Vision Slightly Blurred

It's a Wrap! The Final Vision Slightly Blurred Episode

01 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

After 139 episodes over 3 years, we're wrapping up PhotoShelter's Vision Slightly Blurred podcast. It has been a joy to talk about the inter...

Joe McNally Recounts the Freelance Life in "The Real Deal"

26 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

During COVID with little work to be had, Joe McNally hunkered down to write a book that's part memoir, part business instruction, and part techni...

"The 30" 2022 Edition Highlights New + Emerging Photos to Watch

19 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Although PDN magazine folded in early 2020, its parent company, Emerald, rechristened the list of up-and-coming photographers as "The 30." T...

The Associated Press Wants To Sell You An NFT

11 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Still think NFTs are some fringe idea? Yesterday the Associated Press announced that it will start selling NFTs of some of its iconic images at the en...

It's The Year In Review in Photos (without photos!)

21 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The end of the year means photo compilations, and Sarah and Allen go through some of their favorites from the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times...

A Japanese Billionaire Takes iPhone Photos from Space

14 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

If given the chance to go to space, most photographers would probably gear up. But Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa visited the International Space...

Vision Slightly Blurred Live! With National Geographic Photographer Jim Richardson

07 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Our first ever live taping of Vision Slightly Blurred features one of our favorite photographers. Longtime National Geographic photographer Jim Richar...

HBO's New Gordon Parks Documentary Will Get You Inspired

30 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

HBO's "A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks" shares its name with Parks' 1996 autobiography, and although much of the mov...

Former President Donald Trump is Publishing a Photo Book

23 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

While most ex-Presidents opt for lengthy memoirs, Donald Trump decided on a photo book as the first post-White House tome. A new publishing company fo...

Dina Litovsky on the "Sticky Issue of Consent" in Street Photography

16 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Dina Litovsky built a career on observing candid moments of various subcultures – with some of her best work taken candidly on the streets of New Y...

Jocelyn Lee's Compelling Nudes of Older Women

09 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In her book "Sovereign," photographer Jocelyn Lee captures the female nude. But instead of the platonic ideal typically captured in the genr...

Lori Grinker's Rare Photos (and Forthcoming Book) of a Young Mike Tyson

02 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In 1981, Parsons Institute of Design student Lori Grinker set out to document a small slice of boxing history unfolding at legendary trainer Cus D&apo...

Photographing Directly to 20x24 Photo Paper is Magical Wizardry!

19 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ethan Moses – purveyor of 3D printed cameras at Cameradactyl – spent the last few weeks in NYC teaching a color reversal printing process using a ...

Did an Italian Student Plagiarize an Ethiopian Artist at the Milano Photo Festival?

12 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The 2021 Milan Photo Festival catalog includes a group exhibition by students at the Istituto Italiano Fotografia on the topic of Dante's Inferno...

Street Photography's Snakes on a Train?

05 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

An image of a young mother in a short dress on a New York City subway raised ethical questions and the ire of some commentators on Twitter. Some found...

How Magnum Photos' Jonas Bendiksen Nearly Fooled the Entire Industry

28 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Magnum photographer Jonas Bendiksen was troubled by potential for photographers to fabricate a story and photos from scratch using technology and soci...

Christo's Arc de Triomphe: What Role Does Photography Play in Ephemeral Art?

20 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

60 years in the making, Christo's Wrapped Arc de Triomphe opened over the weekend – thrilling Parisians with the artist's first posthumous...

The Photos of 9/11 – Twenty Years Later

14 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

With the benefit of two decades of hindsight, Sarah and Allen re-examine the "iconic" photos from September 11 and talk about the need for p...

Simu Liu – the Star of Marvel's Shang-Chi – Was a Stock Photo Model

07 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Simu Liu, the Chinese-Canadian actor who stars in Marvel's latest blockbuster, revealed that he was once paid $100 to be a stock photo model. Sin...

Should Photographers Abandon Instagram Now That It's Not a "Photo App"?

01 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In late June 2021, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri declared that the service was no longer a photo sharing app, and that the team was focused on "Crea...

A Harrowing Visual Record of Afghanistan's Worst Week

24 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

As the Taliban quickly overran major cities in Afghanistan – culminating in the capture of Kabul – civilian and professional photographers capture...

