0:00

Hey folks, welcome back to

0:02

another episode of TWIP. I

0:04

have your host Frederick Van

0:06

Johnson back on the show

0:09

as my friend Genesis Falls

0:11

from the Chicago Land area

0:13

and also the recipient of

0:16

last year's Flickr and Black

0:18

Women photographers Grant. So we're going

0:20

to dive into that. We're going

0:23

to talk about what she's been

0:25

doing since she got that award,

0:27

what has she created, what projects

0:29

she's working on now. And then

0:31

we're going to talk a little

0:33

bit about this thing she has

0:35

with film. We're going to talk

0:37

about why she loves film so

0:40

much. Genesis, it is always a

0:42

pleasure to speak with you. You

0:44

know, before we started recording, before

0:46

we started this show, we were

0:48

speaking for 20 minutes. about nothing

0:50

because that's what we do you know

0:52

that's what we do welcome welcome how

0:55

you do it I'm you know what

0:57

I'm doing good I seriously

0:59

cannot complain about anything I'm

1:01

just super blessed so yeah I'm all

1:03

good chilling over here good I

1:06

mean there's lots and lots

1:08

to complain about but nobody's

1:10

listening so don't worry about it

1:12

I don't say before later when I'm

1:14

to myself and be like you know what

1:16

I know it's all good we're still here

1:19

But you congratulations again on

1:21

winning that award. So when

1:23

you won the when you

1:25

won the award of 23 Like

1:27

what what was going through your

1:29

mind? Were you were you expecting

1:32

it? Were you exciting? Were you

1:34

excited? Was it like changing

1:36

or was it more gear? I got

1:38

to figure out where to put like

1:40

what what's your reaction? Oh,

1:43

honestly I was actually sitting at

1:45

my desk working. I had got

1:47

up to, of course, go eat

1:49

some lunch because I'm a little

1:51

foodie. So I'm like, I'm walking

1:53

back down my hallway and I'll

1:55

open up my email and I'm

1:57

just like, what? I like up again?

2:00

Yeah, I'm like, okay, and I don't

2:02

know why, but it's just like, my

2:04

first mile was just like, okay, is

2:06

this real? So I had to really

2:09

look at the email and just be

2:11

like, all right. Like, I was just

2:13

like, but then I looked and I'm

2:15

like, oh my God. I stood there

2:18

and I just started, started crying, and

2:20

I was just like, you know, thank

2:22

you, God. Yeah. Because I'm like, that

2:24

was a blessing. It's something that was

2:27

unexpected. I truly, you know, I worked

2:29

hard for it. I was just like,

2:31

I was in when I submitted the

2:34

picture, I was just like, yeah, why

2:36

not? Like, the worst thing that can

2:38

happen is someone telling you know. I'm

2:40

like, you don't know until you try.

2:43

So I was like, you know, let's

2:45

try and then see what happens. And

2:47

I was thinking that I was going

2:50

to get that email. That was one

2:52

of the best emails ever. I

2:55

don't want those people that win nothing.

2:57

It could be two people up for

2:59

a contest, the other person wins. Like

3:01

it's like, it's all. But you know

3:04

that the whole idea of, you never

3:06

know until you try? That in a

3:08

lot of ways is one of the

3:10

keys to life and to success, right?

3:13

Because most people talk themselves out of

3:15

trying things and they don't try, therefore

3:17

they automatically fail. Like even like submitting

3:19

your photo. Like, you know, like, you

3:22

know, what's the worst gonna happen? They

3:24

can say no and nothing changes, but

3:26

the upside is humongous. So let me

3:28

just do this. It costs me nothing,

3:31

right? A lot of people are like,

3:33

well, I'm not good enough yet, maybe

3:35

next year, or maybe I'll do this,

3:37

or maybe I'll do that. And the

3:40

reality is, it's, it's, it's, and the

3:42

universe bears this out for me a

3:44

lot. It's like, right. the lead up

3:46

to it and the procrastination and the

3:49

self-sabotage keeps you from doing what you

3:51

should be doing. Even if photography is

3:53

like, oh, you know, one day... going

3:55

to go, you know, I'm going to

3:58

try this genre of photography because, you

4:00

know, it looks interesting, but not right

4:02

now because I don't have the right

4:04

stuff to do it. Go try it.

4:07

And then you'll be like, oh, wow,

4:09

this is awesome. This is easier than

4:11

I thought. Maybe I'll do more of

4:13

this, right? Has that borne out like

4:16

for you and the stuff that you're

4:18

doing? You seem like you're a forward

4:20

kind of, I'm not going to wait

4:22

for stuff type type person. Is that

4:25

type person? I feel like some of

4:27

my biggest opportunities or things that you

4:29

know worked on came from me just

4:31

reaching out and just asking. Somebody, like

4:34

I said, somebody's going to tell you,

4:36

everybody's not going to want to do

4:38

it. Everybody's not going to agree with

4:40

your vision, your project, or regardless of

4:43

how you present it, but hey, I'm

4:45

still going to reach out. I'm still

4:47

going to ask. And there's nothing wrong

4:49

with that. And someone tells you know.

