Dean Leivers

The last two weeks have flown by, not a lot of time to devote to my own personal work but here are a few articles that caught my eye that will go some way to contribute to my research.

My Twitter app buzzed me this week saying that ’Mull it Over’ had uploaded new content.

This blog run by Jonathan Cherry delivers insightful articles with contemporary photographers and is an absolute treasure trove of wonderful projects and responses that give a real insight into the practices of fine art photographers from many backgrounds. It’s well worth looking through the posts, although I’d advise making sure you have time set aside as it’s easy to lose a lot of time reading.

Next a couple of posts over at Lens Culture, the first looks at the importance of portfolio reviews and why they should be a part of a photographers practice. I’m still a little undecided on the whole discussion of portfolio reviews. On the one hand I see the obvious benefit of having someone unconnected to you give opinions on your work. I am however slightly dubious as to how much can be gleamed in such a short space of time and some of the prices for the service are also a lot higher than I would expect for emerging/student photographers to have to pay. I certainly feel that I benefit more from mentor style guidance. The chance to ‘check in’ over a period of time as a project develops, that way I think both parties are more invested in the practice and will have more of an opportunity to reap the rewards of the mentor/mentee relationship.

The second article presents 'Wilted’ a series by photographer Dylan Hausthor. Inspired by the subject of storytelling the images “question and bring to light the frenetic nature of visual memory.”

The images are still and at times feel quite empty allowing for the viewer to piece together the narrative elements of the series. The accompanying essay does give some context to the story being told and the images reflect the events whilst not too explicitly so. 

Storytelling or narrative in photography is the subject of an article on the UN of Photography website. 

Often a difficult approach to work with Grant Scott discusses the pitfalls of making work with a narrative approach and the ways they can be avoided. The overriding message being not to overcomplicate things as this can contribute to a loss of structure and direction. Advice for life too you could say!

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