'The Impact Of The White Male Gaze'- My Opinions

The recent news of George Floyd’s death at the racist hands of the American Police, the world has been in uproar about the racism, police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement, but rightly so. With this in mind, I read through an article on Trigger Magazine titled The Impact Of The White Male Gaze by Savannah Dodd and Andrew Jackson. I felt that it was needed for me to come forward and speak on this issue as its something I believe in whole heartedly. I like to think I stand by fighting injustice when it comes to race, sex, gender, identity, health etc it’s something I have dealt with being a woman in the creative industry but I know many around me suffer at a larger degree, for instance my friends and peers dealing with racism daily. That is why I feel it necessary to talk about this issue because I do not stand by it and never will. Furthermore, given the current affairs happening worldwide in regards to the black lives matter movement I think its important for a white woman to use my voice for those who might feel silenced.

This article first came about because the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize in 2018 had all white male finalist who all produced portraits featuring black individuals as the subject matter. Now on the surface you might think ‘great finally black people are getting a platform’ but is that true, or are they being objectified and used as tokens for ones own success? Unfortunately, the latter appears to be more the case for many. You can’t help but feel like these images contribute to the objectification of black people in western society. As stated in the article, photojournalism connotes a degree of realism and truth behind it as you would expect, therefore anyone viewing it is going to believe what they see. Therefore, if you use someone’s skin colour to depict a stereotype just to aid your narrative, unfortunately all onlookers are going to see that as truth. If you’re wanting to pursue photojournalism you must use your voice, especially if you’re white, for the right reasons. If you use people of colour (poc) out of context just for your own success, people are going to believe that incorrect context, which ultimately is not fair. Now i’m not accusing these finalists of doing this, but you need to be aware of that consequence when being a photojournalist

Originally photojournalism was linked to colonialism because it was used to represent a group of people and their differing cultural beliefs in an untruthful and damaging way. Additionally, the same issues can be linked to the male gaze. Due to the historical patriarchal society we live in, men have believed its okay to represent women in an objectifying, untruthful manner. Unfortunately, due to this, photography has also been impacted in that way. Women are often represented as purely sexual beings especially in photography they are used just to please. I have even had this happen to me when a photographer told my peers and I that he ‘hires women as assistants to break the ice because they’re nice to look at’. Whereas when looking at women of colour (woc) they are represented as the opposite of this, they are rather seen as something negative. WOMEN CAN NEVER WIN.

The current exposure on the black lives matter movement has created a rise in all issues with equality, many people are believing that the term ‘black lives matter’ is non-inclusive and promotes the idea that not all lives matter. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. All lives matter of course but black lives are struggling more and have done throughout history. This is why we all need to stand in solidarity and use our white voices to speak for those who are not listened to. In terms of the BLM movement during lockdown, unfortunately we cannot wait for a pandemic to be over to fight racial injustice, I understand that right now is not the best time to be protesting in large groups but black people risk their lives everyday by just walking down the street, so I think we can risk ours for one day (obviously if you’re healthy to do so). Furthermore, protests are not going to stop until all lives matter and all lives will not matter until black lives matter. The only way black lives are going to matter are if we fix the broken society we live in, based on a system built on oppression. This fight should be no different in the photographic industry. We as photographers need to use our history stopping, truth telling platform to expose the reality of racism and racial police brutality. In fact we are at an advantage because we have a tool that excuses our need to expose racism, that tool being our camera.

In conclusion, I hope that this short but sweet post sums up the archaic, unnecessary and ridiculous nature of racism throughout history and specifically now, in the 21st century. It is not needed. It benefits no one. Therefore, I hope this encourages the photographic community to pick up their cameras and speak out against racial injustice. Please read through the article mentioned above (i will leave a link at the end) because it discusses the issue in more detail and more technically than I ever could. Just remember BLACK LIVES MATTER ALWAYS.

https://www.fomu.be/trigger/articles/the-impact-of-the-white-male-gaze

How i'm feeling about the end of university- looking over the past 3 years...

