Show Notes
"Play is the highest form of research." -Albert Einstein.
Clare and Jesse talk to George Bull and Michal Iwanowski about photography and 'play'. They ask how play has featured in their education and creative practices, and discuss their experiences of students' willingness (or not as the case may be) to play, experiment, take creative risks and get things 'wrong'. George Bull is a photographer and lecturer in photography at Henley College in Berkshire and completed the MA Photography (online) programme at Falmouth University in 2025. https://www.georgecbull.com @George_C_Bull
Michal Iwanowski is an artist and lecturer in photography at Cardiff Metropolitan University. He has exhibited widely and his work is in numerous collections. His project 'Go Home Polish' which explores his identity in a post-Brexit climate was first published as a photobook and will be exhibited at Y Storiel in Bangor on March 20th, to mark the 10th anniversary of Brexit referendum. https://www.michaliwanowski.com @MichalIwanowski
Thank you also to Joe Costigan @CostiganJoe for the playful artwork! (Sorry we ever doubted the wisdom of using a fisheye lens for a portrait!)
More from PhotoPhone
Jesse and Clare talk to Linda Jarrett and Justin Quinnell about their creative practices, both of which involve alternative processes and working with communities. Justin Quinnell is an artist and educator based in Bristol and Linda Jarrett is an artist based in New Zealand. They talk about the value of analogue and alternative photographic processes and the greater sense of community that these can come with. They discuss how alternative processes can communicate ideas to new audiences and are remarkable tools for learning. See their work, or connect via: @justin_quinnell https://www.pinholephotography.org/
Join by Dr. Catarina Fontoura, Course Leader for BA(Hons) Photography (online) at Falmouth University, Jesse and Clare discuss the challenges of teaching a subject that is steeped in politics, in an unprecedented time of polarised viewpoints.
Clare and Jesse explore the idea of graduate “opportunities” such as prizes, awards and other ways to get your work noticed. They ask what best practice looks like, in terms of organisations running such schemes, and to what extent such things exploit new graduates trying to get started in the creative industries. Helping them navigate this are Siân Addicott, Director of Ffotogallery - the photography development agency for Wales, and Philippa James - photographer, Associate Lecturer at Oxford Brookes, and graduate of the MA Photography programme at Falmouth University. Siân mentions Ffotogallery’s annual ‘Ffocws’ exhibition and mentorship scheme for recent graduates as well as those who are entering the industry through other routes. Philippa talks about various activities, including her experience as a finalist for the National Portrait Gallery’s Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize. https://www.ffotogallery.org https://philippajames.net
Jesse and Clare talk to Michelle Sank and Geoffrey Bird, both educators and photographers, about their experiences of returning to study photography at postgraduate level as 'mature students'. Michelle is a celebrated documentary photographer and environmental portraitist, and Lecturer on the MA Photography (online) programme at Falmouth University. Geoffrey Bird is a photographer and teacher at the Vancouver British Columbia Institute of Technology, and graduate of the Falmouth MA. The episode discusses the challenges that getting back to study after an extended period of time can bring, and also asks what maturity brings to a cohort of students, and a creative practice more generally. @Sank_Michelle @Geoffrey_Brid
Jesse and Clare talk to Haley Morris-Cafiero @hmorriscafieroand Dawn Rodgers @dawn_s_rodgers about ‘autobiographical’ approaches. Or, in other words, putting yourself literally or emotionally in the picture. This episode discusses Haley and Dawn’s creative approaches as photographic practitioners and how, as educators, we should go about supporting students who make work in these ways. https://www.haleymorriscafiero.com https://www.dawnrodgers.co.uk/shop-1/p/sorrow