A Photographic Life

There is a renewed interest today in created photography and the world of spirits, ghosts and the supernatural but physical proof of such entities is rarely evidenced. A fascination with photographing the after-life and manipulated photography can be traced back to the early days of the medium, when Victorian photographers claimed to repeatedly capture proof that those that had passed remained among us. In this special episode UNP founder and curator Grant Scott uses research first completed by Bill Jay to explore the world of those photographers who claimed to photograph those that we cannot see.

Dr.Grant Scott

After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work as a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), and What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006) and Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers (Cafe Royal Books 2012). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.

All music written and performed by Professor Laura Ritchie © Laura Ritchie 2018

© Grant Scott 2023

In episode 251 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on the importance of magazine photography, finding subject matter, respecting popular culture and possibly the first ever touring exhibition of contemporary photography in the UK.

Plus this week, photographer Carolyn Mendelsohn takes on the challenge of supplying Grant with an audio file no longer than 5 minutes in length in which she answer’s the question ‘What Does Photography Mean to You?’

Carolyn Mendelsohn originally trained as an actor and director, before moving into filmmaking, and then photography. Her practice is rooted in telling stories and amplifying the voices of those who are not always heard. Mendelsohn is recognised for her portraits, including her portrait series and 2020 book, Being Inbetween, and is the founder of Through Our Lens, a workshop and mentoring programme that enables people to tell their stories through the medium of photography. Her work has been exhibited internationally, with solo and group exhibitions in national galleries across the UK and Europe, and has been published by the BBC, in The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, La Monde and the British Journal of Photography amongst many others. Mendelsohn’s awards include BJP Portrait of Britain 2017, 2019 and 2021, and she was the winner of the Single Image Award for Open Wall Arles.  She was the Finalist in the The Kuala Lumpa International Portrait Awards 2021, The Royal Photographic Society International Photography exhibitions RPS IPE 159 gold and finalist for RPS IPE 160. In 2020, Carolyn was named winner of the Portrait Series category for the 15th Julia Margaret Cameron Awards. She is the Artist in Residence for Born In Bradford and a Nikon Europe Ambassador and an Ambassador for the Royal Photographic Society. www.carolynmendelsohn.com

Dr. Grant Scott is the founder/curator of United Nations of Photography, a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, a working photographer, documentary filmmaker, BBC Radio contributor and the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was first screened in 2018 www.donotbendfilm.com. He is the presenter of the A Photographic Life and In Search of Bill Jay podcasts.

© Grant Scott 2023

In episode 250 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on making photography accessible, buying cheap cameras, encouraging the photographers of tomorrow and entering AI images to photo competitions.

Plus this week, photographer Luke Stephenson takes on the challenge of supplying Grant with an audio file no longer than 5 minutes in length in which he answer’s the question ‘What Does Photography Mean to You?’

Luke Stephenson was born on New Year's day, 1983 in Darlington, North-East England. Life in Britain and the British psyche are at the core of Stephenson's work, which ranges from prize budgerigars to the World Beard and Moustache Championships. He graduated in 2005 the same year he was awarded the Jerwood Photography Prize and in 2006 he was selected as one of ten photographers to showcase their work at the International Festival of Fashion and Photography at Hyeres, France. His work has been published in a variety of publications including The New York Times Magazine, The Guardian, Dazed & Confused, Foam, Art Review and Wallpaper*. Stephenson has published four photo books to date; his first Show Birds published in 2012 and the second published in 2014 a series exploring the wonderful world of the '99-ice-cream'.  In 2019 he published a book looking at the English Rose from the esteemed grower David Austin and his most recent book British Record Fish was published in 2021. www.lukestephenson.com

Dr. Grant Scott is the founder/curator of United Nations of Photography, a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, a working photographer, documentary filmmaker, BBC Radio contributor and the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was first screened in 2018 www.donotbendfilm.com. He is the presenter of the A Photographic Life and In Search of Bill Jay podcasts.

© Grant Scott 2023

In episode 249 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on the self-taught photographer, announcing a new Photographers Archive, and talking about the 'Photo Book Vandal'.

Plus this week, photographer Greg Hunt takes on the challenge of supplying Grant with an audio file no longer than 5 minutes in length in which he answer’s the question ‘What Does Photography Mean to You?’

Greg Hunt is an American filmmaker, photographer, and visual artist based in Los Angeles who began making photographs in the mid-1990’s as a professional skateboarder when he was given given a Minolta X-700 and two lenses, a 50mm 1.4 and a fisheye. Shortly after he began making stills he began experimenting with motion picture film, eventually transitioning to work behind the lens full-time. Greg has since created some of skateboarding’s most seminal films, along with a multitude of documentaries, commercials, and music videos. Two books of his stills have been published Ninety-Six Dreams, Two Thousand Memories in 2018 and 20th Century Summer in 2021. The Ninety-Six Dreams, Two Thousand Memories and his Between the Lines bodies of work were exhibited in Tokyo in 2020. www.huntfilmwork.com

Dr. Grant Scott is the founder/curator of United Nations of Photography, a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, a working photographer, documentary filmmaker, BBC Radio contributor and the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was first screened in 2018 www.donotbendfilm.com. He is the presenter of the A Photographic Life and In Search of Bill Jay podcasts.

