Belfast Photo submission

Off the back of creating my proposal for FMP, I have used the core ideas and material to present an idea related to my project. I think that if anything, it is really valuable to start considering outputs for the project and although I am not directly considering an exhibition for the work, it would be really beneficial to have it seen in different contexts.

Project submission:

In the absence of memory, all I have is an unreliable narrator.

What happens in the absence of memory or if memory is the construction of an unreliable narrator?

My own family is disparate, uncommunicative, and alienated. The relationship between my mother and her mother is strained to a point where they have not spoken for over 25 years – from when I was a child myself and unable to fully understand why and where. Ever since the narrative has been shaped by those still around to construct it. I look at some of the images within this archive and wonder what happened, as Marianne Hirsch notes: “Perhaps it is the familial look itself that makes it difficult to read this picture which will not reveal any identifiable truth” (1997, p. 104) so I have deliberately sought to utilise images within the archive that have been dismissed as ‘bad’ and those that are less indexical to the romanticised and idealised moments they were supposed to represent. As a link to how the photograph supports building memories, many have a ‘twin check’ label attached or ingrained into the image, which was intended to aid the ‘memory’ of the person processing it. This is to explore different ‘truths’ and highlight the way that family narrative can be unreliable as a basis to construct an individual history. The work is effectively a personal story but one that has elements of universality, exploring the way that we all construct truth and present romanticised versions of oneself.

Bibliography

Hirsch, M., 1997. Family Frames: Photography, Narrative and Postmemory. 2012 Reissue ed. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

Audiences

Who is my work for? At the start of this module, I took a look at some other practitioners to see where they sit on the Art and Commerce spectrum (Fig: 1). It is worth revisiting this now that my WIPP is coming to a conclusion.


Figure 1: Phil Hill (October, 2020) Art and Commerce task.

My work has steadily evolved from the fairly glossy editorial illustration of text to my current practice. Peers have commented on the poetic nature of my images and Colin has also mentioned the romanticism inherent in the images that I am making. The work is moving more towards a more concept based practice of longer form projects. This evolution of my work creates new opportunities to share it however, it also creates a challenge in navigating a world that I am not used to.

Figure 2: Out of Place Books (2020) Publications produced by Out of Place
Figure 3: Phil Hill & Out of Place (2020) Placeholder cover.
Figure 4: Phil Hill & Out of Place (2020) Initial sequence spread.

Have aimed to share my work with established publications interested in narrative based photography. A positive outcome from this was through small book publisher, I will be producing a small book based on my images of Watford over the coming weeks with ‘Out of Place Books’ (Fig: 2,3&4). The values of Out of Place really align and resonate with the goals of my work and the narrative journey that I set out to construct in my exploration of place: ‘Out of Place Books’ specialise in “exploring ideas about place; how we understand and experience our environments and how we define them” (Neophytou, 2020). They produce a number of publications about places throughout the year and promote them to an established based of people interested in photography of spaces and learning about environment. This creates a great opportunity to raise my own profile and showcase my current practice to a targeted audience interested in my work.

Figure 5: BBC (2020) ‘In Pictures’ page showing Taylor Wessing winner Alys Tomlinson.

It also provides a valuable testing bed for future opportunities of ways to promote my work to new audiences through publication. My relationship with the photobook has also evolved during the MA. Initially, I was skeptical of the scope of such books, owing to limited runs and niche demographics willing to consume them. However, I feel that it is important to stop considering the book as an end of itself and more as a means to move on to other ways of disseminating the work. The right photobook creates a platform, a certain gravitas and opportunity use it as a foot in the door to other ways broaden the audience. For example, BBC’s ‘In Pictures’ platform (2020) regularly runs photo images from photographers who have books and exhibitions releasing (Fig: 5). This creates a valuable opportunity to further the reach of a limited audience platform, such as a photobook, by placing in front of a larger media audience online.

Figure 6: Awoiska van der Molen (2020) publication for the work ‘The Living Mountain’
Figure 7: Annet Gelink Gallery (2020) Gallery home page.

