Matt talks with psychologist Zahra Ciardi, founder of Ascendant Bali, to explore the inner life of the creative person: why so many photographers feel their work isn't truly theirs, the limiting beliefs that keep artists stuck, and how to put your work into the world without being ruled by validation.

By the end of this episode you'll understand why your photography stops feeling like yours, and what it takes to create from your true self instead of your need to be seen.

Zahra works in trauma recovery and peak performance, and she breaks down the psychology of high achievers, the anatomy of avoidance, the inner critic, and how childhood shapes the way we create as adults.

Other things discussed:

• The "bus" model of the self and why the inner critic ends up driving
• Highly sensitive people and why creatives feel everything so intensely
• Over-diagnosis, self-diagnosis, and the bigger problem of under-treatment
• Self-neutrality as the realistic first step before self-love
• Graded exposure for photographers afraid to share their work
• Using social media intentionally instead of being used by it
• Whether healing costs you your creative edge
• How childhood memory is stored in the body, not just the mind
• The single values exercise Zahra says works every time

Zahra's links:
www.ascendantbali.com
www.zahraciardi.com
https://www.instagram.com/zahra_ciardi/

____________________

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Thank you for listening and for being a part of this incredible community. You can listen and watch full extended and ad-free episodes in my community - The MOOD Insiders - where I also share insights, photography tips and behind-the-scenes content on my channel as well as meet with the community on book club weekly events, special guest features, bonus content, open forum access, free resources and so much more.

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Cristina Mittermeier is a National Geographic photographer, co-founder of SeaLegacy, and author of "Hope." Her work has been featured in National Geographic's series "Photographer" and in publications around the world. Cristinais the photographer who coined the term "conservation photography," co-founded SeaLegacy, and made the starving polar bear image seen by an estimated 2.5 billion people.

In this episode Matt and Cristina discuss how to find your photographic voice that actually means something, why a point of view separates an artist from a craftsman, and the one principle Cristina has built her life around: to show up.

- Join the Mood Insiders for ad-free extended episodes, monthly masterclasses, the weekly book club, and much more (link in notes below) -

Other things you will take away from this episode:

• The "glorious amateur" and why expertise is not a prerequisite for meaningful photography
• The full story behind the starving polar bear photograph and the backlash that followed
• How the social media algorithm punishes beautiful and important photography
• The idea of the photographer as a "membrane" rather than a messenger
• Why storytelling now matters more than the photograph itself
• "Enoughness" as a personal answer to consumerism
• Building a real portfolio of physical work instead of living on Instagram
• A personal handbook of ethics for photographers
• Why AI will make human-made photography more valuable, not less
• Legacy, ego, and shedding the need to be exceptional
• SeaLegacy and the next decade of conservation photography
• Practical advice for emerging photographers starting out today

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Cristina’s platforms:
Website - https://www.cristinamittermeier.com/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mitty/
SeaLegacy - https://www.sealegacy.org/

____

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Support the show

Thank you for listening and for being a part of this incredible community. You can listen and watch full extended and ad-free episodes in my community - The MOOD Insiders - where I also share insights, photography tips and behind-the-scenes content on my channel as well as meet with the community on book club weekly events, special guest features, bonus content, open forum access, free resources and so much more.

The MOOD Insiders Community
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In this episode, Matt sits down with Rich-Joseph Facun, a celebrated American documentary photographer, former photojournalist of 15 years, and founder of the independent publishing imprint Liars Corner.

In this conversation we discuss his three monographs: Black Diamonds, Little Cities, and 1804, the ethics of street and portrait photography, photographing strangers in Trump-era Appalachia, walking away from photojournalism, finding your photographic voice, and why the global photo book industry urgently needs more marginalised and Indigenous voices.

Other things we discussed:

• Street portraiture, approaching strangers, and consent in documentary photography
• Growing up in a Southern Baptist military family and door-to-door evangelism as training for portrait work
• Photographing Trump-supporting Appalachia as a person of colour with a trans child
• The viral portrait of a stranger with a damaged forehead tattoo crying on the street
• Quitting photojournalism after 15 years and the identity crisis that followed
• Why he stopped using Rembrandt lighting and the decisive moment in his portrait work
• How to find your photographic voice after mastering the craft
• Self-publishing a photo book vs pitching to independent publishers
• The making of Black Diamonds, Little Cities, and 1804
• Launching Liars Corner as an Indigenous-owned photo book imprint in Appalachia
• Elitism, gatekeeping, and barriers to entry inside the global photo book publishing industry
• Mentoring emerging documentary photographers and funding their first monographs
• Why awards, accolades, and staff photographer positions stopped mattering

Rich-Joseph Facun
Instagram: https://instagram.com/facun
Website: https://facun.com
Imprint: https://liarscorner.press

____________________________________

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Support the show

Thank you for listening and for being a part of this incredible community. You can listen and watch full extended and ad-free episodes in my community - The MOOD Insiders - where I also share insights, photography tips and behind-the-scenes content on my channel as well as meet with the community on book club weekly events, special guest features, bonus content, open forum access, free resources and so much more.

