A Photographic Life

In episode 207 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on keeping it simple, ignorant criticism, lack of empathy, and not placing your agendas on others.

Plus this week photographer Ian Brown 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?’

Ian Brown is an award winning photographer whose work focuses on the human condition. Brown grew up dividing his time between the urban landscape and time in the highlands of Northern Ontario. He survived cancer at the age of 19, a heart attack at age 32 and being shot at in the middle of a civil war in Colombia while on assignment for Doctors Without Borders (MSF) documenting conditions in the remote Darrien jungle region a body of work that later went on to become the international exhibition Lost between River and Sky. His work includes projects documenting HIV survivors in Malawi, Africa; a continuing documentary series on the Opioid epidemic and a long term study on the urban anthropology of Detroit. This project, Prairie and Pavement was one of the featured exhibitions at the 2014 Scotiabank Photography Festival in Toronto. For his major portrait body of work American Dreams Brown traveled over 80,000 miles and to all fifty states over the course of twelve years photographing people and asking them to write down in their own handwriting their ideas on America and the concept of the 'American Dream'. This work was published in September 2020. Brown's work has been featured in the New York Times, The Guardian, Washington Post and various international publications and he divides his time between Toronto and a cabin outside the Algonquin Park in Canada. www.ianbrownphotography.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 206 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on the truth within images of conflict, whether smartphones have become too smart and he suggests a Photo Life Hack to save you money.

Plus this week photographer Tricia Porter 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?’

Born in 1946 Tricia Porter's interest in photography began as a teenager, when she wanted to bring back a visual record of her first trip outside Britain, to Moscow in an old bus loaded with college students and camping gear. She met the photographer, Sylvester Jacobs who encouraged her to buy a camera and she began attending lectures and seminars at The Photographers Gallery, London, and the ICA Photo Study Centre learning from photographers work, such as Tony Ray Jones, Bill Jay, Steiglitz, Ansel Adams, Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, Kertesz, Bill Brandt and many more. Her first photography exhibition was in Liverpool in 1972, the outcome of documenting her surroundings while living in Liverpool's inner city. In 1974, she moved to Liverpool 8, an area of the city that was notorious for its poverty, planning blight and vandalism. The resulting Bedford Street exhibition was shown at the Liverpool Academy of Arts, and later the Half Moon Gallery in London. It gained Arts Council support, and Porter went on to create a follow-up exhibition, Some Liverpool Kids, which was also shown at the Academy in 1976. She left Liverpool in 1976 to live in rural Hampshire and has remained living there until today. Throughout her career Porter has running community based photography workshops, and continued to exhibit her work with the most recent ‘Liverpool Photographs 1972-74' being staged at the Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool in 2015. Cafe Royal Books have published five books of Porter's work, Portraits of People in a Dying Community Liverpool 1972, Some Kids in Liverpool 8 1974, Industry Year 1986, Liverpool Docks 1975, and Selborne 1980-82 www.porterfolio.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 205 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on client expectations and if they are reasonable, those who give back to the communities they are part of, and the importance of having fun!

Plus this week photographer Donwilson Odhiambo 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?’

Donwilson Odhiambo is an award-winning Kenyan documentary photojournalist, videographer and a mental health activist, born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya and who grew up in Kibera, one of the largest slums in Africa photographer who grew up in Kibera, one of the largest slums in Africa. He documents the social, cultural, political, and economic activities of day-to-day life on the African continent. As a response to issues including illegal drugs, crime, early marriages and teenage pregnancies in his area he established TAMI (Talking Art and Mental Illness) a project that is open to all, in which he invites experts including psychiatrists to share advice and essentials such as sanitary towels, condoms and food packages with those who attend and need them most. www.instagram.com/donwilsonofficial

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 2 of this new podcast series Grant Scott continues his search for Bill Jay and hears from photographers Homer Sykes, and Martin Parr, as he tracks Jay's career from school to magazines and the influence of David Hurn and Tony Ray Jones on Jay and his editorship of Creative Camera magazine.

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 204 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on why photographers feel the need to label themselves, keeping photography simple, the importance of subject matter and trying to buy a camera.

Plus this week photographer Mimi Plumb 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?’

Born in Berkeley, California and raised in the suburbs of San Francisco, Mimi Plumb received her MFA in Photography from SFAI in 1986, and her BFA in Photography from SFAI in 1976. She has served on the faculties of the San Francisco Art Institute, San Jose State University, Stanford University, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Since the 1970s, Plumb has explored subjects ranging from her suburban roots to the United Farm Workers movement in the fields as they organized for union elections. Her first book, Landfall, published in 2018, and is a collection of her images from the 1980s. Landfall was shortlisted for the Paris Photo/Aperture Foundation First Photobook Award 2019, and the Lucie Photo Book Prize 2019. Her second book, The White Sky, a memoir of her childhood growing up in suburbia, was published in September, 2020. The Golden City, her third book, was published early this year and focuses on her many years living in San Francisco. Her photographs are in the collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Art Collection Deutsche Börse in Germany, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Pier 24, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Yale University Art Gallery. She is a 2017 recipient of the John Gutmann Photography Fellowship, and has received grants and fellowships from the California Humanities, the California Arts Council, the James D. Phelan Art Award in Photography, and the Marin Arts Council. She lives in Berkeley, California. www.mimiplumb.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 203 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed in a conversation with photographer Tom Pilston and reflecting on the need for a humanitarian approach when documenting war and conflict, the role of the photo-journalist and the importance of empathy in photography.

