CPW Blogs

"You don't take a photograph, you make it." – Ansel Adams

Feb
1

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Task 2 of our Professional Practice

Category: Artists, Jobs, Presentations Tags: , , , , Leave a Comment

Throughout our professional practice, Task 1 has been focused around writing various blog posts on guest speakers and information about the photographic world learnt during our weekly lectures. However, for Task 2 we have been asked to pick an option to focus on, out of 4 options.

 

Option 1 – a funding, residency or exhibition proposal. For option 1, you are asked to complete a proposal to either ask for funding for a project, apply for an artist residency or apply for an exhibition.

 

Option 2 – create a job application, including a cover letter. For option 2, you are asked to prepare an application to apply for a job in an area of professional employment related to photography and, you must include a cover letter.

 

Option 3 – an annotated visual portfolio presented online and a written artist statement. For option 3, you are asked to prepare a visual portfolio of your work that represents your professional self and skills in your absence. Alongside this you are asked to, include an artist statement and any other relevant information relating to the work for example; a project statement, artist biography, work dimensions, materials, installation information, contact information and links to websites and social media.

 

Option 4 – a visual portfolio presented in an oral presentation and a written artist statement. For option 4, you are asked to prepare a visual portfolio of your work which will be presented in person and include a written artist statement alongside it.

 

For task 2 I decided to opt for option 3 because, it is a good way of learning to create a professionally standard portfolio, which will help me with future endeavours when it comes to applying for a job in the photographic industry.

Dec
15

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Lauren Maccabee

Category: Artists, Jobs, Social Media Tags: , , Leave a Comment

Lauren Maccabee was a former BA Photography Graduate of Brighton University. Maccabee is a portrait, documentary and fashion photographer, based in London. When she came in for our professional practice lecture, she discussed many useful points on how to succeed in the freelance industry.

 

When emailing a potential employer make sure you are brief and that you reply to them either on the same day, or the next day. Ensure you are conversational and remember, you don’t need to be super formal when emailing.

 

Maccabee also informed us of the variations between different kinds of photographic work such as; editorial work. Editorial work involves magazines and online features and is usually low paid, for free or just your supplies covered. However, you have more freedom and can stick to your style of shooting but, the work is often last minute.

 

Whilst discussing commercial work, she informed us that you shouldn’t be afraid to ask questions so you understand the full usage and requirement of the imagery in order to make your client happy.

 

Assisting other photographers is a great way of having a different insight into the industry so, reach out to photographer’s you admire and offer to assist on editorials for free. If you are working in a studio environment, wear black so you don’t mess with the white lighting. Finally, don’t show your work to the client on a shoot when you’re assisting unless the client asks you as, the photographer will see it as disrespectful and some have been known to not work with you again if you do this.

 

Dec
1

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Lindsey Smith

Category: Artists, Jobs Tags: , , , , Leave a Comment

During our lecture this week we were introduced to the guest speaker for the week, Lindsey Smith. Who is Lindsey Smith?

 

Lindsey Smith is a photographic artist and freelance facilitator. What is an arts facilitator? Generally, an arts facilitator is someone who provides resources, knowledge, inspiration and support to people in the community who wish to make and learn about art. Smith engages with various individuals, on all different types of freelance projects which she is invited to participate in to help guide others.

 

During her talk she discussed the six models of practice:

 

  1. Artist as catalyst.
  2. Artist as a provider of new skills and processes.
  3. Artist as facilitator.
  4. Artist as mentor.
  5. Artist as mediator.
  6. Artist as collaborator.

 

In the course of her discussion, Smith pointed out during each of the six models of practice the artist will engage with individuals, communities, societies in arts and culture; as the audience, participant, co-creator or producer.

Nov
3

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What is an artist’s portfolio?

Category: Artists Tags: , , Leave a Comment

An artist’s portfolio is a collection of an artist’s best work and, is intended to showcase their style and methods of work. A portfolio is used by artists to show potential employers how multiskilled and flexible they are, by showing different examples of current work.

 

A photography portfolio can focus on a single subject or project but, can also show a mixture of workings from throughout their career. Many photographers have the collection consisting of photographs taken with the same type of camera, digital or film. Most photographers use portfolios to show their best work when looking for jobs in the photography industry but, they also use images from their portfolios in their biographies to highlight the type of shows and publications they’ve worked for previously.

 

In comparison to a photography portfolio, an art portfolio is a collection of many skills ranging from painting, poetry, sculpture and many other various art forms. An arts portfolio gives artists the opportunity to show off their artistic skills, experiences and interests and it helps admissions officers decide if you would ‘fit in’ with their brand at their school.

 

What should an artist’s portfolio include? During this blog I have come to find a recurring theme in artists portfolios of including; finished work from various projects and examples of working documents that show your creative process. You also need to include examples that show a range of different skills within your area of specialisation and a range of subject matter across your subject of interest.

 

Oct
27

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Artists in Residency

Category: Artists Tags: Leave a Comment

An artist-in-residency is a chance for artists, curators and all manner of creative people to collectively get away from their everyday lives and work on specified projects within a unique geographic and cultural context.

 

Artist residencies can last anywhere from a week to a year and nearly all residencies are in a set location year in, year out. The teams you work with can range anywhere from 1 to 30 individuals, all of which can be writers or other artists. Depending on the type of residency you do, some residencies have costs and fees which you have to pay yourself whereas, others are paid for by the company you are doing the residency with.

 

Why attend a residency? An artist residency can be a very important step in an artist’s creative career because, it is a place to create new work and collaborate with other like-minded artists and photographers. It also provides artists with the opportunity to live and work in a different region or country. A good website for finding artist residencies is https://resartis.org/listings.

 

When applying for an artist residency you need to remember to thoroughly research the host organisation and, decide what you want to get out of the experience of the residency. Always remember to plan ahead by checking deadline dates and, reading the guidelines of the project carefully. Finally, always keep your CV, artist statement and biography up to date because the host organisation will want to see visual examples of the type of work you do.

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