Interviews

Interviews with photographers and photojournalists working at the forefront of their fields across a wide range of genres, from fine art to documentary to street to travel, and everything in between. PetaPixel allows photographers to share their experience, opinions, and insights to inform and inspire the global photography community.
Jeremy Gray
Split image showing two American football players in uniform. Left: Player in color wearing a white jersey with number 15 and a headband. Right: Black and white image of another player looking upward, wearing a headband and a jersey.

What It’s Like Being an NFL Team Photographer During the Super Bowl

Steve Sanders, the Director of Photography for the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs, was on hand in New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX. While the Chiefs ultimately came up short of a historic three-peat, falling to the Philadelphia Eagles, Sanders captured many amazing photos of the big game that put a bow on an excellent season for the Chiefs.

Jeremy Gray
On the left, a football player in a green uniform stretches into the end zone. On the right, a coach in black Eagles gear is doused with yellow liquid from a cooler. An official and a crowd are visible in the background.

How AP Photographers Captured the Iconic Moments of Super Bowl LIX

The Philadelphia Eagles dominated the Kansas City Chiefs at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, winning Super Bowl LIX and lifting the Vince Lombardi trophy. The Associated Press (AP) was on hand in full force with its Sony cameras and lenses to document everything, and PetaPixel chatted with the AP to learn more about how it photographs the biggest sporting event of the year.

Jeremy Gray
A close-up of a professional video camera filming an American football game. The camera is positioned to capture action on the field with blurred players and goalposts visible in the background, indicating focus on sports broadcasting.

Nearly 250 Sony Cameras Will Capture Super Bowl LIX’s Biggest Plays

Super Bowl LIX on February 9 in New Orleans is among the most anticipated sporting events of the year. Sony is pulling out all the stops to ensure that every exciting play is captured in incredible detail, whether for the broadcast on FOX or through the still images photographers capture from the sidelines.

Jeremy Gray
Left: A person uses a large camera lens on a baseball field. Right: A baseball player in a gray uniform reacts energetically while running, with spectators in the background.

Yankees Chief Photographer Has One of the Best Jobs in Sports

Good photography requires excellent artistic and technical skills. Consistently great photography, on the other hand, relies upon determination, passion, the ability to work under pressure, and, in many cases, strong relationships. Official New York Yankees chief photographer Ariele Goldman Hecht has all these traits in spades, and it shows through not only her photos but how she captures them.

Ken Klein
A person in a dark jacket gently strokes the head of a brown horse with a blue halter. The sky in the background is dark and smoky, indicating a potential fire or storm. They are standing on sandy ground, with hills and vehicles in the distance.

Photographer Captures Horses Being Saved From LA Wildfires

In a sobering what-are-the-odds assignment, Reuters sent freelance photographer Carlin Stiehl to document a safe haven for horses and other animals as Los Angeles battled deadly wildfires. The photographer knew the property: he had learned horseback riding there as a boy.

Jeremy Gray
Illustration of a spacecraft with solar panels in space, positioned against the backdrop of a glowing sun. The sun's corona is visible, creating a halo effect around the central black circle, which depicts the sun's obscured surface.

How ESA’s Proba-3 Mission Will Create Solar Eclipses in Orbit

After a slight hiccup and one-day delay, the European Space Agency's incredible Proba-3 mission successfully launched into space. The Proba-3 mission will do something never seen before: it will precisely and repeatedly create solar eclipses in orbit using two satellites. Lining up these satellites is a remarkable technological feat and relies heavily on breakthrough imaging technology.

Jeremy Gray
Colorful auroras in the night sky with pink, red, and green lights swirling above a dark coastline. A ghostly, elongated light effect stretches from the water towards the sky, creating an ethereal scene.

Lasers, Meteors, and Aurora Come Together in Ethereal Photo Series

Photographer Reuben Wu, known for pioneering light painting in beautiful landscape photography, including through the use of drones, has begun work on a brand-new project. While the project is in progress, Wu captured some beautiful shots in August that are too cool not to share a little early.