I feel like i’m more shocked I made it through the past three years more than anyone else. This whole university experience has been truly life changing and i’m definitely going to miss it a lot. I studied photography at GCSE through to A-Level and it was the only subject I enjoyed and felt at peace doing. Suffering with anxiety and depression made education really hard but my photography lessons filled me with so much calm and ease because there was no pressure, I could create what I wanted (within reason). After taking a year out, to have a break from education, I then joined university with very basic technical skills in photography, editing, lighting etc etc and that scared me because it thought everyone was going to be much better than me; but the tutors soon proved that did not matter. First year was tough, I had no idea what I was doing, I was so incredibly anxious (I couldn’t even step into lidl I was so anxious) and I felt that I wasn’t ever going to progress. At the end of that year things went from bad to worse and I was ready to drop out. However, I decided to stick with it, which is when I started getting help for my mental health and even started medication, which saved me to some degree. Furthermore, James Arthur Allen was introduced as my tutor and he changed my mindset COMPLETELY. I started exposing myself to a wider range of photographic genres and photographers themselves, as well as not putting a label on my work. Although I still struggled mentally with talking about my work, I started pushing myself to show my work to visiting photographers and actively started taking part in crits more often. Second year really shaped myself and my photography, I started to explore what I was interested in; i started looking at my family, my mum’s paganism, spirituality, symbols, construction and more. Hitting my third and final year I was more motivated than ever and I finally achieved my first ever FIRST which was great for my confidence because I had spent two years seeing all my peers reaching that first level, but not myself. I am now finishing off my final ever university project and its the most bittersweet feeling ever. On the one hand I am so proud of how far i’ve come, how much i’ve grown up and the way my photography has progressed but on the other hand I am so sad uni is over because i’ve met my best friends and the BEST tutors ever and I never want to lose those relationships (but i guess i’m also so relieved the stress is over haha).

At this stage I feel really motivated and confident in launching myself into the real world but i still struggle with that idea of imposter syndrome, am I actually good enough for the photographic industry? I don’t know, I guess only time will tell. What I do know though is that as long as I work hard and am confident, I will get where I want in my life. Right now i’m focusing on trying to find a place to live, settle and get a job for now before I start getting stuck into new photographic practices. I have lots of ideas in mind in terms of personal projects as well as career paths. I would like to use the next five years to take a break from education and then start researching where I would like to do my MA in photography, because i’m currently playing with the idea of lecturing. The reason I am so interested in this is because I feel so incredibly grateful for everything my tutors have taught me over the past three years, not just in photography but also life lessons, and I would like to pass my knowledge on to the next generation. Most importantly, right now I am proud of myself and my photography. I owe an awful amount to the past three years and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for me.

Visiting Speaker- Laia Abril

On the 20/5/20 we had Laia Abril come along to our virtual uni and give a lecture and tutorial to us. In Laia’s lecture she spoke specifically about her work titled On Abortion which features in her series called A History of Misogyny which currently has four chapters: On Abortion, On Rape, On Mass Hysteria and Menstruation Myths. Abril’s work consists of hard hitting subjects, specifically targeting the injustices women have received throughout history and issues women continue to deal with. Given the broad and in depth nature of the themes, Abril decided to just talk about one which was On Abortion which depicts the history of abortion and the damaging effects the lack of abortion laws has had on women around the world. What made Abril’s talk so astounding was that she didn’t shy away from the harsh realities of the history of abortion and used real testaments to explain this. I think this talk taught me that if you’re going to tackle an extremely sensitive topic you must show the realities of that, whether it be too harsh or not. However, Abril did touch on the fact that if you are going to do that, then you obviously have to be very conscious of the people that you are involving in that project. For instance, many of the women involved in On Abortion had to partake in illegal activities, just to get them themselves the necessary treatment to carry out the abortions. Therefore, Abril had to be very careful not to expose them necessarily, which is not easy when publishing your work, because you hope that it will be shown to the masses. This really puts in to perspective the importance of considering your audience, and dissemination of your work. Listening to Abril talk she really emphasised the importance of audience and research, which is something that has been key throughout the past three visiting speakers. They really couldn’t come at a better time for us third years because we are really having to carefully consider our research and where we hope our own projects will take us after university.

During the tutorial, Laia gave some great advice to me for my project and the routes i should take it in the future. Due to my project focusing on such a broad subject matter and because of the developments it has made since the start, she suggests that it might be a good idea to have separate chapters to the body of work. For example, Abril suggested that in the future i might want to just explore my mum for one chapter, then explore women for another, my own personal journey etc. Overall i think this is a very wise idea, and something i had also been considering, just because i feel like i have so much i want to explore under the overall subject, that it might be too much to pack into one body of work.