Apple Tackles Child Sex Abuse Imagery: Slippery Slope or Necessary Intervention?

17 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Apple recently announced a new set of features aimed at combatting Child Sexual Abuse Materials (CSAM), which include the ability to scan a user'...

Do Paparazzi Photos Suggest J.Lo & Ben Affleck Are Recreating a 20 Year Old Music Video?

10 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A photo conspiracy theory is afloat after uncredited, potentially lucrative images of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck on a yacht were released by TMZ. ...

An Insta-Famous Photographer Collected, But Didn't Deliver

03 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan Shorosky, photographer and long-haul trucker, built a significant Instagram following while driving a semi around the country. We he made some of...

How Todd Bigelow's "Mediocre" Images Have Earned Him $$$

27 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Todd Bigelow’s career hasn’t gone exactly as planned. That is to say that no plan from the past few decades could have anticipated the sea of chan...

Pulitzer-Winning Photographer Danish Siddiqui Killed in Afghanistan

20 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Pulitzer Prize Winning Photographer Danish Saddiqui was killed in Afghanistan while covering a conflict between Afghan Security Forces and the Taliban...

The Audubon Photo Awards Winner is a (beep, beep!) Roadrunner

13 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Caroline Fraser takes the Grand Prize in the 2021 Audubon Photo Awards for a stunning image a Greater Roadrunner backlit through a blanket of dust. It...

The Miami Building Collapse in Photos

29 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Five days after the tragic building collapse in Surfside, Miami, over 150 people are still unaccounted for. Photographers have been on the scene captu...

Did the Media Frame the George Floyd Protest Coverage for White Eyes?

22 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In a Mother Jones piece, Ramenda Cyrus analyzes A1 coverage of last year's George Floyd protests and contends that the media is still relying on ...

Unfold, Unsplash, Unpaid! Ryan James Caruthers Rejects Exploitation

15 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Unfold, a layout templating app owned by Squarespace, contacted queer photographer Ryan James Caruthers to use 12 of his photos for a Pride Month Inst...

Police Body Cams Create Accountability, But What About Privacy?

08 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Police body cams were introduced to create a layer of accountability and to dissuade misconduct.  And while the jury is still out over the effectiven...

A Yearbook Teacher Photoshopped Female Students' Chests and Outrage Ensued

25 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Bartram Trail High School in St. John, FL blew up in the news this past week when it was revealed that a yearbook teacher Photoshopped at least 80 fem...

Podcast: Heartbreak & Destruction in Photos from Gaza and Israel

18 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

After years of relative calm, tensions between Palestinians and Israelis has escalated in recent days through a series of provocations that have been ...

Yes, We're Talking About That Biden Carter Picture

11 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

White House Chief Photographer Adam Schultz inadvertently caused a ruckus when he used an ultrawide angle lens to photograph President Biden, Dr. Jill...

Are You Doing the Instagram Photo Dump?

04 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Instagram is known for being a highly curated destination for photos and video, but a new trend has emerged at the end of the month when users dump al...

Walter Iooss Jr. & Reuben Wu Sell NFTs of Their Photos

27 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Back in March, the artist Beeple sold a digital collage for $69 million. Photographers (and everyone else) suddenly took notice of this relatively new...

F*ckGatekeeping Answers Your Questions About Being a Pro Photographer

20 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Emiliano Granado, Jared Soares, and Carmen Chan recently launched F*ckGateKeeping – a website and Instagram resource for younger photographers looki...

A Retoucher Altered the Expression of Genocide Victims To Make Them Smile

13 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the mid- to late-70s, the Khmer Rouge committed a heinous genocide in Cambodia that killed 25% of its population. The government infamously photogr...

The Vaccine Selfie Doesn't Hurt a Bit!

06 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Over 100 million people in the U.S. have already received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines, and we have the photos to prove it. In this episode ...

A Huge Legal Win, an Even Bigger Boat, and Our 100th Episode

30 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Photographer Lynn Goldsmith won a huge victory against the Andy Warhol Foundation last week when the 2nd Court of Appeals declared that the Foundation...