4:52

to not take that no personally, but

4:54

take it in a way of like,

4:56

all right, you know, move around, you

4:58

can still feel the fields, but sometimes

5:01

you know, we can be like, hey,

5:03

like, what's next up? But then, all

5:05

right, how can I take what I'm

5:07

feeling and use it as fuel to

5:10

push forward for what I want and

5:12

what I want to do? Yeah. I

5:14

mean, not to make this a motivational

5:16

podcast episode, but it's like, the... I

5:19

can't help it. But I'm going to

5:22

do it anyway, right? But it's like,

5:24

you know, the, what is it? Tony

5:26

Robbins. Remember Tony Robbins is the motivational

5:29

speaker? And he said something one time

5:31

that resonated with me around failure. And

5:33

it's kind of a well-known thing in

5:35

Silicon Valley as well. Like these people

5:38

that start companies are typically, the successful

5:40

companies are typically the ones that have

5:42

failed a bunch of times. And then

5:45

they go on to have this wild.

5:47

quote overnight success. But the saying goes

5:49

that those those failures are what make

5:52

you a success because you learn from

5:54

those. And without having those failures, you

5:56

don't know where that line is. You

5:59

don't know that, hey, maybe I shouldn't

6:01

go down that road. or maybe I

6:03

should do this, it's experience to make

6:05

you better for the next thing that

6:08

you attempt, just like this, right? It

6:10

makes you, like all these, like shooting,

6:12

if you decide, hey, I want to

6:15

try out macro photography, you go shoot

6:17

macro, and you're like, oh, I don't

6:19

like this, this is too involved, you

6:22

know, whatever reasons, at least you tried

6:24

it, and whatever nuggets that you learned

6:26

along the way of trying it, you

6:29

can apply to the next thing that

6:31

you do. So moral history. as I

6:33

sit here preaching, should play some music

6:35

in the background while I'm saying. Don't

6:38

give me something, because I'm right along

6:40

with you. Yeah, the Church of Light

6:42

is what we're doing here. So let's

6:45

talk, so we talk about the last

6:47

year's award, which is amazing. We're going

6:49

to do it again this year, right?

6:52

And you're going to be up there.

6:54

Society. You get to be in person

6:56

that's going to be talking to the

6:59

people that are, that are, that are,

7:01

that are, doing it together. I'm curious

7:03

though, like the, the, we were talking

7:05

about this before we started the podcast,

7:08

the black women photographers organization, that group.

7:10

Take, take things up. Tell me who

7:12

that group is, who they're for, or

7:15

who the group is targeted at, obviously

7:17

it's in the name, but like specifically

7:19

who the group is targeted at and

7:22

just the, the overall mission and all

7:24

that stuff. Break it down. the elevator

7:26

pitch for BVP for people that may

7:29

not have heard of it. I'm going

7:31

to take it from as far as

7:33

just like, you know, my first, my

7:35

interpretation already in, I feel black and

7:38

women's photographers is a organization is a

7:40

group that focuses on, you know, women

7:42

of color and indigenous backgrounds who have

7:45

an interest in photography, regardless of, you

7:47

know, your skill level of your. beginner

7:49

or you out here shooting Oscars or

7:52

something like that and they grant these

7:54

opportunities because at the end of the

7:56

day there's let's be real there's not

7:59

a lot that when it comes it's

8:01

really for people who look like me

8:03

to into into this world of, you

8:05

know, photography. And you really have to

8:08

grind and grind and really work hard

8:10

to even get 2% of what the

8:12

next person gets. And I feel like

8:15

back home photographers really provides those opportunities,

8:17

whether it's, you know, grants, you know,

8:19

information, information sessions with, you know, what.

8:22

people looking at your portfolio or going

8:24

on posting different like group walks or

8:26

group events in the city or the

8:29

state that you're from and it just

8:31

gathers everyone together with these resources and

8:33

just creates this foundation of just like

8:35

saying hey I can do this I

8:38

know I can do this and I

8:40

know I have the backing with being

8:42

done to go forward and move forward.

8:45

I love that. Yeah so it's a

8:47

community a like-minded people helping lift each

8:49

other up. to see. Essentially, I feel

8:52

like that's the core of it. It's

8:54

just a community and like a lot

8:56

of people helping, you know, lifting each

8:59

other up and just creating this space

9:01

of, I see someone who looks like

9:03

me and I can do this too.

9:05

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And, and like you

9:08

hit on, photography, for better for words,

9:10

it's a, it's a solo sport in

9:12

many ways, right? So you're. You're out

9:15

doing this stuff by yourself. You're coming

9:17

up with ideas by yourself for the

9:19

most part. And so you're doing a

9:22

solo sport as part of a minority

9:24

within a minority, right? You are like,

9:26

you know, you know, you know, it's

9:29

shifted down to the smallest kind of,

9:31

you know, surface area there. Yeah, yeah.

9:33

The community part of it can be

9:35

understated, I don't think because of that.