The MOOD Insiders Community
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In this episode, Matt sits down with Miriam Schulman, professional artist, art business coach, host of the Inspiration Place podcast, and bestselling author of Artpreneur (HarperCollins). Miriam left Wall Street after 9/11 to build a six-figure art business and now teaches photographers, painters, and visual artists how to price their work, sell art online, attract collectors, and build a sustainable photography business without relying on social media. In this conversation we cover photography pricing strategies, how to sell prints at higher prices, the psychology behind luxury art buyers, why charm pricing kills photography sales, how photographers can find art collectors, the truth about Instagram engagement rates for artists, AI's impact on professional photography, and how to transition from hobbyist photographer to full-time professional.

So if you are learning how to make money as a photographer, how to price photography prints, or how to build a photography business in 2026, this episode delivers the frameworks Miriam uses with her six-figure photography and art coaching clients.

Other things we discussed:

• How to price photography prints using prestige pricing instead of charm pricing
• The belief triad every photographer needs to sell high-ticket prints
• Signal excavation: how photographers find their unique artistic voice
• How to build an email list as a photographer (and why it beats Instagram)
• The $40 champagne pricing study and what it means for photography sales
• AI and photography: why photographers face more risk than painters
• LinkedIn for photographers: the most underused platform for selling art
• How to use local press and PR to sell photography prints
• The five biggest mistakes photographers make when pricing their work
• How to identify a production problem vs a pricing problem in your photography business
• Why marketing matters most when you believe your photography matters
• The wishy-washy pricing mistake that loses photographers paid bookings
  
  

Find Miriam and everything she offers on her website:
https://www.schulmanart.com/
_______________________________________

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Support the show

Thank you for listening and for being a part of this incredible community. You can listen and watch full extended and ad-free episodes in my community - The MOOD Insiders - where I also share insights, photography tips and behind-the-scenes content on my channel as well as meet with the community on book club weekly events, special guest features, bonus content, open forum access, free resources and so much more.

The MOOD Insiders Community
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In this Moments of Mood episode of The MOOD Podcast, Matt returns after a road accident left him physically immobilised for several weeks, unable to photograph, travel, or work, and uses that enforced stillness to examine one of the quietest but most destructive reflexes in modern photography: the need for proof. What happens to your photography, and to you as a photographer, when the images you make never leave the hard drive? When the algorithm stops rewarding your work? When self-doubt creeps in because no one has seen the photograph yet?

Matt draws on a recent conversation with fellow photographer Pie Aerts, a decade-long meditation practice, and the uncomfortable weeks spent away from the camera, to ask whether photography is a destination we're trying to arrive at, or a pilgrimage we're already walking without realising it.

_____________________

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Support the show

Thank you for listening and for being a part of this incredible community. You can listen and watch full extended and ad-free episodes in my community - The MOOD Insiders - where I also share insights, photography tips and behind-the-scenes content on my channel as well as meet with the community on book club weekly events, special guest features, bonus content, open forum access, free resources and so much more.

The MOOD Insiders Community
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In this episode, Matt sits down with Magnum photographer Mark Power for a wide-ranging conversation about long-term documentary photography, creative process, and what it means to spend 14 years photographing America as a foreigner. Mark discusses the origins of his landmark five-volume series 'Good Morning, America', why he's drawn to photographing the ordinary and overlooked rather than the spectacular, and how a woman quietly crying at a Don McCullin exhibition changed the trajectory of his entire career. From nearly quitting photography to becoming one of the most respected members of Magnum Photos, Mark shares honest reflections on self-doubt, creative longevity, and the discipline of looking slowly in a fast world.

