A Photographic Life

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

In episode 199 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on creativity, working as a photographer, and if NFTs are the result of a perfect storm or just a passing squall. Plus this week photographer Mike Abrahams 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 1952 in South Africa Abrahams moved to Liverpool in 1955 and grew up there. Aged 12, he discovered the magic of the darkroom under the stairs in a friend’s house and became hooked on photography. In 1970 after failing to get into medical school he enrolled on a dentistry course in the hope that he could switch to medicine but he was expelled after just two terms. In 1972 he enrolled on a photography course at the Polytechnic of Central London and discovered Henri Cartier Bresson, Don McCullin, Leonard Freed, Robert Capa and Marc Riboud who had visited the course to show his work which Abrahams found transforming. In 1975 he began working as a freelance photographer with the Times, Sunday Times, Sunday Times Magazine, The Telegraph, The Observer Magazine, and started to work with international magazines and newspapers, covering stories in Southern Africa, Gaza, Cyprus, Israel, Eastern Europe, Northern Ireland, the UK as well as portraits of those in the arts and literature. In 1981 he was a co-founder of Network Photographers the internationally renowned picture agency. His work on Faith - A Journey with Those Who Believe, published in 2000, was the culmination of five years work, documenting the extremes and passion of Christian devotion throughout fourteen countries. Other important assignments have included coverage of the division of Cyprus, the Intifada in the Occupied Territories, the Berlin Wall, the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe, the rise in the influence of the religious in Israeli politics, the Cult of Assad in Syria, The Jews of Damascus and Bradford's Muslims and The Troubles in Northern Ireland. Awards for this work included the World Press Photo Award in 2000, the book Faith was a finalist in the Design Week Awards and the work has been widely exhibited throughout the UK and Europe. Cafe Royal Books have published six books of his work in 2022 and his work from Northern Ireland was published as Still War - Photographs From The North of Ireland in 1989. His work has been widely exhibited and is held in the Museum of London and Science and Media Museum, London. Abrahams current landscape work has been exploring the relationship between structures and their environment and he is based in London. www.mikeabrahams.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

Meet Bill Jay, evangelist, bible salesman, photographer, editor, writer, curator, lecturer, historian, instigator, provocateur, teacher, mentor and rattlesnake shooter, Bill Jay was all of these and more. A man whose influence on photography in the UK and US from the mid-sixties until his death in Costa Rica in 2009 cannot be underestimated. In 2018 the film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was first screened at the Martin Parr Foundation in Bristol, UK. It was the culmination of two years work. A film made by just two people, myself, and filmmaker Tim Pellatt. The team that created the film was as small as the budget. It was a self-funded project with no additional financial support and yet its impact within the photographic community in both the UK and US belied its humble origins. Bill Jay had been forgotten and dismissed by many talking of the photographic history of the late 20th Century in the UK. UNP founder and curator Grant Scott sought to find out why and to put the record straight. In this podcast series Scott tell's Bill Jay's story and that of his own journey searching for the truth surrounding Jay's life. Featuring new interviews and material not included in the film, this podcast aims to place Jay into his rightful place within the written photographic history of the late 20th Century. www.unitednationsofphotography.com www.donotbendfilm.com www.cordialav.co.uk www.lauraritchie.com http://grantcampbell.co.uk © Grant Scott 2022

In episode 198 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on a considered response to the podcast and hearing from Jim Mortram about #PhotoPrintDay. Plus this week photographer Alen MacWeeney 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 Dublin in 1939, Alen MacWeeney became a press photographer for a local newspaper in 1952. One of his earliest bodies of work was of the semi-nomadic Irish travellers, images that were also turned into a movie, broadcast on RTÉ and BBC 4, and included in Itinérances, 28th Festival Cinéma d’Alès, which MacWeeney co-directed. MacWeeney left Ireland and moved to New York in 1961 to assist Richard Avedon. His work was getting noticed, resulting in them being shown in the Museum Of Modern Art. After working on glamorous shoots for influential titles such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar in Paris and New York City, MacWeeney had become disenchanted with the highly stylised nature and limitations of studio photography, and was becoming more interested and influenced by the work of documentary photographers such as Robert Frank and he returned to Ireland in late 1962. He then began an extensive career in commercial and editorial photography. His personal work from the mid-1960s capture the misty streets and cozy pubs of Dublin with Joycean affection. There are also sprawling country landscape views with flocks of sheep and ancient cairns. MacWeeney's best-known work from this period is his series and book Travellers: Tinkers No More. At a time when this centuries-old itinerant culture shifted from horse-drawn conveyance to motor-hauled caravans, the he explored their makeshift camps with his camera and tape recorder. His work is included in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Art Institute of Chicago. MacWeeney’s photographs have appeared internationally in magazines and books: among them, The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, G.Q., Life, The World of Interiors, American Photographer, and Aperture, amongst many others. His work has been published books including: Irish Walls; & Ireland, Stone Walls and Fabled Landscapes, Bloomsbury Reflections, Charleston: A Bloomsbury House and Garden, The Home of the Surrealists, Spaces for Silence, Irish Travellers, Tinkers No More, Once Upon a Time in Tallaght, and, Under the Influence. MacWeeney's archive resides at Cork University and he lives in New York and Sag Harbor, with annual travels to Ireland. www.alenmacweeney.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 197 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on the changing artefacts of photography, the importance of controlling your reputation and how a magazine can too easily misread its audience. Plus this week photographer Bradley G. Munkowitz (GMUNK) 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?’ Bradley G. Munkowitz, popularly known as GMUNK, is a prolific Berkley-based director, designer and artist who works not only in motion design and animation, but also in graphic design, experiential design, live action direction, photography, psychedelic design, installation art, robotics, projection mapping, LED, and more. In his teenage years, he started with sculpture and ceramics, and then in college moved onto filmmaking, before taking graphic design classes at Humboldt State University where he started using After Effects and Flash to make interactive experiences – merging video, design and audio cues to create something interesting and fresh. Once out of college he worked as a Flash animator / video editor and worked in motion design for the next 10 years at studios in Los Angeles and Australia including with the master of film titles Kyle Cooper. He then moved into directing commercials, whilst still working on experiential projects and photography. An innovator in 3D digital art using his photographs as starting points for his finished work his clients include. Microsoft, Nike, Audi, Maserati, Sony, Hyundai, Hummer, HBO, Adidas, Samsung, and Uber. https://gmunk.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