“Without doubt Talking Pictures is one of the most important photographic sites in the world today revealing and defining the most significant photographers of our time.”
Roger Ballen, artist, South Africa
Talking Pictures features in-depth interviews with photographers around the world. Conceived as a continually expanding educational resource, it is available to everyone free of charge and free of advertising. Since its launch in 2020, Talking Pictures has had well over 100,000 visitors from more than 100 countries worldwide. Interviews are published weekly and this week we celebrate the publication of the 200th interview.
“An invaluable educational resource, Talking Pictures provokes reflection on photography’s profound capacity to make us alive to our past, present, and future.”
Simone Douglas, professor of photography, Parsons – The New School, New York
Talking Pictures embraces a wide range of practice from simple pinhole camerawork and alternative processes, through documentary, poetic, conceptual, and constructed approaches, to the newest digital and AI-assisted techniques. The artists interviewed hail from many different countries and cultures across all six inhabited continents. Interviews explore the motivation and development of each artist’s work, the reasons for their creative and aesthetic choices, and the things they have learned along the way. The content is aimed at all those with an interest in photography and is suitable for senior secondary, tertiary, and general readers.
“Welcoming all life perspectives and pathways with equal respect, the breadth, balance, and diversity of these interviews leaves no vision unturned. Talking Pictures takes on photography’s traditions as much as its breakthroughs allowing both pictures and words to illuminate the mind of the maker.”
Arno Rafael Minkkinen, artist, Finland
You can explore Talking Pictures in a number of ways. The Home page shows all the articles published with the most recent at the top. The Artists page lists the interviewees in alphabetical order by surname. The Festivals page lists the photo festival directors interviewed alphabetically by country. The Regions page groups the interviews into five broad global areas: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. The Themes page presents a word cloud of tags to help you focus your search conceptually. And the Miscellany page lists some of the articles that explore ideas through the work of several artists.
“I urge you to take a deeper look at Talking Pictures. This has to be one of the richest sources of inspiration that I have come across in a long time.”
Graham Wilson, Researcher, Ronin Institute, USA
Talking Pictures is published by the writer, researcher, and award-winning curator Dr. Alasdair Foster. He has twenty years’ experience heading national arts institutions in Europe and Australia, and over thirty-five years of working in the public cultural sector. A former president of the Contemporary Art Organisations of Australia, chair of the Conference of European Photographers, and editor of Photofile magazine, he was, until recently, Professor of Culture in Community Wellbeing at The University of Queensland, and an Adjunct Professor in the School of Art at RMIT University, Melbourne.
“Talking Pictures expands our horizons, as each artist’s world opens in the magic of an in-depth interview.”
Cecilia Paredes, artist, Peru