Welcome back. To celebrate reaching the 100th episode of the podcast, I collaborated with the team at the International Centre of Photography in New York City, to host a one day salon. My motivation was to gather the community together in person and start talking about where we stand in photography. Titled, Between Two Worlds, the salon was an attempt to describe the feeling of existing in two image worlds, the one we think we know, and the new one emerging. We can sense that this new image world operates differently to the one we were socialised in—and yet it’s unclear exactly how.

Before you dive in, I wanted to share what I told the audience at the salon - there are no tidy or easy answers here. In fact my expectation is that these conversations will involve a lot of complexity and contradiction, but holding space for, and embracing this chaos, is in my opinion, the urgent work that needs to be done.

In this episode I discuss the future of storytelling with Kathy Ryan

For three decades, Kathy Ryan, the longtime director of photography at The New York Times Magazine, pioneered her own vision for visual storytelling. Her signature approach to masterful commissioning was rooted in unexpected cross-assignment, blurring boundaries between genres and creating space for photography to be interpretive and elaborate - a powerful voice unto itself. Kathy is an icon. She has truly had more impact than any other magazine director of photography in our time. Within photography circles, she is a genuine legend.

Now, as she enters a new era of her career as an artist, curator and educator, I wanted to talk to Kathy about her new chapter and what it means to shift from the role of directing images to making them herself. I also wanted to speak to her, now she is untethered from an insitution, about her take on the future of storytelling and the role of the photographer in preserving history, challenging misinformation, and safeguarding the integrity of our shared narratives.

Follow Kathy & Gem on Instagram. If you've enjoyed this episode, PLEASE leave us your feedback in the Apple Podcast store. Thank you for listening to The Messy Truth. We will be back very soon. For all requests, please email hello@gemfletcher.com

Thank you to the whole team at ICP for collaborating on this project.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back. To celebrate reaching the 100th episode of the podcast, I collaborated with the team at the International Centre of Photography in New York City, to host a one day salon. My motivation was to gather the community together in person and start talking about where we stand in photography. Titled, Between Two Worlds, the salon was an attempt to describe the feeling of existing in two image worlds, the one we think we know, and the new one emerging. We can sense that this new image world operates differently to the one we were socialised in—and yet it’s unclear exactly how.

Before you dive in, I wanted to share what I told the audience at the salon - there are no tidy or easy answers here. In fact my expectation is that these conversations will involve a lot of complexity and contradiction, but holding space for, and embracing this chaos, is in my opinion, the urgent work that needs to be done.

In this session On Documentary, I was joined by Stacy Kranitz, Abdul Kircher, and Sinna Nasseri.

Amongst the doom and upheaval that defines life in the 2020s, from political extremism and war, the dizzying technological domination and the profound shifts in perception and attention, the role of documentary photography has never felt so consequential. Amongst this chaos, the protocols of the genre are shifting and new questions are emerging: What happens to documentary photography if we no longer trust in images? How is the changing media landscape impacting how images function? And can new forms of the medium emerge that adequately express the strange, unmapable shape of our present?

Projects mentioned:

Stacy Kranitz - The year after a denied Abortion and the conversation about the project

Abdul Kircher - Rotting From Within

Sinna Nasseri - LA Fires

Follow Stacy, Abdul, Sinna & Gem on Instagram. If you've enjoyed this episode, PLEASE leave us your feedback in the Apple Podcast store. Thank you for listening to The Messy Truth. We will be back very soon. For all requests, please email hello@gemfletcher.com

Thank you to the whole team at ICP for collaborating on this project.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back. To celebrate reaching the 100th episode of the podcast, I collaborated with the team at the International Centre of Photography in New York City, to host a one day salon. My motivation was to gather the community together in person and start talking about where we stand in photography. Titled, Between Two Worlds, the salon was an attempt to describe the feeling of existing in two image worlds, the one we think we know, and the new one emerging. We can sense that this new image world operates differently to the one we were socialised in—and yet it’s unclear exactly how.

Before you dive in, I wanted to share what I told the audience at the salon - there are no tidy or easy answers here. In fact my expectation is that these conversations will involve a lot of complexity and contradiction, but holding space for, and embracing this chaos, is in my opinion, the urgent work that needs to be done.

In this session on contemporary art. I’m joined today by three brilliant artists, thinkers and writers - Farah Al Qasimi, Charlie Engman and Gideon Jacobs.

What we understand an image to be is becoming completely reimagined. As photography slowly loses its utility value as a communication tool, does it have the opportunity to be a slippery, strange and miraculous medium of possibilities? From where we stand today, what is the work of art? And what role does photography play in those ideas and gestures?

Projects mentioned:

Charlie Engman - Cursed

Farah Al Qasimi - Toy World

Gideon Jacobs - On Images

Follow Farah, Charlie, Gideon & Gem on Instagram. If you've enjoyed this episode, PLEASE leave us your feedback in the Apple Podcast store. Thank you for listening to The Messy Truth. We will be back very soon. For all requests, please email hello@gemfletcher.com

Thank you to the whole team at ICP for collaborating on this project.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.