Sustainable Prospects: Week 11 Reflection
This week’s work, the final week with any prepared sessions for us to participate in, focused on an extended interview with the photographer Felicity McCabe.
She discussed how her practice had developed since her days as an assistant to Nadav Kander to now, where she has a thriving independent practice and has developed a distinctive photographic voice. What stood out for me in her interview was the constant willingness to experiment and challenge her practice – shooting different subjects, testing things and being willing to fail in the process. She was able to demonstrate how this continuously creative process ultimately resulted in evolution and progression in her work and placed her in a position to accept new professional opportunities.
McCabe also takes a really refreshing attitude to the connection between the experimental aspects of her practice, her personal projects and her commissioned work. Setting aside the idea that there are different expectations or requirements in these different areas, she is explicit that everything is connected based on the fact that everything originates from a single source, herself. As such, by definition, the work is always connected in some way. I found this to be a really interesting idea, because it seems to take the pressure off the idea that one has to consciously strive to maintain a clear sense of authorship and personal ‘style’ in work that is commissioned (by implication, this being harder than when making personal work). McCabe convincingly argued that over time, it will be possible to see a consistent vision in all your work, as long as you remain true to the impulses that stimulate you to create work, even if at first the work produced might seem unconnected.
For me, this links into another idea that we’ve heard during this module (and which was also put forward in Grant Scott’s book ‘Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained’) which is that there should not be a hard distinction between the ‘personal project’ and ‘commissioned work’. Listening to McCabe, and to various other practitioners discussing their work recently, there’s a common theme of people either finding a way to leverage a personal project into paid work or a book/publication, or alternatively finding that work that originally started as a commission ends up either being extended into a long form project or sparking an idea that subsequently becomes a significant project that then pushes their practice and profile forward.
At the risk of reiterating another idea that I’ve mentioned earlier in this module, the overriding advice then surely has to be to strive to make good work, regardless of the context in which the work was initiated – because you never know what opportunities may arise as a result, or what direction the work might take you in next.
This all feels particularly relevant to me at the moment because having really examined my motivations and the inspirations underpinning my project during this last 12 weeks I feel more inspired than ever. At the end of the previous two modules I’ve felt a sense of mental exhaustion and disconnection, oppressed almost by the demands of the course and just totally detached from the photographic passion that brought me here in the first place. I think there’s also a tendency to judge yourself by the standards of your peers, many of whom already have a professional photographic practice and so by those standards I have felt something of a failure.
Now however I’m so energised by the prospect of what’s ahead of me. I’ve been able to place my creativity and the ideas I have swirling around in my head all the time into a framework that seems robust enough to support them and allow them to grow and develop. I’ve been able to reconnect with that love of shooting that I had previously, something I was genuinely worried I might have lost for good. I also have a much clearer idea of where I might realistically be able to take my practice in real, tangible terms. In a way, I wish this module was longer, because the fruits of this new sense of purpose haven’t quite yet borne fruit and I’d love to have more ‘solid’ things to show for it right now, but they are coming in just a little while.
As things stand I’m positive about the future of my project and practice as a whole, and have a much clearer picture of how I’m going to get to where I intend to go.
Sustainable Prospects: Strands
One of the few things I’m clear about is that I would like my future photographic career to have a number of strands, aside from creating photographic images. One of my main reasons for doing the MA was that it would provide possible openings into some of these potential career strands such as teaching.
I’ve always enjoyed writing, although having chosen a scientific career, there is little scope for the sort of writing I enjoy in my day to day work. Of course, writing this CRJ as we are obliged to do, hones the skill of writing for a photographic/critical theory audience and in this module I’ve taken another opportunity to write in this genre by agreeing to write two book reviews for Shutter Hub.
Book review published on Shutter Hub website last week
I’ve written for Shutter Hub in the past and it’s always an enjoyable opportunity, made only slightly less so on this occasion as their submission deadline coincided uncomfortably with that for the MA work this December. The stress is worth it though, for the opportunity to write about something I’m really interested in – I love books and I love photography – and to continue developing my written communication skills.
The review, for ‘Perception and Imaging: Photography as a Way of Seeing’ by John Suler & Richard D. Zakia is available here:
I’ve thought about how I might develop this strand of my practice further, and consider submitting work for a journal (e.g. Source) as possibly being the next step. I’m not sure I yet have the credentials to be a credible author in a photography journal but this is a forum I would hope to be able to contribute to in future.
I still see text as playing a role in my final project output also, and having planned to do a creative writing course at the time of my original project proposal I’ll be looking to do this as we move into the second year of the MA. I have a very important medical exam coming up in late February, so once that’s out of the way the creative writing course will possibly be the next thing on the agenda to do alongside the MA work.
Sustainable Prospects: Work In Context
One of the things we’re asked to do on this course is contextualise our practice, to understand who our ‘competitors’ and potential market might be, where our work sits amongst the work of current and former practitioners and how this all might inform decisions about our own practice.
In this vein, I wanted to briefly discuss four artists whose work resonates with me either in terms of similarities to my own work, or for containing strands that I’m hoping to develop or bring forward in my current project and in my ongoing practice.
