Why Should Anyone Care About Your Photography? Shana Lopes, E130

2026-08-27 · 58 min · 18 entities

episode page audio

Asserted relationships

→ appeared on The MOOD Podcast podcast

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evidence rules-v5
Why Should Anyone Care About Your Photography? Shana Lopes, E130
→ hosted by Matt Jacob person

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Feed author/publisher: Matt Jacob
→ discusses Education concept

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Feed category: Education
→ discusses Arts concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Arts
→ discusses Self-Improvement concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Self-Improvement
→ discusses Visual Arts concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Visual Arts
→ references Insiders website

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evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Why Should Anyone Care About Your Photography? Shana Lopes, E130": https://mattjacob.co/insiders
→ references wakingup.sjv.io website

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evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Why Should Anyone Care About Your Photography? Shana Lopes, E130": https://wakingup.sjv.io/c/7738181/3958771/54965
→ references Eteam Curatorial Staff person

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evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Why Should Anyone Care About Your Photography? Shana Lopes, E130": https://sfmoma.org/about/eteam-curatorial-staff

Entities found in this episode

concepts 9

mentioned Education concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Education
mentioned Arts concept

0.50

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Arts
mentioned Self-Improvement concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Self-Improvement
mentioned Visual Arts concept

0.50

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Visual Arts
discusses Education concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Education
discusses Arts concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Arts
discusses Self-Improvement concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Self-Improvement
discusses Visual Arts concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Visual Arts
mentioned Mattyj Ay concept

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evidence rules-v5
@mattyj_ay

persons 4

mentioned Matt Jacob person

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evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Matt Jacob
hosted by Matt Jacob person

0.55

evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Matt Jacob
mentioned Eteam Curatorial Staff person

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evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Why Should Anyone Care About Your Photography? Shana Lopes, E130": https://sfmoma.org/about/eteam-curatorial-staff
references Eteam Curatorial Staff person

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Why Should Anyone Care About Your Photography? Shana Lopes, E130": https://sfmoma.org/about/eteam-curatorial-staff

websites 4

mentioned Insiders website

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Why Should Anyone Care About Your Photography? Shana Lopes, E130": https://mattjacob.co/insiders
mentioned wakingup.sjv.io website

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Why Should Anyone Care About Your Photography? Shana Lopes, E130": https://wakingup.sjv.io/c/7738181/3958771/54965
references Insiders website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Why Should Anyone Care About Your Photography? Shana Lopes, E130": https://mattjacob.co/insiders
references wakingup.sjv.io website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Why Should Anyone Care About Your Photography? Shana Lopes, E130": https://wakingup.sjv.io/c/7738181/3958771/54965

podcasts 1

appeared on The MOOD Podcast podcast

0.63

evidence rules-v5
Why Should Anyone Care About Your Photography? Shana Lopes, E130

Episode description as stored

Learn exactly what an SFMOMA photography curator looks for, what she passes over, and how to get your work seen without an MFA, a gallery, or a 6-paragraph artist statement. I sat down with Shana Lopes , Assistant Curator of Photography at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), to find out how photography actually enters a museum collection. Shana has worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Center for Creative Photography, holds a PhD in the history of photography, and has spent over 7 years at SFMOMA curating exhibitions, acquiring work, and reviewing portfolios. We talked about how a curator decides which photographs get remembered, why she needs to be able to write about your work before she can acquire it, the one question every photography project has to answer, and the practical advice she gives emerging photographers trying to get exhibited, published, or noticed. Other things we discussed: What a curator actually does day to day, from wall texts to installation choreography Why she thinks about exhibition layouts musically Curating photobooks versus curating walls, and why she reads books from the back Trends in museum photography, and whether documentary is disappearing How to write an artist statement a jury will actually read Portfolio reviews: what to bring, what not to say, and when to come back Why an MFA isn't necessary but a community is AI, analog revival, and the art schools closing in San Francisco Find Shana on the SFMOMA website and Instagram: https://www.sfmoma.org/about/eteam-curatorial-staff/ https://www.instagram.com/lopesshana/ 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. Join The Community - extended episodes & bonus features https://www.mattjacob.co/insiders The App That Transformed My Art & Mind https://wakingup.sjv.io/c/7738181/3958771/54965 Website: https://themoodpodcast.com Socials: IG | X | TikTok | Threads | YouTube | @mattyj_ay