Catherine Opie: I met Sam over a series of phone calls in 2018 when she was considering U.C.L.A. for grad school. I was the head of the photography program, and there were only three spots.
When I look at a potential student’s work, I want to see that they’re having a conversation with ideas, and with the history of photography.
Hopefully, I can be another voice in that conversation. Sam Richardson: Cathy was kind, open and very present. She asked me about myself and my practice, and we discovered we had a lot in common.
I was introduced to her work as an undergrad, when a professor told me I had to go see her 2008-09 retrospective at the Guggenheim.