TCF Ep. 556 - Mona Kuhn

The Candid Frame: Conversations on Photography

Ibarionex R. Perello

Cameras, Art, Photoshop, Visual Arts, Career, Interviews, Photographers, Arts, Photography, Photo, Digital

4.8 • 749 Ratings

🗓️ 23 March 2021

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Acclaimed for her contemporary depictions, Mona Kuhn is considered a leading artist in the world of figurative discourse. Throughout a career spanning more than twenty years, the underlying theme of her work is her reflection on humanity’s longing for spiritual connection and solidarity. As she solidified her photographic style, Kuhn created a notable approach to the nude by developing friendships with her subjects, and employing a range of playful visual strategies that use natural light and minimalist settings to evoke a sublime sense of comfort between the human figure and its environment. Her work is natural, restful, and a reinterpretation of the nude in the canon of contemporary art. Kuhn was born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1969, of German descent. In 1989, Kuhn moved to the US and earned her BA from The Ohio State University, before furthering her studies at the San Francisco Art Institute. She is currently an independent scholar at The Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles. Occasionally, Mona teaches at UCLA and the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Mona Kuhn’s latest monograph is Mona Kuhn: Works. Websites Mona Kuhn Mickalene Thomas Education Resources: Using Your Life to Jumpstart Your Photography Momenta Photographic Workshops Candid Frame Resources Download the free Candid Frame app for your favorite smart device. Click here to download for . Click here to download Support the work we do at The Candid Frame with contributing to our Patreon effort. You can do this by visiting or visiting the website and clicking on the Patreon button. You can also provide a one-time donation via . You can follow Ibarionex on and .

Transcript

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0:00.0	The nude has been the subject of the photographer since the inception of photography.
0:14.0	Taking its cues from paintings, these early photographs sought to validate the new art form,
0:20.0	which was seen as more an advancement in technology than a new art.
0:25.0	Many classic photographs were taken by the likes of Alfred Steiglitz, Harry Callahan, Nobiyoshi Araki, and Robert Maplethorpe,
0:34.0	with a great majority being made by male photographers. There have, of course, been noted
0:39.6	exceptions, including Sally Mann, Imogene Cunningham, and Eleanor Carucci, who have produced
0:45.7	seminal work that not only reveals the beauty of the human form, but also challenges ideas of
0:51.9	sexuality, power, and objectivity.
0:55.0	One of the photographers who I believe has excelled in this genre is Monacoon,
1:00.0	a Brazilian-born photographer whose images combine a sensitivity to light, shape, and form,
1:07.0	while also examining issues of intimacy and vulnerability, not only of the subject, but the photographer.
1:14.5	Her recent book, Mona Coon Works, brings together decades of her projects and demonstrates
1:20.5	the many ways she has challenged the way we see ourselves and others.
1:25.6	This is IbarianX, and welcome back to the Candid Frame.
1:34.6	Well, I'm so pleased to finally have a chance to talk with you. How are you? I'm really good.
1:42.7	I'm good, especially now that I'm going to have a chance to talk to you about your work,
1:46.1	because ever since I discovered it, I have just loved it.
1:48.7	Oh, my God.
1:49.3	And you didn't even get the book yet.
1:51.6	I mean, I did.
1:52.4	Yeah, I got it two days ago.
1:54.9	Fantastic.
	...

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