It was really amazing to hear from another strong woman in photography, especially one dealing with such important topics, and it has really inspired me to push my beliefs. Laia Abril was a great photographer to end our run of visiting speakers at Bath Spa and i can’t express how important these talks have been over the past three years. They have taught me that photography isn’t easy and that you have to fight for what you want in the industry but we can do it. They have also taught me that at the end of the day we’re all photographers in the same industry and that no matter how much acknowledgement they have gotten over the years, they’re still normal people dealing with the same issues we all deal with. Although that seems obvious, its still comforting to hear that from the people you respect the most.

Career Path Case Study- Freelance Photographer

I don’t see this as a full time career path as i see myself having a range of paths to make up my whole career. I understand that being a freelance photographer is not the most reliable career path because work comes and goes, projects take time etc but at the end of the day we all have to make money some how. Therefore, for me, I see freelance photography as an opportunity to carry on creating my own photographic work because I enjoy it, with the possibility of making money as well. Post uni I would love the opportunity to assist a professional photographer as a way to gain some more experience, and expose myself to professional shoots with the little experience I have. I feel like this would also be a great way to stay in contact with other photographers as well as having the opportunity to see how freelancing works. Additionally, I feel like it could be a great way to gain further technical knowledge from another person, especially someone who may have different skills and techniques to you. Therefore in terms of a plan, I feel as though five years is a good number to work towards. In five years I would like to:

• Move into my own flat

• get a part time job to help fund living and producing work

• create my own photographic projects that I am passionate about

• contact different organisations to try and get my work out there

• enter awards or bursaries etc to help boost those projects on

• look into getting my MA

As I have previously shown in another post I have two different types of CVs i’ll be working with throughout this process. I have a professional business style CV that I have used in the past for getting part time jobs during before and during uni. This is the CV i’ll be using to get a general job to help fund my living costs, own project making and working towards my MA. However, I also have an arts style CV that I have been making which is similar to my general one as I don’t have much experience actually in the industry yet. With this being said i have targeted the information towards the arts industry and have included things like any shows i’ve been involved in as well as my aims in the industry.

Furthermore, in order to keep going as a freelance photographer I understand that i’m going to have to keep up with things such as my website, in order to keep relevant and modern but I am also going to have to keep up to date with networking in order to stay connected. Therefore, I am going to strive to stay connected with my peers from university as well as make sure to attend events, galleries, talks etc in order to meet new up and coming photographers.

The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker

From the recommendation of Kelly O’Brien I have started reading The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker which discusses man’s inability to accept death. Becker uses Freudian theory and psychoanalysis to support his life’s study and often refers back to this throughout his discussions. The basic overview of Becker’s thesis is that us humans are mortal beings and we are aware of that. Meaning that we are subject to dying and we know that the day we die will come at some point. However, Becker believe that the reason so many people have a fear of dying is because if we were subject to the possibility that we could die any second, we’d be anxious at all times. Therefore, the brain creates this denial of death as a coping mechanism. Nevertheless, Becker believe that some of the consequences because of this can be quite dangerous. For example, if you look at Religion, Becker believes religion or ‘immortality system’ as he refers to it, are created as a way to provide ultimate immortality reasoning. However, this ultimate belief in this one system then causes disagreements between others and causes violence and death. In my opinion that makes religions rather contradictory. However, Becker does go on to discuss those select people who do believe in religion but are detached from the immortal side of it. This is where he brings in psychoanalysts Kierkegaard who argues that some people are able to face up to the ultimate reality of death, such as Zen Buddhists. At this point, Becker refers to Ortega who says, “the man with the clear head is the man who frees himself from lose fantastic ‘ideas’… and looks life in the face, realises that everything is problematic”. That’s a basic overview of the book, but it goes in to a lot more detail and brings in philosophy, psychology, medical views etc as a way to explain this denial of death. I haven’t read the whole book yet, just sections as I have found it’s the sort of theory you need to read little sections at a time as it can be quite over whelming. I am yet to read the sections on mental health and Otto Rank, which I am excited to read as I think it will apply a lot to my practice. However, so far, I am really enjoying the read and a lot of it makes sense in my mind which is really refreshing as I sometimes find theory quite hard to understand. Furthermore, I feel like this theory I am going to be able to relate to my image making, such as this idea of anxiety surrounding death and the fear that entails. Additionally, looking at the idea of religion in regard to death is perfect when looking at the religion of spiritualism.

