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.

Spencer Tunick: Photographer of Mass Nude Photos

Photographer Spencer Tunick has captured groups of nudes in close to 100 public spaces all over the world. His largest masterpiece was a group of 18,000 people who took off their clothes in Mexico City’s Zocalo Square, the heart of the ancient Aztec empire.

Photo Ark: A Photographer’s Mission to Capture 20,000 Animal Species

Joel Sartore has been photographing the National Geographic Photo Ark since 2006. He has traveled to zoos, aquariums, and wildlife sanctuaries on every continent except Antarctica to encourage action through education, save wildlife by promoting conservation, and create a photo archive of global animal diversity.

How Nick Brandt Shot ‘The Day May Break – Chapter Two’

Nick Brandt is a conservation photographer whose themes highlight humankind's destructive impact on animals and the natural world. The Day May Break – Chapter Two was shot in Bolivia, a country in western-central South America, over six weeks in February-March 2022.

Photographer Exposes Animal Abuse and Suffering Worldwide

Photographer Jo-Anne McArthur has spent the last two decades photographing animals enduring pain while being used for food, entertainment, fashion, experimentation, work, or religious ceremonies. She has made it her life’s work to provide a voice and visuals that will show the suffering animals are put to, with the hope of reducing it, if not ending it altogether.

The Personal Photo Curator: A New Profession is Born

The average family may shoot four thousand photos in a year. If you have been taking pictures since the iPhone 3G came out in 2008, it means that now, after 14 years of a trigger-happy existence, you are inundated with over 50,000 photos. And you probably cannot find a perfect shot from a vacation you took just three years ago.

Ami Vitale: From Photographer to Conservationist

Ami Vitale started as a photo editor for the Associated Press in 1993. She then quit her job to be a photographer/foreign correspondent in the Czech Republic in 1997. Today, she is a well-known conservationist championing the cause of endangered wildlife and the environment with her own photography and that of others.

Mike Coots

Photographer Mike Coots Captures the Spellbinding Gaze of Wild Sharks

Photographing the fiercely intense yet beautifully captivating essence of sharks are just a few of shark advocate Mike Coots's many delights and ambitions. In his latest images from a trip off Guadalupe Island, Mexico, Coots skillfully manages to interpret aspects of the animals that are often misconstrued or feared due to negative portrayals in media.

How Steve Sasson Invented the Digital Camera

Steve Sasson is an electrical engineer who invented the digital camera while working for Kodak. The Rochester, New York, company, which had made its fortune by selling photographic film and paper for most of the 20th century, did not think that Sasson's digital camera had any place in photography, and that lack of foresight ironically put Kodak out of business.

Brad Bradley: The 100-Year-Old Sports Photographer

Brad Bradley photographed his first Cotton Bowl in 1948 with a Graflex Speed Graphic when he was just 26 years old. When he photographs the 87th edition of the annual college football game on January 2, 2023, he will be 100 years old, having turned a century in July 2022.

Ansel Adams’s Interview with Playboy

When I think of Ansel Adams, I think about beautiful landscapes, the zone system, and preserving the environment. I would have to say that Ansel Adams and Playboy Magazine are not words I would put into the same sentence, yet here we are.

Cindy Sherman in 1985: Photographing the Photographer

On Halloween, October 31st, 1985, photographer Jeannette Montgomery Barron toted her trusty Hasselblad and tripod and arrived for a portrait session in downtown New York. Her subject was famous photographer and artist Cindy Sherman.

Elliott Erwitt: A Conversation with the Master Photographer at 93

Renowned American photographer Elliott Erwitt has captured more presidents since Harry Truman than any other photographer. Over the last 70 years, Erwitt has shot iconic photos of Marilyn Monroe, including her famous subway grate pose, the finger-pointing Nixon-Khrushchev Kitchen Debate in Moscow, segregated water fountains, a grieving Jacqueline Kennedy, and hundreds of humorous dog images.

Exposed: Aline Smithson, the Ambidextrous Photographer

When I first discovered the rather active analog photographer, journalist, and educator Aline Smithson, I felt that I have been standing in place with one hand tied behind my back. I spend my photographer energy thinking about the project that’s directly in front of me. One project at a time.

A photo contest-winning image showing a boy sleeping in an abandoned building on a beach

On the Depiction of Africans in Photo Contests

As a child during the 1980s, I grew up with a weekly diet of Time magazine and the evening news. The famine in Ethiopia during the decade generated an endless stream of news filled with images of Black bodies, so much so that my entire conception of the continent was built off the tragedy of a single nation. To me, Africa was a desert wasteland of starving people – a thought conceived through photos.

How Photographer Drew Gurian Photographed Yo-Yo Ma for Masterclass

New York City-based portrait photographer Drew Gurian followed a textbook path to learning the ropes. While in college, he interned for Joe McNally and Danny Clinch – two photographers known in part for their incredible photos of creatives like dancers, musicians, and the like. After college, Drew spent five years traversing the globe as McNally’s first assistant before peeling off to carve his own path.

Exposed: Yunghi Kim on the Power of Women Photojournalists

It is difficult to quickly sum up the ongoing career of photojournalist Yunghi Kim. Yunghi simply has too much personal energy, global photojournalism chops, and a record of giving back to the photographic community. In particular, Yunghi is known for her support of women photojournalists.

Exposed: Photographer John Tully and Thoughts of Bruce Springsteen

It is rare to have a photographer conjure up the memory of a particular song. However, I immediately thought of Bruce Springsteen’s Darkness on the Edge of Town when I saw New Hampshire photojournalist John Tully’s recent work.

Exposed: An Interview with Superstar Wedding Photographer John Dolan

I am fascinated by the art of wedding photography and have seen it morph from very formal and super staged -- as in very often: “OK, grandma stand over there” -- to having a photographer take a more casual or natural approach. John Dolan’s style approaches wedding photography from the perspective of an involved documentarian interested in the emotional experience.