WHO? I hate this part. I’m a 5th-generation Californian, a resident of San Francisco, and the father of an 11 year-old daughter. I’m one of those people who is lousy at most things and fairly good at a few. I was really good at driving a taxi, which paid poorly, and really lousy at practicing law, which paid fairly well. I ended up starting software companies, which fell into the sweet spot. My last venture was a video game start-up that grew quickly and attracted the attention of a global conglomerate called Electronic Arts, which bought it. Alas, I was lousy at working for a global conglomerate, and soon found myself unemployed, depressed, and sitting on my couch.
Interviews
Interview with Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet
WHO? I am a freelance photographer based in New York City. I was born and raised in Thailand. Three years ago, I left Thailand to study at the International Center of Photography in New York City. Studying at ICP opened my eyes to another level of understanding myself. Now I try my best to achieve my goal as a photographer.
Interview with Soumyendra Saha
WHO? I wish I knew. I was born and brought up in West Bengal, India to parents who studied and taught Philosophy, an arts subject, but strayed into Science and Technology to earn money. I found my calling when I picked up the camera in my free time, when I was out of a job.
Interview with Cedric Roux
WHO? I’m a almost 38 years old photographer, based in Paris, France. A cinema and stand up comedy enthusiast. I’m also a big fan of sports (basketball, football and many others).
Gulnara Samoilova in Conversation with Melissa O’Shaughnessy
Melissa O’Shaughnessy: Tell me a bit about your background. Where were you born and where did you grow up?
Gulnara Samoilova: I was born in Ufa, Bashkortostan and lived there until 1992. I fell in love with photography when I was 15 years old and knew immediately that it was what I wanted to do with my life. When I finished high school I went to work as a black and white printer. A year later I became a portrait photographer and shortly after got a job as a photography teacher in a Youth Arts Center. I was also working on my own personal projects.
Interview with Deb Achak
WHO? I am a Seattle-based fine art photographer. My work ranges from street photography captured in the water, to conceptual narratives. I love working in a variety of mediums at once. Street photography is exciting to me because it’s spontaneous, fluid, intuitive, and relies so much on the unconscious brain.
Interview with Vasco Trancoso
WHO? Born in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1944. During my childhood I was influenced by the pictures of the great painters reproduced in an illustrated encyclopaedia. The fascination was instant and perhaps my first step towards constructing an aesthetic culture. Later, in the early years of high school, the art teacher encouraged us to organize exhibitions with paintings cut from calendars or magazines. These ‘exhibitions’ by great artists on different types of paintings was a second important step in the evolution of my “eye”. It was the beginning of the “road to seeing.”
Interview with Regula Tschumi
WHO? My name is Regula Tschumi and I am Swiss. I live in Berne and spend several months every year in Ghana. I worked a long time as a flight attendant for Swissair, but in 2000 I left my job to study social anthropology, art history and religious studies in Berne. In 2012 I completed my studies with a PhD in social anthropology. Today I work as a freelance cultural mediator and photographer in the field of arts and museums.
Interview with Yiannis Gaitanidis
WHO? I am a filmmaker, based in Athens, Greece. Photography was always my hobby and for many years I used to take only the typical kind of photographs: friends and family, travels and holidays or photos for location scouting and research for my work. About 4 years ago, I felt the need to restart my relationship with photography. It was then, for the first time, I started to shoot in a more conscious way.
Interview with Kristian Leven
WHO? A London living, Arsenal supporting, introverted extrovert. A recent chess obsessive, and long-term cinephile. Loves to travel.