Visiting Speaker- Kelly O'Brien

On 29/04/20 we had Kelly O’Brien come and visit to give us a lecture about her work and then a tutorial for a few of us to discuss our work. Like all our visiting speakers Kelly started with discussing her own work and inspirations. Kelly discovered photography in her late teens after struggling with getting along at school. She then went onto studying film and media before falling in love with photography, going on to study it at Nottingham Trent University. However, she found this to a challenging experience and it wasn’t until her final third year that she was able to create work that she was proud of. At this stage O’Brien really discovered what she was interested in which was creating work that dealt with class and society. Here is where she went onto be interested in working with the migrant workers she knew. Additionally this lead onto her project about her house mate Osman Mohammed who was an asylum seeker that ultimately committed suicide due to the ill treatment he received from the government. Kelly’s work was driven by anger, resentment and sadness about what had just happened. This launched Kelly into working across Europe in activism for migrants and refugees.

Yellow Feather of a Bulbul Bird- Project about Osman Mohammed

However, I am most interested in Kelly’s project titled Are You There which is an investigation into her Dad’s death with the help of psychic mediums. The reason i am so interested in this project is because my Final Major Project also has links to spiritualism and mediumship. It was really great showing this project to Kelly because it was interesting to get a perspective from someone who knows a lot about the subject matter. Overall Kelly’s feedback was very beneficial to me and encouraging. Kelly taught me that its important to have an element to the project that grounds the viewer in reality. This is because working with something that is intangible to the viewer makes it for that person to stay connected, they need something familiar that helps guide them through the project as a whole. This is why i’m going to be using images from my home that are familiar to all people to help be that grounding element. Furthermore, Kelly suggested I read The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker which elaborates on the idea that we as humans are living in perpetual fear of death that we subconsciously suppress.

Overall Kelly’s talk and feed back was so incredibly inspiring for me, I feel as though Kelly and I have very similar interests and outlooks in life and it felt really good to openly have a discussion about those opinions. Additionally, Kelly’s talk made me feel as though becoming a photographer was feasible and made me lose that element of imposter syndrome I had been experiencing.

CV- General and Art

Here I have given an example of my normal CV I use to get all my previous part time jobs before and during uni. Additionally i will continue to build on this CV and use it to get any standard work to help fund my photography and MA. However, I will also have an arts CV to help me in the photographic industry.

Here I have attached my arts CV. Right now, its fairly similar to my normal CV because I haven’t got any work in the industry yet but i’ve tried to aim the CV a bit more towards the arts by mentioning my aims and previous shows i’ve done.

Career Path Case Study- Masters degree

Coming up to the end of my BA I have realised how much i attribute to the course and the tutors that have made it all possible for me. Before now I never really considered a masters because I always thought I wasn’t good enough for one, it was a lot of extra money and I felt I wasn’t going to need one. However, all these views have been turned around recently. These past three years have made me develop a love for photography and learning, something that I had lost during school and college. Therefore, I would really like to go on to get my masters and improve my knowledge further. However, before I go for my Masters Degree there are a few things i need to consider first.

First of all where to go. At this stage of my life right now I feel like its hard to know where i am going to be at the point of getting my Masters. For the next year I will be staying in Bath but i don’t know how long i’ll be staying there and corona virus could change those plans completely. However, I feel if I could go anywhere I would be interested in studying at UWE in Bristol or RCA in London, because I have done some brief research on both and spoken to photographers who have studied at both and have heard very good things. I know I can’t base my studies off of someone else’s experiences but right now I feel like its a good place to start. Furthermore, both Bristol and London are places I would want to end up in the future, which i think is also very important to consider because I will end up living there for the entirety of the degree and potentially after as well.

Furthermore, I will need to consider finance and my eligibility. Much like a BA course an MA costs a lot, we are talking £7,000 and up. Obviously this is a lot of money for anyone to come up with on the spot so I would definitely need to consider the prospect of getting funding. After researching on the Gov website, I think I would most likely be eligible for a Masters loan because I will be studying for an MA, I won’t be receiving any other student finance, I won’t have any other post graduate qualifications, i’m a UK National etc- these are all types of conditions that have to be considered.

With this all being said I don’t plan on doing my masters for a few years yet, currently I would like to complete it in the next 5 years or so to give me a break from my BA course, give me some time to settle down into life more and also earn some money first. Additionally, giving myself that extra time will allow me to do the necessary research as well as give me time to think about whether I definitely want to do the degree rather than rushing into it. On the other hand, I also need to consider the fact that I will be moving in with my boyfriend next year so i will need to consider where we will be living and working at that time too, so there will be more factors to consider in the future as well.

