Who is Bob Krist?

Bob Krist is a renowned travel photographer and videographer who has photographed for 40+ years and traveled to 150 countries.

In early December 2019, Krist released his 12th book, “Old Souls & Timeless Places.” And, yes, as the headline of this blog post states, it is spectacular.

Printed at Brilliant Graphics, the attention to detail in producing this all black & white book is astounding. If you have ever used black & white film and printed from a negative, the photographs in “Old Souls & Timeless Places” will be nostalgic. So, this book a must-have in my collection and I hope you will consider it as well.

Cover to cover, you are gently stopped to take it all in, and there is a lot to absorb in this semi-retrospective of Bob Krist's work. You can study the way the photographs are composed. The way the photographs – portraits interspersed with landscapes – makes one think that indeed we are not separate from nature, but definitely part of it. At least, that's how I am “reading” the book, “Old Souls & Timeless Places.”

The Interview with Bob Krist

I had the pleasure of speaking with Bob Krist about the book right before the Christmas holidays. If I do come off as a bit gushing in sections of the podcast, it's because of two things:

One, Bob Krist is a hero of mine. For years, I followed his work and fantasized photographing and writing about my travels as Bob has done over the years. And, two, the quality of this publication is truly remarkable. There is something special about holding a book with a set of photographs that were all created with intent, love and great care.

The Images Discussed In The Interview

These are the photographs we discussed in the interview. This is such a small sample of the wonderful photographs you have access to when you buy the book, “Old Souls & Timeless Places.” Proceeds from the book's sale benefit the Jonathan Krist Foundation, named in memory of Krist’s son, who passed away 12 years ago.

On a tangent, I interviewed Elizabeth Krist, Bob's sister-in-law, some years ago. Since leaving National Geographic magazine, Elizabeth has joined hands with some amazing visual communicators to start The Visual Thinking Collective.

It is a small number of survivors of The Holocaust who remind us that we should never forget the atrocities committed in Europe. Today, January 27th, also happens to be International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Danny Weiss, a wedding and commercial photographer based in Manhattan, New York, just wrapped up a 3 year personal project photographing 18 survivors.

Within a few short minutes of discovering this series of portraits on his Facebook page, we had committed to a day and time to meet online to discuss the genesis of this project, how it took shape over time and what he hopes to do with it moving forward.

I invite you all to listen to this short podcast to learn a little bit about how Danny found his mission and approached photographing each of the survivors in his own style.

The Interview with Danny Weiss

The Survivors

Additional Resources

You can find Martin Schoeller's work in this New York Times article. His book, Survivors: Faces of Life After The Holocaust will be released on June 25th.

75 Years After Auschwitz Liberation, Survivors Urge World To Remember

Max Hirschfeld's book, Sweet Noise: Love In Wartime, is about his parents “who had a secret romance while they waited to be deported to Auschwitz.”

The Lonka Project is now at the United Nations in New York City. Access is limited, but please contact Jim Hollander (at jimpix@netvision.net.il), to arrange for an escorted visit to the show.

“The actual process of creating something from it’s inception to completion in the form of a finished work of art was and still is challenging, and I enjoy the limitations that come with the format and time component of large format film photography.”

Who is Steve Sherman?

Steve Sherman is a large format photographer based in Rocky Hill, Connecticut. His work is currently represented by the Paul Paletti Gallery in Louisville, Kentucky.

While I had met Steve at local PPA gatherings from time to time, it wasn't until I had a question or two that I approached Steve to go over some of the functions of my 4″x5″ field camera.

The truth is, my field camera baffled me. I have a stash of old Polaroid Type55, and I recall playing with it about 15 years ago, but the camera, the shutter release, and the storage box had not seen daylight much. And, to me, that's a travesty. Steve, I'm sure, agrees, though he prefers to use a 5″x7″ field camera instead.

Given how ubiquitous screens are in our lives today, I suspect way too many of us haven't laid our eyes on an actual print produced from a large format negative.

To put it bluntly, a well-exposed negative, dutifully processed in the right developer will yield prints that are nothing short of divine.

And, if you were to walk into Steve's darkroom, you'll see first-hand these gorgeous prints, well, everywhere. It's fair to say that Steve's life revolves around his family and his photography.

When my one question turned into three or five, I had to stop myself from asking more because Steve's responses were immediately actionable.

“Here, let me show ya,” he would say as he embarked on a mini-lesson that I was sure customized on the spot for me. If you were to meet Steve, you'd find him to be patient, observant, and thoughtful.

The Interview

I didn't want him thinking that I was just there to exploit his 35+ years of knowledge on the subject. So, I invited him to what I thought would be a quick chat in his darkroom.

Peter Dylag, who had initially introduced us, was also there, setting up his video cameras to film the entire episode for Steve's YouTube channel.

