Virtual Memories Show 305:
Deborah Feingold
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“Photography students are begging me to teach them about strobes and lights, but it’s all about what you see. It’s all about looking at light.”
Legendary photographer Deborah Feingold joins the show to talk about the inspiration for her new personal project: photographing illustrators (which is how we fell into each other’s orbit)! We get into her approach to teaching ‘Portraiture and the Art of Imitation‘ at ICP, the process of learning through imitation and absorbing influence, how she moved from ‘professional girlfriend’ to ‘professional photographer’ in the ’70s while shooting pictures of jazz musicians. We also talk about how she made the transition to digital photography while hewing to her film-shooting techniques, how she boldly directs her subjects despite being an incredibly shy person, the unspoken pressure to ape Annie Leibowitz’ style when she shot for Rolling Stone, her stories of shooting early Madonna and pre-presidency Obama, finding the humanity in her subjects, and more! Give it a listen! Also, go buy Deborah Feingold: Music
“I have no fixed style, and that’s what’s kept my photography interesting.”
“Stealing is not a compliment.”
Enjoy the conversation! Then check out the archives for more great episodes!
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About our Guest
Spanning more than 40 years, Deborah Feingold’s photography career began when she immersed herself in the jazz of the late ’70’s and simultaneously was shooting and keeping company with Chet Baker, Miles Davis, Tony Bennett and many other jazz legends. After working as the first staff photographer for Musician magazine for five years, she continued shooting musicians for album/cd covers and portraits for Warner Music for the next two decades.
As a contributor to Rolling Stone, Time Magazine, Newsweek and the New York Times, among many other publications, Deborah has also photographed most of the biggest names in pop culture. She has also created over 100 memorable author portraits for book covers and has shot numerous ad campaigns for print and television. Her work has been syndicated all over the world and is included in a number of music anthologies and private collections.
Credits: This episode’s music is Fella by Hal Mayforth, used with permission from the artist. The conversation was recorded at Ms. Feingold’s apartment on a pair of Blue enCORE 200 Microphones
