The Urbanaut Podcast

🎙️ Welcome to Ep. #72 of The Urbanaut Podcast presented in collaboration with @Urbanautica. In this unforgettable conversation, we’re joined by Italian photographer Valerio Geraci, whose work straddles the poetic and the documentary, weaving themes of identity, memory, and place.

About Our Guest: Valerio Geraci
Born in Palermo and based in Paris, Valerio Geraci left behind a legal career to pursue a lifelong passion for photography. His acclaimed body of work includes “American Eden”, a long-term exploration of American landscapes shaped by childhood nostalgia, and “Little Italy”, an ongoing project tracing forgotten Italian stories across rural America. His photography blends technical mastery with deep narrative insight, and his images have been exhibited internationally and featured in publications such as Vogue France, Monocle, and AD Magazine. He is also a faculty member at the Paris College of Art.

Tune in to this episode to:

- Hear how a book — “East of Eden” — changed Valerio’s life trajectory.
- Explore the making of “American Eden” and the cultural weight of nostalgia.
- Discover the hidden histories behind “Little Italy” and the Italian diaspora in America.
- Reflect on the tension between freedom and responsibility in creative work.

Don’t forget to:
- Subscribe to our channel for more in-depth artist interviews.
- Like and share to support independent photography and storytelling.
- Follow us on socials for updates and behind-the-scenes content.

EPISODE LINKS:

Valerio's Website: www.valeriogeraci.com | Valerio’s Instagram: @valeriogeraci

OUTLINE:

0:00 - Coming Up..
1:58 - Opening & Meeting at Paris Foto  
3:50 - From Palermo to Paris: Valerio’s Background  
4:56 - The Shift from Law to Photography  
8:23 - Influences: Robert Capa, Cuba, and Timshel  
14:32 - Family Support & Decision to Move to Paris  
19:06 - Starting Out as a Photographer  
22:12 - Craft, Discipline & Finding a Visual Voice  
27:17 - Childhood Fascination with America  
32:29 - American Eden: Origins and Meaning  
40:50 - Photography Style: Interiors, Landscapes & Light  
51:56 - “Your Camera is Your Passport”  
1:01:19 - Meeting James: A Friendship in Nebraska  
1:13:45 - Why Nebraska? Love for the American Midwest  
1:20:56 - Little Italy: Discovering Italian Legacies in the U.S.  
1:32:13 - Cemeteries, Stories & Cultural Echoes  
1:43:36 - Macaroni Line, Alamo, and Future of the Project  

SOCIAL:

 Twitter: /UrbanautPodcast
 Facebook: /TheUrbanautPodcast
 Instagram: /TheUrbanautPodcast
 Support on Patreon: /TheUrbanautPodcast

#ValerioGeraci #TheUrbanautPodcast #Photography #AmericanEden #LittleItaly #ItalianDiaspora #DocumentaryPhotography #ArtisticAwakening #VisualStorytelling #urbanautica #stevebisson #PatrickLeeHubbard

🎙️ Welcome to Ep. #71 of The Urbanaut Podcast, presented in collaboration with Urbanautica.com. In this compelling episode, we welcome Canadian photographer and educator Kate Schneider, whose emotionally resonant work explores the deep ties between land, memory, and identity. From the protest camps of the American Midwest to intimate still lifes of ancient rocks, Kate’s evolving visual language challenges traditional documentary practice and embraces poetic, sensory experience.

About Our Guest: Kate Schneider
Kate Schneider is an artist of settler ancestry living in Tkaronto (Toronto), deeply rooted in the ecology and history of the Great Lakes region. With a background in both photojournalism and fine art, her practice traverses multiple disciplines, from long-form documentary to deeply personal and experimental photographic works. Kate's recent series—How to Understand a Rock, We, the Heartland, and Landscapes of Resistance—meditate on protest, place, and the unspoken emotional geographies that shape our relationships with the non-human world. Her work has been widely exhibited across North America and published internationally. She also teaches photography at OCAD University in Toronto.

