For the latest episode of Picture Perfect City Radio, I’m talking about what I call odyssey opportunity, a self given universal license that practicing photography can provide, but what is it? A camera in your hand invites exploration, a journey that can lead to many paths. I also talk about the presence of the camera and the photographer and what role that plays in documenting experiences and people. In the world of physics there is the observer effect, the thought that observing an object or event can invoke change, an idea that’s no stranger to human behavior and is part of this odyssey opportunity.

Somewhere Midtown West (2017)

What did’t I say on the podcast?

When I think of legendary documentary photographers like Gordon Parks and Robert Frank and others held in that same high regard, one of the first things that comes to my mind in relation to their work is empathy. I think an appreciation and understanding of our shared humanity is just an important as equipment or technique. Is it too sentimental to see the lens as an extension of the heart?

And of course odyssey opportunities are not exclusive to documentary and street photography. The first artist that really opened my eyes to how wide and expansive photography could be as a storytelling medium is conceptual artist Cindy Sherman, whose iconic self portraits have inspired a generation of artists. Sherman along with others from the Pictures Generation, in addition to the works of Alex Prager are constant reminders to me that the camera can take you everywhere from reality to imagination and all that resides in between.

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