A Photographic Life

In episode 238 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting nostalgically on the importance of the camera shop, gateways to photography and not being too sensitive as a photographer. Plus this week, photographer Don Tonge 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?’ Don Tonge left Brownlow Fold secondary modern school in Bolton aged15 with no qualifications and started working in the storeroom handing out tools to machinists at Hick Hargreaves Engineering Co, Bolton, he then went into their foundry, but left after six months to start working in the building trade as an insulation engineer. In the late 1960s whilst, working on a job at the Ilford paper and film manufacturers he bought one of their Instamatic kits from their factory shop. He joined Bolton Camera Club in the 1970s and began to enter the club competitions with moderate success before entering competitions in photographic magazines and having his work published. Tonge won the Granada Television “In Focus” Competition around 1980 which resulted in two days of filming at his home and Haydock Park Racecourse with Nobby Clarke a London based press and theatre photographer. Tonge began working as a part-time freelance photographer in the late 1980s turning full-time as a front of house photographer for The Octagon Theatre in Bolton. He was there for 8 years, received his NUJ card and started freelancing for local newspapers and occasionally the national press. He also spent some time working with a Manchester based agency and documented the Strangeways Prison riot. A one-man show of his work was presented at The Salamander Gallery, Bolton and he has collaborated with other other photographers in numerous joint shows. Tonge is currently archiving his disorganised output locating negatives and scanning them. Cafe Royal Books have published three books of Tonge's work from the 1970s. www.instagram.com/dontongephoto/?hl=en 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

In episode 237 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on taking inspiration from other photographs, post-graduate photo education and the lack of photography on the radio and television. Plus this week, photographer Max Miechowski 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?’ Max Miechowski is a British photographer based in London. His projects, which centre on themes of community and connection, have been exhibited widely in places such as Paris Photo Fair, Photo London, Peckham 24 and The Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery. Miechowski received the Photo London/Nikon Emerging Photographer Award 2022, for his solo exhibition of Land Loss, at Somerset House, London and has been recognised by the Palm Photo Prize, twice as a finalist and once as the recipient of the People’s Choice Award. He has had consecutive winning images in the British Journal of Photography’s Portrait of Britain, been awarded LensCulture’s Emerging Talent Award, and featured in the Creative Review Photography Annual in 2018 and 2020. He has been featured in and commissioned by a wide variety of publications and clients including The Guardian, The New York Times, It’s Nice That and The Financial Times. https://maxmiechowski.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

In episode 236 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on the visual storyteller, not promoting exclusivity, cancelling art and respecting the wedding photographer. Plus this week, photographer Henry Iddon 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?’ Henry Iddon is a photographic and lens-based artist whose practice concerns finding new ways, and reasons, to look at the landscape. He aims to produce work that is multi-layered that can educate and inform audiences. Iddon's work has been mediated through traditional film techniques across all formats, digital stills and moving image capture. His work has been disseminated via wall hung exhibitions, installations and workshops, book works, newsprint publications, online and through film screenings. Iddon's films are held in the National Library of Scotland Screen Archive, and North West Film Archive at Manchester Metropolitan University. His 2D work is held in various collections including The Wordsworth Trust; Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool, State Library of New South Wales and University of Tucson Library. www.henryiddon.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

In this third episode of a new 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. This month they reflect on the importance of the photo book to photographers today, expectations, sustainability and the importance of understanding the publishing environment. 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). 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

In episode 234 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on the ethics of selling prints, fake images and the importance of family and friends to photographic practice. Plus this week, photographer Cecilia di Paolo 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?’ Cecilia Di Paolo is a London based artist, originating from Italy, who studied photography at the Arts University Bournemouth. Di Paolo’s body of work, primarily realised through photography, film and performance, explores and deconstructs cultural notions of intimacy, tenderness, and love through a dystopian lens. Perhaps more simply understood as a visual exploration of the relationship between humans and objects. At the heart of Cecilia’s work is the intensely human pursuit of connection; a reimagined line between artwork and audience, reaching out and inviting you to affix yourself with the work, fulfilled through the tactility of her self-portraiture and still life. He work has been exhibited in four solo shows To The Ones I've Dates, The Muse Gallery, London 2022, Made to Be Loved, Roshi, London 2020, Made to Be Loved, Locke, London 2018 and Made to Be Loved film screening, London 2018. https://cecedipaolo.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

