Margrét Pála Ólafsdóttir, is an Icelandic pioneer pedagogue, educator and philanthropist. She is a kindergarten and elementary teacher with further studies in school management, an M.Ed. in pedagogy and education and an MBA degree in business administration. Margrét Pála has written numerous books and articles on gender equality, pedagogy and education, both for parents and academics. She is also well known as a consultant, lecturer and analyst and has been granted numerous awards and recognition for her work, including The Knight‘s Cross of the Icelandic Order of the Falcon from the President of Iceland for innovation in education.

I was introduced to her in Iceland back in 2013 when I travelled there to make the book An Equal Difference. We talk about her educational model, the Hjalli model which is a teaching method for kindergarten and elementary school, created and founded by Margrét Pála in 1989. It is now an independent scholarly organisation, Hjalli Ltd, which operates 14 kindergartens and three elementary schools around Iceland with service contracts in 11 municipalities. The total number of children in their schools is over 2000 and around 450 employees. In 2018 they extended their model to a nursery school they acquired in Glasgow and have spent time carefully training the local staff and adopting the method to better fit the Scottish culture.

We also talk toward the end of the podcast about the pandemic, its impact on families, especially children and parents who have been forced into homeschooling during the pandemic.

Guest: Margrét Pála Ólafsdóttir

Websites: hjallimodel.com

Host: Gabrielle Motola

Thank you to my patrons who help make the recording of this podcast possible. If you like this podcast and want to support this work, please consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/gmotophotos

The Soundtrack and sound effects for the show’s opening and transitions were taken from the piece “Organ” by Áslaug Magnúsdóttir with permission.

Michael J. Sheehy is a musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist, whose collaborations include Dream City Film Club, Miraculous Mule, and United Sounds of Joy. He’s just released his first solo album in 11 years, Distance is the Soul of Beauty. The album was recorded and produced during lockdown and he self-released it on Bandcamp for the first time in his career.

We talk about how he balances making music with parenthood, what it was like to make this album and release it independently versus the way he has normally worked with labels, how he came to music and gained his confidence to step onto a stage, and his attitude towards the creations he puts out into the world.

Show Notes Episode 05 : TRT: 01:02:19

Guest: Michael J Sheehy

Bands:  Miraculousmule.com    Dreamcityfilmclub.com     Unitedsoundsofjoy.co.uk

Instagram: @michaelj.sheehy

Host: Gabrielle Motola

Instagram: @gmotophotos

Thank you to my current patrons who help make the recording of this podcast possible. If you like this podcast and want to support this work, please consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/gmotophotos

If you have a moment please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. 

The Soundtrack and sound effects for the show’s opening and transitions were taken from the piece “Organ” by Áslaug Magnúsdóttir with permission.

I sat down with photographer and author Rhiannon Adam during week four of lockdown in London to talk about two projects, Bigfence/Pitcairn Island and a project in progress about the community living on the Salton Sea. In part one we discussed some of her personal history and what lead to her interest in Pitcairn,  agency in chaos and the desire to emerge from isolation. In this episode, part two, we talk about her current project set in the Salton Sea, unattainable perfection, her process working on this project and her approach to personal long term projects.

Show Notes for EP04 Part02 of 2: TRT 00:38:52

Rhiannon Adam (Guest)

Episode Image by Rhiannon Adam (Ernie’s hand)

Gabrielle Motola (Host)

Preview links for Episode 05 Michael J Sheehy - Distance is the Soul of Beauty (out June 17th,2020)

michaeljsheehy.bandcamp.com (Album Download)

The Soundtrack and sound effects for the show’s opening and transitions were taken from the piece “Organ” by Áslaug Magnúsdóttir with permission.

I sat down with photographer and author Rhiannon Adam during week four of lockdown in London to talk about two projects, Bigfence/Pitcairn Island and a project in progress about the community living on the Salton Sea. In part one we discuss some of her personal history and what lead to her interest in Pitcairn, stranger danger, agency in chaos and the desire to emerge from isolation. Part two about her experiences thus far in the Salton Sea is out in two weeks on June 3rd.

Show Notes for EP03 Part01 of 2: TRT 01:06:21

Rhiannon Adam (Guest):

Rhiannon Adam was born in Co. Cork, Ireland and was educated at Central Saint Martins college of Art and Design (London), and at the University of Cambridge.

Adam's work is heavily influenced by her nomadic childhood spent at sea, sailing around the world with her parents. Little photographic evidence of this period in her life exists, igniting an interest in the influence of photography on recall, the notion of the photograph as a physical object, and the image as an intersection between fact and fiction – themes that continue throughout her work.