Tune in to this episode to:
Discover how neurodivergence shaped Kate’s entry into photography and her pursuit of mindfulness through image-making.
Explore the intersection of activism and artistic ethics through her documentation of the Keystone XL pipeline and Standing Rock protests.
Learn how a transition from traditional documentary led Kate to create more introspective, poetic works involving geology, animacy, and memory.
Understand her personal connection to land, and why questions of “home” and “belonging” are central to her creative inquiry.

EPISODE LINKS:
Kate’s Website: www.kateschneider.net
Kate’s Instagram: @kateschneider

OUTLINE:
0:00 – Coming Up…
2:18 – Welcome and Personal Roots
6:48 – Photography as Neurodivergent Expression
12:45 – Education and Early Influences
18:33 – Art vs. Journalism Identity Struggles
26:49 – Land, Identity, and Emotional Geography
34:18 – Conceptual Foundations and Motivations
43:10 – Pipeline Resistance: We, the Heartland
49:49 – Protest Camps and Landscapes of Resistance
57:00 – Existential Crisis and Activist Ethics
1:09:27 – Visualizing Home and Temporary Structures
1:18:45 – Post-2017 Artistic Recalibration
1:23:04 – Geology, Objects, and Intimacy
1:32:20 – Photography as Visual Poetics
1:38:18 – Artistic Legacy and Personal Growth
2:02:18 – Closing Reflections and Looking Ahead

SOCIAL:
 Twitter: /UrbanautPodcast
 Facebook: /TheUrbanautPodcast
 Instagram: /TheUrbanautPodcast
 Support on Patreon: /TheUrbanautPodcast

#KateSchneider #TheUrbanautPodcast #Photography #EnvironmentalArt #Geopoetics #ActivismThroughArt #NeurodivergentCreativity #ContemporaryPhotography #ArtandEcology #VisualPoetics #urbanautica #stevebisson #PatrickLeeHubbard

🎙️ Welcome to Ep. #70 of The Urbanaut Podcast, presented in collaboration with Urbanautica.com. In this compelling episode, we journey into the richly layered world of Iranian artist-photographer Alireza Malekian. From early experiments in visual communication to his long-term project Defamiliarizing Iran, Alireza invites us to question what a photograph can be—and how it shapes, and is shaped by, the landscapes and cultures it captures.

About Our Guest: Alireza Malekian
Born in Mashhad, Iran, and based in Tehran, Alireza Malekian is a visual artist, researcher, and writer whose work interrogates the intersection of urban environment, cultural identity, and photographic language. A graduate in Illustration with deep roots in graphic design and poetry, Alireza has become known for his conceptual approach to photography—merging experimental technique with documentary intention. His work explores the psychological and political layers of place, often transforming everyday cityscapes into complex visual inquiries. Through projects like Defamiliarizing Iranand Phantom Tehran, he challenges both Western perceptions and internal cultural clichés.

Tune in to this episode to:
- Explore how personal history, displacement, and memory influence visual storytelling.
- Learn about Defamiliarizing Iran, a powerful long-term series that blends manipulation, ambiguity, and visual sequencing.
- Discover how photography can become a tool for both civic engagement and existential reflection.
- Understand Alireza’s deep commitment to honesty, representation, and the evolving role of the artist.

EPISODE LINKS:
Alireza’s Website: www.alirezamalekian.com | Instagram: @alireza.malekian

CHAPTERS
0:00 – Coming Up...
2:15 – Welcome & Recording from Iran
3:08 – Alireza’s Background and Artistic Roots
5:33 – Graphic Design, Poetry, and Early Experiments
7:04 – Why Photography Became His Medium
10:10 – Photography as a Way to Explore Urban Life
12:25 – Learning Through Books, Not Institutions
16:06 – Childhood, Memory, and Attraction to Landscapes
18:33 – Developing a Personal Voice and Artistic Questioning
22:22 – Challenging Stereotypes and Defamiliarizing Iran
25:55 – Artistic Influences: Persian Miniatures to Kiarostami
30:23 – Creating Early Series and Methodical Approaches
38:00 – Photography as a Tool for Belonging
40:41 – The Philosophy and Process Behind Defamiliarizing Iran
52:12 – On Visual Ethics and Representing Truthfully
1:06:42 – Grief and Transformation in Bleed, Despair, Solas
1:16:27 – Long-term Narratives in As I Walked Within
1:24:45 – New Work: Phantom Tehran and Cultural Complexity
1:44:49 – Becoming Participant vs. Observer
1:53:24 – Advice on Artistic Growth and Taking Criticism

