© Jack Davison
What is the state of the photography industry? And how might we retool it for the future?
As artists, we have inherited this sprawling, decreasingly functional cultural apparatus known as the photo world. So, what can we do about it? How might we possibly retool or scavenge from its remains to rebuild it anew? Can we imagine new models of making and distribution that address systemic issues? Is it possible to create a more expansive practice with less compromise? And how can we cultivate new community standards that support many, rather than a few?
Gem Fletcher is joined by Jack Davison, Ronan Mckenzie, and Hanna Moon, three artists who have taken risks in an attempt to create new models of publishing, exhibiting and making.
Bios
British photographer Jack Davison effortlessly embraces digital, analogue, black and white and colour photography. His works depict the human figure, architecture, animals, objects, landscapes and townscapes; yet his subject is always photography itself. Davison's playful and curious approach is shaped by the equally formative space of online platforms like Flickr and Tumblr, where he first developed his craft as a young man taking pictures in the Essex countryside. Davison had his debut UK solo exhibition at Cob Gallery and a further solo exhibition at Foam Fotografiemuseum, Amsterdam. His portrait photography is included in the permanent collection of The National Portrait Gallery, London. He is the founder of the imprint Helions.
Ronan Mckenzie is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice includes photography, curation, and design. Alongside creative still and moving image works for a number of titles and brands including Vogue, Luncheon, Wall Street Journal, Clinique, Glossier and Nike, Ronan continues to work on special projects including designing a chess board for W Budapest, interviewing Carrie Mae Weems for The Barbican, creative direction for musician anaiis, writing for Apartamento and leading educational programmes for Gucci Changemakers. Curatorially, her collaborators include The V&A, The RA, Carl Freedman Gallery, London Design Festival and Somerset House. In addition to working on numerous projects for others, Ronan founded her own gallery and community space HOME (2020-2023), as well as her label SELASI (2020-present).
Hanna Moon is an artist, photographer and creative interlocutor, born in South Korea, and based in London. Her first critically-acclaimed contribution to fashion culture was her launch of A Nice Magazine, created by Moon for her graduation from Central St Martins, London, in 2014. Intentionally working with ideas and subjects outside of the conventions of fashion photography, Moon has defined herself as an important new voice in the field. Moon breathes new life into fashion with her personal narratives and truths, and her acute sense of how to create the visuals of our time. Moon brings her inimitable approach to image-making, and prodigious knowledge of editing, design, casting and styling to publications including i-D, Dazed, AnOther, M le Monde, POP, Dazed & Confused, Re-Edition, Arena Homme+ and British Vogue as well as the visual identities of brands including Hermés, Gucci, Miu Miu, Marc Jacobs, Fendi and Supreme.
Gem Fletcher is a writer, consultant and podcaster whose work explores photography, art and contemporary culture and how they shape and inform who we are and how we live. Her work has been published in Foam, Aperture, Dazed, It’s Nice That. Creative Review, 1000 Words and The British Journal of Photography. She has written monograph texts for Rhiannon Adam, Juan Brenner, Maggie Shannon and Flora Hanitijo, amongst others. She also hosts The Messy Truth podcast, a series of candid conversations that unpack the future of visual culture and what it means to be a photographer today. Now in its tenth season, Gem explores reflections on criticism, starting out, mental health, politics and success with guests like Antwuan Sargent, Catherine Opie, Farah Al Qasimi, Carmen Winant, Charlotte Cotton, Quil Lemons, Brea Souders and Laia Abril.
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Sat 31 Jan, 12:30 – 1:45pm
Full-day tickets are available, along with half-day tickets covering either the first two events or the last two events in the programme.
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no. 236848.