An extended CV and update of work experiences that I have accomplished within the photography industry throughout the final year of my degree and after graduating.
Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
Statistics
We looked inside some of the posts by charlhartleyphoto-blog and here's what we found interesting.
Average Info
Notes Per Post
0
Likes Per Post
0
Reblog Per Post
0
Reply Per Post
0
Time Between Posts
2 minutes
Number of Posts By Type
Video
1
Photo
10
Text
6
Last Seen Tumblr Blogs
Fun Fact
130K people were victims of a chain letter scam that affected Tumblr in May 2011.
Photo
Setting up industry profiles on platforms - The Dots & Linkedin
The Dots is a creative platform set up to connect creatives, industry professionals as well as showcase or document your skills, previous projects and industry contacts that you have worked with.
I began setting up a profile with the network and have since added a few projects, one of my own that I’m currently working on and the job that I assistant Niall with in January. I think these are a great way to add to your professionalism and build on your online presence. It’s a way to showcase to industry professionals in agencies, galleries and publishers what work you have been involved with and where your skills lie.
My profile on the two sites are still in early stages but now set up, I will continue adding to them as I do this blog to update my professional practise, document research and develop my online presence.
0 notes
Text
Laura Holmes Production Ltd.
I recently helped Niall out with some research for a commission he had from luxury fashion brand BALLY. He was commissioned to shoot a video for their spring/summer ad campaigns through Laura Holmes Production. The research I helped out with was to gather image references to go towards his pitch for the client, led by a reference video the client had put together as their brief/intended aesthetic. It was interesting to work on this research as it’s the first bit that I have helped Niall with towards commissioned work as opposed to personal projects. The aim was to gather images that brought together a visual combination of the brief that the client set along with Niall’s intentions which were to create a bolder, cinematic version of what was outlined in the brief. I gathered a selection of images that I thought would suit the brief and were more towards Niall’s distinct aesthetic which he was happy with. I found out when asked to help on set that the brief had been revised and the shoot was now taking place in a studio.
Here is a snapshot of the image references, the full collection can be accessed with the link below.
https://www.pinterest.com/hartley0816/ideas/
The shoot itself took place over the 3rd & 4th of May at Big Sky Studios and Niall arranged for me to help out on set as a runner and 3rd assistant for one of the shoot days. It was an amazing opportunity to be working in that environment and to meet the staff at Laura’s production company. I’d briefly met Laura one day while working with Niall so felt a little more at ease about helping out and was excited to see how I got on. The day I helped out was incredibly inspiring and despite not having any major roles, I feel I learned a lot from observing Niall, the lighting team and from general observations on how a fashion shoot is structured. The studio itself was a great space and was occupied with around 60 people including producers, art and set directors, make up, stylists, gaffer/electricians and more. Having the chance to work on set and interact with everyone there was a great way to hear and learn about individual roles that otherwise comes across quite overwhelming.
I was able to speak with the other runners as well as assistants and discuss their particular roles, whether they are working with the client, the production company or on a freelance basis, etc. This was interesting for me and gave me the opportunity to learn about the different options even for the smaller roles from people that are currently working in the industry. It gave me an insight into how I could potentially work my way up to a more significant role within a production company to gain a better understanding of the organisation that goes into large shoots, both on location and in a studio set up. This is something that I would have considered an unusual direction for someone that is aiming towards working solely as a photographer. However, working free lance with the production company on a more regular basis could be an incredible way to build up knowledge of this side of the industry. It would also be an amazing way to meet and work with a selection of high end and well established photographers whose work would be really inspiring.
Some of the tasks I dealt with on set were things like, maintaining and tidying the studios, standing in during lighting set up and checks, providing for anyones needs e.g. locating extra equipment or supplies, noting down how much of the film was used after takes and other general assisting. I contacted Laura the day after I’d helped out to say thank you and express an interest in working with the company again when the opportunity arises. We’ve since been in touch and Laura has kindly asked which areas I would be interested in helping out with and said they will keep me in mind for future jobs. This emphasises how important it is to get involved with different areas of the industry and how making a good impression on professionals can successfully lead to further work with them.
The opportunity to work with the production company again in the future would be an amazing way of developing my understanding of technical skills required and the structure of jobs related to fashion and commercial industries. The more opportunities I get to work with photographers, either as a one off or on a regular basis, will enhance my skill set, reputation and potential to become successful in my own right within the industry. As I expressed to Laura in my email, I am dedicating myself to learning and exploring as many relevant aspects of the industry as I can over the next year. This is to ensure I have an exceptional range of experiences that I can offer to professionals, that it would be beneficial to work with, and improve my chances of continuing to work within the industry consistently after I graduate.
I discussed with Laura the possibility of assisting photographers and videographers on set in the future, as well as helping out as a runner when they need an extra person around. The response was that Laura will keep me in mind and get in touch when something comes up which I really look forward to.
0 notes
Text
Assisting | Research work
Whilst working with Niall I have also helped out with several research tasks gathering information and image reference points for mood boards/treatments as well as location based research for places he is considering shooting.
Things like this have given me a great insight into the preparation a well established artist takes before embarking on a project, encouraging my own research and how in depth it should go to develop a more significant concept. Since working with Niall, particularly on things like this, I have already seen an improvement in my approach to research. The location and project that I am currently working on is based on my hometown so one that I already know a lot about and probably wouldn’t have thought to do much research into, say this time last year. Having the experience of researching for Niall has really encouraged me to have a more thorough understanding of the people or area that I intend to photograph. I have looked into so many areas of the history, economy, political views, communities and generally gathered as much information as I can on Hull before even organising the first shoot. I feel a real motivation and passion with this work and feel as though I’m producing some of my strongest images yet which I believe has been enhanced by the research and extra thought put into the concept before starting.
