Kim Beil is an American writer on the history of photography.
Episode 125: I very much enjoyed this conversation with historian, writer and educator Kim Beil on her excellent new book Good Pictures-A History of Popular Photography published by Stanford University Press this year.
Kim‘s new book is a fascinating take on the history of popular photography and the medium’s reach into popular culture. It is an entertaining read that delves deep into the history of photography through 50 different categories that she has identified that inform the use of popular photography. I should also mention that she operates an incredible Instagram feed in which she publishes some of her photography book collection.
I found Kim and our conversation really exciting. I kept referring to it as geek out time. Its not often that I get a chance to speak with other passionate historically-motivated guests on the forum. Kim’s patience, professionalism and passion can be heard through the episodes and I deeply appreciate her insight. We spoke about a number of the things in her book during the conversation, but also raised points about the history and use of popular photography that affects all of us and what future tendencies this may include. All in, I felt it was a special episode full of lively banter and passionate exchange.
