A Photographic Life

In episode 216 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on photographs as memories of lives lived and lost, and reducing the pressure on making work.

Plus this week photographer Mickey Smith 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?’

Mickey Smith is an American conceptual artist who now lives in New Zealand who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Photography from Minnesota State University Moorhead and a Diploma in Jewellery Design from Hungry Creek Art & Craft School in New Zealand. As a photographer, her practice over the last twenty years has been engaged with a longstanding inquiry into libraries, books and archives — in particular the social significance of their physical existence or disappearance. Smith has exhibited throughout the United States, in China, Russia and New Zealand and her works are held in numerous public and private collections, including the Museum of Modern Art Library, Sheldon Museum of Art and Weisman Art Museum. She has also received awards from the McKnight Foundation, CEC ArtsLink, Americans for the Arts and Creative New Zealand. Her first artist’s book, Denudation, was included in the photo book installation, A Different Kind of Order: The ICP Triennial in 2012. In 2018, her second book was published titled As You Will... Carnegie Libraries of the South Pacific, a book focused on the 25 Carnegie libraries erected in New Zealand, Australia, and Fiji. Two bodies of her work Matters of Time and New Outlook, have been exhibited at the Sanderson Contemporary, New Zealand. www.mickeysmith.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).

© Grant Scott 2022

In episode 215 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on photography in your fifties, the importance of integrity in documentation, and learning from the past, whilst listening to the present.

Plus this week photographer Shane Rocheleau 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?’

Shane Rocheleau received an MFA from the Virginia Commonwealth University and is an American photographer whose work confronts the endemic position of toxic masculinity and white supremacy within the American experience. His work has been exhibited in the United States, Spain, Russia, Brazil, Australia, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, India, and Germany, and his photographs have been featured in a wide variety of online and print publications, including Aperture’s The PhotoBook Review, Dear Dave magazine, The Heavy Collective, Paper Journal, and The Washington Post. Three monographs of Rocheleau’s images have been published, You Are Masters Of The Fish And Birds And All The Animals (2018), The Reflection In The Pool (2019), and Lakeside (2022) and his work is held in collections within the Museum of Modern Art, the Vogue Italia Collection, Fondazione Teatro Regio di Parma, and Tate Britain, amongst others. Rocheleau currently lives and works in Richmond, Virginia. www.shanerocheleau.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).

© Grant Scott 2022

In episode 213 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on writing your own biography, post-graduate education for photographers and travel photography without travelling.

Plus this week photographer Dominic Davies 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?’

Dominic Davies is a photographer who works primarily, but not exclusively in the controlled environment of the studio. Experimental and collaborative in approach he brings a precise and crafted vision to all his projects, driven by the fascination with exploring and realizing ideas photographically. His work has been commissioned by clients across the fields of design, music, publishing, museums and advertising include Absolut, 4AD, Grey Goose, Haagen Dazs, Guinness, Nike, Lee Cooper, Smirnoff, The Victoria & Albert Museum, The Fat Duck, and The Gourmand. Davies's images have been exhibited in Europe, USA and Japan and his book To Cage a study of the European zoo environments was published in 2001. https://dominicdavies.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).

© Grant Scott 2022

In this extended episode Grant Scott speaks with editor, writer and curator of photography Bill Shapiro. In an informal conversation they discuss NFTs, photography in the Metaverse, photo books and photo book clubs, photographic curation speak and digital conflict imagery.

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.

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).

© Grant Scott 2022

In episode 212 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on the price of residential workshops, the future of portraiture and bullying in photography.

Plus this week photographer William Saunders 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?’

William Saunders grew up in the small town of Sisters, Oregon, 2000 population. He states that "Half of the folks were hippies and the other half were cowboys, we all got along and inspired each other" and think this is where a lot of my Americana inspiration comes from. I never picked up a camera until I was 19 or 20 years old in college. A journalism professor randomly found out about my background in the outdoors and convinced me on the spot to try out photography. He made the switch to photojournalism in his sophomore year and madly fell in love with the art of making pictures and telling stories through the medium. After college he assisted the Director, Tim Kemple full-time for two years traveling the world making pictures for high end outdoor clients. After two years he went solo working freelance for brands such as The North Face, Under Armor and Patagonia. Saunders images appear in magazines such as Outside Magazine, The Surfers Journal, and The Ski Journal. He is currently am based in Utah and is the Overall winner of Redbull Illume's 2021 photo contest. www.willsaundersphoto.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).

© Grant Scott 2022

In episode 211 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott hands over the podcast to five of his photography graduates to explain what photography means to them.

The students contributing to this week's episode include Cameron Howard, Laura Skog, Jack Rees, Sasha Burdian and Sophie Jeffreys. All five students are graduates from the Photography BA (HONS) at Oxford Brookes University a course created to reflect photography in the 21st Century led by Grant Scott. These are the first students to graduate from the course and their contributions were written and recorded under their own initiative as a response to previous contributions to the podcast. Grant had no input into their contributions and was unaware that the students had taken on the challenge until they were revealed to him at the students Degree Show Private View.