As described on his own website Bohbot is ‘a documentarian with an eye for the theatrical who frequently takes a formal, typological approach to crafting visual narratives, highlighting the surreal symmetries of our constructed worlds and capturing the poetry of everyday places with a unique attentiveness to the interplay of light and color. He employs the latter two elements as tools of nostalgia, exploring loss and obsolescence by crafting images that are as much about what is invisible or lacking as what is there within the frame.’
The concepts of loss, nostalgia and memory are certainly integral to my own practice and I was delighted to come across his 2016 book Light On New York City, which is comprised of nocturnal street scenes shot around New York taken over the course of approximately three years to 2016.
He focuses mainly on archetypal street corner diners, theatres and various stores illuminated at night, some in visual contrast to the commonly-held perception of the city that never sleeps.
I originally came to this book having seen Bohbot’s work on social media and being excited to see that someone had managed to release a monograph of urban night images. The work itself is technically superb (with Bohbot displaying a clear mastery over the very often tricky city night light), and presented in a book of large high quality prints.
Radio City Music Hall - Franck Bohbot
You can see more of the work here:
Considering my own work and how it might relate to Light On New York City, I felt that aside from the common factor of our subjects both being city scenes at night, there are few other similarities. Bohbot’s work for me in this book is almost journalistic, documenting the streets of the city in a way that as time passes and the buildings and businesses change, will likely render the work of increasing value as a historical record. The work is shot with a kindly eye to the city, Bohbot clearly loves the streets that he’s shooting, but I did not otherwise sense an agenda or standpoint in the work.
In terms of the market however, it’s really encouraging to see that images like these can be picked up by a publisher to create a book project. Published by teNeues, there was clearly deemed to be a market for a premium (it’s a beautiful hardback book of glossy prints) book of urban night photography and this gives me hope that my work might find a similar place in the future.
I came to this work during this module after listening to his interview with Ben Smith on the ‘A Small Voice’ podcast. In the interview he discussed the effect that spending time in conflict zones had had on him and how he had worked through these issues. The work ‘Buzzing At The Sill’ was in some way a product of his journey through this period of his life, while also being about America in the shadow of 9/11.
The work is honest, vulnerable and unflinching in many ways and spoke to me on various levels through images that are challenging and thought-provoking at various times. Turning from page to page I could not help but notice how narrative can be constructed by the selective use of text alongside the images (the use of which is likely to play a key role in the presentation of my project also), and also how sequencing plays a vital role in how the work is received and interpreted. Van Agtmael creates a powerful mood and an increasing sense of immersion in the work as you turn through the pages, something I can certainly learn from in the event of a future book project.
Hugo, Oklahoma, 2014 - Peter van Agtmael
You can see more of the work here:
In line with my recent thinking, there is also a key lesson here in how invested the photographer can be in the work and how this ultimately strengthens the output. This work feels close to the bone for van Agtmael, with a level of disclosure that seems to pull the reader in closer and again is instructive for me in terms of my recent struggle to be more honest in my own work, finding a way to give more of myself to the output, making it more personal and hopefully powerful as a result. As a Magnum photographer, van Agtmael could possibly be forgiven for resting on his laurels and simply milking his status in his field, but this work feels like he truly invested and that’s an example I must follow.
Wearing’s work extends beyond the confines of strict photographic practice but has relevance for me in a couple of ways. Her project ‘Signs that say what you want them to say and not Signs that say what someone else wants you to say’ is strongly influential for me, particularly in terms of trying to disclose the innermost thoughts of people in a way that is not too traumatic for the subject or the viewer, something of course that I have been trying to do in inviting people to contribute their own experiences of solitude to my project.
I'm Desperate - Gillian Wearing
These apparently simple images exhibit a genius for revelation wrapped up in the supposedly quotidian, but of course it takes great skill to produce work that seems to be almost nonchalant and random in nature.
Wearing has also challenged the idea of representation, often using masks in her work to question the role of identity and the contested gaze. In many ways she manages to hide in plain sight, protected from true self-revelation by a closely-fitting mask that seems to allow her to be anyone else she pleases while remaining steadfastly her most private self. This idea of a conflicted identity is certainly one I recognise and one I feel plays a role in my own work. Seeing how Wearing has repeatedly explored this theme throughout her career is instructive.
You can see more of her work here:
Another aspect of her practice that is relevant to me is her willingness to work in various media. She has often created video projects, something I’m also hoping to move into in the near future, and this reflects a versatility that only enhances her relevance in the contemporary art marketplace. This multi-skilled approach is important to improve your chances of being able to carve out a niche for oneself in this harsh economic climate.
I’ve written about Hido’s work before and the interesting thing for me is that I was never aware of his work when I first came into photography and was being formed by early influences. This is almost ironic to me now because I often feel that his work and his approach to his work most closely mirrors how I feel about my own practice. A quote of his, from an interview available online, almost perfectly describes how I feel about my own work:
“I believe that all those signs from your past and all those feelings and memories certainly come together, often subconsciously, and form some kind of a fragmented narrative. Often you're telling your own story but you may not even know it.”
His work contextualises mine in many ways – he is famous for shooting at night, although that is not all he shoots. He speaks openly about the connection between his unspoken past and the work he creates today. He has carved out a niche as a highly-respected fine art practitioner and teacher, both roles that I hope to occupy in the future, and has done so by producing work that strongly resonates with my own.
Screen grab from www.toddhido.com
As my knowledge of Hido’s work grows, I find myself having to resist the urge to produce images that are too derivative of his famous work. Any building with illuminated windows should almost have his copyright emblazoned on it!
