Photo Stories That Went Too Far - Photography is Nothing with Zach Dobson & Courtney McCracken

Episode 06 - This week Zach & Courtney discuss photography projects that became obsessive, including Japanese photographer Masahisa Fukase’s Ravens, Catherine Leroy’s coverage of the Vietnam War, W. Eugene Smith documenting Pittsburg for two years, and Zach’s own project of photographing lost golf balls in the woods and the creek.

**NOTES**

- W. Eugene Smith’s Country Doctor story was photographed in Kremmling, Colorado.

- It’s true the W. Eugene Smith would copy his correspondence for posterity.

- The first woman photographer to win a Guggenheim grant was Dorothea Lange in 1941, but she turned it down to work for the government documenting Japanese Internment Camps.

- Helen Levitt won two consecutive Guggenheim grants in 1959 & 1968 for her color photography.

- Stephan Lorant’s book Pittsburgh: the Story of an American City was published in 1964 (Pittsburgh’s bicentennial was 1958).

“Photography is nothing–it's life that interests me.” - Henri Cartier-Bresson

Index0:00 - Intro - A photographer with a lot of problems

0:39 - Today’s topic: Photo stories that went too far.

1:38 - Comments. We made people cry.

3:20 - New episodes of Photography is Nothing are released early Wednesday morning

6:17 - Zach’s obsessive photo story: As It Lies 📷

8:55 - What’s inside a golf ball? We were surprised to see!

11:23 - Masahisa Fukase’s Ravens; a photo book 10 years in the making 📷

12:56 - Backstory: Masahisa Fukase’s photographed his wife for the series From Window 📷

13:59 - When is a photographer putting themself on a subject?16:21 - Ravens by Masahisa Fukase is regarded as one of the best photo books of the last 40 years. 📷

20:26 - Catherine Leroy’s tenacity eventually got her captured by the enemy. She turned it into an exclusive story. 📷

27:12 - W. Eugene Smith’s Pittsburgh series was aggressively massive. 📷

28:38 - W. Eugene Smith is credited for inventing the modern photo story with his Country Doctor series. 📷

30:45 - The story behind W. Eugene Smith’s Pittsburgh photo series. 📷

32:03 - Some quotes from W. Eugene Smith. 📷

43:00 - Was W. Eugene Smith one of the all-time great photographers? What is his legacy. 📷

45:20 - His children that he called “anchors” were the subjects for one of his most famous photos. 📷

Find ZachWebsite: https://zachdobson.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zachdobsonphoto/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@zachdobsonphotoThreads: https://www.threads.com/@zachdobsonphotoFind

CourtneyInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/courtneymccracken_/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@happy_life_lessonsThreads: https://www.threads.com/@courtneymccracken_

About the Podcast

Photography is Nothing with Zach Dobson and Courtney McCracken is a weekly conversation about photography and all its impact. Each week Zach and Courtney discuss their latest adventures, life lessons, and anything else that sounds interesting.

Photography is Nothing invites you into the conversations they were already having as a married couple running a photography and media company in the current world.