f/22 - Photographer Interviews by VSCO

About f/22 - Photographer Interviews by VSCO

Hosted by Zach Hodges from the VSCO team, f/22 is a series where all things photography are brought into focus through conversations with photographers.

Publisher

VSCO

Category

arts

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

6 Dec 2025

Latest episode

24 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

20 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   24 Sept 2026

   S2.E9 – Take More Bad Photos: Joe Greer on Film, Street, and Staying a Kid in the Candy Shop

   In this episode of f/22, Greg Lutze and Zach Hodges sit down with photographer Joe Greer in Nashville. As a broke college student he saved for a month to buy an iPhone 4 just to get on Instagram, then spent every free hour shooting the Pacific Northwest. A curator job at VSCO followed, ten months he still calls his art school, spent studying Alex Webb and William Eggleston and sorting tens of thousands of photographs a day. Then a Portland church cut his position right before Christmas in 2016, and going freelance meant seven months without a single reply. New York broke it open. Armed with a Leica M6, he got hooked on street photography and kept posting it even as it cost him followers. That way of seeing became his calling card, and brands including Leica, Bandit Running, and Gatorade started hiring him for exactly it while his agent Ernesto handled the business. He walks through NYC I Love You, built from 150 undeveloped rolls when COVID emptied the streets, and India Volume 1, the 156 photos drawn from seven years of trips and designed by Mouthwash Studios. He breaks down critical focus over zone focus, why he takes far more bad photos than good ones, and why he refuses to stay in one lane. No off switch, no plan to retire, and every frame he has ever shared was edited in VSCO. This episode explores Building your own photo education from books, documentaries, and the greats Turning personal work into the thing brands hire you for What a rep actually does, and why giving up 20% is worth it Walking onto a commercial set without a shot list Critical focus versus zone focus, and what a real hit rate takes Why bad photos and refusing to niche down keep a career alive Follow Joe: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ioegreer/ (https://www.instagram.com/ioegreer/) Website: https://www.ioe.photography/ (https://www.ioe.photography/) Chapters: 00:00 A Florida Kid, an iPhone, and the Leica That Changed Everything 01:40 From Florida to shooting the Pacific Northwest on an iPhone 02:21 Discovering #VSCOcam and falling for photography 04:35 Getting hired at VSCO, his art school 06:53 How curating thousands of photos sharpened his eye 08:13 Teaching yourself from photo books and the greats 10:10 Two desert-island books, Meyerowitz and Robert Frank 11:36 Hunger, hardship, and the drive to go pro 12:47 Let go before Christmas, the leap to freelance 13:53 Moving to NYC and getting hooked on the streets 14:55 The wedding-gift Canon and buying a Leica M6 16:20 Getting repped, what a photo agent actually does 18:48 Turning a street eye into commercial work 22:02 Why he shoots without a shot list 24:49 Taking the risk when street photography wasn't cool 27:06 Books over likes, what makes a great photograph 28:44 NYC I Love You, a love letter on 150 rolls of film 29:56 India, the Google trip that started seven years of work 31:37 The XPan, black and white, and The Art of Devotion 33:01 Sequencing the book and letting go of favorites 35:23 The secret to a high hit rate, critical focus 37:51 Zone focus versus critical focus, explained 39:29 Take more bad photos 42:35 Advice, consistency, sharing, and press publish 45:13 Don't niche down, photograph what you love 47:38 No off switch, no retirement 48:44 Where to find Joe, and why it's all edited in VSCO #JoeGreer #StreetPhotography #FilmPhotography #LeicaM6 #35mm #PhotoBooks #IndiaPhotography #ShootFilm #F22Series #VSCO

2. 