Early on in the module, I also discussed the work of Awoiska van der Molen. Her work features regularly in publications and also exhibition (Fig: 6) and is also an area that I could see development towards. Additionally, van der Molen is represented by the Annet Gelink Gallery in Amsterdam (Fig: 7) that provides other avenue for work to be viewed and disseminated. A gallery would also create that kind of gravitas seen from the photobook, to build further audiences and opportunities for maintaining practice. This is an area I would need to investigate further as I am not familiar with the gallery system however, there are clear steps to take before even being considered for such opportunities. My small publication will still be a world away from this kind of profile.

Bibliography

BBC, 2020. In Pictures. [Online] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in_pictures
[Accessed 3 December 2020].

Neophytou, C., 2020. Out of Place Books. [Online]Available at: https://www.outofplacebooks.com/ [Accessed 03 December 2020].

PHO704 WIPP Peer Feedback

Figure 1: Phil Hill (September, November, 2020) Initial Work in Progress development

Figure 2: Phil Hill (September – November, 2020) Initial Work in Progress Portfolio development – PDF.

I have asked my peer group to give some feedback on my current iteration of my work in progress portfolio (Fig 1&2).

What I have found is that I am still trying to explain and add as much information as I can into the justification of the work. As a result, both Tim and Ross struggled with the ‘Journey’ concept in my work because I led with this explanation, which might have suggested that this is what the work is about when in fact the journey narrative is just the frame. Colin had suggested to me that I construct my story structure and then disregard it for the presentation, or at least keep it to myself. The structure is mine to disseminate as appropriate. Clearly, there are challenges to giving too many of the ‘secrets’ of my narrative construction away. This was supported somewhat, when I shared the same work with Kim and one of my work colleagues Ryan. I kept my justification very simple by stating: the work was inspired by the poem ‘Desert Places’ and an exploration of connection to place. Both of them were much more receptive to the work. My aim is to really consider the statement of intent for the work and see how it adds to the reading of the work, whilst supporting what I want others to see in it.

Ross Feedback

It’s tricky as I’m not familiar with the classic journey system for it. I think if that is important for you then you have to stick with it but I think there’s a better edit in there purely aesthetically if you were to mix the images in a different way. I think if they were all landscape format I would get almost a film still and maybe connect that in an easier way to the idea of the story. I find the mix of landscape and portrait more confusing if I am trying to think about it in that form but it’s the first time I’ve looked.

I am less drawn to the abstract images and the close up images personally. I prefer the more formal images that you create where there is a clear structure to either the portrait of the image of the object, tree, car, wall etc. I like that more topographic approach in your work.

I think the link to paths throughout do suggest at a journey but I find some of the images a bit confusing. The opening image is the only image taken inside, or I think it’s inside? The image of the hand with flower, although I really like it, seems out of place as well. I’m less drawn to the images where you are looking down as well as like I Said, I think your work is really strong when it has a formal gaze.

  • I attempted to justify the Journey structure first, which has created a challenge to the reading as Ross is attempting to resolve the sequence solely on this piece if information. This is quite valuable in the way that I will need to approach the statement of intent for the body of work.
  • I agree with Ross on The image of my Dad holding the Dandelion (Fig: 3). When showing the sequence to Colin he felt the same. I really enjoy this image but it does feel out of place in this sequence. I was keen to hang on to it because of the reference across Edgelands (Farley & Symmonds Roberts, 2011, p. 141) and one of the metaphors in ‘Desert Places’ (Frost, 1936, p. 44) however, the image is clearly aesthetically different to the rest of the sequence.
  • Ross did also mention that I might want to consider taking an image from each section and building it up, which is something that I might consider moving forward.
Figure 3: Phil Hill (September, 2020) Dad holding Dandelions
Tim Feedback

I have more questions than answers when looking at this.

  • This comment is actually great. Exactly what I want from my sequence. Using the journey structure I hope that the sequence encourages the reader to explore and investigate. I am not aiming to answer anything with the work, only present a narrative version, or ‘truth.’

Presented in this way, I do struggle a bit to take it all in. The individual images are great, really strong, but the question is it’s about how it all comes together.

Your first image, the one of the looking through the window, of me is the standout image. And great that it sets us off on a journey of the hero. Through the piece we meet experience the various encounters, and people who aid or distract the hero on the journey. But are they a distraction, to our own experience of what the hero is going through.