© Grant Scott 2023

In the fifth episode of this monthly conversation series Grant Scott speaks with editor, writer and curator of photography Bill Shapiro. In an informal conversation each month Grant and Bill comment on the photographic environment as they see it. In this episode they reflect on what makes a successful website for a photographer and a client.

Bill Shapiro

Bill Shapiro served as the Editor-in-Chief of LIFE, the legendary photo magazine; LIFE’s relaunch in 2004 was the largest in Time Inc. history. Later, he was the founding Editor-in-Chief of LIFE.com, which won the 2011 National Magazine Award for digital photography. Shapiro is the author of several books, among them Gus & Me, a children’s book he co-wrote with Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and, What We Keep, which looks at the objects in our life that hold the most emotional significance. A fine-art photography curator for New York galleries and a consultant to photographers, Shapiro is also a Contributing Editor to the Leica Conversations series. He has written about photography for the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, the Atlantic, Vogue, and Esquire, among others. Every Friday — more or less — he posts about under-the-radar photographers on his Instagram feed, where he’s @billshapiro.

Dr.Grant Scott

After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work as a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), and What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006) and Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers (Cafe Royal Books 2012). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.

Mentioned in this episode:

Saul Leiter: was an American photographer and painter whose early work in the 1940s and 1950s was an important contribution to what came to be recognised as the New York school of photography.  www.saulleiterfoundation.org

Amy Lombard: Her bold and colorful work has landed her editorial clients from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post to companies like Puma, Google, HBO and more. www.amylombard.com

Jesse Adler http://jessieadler.squarespace.com

© Grant Scott 2023

In episode 247 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed picking up some odds and ends concerning social media, engagement, truth versus fiction and hanging photographs.

Plus this week, photographer Deborah Parkin takes on the challenge of supplying Grant with an audio file no longer than 5 minutes in length in which she answer’s the question ‘What Does Photography Mean to You?’

Deborah Parkin lives with her family and animals in the wild North Pennines, Northumberand. Her work is rooted in family life and her environment utilising a variety of mediums, from large format to digital and traditional alternative processes such as Wet Plate Collodion, Bromoil, Albumen, Cyantotype and Silver Gelatin. Before becoming a photographer and mother Parkin spent many years in academia researching for a Ph.d in Women’s War Writing and teaching as well as gaining an MA in Holocaust Studies. Her passion for photography started in earnest with the birth of her son as his arrival prompted a need to record the life of her new family. Parkin's photographic work has been exhibited and published worldwide including Japan, U.S. U.K, Bulgaria, Iran and China. It is also held in private collections, museums and galleries including the Fox Talbot Museum (UK), the Centre for Fine Art Photography (U.S) and the Charlet Gallery (Paris). www.deborahparkin.co.uk

Dr. Grant Scott is the founder/curator of United Nations of Photography, a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, a working photographer, documentary filmmaker, BBC Radio contributor and the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was first screened in 2018 www.donotbendfilm.com. He is the presenter of the A Photographic Life and In Search of Bill Jay podcasts.

© Grant Scott 2023

In episode 246 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on the issues facing photographers in 2023, the fragile nature of social media and the return of classic American documentary photography.

Plus this week, photographer Richard Sharum takes on the challenge of supplying Grant with an audio file no longer than 5 minutes in length in which he answer’s the question ‘What Does Photography Mean to You?’

Richard Sharum is a documentary and project-centred photographer who grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas. Mainly focusing on socio-economic or social justice dilemmas concerning the human condition, his work has been regarded as in-depth, up-close and personal. In 1996 he moved to Dallas where he still lives and started experimenting with photography. In 2005 he enrolled at Northlake College and took one introductory class in black and white film photography, and I was set on being a documentary photojournalist. In 2015 he initiated the Observe Dallas project where he hung eight photographs on five different buildings in downtown Dallas for two months to highlight the lack of public art in one of the biggest cities in America and In 2019 he became an Eddie Adams Alumnus. Sharum's book Campesino Cuba published in 2021 resulted from a period of four years spent travelling across rural Cuba, exploring the lives of isolated farmers and documenting their relationship with the land. His images have been added to private and public collections across the world, with exhibitions in Kyoto, Japan, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Reggio Emilia, Italy, New York, and Dallasand he has been commissioned by The Meadows Foundation, Centers for Community Cooperation, Harvard Law School, Student Conservation Association and the Children’s Cancer Fund amongst others. His work has been published by The Atlantic, Texas Monthly, Huck Magazine, El Pais (Spain), The New York Times Lens Blog, and the International Business Times Weekly. https://richardsharum.com

Dr. Grant Scott is the founder/curator of United Nations of Photography, a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, a working photographer, documentary filmmaker, BBC Radio contributor and the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was first screened in 2018 www.donotbendfilm.com. He is the presenter of the A Photographic Life and In Search of Bill Jay podcasts.

