Interview with Bay Area Cuban Photographer, Angel Javier Machado Leyva

This week’s guest will be Bay Area Cuban Photographer, Angel Javier Machado Leyva. This is an especially exciting interview for me, because Javier is not only an exquisite practitioner of original methods of black-and-white photography, he also happens to be the producer of this show, as well as a very good friend. Javier is appearing on this week’s show in advance of his photo exhibition that will take place starting next Saturday, February 5, 2011 at Cricket Engine Gallery in Oakland, California and which will run for the entire month of February. His show is called Angel Javier Machado Leyva: 10 Years of Self-Portraits. I have seen some of these photos and when you witness his transformation over the years, you will be amazed that it is the same person. Just as importantly, though, are the stories that accompany each self-portrait – they reflect the photographer’s personal and socio-political journey over the decade. In this interview, we will talk to Javier about this journey. The discussion will include Javier’s training by some of the most skilled and accomplished black-and-white photographers, and I will also ask him about his description of “The Black Box,” a theory he has developed over the years that speaks to his conceptualization of how and where people keep their most profound and sensitive beliefs about themselves and the world around them. You are sure to find this interview intriguing, so listen in, and as always, feel free to call-in as well.