Got Punctum?Trailer

This is Got Punctum? a podcast exploring the creative practice of contemporary photographers and the bookmaking process coming to you from my Somerville Massachusetts studio. I am J. Sybylla Smith, the creator and host of Got Punctum?. I describe myself as a visual activist because I believe in the power of the photograph to impact individual lives and to be an impetus for positive collective change.

My education and professional experience is layered with multiple roles in seemingly unrelated fields, social work, fashion, design, and photography. The common denominator, which links these fields together is my passion, the exploration to uncover and understand the relationship between meaning self-expression and culture. As a curator consultant and educator for over the past decade, my work is to illuminate, elevate and amplify contemporary photography.

To participate in a global visual culture conversation. I created a concept development curriculum called Concept Aware to demystify and activate the moving parts of creating visual imagery. So what's, punctum? It's a Latin word coined by Roland Barthes, a French philosopher, as he grappled with how to describe the emotional impact of an image. To paraphrase him, punctum is that which springs from the image to pierce the viewer's heart.

In my words, it is the wordless exchange of emotion embedded in an impactful image. My premise is that there is a circular relationship between engaging in one's enthusiasm while making an image and the punctum that is inherent in the image. This podcast explores the intentions, ideas, challenges, and resources of individual artists.

We also include voices of publishers, curators, and academics, all the people who are part of the dynamic visual culture conversations. It is a global exchange conducted in the language of photography. Welcome.