I like how you have structured the narrative in the screen shot, through the phrases. The ‘Call to Action’ etc., as I then can see more of what you are trying to achieve and how you have thought about it.

The questions that pop into my mind are:

Too many different sizes to the images – does this lessen their impact

What if you removed 90% of the portraits. What would you feel

The ‘Goal’ completes the journey started out by the first image

Is the ‘Journey’ happening too soon. Are we not going out from urban into countryside as the goal.

This has made me think that there are images of ‘paths’ and that there are images where the path is ‘blocked’ and therefore our journey through the piece is about us, through the hero, finding a path from inside to outside, and the goal.

  • As with Ross, I went to a great length in explaining the way that I structured the sequence. This is a clear identification of the need to withhold some information from the reader to illicit a more receptive response from the work. For Tim, I even presented him with the structure infographic (Fig: 4), which then feels as though took over from other aspect of what I am aiming to do with this work.
  • There is some work to do on the structure as some of the images in the different sections may not be working. If both Ross and Tim are saying similar things here then it is important not to dismiss the feedback because of the way that I described it – this is only part of what I need to resolve here.
Figure 4: Phil Hill (November, 2020) WIPP compared to narrative ‘journey’ structure.
Colin Feedback

Colin was responsive to the way that I have created my first sequence. There are clearly areas that need development and I am continuing to work with the series on my wall to make adjustments and edits to the work. A key area to consider from my tutorial was to continue working on the narrative to narrow it down a bit more – Think of a direction and build it into the narrative.

Narrative Developments

I consider the journey story as a frame and not necessarily to be followed in the strictest sense as it may lead to quite a ‘closed’ linear sequence that leaves little room for ambiguity and multiple reading. This felt confirmed by me aiming to justify my WIPP iteration by explaining this structure process. I am also not aiming to answer any questions with this work – raising some, more likely. I like a level of ambiguity in the work as it acknowledges that the reading of the work is not mine to control, I only aim to lead the reader on a poetic journey through the landscape.

Referring to the journey structure, the idea of defined elements of the structure, for example ‘the call,’ the helpers,’ ‘the hero’s companions’ do not necessarily relate to the embodiment of a lead character or person at all. These can be an idea, or particular imagery that suggests a means of viewing the narrative. Christopher Booker suggests as much when discussing the idea of ‘Overcoming the Monster’ (2004, pp. 31-50), in which stories will create language to paint a picture of “immense menace and evil” (p. 37) over actual embodiments of what we might consider a monster. The same can be said for any of the structural elements that I am applying to my sequence. Instead they should be represented by a visual language that I create through the edit of the work.

If I were to be pressed on the idea of a protagonist however, this is potentially a story told in the first person, in which the viewer becomes the person journeying through the landscape. Ultimately, I am going to use Colin’s suggestion and build this up using the structure and the trope and then remove it to the bare minimum so that the reader is required to look for it. Of course, when questioned about the work, I can build up the picture of the narrative once again.

Bibliography

Booker, C., 2004. The Seven Basic Plots. London: Bloomsbury Continuum.

Farley, P. & Symmonds Roberts, M., 2011. Edgelands – Journeys into England’s true Wilderness. London: Vintage.

Frost, R., 1936. A Further Range. Transcribed eBook ed. s.l.:Proofreaders Canada.

Grants and Funding continued

Continuing to look at ways of funding my work, I have made an application to the Carmencita film lab and Kodak grant (Fig: 1), which provides up 50 rolls of film together with processing and scanning.

I was particularly drawn to this grant as the timeframe would give me the opportunity to gain valuable resources to support my FMP. Although, I would consider this still in the development stages, I have also found it quite useful to consider my ideas for FMP and create a proposal based on this and it will inform the FMP proposal that we will be asked to create.

Figure 1: Phil Hill (November, 2020) Carmencita/Kodak Grant application

Art & Commerce

I teach digital media at an FE college, so my current practice is focused on this as my full time profession. I have also spent the last number of years working towards teaching qualifications and HEA Fellowship, which has meant the commercial aspects of my practice have taken more of a back seat. Prior to teaching, I was a full time freelance photographer, working on the travel and lifestyle sector mainly for airline publications (Fig: 1). Although this is far removed from the practice that I am aiming to develop on the MA, I do still license images from my archive on a fairly regular basis through a range of different platforms.