However, at this stage in my life I definitely plan on doing my masters so I can extend my knowledge in photography and use it to lead onto further career plans, such as lecturing. I am really hopeful that this plan will go forward in the future because it is definitely something I would love to pursue and push myself to do.

Career Path Case Study- Lecturer

When thinking about work after university I would consider becoming a photography lecturer. I have been thinking about this recently because I am so grateful for my lecturers and everything they have taught me over the past 3 years. Therefore, I would love to pass on my knowledge to other aspiring photographers. Furthermore, I feel that it would be a great way to also stay connected to the industry and inspire me to progress.

With that being said, I have no experience in the teaching industry, therefore that will be something I need to gain to develop those skills. In terms of a future plan here is what i’m thinking for my first years after university.

1 Year Plan:

• Get my flat in Bath

• Get a standard job to earn some money

• settle into non-uni life

• start looking into ways i can gain experience within the teaching industry

• KEEP MAKING WORK

I would like to complete this in the first year post uni as a start to gaining money and heading in the right direction for a career. Alongside this i obviously want to carry on producing my own projects on the side, which I know may be difficult but I know that it is vital to my life and that i love to do it so why would i stop? I know I would be working full time, so that doesn’t give me a lot of spare time to complete these things but I feel like the knowledge, connections and satisfaction would be worth it.

In terms of actually becoming a lecturer I am aware this will be quite a long term investment and will take a lot of time and effort. In the next five years I would like to carry on making my own work, in the hopes to make some kind of name for myself, but I would also like to look into getting my MA in that time. Furthermore, I want to keep studying and becoming knowledgable in my craft.

For me personally, I feel like i need to trust the process of this journey and take it slow. I find i can get quite caught up in getting things done straight away rather than slowing down and taking time to complete things. I think this is relevant to this career plan too, I need to be aware that it will take time to complete this. Therefore, I’m planning in the next 5 years to:

• Get a flat

• get a job

• keep making work
  - along with making books etc

• stay within the industry
  - attend talks
  - attend shows
  - netwrok

• Look into getting some experience within the teaching industry
  - specifically in the arts

• Get my MA
  - going to need to research where I want to go
  - look into funding/finance (not sure how that works with an MA)

Finally within the next 10 years i want to do all of that and then move on into lecturing.

Visiting Speaker- Alexandra Lethbridge

We were lucky enough to have Alexandra (Ally) Lethbridge come and give a lecture about her work and then a tutorial advising us on our work. Ally first went into details about her education, pre her career which started with her studying a BA in graphics and photography. Ally then made the tough decision to sell everything she owned to fulfil a dream of moving to New York. Once in New York, she was conscious that she would need to be working in order to pay for the the lifestyle in New York. This is where Ally was lucky enough to meet Joel Meyerowitz at a talk and book signing who introduced her to his assistant and got her a job. Ally then became a studio assistant for Meyerowitz alongside starting studies at the International Center of Photography, where she spent the next 2.5 years.

After 2.5 years in New York, Ally’s visa was finishing up and she was stuck between whether to stay in New York or head back home to London. She thought it would be a good idea to write a list of things, people etc that would make going to London worthwhile. One of these people on the list was Tim Walker who Ally admired greatly, so she decided to write an email to his people and asked if she could be considered for an assistants role. Unfortunately this was declined due to Tim Walker having a huge team already, but Ally didn’t want to take no for an answer so offered her work in the offices/business side. Luckily enough they were happy to welcome her to the team and Ally worked on the business side of things before it led to a studio assistant job. However, this was only a few days a week so Ally reached out to Venetia Dearden and became her studio manager.

After that great start to Ally’s career she decided to focus on her work more and studied for her MA in photography at Brighton. During this time she discovered Photoworks, where she now works part time.

In terms of Ally’s own work, she is a very conceptual artist who uses a lot of archive within her own projects. I am particularly interested in her body of work called ‘The Meteorite Hunter’ which is an archival hunt for meteorites and the places they come from. This project follows the fictitious meteorite hunter, documenting the artefacts found, the places they might be found, archival images and constructed images. However, this body of work is so much more than just a hunt for meteorites, it’s actually a metaphor for finding treasures in the mundane of everyday life. I think there are many reasons why this project appeals to me so much. For starters the style of this project is something reminiscent of what I would like my current project to look like. For example, the use of layering, illustration alongside the original photography. Furthermore, the eclectic mix of archive, construction and still life that complement each other so well in a non-linear way is exactly what I hope to achieve.