9:38

solo nature of photography, the lights that

9:40

come on, like when I leave photo

9:42

walks or when I do talk to

9:45

or whatever, the lights that come on

9:47

for people when they're... and they're exchanging

9:49

notes and they're like, you find out

9:52

somebody has the camera you have or

9:54

had it or they're shooting your genre

9:56

and you, it's just a, it's a

9:59

common connective tissue that regardless of your

10:01

background or your level of melanation, you

10:03

know, you can meet on that common

10:05

ground and talk the language of light

10:08

and composition exposure and all that. So

10:10

yeah, that's me. That's what. Yeah, so

10:12

kudos, BVP, thank you for putting that

10:15

together. Do more like that. We need

10:17

more, you know. No, seriously. You need

10:19

more, absolutely. So let's switch gears a

10:22

little bit. I got my notes here,

10:24

just so I stay on track. Before

10:26

I get to some of this other

10:29

stuff, because I want to talk about

10:31

children at play a little bit, and

10:33

then some of the stuff that you're

10:35

working on next. Can we talk about

10:38

film? Let me tell you, because we

10:40

talked a little bit before we started

10:42

recording, and I told you I have

10:45

a background in film. When I was

10:47

in the Air Force, I used to,

10:49

as a, you know, base level photographer

10:52

initially and then a combat photo journalist,

10:54

ultimately, the, it was film. I mean,

10:56

for the most part, in the beginning

10:59

of my career, we shot film, we

11:01

had a big old refrigerator full of

11:03

every kind of film you could imagine

11:05

from 35mm black and white all the

11:08

way up to four by five sheet

11:10

film and we had to know how

11:12

to shoot all of it. We did

11:15

four by five sheet film in studios

11:17

for like officers and you know the

11:19

IPs we would do their portrait with

11:22

the flag in the background and all

11:24

that and then we would go grab

11:26

our Nikon and go out in the

11:29

field and do stuff you know all

11:31

the things we had to be disciplined

11:33

and everything and then the medium format

11:35

cameras was for like official things that

11:38

were that were too important for 35

11:40

millimeter at the time, but not, you

11:42

can take four by five out there.

11:45

So we take the medium format, I

11:47

got to the flight line, let's see,

11:49

an Air Force One landed. on the

11:52

flight line, you take a medium format

11:54

camera out there and put it on

11:56

tripods. That way, you know, you look

11:59

like a real photographer, you're doing all

12:01

the things. But film, here's the film.

12:03

So film, I think, I think I

12:05

was, I told you I'm a recovering

12:08

film shooter because I was in the,

12:10

I had to shoot, let me roll

12:12

back. process said film ourselves in a

12:15

dark room and then fit me a

12:17

larger and print our film and then

12:19

hand it you know put it package

12:22

it up put the work order in

12:24

stuff together and deliver it to the

12:26

client when they came in they were

12:29

coming to get their pictures the photographer

12:31

that shot it had to go in

12:33

and get them over so they could

12:35

look at it and get any comments

12:38

so yeah this is too dark can

12:40

you reprint those or whatever so we'd

12:42

make our little grease sketches or whatever

12:45

with a grease pencil back into the

12:47

dark roof. Then then interdigital and all

12:49

that went away. It's like it's all

12:52

in Photoshop now and I can do

12:54

everything and more than I ever imagined

12:56

in Photoshop. So I understand the nostalgia

12:59

of film but most of that nostalgia

13:01

comes for people that never did all

13:03

that and it's not and it wasn't

13:05

a choice. It wasn't like you know

13:08

you just shoot film because it's cool

13:10

it was machine film. That's what's in

13:12

the fridge. Go shoot it and get

13:15

it and get it done. And when

13:17

we did aerial stuff, Genesis, we had

13:19

to do... Did you shoot a aircraft?

13:22

No, we were shooting Kodakrome back then.

13:24

So in Fuji film, we were shooting

13:26

a lot of Velvia back there, but

13:29

we were, I remember shooting aircraft, we

13:31

had to shoot Slidefell, right? So, and

13:33

Slidefilm has an exposure latitude, the plus

13:35

or minus, a third of a stop.

13:38

There's no raw. There's no like, oh,

13:40

I can get it close, and then

13:42

I could pull out the details in

13:45

like room, like room, like room or

13:47

whatever. Or whatever. A third of a

13:49

stop where you got blown highlights or

13:52

shadows with no detail in it. which

13:54

just looked clear on the negative on

13:56

the slide. So that's where my PTSD

13:59

from film comes from. So I understand

14:01

the nostalgia. I'm just stating my case,

14:03

so you can tell me why I'm

14:05

wrong. So I understand the nostalgia, but

14:08

the PTSD and the work that went

14:10

into that was no joke. And digital,

14:12

the stuff I could do with this

14:15

name, my phone, and just eclipses, anything

14:17

I could do back there. So now

14:19

you state your case, Genesis, tell me

14:22

why film is superior to digital. I'll

14:24

say, you know what, I will never

14:26

sit here and say that film is

14:29

superior to digital. I think it's at

14:31

least, I can always speak for myself,

14:33

for me, I like to be what

14:35

I always say is intentional because with

14:38

digital, I know I can just hit,

14:40

you know, set and get my sentence

14:42

correct, do everything, hit that shutter and

14:45

just and just go. But with film,

14:47

I have to be very intentional because

14:49

I only have 10 shots. per row,

14:52

sometimes 15, depending on which camera I'm

14:54

using. So when I see something, I

14:56

have to make sure I'm reading the

14:59

light correctly, I'm composing the shot correctly,

15:01

I'm looking at, you know, the background

15:03

or, because I use a lot of

15:05

like natural light, you know, every so

15:08

often I might use like my continuous

15:10

light, but a lot of everything that

15:12

my work that I shoot is done

15:15

with natural light. And then composing that

15:17

and just being like, all right, cool,

15:19

this is it, taking a picture, winding

15:22

it, and then being like, all right,

15:24

cool, moving on to the next. So

15:26

my biggest thing is me being intentional

15:29

with every single shot that I shoot.

15:31

I get it. And in my head,

15:33

it's just like, I know what it's

15:35

going to look like. And sometimes when

15:38

I, when I, when I take a

15:40

picture, I already know. But I'm like,

15:42

yeah, this ain't going to be it.

15:45

It sure be enough when I get

15:47

that roll back and I'm just like,

15:49

I knew that this particular picture wasn't.

