In Conversation with Rachel Demy

I am so excited for this episode of In Conversation, where the amazing Rachel Demy joins me to discuss the periphery in photography. I have known Rachel for years, and we had such a great conversation. I was thinking about our conversation over the past few weeks and how to introduce you to Rachel’s work. I think that one of the hallmarks of her latest work is that it isn’t loud. It unfolds quietly, asking you to slow down and look again. Her photographs sit somewhere between studied observation and intuition, where mood, atmosphere, gesture, and restraint become actors in the image.  I love how her work shifts as you spend time with it. The tension of attentiveness moves to a sense of patience.  In this conversation, we start with the topic of the periphery in photography and go down a rabbit hole. Both of us agree that peripheral is not just a biology, but a way of being present while making photographs. We talk about how photography isn’t only about what we choose to place inside the frame, but also about what exists just beyond it. That awareness, at the time of photographing or in processing, of the unseen can shape the image, adding emotional and psychological depth. For Rachel, watching Richard Mosse’s film Broken Specter challenged her perception and became a catalyst for thinking differently about how we see, how we feel space, and how expanded awareness can influence photographic work.  Of course, with any conversation, we dug into how we are trained to think, what inspires us, what worries us about our practice, and how we sometimes have to let go and surrender to the process and path we are on. Trust the seeing. Trusting our intuition,  I really enjoyed the insights I got from listening to her talk about how intuition becomes especially pronounced in her night photography. Working in darkness heightens awareness and taps into what she described as an “animal vision. In those moments, we become less analytical and more responsive, guided by feeling, rhythm, and an embodied sense of presence. We also touched on creative dormancy, with both of us hitting long periods of slow work development. It was a reminder that pauses, rest, and reflection are not failures of creativity, but essential parts of its rhythm. Rachel’s perspective on photography and creativity is thoughtful, generous, and deeply felt, and our conversation was filled with genuine insights and discoveries. I am so looking forward to the next one.  You can connect with Rachel on social media at @racheldemy, on her website www.racheldemy.com, or explore her book Between Everywhere: On the Road with Death Cab for Cutie.