Other areas of research that I have helped with are location scouting in an area which we then visited together where Niall shot a few rolls of film to look over and develop the concept/project further. Another one that I have discussed in a different post was creating a moodboard of image references for a commission he had from luxury brand Bally. This was interesting and one that I found engaging as I had to gather images that fitted the briefs aesthetic but also incorporate Niall’s ideas and vision of how he wanted to enhance the shoot.
Working on research for Niall has developed my understanding of his photographic approach and the general aesthetic he aims for in his work. I have had the opportunity to help develop his ideas and now have a more thorough understanding and connection to the style of work he is interested in producing. As mentioned above, it has also intertwined with my own research capabilities and developed my understanding of how significant research is to building up your concept and following work.
0 notes
Photo
Porn Hurts Everyone | Niall O’Brien
Book release
Niall has recently published a photobook of work shot over a journey across the northwest of America, it was this reason that I was initially introduced to Niall so was exciting seeing it come together. Although not involved in the work itself, I’ve helped out with several aspects of the book in terms of distribution. Lu has edited the book and is the person that put me in touch with Niall, as she is also helping with the distribution of it, we were speaking back and forth about setting up a mailing list. I was left in charge of creating a spreadsheet of the key contacts that the book was being sent to on Niall’s behalf. I created the document and had to research each contact (guided by Lu), finding emails, postal addresses and telephone numbers where possible.
Niall left it in my hands to find suitable packaging for the book based on its specific dimensions, and also asked me to look into generating labels for these when they were ready for posting or delivering. I had no previous experience of this but researched how to set up a mail merge and now have a great understanding of using this tool. I found somewhere to buy the labels from and sent Niall a link to order them, ordered the packaging and ended up collecting them from Academy which gave me the chance to go in and briefly meet some of the staff there. I also took a copy of the book home to photograph cover to cover and sent these to Niall ready to go on his website, while I had a copy I was also asked to price up the cost of posting so we had an idea before sending everything out. Once the books had arrived and were ready for sending, I printed the labels and got the packaging ready while Niall was signing books and postcards ready to go. Once packaged, all the books were categorised by location so we could determine which were the key ones to be posted that day and which of them I could hand deliver across London. I ended up delivering around 50 copies of the book between that and the next day. It went successfully and we got all that we aimed to out in time! I was also updating a shared spreadsheet that I linked both Niall and Lu to on Dropbox, this enabled me to keep them both up to date with what had gone out where and whether it was posted or had been hand delivered.
It was great to be involved with Porn Hurts Everyone and have the opportunity to deliver several books on Niall’s behalf.
0 notes
Photo
Assisting Role | Laura Hynd
The team at Labyrinth Photographic, the lab I I have been in touch with about work experience, recently put me in touch with photographer Laura Hynd. I was contacted by and introduced to Laura via email about potentially helping out with a commission that she is currently working on and needed some help with. I was really flattered that the lab kept me in mind and recommended/suggested me to a great photographer who uses the lab regularly, it shows I made a good impression on the staff and that they can see I am keen to learn and develop my skills and experience within the industry.
Laura is a fine art photographer who has worked on some really intriguing and engaging personal projects, and carries her fine-art approach through editorial work, her commercial agent is Burnham Niker. Prior to meeting Laura I refreshed my memory of her work, looking closely at the narrative and ideologies behind some of my favourite projects. Lady into the Hut and The Letting Go are the two that resonated and left a lasting impression with me so I looked into the statements on the work (on Laura’s website) and learnt a bit more about them. Looking at the concepts and ideas behind these two projects indicated to me that Laura’s work is often a way of documenting personal milestones and you can see that photography is used as a way of expression for her. I found this really inspiring and think the work connects with its audience in such a way that many personal projects couldn’t because of this personal motive behind the work and ideas.
When I contacted Laura, I was really interested to find out which aspects of the current job I may be able to help with. We arranged to meet up mid March to discuss and have a morning together to see what I could do. I was told initially by the lab that the aspect Laura needed some assisting with was tidying up image scans and removing dust/scratch marks. With this in mind, I practiced with an old photograph that a family member wanted retouching to test my technical skills with spot cleaning and clone tools. The final edit of the image wasn’t perfect and I could have worked on it for some more time but felt I had refreshed my memory with this area of editing and felt confident that I could help Laura out.
Since meeting in March, I have been working with Laura on a part time basis cropping key lines off image scans and with general assisting to ensure the job that she is working on runs as smoothly as possible. Burnham Niker have gone through the process of shutting down but I had the opportunity to go into the agency to collect something for Laura and met the staff before closing down. I also had the chance to go back into Labyrinth where I am soon to start some work experience and spent an hour in there going through Laura’s negatives and contact sheets. Archiving is something that I feel I am well experienced with after working with Niall for a longer period, yet it is still interesting to see how artists individual preferences and approaches differ. Both photographers I am assisting passionately shoot film which I am more and more inspired by whenever I work with them and see the quality of what they produce. I have become more engaged and interested in the process of waiting to see results and seeing physical copies of your work, in contact sheets and feel it has really enhanced my approach to photography, the way I compose an image as well as pushing my technical skills.
The experience of working with Laura has only been a short time so far but I feel I am learning constantly when assisting. The main role I’ve had working with Laura is cropping image scans so they are full frame, without the key-line from the negatives. Although a simple task, it has been really interesting to see the work at it’s early stages and see how each soot that Laura’s been working on has progressed. Meeting and working with Laura in itself has been an incredible opportunity, I have had the chance to work closely with another photographer whose work I admire, that also differs from Niall’s work. It has given me the chance to see how another well established artist operates within a freelance industry, noting the differences and similarities in how they each archive work, manage their time as well as learning about their approach to commissioned work.
