It’s Not The Opposite of Inspiration (w/ Jordanna Kalman) - Episode 73

All Through a Lens: A Podcast About Film Photography

And on this little episode – our 73rd – we’ll talk to Jordanna Kalman (@rabbitsparrow on IG), a photographer whose art doesn’t end with either the photograph or the print. We also look for some much needed inspiration from a few little-known photographers. There’s some tips on making anthology zines, as well as a zine review, the answering machine, and ohh so much more.

Jordanna Kalman

Our guest today produces work that is as confrontational as it is controversial. Her methods are unconventional, and the results push us to reckon with the history of photography, and how that history affects us to this day. We were honored to sit down with Jordanna Kalman.

Here is a small glimpse of her work:

IG: @rabbitsparrow

Web: https://rabbitandsparrow.com/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jordannakalman

Shop: https://jordannakalman.bigcartel.com/

Eliza Withington

Elizabeth Withington was one of the rare women who shot landscapes, and traveled while doing so.

She used her petticoat as a makeshift developing tent, and parasols for assisting in her climbing mountains and sliding into ravines alone.

How a Woman Makes Landscape Photographs, 1876

The Photographs, Pistols & Parasols Podcast episode about her: https://p3photographers.net/p3p008/

Here are a few of her photos (and sadly , very few remain):

Bernd & Hilla Becher

Both Hilla and Bernd were born in the 1930s in Germany, both were still children during WW2. Following the war, Bernd was a painter and Hilla took up photography, taking after her mother.

In the late 1950s, both enrolled in Kunstakademie, the Art Academy in Dusseldorf. Soon after starting classes, they met.

They soon discovered that they not only had overlapping interests, but complementary interests as well. What each brought to the collaboration added to that collaboration.

Almost from the beginning, they established the parameters for their work. They’d photograph industrial structures in such a way that each print would render the subjects in an almost identical fashion.

Here are some of their photos:

Zine Review

The Closing of a Corner Store by Amelia Bjesse-Puffin

This isn’t a typical photozine. It’s a b&w xeroxed halfsize zine. Here, Amelia shows and writes about the last days of a neighborhood’s Rite Aide.

Many neighborhoods in our cities have long ago abandoned that notion of corner store. They’ve been replaced by chain drug stores like Rite Aide and CVS. But now, with gentrification and the rising cost of living, especially on the West Coast, even those chains are pulling up stakes and abandoning the communities they served for years.

Amelia has documented what we see happening around us. These types of zines are essential. Nobody else is or really could tell this story.

Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/729659147/the-closing-of-a-corner-store

PATREON

Thank you to everyone who supports us!

Check out our Patreon for bonus episodes, extended interviews, early drops. Tons of stuff!

patreon.com/allthroughalens

THE CREDITS OF ENDING

Music by Last Regiment of Syncopated Drummers

Vania: IG, Flickr, Zines
Eric: IG, Flickr, Zines, ECN-2 Kit

All Through a Lens: IG, Website, Patreon, Spotify Playlists