“We want to support great work in a changing industry,” declare Emily Graham and Anna Stevens on the Contact Editions’ homepage. Together, this dynamic duo has created an online space for emerging artists. Based in London, Contact Editions is a realm of exciting new work, also enabling collectors and photography admirers to get acquainted with new voices. Their project can be read as a continuous attempt to create a community, while communicating ideas and putting forth questions about the present state, the future and also the past of the field. So, here is an up-close encounter with Graham and Stevens’ inspirations, as well as their take on photography:
What was the first image you ever took?
AS: My mum in the garden chasing my brother, she was wearing a bright green shirt that went with the grass and looked really happy. I did manage to cut half of her head out of the frame though!
EG: To be honest, I don’t have many photography related memories that go earlier than when I was around 16-17 and started an evening class in photography. There’s no particular image that stands out in my mind, but I remember being immediately obsessed by shape, texture and light.
Seba Kurtis, “Delta, Rashid”
From the Project ”A Few Days More”
All Images are Courtesy of Contact Editions
Why did you want to become a photographer?
AS: I’m not sure if I ever wanted to ‘be a photographer’; that word can mean so many things in terms of how you live your life and I didn’t understand many of those ways of working until I had spent time in the industry. But I was attracted to photography as an art form because it seemed to hold the ability to be political at a time (in the early 2000’s) when most fine art forms were pretty apolitical.
EG: I frequently fall in and out of love with photography: it’s a complex and immediate medium. I’m not sure either that I really wanted to be a ‘photographer’ but I always wanted to take photos, whether just for myself or to share with others. I always enjoyed being ‘creative’ but never really felt an affinity with painting/sculpture/other mediums; when I came across photography it just felt right. I fell in love with the process of taking pictures, of roaming around and finding things.
What made you want to create Contact Editions?
AS: I think we were both quite frustrated in our jobs at the time and felt that there was a bit of a vacuum for people who weren’t established in the photography world, either as photographers or professionals, to share their ideas and enthusiasms. It started with a few of us meeting in the pub to show work, but when it often ended up being just Emily and I on our own, we decided to work together. We set up the blog and it went from there.
Chloe Dewe Mathews, “Ghost Race”
From the Project ”Banger Boys of Britain”
What is the most difficult thing for a photographer in this day and age? What do you hate the most?
AS: Holding onto the passion. Especially when you are starting out you have to be so focused in order to get through those early years of very part time freelance work, until you get the regular clients. Increasingly photographers need to diversify to survive. You can make a living out of it if you keep at it but it takes stubbornness and a genuine love of the medium and process.
I wouldn’t say hate but a bit of a bugbear of mine is the older photographers who feel threatened by new developments in the industry. I do a lot of ‘multimedia’ video and AV slideshow work for online or installations and come in for quite a bit of flack that it is changing the way photography is used… for the worst! I feel it’s an over-reaction and that no-one has any right to be possessive over this or that style of photography.
Chris Dorley Brown, ‘Trowbridge Estate at Night,” 1986
EG: The reverse of that though, which I often find frustrating is the notion that photographers need to do it all – not just be photographers, but also film-makers. I very often see people adding unnecessary soundtracks or movement to photographs, often almost unthinkingly, as if the photography by itself is no longer enough. Although I agree with Anna in that the new technologies and movements towards multimedia are exciting and open up new ways of presenting work, I also don’t feel that that approach is for everyone.
The photography industry can also be very self referential, which can be difficult and frustrating at times. Being creative in the way that you work and in the way that you collaborate with others is quite essential in breaking away from this!
What inspires you – as photographers and writers?
AS: Film, books, friends and the good old traditional newspaper.
EG: In addition to Anna’s list: traveling, music, walking (preferably somewhere outside of the city!), art shows (outside of pure photography).
Liz Lock and Mishka Henner, ‘The Tin Man”
From the project “Raw Material”
What kind of music do you listen to when you work on your publications and texts?
AS: I’ve never been able to do much listening to music while working, I find it way too distracting. Sometimes a bit of folk can whirl away in the background without catching my attention too much. If I’m doing something that doesn’t require much brain power (photoshop-ing say) I quite like to listen to something bassy and loud, like The Bug or early dj rupture or maybe some old punk.
EG: It depends what I’m doing really – when I’m writing I can’t listen to anything that demands too much attention, and often opt for old favorites like Fugazi or nothing at all. I quite like to dip in and out of listening to music blogs whilst editing, and often listen to compilations through SoundCloud. When I’m editing I’ll usually go for quite random mixes; old guilty pleasures like Hall & Oates, 80s punk (Descendents, Minutemen, etc.) and newer stuff like Nightwave and Ariel Pink.
What was the last photography book you’ve read?
AS: Photography Is by Mishka Henner.
EG: I’m currently reading 100 Artists’ Manifestos, which isn’t photography specific but is an interesting read to anyone interested in art and rhetoric. Other than that The Pleasures of Good Photographs’ by Gerry Badger.
Miti Ruangkritya, “Untitled XVI”
From the Project ”On the Edge”
Who are your photography idols?
AS: Broomberg and Chanarin inspired me a lot when I first started, the lack of assumption in their storytelling. Ori Gersht, Susan Hillier, Tim Hetherington, Keith Arnott, Philip Jones Griffith, Susan Meiselas, Barbara Kruger, Edmund Clark; people whose ideas drive their projects and have the capacity to reinvent their own visual language to suit these ideas.
EG: I’m not sure I have a huge amount of photography idols as such. I change my mind too quickly. However, there are many people whose work I come back to again and again; such as Tony Ray Jones, Robert Frank, Alec Soth, Roger Ballen, Susan Hiller, Broomberg & Chanarin, Wim Wenders, Maurice Broomfield, William Eggleston. I think the great thing about running Contact is that we are constantly looking at new work, and constantly coming across new photographers who are looking at things in a different light – and this is hugely inspiring.
What are you working on now?
AS: We are preparing our events for next year. We’ve spent a lot of this year doing ‘Vs’ nights, projection battles with other photography groups or collectives to show new work in a fun setting. We’re hoping to expand on this format and take it to some festivals.
EG: We’ve also just launched a new website for Contact, which we hope to be a more expanded platform for showing and discussing new work. There are also a few personal projects that both of us want to spend some time pursuing, but at the moment these are very much in the early stages!
What are your favorite blogs?
Mrs Deane / We Find Wildness / David Campbell / Wandering Bears.
Nick Rochowski, “Untitled #2, Caumont Caves 2010″
From the Project ”Caumont: The Caves”
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