A Photographic Life

In episode 228 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on embracing failure, how to judge photography competitions, not entering photography competitions and staying positive. Plus this week, photographer Lise Johansson 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?’ Lise Johansson was born in 1985 and studied photography at the Media College, Viborg, Denmark and at the Vera – School of Art and Design, Copenhagen. She is describes herself as a visual artist and photographer whose starting point for her artistic practice is to create a sense of distorted reality, where the inspiration comes from the borderland that exists between the conscious and the unconscious. Her images often physical miniatures of landscapes and architectural spaces, combine with textures and objects photographed to use as building blocks in the editing process. Her work has been exhibited worldwide in London, Paris, Copenhagen and New York. In 2017 she received two awards at the Sony World Photography Awards and recently she won the title ‘Photographer of the Year 2020’ in the International Colour Awards and 1st Place in the 2021 International Photography Awards 2021 in the Fine Art category. Johnson currently lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark. http://lisejohansson.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 first 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 role of the gatekeepers and curators, how to approach them and how they should engage with photographers. 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.

In episode 226 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on overcoming obstacles, photographic anxiety, combining the personal and professional and the search for the new Instagram. Plus this week, photographer Nicola Moorhead 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?’ Nicola Muirhead is a documentary photographer and visual storyteller from the island of Bermuda, who focuses on long-form projects and portraiture. Her practice is rooted in exploring the lived stories of individuals and communities as they exist in a time and place investigating how we as people construct our own narrative from collective memory, personal traumas, and historic events. Each body of work is undertaken with its own unique approach, incorporating a range of visual tools to convey the complexities of the human experience and the imprint of our stories on the world stage. Her projects are research-led and collaborative in approach, drawing from experts and testimonials of a community to narrate their story and their truth. Moorhead finished her Masters in Documentary Photography and Photojournalism at the University of Arts London in 2017 and is based between London and Bermuda freelancing as a photographer for editorial, portrait and reportage assignments - as well as a visiting lecturer in photography. She is a member of London Creative Network, and Women Photograph, and part of a team of professional photographers running a supportive bi-monthly networking event called Photo Scratch. Nicola is also a founding member of the Collective Eye podcast - a grassroots / no-host podcast aimed at promoting engaging conversations in photography and beyond. https://nicolamuirhead.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 225 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on posting images on Twitter, and working for free. He is also joined by photographer Jim Mortram to talk about his #PhotoPrintDay. Plus this week, photographer Guy Dickinson 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?’ Born in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, Guy Dickinson trained as an Architect in London, winning a number of awards including the RIBA President's Medal. He has been an associate at John Pawson since 2003. The seeds of his tracing silence project, established in 2011, were sown during a 14 day immersion in the Yorkshire Moors in 1992. Experimenting with methods of construction, weaving, stitching, thatching and casting, he created a series of simple shelters that sought to unearth the intrinsic nature of the places he inhabited. Now utilising the mediums of photography and poetry, Guy's work continues to explore place, but also the consonance between internal and external passage, the similitude between the passage of thoughts and the passage of the body. He scours, combs and sifts, eyes shifting from foreground to background, from details to horizons, looking to tease out some essence of how we perceive the world around us. Recent work saunters from the sparse to the suffocating. Horizon, depth of field and perspective have been slowly relinquished in favour of texture, tone and surface. Developed through a cycling process of layering and distillation, these quietly cartographic fields invite us to look again at the landscape and the miry complexity of our place within it. His book Passage was published by Another Place press in 2022. www.tracingsilence.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 224 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on who decides if images are low quality and how, the importance of research in making images, Annie Leibovitz's Ukraine portraits and words on photography that make no sense. Plus this week, photographer Sean Lotman 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?’ A native of Los Angeles, California, Sean Lotman has lived in Japan, first in Tokyo, then in Kyoto, since 2003. Lotman draws his inspiration from narrative fiction as well as cinema, his palette honoring the unreal colours of Technicolor films from the 1940s and 1950s. He creates the psychedelic atmosphere in his work through liberal colour experimentation and an unorthodox dodge-and-burn technique in his darkroom. While printing his images, he is searching for a subjective feeling more resembling reverie than reality. His background is in narrative fiction, and his short stories, essays and poetry have been published online and in print. His first photo book, Sunlanders, was published in 2016, featuring colour darkroom prints made by his own hand. Sean is represented by Galerie Agathe Gaillard in Paris, France and Ibasho in Antwerp, Belgium and he is a member of the photo collective And the Last Waves. The Sniper Paused So He Could Wipe His Brow is his fourth book and was published in 2022. He lives in Kyoto, Japan, with his wife, Ariko, their son, Tennbo, and their dog, Monk. www.seanlotman.