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Photography Matters iii - The Open College of the Arts

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Photography Matters iii

Intermissions – Hardman’s Commercial Portraiture by Keith W Roberts, 2015
Intermissions – Hardman’s Commercial Portraiture by Keith W Roberts, 2015

The Photography Matters symposium is almost upon us and those who have booked and those yet to commit here’s an insight into what you can expect on the day. Previously I offered my extended thoughts on why I wanted to organise the symposium here, and this is a personal endeavour for me as well as a significant element of my research. The speakers come from disparate backgrounds but their research chimes in a variety of ways with my concerns – and enthusiasm – for photography.
Dawn Woolley will discuss how the selfie and its symbiotic relationship with celebrity and fashion culture subjugates, in particular, young women. I’ve encountered this in family life as well as work – as I’m sure many of you have too – I recall a teenager explaining to me how constrained she was to look exactly the same as her circle of friends, and part of this disciplining was exercised through the exchange of early morning selfies. Dawn also wants to explore how we can move on from this, like everything in photography and its relationship to our culture, nothing stands still, this provides artists and photographers with opportunities to shape the future.
The future is inextricably linked to the past, Keith Roberts, has worked with a large archive of portraits that not only remind us how much of the photographic exchange has changed but also how much of it has stayed the same. We want the camera to evidence change in us, we believe we can see evidence of inner lives on our skin, around our eyes and in our facial set. The photographic portrait is a vital link to ourselves.
An enduring quality of the photograph up until the advent of the digital was the tangible portability of the print, loved ones could live in your pocket. Now of course we carry whole family archives in our pockets. Rachel Smith revisits the era of tactility, of holding the object, the photograph, in your hand, and of how this materiality impacts on language and visualisation.
Making the invisible visible was the grail that inspired the photographic pioneers. Exposing phenomena that are too slow or too fast for our perception is what inspires the research of Derek Trillo. Photography is still a primary link to the wonders of our world whether the process is analogue or digital, reliant on technology or contextual information.
My own paper is concerned with that linkage between photography and its context. What if photography that looks like documentary is allied to texts and claims to be art is exhibited where people expect to see advertising? What do the public think, and what does an artist hope to achieve?
There are common threads running through much of the research, with elements that will have resonance for many of you as you study. Much of this will be pulled together (or teased apart!) through our chair, Professor Mark Durden. Mark’s synopses of ten selected photographs from Photography Today perfectly illustrate why photography matters, and how it can be discussed by the widest possible audience. It was influential in my decision to submit my latest exhibit to the BBC editorial processes and wide audience.
So, here’s why it will benefit you: you’ll get to hear up-to-the-minute examples of research from a wide selection of speakers – there really should be something for everyone; just the environment of being in a room with everyone presenting and discussing ideas at this level will buoy up your own research study and stimulate ideas in your own areas of practice; and, its a great chance to meet fellow students and tutors, plus the food’s good, and the theatre’s design and location is an inspiring example of genuine regeneration. And, if you’re arriving by train, exit through the Frenchgate Centre to have a look at my exhibit, The Desire Project, firsthand.
So do all have a serious think about attending the Photography Matters symposium in Doncaster on May 21.
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Posted by author: Les Monaghan

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