The power of the photographic interview

Hosted by Daniel j Gregory

September 21, 2020

Episode Number:

What the heck is this week's podcast about?

Episode 289

One of my favorite exercises I use to teach photography and learn about my own work is called the interview project. This process involves you doing enough research about a photographer you are inspired by or want to learn from and then create a set of 10 to 20 interview questions that you would want to use to interview them. In some cases, you might be lucky and be able to use those questions to interview the photographer. Still, sometimes they might no longer be alive. Either way, part of the process is to answer those questions as if you were the photographer. This will help you get some insights into how you might approach the work. You then use those same questions, slightly modified to fit your work, and then interview yourself.


The podcast this week walks you through the process and so possible insights you might be able to get with a simple little exercise that gives you big rewards in understanding your own process and work.

 

As always, hope you and yours are safe, and please remember to keep safe and wear your mask!

Also, don’t forget that there are a couple of new workshops I am offering. Each workshop will run for 6-7 months and is limited to six participants. There is a foundation workshop about editing and workflow and an advanced workshop about finding more meaning in your work. You can get more information from the Workshops/Teaching menu above or using one of the links below.

Perceptive Photographer Foundation Workshop: The Developing Image

Perceptive Photographer Advanced Workshop: The Meaningful Image

 










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Gear used in the podcast

Rode Boom Arm
Rode PSM Shockmount
Rode Podcast Mic
Focusrite Scarlet 2i2
Adobe Audition (part of creative cloud subscription)
Macbook Pro
OWC Thunderbolt 3 dock
Headphones

Working With What the Photograph Wants

This episode explores the idea of working with what the photograph wants rather than forcing our intentions onto it. Once an image exists, it carries its own visual logic, weight, and rhythm. By slowing down, noticing what the photograph is already doing well, and letting accidents or imperfections remain, editing becomes a conversation instead of a correction. When we listen to the photograph’s internal voice, we discover a truer, more honest final image than the one we first imagined.

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Interpretation and translation

In this episode of the podcast I explore the idea of editing as translation. Rather than treating editing as technical cleanup, I look at how it becomes a way to interpret the lived moment of making a photograph. The camera captures facts but not the emotional truth, so editing bridges that gap. By shaping color, tone, and atmosphere, we translate experience into visual language and create images that feel honest, expressive, and connected to our intentions.

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What it means to share your work

In this episode of the podcast, we explore the quiet tension between the solitude of making photographs and the importance of sharing the work we create. Photography often begins in private moments of deep attention, yet that same solitude can drift into loneliness and self-doubt. We talk about why showing your images to others is a vital part of the creative cycle, how feedback and connection help clarify your voice, and why your work deserves to exist beyond your own hard drive. This episode invites you to embrace both the stillness of seeing and the community that completes the photograph.

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