Wednesday 30 May 2012

Overview

Shown below is my new statement of intent for the second year as it was written in April -


Throughout the rest of the second year and the summer I need to gain a wider understanding of the photography and curation industries and develop my own skills in order to make a name for myself and gain work in the future. Below is a list of things I need do in order to achieve this -


I feel that I have achieved this to a certain degree and feel that my interest both personally and professionally in photography and curation is continuing to grow. In terms of my own photographic practice I am starting to understand the way in which client briefs work and working towards somebody else's vision. Furthermore I feel that I have learned a lot in regards to curation and publishing and this will thrive in my summer placement as Self Publish, Be Happy.


As mentioned in my previous posts I will be working with Self Publish Be Happy through June and then living and working in New York through July, I intend to get as much out of these as I can and continue networking in the way that I have to organise further work related learning and client briefs for the third year.


PLEASE NOTE 
- posts between September - February are fairly sporadic.
- posts between February - March show some development but are still not particularly well organised.
- posts from April onwards show my new Statement of Intent and mark a level of serious blogging since we were rebriefed after Christian leaving.

Friday 25 May 2012

CV

Here is an updated copy of my CV -


Thursday 24 May 2012

Features

Throughout the past year I have been featured on various photography websites, some of which I submitted to and some of which approached me. I feel this is a very important of PPD as it is the most basic level of having people worldwide see my work. It gives me the opportunity to share my photos with others and gives me an online presence which seems to be becoming more and more relevant in contemporary photography.

Here is the current list of features/interviews I have had on various photography sites -

Blood of the Young 12, 3,

Tuesday 22 May 2012

New York

For the month of July I am going to be living and working in New York, I am going to focus my attention on taking my own photographs and hopefully assisting other photographers. I am also using this as a networking opportunity and will be writing articles and interviews for Paul at Enough Magazine and seeking as much work related learning as possible. Essentially I am treating this as a working holiday in which I will network and make connections with possibly future clients.

Sunday 20 May 2012

Self Publish Be Happy - June

Having finalised details I will be moving to London and interning at Self Publish, Be Happy from the 4th June onwards. This will involve creating an collating content for the site and helping out in regards to the 
organisation and running of two main events.

Through this short internship I am intending to learn as much as I can about self publishing and promotion and the professional qualities that come with them. I am also hoping to use this opportunity to network and meet other like minded practitioners and professionals.


Friday 18 May 2012

F11 Photography Exhibiton

Fellow Vis Com student Laura Dove recently organised a photography exhibition in her basement, I was chosen to contribute to the show and help with the set up.

The show was titled F11 and can be read about in further detail here.


Monday 14 May 2012

Enough Magazine

I recently contacted Vis Com graduate and graphic designer Paul Price about his new project Enough Magazine, in order to find out if he needed or wanted anybody to contribute articles and interviews in relation to photography.

We had a chat and he has taken me on board to write a series of articles or interviews each month, again I will be using this to contact photographers  serving as research for myself and press for the website and project. This is a great example of the back log of Vis Com graduates that are available to contact in a kind of extended family tree, I will using this project to further my own knowledge in the editorial side of photography and make connections with photographers. It also allows me to make contact with Paul himself and any other friends or colleagues of his that will be involved in the project.

You can read my first article on Jonnie Craig's new book I'll Kick You in the Head With My Energy Legs here.


Saturday 12 May 2012

The Independent Photographers Union Presents: Blood of The Young

This is a poster for the second show I have been involved with as part of Holy Ghost, it was a joint show involving many of the UK based independent and DIY photographic publishers. It also coincided with a visit from Canadian publishers Blood of the Young and involved a large contribution from Australia based Hard Workers Club with drink sponsors form Sailor Jerry rum and Tiger beer. 

Due to the sheer amount of things that had to be organised for this event I was heavily involved in the curation and hanging of the show while Matt and Alex saw to other duties. This involved organising and hanging over 300 prints that had been submitted from worldwide sources.

