My interview with Tim Carpenter.

If you know anything about Tim Carpenter then you will have probably figured out by now that this newsletter lovingly takes its name from marrying parts of myself with languge formulated by Tim in his essay To Photograph is to Learn how to Die, which was a life changing book for me in how it allowed me to feel seen in the ways I felt about and viewed photography that I had not encountered in other texts on the medium before.

I also picked up Christmas Day, Bucks Pond Road, at the same time as his essay. They read together like a perfect match, and led me on a journey of self-discovery and self-affirmation, showing me that the things I wanted to express through my work were valid and worth pursuing (not that you should ever wait for something outside of yourself to do that, of course, but feeling seen doesn’t hurt either).

Bringing the picture back to the maker is a strong theme throughout our conversation, and Tim has wonderfully fresh ways of looking at photographs that I absolutely think are worth your time to sit with and consider.

There is no right or wrong way of looking at or practicing photography, only your way. It should be said that we are speaking to a type of photography that Tim and I both love that is acutely aware of the ever-present world, and how positioning our bodies with a machine against it results in meaningful photographs, so bare with us if you don’t find yourself neccesarily reflected in the type of photography we are discussing, but stay to see what you can take from Tim’s ideas to apply to your own practice.

Tim is a wonderfully sweet human being, and I feel very fortunate to chat with him, and even more blessed that he has trusted me to share this conversation with all of you, as I believe he has so much to offer the world of photography.

So with that said, please enjoy my interview with Tim Carpenter, and feel free to use the show notes to find more information on any of the topics discussed.

Thank you for being here. Matt.