Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Ave Pildas worked early in his career as a photo stringer for Downbeat Magazine in the Ohio Valley and Pennsylvania in the 1960's, and has been a successful photographer and educator for the past 40 years. In 1971 Pildas began working as the Art Director at Capitol Records in Hollywood and designed and photographed album covers for the label's recording artists. He launched a career as a freelance photographer and designer soon after, specializing in architectural and corporate photography. His photographs have been exhibited in one man shows at the: Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Photographers Gallery, London, Janus Gallery, Los Angeles, Gallerie Diaframma, Milan, Cannon Gallery, Amsterdam, Gallerie 38, Zurich and numerous group shows. They have been featured in: The New York Times Magazine, 'ZOOM', 'PHOTO', 'CAMERA', 'photographic' and many publications both in the United States and abroad . Photographs by Ave Pildas are included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Bibliotheca National, Paris; the University of Arizona as well as numerous other public and private collections. He is a Professor Emeritus at Otis College of Design. Pildas created intimate portraits of Jazz greats in live performance, at small clubs and Jazz Festivals in the Midwest, many have never been seen before. Ave currently lives in Santa Monica, CA in the solar powered, zero scaped home and studio he collaborated on with W3 Architects. He is digitally archiving his vintage work, and continues with new projects while inspiring, polishing and guiding young talent.

http://www.avepildas.com

https://deadbeatclubpress.com/products/ave-pildas-star-struck

This podcast is sponsored by the Charcoal Book Club Begin Building your dream photobook library today at https://charcoalbookclub.com

APPLY NOW OR SOON:

https://www.chicoreview.com/2026

https://www.homecomingbiennial.com/submit

https://photowork.foundation/photowork-junior-fellowship/

The sixth installment of attendee recordings from the 2025 Chico Review with those who came to Chico to share their work and their stories with incredible reviewers. This year I recorded with over 40 attendees! I’ve also linked to the guest’s Instagram and Websites so you can see the work. And again this year, I was recording in a variety of spaces at the beautiful Chico Hot Springs resort so there may be a number of different ambient sounds across the recordings.

The Chico Review is the country’s premier Photobook Retreat. Organized by Charcoal Book Club, The Chico Review takes place over six nights at Chico Hot Springs Resort, near Livingston Montana. Sixty-four applicants will spend the week with over twenty of the most influential and creative photographers, book makers, gallerists, museum curators, and photobook publishers in the industry.

The 2026 Chico Review is now open for applications. https://chicoreview.com

https://www.charcoalworkshops.com

02:59 - Felix Denomme

https://www.instagram.com/godspeed.felix/

10:23 - Gregory Jundanian

https://www.jundanianphotography.com

https://www.instagram.com/gjundanian/

16:37 - Michelle Arcila

https://www.michellearcila.net

https://www.instagram.com/michelle.arcila/

22:30 - Owen Davies

https://www.owen-davies.com

https://www.instagram.com/owendaviesphoto/

32:26 - Susan Weiss

https://www.susanweissart.com

https://www.instagram.com/susanweissart/

This podcast is sponsored by the Charcoal Book Club Begin Building your dream photobook library today at https://charcoalbookclub.com

The fifth installment of attendee recordings from the 2025 Chico Review with those who came to Chico to share their work and their stories with incredible reviewers. This year I recorded with over 40 attendees! I’ve also linked to the guest’s Instagram and Websites so you can see the work. And again this year, I was recording in a variety of spaces at the beautiful Chico Hot Springs resort so there may be a number of different ambient sounds across the recordings.