Figure 1: Phil Hill (2012) ‘Australia’s Wild West’ spread for Sawasdee Magazine (Thai Airlines).

Throughout this process, I have sought commercial opportunities with the work that I have produced for each of the module in order to raise my profile as an art practitioner over an editorial photographer. I enjoy teaching, so see myself producing longer term projects whilst moving more into higher education teaching in the medium to long term.

During the afternoon 'Children's Procession' at Gillingham Carnival. Part of Wessex Grand Prix: Gillingham Carnival
Figure 2: Phil Hill (October, 2019) Gillingham Carnival
During the afternoon 'Children's Procession' at Gillingham Carnival. Part of: Wessex Grand Prix
Figure 3: Phil Hill (October, 2019) Rory, Gillingham Carnival

During Positions and Practice for example, I created a project around Somerset Carnivals that I grew up with (Fig: 2). As this was the first project that I produced for the MA, I feel that it was more in line with the work that I used to produce. I aimed to share this work through a number of platforms and gained initial interest from the BBC and C41 magazine but unfortunately, owing to the pandemic, priorities changed, and the work no longer fit into what they were publishing. I did get one of the portraits from the series into the KLPA this year and although that has no reward as commerce, it does help to raise profile (Fig: 3).

Figure 4: Phil Hill (July, 2020) Beechfield School marketing banner
Figure 5: Phil Hill (July, 2020) Luis, Beechfield School.

During the last module, I also produced a series of images for a local school, which they used for marketing (Fig: 4) and in return I was able to access and create a number of portraits that contributed towards my project (Fig: 5).

Jumping to this module, my aim is to try and create some projects that would run alongside the development of my WIPP, which also have more commercial possibilities and could translate into funding and/or building of profile. To develop my approach from the first module, I also want to see the possibilities of creating work utilising the research, style and intent developed over the past year. I have been continuing to send work and have gained some interest, which has yet to translate into something tangible but has been quite positive. One of my aims since the beginning of the MA was to also explore the potential for funding, which might be more in line with my intent, so will be creating a community focused grant application to gauge possibilities in Art and Commerce.

Alys Tomlinson – Tomlinson comfortably blends both her commercial practice as well as her long term art projects on her website as there is a clear difference between these two areas. Her client list is very much based on working with institutions and focussed on people, which aligns quite well with her personal work, such as ‘Ex-Voto.’ She has said that she doesn’t see a significant need to separate these two on her site as they all represent her practice and her ability to work in both realms (2020). Tomlinson has also stated however, that even though she is represented by a gallery and she would like to see her work move towards this area, she acknowledges the need for her commercial practice to co-exist with her art practice (2019)

Clementine Schneiderman – What is most interesting about Schneiderman’s approach is how she embeds herself into the communities that she focusses her work on. And by doing so she creates opportunities for both her own practice and also commercial outlets for her images without compromising her intent. ‘It’s Called ffasiwin’ (2019) for example, is an ongoing collaborative project with a community of the Welsh Valley and merges seamlessly with commissioned work that she has completed for Vogue.

Simon Roberts – Roberts has established a practice that also blends his personal projects with his commercial work and seems to have reached a point where he is commissioned to create work related to this personal practice.

Planned Commerce
Grants

I stated in my project proposal for positions and practice that I was keen to go through the process of applying for grants and bursaries, especially during this module where it feels the most relevant. I have applied for others prior to this module, for example a Grain Bursary and the RPS Postgraduate bursary, which have been useful to work through the process of these kinds of application. I am interested to apply for an Arts Council Grant as I feel this too would be useful to explore possibilities and work through the process. My aim is to propose a project that is thematically related to my research project and can be worked on alongside it, if not form part of my wider project. As my research is centered around the idea of community, I feel that it would be a good organisation to work with and I also aim to include the college where I work as it performs an essential service for the community.