0 notes
Photo
Exhibitions
Over the last year I have been involved with the setting up and exhibiting work in three exhibitions and am currently helping to organise our degree show. The final group exhibition that we will all be involved in will be held at the Menier Gallery, in the second week of June. I signed up to be part of the curation team so tasks have been minimal up to this stage, however, in the remaining weeks I will be helping to organise the layout of everyones work, any themes running across the gallery as well as setting up on the day. The exhibition includes the work of 24 third year students that have developed their practise working on a wide range of subject matter. There are a few reoccurring themes that we have discussed putting in a similar area in the gallery but currently, it’s difficult to tell as people are still working on what their final installations will be.
One thing we have done already is started the fundraising to cover some additional costs at the exhibition. We set up a fundraising team which organised a pub quiz in the local area to make a start at raising some money. The quiz went successfully and the team made a decent portion of money to put towards the funding of our promotional zine which are being edited and produced by two other students.
An area outside curation that I offered to be involved with is setting up a mailing list for professionals that everyone would like to invite. After working on a mailing list for Niall’s book, I have had recent practise with spreadsheets and updating information on them of a very similar nature. We are currently in the process of getting emails from each of the students so that we can send off the first batch of invites and leave enough time to remind our contacts again just before the show. We hope to do this in the middle of May.
The previous exhibitions we have curated together have been more individually organised in terms of each person deciding where they want to install their work. The three that we’ve curated together this year have been two Work in Progress shows and the exhibition of our Pilot Major Projects. It was the Pilot Major show that Niall came to see the work in and one that has been one of our best attended so far. The setting up of this and the two WIP shows have been fairly minimal as they’ve been held in the university gallery, meaning we’ve not needed any funding or extra efforts to organise them. The experience of exhibiting work in these shows however, has been really useful. We have had the opportunity to experiment with different mediums, my work in particular has ranged from 6x8 prints and a video looped on a computer to a large scale projector and installation set, then a series of larger prints and a some smaller ones presented in a grid format. The chance to exhibit this often in the run up to our degree show has been beneficial in giving us several experiences of working together on one show and exploring different ways of presenting individually and as a group.
0 notes
Photo
Assisting | Week in Ireland
At the beginning of the year, Niall approached me about working with him on location for a week in Ireland. He was working on a personal project whilst visiting over Christmas and had two commissions out there. One was photographing a couple that are both exonerates to go with a story on them in Marie Claire France. The other was a shoot for luxury adventure magazine, Avaunt, documenting people and landscapes along the west coast and Lahinch. My roles there were to store and organise all the equipment before and after each shoot day, handle money, fill out model release forms and count up exposed films and the remaining stock.
Before setting off to Ireland I did some bits of research into Avaunt, their previous editorial shoots and the general aesthetic of their magazine. I also looked into the story of Sunny and Peter who we were photographing first and gathered as much information on them as I could. They have an incredible story, both of them were falsely in-prisoned on different sides of the world, by using meditation and yoga as their release and Peter studying law whilst in prison, they were both exonerated from death row, Sunny in America and Peter in Ireland. Sunny was exonerated in 1992 and Peter reopened his case and was freed around the same time. The couple met in Ireland when Sunny was travelling with Amnesty running several talks on the abolishment of the death penalty, Peter heard her story and with a profound connection to his, they got talking and shared their experiences. Both connecting with meditation and yoga whilst in prison and with several common interests, they married in 2011 and now live together in Irelands countryside. They have started to build their own charity for former prisoners and their families which gives them a chance to heal and practise the methods that Sunny and Peter both used. I was captivated by the couples story and it really emphasised the responsibility I would have of being invited into their home and making a good impression.
On the first night in Ireland Niall went through a shoot plan with me for the next day so I was aware of what he’d be aiming for and could also remind him, help to set up different compositions and keep an eye on timings. I had an idea of what Niall wanted out of the shoot and went over these several times to prepare for the next day and organised folders for each part of the shoot plan on the hard drives to make it quicker on location. I was left with all Niall’s equipment the night before, with it being a digital shoot, I had to ensure I had a good knowledge of where everything was to make it as efficient as possible on location. Things I had to check were that cards were formatted, batteries charged, camera all set up correctly and hard drives ready for downloading throughout the shoot. After meeting the couple and introducing ourselves, Niall’s approach to making them feel even more at ease was to photograph continuously while chatting and expressing our interest in their work and experiences, until they almost became unaware of the camera. It was fascinating to oversee Niall at this sort of work and learn from his approach. Once I felt relaxed on the shoot, I was able to judge when he wanted to change lenses before he had to ask for them and often had the right one prepared for Niall swapping them over. Having the digital shoot first was great for me as I’m much more familiar with this set up of equipment and as the shoot was a slower pace to the following few days, it worked as a bit of a warm up for the bigger job.
It was a pleasure to meet and work with Sunny and Peter, and such a great introduction into assisting editorial work. After working with Niall around them I felt much more confident about the next shoot and how well I could get on assisting on location, I felt as though I’d been really well trusted but the first day was a success.
Niall started editing the work down that evening which was interesting to oversee. His approach to editing is very much if he is questioning a shot, he will get rid of it straight away, which I found inspiring as I usually debate much longer than that with my own work. While Niall was going through the first edit of the work, I ensured everything was backed up in his format and that all the equipment was stored/organised correctly ready for the net day.
