The Candid Frame: A Photography Podcast

Italian photojournalist Ernesto Bazan first traveled to Cuba in 1992 and immediately fell in love with the county and its people; he felt transported to the Sicily of his childhood. After many more trips, Bazan finally moved to Cuba in 1997, documenting daily life, raising a family, and teaching photography classes during the "Special Period." Bazan's images document the country's socioeconomic crisis and the tensions between rich and poor after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the withdrawal of its financial support. He captured the Cuban people's despair and hopelessness as well as their joy, resilience, and dignity of his neighbors. This fourteen-year project--awarded a W. Eugene Smith Fund Award for Humanist Photography--documents the island's struggle to maintain its socialist identity in a post-communist world.   Photographer Links:    Education Resources:   Candid Frame Resources   Download the free Candid Frame app for your favorite smart device. Click here to download for . Click here

Jason Hamacher‘s professional efforts are shaped by passion, motivation, and vision. He is an internationally recognized musician, photographer, writer, public speaker, and massage therapist. His work has taken him across the globe documenting the sights and sounds of culture, music, people, and food. Hamacher’s diverse clientele ranges from Vidal Sassoon to an NBA dance team, from the Syrian Embassy to some of the most popular heavy-metal bands in the world. He exhibits his photography frequently and is currently finishing both a book on Aleppo, Syria and a CD of ancient Christian chants. Hamacher’s passion for the arts was recognized early when he began playing drums at the age of ten, performed his first concert at fourteen, and recorded his first album at seventeen. His interest in history and culture unfolded as a youth while touring Europe and Asia with his band. He continues to write, record and play music internationally. In addition to running Lost Origin Productions, Hamacher is a happily married fa

Jérôme Brunet was born in southern France and raised in Ontario, Canada. His passion for music began at the age of four, when he started studying as a classical cellist for eight years before moving on to the guitar. He continues to play guitar to this day. Jérôme displayed an early talent in the visual arts, studying the discipline in high school before completing a formal education in photography at the prestigious E.F.E.T. School of Photography in Paris, France. Jérôme’s award-winning photography has been published internationally in such publications as Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Time, Billboard, Popular Photography, American Photo, Guitar World, Smithsonian and The New York Times. His client list includes Nikon, Fender, Gibson, John Varvatos, AEG, Warner Bros. Records and he has collaborated with the non-profit organizations Unicef, Rock for MS, T.J. Martell Foundation, John Varvatos Stuart House Benefit and the Recording Academy's MusiCares.   Photographer Links:    Education Resources:   Candi

Ken Merfeld owns and operates a commercial / fine art photography studio where he photographs fashion, advertising, portrait, and celebrity assignments.  His work has appeared in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Mademoiselle, Angelino, Zoom, Black and White, and Los Angeles magazines. Prior to his work in the world of Wet-Plate Collodion, Ken has worked on a personal portrait project (traditional silver prints) for more than 20 years which includes: dancers, bikers, people with their pets, autistic children, “little people”, transvestites, identical twins, women wearing masks. In response to the rapidly moving electronic image world, as well as his inherent desire to keep his traditional darkroom alive, Merfeld has chosen to embrace the ultimate, historical, hands-on technique of Wet-Plate Collodion (originally known as the “Black Art”) from the 1860’s.  Influenced by the 19th. Century portraits of Julia Margaret Cameron, whereby a single defining exposure is made on a piece of glass and processed immediately, Ken has

Sheila Pree Bright is often described as a "Cultural Anthropologist. Her earliest experience as a photographer began when she spent time in Houston where she began photographing the gangsta rap scene and confronting the dynamic between Hip hop and gun culture. In 2003, she created her MFA thesis photo series, Plastic Bodies, which would later be featured in the film Through the Lens Darkly and go viral on Huffington Post in 2013. Bright earned national acclaim when she won the Center Prize at the Santa Fe Center of Photography in 2006 for her Suburbia series which features images of African American suburban life. In 2008, she premiered her first solo exhibition at the High Museum of Art, featuring her series Young Americans.  In 2014 and 2015, Bright visited Ferguson and Baltimore after the murders of Michael Brown and Freddie Gray to photograph and document the protests. The culmination of these photos would become her series 1960Now which was published by Chronicle Books October 16, 2018. 1960Now series is