Michael Zhang
A split image: on the left, a black-and-white portrait of a bald man smiling. On the right, four individuals in traditional attire stand on rocks with dramatic mountainous scenery in the background.

The Artistry of Self: The Life and Work of Photographer Jimmy Nelson

English photographer Jimmy Nelson, best known for his portraits of tribal and indigenous peoples, was recently announced as the winner of the $100,000 Special Appreciation Award at HIPA, the world's most lucrative photography competition backed by the crown prince of Dubai. PetaPixel sat down with Nelson to talk about the prize, his life, and his inspiring career.

Jeremy Gray
A black device labeled "ATOM" with a red atom symbol and "H1" text on a blue background. The device has a textured surface and a glowing green button.

This New Device Establishes Content Authenticity Using Any Digital Camera

As a research physicist from MIT, Stuart Sevier learned a lot about reality, technology, and perhaps most importantly, the perception of reality. He veered off his hardcore academic track to pursue the concept of reality from a more engineering-based perspective, ultimately founding Atom Images and working with a talented team to build the Atom H1, a tool built for photographers to capture trusted, authentic images in a world where the line between real and fake is becoming blurrier by the day.

Ken Klein
A collage of three images: a person in a cowboy hat playing a mandolin against a tree, a person with long curly hair and a formal outfit, and a person wearing a cap and denim jacket smiling.

How to Make Authentic Portraits of Much-Photographed Music Stars

Music and commercial photographer Ed Rode spent decades making pictures of Tennessee’s most iconic brands: country music talent and Jack Daniels Whiskey. The key to making a good photo, he says, is having a healthy respect for the subject, whether it’s a living, breathing being or an object waiting for its moment to shine. Case in point: a bottle of whiskey.

Jeremy Gray
A vivid image of a nebula in space, showcasing bright colors with swirling patterns. Orange and red clouds contrast against a dark background, with a striking blue formation resembling a gaseous arc. Twinkling stars are scattered throughout.

This Astrophotographer Captures the Universe Unlike Anyone Else

Through his fantastic images, Finnish astrophotographer J-P Metsavainio shows how photos can be breathtakingly beautiful when art meets science. One of Metsavainio's recent images, WR 134 as a Rising Phoenix, is a brilliant example of the aesthetic wonders of the cosmos and the extreme technical precision required to do astrophotography.

Jeremy Gray
A phone screen shows a photo editing app with a woman in a colorful hallway. Beside it, a woman in white stands on a colorful target in a vibrant, open landscape, aiming a bow upward against a backdrop of mountains and a bright blue sky.

How Apple’s Next-Gen Photographic Styles Transform iPhone Photography

Apple's new iPhone 16 series smartphones are Apple's best-ever handsets for mobile photographers. Among the biggest reasons for this is the suite of next-generation Photographic Styles, which intelligently and precisely adjust tones and colors in images, non-destructively and in real-time while using the iPhone's camera.

Ken Klein
Two images side by side: The left image shows two necklaces with pink and blue gemstones on silver and rose gold chains against a light background. The right image shows golden liquid pouring from a bottle labeled "Añejo" in bold letters against a dark background.

Luxury Product Photography Requires Precision, Creativity, and Patience

Arguing the upside of proximity, photographer Robert Capa said, “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.” In-studio commercial photographers, with robotic cameras and high-tech lighting, get plenty close to their subjects.

Jeremy Gray
A Fujifilm camera with a Fujinon aspherical lens is displayed against a scenic background of sandy dunes meeting the ocean.

Fujifilm Says it Owns 40% of the Non-Full Frame Camera Market

In an interview with French publication Phototrend, Franck Bernard, the director of the imaging division of Fujifilm France, shared a lot of interesting information about Fujifilm's market performance, latest cameras, and whether the company might make a new film camera in response to enthusiasm around analog photography.