The Chico Review is the country’s premier Photobook Retreat. Organized by Charcoal Book Club, The Chico Review takes place over six nights at Chico Hot Springs Resort, near Livingston Montana. Sixty-four applicants will spend the week with over twenty of the most influential and creative photographers, book makers, gallerists, museum curators, and photobook publishers in the industry.

https://chicoreview.com

https://www.charcoalworkshops.com

02:50 - Alana Perino

https://www.alanaperino.com

https://www.instagram.com/lanapino/

12:00 - Francesco Aglieri Rinella

https://www.francescoaglieri.com

https://www.instagram.com/francesco.aglieri

24:34 - Eileen Meny

https://eileenmenyphotography.com

https://www.instagram.com/meny.photo/

33:53 - Paul Fong Bothwell

https://www.paulfongbothwell.com/

42:20 - Pie Aerts

https://www.pieaerts.com

https://www.instagram.com/because.people.matter/

Nat Ward lives in Queens, NY. His work is collected by the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Parrish Art Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. His previous book of photographs and poetry, Big Throat, was published by +KGP in 2020. Ward founded the collaborative photographic project space A New Nothing with Ben Alper in 2014 and has had features on his photographic work published in Aperture, Interview, Collector Daily, Photobook Journal, Photography & Culture, C4, The British Journal of Photography, Unseen, Vogue, Vogue Italia, Vice, and Juxtapoz. He has exhibited photographic and text-based installations at Nathalie Karg Gallery, New York Live Arts, Hampshire College, and The Jewish Museum. Ward has been awarded residencies and fellowships from Yaddo, The Cooper Union Professional Development Fund, the Edward F. Albee Foundation, and The Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program. His poetry and critical writing have appeared in publications from Wendy’s Subway, 1080Press, The Brooklyn Review, and Beautiful Days Press. Ward’s poems appear alongside photographs by Sara J. Winson and Aaron Canopy in Shades, published by Push Pull Editions (2024). Ward holds an MFA in Visual Art from Columbia University and an MFA in Poetry from Brooklyn College.

https://nat-ward.com

https://www.instagram.com/mrnatward/

https://powerhousebooks.com/books/ditch-montauk-new-york-11954/

This podcast is sponsored by the Charcoal Book Club Begin Building your dream photobook library today at https://charcoalbookclub.com

Photographer and Educator, Siri Kaur, joins me to discuss her new monograph, Sistermoon published by Void.

Artist Siri Kaur has been photographing her family for over 30 years, and her youngest sister, Simran, is the central focus of her forthcoming book, Sistermoon. Kaur’s photographs are combined with those from her family archive to create an unconventional album, illustrating the cycles of life and transformation, whilst questioning who observes, who is seen and who belongs. Kaur’s biography informs her work. The book opens with a timeline of photographs from her mother’s traditional family, taken in the 1950s by her grandfather. Kaur herself was born into a cult—one image in the book depicts her parent’s wedding at the Happy Healthy Holy Organization, or 3HO in 1976. After Kaur's family left the cult, her father established a rural living community in Vermont where her siblings remain today. Kaur simultaneously belonged to the family and was also an outsider. Her relationship with her family, in particular her sister, was formed and strengthened by creating photographs together. Photography enabled her to observe, catalogue, and connect.

https://void.photo/preorder

https://www.instagram.com/sirikaur/

This podcast is sponsored by the Charcoal Book Club Begin Building your dream photobook library today at https://charcoalbookclub.com

Siri Kaur is an artist and photographer who examines identities that occupy dualities, diversity, and contradiction. Originally from Maine, Kaur is currently based in Los Angeles. She received her MFA from the California Institute of the Arts, and an MA and a BA from Smith College, Massachusetts. Her work has been exhibited widely at venues such as Aperture Foundation, New York; Camera Club of New York; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Arkansas; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Portland Museum of Art; San Antonio Museum of Art; Vermont Center for Photography, amongst others. She was a Professor of Fine Arts at Otis College of Art and Design from 2007-2018 and currently teaches at UCLA.

More wonderful attendee recordings from the 2025 Chico Review with those who came to Chico to share their work and their stories with incredible reviewers. This year I recorded with over 40 attendees! I’ve also linked to the guest’s Instagram and Websites so you can see the work. And again this year, I was recording in a variety of spaces at the beautiful Chico Hot Springs resort so there may be a number of different ambient sounds across the recordings.