Considering the work of other practitioners in this module, I can conclude that it is possible for me to develop a sustainable practice while shooting work that is true to myself. In fact, the key seems to me to be MORE true to my own vision and being careful to not dilute my voice in an effort to encourage collaboration. I’m convinced too of the need to diversify my skills to give me more story-telling tools and allow me to offer more to potential clients. Developing new skills and refining my voice will be ongoing tasks in the months ahead.
References:
· BOHBOT, Franck. 2016. Light On New York City. Kempen: teNeues.
· VAN AGTMAEL, Peter. 2017. Buzzing At The Sill. Heidelberg: Kehrer.
· WEARING, Gillian. 2012. Gillian Wearing. London: Ridinghouse.
· HIDO, Todd., CAMPANY, David. and TYLEVICH, Katya. 2016. Intimate Distance: Twenty-five Years of Photographs, A Chronological Album. New York: Aperture.
· AHORN MAGAZINE. ca. 2010. ‘Interview with: Todd Hido’. Ahorn Magazine Archive [online]. Available at: http://www.ahornmagazine.com/issue_6/interview_hido/interview_hido.html [accessed 9 December 2017].
Sustainable Prospects: What’s It All About?
“When a person picks up a camera and starts to feel photography is for them, it is usually for reasons so complex that simple biography will not do. If you suddenly find that a camera really is your means of expression, it is not so much because it gives you the chance of a brave new start, but because it’s a way of drawing on the unspoken experience of your life lived so far. Making photographs is so often an act of recognition, conscious or otherwise, that what is before you resonates with things that came before. Those things might be direct experiences. They might be movies, picture books, music or novels. We can never know for sure.”
David Campany, Intimate Distance, 2016
I wanted to write a little about something I’d briefly mentioned in an earlier post, which is the change of direction in my project that has occurred during this module in response to advice and feedback received from my tutor and peers.
As I’ve outlined elsewhere, I’m really interested in the idea of urban solitude and how we experience this state and how we articulate and contextualise this experience. I’m also really interested in commonalities amongst us, in the idea that there’s this unspoken network of loneliness where people are closely packed yet living in silent isolation and I believe that if we can stimulate an open debate about this issue then we’d be on the way to being able to challenge taboos, while also accessing and offering support.
My project had increasingly sought to invite contributions from others around this issue, in various methods that felt right for them. I’ve found this aspect of the project really rewarding, providing as it has an insight into the emotional world of some people that I know well and people whom I hardly know at all. These insights have been incredibly privileged, as well as confirming my initial supposition that there’s a rich seam to be explored. The topic is so big, with direct and indirect links to issues as varied as mental health, social mobility, the link between music and memory…there are so many threads that can be explored.
Of course, the potential breadth of this topic had caused some difficulties. It’s a challenge to be able to provide structure to a project when the topic is so vast and the potential responses from people are limitless. I also found that I was increasingly being thwarted by practical and attitudinal obstacles. For example, many people had agreed to contribute to the project and then, despite gentle but persistent prompting on my part, failed to follow through.
In an attempt to gain some momentum and in an effort to further broaden my appeal to potential contributors/collaborators I contacted Georgina Lawton, a journalist who had written a piece for The Guardian earlier this year about her experiences with loneliness.
Georgina Lawton in The Guardian, 19/8/17
I asked if she would be willing to contribute to the project in some way but she was unfortunately unwilling to do so.
Overall this failure to engage people with the project was increasingly disheartening.
At the same time, I was feeling a growing disconnect between the story I was trying to tell through others and the origin of the inspiration behind this project which undoubtedly had come from within, and which I had gradually drifted away from without even noticing. I’m unsure whether this was due to an implicit unwillingness to confront the issues that a deeper examination of my own feelings might unearth, but I had certainly become a little emotionally detached from the work and this was affecting the quality of the work and my motivation to produce it.
A comment from Krishna (our module tutor) a few weeks ago really pierced the fog, as she challenged the direction I’d been taking with the project. She felt that the work produced and inspired by others would be better as a standalone project and that the focus should be on my own perspective and vision at this stage. This view seemed to be shared by my class mates who were present in the webinar and I left the session feeling quite shaken. I wasn’t sure at first why this advice was so discomfiting, but on reflection it was due to all the reasons I’ve outlined above – the imperceptible drift that had occurred from the original heart of the project, the fact that this advice challenged a possible reluctance to truly examine my own motivations for pursuing this project in the first place and I realised that I’d thus gotten a bit lost and had needed an outside view to ‘bring me back to my senses’.
I reflected on this and the pitfalls I had fallen into in the project to date. I’d certainly suffered due to a lack of structure. Listening to various practitioners describe how they approach project work, one of the key themes was the idea of a narrative impulse that infuses the work with life and allows the photographer to know when the project reaches its natural end – when the story has been told the end has been reached. Of course, if the narrative structure isn’t clear and if themes haven’t been clearly defined, it’s difficult to know how to proceed and it’s impossible to know when you’re off track. I had certainly suffered in this regard.
So I went back to the beginning.
As David Campany writes above, the reasons we shoot are often complex but are almost always connected to our own experience. I have tried to examine this much more closely, seeking to understand what solitude and loneliness mean for me and why I am drawn to articulate this visually. I think I have a clearer idea about this now and as this clarity has been restored it’s been interesting to note how my motivation and passion have returned.