Writing

I have been developing my academic writing and during the breaks between modules, I have been aiming to consolidate my research by writing essays in response to ‘calls for papers.’ So far I have not had success at publishing any of these however, one of my essays was well received by the editor who replied with interest in the ideas that I presented but unfortunately it did not fit with what they were currently publishing. I take this as a really positive response to my writing yet my approach still needs to be refined. In that case, I submitted what I had instead of considering what they would be interested in, which is clearly not the right way to approach submitting work. I have now focused attention onto themed calls to create a piece of writing that is still speculative but also thematically expected. For example, I was forwarded an opportunity that called for papers on the theme of ‘Community,’ which aligns with my research project and I will work towards submitting for this. Additionally, this has the added benefit of supporting the research that I am creating for my photography.

Feedback from rejected essays has been a challenge as most organisations are not in a position to provide it. However, I recently entered the Source magazine writing prize and although I did not get my essay selected, the editor was willing to respond to my request for feedback, which I was greatly appreciative and intend to reflect and refine my approach to writing.

Bibliography

Schneiderman, C., 2019. Ffasiwn Magazine. Bristol: Bleak & Fabulous / Martin Parr Foundation.

Tomlinson, A., 2019. The Messy Truth – Alys Tomlinson on Awards [Interview] (11 November 2019).

Tomlinson, A., 2020. A Small Voice: Conversations with Photographers – Episode 123: Alys Tomlinson [Interview] (5 February 2020).

Strategies in Marketing my work

Now that I have my zine set up for sale on my website, I am considering a number of options to promote it.

Potentially, I could leave it as is for the duration of the Landings exhibition to see if there is any interest in the publication. This would be reliant on organic sharing of the work, which thus far I have not been successful with. What was the most valuable during the launch if landings was doing the 90 second Instagram Live video with Bekkie, which actually provided me with some great feedback in the comments and I also have since had a few additional followers and messages about the work.

To capitalise on this, I could promote the work through Instagram via a sponsored post that targets an audience interested in such publications. There is a great deal of debate as to whether this is actually worthwhile, some noting that sponsoring a post through Instagram is quite limiting with mixed results (Speer, 2019). Even though, I have only had limited engagement after the Instagram live, this does feel like the most successful way to increase an audience for my work.

That said, I find Instagram useful to share work quickly but it can become more of a time-consuming distraction in the hunt for likes and shares. More and more I am thinking that direct forms of marketing would actually be more effective in putting my work in front of people actually interested in commissioning and licensing images. There is still a lot of value to be had from the platform but other sites, such as Linkedin may actually be a better option as a way of achieving this. However, I am still reliant on a proprietary platform to share and market my work.

Classic mail
Figure 1: Phil Hill (July, 2020) Preparing to mail copies of my zine.

Another option that I am intending to do is use the zine as a marketing tool and send it directly to editors and other potential audiences (Fig: 1). This has the benefit of cutting out the use of social media platforms, which are noisy and is easy to get swallowed up within the sea of images already present. Sending my zine directly has the benefit of placing a tangible photographic object into the hands of someone who is potentially interested in the images. If they spend all day looking at work on a computer screen it also has the added benefit of a changed experience for the viewer.

It is crucial that I research carefully into which publications to send my zine to, in order to match my work with their output. Editor of Huck Magazine, Andrea Kurland notes that it is important to match the work that you produce with the ethos and values of the magazine you are pitching to and to not create generic pitches that target a large number of publications (Kurland & Creativehub, 2020, p. 32). A focussed approach in sending out fewer higher quality pitches is what I should be doing. Therefore, I have identified 15 publications to send my zines. I will mail these and, which will also contain a cover letter and business card and links to the gallery on my website.

Figure 2: Clementine Schniederman & Le Monde (2018) Feature in Le Monde Magazine.

Clementine Schniederman noted during her guest lecture (2018) that French Newspaper ‘Le Monde’ tend to be interested in British themed stories (Fig: 2), so this will be one of the publications that I send my zine. My project from the view of a media publication could be used to illustrate some kind of editorial, or opinion piece on the current situation. As I am looking at community, connection, and identity, these are all things that have been fundamentally affected by the pandemic. Much of the media will be reporting on the human impact and post-analysing of the event, which is where my work would sit together with supporting copy (Fig: 3).