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 221 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on the ethics of photographing children, making a living from photography and welcoming the non-photographer photographers to photography. Plus this week, photographer Sodiq Adelakun 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?’ Sodiq Adelakun is a Nigerian photojournalist, based in Abuja who started out in photography in 2001 by assisting in a photo studio owned by his father in Lagos, Nigeria while finishing his degree in Psychology at University of Ibadan. In 2011 he decided to specialise in photojournalism after attending a course in photojournalism at the Nigerian Institute of Journalism which was co-facilitated by the World Press Photo Foundation. Sodiq progressed to intern at one of Nigeria’s leading newspapers, The Punch where he won several awards, including the Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Journalism in 2011, the Quill Awards for Best Photo Story of the Year in 2013 the NB Golden Pen Awards for Photojournalist of the Year in 2016 and the Nigeria Media Merit Award for News Photographer of the Year. His photo series Afraid To Go To School was awarded a winning prize under the stories category for the African region at the World Press Photo Regional Awards in the year 2022 Photo Contest. Between 2019-2022, Sodiq was a Photo Editor at Channels TV Digital, the biggest TV Station in Nigeria. This position  allowed him to sharpen his skills as an editor, as well as handle stock photographs for the TV’s website, production and for archival usage. Whilst working for Channels, he became an AFP photo correspondent based in Abuja covering events such as the presidential elections in 2019, the EndSARS protests, the mass kidnapping of children, and the bloody Shiaa protests. His work was featured in publications and online within The New York Times, Bloomberg, BBC, CNN, Amnesty International, Le Monde. He has also been commissioned by international organisations such as the European Union (EU), and the United Nations (UN). www.sodiqadelakun.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 222 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott has lost his way, been set adrift upon the open seas and found himself on a desert island with only eight photo books for company, the complete works of William Shakespeare, the Bible and just one luxury item. In this episode he reveals the final four of those photo books and his luxury item choice. The Final Four Desert Island Books Grant Chooses this week: Evidence 1944-1994, by Jane Livingston, David A.Ross and Richard Avedon. Published 1994, by Random House, 183 pages. Appearances: Fashion Photography Since 1945, by Martin Harrison. Published 1991, by Rizzoli, 312 pages. W Eugene Smith: The Camera as Conscience, by Gilles Mora and John T. Hill. Published 1998, by Thames & Hudson, 352 pages. Magnum Contact Sheets, by Kristen Lubben. Published 2011, by Thames & Hudson, 524 pages. 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 221 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott has lost his way, been set adrift upon the open seas and found himself on a desert island with only eight photo books for company, the complete works of William Shakespeare, the Bible and just one luxury item. In this episode he reveals four of those photo books. The First Four Desert Island Books Grant Chooses this week: On the Other Side of the Camera by Arnold Crane. Published 1995 by Konemann UK Ltd, 320 pages. Passage: A Work Record by Irving Penn. Published 1991 Random House USA Inc, 300 pages. Man Ray: Portraits. Paris, Hollywood, Paris by Clément Chéroux. Published 2011 Schirmer Mosel, 316 pages. The Unseen Eye: Photographs from the Unconscious by W.M Hunt and William Ewing. Published 2011 Thames & Hudson, 320 pages. www.wmhunt.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 220 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on the documentation of social/economic deprivation, whether class is relevant to making photographs and the slow death of the DSLR. Plus this week, photographer Neill Massey 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?’ Neill Massey has been working as a professional photographer for the past 30 years. He picked up a camera aged 15 and studied photography at Bournemouth Art School before spending the following 15 years based in London working as an editorial photographer, for magazines including The Face, Sleazenation and Q. In 2009 Massey moved to Vietnam where he lived for 6 years working on the long-form photographic projects Bloody Chunks, Untitled, Song and Monobloc. In 2015 he returned to London and began documenting the City of London. Since 2020 Massey has been developing photographic based artworks called: KALEID {} ESCAPES. www.instagram.com/mrmasseyman 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 7 of this new podcast series Grant Scott continues his search for Bill Jay, and documents the opening and closing of the Photo Study Centre in the ICA, London with support from the founder of The Photographer’s Gallery, London, Sue Davies, curator William Messer, photographer Daniel Meadows, photographer/photo editor Bryn Campbell and one-time Bill student Mark Trompeteler. William ‘Bill’ Jay (12 August 1940 – 10 May 2009) was a photographer, a writer on and advocate of photography, a curator, a magazine and picture editor, lecturer, public speaker and mentor. He was the first editor of Creative Camera Owner magazine, which became Creative Camera magazine (1967–1969) and founder and editor of Albummagazine (1970–1971). Jay established the first gallery dedicated to photography in the UK with the Do Not Bend Gallery, London and the first Director of Photography at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London. Whilst there he founded and directed the first photo-study centre. He studied at the University of New Mexico under Beaumont Newhall and Van Deren Coke and then founded the Photographic Studies programme at Arizona State University, where he taught photography history and criticism for 25 years. Jay is the author of more than twenty books on the history and criticism of photography, four books of his own photography, and roughly 400 essays, lectures and articles. His regular column titled Endnotes was published within Lenswork magazine for a number of years and his own photographs have been widely published, including a solo exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. www.donotbendfilm.com Thanks to Aaron Bommarito for archive recordings with Bill Jay. All other interviews were conducted by Grant Scott. © Grant Scott 2022