Over the next couple of days we spent time preparing for the Avaunt shoot as much as possible, we met with Gavin, a friend of Niall’s who lives in the local area and was working with us on production. The first shoot day, I was in charge of setting up the model release forms and getting them ready for each person to sign after photographing them. I also handled money from the budget that was being given to each person we’d arranged to photograph. Setting up the model releases was my first time using Form Tools, an app that allows you to upload PDFs and get signatures onto it along with the models details and headshot. It was easy enough to set up but there was quite a lot of responsibility with filling the forms out, ensuring I had all the necessary details and that they were saved securely to avoid any complications in the future.
The first day Niall was shooting I felt much more relaxed about working together and was excited to see the outcome of the second shoot. Dan May who is Avaunt’s stylist and Emma, their producer, joined us and provided all the clothes for the rest of the shoot days. Meeting and working with Emma and Dan gave me a great insight in the editorial side of the industry and a greater understanding of the magazines concept. It was interesting to see an editorial shoot come together, I feel as though I was learning constantly along the way and it was lovely to meet the two of them and feel part of the team working on a great job. I think I managed a good balance between maintaining professionalism and dedication to surpassing expectations on shoot days, as well as interacting with everyone we worked with a confident and accommodating manner.
My roles over the next few days were preparing everything for the following day in terms of equipment, unwrapping film, storing exposed film safely, preparing model release forms, separating money and making sure I knew who we were meeting throughout each day. On location my roles were having rolls of film at hand and getting them ready for Niall when I heard the last shot, setting up tripod wherever necessary, carrying equipment and getting the right lenses out to swap over (anticipating which/when this was needed) as well as chatting with the models ensuring they were at ease and felt comfortable with what we were doing. Niall's approach to working under the pressure of the client being there was really calm, it’s evident to both the client and models that we photographed how well experienced he is so I needed to replicate that as best I could.
We met some amazing characters and documented a great community in the area of Lahinch. The trip gave me the opportunity to learn a lot more about the way Niall works, the ins and outs of commissioned work and more about the practical roles and responsibilities of a photographic assistant. I was really happy with my involvement in the shoot, how grateful Niall was for my help and the positive feedback I had from people we were working with. The work has since been published with a larger feature than initially planned and can be viewed on Niall’s website, http://niallobrien.co.uk/project/avaunt-lahinch#0 and Dan’s, http://www.clm-agency.com/styling/dan-may/featured/avaunt/lahinch/ .
Avaunt issue 5 | Lahinch “I came here for a week” .
0 notes
Text
Assisting | Ireland
After the last day of shooting, Niall had asked me to bring the exposed film back with me as I was returning to London a couple of days before him. I arranged to meet with his printer, Daren Caitlin, who Niall has worked with for years to leave the film with him and meet at the beginning of the week to help while he was processing everything. With Niall shooting film for an editorial job, he was conscious of deadlines and wanted contact sheets printing as soon as possible so he send the initial layout to Avaunt. I worked with Daren just cutting and sleeving negatives ready to expose for the contact sheets but it was really interesting to see the work from being on location to a physical copy. The whole process of working with Niall on this shoot has encouraged my interest to work with film even more. It was a great opportunity to work with Daren and learn more about the developing process and refresh my memory on some of the equipment.
There was a lot of responsibility leaving me to bring the film back which really emphasised that Niall was happy with how I’d done and seeing the images that I’d helped out with as they were initially developed was really inspiring. When Niall got back to London, most of the negatives had already been developed and contact sheets been printed so he could come straight in and see some of the work. It was reassuring being there as the negatives were being developed, I was slightly worried about anything going missing but seeing first hand what had been developed was a relief. It was so nice to know that the overall trip and my assisting had been a success.
Over the next week I worked a lot with Niall while he was going through the work, scanning contact sheets, selecting frames and starting to edit into a layout. I was in charge of archiving the Ireland work which was really engaging. Although I’ve worked a lot with archiving his work and organising older projects, this was the first one that I’ve seen from start to finish. I helped out with scanning contact sheets and batch scanning selected frames, Niall then started working on an early edit to send to Avaunt.
0 notes
Text
Website research | Professional’s online presence
Whilst researching for both my practical photography module and the professional practise one I have found a reoccurring theme that seems to be relevant to artist’s recognition within the industry and how this effects their online presence. I have found that with photographers that are established worldwide, it is difficult to locate a website dedicated solely to presenting their portfolio. With artists such as Annie Leibovitz and Nan Goldin who have had an incredibly successful career spanning from the 70s - 80s and still practising photographers, their online presence differs to artists that started their career say ten years later such as Dana Lixenberg. Goldin and Leibovitz have a large amount of images that are easily accessible online but mainly through articles, interviews, reviews and google images - professionals at this level lack an online portfolio or website dedicated to their work. Whether this is down to preference or the fact that they simply have no need to promote their work is unclear but I found it quite interesting during research and feel as though I’ve learnt a deeper understanding of the implications your online presence gives to the public. The younger generation of artists that are currently at the height of their career and practising consistently in the industry seem to put large efforts into their online presence. This could simply be a generational thing where younger artists see online portfolio’s as an important role in the industry simply because of the advances in technology, development of social media and the rise in competition that they have seen in their time.
I have also noticed that there are currently a lot of websites that are under construction, several that I have tried to look at for research purposes have been inaccessible over the last month or so. I think this really emphasises the importance of current or emerging photographers having a website that presents their work at a really high standard. It shows that there is significance in the quality of presentation across industry artists and how relevant a strong online portfolio is at the time. It feels a positive thing to have just updated my site to a standard that I think reflects my work at its best and that will productively engage the viewer with a clear vision and aesthetic.
I have found myself becoming more attentive to the standards and techniques other artists use online which I think proves what I have learnt through research and influences onto my own online presence. I will keep in mind each of the sites that have been under construction throughout the research period and feel eager to see how they develop. There could potentially be further influences that I take from the improved sites when they become accessible again.