Patrick Brown’s images are testament to his remarkable versatility of approach and commitment to the profession. Patrick Brown has assembled an impressive volume of outstanding photographs, tracing the eclecticisms of our time across the globe. Faultless in the portrayal of the human condition, hopes, and disillusionment, the everyday and the extraordinary are captured in the instinctive and the single releases of the shutter. An ongoing journey of discovery, Patrick’s subjects as well as the process of photography are imbued with the freshness and the enthusiasm animated by the prefect marriage of technique and intuition. Patrick Brown’s images demand involvement and invited contemplation. A finely tuned sensibility to his subject matter creates a prefect balance; the camera, the photographer become almost imperceptible, without every being invasive or distant.   Podcast Awards   Photographer Links:  Listener Intro:   Education Resources:   Candid Frame Resources   Download the free Candid Fra

Michael Benanav is an author and freelance photographer known for immersing in foreign cultures and bringing compelling stories and images back from distant places. His most recent book is Himalayan Bound.  Michael's first book, Men Of Salt: Crossing the Sahara on the Caravan of White Gold, tells the true story of a 1000-mile journey with one of the world's last working camel caravans, hauling salt along ancient trade routes from the heart of the desert to the fabled city of Timbuktu. The book was nominated by Barnes & Noble for their Discover prize and was named a Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association (even though it was written for fully-grown adults). Michael's second book, The Luck of the Jews: An Incredible Story of Loss, Love, & Survival in the Holocaust, (originally published as Joshua & Isadora), traces the astonishing wartime experiences that brought his paternal grandparents together on the deck of a refugee boat sailing from Bucharest to Istanbul at the end of 1

Radcliffe “Ruddy” Roye is a Brooklyn-based documentary photographer specializing in editorial and environmental portraits and photo-journalism photography. A photographer with over twelve years of experience, Radcliffe is inspired by the raw and gritty lives of grass-roots people, especially those of his homeland of Jamaica. Radcliffe strives to tell the stories of their victories and ills by bringing their voices to matte fibre paper.   Recently, Radcliffe began experimenting with interpretative photography, preferring to allow the abstract content within the frame to dictate the voice and purpose of the image. His Elements series focuses on the bold, austere, graphic and emotionally raw imagery, that is trapped behind a diffused lens. With painterly abilities, Radcliffe uses this diffused methodology to subtly awake the subconscious and expose the isolated figure or vision painted within a rhetorical frame.   Podcast Awards   Photographer Links:  Listener Intro: James Lee   Education Resources:   Cand

Jasmin Mara López is an award-winning journalist, radio producer, youth media educator and filmmaker that works in the U.S. and Mexico. Born in Los Angeles with familial roots in México, her childhood was impacted by issues experienced on both sides of the U.S.- México border. This instilled in her a strong passion for immigrant rights, youth empowerment, and social change. In 2007, Jasmin founded Project Luz, an organization that empowers youth to share stories within their communities utilizing audio and photojournalism techniques. Jasmin is working on her first film, Silent Beauty, about her family’s history with child sexual abuse and their culture of silence. Jasmin disclosed abuse she endured as a child in 2014.   Photographer Links:    Education Resources:   Candid Frame Resources   Download the free Candid Frame app for your favorite smart device. Click here to download for . Click here to download Support the work we do at The Candid Frame with contributing to our Patreon effort.  You ca

Willem Baptist is a Dutch filmmaker and documentary-director whose latest film is Instant Dreams. Instant Dreams is a feature documentary about the fascination and love for Polaroids. When Polaroid announced the end of instant film in 2008, the last still working factory was bought by a small group of enthusiasts. Among them is the retired scientist Stephen Herchen who previously collaborated with the inventor of Polaroid and is still trying to unravel the secret of the lost chemical formula.   Photographer Links:   Education Resources:   Candid Frame Resources   Download the free Candid Frame app for your favorite smart device. Click here to download for . Click here to download   Support the work we do at The Candid Frame with contributing to our Patreon effort.  You can do this by visiting or visiting the website and clicking on the Patreon button. You can also provide a one-time donation via . You can follow Ibarionex on and .