Don’t forget to:
- Subscribe for more deep dives into the world of photography and visual culture.
- Like this episode to support our mission of thoughtful art dialogue.
- Share with anyone passionate about photography, culture, or documentary work.

SOCIAL:
 Twitter: /UrbanautPodcast
 Facebook: /TheUrbanautPodcast
 Instagram: /TheUrbanautPodcast
 Support on Patreon: /TheUrbanautPodcast

#AlirezaMalekian #TheUrbanautPodcast #Photography #IranianArt #VisualCulture #DefamiliarizingIran #UrbanPhotography #ExpandedPhotography #ArtTheory #urbanautica #PatrickLeeHubbard #SteveBisson

🎙️ Welcome to Ep. #69 of The Urbanaut Podcast, presented in collaboration with Urbanautica.com. In this compelling episode, we sit down with German-American artist Gesche Würfel, whose interdisciplinary work spans photography, urban planning, and visual sociology. Her projects explore the architecture of memory, historical trauma, and environmental change through experimental, research-based image-making.

About Our Guest: Gesche Würfel
Gesche Würfel is a New York-based visual artist known for her analog and concept-driven photography that investigates the socio-political dimensions of space—whether in forests affected by climate change, architecture tied to slavery and Nazism, or the lingering divisions of post-Wall Berlin.
Her work has been exhibited at Tate Modern, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, David Zwirner, International Center of Photography, and many others. She's a recipient of grants from DAAD, the Puffin Foundation, and the North Carolina Arts Council, and her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, and WIRED.

In this episode, we discuss her major projects:
- Discover how Gesche Würfel retraced the full length of the Berlin Wall to explore the invisible psychological borders that still divide Germany.
- Learn how she uses fire, salt, and solarization to transform photographs into visceral reflections of climate change.
- Uncover the stories hidden in America’s neglected slave dwellings and what their preservation—or erasure—says about historical memory.
- Explore how architecture becomes a tool of oppression, remembrance, and resistance in Gesche’s research-driven visual practice.

Tune in to this episode to:
- Explore how photography can serve as visual historiography and socio-political critique
- Learn how analog image-making and material experimentation can reflect environmental collapse
- Hear how oral histories, archives, and landscapes intersect in the retelling of German and American histories
- Gain insight into the emotional and ethical layers of documenting sites of trauma and transformation

EPISODE LINKS
Gesche’s Website: https://geschewuerfel.com | Instagram: @gewuerfel
Support the Book on Kickstarter: The Absence and Presence of the Berlin Wall

OUTLINE:
0:00 - Coming Up…
0:44 – Welcome & Introductions
1:30 – Gesche’s Journey: From Urban Planning to Visual Art
5:38 – Photography, Place, and the Traces of Human Presence
11:25 – Global Sameness and the Architecture of Identity
15:53 – Influences, Intuition, and Experimental Process
24:32 – Forests in the Anthropocene: Climate, Material, and Metaphor
37:23 – Architecture of Oppression: From Nazi Camps to Slave Dwellings
51:45 – Berlin Wall Project: Absence, Memory, and Reunification
1:18:50 – Portraits and Oral Histories: Telling a Fuller Story
1:25:10 – The Book: Vision, Kickstarter, and Teamwork
1:36:11 – Advice for Artists: Trusting Intuition and Long-Term Thinking
1:39:11 – Closing Thoughts and Where to Find Gesche’s Work

SOCIAL:
 Twitter: /UrbanautPodcast
 Facebook: /TheUrbanautPodcast
 Instagram: /TheUrbanautPodcast
 Support on Patreon: /TheUrbanautPodcast