If you would rather watch the chat, check it out here –

Large Format Environmental Black & White Photography

Here are some examples of Steve's large format photography. Yes, I do fully understand the irony of publishing these small and on your screen for you to see. Let me repeat – if you ever get a chance to view Steve's work in person, do it. Each frame is a wonderful journey.

In addition following Steve's YouTube channel, I recommend you check out his dedicated Facebook page for large format photography.

From one of his recent posts:

“My three part video on the theory and operation of the View Camera will premiere on New Years Day. 34 minutes of Hi Def video is my gift to all who have interest as I take a break from Social Media.”

I do hope you spend a little time away from social media learning something brand new (if it is that) in 2020!

Please subscribe to Tiffincast. Click here for other episodes of Tiffincast.

Who is Steve Raymer?

Before Steve Raymer was Professor Emeritus, of Indiana University’s Media School, he spent 25 years at National Geographic Magazine, first as a staff photographer and then later as its director of the news service.

Block quote:

Raymer is author and photographer of Somewhere West of Lonely, My Life In Pictures, a visual memoir published in April 2018 by Indiana University Press. He also is author and photographer of Redeeming Calcutta: A Portrait of India’s Colonial Capital, published in 2012 by Oxford University Press; Images of a Journey: India in Diaspora, published in 2007 by Indiana University Press; Living Faith: Inside the Muslim World of Southeast Asia, published in 2001, and St. Petersburg, a 1994 book about the imperial Russian capital. Raymer is the photographer of several additional books, including The Vietnamese Cookbook, published in 2000 and Land of The Ascending Dragon: Rediscovering Vietnam, published in 1997. Raymer is currently completing a book titled The Public House: An Enduring British Institution — a volume that documents a centuries-old establishment that is threatened by an array of social, cultural, and economic changes.

My Back Story

I pursued a graduate degree at Indiana University in the late 90’s which is when I enrolled in one of Steve’s classes. He was still getting his bearings as a newly installed professor of visual communication (after I. Will Counts’ retirement from that same university), when I popped up with an idea to photograph the Muslim community in Bloomington, Indiana.

Steve was all for it, but as I showed him my contact sheets (this was back when I still shot lots of black and white film), he would take a red grease pencil and circle the frames that “almost” passable. He was a tough teacher, and I had no illusions that as a graduate student he expected more from me. I vividly recall the note he clipped on to the final images from the semester.

In measured sentences he asked me if I had the resolve to continue working as a photographer. I still hold onto that note from him because it fuels my 20+ year obsession in photography and it is one of the reasons I publish this blog. With a few words he lit a bon fire in me to keep at it, and to always feel deep inside that there is a better and stronger photograph to create the next time I am out with my cameras.

For that alone, I owe Steve Raymer a huge debt of gratitude.

The Interview

I had the pleasure of speaking with him some time ago and given that today is his birthday, I figured what more of an appropriate time than today to get this chat with him out into the world?

So here here it is:

Somewhere West of Lonely, The Book

Steve’s book, Somewhere West of Lonely, is one I recommend to all photographers. As you can expect, it is a visual feast. However, it is understanding a photographer’s backstory that makes this book that much more richer for me. And perhaps it will do for you as well.

Christmas is coming and Steve’s book will make for a wonderful gift this holiday season. I highly recommend you buy one for yourself and gift one to a photographer in your family.

Though headshot photography is gaining in popularity, retouching headshot portraits isn't discussed to a great degree in public yet. Only commercial photographers and professional retouchers handle this topic often, because that's been their domain for so long.

Things are, however, changing. There is a growing need for most people to appear professional, confident and approachable. Selfies and random party snaps simply do not cut it on sites like LinkedIn or when most people need to submit project proposals.

Rafal Wegiel a headshot portrait photographer based in Alberta, Canada intends teaching fellow photographers his approach to retouching headshot portraits.

His tips and techniques on Facebook forum and YouTube are simply great. Just a few days ago, he launched a new course called, “Beyond The Art of Headshot Retouching“.

We had a quick chat about the course and why he decided to introduce it to the world:

Learn more about the Headshot Retouching Tutorial here:

At $79.99, I think this is a steal. It's very hard to find a resource that is this in-depth. Across 17 videso, four of those being just retouching, Rafal walks you through just about every scenario that you will encounter as a headshot photographer. As I promised in the podcast above, I invested in this course right away. If you are reading this post and you have read this far or scanned down to this area, consider using the code: SESHU, to save $10 (for a limited time) OR use the code: HEADSHOT (also for a limited time) to save 20% when you check out.

Either way, I do not make an affiliate commission. Just bringing you something that will help you and your photography business!

Still interested in headshot photographers?

Eric Laurits, Perter Hurley and Dylan Patrick are all amazing headshot portrait photographers.