Ed Panar

About Episode 88

In this episode of PhotoWork with Sasha Wolf, Sasha is joined by photographer, publisher, and educator, Ed Panar. They delve into “Winter Nights, Walking” (Spaces Corners), a nightly walk through his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the cold winter months shot over a 10 year period. Ed also describes the evolution of his process as the photo industry moved from the film era to the digital era and how that affected his work. Ed and Sasha discuss their optimistic views of our very connected photo community and how Ed and Melissa Catanese helped grow that community with their imprint and former community space, Spaces Corners.

About Ed Panar

Ed Panar is a photographer and bookmaker whose interest in photography started in high school as an amateur, photographing his everyday surroundings, friends and acquaintances. Meditating on the contrast between reality and photography has been a source of fascination for him ever since. Being a non-driver, his work is largely focused on exploring the places he’s lived and their immediate surroundings by walking, bicycling, and public transportation. His published monographs include: “Winter Nights, Walking” (2023), “In the Vicinity” (2018), “Animals That Saw Me: Volume One” and “Volume Two” (2011 and 2016), “Salad Days” (2012), “Same Difference” (2010), and “Golden Palms” (2007) He is the recipient of a 2007 Artist Fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts and in 2022 he received a Creative Development Award from The Heinz Endowments and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Panar’s work has been exhibited widely including venues such as Pier 24 Photography, San Francisco and Kasseler Kunstverein in Kassel, Germany. Ed is co-founder of the project space Spaces Corners and currently lives and works between Johnstown and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Which book that you have been involved with is one you continue to revisit?

In 2015 we published a small book called A People’s History of Pittsburgh, which was supported by the Carnegie Museum of Art through the Hillman Photography Initiative. Over the course of one year we invited the public to share their personal and family photographs which we collected digitally and also in person through scanning events at the museum where visitors could bring in old photographs to digitize. Despite the year-long process and the community’s sharing of over 1000 photographs, it felt like just a tiny glimpse of the kind of collective visual evidence of life in the city as recorded by its own residents. The fact of how any city or town is always already recording its own history through the everyday photography of its residents is a wonderful and humbling fact to reflect upon for anyone who is interested in the photography of place.

What advice do you have for emerging photographers / artists?

Making work is an ongoing feedback loop of discovery and decision making that is a ponderous blend of intuition, accident, and deliberate action. Regular reflection and review is an essential part of the equation. Question everything regularly, especially any and all default settings. Don’t be afraid to make work on its own terms and be sure to have some fun along the way. Always strive to be better, and never give up!

Is there a book that has influenced you in your career?

The 544 page catalog for the exhibition “How You Look At It” (published in 2000 by DAP) included over 400 photographs alongside several insightful and illuminating essays that made that volume an essential early education in photography for me. Although I never saw the exhibition itself, I learned so much from that book and found a kind of kinship with a certain history of photography that I was mostly unaware of at the time. Its discovery was the beginning of a deeper understanding and appreciation for the kind of photography that I was drawn to and interested in myself and most certainly helped me find my footing along the way, so thank you to Thomas Weski and all who were involved!

Artist Links:

Website
Instagram

People & Resources:

Christopher McCall, Chad Hurley, Todd Hido, Melissa Catanese, Lauren Knobloch, Paul Graham, Spaces Corners, Jason Fulford, Alfred Stieglitz, Stephen Shore

Winter Nights, Walking

In the Vicinity

Animals That Saw Me: Vol. II