Figure 3: Spencer Murphy & BBC (2020) ‘Coronavirus: Strange Days in East London’ feature on BBC In Pictures website.

Kurland also discusses the importance of considering how the image will work with the broader context of the publication. You might be more valuable to them if you can also write, or at least be able to supply images together with words, whether your own, or in collaboration with a journalist (2020, p. 32). This makes a lot of sense as the images may be fantastic, but there is nothing to contextualise them.

Figure 4: Phil Hill (2013) Words and Pictures feature for Thai Airways inflight magazine.

I have had some experience with feature writing to accompany my images whilst working as a freelancer, albeit for the travel and lifestyle work that I used to do (Fig: 4). Words in support of my current work is quite a significant difference, although I am aiming to develop this through a number of essays that I have written during and between the modules (Fig: 5). I did produce an editorial style experiment earlier in the module (only posting now because the zine took over), which utilises images created for the last module together with a short article I wrote on the impact of covid-19 whilst trying to find a place to live. I have not taken this any further just yet, but it was valuable to think about how my images can work with words and also how they can co-exist on a magazine-style layout (Fig: 6).


Figure 5: Phil Hill (May – July, 2020) Top and Bottom, two essays written during Surfaces and Strategies.

Figure 6: Phil Hill (June, 2020) Editorial spread exploration using images and text together [click link to download].

Another avenue that I am interested in exploring is sharing my zine with the ‘Self Publish Be Happy’ library, as it states:

“Since issuing an open call in 2010 the library has received over 3,000 self-published books and zines from photographers around the world and become a key resource for academics, researchers and anyone interested in contemporary photography and visual culture. It continues to be open for submissions and anybody can send us their book.”

(2020).

This of course is fairly generic and my zine would get swallowed up into the many others that already exist there, however on a personal level I quite like the idea of sharing my work in this way and it seems much more focussed towards other photographers and artists who are interested in the medium.

Bibliography

Kurland, A. & Creativehub, 2020. How to show your work. 1 ed. London: Printspace Studios LTD.

Schniederman, C., 2018. Guest Lecture, Falmouth Flexible. Falmouth: Falmouth University.

Self Publish Be Happy, 2020. Library. [Online] Available at: http://selfpublishbehappy.com/library/ [Accessed 29 July 2020].

Speer, M., 2019. Promoting Your Instagram Posts: Is It Worth It?. [Online]
Available at: https://medium.com/@realmikespeer/promoting-your-instagram-posts-is-it-worth-it-e80787f59c31 [Accessed 29 July 2020].

Landings Zine outcome

I have received my zine back from The Newspaper club. It has turned out quite well and looks quite good on the newsprint. I think that maybe the images could have had a little more contrast, however feedback from my peers is that this works quite well (Fig: 1).

Figure 1: Phil Hill (July, 2020) I hope this finds you safe and well zine outcome [top and bottom]
Figure 2: Phil Hill (July, 2020) Producing my zine for Landings exhibition.

I have discussed the process of creating the zine previously (Fig: 2), however to recap, I decided to create my zine in newsprint to create more of a tangible link to the place that I am focusing my research project this module. Watford has had a significant role in UK printing, including printing all of the colour supplements for Newspapers based here. I feel that this is a great link to pursue as my work can be viewed in a Sunday supplement context.

Workshop Planning

To link to my research project, I would be keen to run a workshop about creating work within the community. This could potentially be about how to approach people and places within the community and identify the cultural signifiers that make that place unique and why you are drawn to it – the reason why you want to take the images in the first place.

I am still getting to grips with grounding my project in this area, so I think the workshop would be just as important for me as it would be the participants. Especially. Plus, if the participants were also from the same community that I am making my work it would create valuable insight into how others perceive the same place, which I also live.

My workshop would comprise of peer discussion and Q&A to establish prior knowledge, understanding of socially engaged photography, and provide me with an opportunity to outline any learning outcomes and introductions. The workshop should take a day to complete, including practical time to go out and start to create images with the potential for a later plenary, or online presentation of work once participants have had the opportunity to create imagery.

