Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ann Bromberg. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ann , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I have a background as an award-winning documentary filmmaker and photographer. Since the age of twelve, I have documented various stories on film. For instance, I have captured the story of my Dad’s grocery store in the barrio of Albuquerque, New Mexico. I’ve also traveled to Africa to capture how one woman galvanized six hundred women to sell handmade baskets in return for building the first health clinic, saving the lives of pregnant women and their children from mortality. My projects are based on love, whether it’s the love of a person, place, or community. This defines what love is and how we learn from it.
A few years after filming “Mbeti: The Road to Kisesini” in Africa, I embarked on a new creative journey. I created a radio show entitled “Love is Music.” This project celebrates the transformative power of love stories and the music that connects them, inspiring us all.

The show was created after traveling to Morocco in February 2020, where I was unaware of the borders closing and was camping in the Sahara Desert with a newlywed couple. One night, while our camping hosts served an elaborate meal, we sat surrounded by the various senses of textiles, sweet and savory aromas, and candlelight when I asked this couple about their love story. They spoke about their love story for three hours as if I were listening to an audiobook on a road trip. They said in such detail, and I was immersed in their story. Early the following day, the couple rode off into the desert on their camels, and I thought about how great it would be to have a radio show (not a podcast) about love stories and the music that connects the couples. I returned to the United States a few weeks later due to the pandemic, which gave me time to consider this project. I pitched the show in 2021 to KUNM,89.9, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and we aired our first episode in February 2023. The show will continue through 2025.

I am excited to make/produce this show, Love is Music, in my hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, as I can hear beautiful love stories and am honored to weave the music/playlists that connect and have meaning to each couple’s story. Some episodes are funny and heartfelt, and others are emotional. It was the project that helped support me through caretaking for my Mom before she died a few months after airing the first show. We had a ritual of sitting at the kitchen table, drinking her cup of Folgers coffee while listening to the show’s radio broadcast on the first Sunday of the month. She loved the show and could sit and listen to its entirety for the first three episodes. If my Dad were alive, he would love the show too, as my parents had a heartfelt love story. The show “Love is Music” has sixteen episodes recorded and aired.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a native New Mexican, award-winning independent documentary filmmaker, and professional photographer whose work has been featured in many traveling and permanent exhibits, national museums, and theaters in the US and internationally. My work has been featured in the United States, New Mexico, Texas, and Georgia, as well as international venues in Israel, Australia, South Korea, China, Japan, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Kenya, Cuba, and Vietnam.

My core purpose in my films and photographic projects is to compassionately illuminate the cultures and human narratives of the many regions I travel. Permanent collections of my work can be found at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, the Manuel Alvarez Bravo International Center of Photography in Mexico City, the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe, the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, the Roswell Museum and Art Center, and the Albuquerque Museum. My current project is a radio show entitled Love is Music- Love stories about couples and individuals brought together by music.

Check out the radio show Love is Music on the first Sunday of the month on KUNM 89.9 at 11 a.m. MST.

You can see some of my films on Vimeo. My website is abrombergindiefilms.com

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative person is expressing myself entirely through multi-medium platforms. For me, creating is the alchemy of the unknown, the magic and element of surprise that comes from working with wonder and imagination. Nothing is more satisfying and poetic than being an artist or creative person who is always moving to shake things up and add to what is possibly missing in the world.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Being driven to create needs patience, empathy, and a lot of long walks with good friends to help keep the goal or mission of my creative journey alive. The goal is never to stop creating and to keep my artistic voice heard while supporting other artists’ vision simultaneously.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.abrombergindiefilms.com/
• Instagram: annbrombergphotography
• Facebook: Ann Bromberg Photo and Film

Image Credits

photography by Ann Bromberg
Love is Music Flyer by Bruce Shortz