Rick Smolan on the 40th Anniversary of "A Day in the Life"

23 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Slightly over 40 years ago, photographer Rick Smolan convened 100 of the world's best photographers to photograph 24 hours in Australia – an au...

Enoch Ku's Spectacularly Ordinary Photos of Sacramento

16 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We like the quirk, and that's what photographer Enoch Ku captured while cruising around his hometown of Sacramento, CA. A set of hedges cut into ...

Chanell Stone Captures Urban Nature in All Its Black & White Glory

09 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Oakland-based Chanell Stone continues to receive recognition for her "Natura Negra" project, which explores the relationship between land, n...

AI "Deep Nostalgia" Has Real Limitations

02 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This week on the podcast, Sarah and Allen discuss the inaugural Silver List, Juergen Teller's controversial covers for W Magazine, Dispo app, MyH...

Who Should Own Images of Enslaved People?

23 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Since their rediscovery in 1976, the images of slaves known as the Zealy Daguerreotypes have been held by Harvard's Peabody Museum. The images we...

Photographer Jeff Sedlik Sues Kat Von D for Stealing His Photo for a Tattoo

17 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

PLUS Coalition co-founder and CEO Jeff Sedlik filed suit against LA Ink star Kat Von D for infringing his copyright by using his 1989 Miles Davis port...

What Was Up With That Super Bowl LV Camera Work?

10 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Out-of-focus end zone shots and The Weeknd's meme-worthy "dance" with a camera raised a lot of eyebrows. Innovation or gimmicks? Sarah ...

Sarah Meister Leaves MoMA to Take the Helm at Aperture

02 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

MoMA photography curator Sarah Meister was named Aperture's new executive director after a year long search to replace Chris Boot. Meister worked...

Brendan Smialowski Unwittingly Strikes Internet Gold with Bernie Memes

26 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

While covering the inauguration of President Joe Biden, AFP photographer Brendan Smialowski focused his camera onto Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders for...

Trump Gives Nick Ut the National Medal of the Arts and the Backlash Ensues

19 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, Nick Ut of "Napalm Girl" fame, received the National Medal of the Arts from President Trump. While many...

Photojournalists Capture the Capitol Under Siege

12 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

January 6, 2021, an infamous day in U.S. History when citizens overran the Capitol was also a day when photojournalists delivered incredible work unde...

Photojournalist Kenneth Jarecke Launches The Curious Society

05 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A quarterly print publication of top notch photojournalism for $300 per year? Seasoned photojournalist Kenneth Jarecke believes there's a market ...

The Final Show of 2020 – And We Hear From You!

22 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Two weeks ago, we solicited voice memos and stories from you, the listener, on how you're coping during the pandemic, projects you're workin...

NYT's The Year in Pictures 2020

16 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The New York Times recently published their annual Year in Pictures, and Sarah and Allen discuss their favorite photos, the role of editing in making ...

Lawyer Richard Liebowitz Suspended in SDNY

08 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Intellectual property attorney Richard Liebowitz was ordered to stop practicing law in the Southern District of New York following a unanimous decisio...

Reuters Photos of the Year Look Terrible...On the Web

24 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Reuters is the first major wire service to publish a year-end "best of" photo gallery. The photos are an incredible collection of well-compo...

Diana Markosian's Santa Barbara & Instagram's Latest Update

18 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Diana Markosian's latest project, Santa Barbara, is named after the 80s soap opera which she watched as a child in the Soviet Union. Little did s...

Where Did That Viral Collage of Kamala Harris Come From?

10 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

After most major news outlets called the election for Joe Biden, a collage of former VPs and VP-elect Kamala Harris began to circulate on social media...

Johnny Depp Plays Photographer W. Eugene Smith in "Minamata"

02 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

MGM has acquired the rights to "Minamata" a drama about Eugene Smith's last photo assignment documenting the horrific mercury poisoning...

Pete Souza Recounts History in "The Way I See It"

27 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The long awaited documentary featuring the Obama administration's Chief White House Photographer Pete Souza recently made its debut on MSNBC, and...

PSA: Unsplash is Still Awful for Photographers (and end users)

21 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Free stock photo site Unsplash entered the news cycle again when the UK government used a photo of an Atlanta-based dancer as the subject of their &qu...