The Chico Review is the country’s premier Photobook Retreat. Organized by Charcoal Book Club, The Chico Review takes place over six nights at Chico Hot Springs Resort, near Livingston Montana. Sixty-four applicants will spend the week with over twenty of the most influential and creative photographers, book makers, gallerists, museum curators, and photobook publishers in the industry.

https://chicoreview.com

https://www.charcoalworkshops.com

03:00 - Caitlyn Kingery

https://www.instagram.com/cat.kingery

13:00 - Oliver Stegmann

https://www.instagram.com/oliverstegmann

https://www.oliverstegmann.com/

20:50 - Sasha Williams

https://www.instagram.com/sashacastawilliams

https://sashacasta.com/

28:35 - Eric McCollum

https://www.instagram.com/eemccollum

http://www.eemccollum.com

36:35 - Mischa Lluch

https://www.instagram.com/mischalluchphoto

https://mischalluchphoto.com/

This podcast is sponsored by the Charcoal Book Club Begin Building your dream photobook library today at https://charcoalbookclub.com

More wonderful attendee recordings from the 2025 Chico Review with those who came to Chico to share their work and their stories with incredible reviewers. This year I recorded with over 40 attendees! I’ve also linked to the guest’s Instagram and Websites so you can see the work. And again this year, I was recording in a variety of spaces at the beautiful Chico Hot Springs resort so there may be a number of different ambient sounds across the recordings.

The Chico Review is the country’s premier Photobook Retreat. Organized by Charcoal Book Club, The Chico Review takes place over six nights at Chico Hot Springs Resort, near Livingston Montana. Sixty-four applicants will spend the week with over twenty of the most influential and creative photographers, book makers, gallerists, museum curators, and photobook publishers in the industry.

https://chicoreview.com

https://www.charcoalworkshops.com

04:25 - Sharday Swanepoel

https://www.instagram.com/shardayswanepoel

12:25 - Theo Zeal

https://www.instagram.com/theo_zeal/

19:25 - Anna Leigh Clem

http://www.annaleighclem.com

https://www.instagram.com/aapertura/

26:04 - Walter Morataya Ramirez

https://www.instagram.com/walterrr/

33:35 - Christopher Jarvis

https://www.christopherjarvis.net

https://www.instagram.com/christopher_jarvis_/

This podcast is sponsored by the Charcoal Book Club Begin Building your dream photobook library today at https://charcoalbookclub.com

Alejandro Cartagena | Ground Rules

Photographer, publisher, and curator Alejandro Cartagena joined me at the 2025 Chico Review. We talk about the many different ways in which Alejandro practices photography and how much he has embraced being and editor and curator for others. Alejandro also discusses his upcoming retrospective, Ground Rules, at SFMOMA, curated by Shana Lopes along with the accompanying book published by Aperture. The show opens in September and the book is scheduled for November.

https://alejandrocartagena.com — https://www.instagram.com/alexcartagenamex/

This podcast is sponsored by the Charcoal Book Club Begin Building your dream photobook library today at https://charcoalbookclub.com

Alejandro Cartagena, Mexican (b. 1977, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) lives and works in Monterrey, Mexico. His projects employ landscape and portraiture as a means to examine social, urban, and environmental issues. Cartagena’s work has been exhibited internationally in more than 50 group and individual exhibitions in spaces including the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in Paris and the CCCB in Barcelona, and his work is in the collections of several museums including the San Francisco MOMA, The J. Paul Getty Museum, The Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, The MFAH in Houston, the Portland Museum of Art, The West Collection, the Coppel collection, the FEMSA Collection, Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the George Eastman House and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and among others.

Cartagena has received several awards including the international Photolucida Critical Mass Book Award, the Street Photography Award in London Photo Festival, the Lente Latino Award in Chile, the Premio IILA-FotoGrafia Award in Rome and the Salon de la Fotografia of Fototeca de Nuevo Leon in Mexico among others. He has been named an International Discoveries of the FotoFest festival, a FOAM magazine TALENT and an Emerging photographer of PDN magazine. He has also been a finalist for the Aperture Portfolio Award and has been nominated for the Santa Fe Photography Prize, the Prix Pictet Prize, the Photoespaña Descubrimientos Award and the FOAM Paul Huff Award. His work has been published internationally in magazines and newspapers such as Newsweek, Nowness, Domus, the Financial Times, The New York Times, Le Monde, Stern, PDN, The New Yorker, and Wallpaper among others.