#1726 as displayed on Todd Hido's website
I’ve been considering the work of others that's inspired me and still resonates with me, people like Todd Hido and Lynn Saville (to name just a couple) and examining why I shoot at night, why the issue of solitude is important to me and what my own feelings and memories are of loneliness, how it resonates with my emotional world.
Alongside this, I’ve been re-examining the aims of my project – how I hope to tell the story, who I hope to reach with the work and why would they care.
I’m confident that this change of direction and period of self-examination will result in a stronger project and a more coherent practice moving forward and I’m excited about moving forward.
Reference:
· HIDO, Todd., CAMPANY, David. and TYLEVICH, Katya. 2016. Intimate Distance: Twenty-five Years of Photographs, A Chronological Album. New York: Aperture.
Sustainable Prospects: The New Global Landscape
“The digital world is full of noise, and that cacophony of noise makes it hard to be heard. It makes it hard to stand out and make your point, express your opinions, build a client base, and tell your personal stories. Adding to that cacophony without a distinctive voice is therefore pointless. It is better to be quiet while you define what you have to say and how you want to say it. Listen to those who are speaking clearly and observe how they disseminate what they have to say so that it can inform your own language.”
Professional Photography, Grant Scott, p16.
“"I am a photographer, I take photographs,” that is and has always been the spine of any photographer’s professional practice. But is that enough today? You may, of course, perceive that as being a rhetorical question based on what I have written so far in this book. But it is not. It’s a challenge to any professional photographer to take up and address, no more or less than that. Only you will know if your answer to this question is convincing and honest.”
Professional Photography, Grant Scott, p176.
Highly recommended reading...
I have just finished reading the book ‘Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained’ by Grant Scott (2015).
This book perfectly amplifies the work we’ve been covering in the Sustainable Prospects module and has given me much food for thought, as well as a number of avenues to pursue in my own practice moving forward.
Scott makes a very compelling argument for the existence of what he describes as a new and ever-changing landscape of professional photographic practice. He states repeatedly that the practitioners who will be best-placed to exploit this changing landscape to create opportunities and survive the economic squeeze that has affected the entire photographic industry are those who accept that the old norms are no longer given and who are open to adopting new skills and developing familiarity with new media. This will allow them to create and disseminate their work as well as engage with a potential audience who are no longer to be found in the traditional places.
These messages are of course very similar to those we have been presented with throughout the MA and more particularly during this module, where the focus has been squarely on positioning oneself and defining our own space in the professional landscape. The questions that must be answered by all of us are similar to those which are alluded to in the quotes above – what are you trying to say, how are you going to say it, and how are you going to define your practice?
As Scott also argues, without a clear appreciation of and willingness to tailor one’s efforts towards the needs of the client, it is not possible to consider oneself to be a professional practitioner. As such, as the client’s demands change thus must the photographer adapt their offering in order to remain relevant, and economically viable.
As I have written elsewhere, I’ve had a continuous internal discussion going on during this module in particular, trying to articulate to myself and subsequently to potential clients and collaborators, what sort of photographer I am and how I plan to engage with the professional world. This book has really helped to make certain elements of this challenge very clear and has also helpfully provided some clear and practical advice as to how to proceed, that I can take forward.
This also comes at a time when I have been trying to reconsider my project in light of advice given to me by tutor Krishna Sheth about the direction my project should take. This has left everything somewhat open to question and I am unable to progress without heeding the very pertinent advice that I have been given and which is echoed in Scott’s excellent book.
As such I am planning the following over the next few weeks, including the module break over Christmas/New Year:
1. Explore how to gain some basic skills shooting video
2. Get some basic audio recording equipment
3. Shoot a trailer for my project using these skills gained (I already have a broad outline)
4. Promote the trailer via current social media channels
5. Commence research for a new personal project
Reference:
SCOTT, Grant. 2015. Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained. New York & London: Focal Press.
Sustainable Prospects: Work It, Work It For Me Baby!
Ok, so I might just have had some kind of P-Funk/Rick James moment there, but that’s only because I’m suddenly enthused and totally convinced of the utility of networking (work it!!).
Last night I attended the launch of MAYN, a creative photography and video agency out of Falmouth University. The event, helpfully, took place ten minutes down the road from my house, in Shoreditch (as they’d obviously realised at MAYN HQ that it would be too much of a stretch for me to make it to Falmouth after work on a Thursday!) at the achingly cool headquarters of the advertising agency Mother.
Cool people milling about in a cool place!
It was a genuine pleasure to meet artists represented by the agency, such as Alex Fleming, whose work was also on display at the event, as well as the person running the show Lynn Chambers who was just incredibly friendly and passionate about the new agency and what they are hoping to achieve moving forward.
Aside from feeling honoured to be there, it was also great to be able to put human form to people who had previously only existed to me in the form of a small thumbnail on my screen, fellow students on the course, as well as Jesse Alexander (our MA course leader) and Anna-Maria Pfab, who is our module leader for Sustainable Prospects as well as the founder of another hot photo agency, Kiosk.
