TCF Ep. 651 - David Walter Banks

The Candid Frame: Conversations on Photography

Ibarionex R. Perello

Arts, Visual Arts

4.8 • 768 Ratings

🗓️ 5 January 2026

⏱️ 69 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

*]:pointer-events-auto [content-visibility:auto] supports-[content-visibility:auto]:[contain-intrinsic-size:auto_100lvh] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" tabindex="-1" data-turn-id= "d14385bd-93ee-414e-8a58-a6609ae6aa09" data-testid= "conversation-turn-16" data-scroll-anchor="true" data-turn= "assistant"> When photographer David Walter Banks began turning his lens toward the spaces where power, faith, and ideology take physical form, he set out to explore more than architecture. His photographs examine how belief systems—political, religious, and cultural—shape the built environment and, in turn, influence how we move through the world. From monuments and government buildings to evangelical megachurches, David's work reveals how space is used to project authority, belonging, and conviction. That inquiry has evolved into a thoughtful body of work that blends visual rigor with deep research. Rather than offering simple critique, David approaches his subjects with curiosity and nuance, allowing viewers to grapple with the complex relationships between belief, identity, and place. His photographs invite us to slow down and consider how the environments we create reflect our values—and how quietly, yet powerfully, they shape our collective experience. Resources: David Walter Banks https://davidwalterbanks.com Trembling Earth Book https://bsgeneralstore.com/products/trembling-earth-a-transcendental-trip-through-the-okefenokee Altadena Photographers https://www.altadenaphotographers.org/ Support Ibarionex & The Candid Frame GoFundMe BuyMeaCoffee eBook Purchases Websites The Candid Frame Patreon Page The Candid Frame PayPal Contribution Link Signed Editions of "Making Photographs: Developing a Personal Visual Workflow." Sponsors Charcoal Book Club https://charcoalbookclub.com Frames Magazine https://readframes.com Education Resources: Momenta Photographic Workshops https://momentaworkshops.com/workshops/ Candid Frame Resources The Candid Frame Newsletter & Substack Blog The Candid Frame Alexa Skill Making Photographs: Developing a Personal Visual Workflow The Candid Frame Flickr Pool The Candid Frame YouTube Channel Contribute a one-time donation to the show thru Buy Me a Coffee https://buymeacoffee.com/thecandidframe Support the work at The Candid Frame by contributing to our Patreon effort. You can do this by visiting patreon.com/thecandidframe or the website and clicking on the Patreon button. You can also provide a one-time donation via PayPal. You can follow Ibarionex on Instagram and Twitter.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Happy New Year and welcome to a new season of the Candid Frame.
0:15.0	When David Walter Banks first turned his lens towards the Oke-Finoki Swamp in southern Georgia, he wasn't
0:22.8	just photographing a landscape. He was returning to a place tied to his earliest memories.
0:29.6	Raised not far from these dark waters, David's project, Trembling Earth is as much about home
0:35.1	as it is about history, memory, and the complicated legacy of the American South.
0:41.3	The work is steeped in atmosphere.
0:44.5	Shot with a blend of digital and medium format film, the photographs carry the weight of silence,
0:49.8	the density of the heat, and the tension that lingers in places shaped by both natural beauty
0:55.9	and human struggle. You can feel the land breathing in these images, haunting, reverent, and
1:03.4	unflinchingly intimate. But what makes trembling earth resonate so deeply is David's willingness
1:10.2	to confront what lies beneath the surface,
1:13.5	not just the swamp, but in his own story. He approaches the region with both love and
1:19.9	reckoning, creating a visual record that asks us to consider what it means, to return,
1:26.1	to question, and to see familiar places with you eyes.
1:31.2	This is IbarianX and welcome back to the Candid Frame.
1:40.0	All right with David, welcome, welcome to the Candid Frame and good to see you again.
1:49.0	Pleasure. Thanks for having me on.
1:51.6	As you mentioned before, I met you back in when I attended four by five Photo Fest.
1:56.1	I don't even know how many years ago that was.
1:59.5	Many.
2:00.4	But I really enjoyed the experience i had i had down
2:03.7	there and i just met some you know met some very talented photographers you know it's good to get out of
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ibarionex R. Perello, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Ibarionex R. Perello and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.