Jeremy Gray
A woman with long brown hair, wearing a white blouse, smiles while sitting with her hands folded. She is positioned next to a large red circular Leica logo on a black background.

Leica’s Art Director on Galleries and Promoting Photography as Art

Since its inception, Leica has made an indelible impact on photography. Whether through its cameras and lenses or its Leica Galleries, the company has consistently demonstrated a passion for photography as an art form. While the Leica Gallery initiative traces its roots back to the 1970s, the company's efforts have been reinvigorated by Karin Rehn-Kaufmann, Leica's Art Director and Chief Representative for Leica Galleries International.

Jaron Schneider
An abstract graphic features a teal and white JPEG XL logo in the center, with large, bold letters spelling "JPEG XL" beneath it. The background consists of gradient shades of blue and purple, forming geometric shapes.

JPEG XL: What It Is And Why You Should Care

JPEG XL is a new-generation image file format that recently got a big boost to awareness thanks to native support in the iPhone 16 series smartphones. So what is it, why does it matter, and why should you use it? Who better to ask than one of the people who helped make it a reality?

Jeremy Gray
Close-up image of a person taking a photo with a Nikon DSLR camera on the right side. A hand is holding a smartphone with its camera app open on the left side, showing the same scene. The background is an outdoor, slightly misty setting.

Nikon President Says Smartphones May Drive Future Camera Sales

In a Japanese interview with Yomiuri, Nikon's president, Muneaki Tokunari, acknowledged that while smartphones harmed overall sales of digital interchangeable lens cameras, they may contribute to the demand for high-end cameras. Not many years removed from dire straits, Tokunari also outlined Nikon's ambitious expansion plans, including its recent acquisition of RED Digital Cinema.

Jeremy Gray
The image shows two sections: on the left, an adult bison walking closely with a bison calf in a misty meadow with another bison in the background; on the right, a large bear standing on green grass beside a tree branch.

How Photography Helps Protect the Beauty of Yellowstone

Canon U.S.A. has been involved with the beautiful, iconic Yellowstone National Park since the 1990s, providing vital financial support to Yellowstone Forever and Eyes on Yellowstone. Canon's support of programs helps scientific research and conservation.

Jeremy Gray
Four gymnasts in mid-routine perform dynamic moves on a balance beam labeled "Paris 2024," with an audience and large screen displaying "Paris 2024" in the background. The gymnasts wear red, white, and blue leotards in a stadium lit with spotlights.

How Advanced Camera Tech Helps Pros Take Amazing Olympics Photos

Professional photographer Nick Didlick has been shooting for nearly 50 years, so he has experienced significant shifts in how photos are captured, shared, and consumed. He's currently in Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics and chatted with PetaPixel about how photography has changed, how better technology helps him capture better photos, and the challenge of capturing the perfect moment.

Jeremy Gray
Two swimmers celebrate with outstretched arms, joy apparent on their faces, while wearing USA swim caps. Next to them, a close-up of a swimmer with a determined expression, wearing pink goggles and a black swim cap, emerging from the water.

Pro Sports Photographer Details How to Capture Iconic Paris Olympics Moments

The 2024 Summer Olympics kicked off in Paris earlier this week, with the official opening commencing today, July 26. The "Games of the XXXIII Olympiad," as the event is officially known, puts athletes through grueling competition, but the photographers on hand to photograph everything don't have it much easier. It is a sports photography gauntlet.

Jeremy Gray
Split image: On the left, a whale's tail fluke emerges from the ocean at sunset, shimmering with water droplets. On the right, a close-up of a curious seal under water, its whiskers and large eyes highlighted against a greenish-blue backdrop.

A Photographer’s Mission to Save the Ocean Begins With Powerful Images

National Geographic photographer Brian Skerry has spent decades diving around the globe, telling the stories of the world's oceans. For his latest projects, years in the making, he has been much closer to home, documenting the unprecedented -- and deadly -- changes happening in the Gulf of Maine, the waters Skerry grew up visiting as a child on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.