Having the chance to meet and speak to these people really cemented something that I have heard a lot during this module…the importance of networking and making genuine human connections in the creative industries. I felt like I learnt more in one evening than I have during most of the rest of the time on my course, simply by absorbing the wisdom of those in the room, and having left a sterile hospital environment immediately before I found being amongst like-minded passionate creatives to be really inspiring. Aside from the possible career benefits of networking, I can see that it’s also a way to stay connected to the energy and passion that got everything started.
For me, there’s a natural caution about these events, usually because I feel that I have little to contribute. I’m sure most people have an innate dread of being placed in a room of strangers and having to make conversation, but it just needs to be done. And it’s a lot less scary than we make it seem in our heads before we’ve actually dived in.
A key lesson from this module, aside from the relentless push to emerge into the professional arena, is the importance of differentiating yourself in a saturated marketplace. It seems to me that this first starts with your work, having a visual approach that connects with viewers and stands you apart from other image makers. Second to that though is the ability to make genuine connections with others, either as potential clients or other artists who may become collaborators, work referrers, or ‘brand advocates’ almost…
All of these things require some personal connection and interaction and so networking is the lifeblood of any successful photographic practice, particularly in the early stages.
During this module I have made closer links with some of my class mates, discussing further collaborations with Chris Chucas for example, as well as arranging a meetup and exhibition visit for some of us who are local to London. It will be great to spend more time with my MA peers in person rather than in the virtual space of Canvas.
References:
- PRITCHARD, Lisa. 2011. Setting Up A Successful Photography Business. London: Bloomsbury.
- LIVEBOOKS. 2015. ‘Importance of Networking for Photographers’. Livebooks Blog [online]. Available at: http://blog.livebooks.com/2015/03/importance-of-networking-for-photographers/ [accessed 30 November 2017].
- WHITE, Lara. ca. 2012. ‘4 Reasons Why Networking Is Critical to Going Pro’. Digital-Photography-School.com [online]. Available at: https://digital-photography-school.com/4-reasons-why-networking-is-critical-to-going-pro/ [accessed 30 November 2017].
Sustainable Prospects: Reflection Weeks 5 & 6
“Apply yourself to the process of making good work”
Steve Macloed, Metro Imaging, 2017
Week 5 focused on the importance of building networks to support and progress our practice, while week 6 was a slightly slower week aimed at allowing presentation of provisional presentations that are due at the end of the module.
This period has coincided with a busier period at work and, along with that, I seem to have found myself deviating somewhat from the topic for various reasons. The overarching challenge for me remains the task of setting out and putting into place a method of working that will allow me to move my practice forward in the immediate future and hopefully also in the early stages after the MA is finished.
I know that might seem a bit premature, but the first year has already almost flown by and I feel there’s so much more progress to be made, there’s no time for messing around!
Steve Macloed and Kate O’Neill dispensed pearls of wisdom this week, about the importance of making local connections with other practitioners and of approaching these connections in the spirit of openness and mutual benefit. It’s not just about trying to milk people for all they’re worth, but rather about trying to foster genuine and nurturing connections that may also provide some kind of boost to your practice, almost as a happy bonus. For me, this all boils down to simply being nice! Maybe I’m being too naïve about this, but I can’t help thinking that it’s a lot easier to enjoy your work and develop lasting connections with like-minded people who you don’t feel are somehow trying to shaft you.
So…be genuine, don’t shaft anyone, try and help people if you can, support those whose work you appreciate or are inspired by…just share a bit of love around!
I feel really strongly about this, mainly because artists are always struggling and yet often are able to connect with people that they may never even meet in ways that may be truly transformative for the person(s) in receipt of the work. I believe that if someone’s work touches you in that way you should support it, promote it, buy it…whatever!
Anyway, one of the key messages that again popped up this week was the idea that alongside all the glad-handing you should never lose sight of the actual making of good work (hmmm, I may have said this before…). Increasingly, I’m understanding that this requires a commitment, and almost stubbornness, that is not subject to external validation or circumstances but has to be fired by an internal desire to create, to adhere to a personal imperative to produce, to be productive. I suppose if I learn nothing else during this MA, that would be a useful lesson in itself. The need to develop a process that sustains practice beyond the MA, when there isn’t an assignment deadline or a tutor chasing you down. There needs to be a plan, a strategy of some kind.
Recently I was fortunate to meet a group of creative and inspiring graduates who had created a magazine in reaction to limited job prospects post-graduation. They collaborated to create a platform to promote their own work and that of other creatives and thus gave birth to Bricoleur.
Aside from being a pleasure to meet them, it was really heartening to hear how they’d approached the challenge of conceiving, funding and producing the magazine and having read the first issue, I was struck by how earnest their endeavour is and how it’s already a success, after just a single issue. The commitment to producing the work is the key…just make it!
Then connect with people who might be interested…
And make the work about more than just yourself. Find a way to bring others with you if possible.
Sustainable Prospects: Project Submissions
“Converse to the hyper-stimulation, the strong desire to be alone, I can feel empty, and lonely. Disconnected from the big, brash and busy city around me that doesn’t care whether I’m here or there. In London, life charges on, people come, people go. The city doesn’t stop. When I come back to London, it doesn’t open its arms to me like my weird, scruffy home town; that observes returners and newcomers with a reserved curiosity. London snatches you from the train platform with barely a greeting and chivvies you along like an impatient, mischievous and rather glamorous aunt - ‘come on, time to get back on, the ride isn’t going to stop…’”
Alice Fulton, 2017
As the project progresses I’m continuing to seek submissions from wherever I can get them. The text above is an excerpt from a submission from my friend Alice Fulton, who responded to the call and sent me some free prose in response to the theme.
