Interview with Brian Taylor

I finished college when I was 20 at UCSD and then I went to Stanford for a Masters in Education. I studied with the lovable Leo Holub, Stanford’s first photo teacher, and founder of their photo program. He had a great respect for Oliver (Gagliani) and was a real kindred spirit. I had the great opportunity of being able to teach my first photo class there, during summer school. I was invited to be their first MFA in photography. It would have been tempting to stay on at Stanford for another degree, but I was fortunate enough to get accepted into the University of New Mexico, where I could study the history of photography with the venerable Beaumont Newhall. Van Deren Coke founded the program after being the director of the George Eastman House. When I went to New Mexico they were very avant-garde; Tom Barrow was scratching his negatives, which was unthinkable in traditional photography. The teacher I loved the most was Betty Hahn, who Coke brought in for a handmade aesthetic. Through her, I learned the non-silver processes that are so dear to me now. She taught me gum bichromate and cyanotype printing. Betty redirected me from Oliver’s traditional Minor White, Zone System aesthetic towards a freer, more-liberated, anything-goes aesthetic.

An excerpt of Brian Taylor’s Interview with Jim Kasson of the Center for Photographic Arts in Carmel. Read more of the interview HERE