I attended portfolio reviews that were put on by Belfast Photo Festival, I had chosen Deirdre Robb, Chief Executive Belfast Exposed and Trish Lamb, Curator at Gallery of Photography. Belfast Photo Festival also gave me 2 other complementary reviewers Malcolm Dickson, Director of Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow and Roisin Lanigan, Editor at i-D Magazine. However when I arrived Rosin had cancelled for the day. It was quite nerve racking as I haven’t done anything like this before, it was good to have Malcolm first as he put me at ease and after the first one you kind of get in a flow of presenting your ideas around your project.
Having a 20 min slot is quite hard going in that time you need to build rapport, present your project, discuss different ideas. I think if I was to do it again I would structure my questions a little differently as so I could cover a wider range of questions. It was also different from slot to slot, with what I should show I had brought with me single images but also a contact sheet. The contact sheet actually worked very well, which I wish I printed off larger (it was only meant to show how I put together the pop up exhibition) but then the single images also worked well for others. I think just be prepared with everything is the key, some liked my information sheet others just wanted a business card. I was pleasantly surprised with the whole encounter, it wasn’t as scary as I thought. Feedback was very positive and has given me greater confidence towards my project, which we enable me to see it through feeling accomplished.
Below are some of the notes I took down from each reviewer:
Malcolm said: Have a look at the title maybe something more poetic. Look at ways to layer your work maybe sound, using ambient sound or interview style. He liked how my imagery was consistent throughout and well put together. He said this body of work would be best suited for a publication. I if funds don’t stretch to a book then look at a PDF format and to check out Gina Glover who had a similar format.
Trish said: Thought the subject was really interesting and liked the general feel of my work. Be careful with typeface, keep with a more military text (but not too obvious) and keep captions to a minimal. Would be more interested in seeing place to place rather structure to structure. Suggested I check out Peter O’leary from Enniskillen, as he would be interested in this project. Thought the aerial imagery worked well with the rest of the project. Doesn’t like MISC title, as it doesn’t say enough. Would keep me in mind if anything comes up. Focus more on architecture not foreground.
Deirdre: Liked my project as a whole and glad it wasn’t another project about the troubles however be very careful when building the narrative, as to be clear with the cross over in some areas from WW2 and the troubles (focus on WW2). Said my imagery was stunning, very consistent and liked that it was warmer in tone. Could see this work large scale in an exhibition in any contemporary gallery wasn’t sure if the aerial imagery would work in an exhibition but would for publication. She said to focus on the architecture, seek heritage groups for funding and would keep me in mind if anything came up at Belfast Exposed.
Critical Research Journal 