15:52

want to be it in every day.

15:54

Yeah. And sometimes I take safeties. I'd

15:56

be like, hey, don't take that picture.

15:59

That same picture again. Because I've seen

16:01

the smallest detail might be a little

16:03

bit different than what I was intending.

16:05

I was like, you know, just be

16:08

on the safe side. Let me go

16:10

ahead and take the same picture. Yeah.

16:12

I hear it. I hear it. I

16:15

hear it. Yeah. The intentionality, right. Yeah.

16:17

And what you describe, you're just making

16:19

me miss film now, but... You're just

16:22

like, not that much. Well, no, I

16:24

get it, because I remember when I

16:26

saw film, it's mostly like, I know

16:29

you are a fan of medium format.

16:31

Like, when you're shooting medium format, it's

16:33

not... The camera is not just... It's

16:35

not just this... Okay, let me just

16:38

rattle off a bunch of shots, and

16:40

then I'll figure it out later and

16:42

pick the good one out later, and

16:45

pick the good one out. With film,

16:47

especially medium format or larger, everything is

16:49

intentional because everything is money, right? Because

16:52

it's every frame costs money, it's going

16:54

to take time to do all the

16:56

things behind this, the exposure capture, all

16:59

that. And when you're taking it, that

17:01

muscle memory of like winding it and

17:03

you know, all of that together, even

17:05

rolling it, putting the film in the

17:08

film back, all of that is almost

17:10

ritualistic. It's almost like, okay, I'm getting

17:12

ready. It's like the... Remember this old

17:15

show, remember the 18, way back the

17:17

day, it was so kind of 18,

17:19

where they had this, this, yeah, with,

17:22

with Miss T and all in there,

17:24

but they had this, at the beginning

17:26

of the show, or whenever they were

17:29

going to go on this mission to

17:31

save whatever person, they would do this

17:33

montage, like, I don't know, like a

17:35

22nd up, like, putting on their vests,

17:38

putting their guns in the old stern.

17:40

you know and they played this this

17:42

this music behind it and everything and

17:45

they were getting ready to go they

17:47

load up in the van and you

17:49

know and always feel like that when

17:52

you're getting ready with film. I thought,

17:54

you know, okay, it's like, okay, you've

17:56

got this in the case and this

17:59

is ready, this is in the bag,

18:01

I got my spare batteries over here,

18:03

boom, and we're out. Then you go

18:05

shoot and it's like, okay, I'm ready

18:08

to do this. I got my camera,

18:10

everything set. Your brain is in a

18:12

different kind of zone I think when

18:15

you have to keep track of all

18:17

the stuff that the camera is doing

18:19

to make sure that it's right. Not

18:22

withstanding the exposure. The exposure has to

18:24

be dialed in and all that stuff.

18:26

So you have to be a photographer

18:29

and the composition and your natural lighting

18:31

and all that has to be on

18:33

point. But then the camera and all

18:35

the mechanics and all that stuff have

18:38

to be there too. So your brain

18:40

is thinking about all that. Whereas with

18:42

digital, if you put it on audio,

18:45

turn it on and point it at

18:47

something, it's going to focus on that

18:49

thing and create a perfect exposure every

18:52

time. You know, the composition may be

18:54

crap, but it's going to take. a

18:56

perfect exposure every time for the most

18:59

part unless you did something completely wrong.

19:01

Film, you got a, I think you,

19:03

if you are a photographer who has

19:06

standardized their flow on film, you know,

19:08

I may get black for this, but

19:10

I think that makes you a better

19:12

photographer in a lot of ways than

19:15

people that are shooting primarily on digital

19:17

because there's so much that's done for

19:19

you on digital on digital on film.