Tom Pilston began worked in the music and fashion industry before moving to photojournalism in the late 1980s. As a staff photographer on the then newly launched Independent newspaper Tom worked across its titles specialising in photo essays from the UK and abroad, travelling to Bosnia, Burma, Sudan and Kosovo among many others. In 2007, he decided to go freelance, covering Barak Obama's first election and the war in Syria on a number of assignments. Throughout his career, Tom has worked for and with numerous charities and non-profit organisations, highlighting the work they do around the world. Tom's clients include The Sunday Times Magazine, The Guardian, the Financial Times, The Times, The Telegraph, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Newsweek and Le Point magazine. He regularly works with Save the Children, UNICEF and Christian Aid. Tom has won World Press Photo awards, a Nikon award, an Amnesty International Award and numerous others. Last week he was documenting the Ukrainian refugee crisis on the Polish boarder. www.tompilston.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 1 of this new podcast series Grant Scott begins his search for Bill Jay and hears from photographers John Benton Harris, Patrick Ward, David Hurn, Bryn Campbell, Homer Sykes, Brian Griffin, Martin Parr, Paul Hill and Bill's sister Sue Jay. He even hears Bill's side of the story.

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

In episode 201 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on Stephen Shore's most recent book, the Ukraine #PhotoPrint Day, Giles Duley's 'No More War' and the impact images of conflict have upon us.

Plus this week photographer Àsìkò 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?’

Àsìkò was born in London and spent his formative years in Nigeria. He is now based in London, working as Àsìkò, the Nigerian word for 'the moment'. He describes himself as a visual artist who expresses his ideas through the medium of photography and mixed media. His work is constructed in the narrative that straddles between fantasy and reality as a response to his experiences of identity, culture and heritage. Each series explores the limits of femininity and masculinity, spirituality and beauty and our relationship with nature and understanding a sense of self in the world we live in. Àsìkò’s visual aesthetic comes with adornment and choreographed movement, juxtaposed with atmospheric locations, symbolism and a distinct seductive charge. His images have been widely exhibited in the USA, France, Nigeria, Norway and the UK, reported on by CNN Africa and the BBC and published in titles including Afropunk, The Guardian, Schon Magazine, 125 Magazine, Blanck Mag, and Pride. www.asiko.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’s book What Does Photography Mean to You? including 89 photographers who have contributed to the A Photographic Life podcast is on sale now £9.99 https://bluecoatpress.co.uk/product/what-does-photography-mean-to-you/

© Grant Scott 2022

In episode 201 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on images from Ukraine, the importance of crediting the photographer and why you shouldn't pitch ideas to magazines.

Plus this week photographer Victoria Gewirz 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?’

Victoria Gewirz is a photojournalist who grew up in a news-loving family. Her father was a paperboy who later subscribed to three different newspapers and her father-in-law was a “newsie,” whose family owned a newsstand. She was surrounded by copies of Life magazine growing up, and real life drew her toward a major in journalism with a concentration in photojournalism at the Boston University School of Public Communication. Gewirz's work has been published in The Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, USA Today, and Town and Country magazine and is included within collections at Fidelity Investments, The David Winton Bell Gallery at Brown University, and numerous private collections. She is a two-time winner of The Julia Margaret Cameron Awards juried by Elizabeth Avedon and has been awarded the Photographer of the Year Award by The New England Association for Media Photographers. However, a career turning point for Victoria was an assignment to photograph the The Big Apple Circus for the Boston Children’s Museum. She was mesmerized by the timelessness and pageantry of the circus and"never stopped going back."  www.victoriagewirzphotography.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’s book What Does Photography Mean to You? including 89 photographers who have contributed to the A Photographic Life podcast is on sale now £9.99 https://bluecoatpress.co.uk/product/what-does-photography-mean-to-you/

© Grant Scott 2022

In episode 200 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on the past 200 episodes of the podcast and presenting a 'super edit' of past contributors answering the question 'What Does Photography Mean to You?'. He also introduces his new podcast series In Search of Bill Jay.

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’s book What Does Photography Mean to You? including 89 photographers who have contributed to the A Photographic Life podcast is on sale now £9.99 https://bluecoatpress.co.uk/product/what-does-photography-mean-to-you/

© Grant Scott 2022