Workshop Plan

Ways of Showing Work

The Creative Hub by the Printspace put together a really useful guide in the different ways to show and promote work (2020). I am going to attempt to analyse these approaches compared to what I have already done and what I could to towards them. My notes are numbered in red.

Budget of £0 – £250Instagram 1Website 2Magazine/Blog Feature 3
Cost:£0£120- £250 per year (if using a template) £0
Time to Launch:1 week1 monthDepends on publisher
Post Launch:7 – 20 hours per week4 hours per weekDependent on the reach of the feature
Getting Noticed:Make interesting content and engage with other users, which will organically build your followingImprove SEO blogging and regularly refreshing content. Link to your site from all from all social accountsShare/Publish the feature on all your social media accounts
Key Tasks:– Making interesting & original content
– Post scheduling
– Engagement with other users
– Domain registration
– Logo & corporate identity design
– Choosing & adapting site template
– Set meta tags & meta descriptions for pages
-Choose SEO friendly URLs
– Find publications that suit your work
– Create press package, email, supply images in correct format
– Ensure your website is working for when people click through
Figure 1: Creative Hub (2020) Table showing different methods of showing work with a budget of £0 – £250
  1. Instagram: Having run an instagram account for quite a few years, I find it quite challenging to maintain the level of consistency and sustained approach to sharing and commenting. I understand that this is important and do maintain my presence on the platform
    • I have found that when i was freelancing that platforms, such as Linkedin are far more valuable for building a focussed interest in my work as i am sharing it with professionals who have a vested interest in seeing what I can do
    • That being said, Instagram feels much more accessible and is an important part of getting my work in front of audiences
  2. Website: My website is a self hosted WordPress site after many years of running template sites, I actually enjoy the flexibility of WordPress. However, consistency in the presentation, although might be considered dull and formulaic, is useful for clients and editors who would easily navigate the work knowing the formula of Squarespace et al.
    • Maintaining my website in this way is flexible but also much more cost effective than using a template site. My running cost for my own site is roughly a third of what Creative hub is suggesting. Not including the recent update to my website that included a custom theme, which was the first time that I invested in a premium version.
    • The downside of running this myself is that I must invest much more time in the setting up and really research SEO techniques (which I still have much to do).
  3. Blogs/Magazines: In addition to the promotional side of sending work to be shared and reviewed. I am also keen to pitch my work for syndication and publication, which would also mean payment to me. This of course, is how I would operate as an editorial freelance. That said, there is an expectation that I would need to share work for free in certain circles in order to generate the interest required for paid opportunity.
    • In order to make my work more valuable to publishers it is also worth creating written work in support of my photography.
    • Also worth considering any secondary markets for the work to make it as accessible as possible outside the usual photographic channels.
Budget of £250 – £1,250Printed Portfolio 4Zine 5Group Exhibition 6
Cost:£300 – 700£500 – 1,250£250 – 1,000
Time to Launch:2 – 4 weeks3 – 6 months2 – 4 months
Post Launch:2 – 4 hours per week4 – 6 hours per week10 – 15 hours per week during show. 5 – 10 hours following up interest after
Getting Noticed:Attending portfolio reviews & festivals. Meetings with agents/ art buyers/creative directors/marketing/creative agenciesHaving a launch. Selling online & getting reviewed blogs/magazinesPromoting the event extensively across social media, press reach-outs, emailing invites, posting out printed invites
Key Tasks:– Confirm edit
– Print test strips
– Choose paper
– Choose presentation method
– Arrange reviews/meetings
– Confirm edit
– Write copy
– Research print/bind methods
– Design layout
– Print/bind final version
– Space hire
– Curate/install
– Private view/refreshments
– PR: marketing/press/social media
Figure 2: Creative Hub (2020) Table showing different methods of showing work with a budget of £250 – £1,250
  1. Printed Portfolio: I am thinking at this stage of the MA, that I am not in a position to have a completed printed portfolio. I am a proponent of a well presented printed portfolio and am keen to pursue this in the future for the FMP.
    • I already own a box for presenting prints, for example (Fig: 1). The argument for allowing readers to construct their own narratives from my work supports this method of printing and presenting work. They are also useful to spread prints out and see how they might work together – An important consideration for clients.