In episode 233 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on the importance of research to photographers, asking questions you want answers for and getting ready for winter. Plus this week, photographer Math Roberts 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?’ *Grant is aware that The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was written by Douglas Adams and not Terry Pratchett, but a Covid brain fog affected his ability to be correct in this case. The correct answer of course is 42. Math Roberts is a Welsh photographer based in Swansea, South Wales who primarily uses the genre of street photography to approach his projects, producing work through intuition rather than preconceived concepts. He studied art and design during his school and college years, later teaching himself photography after buying a cheap digital camera from the boot of a car outside his local pub. Since then, Roberts has been awarded several commissions in different areas such as the theatre, music, architecture, corporate events, and festivals. He is currently working towards a book for his long-term project, Pretty Shitty City, a play on words originally by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, and borrowed from the cult classic movie Twin Town, which documents working class people and spaces within the city of Swansea and surrounding areas. A selection of twenty-five images from the project were exhibited at the Volcano Theatre on Swansea High Street in September 2020. Http://mathroberts.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

In episode 232 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on photographer and photo editor Eamon McCabe, finding context to get paid and the positive and negative aspects of the photo community online. Plus this week, photographer Jane Hilton 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?’ Jane Hilton is a London based photographer and filmmaker renowned for her work documenting American Culture, in particular the American West, which she has explored for the past twenty-five years. Her monographs include, 2010s Dead Eagle Trail depicting the lifestyle of the twenty-first century cowboy, 2013s Precious featuring intimate nude portraits of working girls in Nevada and most recently 2016s LA Gun Club exploring American gun culture with a collection of unique 'shot up' target posters. Hilton is fascinated by subjects that are legal, but not socially acceptable. In 2000 she was commissioned by the BBC to make a series of ten documentary films about two brothels in Nevada, titled Love for Sale, the only state in America where prostitution is legal. She was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society in 2014 and chosen as one of the 'Hundred Heroines' representing internationally the most inspirational women in photography today. Her work has appeared in numerous major publications including The Sunday Times Magazine, The Telegraph Magazine and FT Magazine. Hilton's work is widely collected and exhibited with recent solo shows including, LA Gun Club, at the Eleven Gallery, London in 2016, American Cowboy at the Nailya Alexander Gallery, New York in 2015, Jane Hilton's America, at the Schilt Gallery, Amsterdam in 2014. She has spent the last five years filming the The Last Lion Tamer following a family's fight to save their lifestyle as the government intends to ban all wild animals performing in circuses. https://janehilton.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

In this second episode of a new 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. This month they reflect on the importance of photographer's writing, the curse of art speak, considering audience, drowning in academic theory and communicating with clarity and understanding. 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). 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

In episode 230 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on not shooting the messenger, good conduct for photography competition judges, and taking inspiration from photographers, photography and anywhere else you can find it! Plus this week, photographer Roland Miller 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?’ Roland Miller is a Chicago native, who studied photography at Utah State University earning his B.F.A. and M.F.A. degrees. For 14 years, he taught photography at Brevard Community College (now Eastern Florida State College) in Cocoa, Florida, where he was first exposed to the nearby NASA launch sites. He then taught at the College of Lake County in Grayslake, Illinois for six years before becoming dean of its Communication Arts, Humanities and Fine Arts division in 2008. In 2016, his project, Abandoned in Place: Preserving America’s Space History, documenting the deactivated and repurposed space launch and test facilities around the United Stated was published by the University of New Mexico Press. In 2017, Miller and Italian astronaut, Paolo Nespoli, completed a project collaboratively photographing the interior of the International Space Station. The project culminated in the publication of their book, Interior Space: A Visual Exploration of the International Space Station. Miller retired from higher education in 2018 to work full-time on his aerospace photography. Images from Miller’s Space Shuttle documentary project, Orbital Planes, have been exhibited at the Southeast Museum of Photography, Florida and at The National Museum of Naval Aviation, Florida. A book of these images, Orbital Planes: A Personal Vision of the Space Shuttle, was published in the Spring of 2022. Images from Miller’s space-related projects are included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, Illinois; the NASA Art Collection, Washington, DC, and numerous public and private collections. Miller’s work has been featured in National Geographic, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, International Business Times, and numerous other national and international publications. www.abandonedinplace.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

In episode 229 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on working with William Klein and the passing of too many photographers over too short a period of time. Plus this week, photographer Richard Bram 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 Bram was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1952 and is an American street photographer based in London. He attended Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona where he received a B.Sc. in political science and worked in business before becoming a professional photographer. Bram lived in Louisville, Kentucky, moving to London in 1997, then New York City in 2008, and back to London around 2016. Bram has published two books of candid public photographs: Street Photography (2006), a compact collection of black and white photographs taken around the world from 1988 to 2005; and New York (2016), a greatest-hits album of work made between 2005 and 2015 whilst living in New York City. His work is held in the permanent collections of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris, George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York, and the Museum of London, as well as having been exhibited internationally since 1991. He is represented by galleries in Mexico, Germany, France, and the USA. www.richardbramphoto.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