Multifaceted Practitioner // Pablo Antoli Talk

As part of the Creative Exchange week we had a series of guest lectures which were all very interesting and covered a wide range of approaches and skills. Pablo Antoli was the first talk I attended in the week, he covered his career so far and the different types of work he is doing which is both personal and commercial. He spoke about how he uses commercial work in order to make money alongside doing documentary projects which he wishes to do.  He spoke about how his commercial work and the project and theory work seem disconnected to each other and is figuring out a way in which all his work may fit together. This was interesting as often as creatives we may find ourselves working on more than one project at one time, but this doesn't necessarily mean they have to be completely separate. 

The importance of assisting photographers and what this can achieve was something he also spoke about. Assisting can change your own workflow and in turn can change the outcome of your own work. This allows you to be exercising your own skills and at the same time developing more skills which is valuable to your own practice. He also said 'Find work through work' which was followed by how assisting photographers can also be a good way to network and it may open up other opportunities from there. Word of mouth between photographers can be a powerful tool in order to keep going but you've got to start. Which is another point he emphasised, to send the emails asking if a photographer needs an assistant is a great way to start.

In terms of his work he showed on the day, it was a mix of different work. From his commercial to his personal work which visually were very different. His personal work was documenting his travels, some were sculptural objects using layered and folded imagery which was an interesting way of working compared to other approaches, and he also spoke about his interest with how the photographic object behaves physically and its ability to produce truth and narrative which is something I feel like I'm interesting in within my own practice.    

Girl on Girl // Charlotte Jansen Talk

I attended the talk Charlotte Jansen did on her new publication Girl on Girl: Art and photography in the age of the Female Gaze. She talked through some of the many artists included within the book along with some further insights into her opinion and research on the topic. I found an interest in the Male Gaze through research and an essay last year so this was a great introduction into the evolving 'Female Gaze' within photography and female photographers. Throughout the talk Charlotte brought up some very interesting points and her opinion on the subject matter which I could also take away and think about. She made a point of the spaces images will be placed and how this can effect the way they are interpreted, for example how work presented on a digital platform can be interpreted differently to the same work being presented on the gallery wall for example...  This is something I can consider within my own practice now and within the future and how I can present it in a way that helps it to be interpreted the way I want it to and to its full potential. Although my current work isn't relevant to the female gaze in particular, it did allow me to think of my previous projects such as The Body which I produced last year and it will also allow me to think how I can approach similar projects in the future. Generally, it was a great insight into the Female Gaze and the upcoming rise of a collection of great female photographers. A great book, celebrating female photographers, that is an essential on anyones bookshelf!

Below are a selected few quotes that I took from the presentation:

Interim Exhibition // 1

This week we had our first interim exhibition for 1 image from the start of our projects. I produced this A2 print from my series in which I've started exploring my Grandma through object, place and the archive. I got some feedback into areas of improvement and what to do next and it was also useful listening to the feedback that was given to others as this may also inform development within my own project.

Baby Photoshoot

I recently photographed my 4 month old nephew. This was something completely new for me as I don't often do studio style work and photographing babies is something I haven't done before, with this in mind I was really happy with the final images I got and it's another aspect of photography to add to my portfolio. What this shoot also allowed me to do was edit a bulk of photographs at once which again taught me to work efficiently and allowed me to use photoshop skills and was a new element of my workflow. I did two separate photoshoots and noticed elements on the first that I then was aware of on the second which helped my work develop. On the second shoot, I also photographed him and his brother and then them as a family which brought more elements to be aware of, and gave a challenge of capturing exact moment.