Her long-term projects straddle art photography and social documentary, while subject matter is often focused on narratives relating to myth, loneliness, and the passage of time. The results of these explorations are captured almost exclusively in ambient light through the hazy abstraction of degrading instant-film materials and colour negative film, and are often contrasted with the stark reality of archive material.

Gabrielle Motola (Host):

Episode Image by Rhiannon Adam (Cushana and the Frigates) see: rhiannonadam.com/big-fence-pitcairn-island)

The Soundtrack and sound effects for the show’s opening and transitions were taken from the piece “Organ” by Áslaug Magnúsdóttir with permission.

I sat down across the internet airwaves with Fiona Brice who is a British composer, arranger and performer working with the violin, piano, and voice. She once was a stranger to me but hasn’t been since about 2001. That’s the thing, aside from perhaps your family, everyone starts out as a stranger. Where you go from there is unknown. 

We talk about the cancellation of the music industry, sitting still in one place, "The Artist’s Way", the composition headspace, isolation, travel, exercise, Patreon, practising your instrument (be it a camera or a violin), the scrutiny of one’s own work and how helpful perfectionism is or isn’t.  Please note this episode does contain incidences of swearing (because it’s rock and roll) and references to drinking alcohol.

Show Notes for EP02: TRT 01:20:44

Find Fiona at fionabrice.com

‘To a Place of Safety’ is available on Bandcamp also on iTunes and Spotify

Fiona Brice is a British composer, arranger and performer (violin, piano, voice). She received her classical training at Kings College London and the Royal Academy of Music, studying with Silvena Milstein and Sir Harrison Birtwistle. She is known for her innovative orchestral arrangements, collaborating with orchestras to create exciting live concerts, studio albums and TV & radio broadcasts.

She has been commissioned by the London Mozart Players, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (BBC Proms), Royal Northern Sinfonia, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Heritage Orchestra, Metropole Orchestra and Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg to orchestrate large-scale concert performances for a diverse collection of renowned artists including John Grant, Roy Harper, Anna Calvi, Sharon van Etten, Ezra Furman, Florence & the Machine, Jarvis Cocker, Placebo, Will Young, Silvastone and Arjun.  Her work has been performed in the UK’s major concert halls (Bridgewater Hall Manchester, Usher Hall Edinburgh, Royal Festival Hall and Barbican London, Liverpool Philharmonic, Colston Hall Bristol) and has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, BBC 6 Music and MTV Unplugged. As a session violinist, she performs, records and tours with many high profile artists, in addition to performing and touring her own music.  She also writes music for short films and documentaries and has recently been appointed Collaborative Composer in Association by the London Mozart Players.

“Postcards From” Fiona’s debut instrumental album released on Bella Union (2016). All tracks written and performed by Fiona Brice with Vicky Matthews on cello. Co-produced by Julian Simmons and Fiona Brice. You can listen to and buy the full album on iTunes, Deezer or Spotify.  

Gabrielle Motola

Episode Image of Fiona Brice by Emilie Bailey

At 12:35 we wonder why trains are so much more expensive than planes. Being curious I looked it up and found this article.

Hello, my name is Gabrielle Motola, welcome to Stranger Curiosity. I’m a photographer and writer based in London. I love meeting people and having compelling conversations with folks I know and ones I don’t. I especially enjoy approaching people I don’t know but am curious about. Before COVID19 changed our daily lives, I used to approach strangers on the street to photograph and talk with them. I would do this most every day.

But For the moment, because of the pandemic,  this is not something I feel I can do safely, and so this podcast is my way of dealing with the missing of that. I am continuing to connect with people through the airwaves, making technology serve us instead of the other way around perhaps for the first time ever- physical distance is not a barrier.

We are all told not to talk to strangers, aren't we? But I look at most anyone as a storybook with interesting tales to tell. So come listen in to our conversations and be inspired.

In this episode, I sat down with six members of the photographic professional community: Neale James, Nick Dunmar, Sean Tucker, Sheryl Garett, Skye Trayler, and David Hoffman, checked in with where we were and how we are affected by the covid19 situation at present and had a roundtable discussion about photography, its role in covid19, and explored how professional practice is changing, namely what we as photographic industry members can be doing to help ourselves now and each other moving into the future.

Show Notes for EP01: TRT 01:10:42

Gabrielle Motola (host, photographer, writer and producer)

gabriellemotola.com

Sean Tucker (photographer and filmmaker)

Sean’s video Skye refers to regarding blocking your day (that segment is about halfway through): youtube.com/watch?v=PqzdHbnvdAw

Sheryl Garrett (Creative coach, former editor of The Face and Observer Magazine)

David Hoffman (independent photojournalist)

Soundtrack from "Organ" by Áslaug Magnúsdóttir 🐳