So, October happened! Since going freelance again in July I have been investing in myself and my practice, juggling personal projects, funding applications and paid jobs!

Britain has been buoyant with photography festivals, and I attended events in Bristol & Brighton to mingle with my peers and to get myself seen!

Bristol Photography Festival was just kicking off when I spent a weekend at BOP (Books on Photography), an event celebrating all things Photobook related and incorporating book signings, talks, events, as well as hosting lots of Photobook publishers, from small enterprises to longstanding publishing houses. The event spans across the Paintworks complex which contains both the Martin Parr Foundation and the Royal Photographic Society Head Quarters. Enroute to BOP I visited Into the Abyss by Hashem Shakeri at Bristol museum and art gallery. There are still a number of shows running at Bristol Photo Festival, some until the end of the year and beyond, find out more here

Whilst at BOP I attended four talks, which were all thoroughly engaging;

Max Pinckers talked eloquently about his documentary project State Of Emergency which was made in collaboration with Mau Mau war veterans and Kenyans who survived colonial atrocities. The book which accompanies the project is in both English and Swahili, and contains “fragmentary colonial archives, photographs of architectural and symbolic remnants from the past, mass grave sites, demonstrations and the testimonies of people who experienced and survived the war themselves”. Brilliant work.

Libby Bove talked us through her wonderful world of imagination, intrigue and magic! Somehow interweaving life on the road (with an emphasis on the MOT), magic and various Guardians of the road: are they real? Are they imagined? Or are they both? Roadside Magic is the title of a new book by Libby. Look out also for The Museum Of Roadside Magic, a travelling archive that was stationed at BOP that weekend.

Photobook Museum Markus Shaden took us on a whirlwind audio-visual tour, showing highlights of the work of The Photobook Museum which he co-founded with two friends in 2014. “It serves as a public platform for collections, exhibitions and events and is committed to research and education on contemporary photobook culture.

Kirsty Mackay in conversation with Tom Booth Woodger about her new book The Magic Money Tree. The book, published by Bluecoat Press takes its title from a comment made by Teresa May in 2017, referencing how our wants (needs is probably a better word) cannot be solved by getting money by shaking a magic tree. ‘Mackay’s viewpoint is that poverty in the UK was a political choice inflicted on the most disadvantaged members of society – first with austerity, then with the steady erosion of the welfare state’.

The following week I hot-footed it to Brighton to participate in ‘Photomeet Superlab’ a collaboration between Photomeet & Photoworks. It involved two intense daily workshops, where a small group of participants gathered to engage with our current work and discuss the details & mechanisms of Industry Experts’ particular fields. I attended the Publishing workshop with Aron Morel (Morel Books) and Ramon Pez (Art Director at Thames & Hudson / Director Ramon Pez Studio) and the Galleries workshop led by Hannah Watson (Gallery Director TJ Boulting) and Tim Clark (Editor and Curator, 1000 Words Magazine & Artistic Director, Fotografia Europea). It was very insightful, and beneficial to discuss our work amongst peers.

Brighton Photo Fringe was happening when I visited, but I didn’t have time to see much of all that hasto offer. Here’s a few ideas for photography festivals to visit next year, and remember that Brighton and Bristol 2024 events are still happening! Please comment below if you recommend any others, thanks!

Bristol Photography Festival
Brighton Photo Fringe
Photo Hastings
Belfast Photo Festival
Impressions Gallery Book Fair, Bradford

Brighton, but from a trip earlier this year!

My return to freelancing is going pretty well, and some recent commissions I’ve worked on are photographing artworks for Norwegian artist Jens Johannessen and an ongoing commission for a Veteran’s charity. Clients tell me that they book me because I am friendly, approachable, and discreet; providing natural images of people. If you have any contacts or need for images to help tell a story please get in touch!

You may have heard me mention zines here before, and I have accumulated a vast collection of images with zine-making in mind. I am thrilled to announce that my first official zine will be launched at the LIP Zine, Book etc… Fair on 23rd November! Details as follows:

Saturday 23rd November 12-6pm

Rich Mix Streetside Space

35-47 Bethnal Green Road

London, E1 6LA

There are thirty stalls, so plenty of zines, books and other merchandise to fill those christmas stockings or add to your collections!

