Darwin Wiggett & Samantha Chrysanthou - The League of Landscape Photographers

Episode 042 of F-Stop Collaborate and Listen with Alberta Canada-based landscape photographers Darwin Wiggett and Samantha Chrysanthou! I have been really getting into the message that both Darwin and Samantha have been spreading through their photography and efforts with The League magazine relating to ethics in the field. The topic has come up frequently on the podcast and I really wanted to get them on the show to dive deeper into the topic and feel out their perspective.

Samantha and Darwin are the founders and creators of oopoomoo have collectively been involved in photography education for over thirty years. In 2012 the two decided to join forces and meet a glaring need in the photo industry – to create a photography site that teaches original creative expression within a larger framework of what it means to be creative in today’s world. They called this website oopoomoo. According to Sam and Darwin, “we live in a time of unbridled consumption with far-reaching impacts on the planet, our fellow species and our children’s lives. Living the oopoomoo life means pursuing our unique, creative gifts with an awareness of the fact that we all live within a precious and fragile larger community”. As an offshoot of the oopoomoo philosophy Sam and Darwin have created a print outlet for artistic and ethically captured landscape photography called League Magazine which promotes excellence in photography and a love of nature as an ethical value. On both oopoomoo and in League, Sam and Darwin feature the stories and images of photographers who undergo the daily heroics necessary to live their best creative and ethical life. Sam and Darwin have received rave reviews for their fun and informative photo seminars, eBooks and eCourses on living the creative life in photography.

We covered some great topics this week, including:

• Samantha and Darwin's journey into landscape photography and oopoomoo
• Ethics in nature photography
• The League Magazine - its purpose and inspiration
• The tension between various ethical principles
• Creating images that start conversations

Special announcements: Please consider supporting the podcast on Patreon! Let’s keep the conversations going! I recently set a goal of $1,000 in monthly contributions which I will use to seed a $1,000 landscape conversation award. This will only be possible if people contribute on Patreon!

Additionally, we have collaborated with The League Magazine. 

$50 supporters of the podcast on Patreon will get you a free subscription to The League if you sign up on Patreon between now and the end of February, 2018. The League subscription would normally cost you $50, so basically you are getting it for free while supporting the podcast!

Supporters already at the $50 level will get the subscription too!

League is an annual collectors’ compendium of unique, thoughtful photographic art comprised primarily of work from the League of Landscape Photographers. Two key principles underpin the publication: contributors espouse a mindful, ethical code of behavior in creating photographic work; and contributors wrestle with or promote dialogue about contemporary issues facing humans and the landscape.

Lastly, I am happy to announce that I'm now a Formatt-Hitech filter ambassador. Listeners to the podcast get 10% off their order if they use the code "PAYNE10" - thanks for supporting the podcast!

To learn more about Samantha and Darwin:

Website

Facebook

Here is the artist that they would like to hear on the podcast:

Freeman Patterson

Some examples of their photography can be seen below. 

I love hearing from the podcast listeners! Reach out to me via email, Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter if you'd like to be on the podcast or if you have an idea of a topic we can talk about. You can also join the conversation on our Facebook Group or on Reddit!