo Bartholomew about his long career as a documentarian and photojournalist.
From his early intimate views of 60s-era hippies launching a counterculture invasion from the West to his photojournalistic coverage of historic events, Bartholomew shares insights about dynamics at work behind the scenes. We also discuss changes to the marketplace for pictures over time, and whether an iconic picture is still able to affect a change in the world.
As an antidote to a life chasing the news, Bartholomew embarked on a ten-year documentation of India’s remote Naga tribes. In the show’s second half, he walks us through his background research and the permissions process involved in photographing tribespeople and their customs with professional lighting gear.
There’s also a personal motivation behind Bartholomew’s Naga Project. As a child, he had heard many stories about goodwill the Naga showed his father’s family during their flight from Burma to India during World War II.
“Principally, what I couldn't wrap my head around was that headhunters, they're supposed to be these ferocious people. Why would they let fair game pass through their backyard, to the degree where they would provide food and shelter?” he says. “So, there was in this savage something very kind. And I wanted to find out what the contradiction was.”
Tune in today for more on the Naga tribes and other stories from India!
If you haven’t already listened, check out all the episodes of our Picturing World Cultures podcast series here.
Guest: Pablo Bartholomew
Episode Timeline:
2:16: Pablo describes how the caste system functions as a defining aspect of Indian culture.
7:18: The influx of the Western hippy counterculture in India as recorded in Pablo’s earliest pictures.
12:27: Capturing life on the streets of Delhi, Bombay, and Calcutta, a photo essay on Calcutta’s Chinatown, and Pablo’s work with the renowned Indian film director Satyajit Ray.
17:05: The rise of Pablo’s photojournalism career, the dynamics of a photographer’s access, and his iconic images of the tragic gas leak at Bhopal.
29:09: Pablo discusses how the work of a photojournalist has changed in the past 40 years.
32:53: Go-to camera gear, the various cameras Pablo’s used over the years, and his transition from analog to digital.
36:37: Tips for mitigating the heat and humidity of India, plus equipment for image storage and film scanning.
40:10: Episode Break
41:23: Pablo’s long-term project documenting the Naga tribes in Northeast India, his preliminary ethnographic research on the tribes, and gaining permission to photograph with full lighting gear.
51:43: Animist practices within the Naga tribes, and distinctions between tribes within the Naga identity.
1:00:05: Naga rituals it may be too late to photograph, and a memorable festival held by the Konyak tribe.
1:04:09: Pablo’s cross-cultural project documenting economic emigres from India who have resettled in the US, France, England, Madagascar, and Portugal.
1:14:38: Pablo Bartholomew answers our PWC Visual Questionnaire.
Guest Bio: Pablo Bartholomew, a self-taught photographer born in New Delhi in 1955. His father Richard was a noted art critic as well as a photographer, allowing Pablo to learn photography at home at a very young age.
In his subsequent career of nearly fifty years, Pablo has documented societies in conflict and transition, while also recording intimate details of his own generation maturing amid a changing India.
From 1983 to 2004, his photojournalistic work was featured in every major international publication, from National Geographic to Paris Match and beyond. Pablo’s photographs have been recognized by World Press Photo on three different occasions, including a 1985 ‘Picture of the Year’ award for his riveting image from the Bhopal gas tragedy.
In 2013, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India for his contributions to photography, and in 2014, he was honored with the status of Chevalier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.
For more information on our guest and the gear he uses, see:
Stay Connected:
Pablo Bartholomew Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pablobartholomew/
Pablo Bartholomew Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/parabart
Pablo Bartholomew Bhopal photo from World Press Photo 1985: https://www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/photocontest/1985
Pablo Bartholomew Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Bartholomew
Pablo Bartholomew Nagaland Project: https://ninefish.in/viewing-room/the-nagas/
TEDxIIMRanchi: Pablo Bartholomew - A Life in Photography
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBldVr4YIBE
Kishor Parekh: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kishor_Parekh