Lastly, in case you missed it, my friend Charly and I completed our three-day running extravaganza in mid September. This ended with a festivity of our own, when we were greeted at Paddington station by my son, and a few friends! Sonia Davda of Little Wing Flowers adorned us with flower garlands that she had made, and we felt like celebrities! You only realise that it’s quite an achievement when other people behave dumbfounded by what you have done! Thanks to everyone who sponsored us, we raised £950 for the charity Free to Run.

Wow!

That snuck up fast. I’m going go reset my intentions to include monthly blog-posts again starting January 2024. That last quarter of the year went in a flash.

It was a tough one wasn’t it? I am sure some of you have had worries on an individual level, but to me it felt like their was/ is a collective sense of malaise in the country, and there are so many reasons why.

When our son was younger, and having a moan about something (or more likely, having a moan about having to do something) his Dad and I used to band about the response “nobody said life would be easy”. Our lives were certainly easier than many, and the same can be said now, when so many are suffering at the hands of others. I wish this was an easy issue to resolve, but here we are in the throes of human existence, and it doesn’t seem those history books change all that much over the years. This is precisely why it is so important to recognise those special moments, to remind ourselves daily for that which we are grateful. If we take on all the suffering of the world, we would never manage to even open our eyes. This is not a sermon, but a gentle reminder, that amongst all that seems wrong with the world, there is always it’s opposition, offering a glimmer of hope and a future to set goals for.

I follow several inspirational people on Instagram, some of whom are sports-people. Owen Barrow is one of those people, and although he seemed very fit anyway, running was new to him this year. I met him by chance when he had just completed his first half Marathon in April. Since then he has been incredibly dedicated, and has discovered the joy of running (something I have tried to explain to non-believers from time to time!) He has run multiple half marathons, started a very busy running club, and completed his first marathon a couple of months ago. His level of discipline puts mine to shame, but I like to watch people progress, and I am in awe of those who really go in 100 percent. **UPDATE I am feeling good in one way though, as I just did a bit of fact-checking to be sure my words are true, and I see that my half marathon came in a fair bit faster than his first, so I can bask in the theory that I would up there with the high achievers if I trained a lot more! They say you should believe in yourself, right?

With that in mind here’s some of the things I did, and achieved in 2023:

Participated in two group photography shows before the end of February

Put my long-term project 4 x 4 x 4 up for scrutiny at Photo Scratch. The event was held at Fixation in South London.

Took the Fun Bus to Brighton to celebrate turning fifty (if you know, you know).

Visited Florence with a friend, and Mallorca with my Mum. The sun shone on us all.

Held my second ever solo show Getting To Know You, and created an accompanying publication under great time constraints!

Getting To Know You: The execution.
Image by Sandra Roberts.

Other things I did:

Surprised myself

Maintained a full-time job

Remained single

There are other things I intended to do, and those I had hoped for, but one can only do so much, and now I have written it down in a way I wasn’t intending, I see that I kept myself busy as usual! So now all I need to do is make plans to make 2024 an exceptional year. I have already started!

Words to live by! Another intention, and a Banner I made this year at Marcus Orlandi’s banner-making workshop to conincide with Thamesmead Festival.

NEWS!

Some of my fellow artists at Lakeside have initiated an online shop for some of our works. This will grow over time, but if you are looking for a unique gift, check it out now or later!

Look out for the Performance Delivery To Your Home! Sonia Roshal approached me to collaborate with her on this unique concept of having a takeaway delivered by us, whereupon Sonia will create a spontaneous site-specific performance. I will document the event, and send some images to the participants as a memory of a delivery that is literally one-of-a-kind. If you have any Bohemian friends with cash to flash, then this could add some flavour to their takeaway!

Please let me know anything you have achieved or had fun doing this year, and what’s in store for the year ahead. Whatever it is, be kind to yourself, and keep chipping away!

Go forth, and hold on to the good bits (not those!).

Much love

Amanda x

Photography Festivals and Book Fairs

Another year in pictures, and other stories.