Jessica Chou approaches her subjects with as little preconceived notions as possible, allowing people the space to collaborate with the moment and the place they inhabit. She strives for honesty and to look at things as they are, without artifice or judgement. The result is something that is at once observant and intimate. While her photography is documentary in style, it is led by the possibilities for storytelling and expression within a single frame. From photographing high-profile public figures to exploring changes in the cultural landscape or reporting at the U.S. and Mexico border, what unites her work is her curiosity, empathy and her ease in shifting between disparate worlds and finding the naturalness in things that do not necessarily belong together. Jessica was born in 1985 in Taipei, Taiwan and raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles known as the San Gabriel Valley. She graduated from UCLA with a degree in Middle East History and is currently living and working between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Jesse Dittmar is a celebrity portrait photographer who began serving as an assistant for some of the industry’s best photographers including Chris Buck and Annie Leibovitz. On his own, he has photographed celebrities including Jodie Foster, Uma Therman, Tom Hanks, Sting, James Earl Jones and more. His photographs have been published in numerous newspapers and magazines including The Hollywood Reporter, Village Voice and Rolling Stone. His recent book, Two showcases his penchant for intimate portraiture with beautiful black white portraits of his photographic subjects.   Photographer Links: Listener Intro: John Adair   Education Resources:   Candid Frame Resources   Download the free Candid Frame app for your favorite smart device. Click here to download for . Click here to download Support the work we do at The Candid Frame with contributing to our Patreon effort.  You can do this by visiting or visiting the website and clicking on the Patreon button. You can also provide a one-time donation via

Sophie Mayanne is a 26-year-old fashion and portrait photographer, splitting her time between London and Cotswolds, UK.  Her style is unmistakable, favoring raw, striking imagery that is hers and hers alone. Her work has been recognized by both the fashion and music industries and has been particularly favored by up and coming artists & publications who admire the honesty and genuineness in her images. Behind The Scars is a photography campaign that celebrates scars of all shapes and sizes, and the incredible stories behind them. The series is photographed by Sophie Mayanne and began in April 2017. Since then, Mayanne has captured over 300 scar portraits and stories – encouraging many men, women, and children all over the world to embrace the skin they are in. Photographer Links:   Education Resources:   Candid Frame Resources   Download the free Candid Frame app for your favorite smart device. Click here to download for . Click here to download Support the work we do at The Candid Frame wi

Sarah Marie Rooney and Sasha Dylan Bell are photographers who collaborated on a conceptual photographic project titled “Fear of Dreaming”. This work explores the inner conflict, following a dreamer who has lost her way. The portraits which solicited the involvement of a trained dancer explored the process of being overwhelmed by fear and of moving through and out of it. Sarah Marie Rooney grew up in Connecticut and obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts, in Musical Theatre, from Syracuse University. After graduating she continued her vocal studies in the UK and New Zealand, before performing more than fifty solo vocal recitals and operas in the United States, Australia, the UK, and New Zealand. Sarah was also the Business Manager and Executive Theater Producer at BATS Theatre, Producer of Summer Shakespeare, and the Producer for Young and Hungry Theatre Company. In addition to performing and producing, she taught and directed classes for theater, voice, and stage at the Wellington Theatre for Performing Arts (NZ)

Julieanne Kost is a Principal Evangelist at Adobe Systems, responsible for fostering relationships with customers through meaningful and inspirational Photoshop and Lightroom instruction. As a highly sought-after speaker for the industry-standard Digital Imaging franchise, she devises and presents motivating and educational training sessions, sharing original techniques and tutorials worldwide — via live events, Adobe.com, her own website (jkost.com) and blog. She is also the author of “Window Seat: The Art of Digital Photography and Creative Thinking,” and “Passenger Seat: Creating a Photographic Project from Conception through Execution in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom”, an accomplished photographer and fine artist, and creator and host of the popular Photoshop CC Essential Training and the Art of Photoshop Compositing for Lynda.com.   Photographer Links:   Education Resources:   Candid Frame Resources   Download the free Candid Frame app for your favorite smart device. Click here to download for

