David Youn Photography

View Original

Dona Schwartz - An Ethnographic Approach to Photography - Part 1

See this content in the original post

Today I sit down with Dona Schwartz. Dona is a professor of photography here at the University of Calgary and the President and Chair of the Exposure Photography Festival. I learn about her personal photographic process and the influence of her career as an Ethnographic researcher. A scientific approach that informs her art practice and inspires us to look beyond just pretty pictures. For Dona the camera is a tool to help express narratives built around research and observation of a person's ideas.
***
I'm adding challenges or thoughts to the end of each episode. Today's consideration is to look for something that is a passion (or an irritant) in your life and to consider how it might be represented in images. While we can't hope to complete a story in a week (Dona's research took years), we might start forming ideas around these intuitions. And most importantly, we might be inclined to get out and take more pictures!
***
My View Finder is a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network. Locally Grown, Community Supported.