It was really lovely listening to Ally talk, she made the idea of becoming a photographer much more achievable. I sometimes feel a bit like an imposter when wanting to become a photographer and i sometimes feel that its an unachievable career for me. However, it’s great to hear from people that start off in the same place as you progress so greatly in a seemingly smooth way. Overall, i feel inspired and motivated to keep going and strive for my dream career.

Writing Masterclass with Colin Pantall

This is the first masterclass with Colin Pantall which focused on the ways in which we should write for all different types of scenarios. However, our main focus was on how to write a statement for Source Magazine. Colin wanted to remind us that when writing we should consider

• who are you writing for ?

• what are you writing?

• what are you trying to convey?

• how can you interest people?

Colin emphasised the importance writing and considering your writing before putting it out there. Currently we are working towards writing a piece for our Source Magazine submissions, therefore the conversation was leaning towards that type of writing more. For example, we were advised that writing in first person makes the piece a lot more personable and therefore more relatable for the reader. Furthermore, its less suggestive of yourself, it humbles your writing more.

• for source:
  - 1st person
  - make it specific
  - avoid key words and abstractions
  - look at some good previous examples

• The pitch:
  - select key points
  - what is the story?
  - what is interesting? (remember colin’s butterfly story)
  - what will connect?
  - who is your audience?

With all this in mind, I am going to re-word my current statement for Phantom Pain, which is the project I am going to submit for SOURCE Magazine. I want to create a more personal statement that doesn’t gloss over the subject matter, but delves slightly deeper.

Mack Books LIVE- Maja Daniels

Talk and film screening on her book Elf Dalia

Maja Daniels’ book Elf Dalia is about the ancient language of Elfdalian, originating from Alvdalen in Sweden which was spoken by her grandparents, particularly when they didn’t want her to know what they were saying. The Elfdalian language is still spoken today, which is confusing because the community was not strictly private, which is why Daniels is striving to preserve it. When Daniels started looking into this project she became infatuated with the archive that a man from Alvdalen accumulated. This man was called Tenn Lars Persson and he created a 5000 piece archive of images from Alvdalen. it Particularly references the commencement of the Swedish witch trials which occurred during the 16th century when a young girl was accused of walking on water.

Daniels used the archive to create her own interpretation of a narrative and uses her own colour images alongside as a way to support that narrative. Furthermore, she uses colour, exposure and light leaks to really strike a clear contrast between the archive and her own imagery. In terms of sequencing Daniels said that she uses the moon images to ground you in the sequence. Daniels feels this is necessary because she is trying to depict language which is something ultimately invisible. Furthermore, she recognises the preserving ability of photography and feels its the only accessible way to her to preserve the language.

This talk was only 20 mins, so Daniels didn’t go into a great deal of detail but she ended on talking about her collaboration with a sound cloud artist. This artist originally wanted to use one of her images as a cover for his playlist. However, when Daniels listened to the playlist she felt it resonated with her work so she asked to collaborate and created a film using her imagery and his music.

I was lucky enough to be gifted this book and I absolutely love it. The book is so poetic and illustrative of a place and it’s people, the sense of community is potent and it gives you a realistic insight into Elf Dalia.

COVID-19 Virtual University

In March 2020 Bath Spa University found out that it was going to have to go virtual due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Unfortunately, for the arts this was going to pose as quite a challenge. Additionally, for us third years this was quite a shock, 3 years of our degree cut short, no graduation in summer, no degree show- we were all so disappointed and upset. Many of us felt as though we had worked tirelessly for three years for it to be taken away from us and for us not be be able to create the perfect final major project was scary. However, I guess lucky for Bath Spa we’re lucky enough to have amazingly encouraging tutors who powered us on and have now made us realise the benefits to this disaster.

We’ve had a couple weeks of isolation now and I feel as though I am seeing the benefits of it in relation to my work. My project focuses on Spiritualism, I was originally going to document the Spiritualist churches in my surrounding areas but obviously due to lockdown this eventually became impossible. Therefore, I had to change the way I looked at the subject matter. Thinking back to previous tutorials, discussions occurred about capturing the feeling of spiritualism, after all its an invisible way of life. Therefore, i have been focusing on the idea of ‘energy’ whether that be using light or movement as a way of capturing the feeling of energy related to spiritualism.