0 notes
Photo
Creative CV
Throughout the final year of my degree I have been trying to involve myself with the industry and professional practise as much as possible to build up my technical skills, expand my knowledge of the field I am about to go into and build up my understanding of the industry. I feel I have excelled in obtaining some amazing work experience opportunities that have set me off to a great start in the industry, I have become a more critical and in depth thinker when in comes to analysing my work, online presence and defining my audience and competition. The area that I intend to work on combines a fine art practice with documentary elements and a creative take on fashion photography to build up commissions and paid work.
With my five year plan in mind that I have set out to achieve, I decided that I have enough experience to create an industry based CV that I can continue adding too but will have enough content to demonstrate my desire to learn and obtain work experience across all aspects of the industry. I thought now would be a good time to do this while I can still get some feedback from tutors and fellow students rather than presenting it straight to professionals when I am next required to present one. After working meticulously on my website to ensure it targets the right audience at a high standard, I wanted my cv to be something that reflects a similar creativity and attentiveness. I have also found whilst researching websites as an online portfolio that several well established artists upload their CV’s to their site which I think adds a great element of professionalism and appeal. Presenting a CV that has an excellent range of experience demonstrates a thorough practise as well as a keen interest to work within the industry, highlighting their potential and abilities that could potentially get them a job over any similar competition.
I wanted to compose a CV that could work well on my website to do this and present my obtained work experiences and list my past exhibitions but also look creative and in sync with my online portfolio. Making a creative CV with a visually pleasing aesthetic as opposed to a list of texts is something I decided on after comparing other artists online CV’s. Several photographers who have an extensive list of experience, clients, publications and exhibitions publish tend to publish a fairly basic list as a CV which can look overwhelming to a reader. This emphasised the importance of readability for me and as I’m at a stage where the amount of information to include is manageable, I created an indesign document that would allow me to include visuals and have full flexibility with tweaking the appearance to create a CV that is easily read. The layout of the CV was something that I experimented with quite a lot and I have been working on or a while so that I could look back with fresh eyes and make any necessary changes. This was useful in getting the layout to look at its best, I also matched the document to elements of my website wherever possible. For example, creating logos through my website builder to use as the headings which enabled me to colour match text between the CV and text on my website. I think the visuals really enhance the CV and it something that I am confident in publishing online. I have kept the information on there direct and minimal, ensuring viewers can see the amount of experience I have gained without spending a long time searching through masses of text. I also ensured the details I added were the most relevant to the industry and experiences that I am proud to present such as working with Webber & Making Pictures, and mainly the assisting I have had the opportunity to do.
The finished document was tweaked by removing addresses and the contact details of professionals that I have worked with so that it is online friendly. When I am next required to present a CV, I will use the full version but for any indirect purposes and for general interest, I have the edited copy on my website as of now. Overall, adding this element to my website has increased the level of professionalism and will hopefully emphasise my eye for creativity, visuals and my attention to detail. I look forward receiving some feedback on it.
0 notes
Photo
Another aspect of Ronan Gallagher’s site, and several other artists who’s online portfolio’s I have researched, that has had an influence on mine is the homepage. An introductory or welcome page which loads before entering the portfolio is something that I’ve seen from quite a few artists working in a fine-art, documentary or fashion based practise such as, Josh Hight, Connor Clinch and more. A strong homepage that leads a viewer into your portfolio (the full website) is a great way of presenting and enhancing your overall aesthetic, it creates a build up and a preview of your work that viewers are keen to see more of. If created with a bold image, or collection of your best work from projects that coincide or present well alongside each other, the homepage can be a great addition to a website. It is something that I tested myself, again, with my last project built up of stills and moving image. I created a homepage that initially was a work in progress project, but one I felt added intrigue to the site, it then developed and became a titled body of work that I was happy to present as my strongest at that time. After starting my current project and combining all the research I have done to help perfect my online portfolio, I have created a homepage in a style that I think works really well. The layout it similar to several sites that I admire and that are relevant to my practise, with full bleed images, a button to enter the site, as well a small heading (in my case the website domain). The theme I selected is one that offers an automatic running gallery which I have added six images to, two of the strongest and most significant images from my three main projects. I selected these six based on personal preference and the meaning behind each image to the project they are part of, but also based on how well they fit together to present a glimpse of my portfolio. The edit presents varying subject matter, implying to the viewer at a first glance where my abilities lie and showing my attention to detail when it comes to presentation.
0 notes
Photo
Richard Mosse | snapshots of ‘Incoming’ exhibited at the Barbican Curve Gallery (April 2017)
& Philip Lorca DiCorcia | ‘Heads’ , image references for the Thamesmead observational film work .
0 notes
Text
Webber Represents
Webber Represents is a creative agency that was founded in 2001 by Chantal Webber. Webber became an agent at the age of just 20 with work experience from being picture editor for i-D and later working with the creative collective Tomato. The agency currently represents a range of stylists, set designers art directors and commercial photographers in both London and New York. After opening the New York office in 2006 and setting up Webber Gallery Space in the heart of London’s creative gallery district, Fitzrovia, in 2014, Webber now holds a strong reputation internationally. The roster is built up of creative talent that with the help of Webber Represents and their Gallery Space, produce distinctive bodies of work, maintaining the highest standards of both production and creativity.
The photographers they represent include Daniel Shea, Mark Peckmezian, Chris Rhodes and Thomas Albdorf who creative distinctive, innovative commercial works and the commissions they obtain through Webber help towards funding their individual personal works, then often displayed within the gallery.