Has Adobe Gone Too Far?

13 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Adobe Photoshop Element's Face Tilt feature allows you to repositions faces in your photos to direct their gaze back towards the camera (or anywh...

Did President Trump Stage Photos While Being Treated for COVID-19?

06 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

A small controversy occurred this past weekend when the AP circulated handout photos taken by White House photographer Joyce Boghosian of President Do...

Photoville Returns to NYC in a Pandemic, TIME 100 Covers, and Photos of Fancy Cake

01 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Since its inception, Photoville has used outdoor space to display a wide range of incredible photographs on the Brooklyn Bridge waterfront – which i...

Emily Ratajkowski Wants to Reclaim Her Image. What Does That Mean for Photographers?

23 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Last week, New York Magazine's The Cut published a lengthy essay written by model Emily Ratajkowski on her experiences working as a model, actor,...

Do You Still Need a Photography Website in 2020? (And Get Your SEO Guide Too)

22 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Flak Photo's Andy Adams asked his followers for their website URLs early this month, and was surprised to find that a number of them didn't ...

BJP's The Ones to Watch and SFMOMA Animates the Pioneers of Photography

15 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The British Journal of Photography recently released their 2020 Ones to Watch list – a globally diverse list of talent that includes a number of pho...

The Folded Map Project's Tonika Johnson Confronts Alec Soth & the NYT

09 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On September 5, 2020, The New York Times published the latest entry in their "The America We Need" Times Opinion series to examine two neigh...

California Wildfires, the Whitney Screws Up, Texas Isaiah, and RIP Chadwick Boseman

02 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Sarah is back in NYC, and we're ready to talk photography! In this episode, a network of surveillance cameras captures the California wildfires, ...

What Photographers Can Learn from the Whitney Museum & See in Black Debacle

01 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is an audio version of Allen Murabayashi's piece entitled "What Photographers Can Learn from the Whitney Museum & S...

The Strange Lure (and Joy) of Other People's Photos

18 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Is Alberto di Lenardo the next Vivian Maier? Prior to his death, di Lenardo showed his granddaughter a "secret room" filled with the negativ...

Beirut in Photos, #IwanttoseeNyome, Is Getty Selling Images of Child Exploitation?

11 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this jam-packed episode of Vision Slightly Blurred, Sarah and Allen discuss how citizen journalism and professional photojournalism gave us an incr...

Kodak Becomes a Pharma Company, AP Switches to Sony, RIP John Lewis

03 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

With a $765 million loan under the U.S. Defense Production Act, Kodak has pivoted from film chemistry to pharmaceutical ingredients. The loan sent Kod...

Martin Parr Apologizes, Male Doctors Try to Shame Their Female Peers with Photos, and the Hippest Octogenarians

27 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

After 18 months, a campaign started by then 18-year old Mercedes Baptiste Halliday, a Black photo student in London, to stop the sales of a republicat...

Dario Calmese Photographs Viola Davis for Vanity Fair and References a Slave Photo

20 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

After the controversy surrounding Annie Leibovitz's Vogue cover of Simone Biles, Vanity Fair published a beautiful photo spread of Viola Davis ta...

Annie Leibovitz Photographs Simone Biles for Vogue...and Twitter Loses Its Mind

13 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Co-host Allen Murabayashi recounts his participation on an ICP panel about protestors and ethics with panelists Tara Pixley, Brent Lewis, and Joshua L...

Did the Media Get Played by Trump? Magnum Faces Questions About Diversity, and Hot Dogs!

06 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

President Trump gave a Fourth of July Speech at Mount Rushmore, which provided a perfect spectacle for Presidential propaganda. Did the media get play...

Presented with Pride – The Evolving POV of LGBTQ Photographers

29 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

As Pride month comes to a close, we highlight just a small number of photographers doing thought-provoking work from Robert Mapplethorpe's contro...

Jake May's Beautiful Juneteenth Photo, Jesse Dittmar Snaps Charli D'Amelio, and NYT's Selfies of Black Photographers

22 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Juneteenth, the Summer Solstice, and Father's Day – all in one weekend – with some fantastic photography to boot.In this episode of Vision Sl...

