Artists’ Voices
This editorial feature honors Jean Carlo Penaloza and his journey to becoming the interviewer and podcast host he is today. His experience also highlights the professional value Imaging USA offers as a launchpad for creative and professional growth. Jean Carlo’s story inspires photographers to take risks, listen deeply, and believe in their vision.
Artists’ Voices:
Actively Listening to Creatives
Jean Carlo Penaloza, CPP, is what you might call a creative opportunist.
After attending his first Imaging USA in Nashville, Tennessee in 2023—knowing no one—he seized the chance to grow his network and create something from his heart: a podcast called The Outspoken Artist. Each episode highlights how the guest artist pursues the business and art of photography. One of the first to podcast live from Imaging USA, Penaloza this year partnered with Geekoto, and recorded his show inside the expo at the Gaylord Texan.
“Interviewing is a game of curiosity,” Jean Carlo says, adding that he’s learned to let go of perfectionist tendencies to create an authentic environment. “What questions can I ask that other people haven’t asked?” he muses before each interview. Jean Carlo scouts for subjects who seem unique in their presence, energy, or unconventional journey.
Like an archaeologist, Jean Carlo carefully excavates truths during these conversations. Sometimes the online persona or brand his guest has crafted obscures an intriguing story they haven’t yet told. Jean Carlo believes it’s his job to get at that untold story.
What makes an interview great? It boils down to two different ways of listening, Jean Carlo says: listening to understand versus listening to interject. In a great interview, you leave behind any preconceived agenda and follow where the conversation leads. Listening to understand versus waiting to interrupt a speaker leads to more fruitful conversations, he says.
Jean Carlo has also learned how to navigate when someone unexpectedly recalls a difficult memory or needs support regaining their composure in the conversation. At times, interviewing requires restraint. “Sometimes you have to forgo the question you want to ask to go deeper into the conversation you’re having,” Jean Carlo says.
Jean Carlo’s goal for the podcast is to be the go-to resource for creatives eager to hear other artists’ stories. He’s committed to showing people why visibility and authenticity matter in photography. “If you’re not the person in front of your brand,” he says, “the industry will determine who you are for you. Your authentic voice is your strongest photography tool.”
Jean Carlo estimates he stays in touch with about 80% of his podcast guests. As he sees it, the interview isn’t a one-time event but the beginning of an ongoing relationship.
Listen to The Outspoken Artist where you get your podcasts or watch the interviews online at YouTube.com/@outspokenartist.
• Published in Professional Photographer magazine, June 2025 •