You can find out more about the Photography BA (HONS) at Oxford Brookes University here: www.brookes.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/photography

You can view the work created by the students here:

www.lauraskogphotography.com

https://cameronhowardphotography.com

https://sophie-jeffrey.com

https://jackreesphoto.co.uk

https://sashaburdian.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).

© Grant Scott 2022

In episode 3 of this new podcast series Grant Scott continues his search for Bill Jay and hears from photographer Alen MacWeenie and Anna Ray Jones about Bill's relationship with Tony, Tony's beginnings as a photographer and the impact a trip to New York in 1968 had on the history of photography in the UK.

Bill Jay was a photographer, writer on and advocate of photography, curator, magazine and picture editor, lecturer, public speaker and mentor. He was the first editor of “the immensely influential magazine Creative Camera and founder and editor of Album magazine. He is the author of more than 20 books on the history and criticism of photography, and roughly 400 essays, lectures and articles. His own photographs have been widely published, including a solo exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He is also known for his portrait photographs of photographers. www.donotbendfilm.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).

© Grant Scott 2022

In episode 210 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on the documentation of the everyday, the latest NFT news, not needing rules and listening to young photographers.

Plus this week photographer Edmund Clark 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?’

Edmund Clark worked as a researcher in London and Brussels before gaining a postgraduate diploma in photojournalism at the London College of Communication. Clark's research-based work combines a range of references and forms including bookmaking, installations, photography, video, documents, text and found images and material; whatever is conceptually and formally relevant to investigating the subject and communicating with an audience. Recurring themes include developing strategies for reconfiguring how subjects are seen and engaging with state censorship to explore unseen experiences, spaces and processes of control and incarceration in the ‘Global War on Terror’ and elsewhere. Clark's work has been published in seven books My Shadow's Reflection (2018), In Place of Hate (2017), Negative Publicity: Artefacts of Extraordinary Rendition(2017), Control Order House (2016), The Mountains of Majeed (2014), Guantanamo: If the Light Goes Out (2010), and Still Life Killing Time (2007). His work has been exhibited widely including at the International Center of Photography Museum, New York, and the Imperial War Museum, London. His work has been acquired for national and international collections including the ICP Museum and the George Eastman House Museum in America and the National Portrait Gallery, and the National Media Museum in Great Britain. Awards include the Royal Photographic Society Hood Medal for outstanding photography for public service, the British Journal of Photography International Photography Award and, together with Crofton Black, an ICP Infinity Award and the inaugural Rencontres d’Arles Photo-Text Book Award. For four years he was the artist-in-residence in Europe's only wholly therapeutic prison, HMP Grendon. He is is represented by the Flowers Gallery, London and New York, the East Wing Gallery, Dubai and the Parotta Contemporary, Stuttgart and Berlin. Today Clark teaches postgraduate students at the London College of Communication, London. www.edmundclark.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).

© Grant Scott 2022

In episode 209 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on the digital forum, the mindful photographer and photographic degree shows.

Plus this week photographer Rashod 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?’

Rashod Taylor is a fine art and portrait photographer whose work addresses themes of family, culture, legacy, and the black experience. He attended Murray State University and received a Bachelor's degree in Art with a specialization in Fine Art Photography. Since then, Rashod has exhibited and published his work across the United States and internationally. Most recently his series Little Black Boy was acquired by the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. Rashod is the 2021 recipient of the Arnold Newman Prize For New Directions in Photographic Portraiture, a 2020 Critical Mass Top 50 Finalist, winner of Lens Culture’s Critics Choice award and a 2021 Feature Shoot Emerging Photography Awards winner. His clients include National Geographic, The Atlantic, Essence Magazine, ProPublica and Buzzfeed News. He is continuing to work on his Little Black Boy series, where he documents his son’s life while examining the Black American experience and fatherhood. He lives in Bloomington, Illinois, with his wife and son. www.rashodtaylor.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).

© Grant Scott 2022

In episode 208 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on the role of the viewer in photography, sadness within documentary photography and why art directors can be an important factor to photographic success.

Plus this week photographer David Butow 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?’

David Butow is a freelance photojournalist whose projects and assignments have taken him to over two dozen countries including Afghanistan, Burma, Iraq, Peru, Yemen, Zimbabwe and Ukraine. Born in New York and raised in Dallas, he has a degree in Government from the University of Texas at Austin. After college he moved to Los Angeles and worked in newspapers before beginning a freelance career for magazines in the 1990's. From the mid-90's through the late-2000's he worked as a contract photographer for US News and World Report magazine covering social issues and news events such as post- 9/11 in New York, the Palestinian/Israeli Intifada, the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq and the death of Pope John Paul II at the Vatican. More recently, his photographs of events such as the China earthquake in 2008, the funeral of Nelson Mandela, Hong Kong protests of 2019, January 6th and various projects in the U.S. have won awards including from World Press Photo, Pictures of the Year International and White House News Photographers Association. From 2017-2021, he was based in Washington, D.C., doing primarily political assignments at the White House and US Capitol for TIME, CNN, Politico, NBC, the Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Rolling Stone and other clients. After four years in Washington, D.C., he relocated to Los Angeles. He is currently in Western Ukraine and Poland. www.davidbutow.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).

© Grant Scott 2022