Instant Connections: Essays and Interviews on Photography

Instant Connections, by writer, photography collector and Panopticon Gallery owner Jason Landry, intertwines essays, interviews, quotes and autobiographical stories around the central theme of photography. Secondary themes in the book have to do with the idea of making connections, having mentors and building your personal network. It features interviews with such artist as Vik Muniz, Leonard Nimoy, William Wegman and Harold Feinstein, and quotes from such artists and collectors as Chuck Close and W.M. Hunt. The essays are meant to inspire, motivate and educate--some are informative and critical, while others contain humorous and quirky anecdotes. The tone of the book is comparable to Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential--instead of talking about food and the cooking industry, Instant Connections caters to the fine art photography world. This is not a critical theory primer in the likes of Roland Barthes and Susan Sontag, rather the author has injected his own contemporary twist to everything.