19:22

you're doing all that stuff which forces

19:24

you to be intentional because you only

19:26

got what 16 on a roll or

19:29

so it would depending on what you're

19:31

shooting. Like look and also too when

19:33

you come when it costs a film

19:36

you know how you can dial in

19:38

like an ISO on your camera you

19:40

have to be very intentional with what

19:42

film stocks you're using. Yeah and I'm

19:45

not even like like whenever it's just

19:47

like I might touch like a digital

19:49

camera. I have to turn that film

19:52

part of my brain off to a

19:54

certain extent and then be like, okay,

19:56

I'm shooting on digital so I know

19:59

more opportunity to do, you know. to

20:01

do X, Y, and Z, to, you

20:03

know, lift my settings and I can,

20:06

I can manipulate it a little bit

20:08

more than I would with film because

20:10

with film what you get is what

20:12

you get. So people who, yeah, I

20:15

don't even say people who shoot on

20:17

digital, I just be, I'll be learning

20:19

from now, be looking. I'm like, that

20:22

is like, you know, I still think

20:24

it's so cool. Yeah. Because it's just

20:26

like, you can just go right. Yeah,

20:29

you're over there with you. You're

20:31

in there in the corner with

20:33

your, you know, 400 ISO, maybe

20:35

1600 if you're lucky, ISO film,

20:38

and you are stuck with that

20:40

ISO. If it's loaded and you

20:42

don't have any other film bags,

20:44

you're going to shoot with that

20:46

and figure it out with just

20:48

that ISO on film. You're like,

20:50

oh, it's dark in here. Let

20:52

me turn it up in 25,000,

20:54

600 ISO. and just go to

20:56

town, right? Which means, you know,

20:58

you can shoot a black cat

21:00

in the dark room and still

21:03

get an exposure, you know, it's

21:05

crazy. And that's one thing I've

21:07

learned, I've even learned to do

21:09

is that, you know what, when

21:11

you meter for, you know what,

21:13

like, for film, you can meter

21:15

and overexposals, especially for, you can

21:17

do a love doing and with

21:19

black and white. So you shooting

21:21

that 400, 400 ISO film, then

21:23

you can shoot that you can

21:25

shoot that. to where you know

21:28

what alright cool I just have

21:30

to make sure and when it

21:32

gets into development it's just adding

21:34

more time to that. So I've

21:36

been doing that a lot because

21:38

I'm like alright cool it might

21:40

be a situation where it is

21:42

a little bit darker and I

21:44

might not have a lot of

21:46

that natural light so I'm gonna

21:48

push it you know up to

21:50

800, 600. Hey I'm being adventurous,

21:52

let's go 32. And

21:55

that's, and I primarily shoot on,

21:57

um, it's this film by Kentmere.

21:59

by Alfer and it's like their

22:01

partner company, Kentmere, and I should,

22:04

and it's called Kentmere 400. That

22:06

film just at Box is very

22:08

flat, but it's really good as

22:10

far as just like pushing, like

22:12

pushing it. And it's very affordable

22:14

considering, you know, their sister like

22:16

HD5, which is like, that's the

22:18

one of the most high-rated like

22:20

black of white films outside of

22:22

like triads and teemacks and stuff.

22:24

So, so. Yeah, all those names.

22:26

Those are like. hearing names of

22:29

old friends that I haven't spoken

22:31

to in a long time. Do

22:33

you still have phone with your

22:35

fridge now? I do not. I

22:37

have no film in the house

22:39

right now. I feel like I

22:41

want to go. I have friends

22:43

that are getting back into film.

22:45

Like film, it's things come full

22:47

circle, right? People are moving back

22:49

into this sort of... like analog

22:52

modality maybe because all this automation

22:54

stuff is happening and you know

22:56

AI and you can make anything

22:58

and you know that everything is

23:00

kind of shaken up now and

23:02

it's it's like I feel like

23:04

people including myself have a thirst

23:06

from a creative standpoint for things

23:08

that are real that are that

23:10

are not manipulated or not you

23:12

know they didn't come from a

23:15

prompt and a server farm. It's

23:17

one person with one role of

23:19

film that had an idea and

23:21

captured this thing and they're presenting

23:23

it to you and only you,

23:25

right? It's not a million of

23:27

them, there's this one. And that

23:29

person, you know, had everything to

23:31

do with it. I think there's

23:33

a magic in that that is

23:35

a positive side effect of all

23:37

this, you know, AI and digital

23:40

stuff that's going on. People like

23:42

yourselves that are doing traditional, quote,

23:44

traditional photography with film and... and

23:46

those kinds of techniques are great,

23:48

because then you take a shot

23:50

of yours, like say your children

23:52

at play shot, which I want

23:54

to talk about, you know, you

23:56

take that shot and try to

23:58

recreate that shot. in a prompt,

24:00

type that in and try to

24:03

have an AI created, it's never

24:05

gonna get children at play. And

24:07

it's never gonna get the story.

24:09

Yeah, it's never get that feel,

24:11

it's never gonna, it's never gonna,

24:13

it's never gonna get any of

24:15

that stuff. Yeah, yeah, I think

24:17

there's room for both. You know,

24:19

here's a product idea, Jill. You

24:21

know, like we have these hybrid

24:23

cars, right, that could be electric

24:26

or used gas. We need a

24:28

hybrid camera. that can shoot film

24:30

or digital if you want to,

24:32

right? That would be killer. I

24:34

mean, they're all their pen tags

24:36

and I feel like a few

24:38

other like film companies, they are

24:40

coming out with like new producing

24:42

new film cameras. I wouldn't doubt

24:44

it somewhere down that product line.

24:46

It might be all the way

24:49

at the end, but yeah. Yeah.

24:51

Yeah, if there's a market for

24:53

it, right? You gotta have a

24:55

market. Because there's a lot of

24:57

people, like my initial reaction was

24:59

I'm a recovering film person, right?

25:01

So those folks are gonna look

25:03

at it like, right? Film? You're

25:05

gonna be nice. I mean, for

25:07

those who, you know, want the

25:09

best of both worlds, I feel

25:11

like it's ill-being market for it,

25:14

but I'm also thinking too, like,

25:16

how would they produce this camera,

25:18

like, how would they make it?

