Seeing Being Seen: A Personal History of Photography. Cover Photo © Will Wilson
Michelle Dunn Marsh, one of photography's foremost champions speaks with Humble's Jon Feinstein on her new book, her love for the medium and its makers, and why visual literacy is more important now than ever before.
I first met Michelle Dunn Marsh at a random Chelsea coffee shop in NYC around 2008 when she was Aperture Foundation’s deputy director, and co-publisher of Aperture magazine. Humble's co-founder Amani Olu and I, a year into launching our platform, were Wayne's World "we're not worthy"-ing our luck in landing a meeting with her to discuss a potential collaboration. Dunn Marsh was direct, immediately inspiring, and encouraging, and made a significant mark on many aspects of Humble's vision in the years that followed.
Fast forward to 2013 and a move to Seattle. I was lucky to collaborate on many projects with her at Photographic Center Northwest, where she served as Executive Director through 2019. Michelle brings a critical and empathetic eye to photography, and her multi-decade support of its practitioners is nearly unrivaled.
Michelle's soon-to-be-published memoir Seeing Being Seen (Minor Matters Books) chronicles her life and work as a book designer, cultural producer, and publisher. Warm personal anecdotes about her experiences in the industry and working with some of photography's late and living legends direct the narrative. Punctuated by portraits of her by Stephen Shore, Larry Fink, Sylvia Plachy, Will Wilson, and Adrain Chesser, and work from her covetable, personal photography (and vintage car!) collection, it's a glimpse of her life and career over the past 25+ years.
With a few weeks until the April 1st, 2021 deadline to achieve the book's presale goal, Dunn Marsh and I caught up to dive into the book, her life, our shared passion for photography, and kinship as fellow Bard College alums.
Jon Feinstein in conversation with Michelle Dunn Marsh