© Grant Scott 2023

In episode 245 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on the centenarian photographer, when the sitter takes control and learning photography not facts.

Plus this week, photographer John R.J.Taylor takes on the challenge of supplying Grant with an audio file no longer than 5 minutes in length in which he answer’s the question ‘What Does Photography Mean to You?’

John R. J. Taylor was born in Scotland in 1958 and studied art and photography at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Scotland and photography at the Royal College of Art in London. His book Ideal Home was first published over thirty years ago in 1989 and quickly began to influence photographers and students as to what was a suitable subject for an image, opening up the possibilities of exploring the ordinary, everyday objects of life in a new way. Once a cult book, it is now considered a ‘modern classic’. Ideal Home is an almost forensic photographic record of his sister’s north London suburban house. Working his way methodically around the house, Taylor documented the rooms, table tops, ornaments, interiors of fridges, cupboards, garden – as many aspects of the domestic interior of the home as possible. Taylor has continued to work on numerous projects ever since and his images have been collected by the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Museum of London and the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Texas, USA, exhibited throughout Europe and once in the USA. www.johnrjtaylorphotography.com

Dr. Grant Scott is the founder/curator of United Nations of Photography, a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, a working photographer, documentary filmmaker, BBC Radio contributor and the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was first screened in 2018 www.donotbendfilm.com. He is the presenter of the A Photographic Life and In Search of Bill Jay podcasts.

© Grant Scott 2023

In this extended episode, editor, writer and curator of photography Bill Shapiro and UNP founder and curator Grant Scott suggest some photographic wishes for 2023 reflecting on mentorship, open access photography, Instagram, archives, and young and not-so- young photographers. Grant also marks the passing of the photographers we have lost in 2022.

Bill Shapiro

Bill Shapiro served as the Editor-in-Chief of LIFE, the legendary photo magazine; LIFE’s relaunch in 2004 was the largest in Time Inc. history. Later, he was the founding Editor-in-Chief of LIFE.com, which won the 2011 National Magazine Award for digital photography. Shapiro is the author of several books, among them Gus & Me, a children’s book he co-wrote with Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and, What We Keep, which looks at the objects in our life that hold the most emotional significance. A fine-art photography curator for New York galleries and a consultant to photographers, Shapiro is also a Contributing Editor to the Leica Conversations series. He has written about photography for the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, the Atlantic, Vogue, and Esquire, among others. Every Friday — more or less — he posts about under-the-radar photographers on his Instagram feed, where he’s @billshapiro.

Dr.Grant Scott

After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work as a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), and What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006) and Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers (Cafe Royal Books 2012). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.

© Grant Scott 2023

In episode 243 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed looking to the future whilst reflecting on the evolution of cameras, AI portraits and listening to photo talk.

Plus this week, photographer Gautier Deblonde takes on the challenge of supplying Grant with an audio file no longer than 5 minutes in length in which he answer’s the question ‘What Does Photography Mean to You?’

Gautier Deblonde is a French photographer, renowned for his portraits of key international artists and a practice that is situated between reportage and documentary. Born and raised in France, he moved to London in 1991 to work as a photographer. He works closely with his artist subjects, photographing their working spaces and in doing so their contributions to the art world. Deblonde's subjects include Damien Hirst, Gilbert & George, Jeff Koons, Antony Gormley and Ron Mueck. His book Atelier, published by Steidl, captured sixty-nine artist studios in panorama, providing a glimpse behind the scenes to the source of artistic creation, and his book Artists, published by Tate Gallery in 1999, brought together a number of his artist portraits. Projects have included True North (2009), a series about Svalbard in the High Arctic exhibited at Galerie du Jour Agnès B in Paris, and Still Life: Ron Mueck at Work (2013), a documentary film commissioned by the Fondation Cartier. Deblonde's photographs of the creation and installation into the Millennium Dome of Ron Mueck’s sculpture Boy won a World Press Award and were published in 2001. His works have been exhibited in a number of museums and galleries including Le Petit Palais in Paris, Tate Britain and the National Portrait Gallery in London. www.gautierdeblonde.com

Dr. Grant Scott is the founder/curator of United Nations of Photography, a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, a working photographer, documentary filmmaker, BBC Radio contributor and the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was first screened in 2018 www.donotbendfilm.com. He is the presenter of the A Photographic Life and In Search of Bill Jay podcasts.

© Grant Scott 2022