At the close of the previous module I put out a call on Instagram asking for contributions to the project. The response to the call was disappointing with only one person coming forward to contribute. I am in contact with him now and am looking forward to receiving his submission soon…he has already submitted a provisional image.
Call for submissions via Instagram
Currently the project seems to be at something of a crossroads, where I feel like its future direction can only be determined once a new batch of responses come in. I still believe in the benefit of eliciting and including outside submissions to hopefully produce a more rounded final product than if I persisted with a project derived from a singular voice. I am aware though of a nagging sense of inertia that seems to be taking hold and I will need to fight this to prevent the impulse being lost.
One thing I’m looking to do in the next phase of the project is to create collaborative portraits with those who have agreed to submit work to the project. I have in mind an idea to work on creating portrait images that further elaborate on the submissions that each person has provided, and have discussed this idea provisionally with a couple of the people who submitted during the last module. Hopefully I’ll have something to you show you and more to say about this in the near future.
Sustainable Prospects: Week 4 Reflection
This week’s coursework focused on defining our ‘photographic DNA’ and developing a practical strategy to market our practice. We were introduced to various practitioners offering nuggets of wisdom on different aspects of practice, from how to put together a portfolio that will attract the right sort of attention, to how to market oneself and how best to make links with industry professionals.
The clichéd image of the photographer as tortured artist, a solitary figure with a singular vision, more concerned with f-stops and camera shake than conversation and handshakes, belies the fundamental importance of developing and valuing personal connections in the industry that can sustain, inspire and potentially also provide opportunities for work.
It seemed to me that all the practitioners this week were basically saying the same thing: be interesting, have something to say, be sensitive to others and the demands they might be under. Essentially, be nice!
Of course, underneath all that is the inescapable fact, that the work has to be good. Because no amount of networking can compensate for uninteresting or uninspired work.
I struggle to define myself as a photographer. This is partly, still, because I struggle to actually consider myself to be one. This contradiction increasingly obstructs my ability to progress as a practitioner and is something I need to address urgently. The ‘imposter syndrome’ is causing a big impediment!
The other thing that I was reminded of this week, is that ultimately we’re all just owners of an opinion. The course tutors and invited contributors give us various ‘dos and don’ts’, derived of course from a position of industry experience and awareness of professional expectations and requirements, but they are opinions nonetheless. The following quotes illustrate the contradictions in the advice about what the best way to approach things is at times:
“My last bit of advice is to always throw in something extra; something unexpected. Make sure they remember you. ‘You know, that guy who made the musical ping pong table…’ Be unforgettable and unmissable.”
Miranda Bolter, 2017
“Put together a short, emailable PDF crammed with fantastic ideas, demonstrating unique thinking and doing. Then, in real life, projects can be expanded, personal work shown, stories shared, and it all ends happily ever after.”
Michael Johnson, 2017
“Create printed marketing material. A postcard is still the most effective thing to leave with someone after a meeting. If it’s an image that really resonates, they will almost certainly put it on their wall and then you will always be there reminding them that you’d like to be commissioned. Stickers are great too, and surprisingly cheap to print. My laptop is covered in stickers by my artists. Tote bags, if you’re feeling flush, are also great.”
Helen Parker, 2017
So many opinions, so much advice, that it can be difficult to be clear about anything, particularly if you lack confidence in your own opinion about what’s right for you. But there’s no single way to reach any destination and maintaining a clear sense of individuality and ownership over one’s own practice is important also. Watching Francis Hodgson in discussion with Miles Aldridge at Photo London 2016 I was really surprised to hear Aldridge state that he avoids the work of other photographers, particularly those in his own field of fashion photography. Describing it as ‘visual junk’ he was keen to stress that he felt this was the best way to preserve the purity and clarity of his own vision. Looking at his work, it’s hard to criticise this decision…his images are certainly consistently and evidently ‘his’ – an expression of his vision. This vision is what ultimately defines one’s ‘DNA’ as an artist and so must be protected, nourished, developed and brought to its fullest expression, by whatever means the individual practitioner deems best.
Right now, as I’ve written in earlier entries, the biggest challenges to me defining my DNA and expressing my vision seem to be twofold:
1. Having a framework within which I can develop my practice (encompassing workflow, shooting, networking and marketing)
2. Making the mental shift from hobbyist to professional practitioner – accepting that this is the journey I am on (and actually, have been on for a while), owning it and deciding where I want to go next.
I’ll be writing more about how I'm approaching these two challenges in a little while.
References:
· BOLTER, Miranda. 2017. ‘Advice on Portfolios: Always throw in something extra; something unexpected’. Lectureinprogress.com [online]. Available at: https://lectureinprogress.com/advice/miranda-bolter [accessed 20 October 2017].
· JOHNSON, Michael. 2017. ‘Advice on Portfolios: Never apologise for dodgy ideas: take them out or redo them’. Lectureinprogress.com [online]. Available at: https://lectureinprogress.com/advice/michael-johnson [accessed 20 October 2017].