Through this event I am now in professional and personal contact with a lot of practitioners of all ages and stages within their practice involving not only people from the UK but also spanning as far as Canada and Australia.
While in London I also managed to meet up with Bruno again and hand deliver a copy of my book Shiny Happy People, he was impressed with the content and aesthetic of the photos as well as the print and bind quality of the book. We also spoke again about me interning and he explained how there was not a position for the whole of summer but that I could work with them through June and that it w0uld be quite intense due to two large events coming up including a workshop with Pogo Books.

Thursday 10 May 2012

5/1

As part of the live project I have started an open submission project called 5 on 1. You can read more about it here - 5/1

By doing this I intend to further my skills in networking and communicating with other practitioners that are interested in similar fields such as photography and publishing. It will lead to me contacting and responding to various other practitioners and treating them as clients when it comes to printing the final zine. Upon doing this I will also experience working with a printers and the process involved in organising, curating, printing and finally selling a publication of other peoples work.

Wednesday 9 May 2012

Shiny Happy People

As part of the Live Project I have released a self published book titled Shiny Happy People. It is a series of photographs, taken at the age of twenty, that document the people around me and question the fine line between portraits and snapshots.
You can buy a copy here.

This was a long term project that I had planned for a while, it taught me how to edit down my own photos and deicide on what I thought was relevant to the project but also worthy of print. It also involved me sitting down with a graphic designer, Paul Howarth, to produce a layout and design that we believed was clean and minimal without being too empty. It was also another venture into printing and publishing that I feel has expanded my knowledge on professional practice and working with others.

I sold copies of this not only within the UK but as far as France, Spain, America and Canada to name a few, due to this I deemed this as both a personal and professional success.

Prior to it's release some of the photos were also featured on Self Publish Be Happy's Book to Come page - here. After this I was contacted by Bruno again complimenting me on my work and expressing interest in the book of which I later gave him a copy.

Tuesday 8 May 2012

Self Publish Be Happy Internship

As mentioned previously I applied for an internship at Self Publish, Be Happy and met the founder for a short interview in May. After this I was asked to produce dummy posts for the site in order to see if I would be suitable for the placement, these included Book to Come, Book of the Day, Self Publish Be Happy Hearts, Self Publish, Be Naughty and various other posts to show I was capable of the array of things the site offers. These were well received and I was asked to come into the office next time I was in London which would be the start of May.




Saturday 5 May 2012

Holy Ghost and Protein present: SIX SIX SIX

Below is a poster for first show I was involved with through Holy Ghost, six photographers were picked and each given a roll of film to shoot, we then took the films back, developed them and exhibited all 36 exposures from each artist before they had even seen them.  The exhibition itself was very last minute as Protein contacted us two weeks in advance with a weeks space to fill in their 18 Hewett Street Gallery.

I made it down to set up the show and finally meet my colleagues, my assumption was that I may be doing odd jobs but from the start I was involved with everything from getting things printed to curatorial decisions and hanging the final show. The show itself received nearly 300 visitors on it's opening night and is the largest event I have been involved with outside of an academic environment.

I also made contacts with the six photographers involved and others that had come for the show, this has lead to possible assisting jobs and further networking.

While in London I also managed to meet up with Bruno Ceschel, founder of Self Publish, Be Happy. I had originally contacted him based on an internship for summer and due to being in London at the time I managed to meet him for coffee and a short interview, this will be explained in further detail later.

Tuesday 1 May 2012

Holy Ghost

Prior to the Live Project I contacted Holy Ghost about an internship and/or work related learning, upon receiving a response I have been working alongside its two founding members. Matthew Ritson and Alexander Mcluckie, to curate the website, organise and curate events and write interviews.

This was mentioned previously on my PPD blog but I feel now that I can reflect on the work I have done and the events I have contributed too. I have learned what Holy Ghost is and the kind of photographic work they print, promote and support. I have also used my status as part of the team to contact otherwise unreachable professional photographers, essentially treating the interviews as research.

Through exhibitions I have made connections with many photographers and people that I otherwise would not have known, leading to a a summer internship and possible assisting jobs, explained later.

Now the Live Project has finished I have been given a reference from Matt, can be shown upon request, and a full time position as part of the team at Holy Ghost. This means that I will continue to produce content for the site and organise exhibitions, including a show currently being arranged in Leeds for September and work towards their quarterly printed publications.