25:20

That's up to him. You have

25:22

electronic and you got to make

25:24

sure you leave space to put

25:26

the film in and it's just

25:28

like I just want to sit

25:30

there at the product development just

25:32

looking at your life. Hey, you

25:34

know what I would say? Not

25:37

my problem. You figured out I'm

25:39

a consumer. I'm going to consume

25:41

it. Just make a great product

25:43

and I'll get it. Okay. I

25:45

don't care how the sausage is

25:47

made. Just make the sausage. I

25:49

know and you're a foodie too

25:51

and I'm sorry. Let's talk about

25:53

children at play. So that's the

25:55

one that brought you across, that

25:57

brought you here. Children

26:00

at play, which I'll put up on

26:02

the screen as in the edit. What

26:04

are you, give me your thoughts on

26:07

children at play. What's the story behind

26:09

it, which is now an award-winning work

26:11

from me, Jenison Falls. What's the back

26:14

story? The back story to that was,

26:16

I was actually at the time taking

26:18

a, I used to work at the

26:21

Arts to the Chicago, and we used

26:23

to be able to take like free

26:25

classes. I was just like, why not

26:27

take a free photography class? And we

26:30

were out doing like a photo And

26:32

of course, I had my camera, had

26:34

my tripod, and it was just one

26:37

of those, I saw it, and I

26:39

was just like, please, like, let me

26:41

just be able to capture this and

26:44

just compose it right and set it

26:46

up right, dial everything in and making

26:48

sure everything was crying. And there it

26:50

goes. And then, obviously, and there it

26:53

goes. Yeah, like, it wasn't really, it

26:55

was very much so intentional. And then

26:57

because it was doing the summer songs,

27:00

so like, like, everybody's around. And I'll

27:02

be honest, I had to do a

27:04

little bit editing because the full picture

27:07

was just like a whole bunch of

27:09

just like extra stuff in the back.

27:11

So it's just like, okay, I had

27:13

to compose it as much as I

27:16

possibly could with the space that I

27:18

was giving. Yeah. But you had medium

27:20

format. So you were working with. Yeah.

27:23

So you had a lot of data

27:25

to work with. So speaking of that,

27:27

Genesis, like your process. And congratulations on

27:30

that shot, by the way. Like I

27:32

said, it's a word winning, beautiful shot.

27:34

Thank you. And I'll put it on

27:36

the, I'll put it on, send it

27:39

over to me, and I'll make sure

27:41

it's in the gallery for the, for

27:43

the, for the blog post, the show

27:46

notes for this episode. But what's your

27:48

flow, your process? So you're flow, your

27:50

process. So you shoot, I'll, and have

27:53

them do it. It all depends on

27:55

what I'm shooting. If I'm shooting like

27:57

personal work... then, you know, I'm blessed

27:59

to have, you know, a community of

28:02

friends who, you know, who I know

28:04

how to develop film. And I'll be

28:06

honest, sometimes I just don't have the

28:09

patience for it. I know how to.

28:11

And I feel like it's essential to

28:13

at least know how to do it.

28:16

It's not saying that you gotta be

28:18

your own film print lab and do

28:20

all. So I used to know how

28:22

to do it. But I'll, like I

28:25

said, I'm blessed to have friends who.

28:27

you know, develop health side. Just, you

28:29

know, hey, can you do X, Y,

28:32

Z? Maybe like, sure, they'll develop it,

28:34

scan it, give it to me. If

28:36

it's something that's like war on like

28:38

the paid side, then I'll drop it

28:41

off at a lab and, you know,

28:43

do it. But it all, it all,

28:45

it kind of like, it all depends,

28:48

it also all depends on what kind

28:50

of film it is and it's just

28:52

how I want to go about it.

28:55

Because sometimes if this is my personal

28:57

work that I know I'm going to

28:59

be sharing, then it's just like, okay,

29:01

I might drop it out to film

29:04

that because, you know, my friends can't,

29:06

you know, they can't do it. Because,

29:08

you know, they have their own thing

29:11

going on and I'm big on not

29:13

encroaching on anybody's time and space. But

29:15

if I can wait like three, four,

29:18

five weeks, I mean, I mean, I

29:20

don't go, okay. Right. So yeah, my

29:22

big my workflow is very much so

29:24

depending on what I'm doing. But if

29:27

it's like personal projects, it's going to

29:29

me or my friend or it's going

29:31

to like a lab. I got a

29:34

backlog right now in my fridge though.

29:36

So yeah, you need to find more

29:38

friends like. No, I just put that

29:41

burden on it. I hope I know.

29:43

There's some award winners in there that's

29:45

sitting on ice. You gotta get those

29:47

out of there. They want to be

29:50

free? Oh, we're good. You know what?

29:52

I mean, I hear you on the

29:54

processing side of that, because it is

29:57

a commitment. Even black and white, black

29:59

and white processing. printing black and white

30:01

is obviously much easier than film but

30:04

even that's commitment because the temperature of

30:06

everything you have to be controlled you

30:08

need a dark room or some sort

30:10

of mechanism to keep the light out

30:13

while you're doing it's part of the

30:15

ritual you know it's part of the overall

30:17

ritual but it is a lot it's a

30:19

commitment it's a room or a closet or

30:21

something that you need to set aside to

30:24

be able to do the stuff whenever you

30:26

need to do it and the chemistry and

30:28

all the chemicals and all that

30:30

stuff, not cheap to get and

30:32

hazardous as well. So there's a

30:34

lot to like make letting someone else

30:36

do it, make more sense than

30:38

you doing it. So I also will say

30:41

it's just like if you know

30:43

anybody was like thinking about shooting

30:45

film to actually look into this,

30:48

this company called Center Still and

30:50

they do, they kind of made

30:52

like the processing like a black-white

30:55

color and slash them a little

30:57

bit easier. quote unquote so they

30:59

have like their chemicals and it's just

31:01

like a step by step and it's

31:03

just they lay it out for you so

31:05

that's like super freaking simple and

31:07

easy to do so like you want

31:10

to then go check check it out but

31:12

if you're just like no I want

31:14

to go traditional I want to get

31:16

my blics I want to get my fix

31:18

I want to do you know what's my pre-wash

31:21

and do all of that then That's right.

31:23

That's right. I mean, you know,

31:26

whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever, in your

31:28

fixer or whatever. Oh, your fixer.

31:30

So, we do this award presentation.

