Todd Hido

About Episode 81

In this episode of PhotoWork with Sasha Wolf, Sasha interviews photographer Todd Hido about his latest book, “The End Sends Advance Warning,” published by Nazraeli Press. They explore how the book defies its title, focusing instead on themes of hope and beauty. Additionally, they discuss the creation of Todd’s recent survey show at Casemore Gallery, which is the most extensive presentation of his work to date. Despite being a returning guest, Todd shares fresh insights about his mentors and his deep passion for photography, and he announces a new book towards the end of the episode.

About Todd Hido

Todd Hido (born in Kent, Ohio, 1968) wanders endlessly, taking lengthy road trips in search of imagery that connects with his own memories. Through his unique landscape process and signature color palette, Hido alludes to the quiet and mysterious side of suburban America—where uniform communities provide for a stable façade—implying the instability that often lies behind the walls.

His photographs are in over 50 private and public collections around the world, including the Getty, Whitney Museum of American Art, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Pier 24 Photography holds the archive of all of his published works. Hido has published more than a dozen books, including the award-winning monographs House Hunting(2001) and Excerpts from Silver Meadows (2013). His Aperture titles include Todd Hido on Landscapes, Interiors, and the Nude (2014) and Intimate Distance: Twenty-Five Years of Photographs (2016).

He returned to the cinematic landscape photography that he first explored with Roaming (2003) with Bright Black World(2018), and followed it up with The End Sends Advance Warning (2024). Hido is also an avid photobook collector, and in the last 30 years has created a notable collection of over 8,500 titles.

His work has influenced multiple Hollywood productions, such as Spike Jones’s Her, Sam Levinson’s Euphoria, Issa López’s True Detective: Night Country, and the upcoming directorial project by Jason Momoa, Chief of War. He is also one of the subjects of Momoa’s documentary project on creative makers, On The Roam.

What advice do you have for emerging photographers?

“The best advice I would have for emerging photographers is something that I hear often echoed by my long time friend and advocate of the medium that we all love, the curator Chris McCall from Pier 24–go to things, go see exhibitions, go to book fairs, look at as much as you possibly can, and I’m not talking about on your phone or on the computer—go to openings! Once you’re there say hello to people, introduce yourself, let people know when you like something.”

“Basically—show up and absorb the things that you find interesting.”

Is there a specific show that has influenced you in your career ?

One of the most consequential shows for me that I ever saw was the Pleasures and Terrors of Domestic Comfort at the Museum at MoMA, NY in 1991.

It was curated by Peter Galassi. It was at that exhibition where I discovered that there were a whole world of people photographing not just the usual timeless, beautiful, and sometimes impossible to reach moments of familial relations—but the selection focused on the hard stuff, the messy part, and that was an eye-opener for me that one could perhaps work that out by making pictures of it.