   3 Sept 2026

   S2.E8 – 24 Years of Weddings with Susan Stripling, Canon Explorer of Light

   In this episode of f/22, Zach Hodges sits down in Las Vegas with Susan Stripling, a wedding photographer of 24 years who has never had another job. She lives in New York, she is a Canon Explorer of Light and an Adorama ambassador, and she is a grand master at Icon. Ask how she is holding up after 24 years and the answer is caffeine and duct tape. Susan is blunt about what the accolades actually do. Inside the industry they build relationships and they build a résumé. To a couple choosing a photographer they do nothing, because a prospective client cannot tell an Icon Grand Master from a mom who voted you best photographer in Jersey City. Much of the conversation is about the business behind the pictures. She runs the studio out of one system, answers every inquiry herself, tracks every referral source, and pulls reports at the end of each year to see where the work came from and where it went. She raises prices in itty-bitty increments, sometimes holding the number and dropping the coverage from ten hours to eight, then waits a couple of bookings to see what it does before moving again. Price yourself too far above your referral sources and the referrals stop. She is also honest about what wears on her. She gets bored. She gets burnt out. The venue looks the same and the timeline looks the same. What resets her is not a business fix, it is remembering that she has been there a hundred times and her clients have been there once. Her burnout at work tracks her burnout at home, so she goes and fills the rest of her life first. Her advice for photographers starting out comes in two pieces, and the second one is the part most people skip. This episode explores Why awards build a résumé inside the industry and mean nothing to a prospective client Running a wedding business end to end, from the first inquiry to year-end reporting Raising prices in itty-bitty increments without pricing yourself out of your referrals What changed for photographers starting out now, and why the job takes two skill sets A theater background, theatrically motivated light, and the editorial flash resurgence Getting bored at a venue you have shot a hundred times, and what actually fixes it Why she started scuba diving and refuses to monetize the pictures Thanks to Harlow Lighting for lighting in this episode. Follow Susan: susanstripling.com (http://susanstripling.com) Chapters: 00:00 Cold open 00:41 Welcome back to f/22 with Susan Stripling 02:07 Whether the awards actually help her business 03:11 Held together by caffeine and duct tape 04:15 A theater background and nodding to modern style 05:44 Word of mouth then, a marketing monster now 06:27 One system running the whole studio 07:53 Letting go of her own editing 08:41 A complicated relationship with AI 09:28 Moving prices in itty bitty increments 10:49 Getting bored at the venue you have shot 100 times 12:50 It's not personal, it's just business Hashtags: #SusanStripling #WeddingPhotography #WeddingPhotographer #NewYorkPhotographer #PhotographyBusiness #PhotographyPricing #EditorialLighting #F22Series #VSCO

3. 

   14 Aug 2026

   S2.E7 – Jeremy Cowart on Purposeful Photography, Embracing Risk, and Using AI Without Losing the Art

   In this episode of f/22, Greg Lutze and Zach Hodges sit down with world-renowned photographer and artist Jeremy Cowart at his studio in Franklin, Tennessee, to talk about a career built on chasing ideas, embracing risk, and using creativity to help people. Jeremy traces his unlikely path from painter to graphic designer to celebrity photographer. The journey started with a three-megapixel point-and-shoot and a Hollywood agent who called out of nowhere in 2005. He's candid about faking his way through his first big shoot (10 sets to light for Prison Break, having never used a light before), the imposter syndrome underneath it, and why he's always been drawn to the possibility of failure. The conversation moves through his signature techniques, the multi-light LED wall rig, custom Capture One code, 60-second shoots, and the stop-motion approach he stumbled into on a Star Trek shoot. It all leads to the work he says matters most, his "If You're Breathing" project, where he makes art alongside people in extreme need and funds their stories through merch. Along the way, Jeremy gets honest about money, the feast-or-famine reality of a creative career, the surprising story of being hired by a global brand specifically to use AI, and why, after 20+ years, obsessive learning is what keeps him relevant. This episode explores - How to break into paid work (and landing a rep) - Why embracing risk and failure beats waiting until you're "ready" - Building a signature style and a clear creative perspective - The truth about money and feast-or-famine income - Using AI as a tool without losing the art - Why social impact work can be the most fulfilling work of all Jeremy Cowart Website: https://www.jeremycowart.com/ (https://www.jeremycowart.com/) Big thanks to @harlowecreators for beautiful lighting for this episode. Chapters: 00:00 "I Faked My Way Through My First Big Gig" 00:36 Welcome Back to f/22, Franklin, Tennessee 01:40 From Painter to Photographer 03:02 A 3-Megapixel Canon & Shooting Musician Friends 04:46 "I Got a D in Photography" 06:30 How He Started Getting Paid Work 08:04 Landing a Hollywood Agent in 2005 10:12 Imposter Syndrome & Faking the Prison Break Shoot 14:56 The "If You're Breathing" Project 18:07 Projecting a Mother's Words Into Her Daughter's Eye 20:23 Building the Projection & LED Wall Setup 24:22 The 60-Second Photo Shoots 27:26 Discovering Stop Motion on a Star Trek Shoot 29:15 Why Social Impact Work Matters Most 33:42 The Financial Reality, Feast or Famine 35:21 Obsessively Learn, The Carpenter Analogy 38:24 Talking AI, the Good and the Bad 43:04 Hired to Use AI for a Global Brand 45:10 Keep It About the Work, Not the Gear 47:33 Where to Find Jeremy #JeremyCowart #PhotographyCareer #CelebrityPhotographer #PortraitPhotography #CreativeEntrepreneur #PhotographyBusiness #AIandPhotography #SocialImpact #F22Series #VSCO #PhotographyCommunity

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Contact f/22 - Photographer Interviews by VSCO

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.