Kevin Kirkwood is joined by Josh Aronson, a Miami-based artist and photographer whose work explores masculinity, vulnerability, and the shifting landscape of the American South. Born in Toronto and raised in Florida, Aronson’s perspective is shaped by a deep familiarity with the region’s contradictions, something that becomes a central thread throughout the conversation. His photographs, which often blur the line between portraiture and landscape, have appeared in publications including The New York Times, Paris Review, Financial Times, Frieze, Italian Vogue, Teen Vogue, Dazed, i-D, British Journal of Photography, Document Journal, and Apartamento. Across this work, Aronson engages questions of identity, intimacy, and place, building images that feel both personal and culturally resonant. He is currently a 2026 Leonian Foundation Fellow in Photography at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, a Studio Artist-in-Residence at Deering Estate in Florida, and an ON::View Artist-in-Residence at ARTS Southeast in Georgia. His work has been exhibited internationally, and in 2024, he became the only artist to receive both the People’s Choice Award and Juror’s Prize for the City of Miami Beach’s No Vacancy public art commission. In this conversation, we explore Josh’s early influences and what first drew him to photography, how collaboration and trust shape his process, and the evolving relationship between artist and subject. We also discuss the emotional terrain of the South, the challenge of representing Florida beyond cliché, and what it means to document a place that resists easy definition. Learn more: | josharonson.us | @jda.usa vcca.com | @vacenterforthecreativearts deeringestate.org | @deeringestate artssoutheast.org | @artssoutheast Follow the host: kevin-kirkwood.com | @kevinwillpaint | @strandpodcast Listen to The Strand via all major platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, and Amazon.
