National Photography Symposium open for business

Author:

Diane Smyth

Financial Times photography critic Francis Hodgson got Redeye's National Photography Symposium off to a flying start this morning with a fascinating opening address on photography's place in British culture. Pointing out that London, unlike other major capitals such as Paris and New York, lacks a national photography museum and that there isn't a single full time photography critic on a UK newspaper, he urged those working in photography to do more to raise its profile.

'Photography is a great deal more important than our shared culture is able to identify,' he stated. 'It is absolutely the medium of the 21st Century and the "problem" of digital has been absorbed quite easily. Yet we, as professionals in the UK, have not been able to articulate how it matters across the board. We lost Photo London and photography continues to be marginalised in our museums and universities. Photography is absolutely not marginal, it is the most important medium.

'The UK lags behind France, Germany and the US in the shared appreciation of photography, and we are actually falling further back. I was at a picture conference at a very well-respected monthly magazine in London recently where the level of discussion was literally "This is great" and "This is shit", and what was "great" was what had been signed by Rankin, because nobody could be bothered to look beyond the signature. We haven't made sure that attention is paid to our discipline in the way that it is to poetry, novels or TV. But we need to do so because otherwise the business will go elsewhere.'

Comments

Why is anything Rankin put's his name too good? Because he can afford to be made good and pays a team of people to do so. Mere mortals just starting out actually have to think 24/7 about how to launch ourselves, how to look and set us apart from the rest. Photography education in the UK is bigger than ever before and yet it is still the same images year in year out. I may not be coherent with my photography, but there is a world out there and moods change in a second so do my influences. As does our photography I always try to push myself to do something new. London we need something thats not signed by Rankin or Dazed. But who has the money to step on up and change this. I know I would love to.

Posted by: Fate of JFK on 22 Jun 2009 at 16:47

Complain about this comment

"Photography education in the UK is bigger than ever before"

In technical F.E. college courses and some camera clubs, perhaps. But one might have hoped that things would have moved on since the 1970s. There is no sustained education in 'photographic seeing' and creative project photography before A-level, and then only in small specialist courses. If a student then wants to go on to study the culture and history of photography at degree level there are no courses in the UK, and only two or three options at Masters level.

Posted by: Martin Heyley on 08 Jul 2009 at 13:38

Complain about this comment

Please note that the symposium was the University of Bolton in partnership with Redeye and Chethams Library

Also if I am not mistaken Francis Hodgson's comment was that England

( not London) did not have a dedicated National Museum of Photography like other countrys and as far as I am aware New York is not a capital city.

Ian Beesley

Course leader MA photography

University of Bolton

Posted by: Ian Beesley on 18 Aug 2009 at 13:58

Complain about this comment

PREVIOUS POST NEXT POST

Luminous Books in East London is an artist curated bookshop specializing in second hand fiction, philosophy, art and curiosities.
When The Photographer's Gallery closed to begin construction on a brand new space in Autumn 2011, many thought the bookshop would have closed with it. But in the spirit of keeping aspects of the gallery alive, talks and courses have continued to run in other locations and the Bookshop has been running from a temporary space.
The Claire de Rouen Bookshop is not so much a place dealing with passing trade, but rather a destination people seek out, building its reputation based on word of mouth and those in the know
Pastor Marrion P'Udongo has been called the "Oskar Schindler" of Congo, a man who's dedicated himself to saving and nurturing the lives of others. He's also been one of the most reliable fixers for photographers and journalists in the war-torn country, and he now needs your help
Last month, CNN quietly announced it was laying off "a dozen" photojournalists across its US bureaus as, it says, the network can now rely on user-generated content thanks to new consumer technologies
Earlier this month, Alec Soth took to eBay to raise funds for a charitable cause - the prize? A portrait commission with the Magnum photographer
Rocco Rorandelli has been documenting the tobacco industry for the last three years, ever since he asked himself what lay behind a cigarette.
When photographer Peter DiCampo decided to seek funds for his project Life Without Lights, he chose the Kickstarter platform instead of the more commonly used - at least in the photojournalism community - Emphas.is. But he had good reasons, he tells BJP
Laura El-Tantawy has been working, for the past five years, on a long-term project about her homeland: Egypt. Now, as the country is undergoing massive political and social changes, she's appealing for help to continue her work
Photographer Neil Osborne is raising funds on Emphas.is to document a success story - how one man has helped save the Black Turtle from extinction

Blog roll

© Incisive Media Investments Limited 2012, Published by Incisive Financial Publishing Limited, Haymarket House, 28-29 Haymarket, London SW1Y 4RX, are companies registered in England and Wales with company registration numbers 04252091 & 04252093

About us:

Tests:

Cameras:

Photography:

Your Rights:

Resources:

Accreditations:

Digital Publisher of the Year 2010