I’m currently waiting for film and scan to come back to me (its been 2 weeks though) but after that I will update further on how the project during isolation is going.

Tom Hunter- Visiting Speaker

On 3/3/20 Tom Hunter came and gave a tutorial and lecture to us. Unfortunately this was quite a negative experience for me. Confidence is quite a difficult thing for me and I find it very hard to talk to people, especially other photographers, about my work. After struggling with my mental health my whole life and taking a turn at the start of university, I wanted to create a project about mental health, without the stereotypical negativity and taboo surrounding it. My main focus was to create stand alone images that would create a talking point. This resulted in my project called ‘Phantom Pain’ which happened to be the project I showed Hunter. Prior to this Hunter made some comments which I found very disagreeable and archaic so this kind of set the tone for the rest of the session. Unfortunately, Hunter found my work to be disrespectful and accused me of joking about mental health, which was obviously painful to hear given my past. I found this slightly ironic after him describing mental health issues as the same as ‘having a row with someone’ which I ultimately found to be a slight kick in the teeth because if I could trade years of mental pain for a row with someone, I think I would in a heart beat.

With that being said, I think it’s important to focus on the positives I could take from this experience. I feel as though this experience gave me an insight into the views of SOME of the white, male community within the photographic industry which I will no doubt encounter in the future. This experience will hopefully prepare me for this and enable me to dig deep and respond to these people in the accurate and professional manner I should as a young female creative. Furthermore, it has taught me that you are well within your right to defend your work and speak out when you feel it appropriate to do so. Unfortunately, we still live in a misogynistic world but as a woman it’s important to fight this at all costs and to remember you don’t owe anyone anything.

Visiting Speaker: Jack Latham

In 2019 my fellow course mates and I were lucky enough to have a private tutorial and lecture from Jack Latham, who is a photographer I admire greatly. Jack Latham is a UK based photographer who recently published his his project called ‘Parliament of Owls’ (images featured at the end of this post) which is a documentary piece surrounding the elusive, private club called Bohemian Grove.

At this point in time I had just finished my ‘The Modern Day Croppie’ (TMDC) project and had only just started ‘Phantom Pain’. With this in mind I showed TMDC to Jack during our tutorial. Jack was such a great voice to hear from, especially in regards to this project as its a more documentary series, but also Jack’s young experience was something so relatable to us all. Furthermore, the recognition and success Jack has recently gained is something to learn from as a young creative. Jack gave us a top tip to think of one word to describe our projects and throughout the creation of future projects, that we can always refer back to that will prompt us when we are lost. This was great to hear as I often find I will get part way through a project and then doubt myself, losing my way slightly. For instance, my current project is all about Spiritualism and the documentation of an invisible feeling, especially during COVID-19. Therefore, my word that grounds me during this project is ‘energy’ this is because my project focuses on documenting the energy present during spiritualism and psychic mediums. Additionally, I am taking a fine art approach to image making for this body of work, therefore I am using a lot of movement, blur and layering in my images which ultimately creates an energetic tone.

In addition to the tutorial, Jack also gave a lecture in the evening all about his work, in particular on ‘Parliament of Owls’. Jack gave us a run down of working up from education to the real world and the realities of funding for major projects like this. Along with this, Jack went into detail about the whole body of work in the most depth i’ve ever heard whilst still being so engaging. It was not just fascinating to hear about this amazing project but it really taught me that there is a lot to learn in regards to talking in public and talking about your work. I feel like although I know my projects like the back of my hand, I sometimes find it hard to convey that to other people.

Furthermore, seeing the amount of research Jack did when completing this project was really inspiring. The depth Jack went in for all aspects of this project was really inspiring. Something that particularly stood out to me was the creativity in the range of ways to represent the subject matter. He used portraits, landscapes, still life, fine art, archive etc basically everything as a way to portray the idea and reality of bohemian grove.

Overall I found Jack and his work to be highly inspiring for my practice. I feel like at this point I had a turning point in my work and the way I make my work. After this I went on to create ‘Phantom Pain’ which is was my highest graded piece of work so far as well as a project I am most proud of so far. With that in mind I feel as though I need to carry on channeling that inspiration and trust in myself to continue the image making that i’m proud of.

Jack’s website: https://www.jacklatham.com/