Photojournalists Have a Heated Ethics Debate & Black Photographers Create the VogueChallenge

15 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

As photographers responded to the controversial Poynter article entitled "Photographers are being called on to stop showing protesters' face...

Should Photographers Show Protestors' Faces? It's a Misleading Question.

08 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In the midst of global protests in support of #BlackLivesMatter, the Poynter Institute caused a ruckus within the photojournalism industry last week w...

Photojournalists Attacked and Arrested at Protests Around the Country

01 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In the span of less than a week, concerns about COVID-19 have taken a backseat to the nationwide protests against police brutality and racism sparked ...

Are There Enough Photos of COVID-19 Death?

26 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Harvard professor Sara Elizabeth Lewis raised the ire of some photojournalists by suggesting that there weren't enough photos of COVID-19-related...

Robert Pattinson Takes a Selfie for GQ, Travis Long Covers Protesters, and Justine Kurland's Girl Pictures

18 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of the PhotoShelter podcast, Vision Slightly Blurred, Sarah Jacobs and Allen Murabayashi talk about Travis Long's photo of a miss...

Daniel Arnold's Seinfeld Photos, Spencer Tunic on Zoom, and Deanna Dikeman Says Bye to Mom

10 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Happy belated Mother's Day to all the moms out there!In this episode of Vision Slightly Blurred, Sarah and Allen laugh at Daniel Arnold's re...

Bryan Derballa's Botanic Garden, Sally Mann on Dorothea Lange, and UFOs!

04 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Spring is in the air, and we've got the photos to prove it. Er, we're talking about the photos to prove it.In this episode of Vision Slightl...

Glow In the Dark Dolphins, the COVID Lives of NYT Photographers, and Life Imitates Art

27 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Your weekly dose of photography and culture with hosts Sarah Jacobs and Allen Murabayashi. In this episode, we talk about a collection of 15 essays wr...

Sinclair v Mashable, Zombie Protestors, and High School Seniors

20 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

A judge dismissed Stephanie Sinclair's lawsuit against Mashable after the website embedded an image she posted to Instagram without permission. H...

3 Photographers on Applying for Economic Assistance: Moral Failing or Necessity?

10 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

How Photographers Are Staying Creative During COVID-19

06 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this week’s episode of PhotoShelter’s podcast “Vision Slightly Blurred,” @sarahjake and @allen3m discuss sheltering in Dallas and Honolulu,...

Photography in the Age of Coronavirus

16 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

What once seemed like a distant threat has turned into a major nightmare for photographers. The rapid spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) has led to majo...

How the Kids Are Learning Photography on TikTok

09 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

TikTok, the video-based social media app, usually conjures visions of teens mimicking the latest dance craze, but it's probably better described ...

Twitter Beefs: The Photo Industry Fights Over Photo Contests

02 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Late Winter and early Spring bring another cycle of photo contest season – that time of year when many major prizes are announced (especially in the...

Celebface: Why everyone looks the same on Instagram

24 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Are Your Social Media Photos Ending Up In a Law Enforcement Database?

18 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The New York Times investigative reporter Kashmir Hill uncovered some unsettling details about Clearview AI – a facial recognition start-up that scr...

Fujifilm Launched a Camera and Revealed How their Ambassador Takes Photos. Then He was Canceled.

10 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

As a part of the launch of the Fuji X100V, Fuji posted a video of Japanese street photographer Tatsuo Suzuki at work. Suzuki's aggressive style r...

What Happens When a Major Photo Magazine Shuts Down?

03 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Last week, Emerald Expositions, the owner of Photo District News (PDN), announced that PDN would no longer publish new content online or in print. The...

How Photographers Remember Kobe Bryant Through Their Photos

30 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The crash that killed Kobe Bryant, his 13-year old daughter Gianna, and seven others aboard a helicopter shocked millions around the world. Near the S...

How Technical Do You Have to Be to Take a Good Photo?

28 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Does knowing the science behind photography help us create better pictures and/or get more out of our equipment? Or does the accumulation of such know...

Joe Rimkus Jr.'s Hopeful Photo of an Exploding Rocket

21 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded during liftoff due to a faulty O-ring design on the rocket booster which allowed hot gas to...