    • I also have a courier case, which is useful to protect the box and send it out to potential clients. This might include: publishers, galleries and other potential audiences for my work without necessarily having to spend the time travelling around myself. The more traditional method of getting work out there.
    • Portfolio reviews can be quite costly and it is really important to only attend those that represent value for money. Better value would be to really research potential clients and buyers of my work and set up meeting with those people instead.
    • A downside of this method is the need to replace prints as they are frequently handled, which would be a concern of a blurb style book and folder style folio, however print sleeves might circumvent this.
    • In terms of what might represent the most value for money in presenting work, this might be the best in time and money spent, over a book dummy for example. it also allows others to see sequences in the work that will work for them.
  2. Zine: I produced a zine collaboratively during the task in week 3 and learned some really valuable lessons in the production and printing. Primarily in the setting up and compromises required. Taking on board these lessons, I have also produced a zine to support my Landings exhibition.
    • What could be quite useful about zines is the ability to make a self published object that I can then sell myself. The main challenges is the initial outlay of this can be quite costly, especially when I do not have the £500 stated by Creativehub above.
    • To truly make a success of self published zines, it would be useful to already have an established audience, which is where platforms like Instagram would be useful.
    • For Landings, I have produced a short run of 20 zines (the minimum required by The Newspaper Club for printing).
    • Even if I do not manage to sell any copies of my zine, they can become a useful promotional tool to send out to potential audiences of my work.
    • I can also submit the zine to the ‘Self Publish be Happy’ library.
  3. Group Exhibition: Not something that I have lots of experience with outside of an academic setting. That said, the Landings 2020 experience will be useful to understand the process and potentially see how disparate bodies of work can be curated together.
    • Additionally, all of the work that I am carrying out towards the creation of my own zines and website updates will support creating promotional material for group shows in the future.
Figure 1: Seawhite (2020) Archival print box
Budget of £1,250 +Solo Exhibition. 7Art Fair. 8Book. 9
Cost:£1000 – 7000£3,500£5000+
Time to Launch:3 – 6 months1 – 3 months6 – 12 months
Post Launch:40 – 60 hours per week during show, 20 hours following up interest after12 hours a day during the show, 20 hours following up interest after8 – 20 hours per week
Getting Noticed:By promoting the event extensively across social media, press reach out and direct emailGood presentation, understanding the type of attendees to the fair, following up diligently on interestHaving a launch, finding stockists, entering book awards, attending publishing fairs, selling online, getting reviews
Key Tasks:– Space hire
– Curate/Install
– Private view/refreshments
-PR: marketing/press/social media
– Create show catalogue
– Set up print sales; online and in the space
– Design & curate the space
– Create catalogue and takeaways for attendees (e.g. postcards)
– Setting up digital capture of details
– Set up point of sale terminals
– Create edit, produce dummy
– Get text written
– Review/critique
– Final edit
– Research printing techniques
– Design
– Promotion
Figure 3: Creative Hub (2020) Table showing different methods of showing work with a budget of £1,250+

This block is potentially a bit beyond me at the moment due to financial and where a solid audience will need to be created in order to justify some of these.

  1. Solo Show: There are opportunities to exhibit work in venues that do not cost as much as this, or would even be free for a percentage of any sales. The compromise would potentially be in the location of such venues however.
    • promotion would inevitably still cost money to produce the materials necessary.
    • Many of the options that have been outlined above might also need to be put in place before I am in a position to be able to put on a solo show.
  2. Art Fair: This is another one that I am fairly new to. It could present a good opportunity to build an audience for my work if the right fair was selected. Quite risky with the budget that CreativeHub suggests.
  3. Book: Book publishing is an interesting one. As I understand it, if you even manage to secure the interest of a publisher, you might still have to put together a substantial investment of money in order to realise the book.
    • There are a number of dummy book awards and Mack’s for example is free to enter.
    • As I work for an FE college, there are a good amount of facilities to help me realise a book dummy should I wish to pursue that in order to keep the costs down
    • Sequencing is vital for the success of the book as it could be easily overlooked.
Bibliography

Creative Hub, 2020. How to Show your Work. London: Printspace Studios Limited.