Over the last year myself and two classmates have had an amazing opportunity to meet the team at Webber and help out with a few exhibitions launches within the Webber Gallery Space. The first time we were introduced to the staff at Webber was through the opportunity to help out at Kalpesh Lathigra’s ‘Lost in the Wilderness’ book launch & exhibition, in March 2016.
- Kalpesh Lathigra ‘Lost in the Wilderness’ (launch - 17th March 2016)
Kal invited us to the exhibition to help with setting up, serving drinks and general assistance, the exhibition and launch was on the 17th March 2016. At the gallery, the work had already been installed ready for the exhibition and we were there to help out setting up a drinks table and making sure the gallery was organised, neat and ready for the opening night. Kal introduced us to Dominic, who handles print sales, installs work ready for exhibitions, and works closely with the artists Webber represent, before the exhibition opened. This was a lovely opportunity, we were able to chat with him and express our interest in finding out more about the agency, their artists and what goes on prior to their exhibitions. Dom was really approachable which made it easy to ask questions which helped us too, it meant we were comfortable enough to show our enthusiasm in finding out more about this side of the industry as well as showing how grateful we were for them letting us help out, rather than keeping quiet with nerves.
During the night we were kindly introduced to several people working in the industry which felt a real privilege, it was here that I met Lu Bowan, editor and Associate Head of Photography at Making Pictures, an agency that manages and produces commercial jobs for the artists they manage and direct. From meeting here, I have since been in contact with Lu and obtained some work experience within Making Pictures which was another amazing opportunity. The chance to see the way the two agencies operate and the differences within each of them was really interesting. I feel I have been able to get a great insight into how an agency works, the roles that each of the staff undertake, as well as how beneficial working with an agent could be for myself in the future. After a couple of days work experience helping to organise and distribute one of MPs artists photobooks, Lu kindly recommended me to Niall O’Brien, a great photographer and film director who was looking for an assistant at the time. From there I met with Niall and I am currently still working with him. This shows the importance of making a good impression with whoever you meet in the industry and where different encounters could potentially lead. Despite it being brief, meeting Lu at Kal’s exhibition has proved an amazing opportunity; she is a really lovely person which made it easier to approach her after the launch, great at what she does and renowned for it in the industry and has been an incredible help to me since meeting up again.
It was a great opportunity for us to get an exclusive look at an opening night and experience an event like this in the industry which we were really grateful for.
- Yoshinori Mizutani ‘Rain’ (20th May - 21st June 2016) | Private view 19th
After the exhibition Dom contacted the three of us with Chantal cc’d in a really lovely email, thanking us for the help and letting us know everyone gave great feedback to them on us helping out. It was great to have this kind of response from them and the fact they took the time to email and were thanking us meant a lot with us being so grateful to even be helping at the event. We kept in touch and asked Dom to keep us in mind if the agency or gallery needed any other help in the coming weeks and he suggested we could help out at another exhibition opening. The exhibition was photographer Yoshinori Mizutani’s ‘Rain’ which was a premiere of the artists new body of work, his first solo exhibition in the UK and running alongside Photo London. We were really excited to be helping out at Webber again and thought the idea of being asked back was a good sign that we made a good impression at Kal’s launch. While in contact with Dom we found out Mizutani would be visiting to see the show which would be a really exclusive chance to meet someone whose work we look up to. The night itself was similar to Kalpesh’s launch in that we were helping set up again, getting drinks ready to serve and handing out the press release and print prices to guests at the private view. When Dom had some free time during the night we were introduced to some more faces and some people that we saw at Kal’s exhibition. It was important to make a good impression on whoever we met there but particularly with faces that we recognised from the first event so that people start to notice or recognise us for future encounters.
It feels like we have got a good start with work experience and the feedback we have been given is really positive. Dom has said after each event that we are ahead of ourselves, in a positive way and that starting to help out with things like this is a really good way to get our foot in the door and meet people in the industry.
This shows the importance of following things up and keeping in touch with people that you meet in the industry, acknowledging the event a few days after Kal’s launch and showing gratefulness led onto us helping out at another event in the gallery and the opportunity to be introduced to a different crowd of people from the industry.
- Chris Rhodes ‘Hotel Mermaid Club’ | Opened March 2017 | Launch 30th
Recently Sam and Alex, who are interested more in the agency side of the industry, had done some research on Webber and contacted Dom again to make contact and see if there was anything they could help out with. On a class visit to a few different gallery exhibitions we went into Webber and saw Theo Simpson’s ‘The Land of the Day Before’ on its last day of install. The exhibition looked great and was really useful to me particularly at that time because the artist is someone who I have been following the work of during research for my final project. Dom spoke to the class about the work and mentioned that they were taking it down shortly and prepping for their next exhibition which is what Sam & Alex were due to help out with. He approached us and assumed that I was helping out to and having discussed with the girls beforehand, I asked if that would be ok.
The artist exhibiting was Chris Rhodes’ who has recently been signed to Webber, his photography often focuses on colour and capturing a moment of mundane in an innovative and captivating way. His editorial work embodies a similar theme with close crops and more adventurous angles than more conventional shoots. The work exhibited was a mix of images taken during Rhode’s travels over the last few years and put together in a collection that reflects these abilities, the exhibition is title ‘Hotel Mermaid Club’ and is running until May 2017.