#GescheWürfel #TheUrbanautPodcast #BerlinWall #ClimateChangeArt #ExperimentalPhotography #SociopoliticalArt #SlaveDwellings #HolocaustMemory #PostWallGermany #Urbanautica #PhotographyPodcast #ContemporaryPhotography #ArtAndActivism #VisualSociology #PatrickLeeHubbard #SteveBisson

Welcome to Ep. #68 of The Urbanaut Podcast, presented in collaboration with Urbanautica.com. In this thought-provoking episode, we sit down with the creative duo Camilla Marrese and Gabriele Chiapparini—two artists whose collaborative work challenges conventions in photography, publishing, and storytelling. Known for their poetic book "Thinking Like an Island", the pair explore how photography can be both an act of discovery and a deeply personal narrative. About Our Guests: Camilla Marrese & Gabriele Chiapparini Camilla is a photographer, graphic designer, and visual editor at PHMuseum, known for her meticulous approach to photo book design and her narrative sensibility. Gabriele began his artistic path through music before turning to photography, bringing with him a deep sensitivity to sequencing and atmosphere. Together, they’ve formed a creative practice that blurs authorship and embraces intuition, experimentation, and deep research.Their acclaimed project "Thinking Like an Island"—shot on the remote Sicilian island of Alicudi—is a lyrical meditation on isolation, perception, and the desire to escape. The book, structured as four interlocking volumes, reflects both the physical disorientation of island life and the conceptual fragmentation of modern existence.Tune in to this episode to:- Hear the story of how Camilla and Gabriele met, merged practices, and developed their first collaborative projects.- Explore how photography and music intersect through rhythm, tone, and emotional pacing.- Discover the conceptual and logistical challenges behind their book "Thinking Like an Island".- Learn how photobooks become tactile, multi-sensory works of art.- Get an exclusive preview of their upcoming projects on climate science and militarized aesthetics. Don’t forget to: - Subscribe to our channel for deep dives into photography and visual storytelling. - Like and share this episode to support independent photographic voices. - Follow us for behind-the-scenes updates, interviews, and upcoming features.EPISODE LINKS:Camilla’s Instagram: @camillamarrese Gabriele’s Instagram: @gabrielechiappariniPHMuseum: phmuseum.comOUTLINE:
0:00 - Coming Up...
2:36 - Intro
4:14 - Artistic Roots and Emotional Entry Points
8:09 - First Projects and Formative Experiments
9:44 - Becoming a Duo: Morocco and Merging Visions
12:34 - Melancholy and Mutual Fascination
15:18 - Sequencing Photos Like Music
20:21 - Albums vs. Singles: Why Photobooks Matter
22:46 - Inspirations from Literature and Photography
28:51 - What Makes a Great Photobook?
35:34 - Thinking Like an Island: Utopia, Escape, and Modern Myth
41:25 - Discovering Alicudi and Island as Concept
47:21 - Designing a Disorienting Book Structure
54:13 - Shooting in All Directions: Techniques and Tools
1:01:17 - Themes of Hiding, Camouflage, and Elusive Truths
1:03:09 - Layering Voices: Diaries and Islander Quotes
1:07:37 - Living on the Island: Terrain, Limitations, Time
1:14:01 - What the Island Taught Us About Reality
1:16:57 - Ethics of Representation and Local Reception
1:19:49 - Imagining an Exhibition of “The Island”
1:21:18 - Sneak Peek: Climate and Military-Inspired Projects
1:27:23 - Science as Ritual and Intimate Uncertainty
1:29:51 - Collaborating as a Duo: Contrast and TrustSOCIAL: Twitter: /UrbanautPodcast Facebook: /TheUrbanautPodcast Instagram: /TheUrbanautPodcast Support on Patreon: /TheUrbanautPodcastTAGS: #TheUrbanautPodcast #CamillaMarrese #GabrieleChiapparini #TheIsland #PhotobookDesign #PhotographyPodcast #ContemporaryPhotography #Alicudi #VisualNarrative #ClimateArt #CollaborativeArt #PhotobookLove #Urbanautica #SteveBisson #PatrickLeeHubbard