Geoffrey Batchen shares his passion of photography through words: he reflects on and writes about photographs. A leading figure in the field of photographic studies, Batchen has written numerous books, including Each Wild Idea and Forget Me Not, as well as curated many exhibits. Currently a professor at Victoria University of Wellington, in New Zealand, and graciously took time to answer a few questions about his interactions and thoughts concerning vernacular photography.

Since Arno Raphael Minkkinen’s work is of such a corporal nature, I was delighted but not entirely surprised when I noticed the relationship between each of our initials. This quirky connection makes for a fun title, but doesn’t accurately represent the following interview. On yet another cold day, this time in Paris, four people met in a café to discuss Arno’s work: Arno, his colleague Kimmo Koskela, RD and myself (Liv Edwards Gudmundson). In this follow-up interview, we spoke of their collaborative film project, of breaking records and of Arno’s recent work in China.

During her Masters work in Costa Rica, Morea Steinhauer started contemplating the wide range of photographic applications, which inspired her to create and lead fascinating photography workshops with Columbian refugees in Latin America. Her effervescent personality lights up a room and hearing of her meaningful projects reminds us of the exciting impacts photography can have in people’s lives. Below, she discusses her experiences as a mentor in these programs, as well as their influence on her own photography.

In retrospect, I can say that all my interactions with the island country of Iceland have in some way or another been facilitated by Gudmundur Ingolfsson. Knowing him first through his photographic exchange with my father, Wayne Gudmundson, allowed me to witness his penchant for jokes and storytelling, be amazed at his encyclopedic mind, and get to know Iceland in a more profound way, but looking into his photographic career, which spans some 40 years, offered a new perspective on his artistically rich life. Beginning as a student of Otto Steinert at the Folkwang College of Arts, Guðmundur went on to work commercially through his studio IMYND (image in Icelandic) and has specialized in culinary, architectural, and artistic performance photography, besides his personal work. Below we speak of the mix between commercial and personal, his photographic beginnings, and a look at photography in Iceland, all while visually showcasing Guðmundur’s personal work.

After many conversations, artistic and non, I’ve had the great pleasure of becoming friends with and getting to know the photography Rachael Woodson more intimately. I met Rachael shortly after her move to Paris, from New York and since then, her work has appeared in the magazine Nylon and she has exhibited at Révélation 4 in Paris, during summer, 2010.

A self-described “photo activist” Saiful grew up in Bangladesh, surrounded by political activists and now uses his camera to tell stories. Recently, his work was on display as part of the Cambodia’s Angkor Photo Fesital, 2010. With much reflection and candor, Saiful Hug Omi, shares with us his words and images from the series “Hereos Never Die.”

Native Scotsman and resident Coloradoan, Roddy MacInnes approaches his photography with much reflection and the effervescence of a person true passionate about photography. Roddy expresses this passion here as he discusses his unique take on vernacular photography (the everyday images, usually not destined to be “fine art”) and his experience with photography autobiography.

Berlin is a visual haven for graffiti lovers. Colorful tags, stenciling and murals decorate the city’s walls, pavement and signs. As Tristan Siegmann shows through his photography, however, these artistic urban touches also represent significant social changes. We met with the photographer on the eve of an artistic residency and the exhibit: “Berlin: Places, Traces and Borders” in Nantes, from Oct. 13-24, 2010.

Nick Veasey makes powerful images thanks to a process far from traditional photography: the x-ray. This English artist presents fascinating and unique photographs, in the sense that an image appears on a light-sensitive negative. For many years, he has used this particular technique to make “alternative” images for advertisements, nonetheless, he continues to passionately explore more personal themes and subjects that intrigue him.

From June 11 to July 11, South Africa will welcome the 19th Football World Cup and its accompanying mass media scrum. It promises to be a curious encounter which could turn out to be astonishing and even explosive… Others are using the football event to discretely bring about support and motivation for street kids. This is what four non-governmental organizations from England, Macedonia, Brazil and Kenya are doing. The German photographer Christine Fenzl shadowed them in 2005 and 2006, as part of her continuing photographic interest in childhood and adolescence as experienced in different world cities.