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The MOOD Podcast

The One Question That Helped Rich-Joseph Facun Find His Photographic Voice, E116

May 14 · 1 hr 26 min · 62.1 MB
0:00-1:26:13

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In this episode, Matt sits down with Rich-Joseph Facun, a celebrated American documentary photographer, former photojournalist of 15 years, and founder of the independent publishing imprint Liars Corner. 

In this conversation we discuss his three monographs: Black Diamonds, Little Cities, and 1804, the ethics of street and portrait photography, photographing strangers in Trump-era Appalachia, walking away from photojournalism, finding your photographic voice, and why the global photo book industry urgently needs more marginalised and Indigenous voices.

Other things we discussed:

  • Street portraiture, approaching strangers, and consent in documentary photography
  • Growing up in a Southern Baptist military family and door-to-door evangelism as training for portrait work
  • Photographing Trump-supporting Appalachia as a person of colour with a trans child
  • The viral portrait of a stranger with a damaged forehead tattoo crying on the street
  • Quitting photojournalism after 15 years and the identity crisis that followed
  • Why he stopped using Rembrandt lighting and the decisive moment in his portrait work
  • How to find your photographic voice after mastering the craft
  • Self-publishing a photo book vs pitching to independent publishers
  • The making of Black Diamonds, Little Cities, and 1804
  • Launching Liars Corner as an Indigenous-owned photo book imprint in Appalachia
  • Elitism, gatekeeping, and barriers to entry inside the global photo book publishing industry
  • Mentoring emerging documentary photographers and funding their first monographs
  • Why awards, accolades, and staff photographer positions stopped mattering

Rich-Joseph Facun
Instagram: https://instagram.com/facun
Website: https://facun.com
Imprint: https://liarscorner.press

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