Other things we discussed:

• Why photography is more democratic than painting and what that means for artists today
• The moment Mark's father finally validated his career, just before his death
• How the Postcards from America project at Magnum evolved into a decade-long obsession
• Why Mark believes the most exciting subjects make the worst photographs
• His thoughts on the word "storytelling" and why he thinks it's lost all meaning
• The stillness and silence he deliberately pursues in every image
• Walking into a room of his heroes at Chico Review and expecting nobody to know his name
• Why he spends far more time looking at photographs than making them
• Editing and sequencing five books as a work in progress without knowing the ending
• What's next: photographing Brighton by bus pass and an ambitious new project in China

Message me, leave a comment and join in the conversation!

Support the show

Thank you for listening and for being a part of this incredible community. You can listen and watch full extended and ad-free episodes in my community - The MOOD Insiders - where I also share insights, photography tips and behind-the-scenes content on my channel as well as meet with the community on book club weekly events, special guest features, bonus content, open forum access, free resources and so much more.

The MOOD Insiders Community
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Listen to part one here
Watch part one here
________________________

In Part 2 of this special Chico Review 2026 episode, Matt continues documenting his week inside one of photography's most respected portfolio review events. Featuring conversations with Odette England, Daniel Arnold, Tim Carpenter, Matthew Genitempo, Jesse Lenz, and Lindokuhle Sobekwa — plus fellow attendees pushing the edges of documentary, photobook, and fine art photography.

Notable topics:

• What Jesse Lenz actually looks for as a publisher — and why finished work is a turn-off
• Daniel Arnold on 13 years protecting his creative spark and why he dreads making books
• Tim Carpenter's review philosophy: never say good picture or bad picture
• ⁠Odette England on slow processing and what makes her eyes change during a review
• Matt Genitempo's approach to giving reviews and spotting talent
• ⁠The broken economic models of editorial, photobooks, and commercial photography
• "Commercial documentary" as a survival strategy for photojournalists
• How feedback on "poetry vs narrative" shifted one attendee's entire practice
• A photographer who enrolled in photojournalism school at 48 after surviving cancer
• Grief, bookmaking as chemistry lab, and dismantling perfectionism
• ⁠Closing reflection on ego death, creative identity, and thinking about a project like music
• Why the shutter is only 10% of the work — and what happens after
• Practical advice for future Chico attendees: go deep, not wideListen to part one here

Listen to part one here
Watch part one here

________________________

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Support the show

Thank you for listening and for being a part of this incredible community. You can listen and watch full extended and ad-free episodes in my community - The MOOD Insiders - where I also share insights, photography tips and behind-the-scenes content on my channel as well as meet with the community on book club weekly events, special guest features, bonus content, open forum access, free resources and so much more.

The MOOD Insiders Community
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The Chico Review destroyed my confidence. Then built it back...

THIS IS PART 1 OF A 2 PART FEATURE ON CHICO REVIEW 2026 - SEE PART 2 NEXT WEEK.

I arrived at the Chico Review 2026 thinking my work was ready. 10 formal reviews, 25 reviewers and speakers, publishers, curators, photographers and more — I was scrapping half of it by the end of day one. This is the first installment of 2, about my honest experience on what happened, what I learned, and why I'd do it all again without hesitation.

In this video:

• What the Chico Review actually is (and who it's for)
• My 10 portfolio reviews: the breakthroughs, the brutal moments, and the one that made me cry
• Why cohesion matters more than individual images
• How the week changed my approach to sequencing, editing, and book-making
• What my project looks like now vs. what I brought to the table on day 1.

About the Chico Review:
The Chico Review is an annual photography portfolio review held in Chico Hot Springs, Montana. 80 photographers. Reviewers from Magnum, L'Artier, TIS Books, Deadbeat Club, Tresspasser, SFMOMA, The New Yorker, and many more. 6 days of formal reviews, informal conversations, and everything in between. It's one of the most respected portfolio review events in the world — and one of the most humbling.

If you're a photographer questioning your work, your direction, or whether feedback is worth seeking — this one's for you.

PART 2 DROPS NEXT WEEK — subscribe so you don't miss it. And for more deep, reflective photography conversations in the meantime, subscribe to The MOOD Podcast 🎙️

---
📸 https://mattjacob.co
🎙️ https://themoodpodcast.com
📷 @mattyj_ay
📷 @the_moodpodcast

Message me, leave a comment and join in the conversation!

Support the show

Thank you for listening and for being a part of this incredible community. You can listen and watch full extended and ad-free episodes in my community - The MOOD Insiders - where I also share insights, photography tips and behind-the-scenes content on my channel as well as meet with the community on book club weekly events, special guest features, bonus content, open forum access, free resources and so much more.

The MOOD Insiders Community
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