I
have mentioned Grant’s work previously and continue to be inspired by it. I
have been taking a more in-depth look at the work in relation to questions that
arose during my crit, and decided to narrow the work down to the projects that
particularly appealed to me:
Our House: published by Grant but also featuring other artists, to coincide with an exhibition curated by Grant at the Lowry (supported by English Partnerships: The National Regeneration Agency, Urban Splash and Arts Council England). Aims to document “a process of change” in Manchester, “at a moment in this city’s history”
Cardroom Voices: commissioned by Urban Splash to capture and celebrate the strength of
the community in New Islington
Her First Year: a personal project, documenting the first year of motherhood for a teenager in Moss Side
Why
do these projects appeal above Grant's others? They are more often personal blogs, or
appear to take a more personal approach to the subjects, as opposed to the more
obviously commissioned work on architecture and regeneration. They all
prioritise people above buildings (in my opinion), although the two are
interlinked often – housing and regeneration playing a large part in these
people’s lives. The projects are about individuals, but also communities; you
identify strongly with each of the subjects featured but also get a real sense
of the sum of their parts and how the community is shaped around them.
Grant
manages to give a real sense of the each person’s voice – this is something I have been trying to
achieve. I initially took notes during chats with people, but this led to
stilted conversations whilst I frantically attempted to jot down the important
points. I then tried recording the interviews; this led to much more natural
discussions and meant I could transcribe the ‘voices’ of people. However, the
transcription of my first recorded interview of 25 minutes, took approximately
8 hours to transcribe and ran to 12 pages of text. There must be a way I can do
this without a full transcription – how does Grant go about editing down the
text? Hoe does he record his interviews? Does he have set questions he asks? I
was advised to do this, but I feel it would ruin the natural course of
discussion – I enjoy chatting with the people I meet and they enjoy telling me
about what they do.
How
does he photograph subjects? He doesn’t limit himself to a single viewpoint or
pose; he sometimes photographs in people's homes, sometimes outside; sometimes a
full body shot, sometimes closer up; sometimes people are surrounded by their
personal belongings giving a real sense of their personality, sometimes they
are against a blank background and the voice comes from the accompanying text.
How
does he decide on layouts for books: colours, fonts, sizes etc. Who does he
collaborate with? Does he pay people? Who
are his books for?
I spoke to Grant about his work and put my questions to him:
How do you go about recording your interviews and, where applicable, transcribing them?
There
isn’t a shortcut, as such – I used to pay a transcriber, which cost about £25
per interview but if you’re interviewing a lot of people it gets expensive. She would write down
everything, Lucy she was called. Lived near me. You
don’t need that level of detail though.
Generally speaking, I’ve excluded my
own voice in the work – I only want theirs
Edit
whilst you’re transcribing – listen once and jot down headlines, so to speak.
Then go back and transcribe just the bits you want.
Siri
is really useful on my phone, and the Pages app, which is Apple’s version of
Microsoft Word. I listen to the tape then talk into my phone and Siri records
it all. It’s much quicker than typing.. Then I just email the document to
myself.
In
terms of recording, I still use an old audiotape as I find it easier to skip
forwards and backwards. With these digital recorders, you press one wrong
button and you’re back to the beginning.
Do you use a set of formal questions when interviewing your subjects or have a more informal conversation with them?
Set
questions/chatting – there are pros and cons. If you’re following people over a period of
time then specific questions aren’t suitable – you just chat as time goes on...
I have learned to listen quite carefully to what people are asking – don’t
presume people know what your project is about. That’s a common mistake. Get
feedback.
Formal
questions – if you’re just seeing people once,that can work. But whenever
you’re talking to someone, you’ve got to be ready to go off on a tangent.
You’ve got to go with the flow. If I ask you how long you’ve lived in
Manchester, and you reply, ‘three years; I had to come here after that thing I
did in the last place with the murders…’, and my next question is ‘whereabouts
in Manchester do you live?’, I’m not going to ask that next! I’m going to ask
you about what you did. You can come back to your question later if necessary.
Some
people have an agenda – they want to promote certain things or get certain
things across. Like your lady on the market – she obviously wants to give
information about the market.
Rebecca
Lupton’s Mothers project asks the same questions of each subject. It gives an element of
continuity but there is not as much spontaneity about it. That is not necessarily my preferred
method, but it would be good to look at to inform your work.
How do you decide how and where to photograph your subjects? Do you let them have a say in it?
When I'm taking photos, I have in mind maybe three setups but you have to be prepared to change and go with it. With your work, an environmental portrait might make sense - such as the lady in the market. If the photos don't work, reshoot her in the market.
I always think we [as photographers] don't push people too far - people are generally up for it. It's good publicity for them; don't feel cheeky. You're taking an interest. Think about it - how do you feel about the [forthcoming] shoot with Rebecca [Lupton]?
If the subject is trying to lead you, do it their way and then try it your way. You are the photographer so you make the decisions. You might let them choose an area, for example. People expect you to be forceful. They might say things like, 'how should I stand?' - I often tell them to stand how they feel comfortable. If you try to get them to stand in a certain pose, it will look uncomfortable.
Do you prefer to work on your own or collaborate with others? And how do your collaborations work?
It's six of one and half a dozen of the other - both have good and bad points. In Shooting the Breeze I collaborated with the poet Linda Chase. It worked well because we work in different disciplines. She might suggest something and I would say. 'no', and she would do the same for me. YOu have to be true to your own discipline.
I collaborate with a graphic designer for my books. I give him the projects and Alan makes it more... interesting visually. I'll put my tuppence in but he will say no if he thinks it will work better his way.
I don't think I'd want to work with another photographer. Maybe if you're both doing independent work. In Our House I had the final say and I was curating already existing work. It was quite collaborative in the end as I was a rubbish curator! It was a successful show, but it definitely felt like more of a collaboration.
A lot of it comes down to finances - who is paying the bill? That changes the relationship.
Who is the audience for your various works?
With a zine, you need to think about who the audience is. IT would certainly be a good idea to have a web presence as well, for a wider audience.
With my books, it depends who has commissioned the books. If they are commissioned, the audience is pre-selected - clients, architects, perhaps people interested in photography or Manchester.
With self-published books, I always start wondering about the audience but it's not a commercial product so I don't get too hung up on it. It's creative - what works for you? You've got to please yourself first. Unless you're really, really famous, at what point do people spend more time looking at the work than you spent on it? Have an audience in mind but don't worry too much about it.
My talk with Grant confirmed many of my own thoughts;
- Excluding my voice from interviews - I had been considering this as a move and wasn't sure if it interrupted the flow of text but I will certainly try it now
- The use of voice recognition software is an excellent idea that will hopefully speed up my work rate
- The use of formal questions does not appeal to me as much as just chatting to my subjects. There are a few questions I want to ask, but I will insert them into the conversation where suitable
- I need to be more decisive about taking my images. Where I have selected the location myself but allowed the subject to pose comfortable in their own way, the shots have worked well. Where I have tried to accommodate the requests of subjects, the shots have not worked as well and I could feel this when taking them
- Working in collaboration with artists from other disciplines will enable my work to become more interesting
- Consider my audience but not too closely that I lose sight of what the work means to me
- Make work that interests me and in a way that expresses my feelings in the way I want