Diana Lundin is a commercial pet portrait photographer based in Southern California. After a successful career as a writer and editor, she embarked on a second career as a photographer. Her commissioned and personal work evokes the unique personalities of pets and the special relationship that they share with their caregivers. This summer she will be releasing her first book Dogs vs Ice Cream, a selection of over 100 portraits of a wide variety of dogs eating the tasty treat.     Photographer Links:   Education Resources:   Candid Frame Resources   Download the free Candid Frame app for your favorite smart device. Click here to download for . Click here to download Support the work we do at The Candid Frame with contributing to our Patreon effort.  You can do this by visiting or visiting the website and clicking on the Patreon button. You can also provide a one-time donation via .   You can follow Ibarionex on and .

Mark de Paola was literally born into a photo studio on Cahuenga Blvd in Los Angeles and grew up splitting time between Los Angeles and New York. Mark's earliest recollections are of watching photo shoots and being completely immersed in the fashion books and periodicals of the time, Vogue and Harpers Bazaar. Mark's photographic foundation is the works of his father Alessio, Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Bert Stern, and Art Kane. Mark's vision is best described as a combination of reportage, fashion, and beauty. It has always been Mark's objective to capture a natural beauty in a setting where a model's personality is allowed to flourish while a story is being told. Mark's very first assignment was a magazine cover image of actor Henry Fonda. While working in New York, Los Angeles, and Milano, Mark would go on to shoot countless campaigns, editorials, and covers, including those for Vogue Mexico and Vogue Spain. Mark's storytelling still style quickly translated to motion/ television commercials where Mark dir

Safi Alia Shabaik discovered art and photography at an early age when her mother enrolled her in a pinhole camera class at the California Museum of Science and Industry. She attended UCLA, earning her B.A. in Fine Art with honors. Since then, she has worked as a fashion stylist and photographic documentarian and has lived in both New York and Los Angeles. Post-college, while still in Los Angeles, Catherine Opie became her mentor and taught her the art of large scale color printing in her custom-built darkrooms. While in New York, Safi became fashion stylist, photographic documentarian, personal assistant, travel companion, and confidante to the legendary icon, Ms. Grace Jones, in her personal and public life.  Safi was given free rein to photograph anytime they were together. Throughout her life, her work has been about identity, persona, subculture and the humanity of all people. Her subject matter moved from the public realm to the private, when she became a caregiver for her father who was beginning to exh

Sam Abell, Arthur Meyerson, and George Nobechi recently shared a “buddy trip”, traveling through the heart of Japan via train. While George lives in Japan, Arthur and Sam have frequently traveled to the country on assignment and to teach workshops. However, this trip was a very personal one, which allowed these three friends to do more than photograph together, but to also share a wealth of unique cultural and personal experiences. Sam Abell is an American photographer known for his frequent publication of photographs in National Geographic. He first worked for National Geographic in 1967 and is one of the more overtly artistic photographers among his magazine peers.[citation needed] Sam Abell's style of photography is documentary in the sense that his major avenue, the National Geographic magazine, is a publication of record. Abell has said that he could be perfectly happy with his photography even if his only subject was light itself. Arthur Meyerson is recognized as one of America’s finest photographers. S

Sara Terry is an award-winning documentary photographer and filmmaker known for her work covering post-conflict stories, and a 2012 Guggenheim Fellow for her long-term project, “Forgiveness and Conflict: Lessons from Africa.” Her first long-term post-conflict work, “Aftermath: Bosnia’s Long Road to Peace,” led her to found The Aftermath Project in 2003 on the premise that “War is Only Half the Story.” An accomplished speaker on aftermath and visual literacy issues, her lectures include a TEDx talk, “Storytelling in a Post-Journalism Word,” and several appearances at The Annenberg Space for Photography. She has directed and produced two feature-length documentaries, Fambul Tok (2011) and FOLK (2013). Fambul Tok, about a groundbreaking grass-roots forgiveness program in Sierra Leone, premiered at SXSW in 2011, and grew out of her photo project, “Forgiveness and Conflict: Lessons from Africa.” It was supported by the Sundance Documentary Institute and Chicken and Egg and was hailed by Paste magazine as one of th