31:32

You got to be excited for

31:34

that, right? To just kind of

31:37

be sit up there and because

31:39

you have intricate or kind of

31:41

insider knowledge about what it feels like

31:43

to win this award. So now

31:45

you're going to give that joy. to

31:47

another person. That's got to

31:49

be exciting, like, and another

31:51

feather in your hat, right? I'm

31:54

just like, it's because I love, I

31:56

feel like I just love to see

31:58

just joy and just. people

32:00

being excited about their work, and

32:02

then it's another level on for

32:04

someone to, you know, to see your

32:06

work and recognize and be recognized

32:08

for that because as photographers, we,

32:10

I want to say we go through

32:13

a lot, but there's a lot

32:15

of time effort commitment that goes in

32:17

behind the scenes to even, before

32:19

we even get to that, quote,

32:21

quote, quote, final product. And sometimes even

32:23

when we get to that final

32:25

product. we're always still tweaking. So to

32:28

someone to recognize that, I'm just

32:30

like, I'm excited. I'm like, oh, you

32:32

sit on the other side of

32:34

the thing, just looking like, they

32:36

don't know what's coming. Yeah, I'm so

32:38

excited just to, you know, to

32:40

be a part of this and just

32:43

see all this flow of work

32:45

coming in and being able to

32:47

look at everything and just being like,

32:49

what do you think? What do

32:51

you think it's so far? It's

32:55

just a lot of creativity. It's

32:57

a lot of creativity and it's

32:59

just like sometimes you can just

33:01

see the time effort being put

33:03

into these images. Whether it's two

33:05

seconds or two hours, there will

33:07

still a piece of time that

33:09

you can get back being put

33:11

into this work. So to just

33:14

be able to appreciate the work

33:16

and being able to appreciate the

33:18

person creating said work is huge.

33:20

No, no, yeah, it is. And

33:22

it's a, no matter what you're

33:24

doing, I think, as creators, when

33:26

you create, when you're, when you're

33:28

creating like your, your work with

33:31

your, your format or whatever, whatever,

33:33

media you're creating, I feel like

33:35

it's almost like a, it's a

33:37

bookmark for a second, like memories,

33:39

like it is a bookmark in

33:41

time because you've captured that 60th

33:43

of a second or whatever. that

33:45

that happened and will never ever

33:48

happen again but you got you

33:50

got a part of it on

33:52

you know captured so you literally

33:54

create a bookmark and memories are

33:56

associated with that bookmark. So when

33:58

you look at a photo, like

34:00

any photo that you've taken, I'm

34:02

guessing hundreds of photos, when you

34:04

look at any one of those

34:07

photos, it brings back memories of

34:09

when you took that photo, the

34:11

people in that photo, what you

34:13

were feeling at the time, you

34:15

know, your emotions, all that is

34:17

tied to that one image, you

34:19

know, kind of like a song.

34:21

Like you ever have a song

34:24

imprint on you, your favorite song,

34:26

and then you hear it again.

34:28

10 years later, whatever, and it's

34:30

like, it takes you exactly back

34:32

to that breakup you were dealing

34:34

with or that whatever, right? It

34:36

brings it all back because it's

34:38

tied to that piece of media.

34:40

Same with your photos. It does

34:43

the exact same thing. Yeah, because

34:45

I could always look at my

34:47

work and tell like, okay, what

34:49

I was thinking, how I was

34:51

feeling. being more intentional than I

34:53

know that I could be. Because

34:55

sometimes we can be all over

34:57

biggest critics, so it's just like,

35:00

I'm looking at my work, and

35:02

I'm just like, yeah. But then

35:04

when I look at work where

35:06

I'm just like, it's spot on,

35:08

it's what I want, I'm just

35:10

like, yes, this is what it

35:12

looks like, what I'm truly being

35:14

like, all right, I'm just. Presley

35:17

Shutter. Yeah. See, all this is

35:19

good advice for the people that

35:21

are, that are, you know, participating

35:23

in this and hoping to be

35:25

sitting your spot next time around.

35:27

So I want to ask you

35:29

this, if you had one piece

35:31

of advice to give to people

35:33

that are hoping to win this

35:36

grant and are shooting their hearts

35:38

out and creating these memories, what

35:40

would it make? If I had

35:42

one piece of advice for people...

35:44

you know, who want to, who

35:46

I wanted to participate in. thinking

35:48

about participating. I would say to

35:50

not be too hard or critical

35:53

on yourself or your work. Just

35:55

you know what go through fine

35:57

you know as with the theme

35:59

and everything five something that you

36:01

feel best represents not only yourself

36:03

but the theme and submit it

36:05

and if no doesn't always mean

36:07

no. It's just a delayed, yeah,

36:10

so you know, you might not

36:12

get hit. Try not to be

36:14

too hard on yourself, but feel

36:16

that and use that as ammunition

36:18

to push forward, say, you know

36:20

what, that's all right. I didn't

36:22

get this one, but I'm gonna

36:24

push forward and get this next

36:26

one, or I'm gonna apply to

36:29

this, and it applied to be

36:31

safe, and just watch the door

36:33

of the floodgates open to you,

36:35

just because... you decide it's for

36:37

one for the final day and

36:39

try. Yep and not give up

36:41

because because of whatever reasons like

36:43

somebody said that you're not good

36:46

enough or you know what are

36:48

you doing with this photography stuff

36:50

you really should just be a

36:52

whatever right exactly like stay the

36:54

course press forward as long as

36:56

you as long as you feel

36:58

like it's necessary and have fun

37:00

with it. We sit down and

37:03

use something looking for like something

37:05

to submit sit down and and

37:07

romanticize looking through your work and

37:09

picking an image and everything and

37:11

just having that moment and just

37:13

enjoying that moment because sometimes we

37:15

don't get a lot of these

37:17

moments all the time. So just

37:19

enjoy that moment. Yeah, I love

37:22

it. Yeah, enjoy what you're doing.

