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PhotoWork with Sasha WolfA Photography & Visual Arts Podcast Author: Sasha Wolf / Real Photo Show
From the PhotoWork Foundation, the PhotoWork Podcast, hosted by Sasha Wolf, is a leading photography podcast featuring in-depth interviews with photographers, curators, publishers, and other influential figures in the fine art photography world. Each episode explores contemporary and post-documentary photography, photobooks, and the artistic process, offering insight, inspiration, and education for photographers, photography students, and creative professionals. The PhotoWork Foundation supports the development and education of post-documentary photographers and cultivates an engaged audience for their work. Through its programs, the Foundation highlights photography that is often not commercially viable but essential for understanding contemporary society and visual storytelling. For more episodes, show notes, and resources for photographers, visit www.photowork.foundation and follow us on Instagram @photowork.foundation. Language: en Genres: Arts, Visual Arts Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Nelson Chan - Episode 103
Friday, 12 December, 2025
In this episode of PhotoWork with Sasha Wolf, Sasha is joined by photographer, publisher, editor, and educator Nelson Chan. Together, they trace the winding path that led Nelson to his dream job as a professor at the Rhode Island School of Design. Along the way, Nelson reflects on the “guardian angels” who helped him stay the course, the openness that allowed unexpected opportunities to shape his trajectory, and the community of friends and collaborators who eventually inspired the founding of TIS Books. Sasha and Nelson also talk about the value of building connections, putting yourself out there, and treating your career as a marathon rather than a sprint. https://www.nelsonchanphotography.com/ https://www.tisbooks.pub/ Nelson Chan was born in New Jersey to immigrant parents from Hong Kong and Taiwan and has spent most of his life between the States and Hong Kong. Having grown up between two continents, this immigrant experience influences the majority of his work. Nelson received his BFA and MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and the Hartford Art School, respectively. He has been exhibited nationally and internationally at institutions such as the Museum of Chinese in America, New York, NY; Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, MA; The Print Center, Philadelphia, PA; Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany; and 798 Space, Beijing, China. His books are collected in the institutional libraries of The MET, The Guggenheim, SEMOMA, The Whitney Museum, The Harry Ransom Center, and MoMA, among others. Along with his own photographic work, book publishing and education are extensions of, what Nelson refers to as, an industrious studio practice. He is co-founder of TIS books, an independent art book publisher and was production manager at the Aperture Foundation from 2016-19. In 2025, Nelson was awarded tenure at California College of the Arts but ultimately left the Bay Area to teach at the Rhode Island School of Design as an associate professor of photography.