It has been almost a year since we had last worked at Webber together and it felt really exciting to be going back as we’re approaching the end of our degrees. I feel I’ve developed in the last year more than I ever have in terms of working out what I want from my photography, starting to build up contacts as well as in the quality of my work. I’ve grown to understand a bit more about the industry and have had some incredible opportunities over the last six months that have motivated me to push my photography further and truly dedicate myself to it. The experience of working at Webber put together with my other photography related/work endeavours has really encouraged this. This shows even in small details like making a point of saying hello to people that I have started to recognise at the exhibitions in the hope that future opportunities to speak to them will be slightly easier if I have an event to refer back to. Also, feeling more relaxed chatting to Dom, Chantal and the rest of the team at Webber, which has enabled us to get so much advice from them and really feel comfortable about approaching them in the future. This also goes for speaking with friends of the photographer and other guests at the private view.
Update & Photo London
I recently went back into Webber to collect something for Niall and had the chance to see Dom and discuss some of their upcoming exhibitions and events going on during Photo London. We discussed the possibility of the three of us helping out again at any exhibitions and have since emailed to confirm that we’ll be helping over two dates in May. The exhibitions are Thomas Albdorf’s General View on the 16th and a high profile opening of VIPs on the 19th. Dom also discussed the possibility of getting each of us a pass to the opening of Photo London on the 17th which we are waiting to hear back about but said is likely. The chance to get into the opening event would be a great opportunity and it’s really flattering that Dom is trying to get us involved. It shows we have successfully made a good impression on the team at Webber and that they can see our passion and enthusiasm for making it into the industry. I think it also shows our initiative and highlights our dedication to learning and practising as many relevant aspects of the industry as possible. Each event that we have helped out with at Webber has felt like a really great, exclusive opportunity and has been a pleasure to work at.
Building up a good rapport with the team has been such a valuable opportunity and has been really useful as we start to aim towards working as photographers in out own right. Dom has been really positive about the efforts we are each putting into learning from the industry, offering invaluable advice and great feedback.
0 notes
Text
Work | Professional practise
Thames mead http://thameszine.com/About
I was recently asked by Daniel if I would be interested in helping out with a side project he was running on Simon Terril’s upcoming Crowd Theory project in Thamesmead. Crowd Theory is a project that Simon has been working on for several years, it started with an interest in how crowds could be considered a social space looking at how individuals can be presented as a community within one ‘crowd’ and in turn, how this environment or space starts to represent them.
The shoots have all come together as stage-managed events that are carefully organised and planned, inviting everyone that inhabits or is affiliated with the neighbourhood due to be photographed to the Crowd Theory event.
The events that have been set up usually include music, catering and a soundtrack for the community and have been documented with an almost aerial perspective; photographed from lighting towers, rooftops and stage scaffolding. The shoots themselves involve a coordinated lighting set-up, multiple and long exposures, and announcements prior to shooting to give the formed crowd the option to present themselves ready before capture. The final images build on the idea of blurring the barriers within a crowd and focus on a vision of equality, creating visually enticing portraits of community and the crowd as a social space.
For the Thamesmead shoot which had been under planning for the last six months to a year, Daniel was directing a film to run alongside the images when exhibited the following month. I had been asked because the team needed an extra person to film and I had recently worked on a similar theme of observational filming in my last project exploring sleep routines and behaviour, Calm Encounters. I was really excited to be helping out and thought it would be a great opportunity to be part of the event and see the scale of the production and efforts gone into such a captivating body of work. The references I was given prior to the shoot were Philip-Lorca DiCorcia’s ‘Heads’ series, which capture the unaware performer, passing through his shots, as well as a video installation by Richard Mosse. The three panel installation exhibited at Barbican’s Curve Gallery was just under an hour long and I’d recently been and sat through the full film, captivated by the chaotic nature of the work, presented through such an unfamiliar approach. The distance between the subject matter and the photographer in Mosse’s ‘Incoming’ is the element that proved to be the most relevant reference for the filming needed at Thamesmead. I was really interested by the nature of the shoot and was looking forward to learning more about it on the day.
Myself and the other two on the filming team met with Daniel in the morning before the event and went through the call sheet and roles of each videographer. The film we were shooting would include four cameras - two in static positions and two roaming through the crowd. My role was to find a location that would have a busy footfall as people were arriving and through the majority of the night to then set up one of the static cameras and shoot unaware subjects as they pass through the shot. I borrowed a D800 with a 70 - 200mm lens, I have worked with a D800 before and always shoot Nikon so I was comfortable with the main equipment and interested to see how the filming looked through a zoom lens larger than what I’ve practised with before. The aim with setting up the shots was to find a focal point directly in the middle where most people would pass through and set the focus up with a shallow depth of field so that people would walk, unaware, into focus within the shot.
As we’d arrived during the day, we had quite a lot of time to practise shooting to get used to any slightly unfamiliar equipment and the surroundings, it was difficult however to practise the filming technique as the location was empty of guests until the time the event started. The crew were busy setting up so I managed to film some shots of them, from a distance, practising the observational references I had been given. Once it hit the time guests had been invited from, the area started to fill up and had a great atmosphere from the start, it was pleasure to be part of the community event and see people turning up to be part of the project. I was set up near the food stall which people were visiting throughout the first hour before the hour in which the photographs were taken, there were ten minute intervals between each shot, exposed for 10-15 seconds, increasing as the sun was setting. During the intervals and between the main shots, the area I had set up to film went quiet as everybody gathered around the main area, at this point I was able to explore different viewpoints through the crowd and capture some other elements of the event.
I kept my settings to a speed no longer than 1/50, aperture between F16 and F5.6 and increased the ISO as and when the light dictated. The footage was left with Daniel to edit each videographers clips together for the film which will be exhibited with the final image, shot on 10X8 by Franklyn Rogers.