· PARKER, Helen. 2017. ‘Advice on Portfolios: Don’t spend lots of money creating something with clever wizardry – the simpler the better’. Lectureinprogress.com [online]. Available at: https://lectureinprogress.com/advice/helen-parker [accessed 20 October 2017].
· HURRELL, Mark. 2017. ‘Advice on Portfolios: Treat it like a strict brief with clear objectives’. Lectureinprogress.com [online]. Available at: https://lectureinprogress.com/advice/portfolios-mark-hurrell [accessed 20 October 2017].
· PHOTO LONDON. (2016). Miles Aldridge and Francis Hodgson | Photo London Talks 2016. [Online Video]. 30 June 2016. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhZvA4plK18. [Accessed: 18 October 2017].
Sustainable Prospects: Week 3 Reflection
This week, the focus has been on the challenges and opportunities afforded by the ever-increasing importance of digital image capture and image distribution platforms. We were set the task of devising a targeted social media strategy to increase our Instagram following by 30 or more followers over the week. This challenge felt particularly uncomfortable for me, as it requires me to explicitly acknowledge the fact that I have a desire and obligation to engage with my audience and thus to strategise the best way to achieve this. This feels instinctively inauthentic and contrived, which is not how I ever envisaged my photographic practice and not how I would wish to view myself.
My Instagram homepage
Since the start of this module I have been wrestling with this idea of professionalism and what that actually means, in practical and tangible terms. What does it mean for me to call myself a ‘professional photographer’? What behaviours and qualities do I have to demonstrate to be worthy of that title and to be able to meet the expectations of others who might engage me on a professional basis?
A lot of this conflict comes, I think, from a self-image that possibly doesn’t allow me to properly accept that I might be good at something or that I might wish to become good at it. It seems almost too boastful to call myself a ‘professional photographer’ and somewhat presumptuous to conduct myself as if I were one. There’s an inherent contradiction of course in that last statement, in that I am in the middle of an MA in photography so have already attained a certain level of competence and to progress from where I am now requires, actually probably demands, that I embrace the idea of professional practice and decide how best to operate within this new unfamiliar world. There is also the contradiction of shying away from the idea of professional or outward-facing practice while maintaining a website and social media presence that essentially only makes sense in the context of engaging with others and providing me a means to show my work to the world. Lauren Cornell’s (2015) words certainly cut right to the heart of this conflict:
“But social media, in its omnipresence and ubiquitous use, has become a main site for the contestation of identity and the self—a new arena that repeats and extends previous eras’ questions of visibility and self-definition, and begs for artistic challenge.
Hardy said she took the portraits only for herself without caring who might see them. “Only for me” now seems an outmoded or rare sentiment in a culture in which personal archives accumulate in public, not in bedrooms or on dusty hard drives.
When we take photographs today, we always care about who, besides us, might see them.”
Lauren Cornell, 2015
The final sentence there really hit home. It seemed almost impossible to run from this fact, that we always care about who might see our photos. This being the case, it then seems ridiculous to avoid an honest and thoughtful look at how we connect with our audience and who we believe, or would like, our audience to be. The next step from there is, inevitably, to decide on a strategy to achieve this audience connection in the best way possible.
So I’m back where I started.
Having accepted this reality but not yet being comfortable with it, I decided to instead update my website. This is something I have been meaning to do for some time, but had been avoiding for various reasons.
Old website homepage
I set about drafting an outline of what I wanted my new website to look like and searched around for an appropriate template that would fit my requirements. Once I started down this route, I faced a number of other technical and philosophical questions about website provider, domain names, how much I felt it was worth investing in getting a website that looked good and functioned well and what I was really trying to achieve with my website – did I just want a nice looking portfolio, did I want to represent myself in a professional manner to potential paying clients etc.
While it’s not necessary to articulate those decisions here, the act of thinking these things through has helped me understand what I’m trying to achieve with my work, what I thus need to try and get out of my MA studies and where I might want to go next. I have also accepted that I need to generate at least a rudimentary social media strategy and will thus get on to this as my next task now that the website is complete.
New website homepage
For me, the key thing to reconcile is the desire to take photographs simply for my own pleasure, which is what drove me initially, with the present need to progress through my MA and to position myself for a post-MA world in which I hope to be able to practice as a photographer in some way or another.
“Once the world has been photographed it is never again the same. (This is where Eve and the Apple come in.)
Once the images begin to replace the world, photography loses much of its reason for being.
Into the vortex, then, comes the digital.”
Fred Ritchin, 2010, p23
I don’t want to lose sight of the world with all its complexity, nuance and beauty in the rush to create a well-strategised digital façade, however I concede that I must engage honestly with the digital world and its possibilities and will aim to do this in a more thoughtfully structured manner going forward.
References:
- CORNELL, Lauren. 2015. ‘Self-Portraiture in the First-Person Age’. Aperture, Winter 2015, Issue 221, p34-41.
- RITCHIN, Fred. 2010. After Photography. London, New York: W. W. Norton.
Sustainable Prospects: Creating Your Own Opportunities
Had the absolute pleasure of meeting the team behind Bricoleur Magazine yesterday down at Photo Book London, part of PHOTOBLOCK 2017.
