About this episode
Safi Alia Shabaik discovered art and photography at an early age when her mother enrolled her in a pinhole camera class at the California Museum of Science and Industry. She attended UCLA, earning her B.A. in Fine Art with honors. Since then, she has worked as a fashion stylist and photographic documentarian and has lived in both New York and Los Angeles. Post-college, while still in Los Angeles, Catherine Opie became her mentor and taught her the art of large scale color printing in her custom-built darkrooms. While in New York, Safi became fashion stylist, photographic documentarian, personal assistant, travel companion, and confidante to the legendary icon, Ms. Grace Jones, in her personal and public life. Safi was given free rein to photograph anytime they were together. Throughout her life, her work has been about identity, persona, subculture and the humanity of all people. Her subject matter moved from the public realm to the private, when she became a caregiver for her father who was beginning to exhibit symptoms of the disease. Personality Crash: Portraits of My Father Who Suffered from Advanced Stages of Parkinson's Disease, Dementia, and Sundowner's Syndrome, her most recent series, is a riveting, collaborative body of work that explores the human condition from an intimate perspective, focusing on her father's journey up until his death. These intense, beautiful black and white images comprise the artist's highly personal story but also serve as a universal reminder of what it means to be human. Artist Links: Safi Alia Shabaik Lauren E. Simonutti Steven F. Arnold Listener Intro: Simon-Pierre Tremblay Senior Wellness Resources: American Parkinson Disease Association American Society on Aging Parkinson's Foundation Michael J. Fox Foundation Education Resources: Tokyo: Explorations in the Metropolis with Ibarionex Perello & George Nobechi Momenta Photographic Workshops Focus on the Story Photography Festival The Candid Frame Newsletter The Candid Frame Alexa Skill Lessons from the Street eBook by Ibarionex Making Photographs: Developing a Personal Visual Workflow The Candid Frame Flickr Pool The Candid Frame YouTube Channel Download the free Candid Frame app for your favorite smart device. Click here to download for iOS. Click here to download for Android Support the work we do at The Candid Frame with contributing to our Patreon effort. You can do this by visiting patreon.com/thecandidframe or visiting the website and clicking on the Patreon button. You can also provide a one-time donation via PayPal. You can follow Ibarionex on Instagram and Twitter