Light, Photography, & Magic — An Intimate Conversation with Three Nat Geo Photographers and One Magician
A free event with me, Paolo Verzone, Ismail Ferdous, and magician Shane Cobalt, at Picto, Brooklyn.
Welcome to In the Flash, a weekly, behind-the-lens dialogue on photography. To join the conversation.
What do photography and magic have in common? Come and find out on February 6th at Picto, Brooklyn. Three photographers and one magician will discuss the uncanny parallels between the two arts.
Paolo Verzone and Ismail Ferdous are two of the most incredible photographers working today. They are experts of documentary storytelling and manipulating light.The three of us will delve int our creative processes and discuss how the use of light in our work helps to transform the environment, bringing a sense of magic to the images. We will show photos, ask each other questions, and invite discussion from the audience. And to add a very unique perspective, professional magician Shane Cobalt (who is also on Substack) will offer insights into his practice and the secretive world of magic.
A few of the topics we’ll be discussing as having parallels in both photography and magic are storytelling, timing, emotion, creativity, and perspective.
The talk is free and open to the public (with RSVP), and is sponsored by Picto and Scuola della Luce.
The sitting is limited so please RSVP to attend.
https://www.scuoladellaluce.com/
February 6, 2025, 6PM
Picto New York
77 Washington Ave, 3rd floor
Brooklyn, NY 11205
Shane and I met in 2022, when he was representing Canada in close-up card magic at the World Championship of Magic, and I was photographing the event, known as FISM, for National Geographic. This was my first exposure to the world of magic and magicians. What led me to Shane was a question I was asking everyone at the convention: “Who is the best sleight-of-hand artist at FISM?” The one name that kept coming up was Shane Cobalt, but with a caveat. “He won’t talk to you,” I was told. “He is kind of an asshole.”
When we did finally meet, I realized that what made some people mistake Shane for an asshole were his perfectionist tendencies coupled with a famed intolerance for bad magic practices. His self-made t-shirt proclaiming, “Do Better Magic,” could have also had something to do with it. But since I have a weakness for off-the-charts geekiness, we hit it off from the start.
Two and a half years later, Shane and I have been exchanging ideas and techniques in both magic and photography. He has helped me reframe my practice by building me a “magic kit” for portraits that allows me to make all kinds of special effects in camera and manipulate light. He has also assisted me on my portrait shoots by showing magic to my subjects. The results have been incredible. I discovered that magic obliterates a psychological wall between the subject and the photographer, lowering the former’s defenses and introducing a moment of joy and intimacy that is impossible to replicate otherwise.
I will be showing a few of these portraits at Picto.
If you can’t make it on February 6th, I’ll be touching on the interconnection of magic & photography in a future newsletter.
In the meantime, Shane has joined Substack with a newsletter dedicated to the pop culture of magic that’s meant for anyone interested in the art. It’s called, Chasing Dovetails.
Shane’s first post is a fascinating story about the origin of the title.
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This event sounds awesome 👌 shame in in the UK. Will you be sharing anything of the evening like a video version?
Sounds like it will be a fascinating event! Very cool. When we find like-minded people to share time with, it’s such a joyful experience. More terrific photos too. Thanks and all the best.