Bricoleur Magazine Issue 1
I wandered across to their stand, having initially gone there hoping to see the Hoxton Mini Press stall. We ended up chatting and they turned out to be a really interesting crew, who came together to collaborate and create something positive for themselves after graduating from a range of arts degrees (there were photographers, graphic designers etc) and finding that the industry environment was not as welcoming and positive as they had hoped. The inspiring thing is that instead of being discouraged, they instead found a way to adapt to their circumstances, remain creatively relevant and after taking advice from other practitioners and quite a lot of brainstorming, they came up with the idea of launching a magazine.
Their stated aim is to ‘help young creatives in London and beyond’ and speaking to them they are really passionate about providing a platform for graduates and early-career practitioners who are in a similar position to themselves, searching for opportunities to share their work and develop a profile. It was really interesting to hear about the work that went into getting the magazine off the ground and what they are planning in the future. For example they ran a successful Kickstarter campaign to get the first issue off the ground and may be planning on doing so again.
Speaking to them was a great reminder that as a practitioner in the creative industries you often have to go out there and make your own openings and opportunities and the creativity you hone during your studies can be put to use to create those opportunities and open doors for yourself and others. You can’t feel sorry for yourself or sit back and wait for things to be handed to you, you have to get out there and make it happen.
A great lesson.
Sustainable Prospects: Week 2 Reflection
"For me, I think the heart of making art is about trying to make some sense of a world that is so utterly chaotic and inexplicable. I'm not necessarily coming up with answers, but I'm looking. There's a kind of freedom in relying on our imagination to try and make something out of the chaos. But I don't think it's the job of art to entertain or offer reassurance. There are hard truths without easy answers. Maybe discomfort, in some way, can actually lead to illumination."
Katy Grannan, 2017
I'm not necessarily coming up with answers, but I'm looking.
Continuing the theme this week, we’ve been looking at the practicalities of getting a photography business off the ground – business plans, accountants and taxes, handling the realities of life as a freelancer etc. This is all new information to me and it’s been really valuable hearing the insights of working professionals in their respective fields.
This ongoing focus on professional practice has coincided with my own struggle to eke out a routine that accommodates my current photographic activities whilst also allowing room to develop them further, both creatively and professionally. One of my key personal objectives for this module is developing a method of approaching my work that isn’t hampered by the demands of my full-time job or other life events that may occur. I feel that developing a certain dogged relentlessness is a vital ingredient to becoming a better photographer and gives me the best chance of being a professional practitioner moving forward.
To this end, this week I’ve been thinking a lot about where the pressure points are in my weekly schedule that have made it so difficult for me to switch between my day job and the night photography in the past. Heading out on a shoot this week, I was struck by an incredible fatigue that didn’t allow me to stay focused or be creative at all. After being out an hour or so I returned home with a valuable lesson learned, about the importance of preparing the shoot properly, the importance of preparation of myself and my equipment etc. This isn’t a revelatory idea, but it’s more about the importance of standardising this into a routine that optimises the limited time I have and maximises the chances of me being productive when I’m out and about. I’m looking forward to taking the lessons forward into this week. One of my main frustrations with doing this MA while working full-time is the feeling that I could be doing so much better if I had more time and more energy to focus exclusively on the course. I often feel like my day job takes so much out of me that I have very little left to give to studying and shooting. Emily Stein’s quote from this week’s reading certainly resonated with me in this regard:
"After I finished college I worked part-time in a photo studio and assisting various photographers to make enough money. I think it’s really important that whatever work you get to support you, it will benefit or inspire your own work in some way. It is really easy to take on too much other work to make money, but this can end up taking up so much time that our own practice drops further and further into the background. So, I guess it’s about finding a balance between making money and making your own work so you can build a portfolio and start getting it out there."
Emily Stein, 2017
I’ve always struggled with the fact that my work overshadows my practice, sometimes just because of how involved and time-demanding it is. But as Stein states, it’s about finding a balance and that’s an absolutely key objective for me in this module.
As the research continues, I’ve been repeatedly fascinated by the experiences of various practitioners. As well as an underlying passion that fuels the pursuit of creative objectives (which I discussed last week) it’s been interesting to hear about other elements that are deemed to be vital to success. I’d say there’s an essential doggedness that’s required, to keep pursuing your dreams regardless of the repeated setbacks and rejections that one may encounter. This determination has to be allied to a self-confidence that you have something worthwhile and interesting to say with your work, that justifies the battle to ensure that others can see, and hopefully appreciate, it. This quote by Sister Arrow captures that idea for me, of believing in yourself and working to prove your point:
"Tell yourself how great you are, and how great you are going to be. Even if the evidence doesn’t quite match up yet. It will ;-)"
Sister Arrow, 2017
In the following week I will continue working on the development of this resilient and productive professional mindset that will allow me a chance at a sustainable practice moving forward.
References:
- MILLER, Sarah. 2017. ‘Katy Grannan Central Valley: A Conversation with Sarah M. Miller.’ Aperture, Spring2017, Issue 226, p80-89.
- IT’S NICE THAT. 2017. ‘How to go freelance: need-to-know advice from creatives who made it.’ itsnicethat.com [online]. Available at: https://www.itsnicethat.com/features/the-graduates-2017-advice-how-to-go-freelance-170517 [accessed 5 october 2017].
Sustainable Prospects: Week 1 Reflection
This week the word that I can’t seem to escape is ‘passion’. It’s the thing that got this all started, the unquenchable desire to take photos, to keep striving to capture something interesting, to challenge myself to be more creative, more technically competent, just better!
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