0 notes
Photo
Whilst I’ve been assisting Niall he has generously offered me several bits of equipment such as an old Wacom Tablet, hard drives, card readers and adapters. When he first found out what equipment I shoot with he offered me an F100 (Nikon) film camera body. The model is one that he still occasionally shoots with and had an extra that he keeps as a spare. I was and still am incredibly grateful for this, I bought a compatible zoom lens to start with and have been shooting with it since. The model was discontinued in 2006 and is still a sought after body for beginners to high end photographers that still occasionally use the F100 in their practise. The entire content of my current project has been shot with the F100 and it feels like the first body of work I have produced that has a decent potential. Deciding to shoot film again in the run up to graduating and leaving university is one of the best choices I feel I’ve made. At a crucial time, I have developed my practise and overall approach to photography.
Working with film has slowed down the way I shoot so that I am really starting to think about how I compose an image. This has really helped particularly while shooting a lot of portraits. Photographing strangers with an analogue camera has enabled me to push myself with the pressure of not seeing the outcome at a first glance, and really working towards a structured image and well thought out/timed composition. The process of waiting for scans of the images, often having fewer than I would have shot with a digital camera, has also enhanced the way I edit and critique my work.
Whilst working on a project towards the end of 2016, I aimed to shoot a time-lapse video that I was struggling to arrange. Although nothing was too expensive in itself, all the necessary accessories and equipment to shoot a time-lapse were adding up to be unaffordable for me at that time. I researched cameras that have an interverlometer built in to see if I could potentially borrow one from the universities kit room and get rid of the costs. I saw that Nikons D800 had this feature which is Niall’s go to whenever he does shoot digital - I approached him about potentially borrowing the body for the time-lapse shoot. I understood that it was an expensive bit of kit and he would be putting a lot of trust in me if I were to borrow it but he let me use the camera, batteries, memory cards and charger which was an incredible help. I was really grateful for this and ended up being happy with the outcome which was presented in the last exhibition I was involved with. Niall also came to the show on it’s opening night so had the opportunity to see the footage I’d made with his equipment. I was really lucky to have used the camera and managed to shoot a few small side projects before I set the time-lapse up - this really opened my eyes to the quality of the camera and what mine lacks in comparison. The opportunity to use the camera has also expanded my practise and given me a chance to work with time-lapse photography that without borrowing the equipment for, probably wouldn’t have been possible at that time.
Having the F100 at hand has meant that I’ve worked a lot less with my digital camera and the difference in quality now feels massive, I have only gone back to it for situations in low light that the lens I have for the film camera would be difficult to work with. This has really developed my practise and approach to photography which I feel is improving shoot after shoot. (See the rest of this project and new work at www.charlhartley.com)
0 notes
Photo
Portfolio / website review with Niall
Before Christmas and my upcoming exhibition in January, I asked Niall about going through my work for some feedback which he was happy to do. I tweaked my website round a bit and uploaded some of my newer work to get an idea of how the project was coming together. After going through the general layout and navigation of the site, we went through the different projects on there and the concepts behind them. Niall gave some great feedback for my current project (exploring sleep behaviour and personal space), which I aim to revisit in the future and experiment with the things he suggested. The critique Niall gave on the concept was on the choice of subject matter, questioning why viewers are just watching my friends/people that I know sleeping - why not push the idea further and take the project into undocumented terrain, he suggested that it could work really well if filming conditions like night terrors, or sleep paralysis. This was an engaging comment and one that I’d not had in previous feedback. I felt really inspired by these potential ideas but with little time left before the exhibition, I decided that I will revisit over the next few months and ensure I have taken the time to research new subject matters and explore the different approaches I could use to filming them.
One thing he suggested that has stuck with me is ensuring you’re entirely happy with every aspect of work that you put on your site. If it works as your digital portfolio - it needs to be only the highest quality work that you are happy to present as your own. This seems obvious but I had several small commissions that I’ve worked on uploaded on my website at this time thinking that it emphasises my efforts and varying skills. After chatting to Niall about this and going through his website again, baring in mind his archive of work, it is evident that the work on his site is just a small edit of his most successful or significant to him. He has worked on some amazing projects and with several admirable clients but even these are selected for publishing on his site - this was really engaging and I have since taken the commissioned work off my site and become more attentive to viewing other artists Work portfolios.
Other than the comment on my sleep project, Niall had few criticisms for the rest of my work and made comments on my eye for composition and intriguing subject matter which I was really happy with. I understand that I am at an early stage in my career so a critique of my work from a professional of Niall’s standard could be quite difficult, yet the fact he had very few negative comments, I found really reassuring. I know that I need to develop my portfolio further and refine my photographic style slightly but this will come with practise and dedication to exploring as many relevant fields as possible over the coming years. A positive review of my work shows that I have potential in my approach and general interests in choice of subject matter, lighting and composition. This has motivated me even further to explore new fields and develop my understanding of my capabilities as a photographer.
After looking through my website and the project I was working on, Niall mentioned the exhibition and showed an interest in coming to see the installation of my work. He managed to make it to the opening night which I was really happy with, now with a greater understanding of how busy he is, I was really flattered that he took the time to come and support my work. It was great to have Niall at the exhibition as one of the few professionals there and an inspiring artist to the majority of us exhibiting and incredible to get some feedback on the work. It also gave me the opportunity to introduce him to Kalpesh, who I’d spoken to Niall really highly of and vice versa. It was Kal who gave me the opportunity to meet and work with Lu which is what led me to assisting Niall so I owe a great deal to him and it really meant a lot that the two of them could be introduced to one another at the exhibition. Niall also spoke with Daniel who runs the photography course and after chatting for a while, arranged for Niall to come in and run one of our guest lectures. This shows how closely connected professionals in this industry are and after making contacts with inspiring, well established people across several pockets of the industry, I already feel much more confident about developing my practise and working towards being a photographer in my own right.
0 notes