37:24

Yeah, siege. Siege advice. Let's end

37:26

on this. What's coming up next?

37:28

We were working on next. Like

37:30

what's that? What projects have you

37:32

excited that you have any trips

37:34

coming up? Are you got any

37:36

like shot ideas that you are

37:39

that are burning your brain that

37:41

you got to get done? I

37:43

do have One thing that's coming

37:45

up, but I can't really say

37:47

anything on that yet, but one

37:49

of the main projects that I'm

37:51

personally working on is a project

37:53

that focuses on other artists of

37:55

colorable artists on their artistic medium

37:58

and kind of telling a different

38:00

side to them. So it's just

38:02

like, who are you outside of

38:04

what you love to do or

38:06

what you like to do? So

38:08

it's just a personal project just

38:10

because I just, you know, when

38:12

I was getting into photography, it

38:15

was you really had to dig

38:17

a little bit to try to

38:19

find like other artists that look

38:21

like me and try to find

38:23

that inspiration. So it became important

38:25

to me to be able to

38:27

share that and share other artists'

38:29

stories and outside. Yeah, that's me

38:32

being professional, not silencing my phone,

38:34

but we can edit that or

38:36

not. This is live, this is

38:38

real live people. At least in

38:40

school, we can just fix it

38:42

in post. We can fix it,

38:44

when we say it everywhere, we're

38:46

gonna fix it in post. Fix

38:48

it in post? Okay, this has

38:51

been great. We gotta, we gotta,

38:53

we gotta do this more. I

38:55

can't wait when we sit down

38:57

and do the live stream, that's

38:59

gonna be, it's gonna be, it's

39:01

gonna be fun. I'm, is my

39:03

words. That would be mine. Would

39:05

you like them to rise too?

39:08

Yes, do whatever you need to

39:10

do, but that happens to come

39:12

back to California with. Don't get

39:14

used to it. Too late. This

39:16

is like the third time where

39:18

it is because... So low. This

39:20

is too down. This has been

39:22

fantastic. And I'll let you go,

39:25

if people, if you want to

39:27

connect with you, I know you

39:29

have an Instagram. What's that, with

39:31

your Instagram profile? I'll put it

39:33

up on the screen and everything,

39:35

but what's the best place? So

39:37

people will want to connect with

39:39

me or, you know, check out

39:41

my work and check out the

39:44

project that I've been working on

39:46

and been posting. about you can

39:48

find me at geno underscore tenant

39:50

so everything's lower case g and

39:52

oh underscore t-a-t-t-e-d on internet got

39:54

it got it I'm looking at

39:56

it right now very cool very

39:58

cool yeah and I'll put that

40:01

on the screen and follow Genesis

40:03

Falls on Instagram excellent bonus yeah

40:05

because if we get you Let's

40:07

say if this interview generates another,

40:09

I don't know, let's say, let's

40:11

call it 300, I'm pulling number

40:13

out of sky, 300 people subscribe

40:15

to you, I'm definitely taking that

40:17

hat. You know what? If that's

40:20

the case, it's on, it's on

40:22

feel. I will try my best

40:24

to either find the same exact

40:26

hat or find the same exact

40:28

hat or find something that looks

40:30

like. incredibly similar and you know

40:32

and I was sending it your

40:34

way. Okay. How about that? Deal.

40:37

Deal. Deal. Then I'll have. You

40:39

don't have to come down and

40:41

visit and then that way I

40:43

can, you know, hand you because

40:45

I feel like I feel comfortable

40:47

with that when you touch one

40:49

of my cameras and just be

40:51

like, yeah, let's have, let's go

40:54

out with you. Yeah, let's do

40:56

it. You know what, we should,

40:58

let's talk about it. Maybe a

41:00

photo walk or something in the

41:02

future is. is in our future

41:04

of Chicago, downtown Chicago, or here

41:06

you go. Here's something that's up

41:08

your alley. How about a photo

41:10

walk during the taste of Chicago?

41:13

Mmm. Mm. Mmm. The wheels are

41:15

shining. Shoot and eat with Genesis.

41:17

You know? I see, I can't

41:19

do both on that one. That

41:21

the tours in me. I'm just,

41:23

I'm just, I got to, I

41:25

got to eat. I just put

41:27

the camera on it and just

41:30

like, give me like 10 minutes.

41:32

You can't cross the shoulder, like,

41:34

you can't do it. You got

41:36

food, stuff all on my hand,

41:38

we're just like. All right, we'll

41:40

leave it right there. Genesis, thank

41:42

you. Thank you for we'll

41:44

leave it right

41:47

there Genesis. Thank

41:49

you. Thank you

41:51

for coming on.

41:53

win in 23 on

41:55

your win in on,

41:57

you know, what you're about to

41:59

you know, what

42:01

you're about to

42:03

do when we

42:06

do this live

42:08

you know, you know,

42:10

hand in the torch

42:12

to next person. person.

42:14

So, yeah, this is This

42:16

is really cool.

42:18

really appreciate you. you.

42:20

All likewise. Enjoy

42:23

your week your I'll

42:25

talk soon. I'll talk

42:27

soon.