The Messy Truth - Conversations on Photography

In this episode, Gem Fletcher talks to writer and artist Gideon Jacobs. For the last few years, Gideon has been grappling with our relationship to images and technology, posing theories about its potential futures. Despite his beat not being politics, many of his most potent essays, in particular those for the LA Review of Books, use the root of politics to untangle the changing state of images and the ways in which reality is being reimagined through image production and strategy in dark and surreal ways. In this episode, we cover a lot of ground, trying to unravel how the value of images is shifting and what the potential outcome or implications of this could be, to which there are several possibilities, but for Gideon, our relationship to technology comes front and centre. Gideon Jacobs is a New York based writer contributing fiction and nonfiction to The New Yorker, The New York Times, Artforum, BOMB Magazine, The Drift, Heavy Traffic, aMONG others. Alongside his writing, he is currently performing a one man show called Images: A Show, a performance as a Second Commandment fundamentalist preacher, directed by Ruby McCollister. He has lectured at a number of institutions including the Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome and the New School, NYC. Gideon is currently working on a novel about images.Articles mentioned:Trump l’Oeil (LA Review of Books)Player One and Main Character (LA Review of Books)AI is the Future of Photography… (New York Times)Follow Gideon @gideon___jacobs & Gem @gemfletcher on Instagram. If you've enjoyed this episode, PLEASE leave us your feedback in the Apple Podcast store. Thank you for listening to The Messy Truth. We will be back very soon. For all requests, please email hello@gemfletcher.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Gem Fletcher talks to Donna Ferrato, a fearless photojournalist who has redefined how the world sees domestic violence through her groundbreaking work. Her seminal book Living With the Enemy [published by Aperture] sparked a global reckoning, exposing the hidden realities of abuse and igniting conversations that continue to drive change. In this conversation, Donna shares her radical approach to image making, what she went through to get her work seen, and her lifelong mission of wielding the camera as a tool for justice.  In 2021, Donna received a grant from the Mayor’s Office to End Gender-Based Violence to build and install a public art installation on a human scale in the form of a prison cell sculpture of mirrored steel which symbolized a portal into the lives of criminalized survivors of domestic violence.  Donna's work has been recognized with numerous prestigious honors, including the W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography, the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Outstanding Coverage of the Plight of the Disadvantaged, the IWMF Courage in Journalism Award, the Missouri Medal of Honor for Distinguished Service in Journalism, Artist of the Year at the Tribeca Film Festival, and the Look3 Insightful Artist of the Year. In 2008, New York City declared October 30th “Donna Ferrato Appreciation Day,” and in 2009, she was honored by the judges of the New York State Supreme Court for her tireless advocacy for gender equality. In 2025, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from John Jay College of Criminal Justice for her lifelong commitment to justice, truth, and the transformative power of photography.  Donna's photographs are held in major institutional collections including the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Library of Congress, and the International Center of Photography in New York City, as well as in private collections such as those of Celso Gonzalez-Falla, the Marrus Family Fund, Keri Jackson and Adrian Kunzel, Ann and Alex Russ Family Fund. She is represented by the Daniel Cooney Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Follow Donna @donnaferrato & Gem @gemfletcher on Instagram. If you've enjoyed this episode, PLEASE leave us your feedback in the Apple Podcast store. Thank you for listening to The Messy Truth. We will be back very soon. For all requests, please email hello@gemfletcher.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this conversation Lisa Barnard talks to Gem Fletcher about her new exhibition, You Only Look Once,  at c/o Berlin which considers perception in relation to both human and machine experience. She addresses the complexity of technological progress and the ecological resources on which its promises depend. Her research focuses on California, unfolding a multilayered, fragmented and nonlinear story that encompasses photographs, an immersive video installation, archival interventions, alternative printing strategies and AI-generated image analyses that weave together in the creation of a dense visual entanglement.Lisa Barnard is a British artist and lecturer whose photography focuses on real events. In her projects, she combines classical documentary methods such as photography, audio, video, and text with contemporary visual strategies and digital technologies. She brings together her interest in aesthetics and current debates on the materiality of photography with political questions surrounding new ecological efforts, technological developments, science, and the industrial military complex. Barnard is an associate professor and head of the online masters in documentary photography at University of South Wales. She regularly exhibits her work and has published three monographs: Chateau Despair (2012, GOST, supported by Arts Council England), Hyenas of the Battlefield: Machines in the Garden (2014, GOST, supported by Albert Renger-Patzsch prize), and The Canary and the Hammer (2019, MACK, supported by Getty Images Prestige Grant). Follow Lisa @lisacbarnard & Gem @gemfletcher on Instagram. If you've enjoyed this episode, PLEASE leave us your feedback in the Apple Podcast store. Thank you for listening to The Messy Truth. We will be back very soon. For all requests, please email hello@gemfletcher.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I Will Keep You in Good Company, the latest book by Liz Johnson Artur brings together pages and fragments from over twenty years of her personal workbooks she has kept since the early 1990s. These books are a kind of private, experimental playground where she shaped her photographic language through layering, cutting, annotating, and assembling: a space for processing not only images, but life itself. Each page is a tactile surface, combining photographic prints on canvas, tracing paper, faxes, and photo stock with screen-prints, handwriting, and clipped texts. The result is a sensorial, intimate archive of moments lived and witnessed – of friends, family, strangers, lovers – held with care and attention. In this conversation, Gem and Liz talk about the workbooks and Liz’s journey making them throughout her career. They also talk about the power of stubbornness, finding your tools, overcoming shyness, how she has integrated her work into her life and the importance of being yourself within the institution. Follow Liz @lizjohnsonartur & Gem @gemfletcher on Instagram. If you've enjoyed this episode, PLEASE leave us your feedback in the Apple Podcast store. Thank you for listening to The Messy Truth. We will be back very soon. For all requests, please email hello@gemfletcher.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Gem talks to writer and curator Vince Aletti about his most recent book Physique—which showcases rare photographic prints from the underground gay magazine of the same name—collated from his own private collection. Spanning the 1930s to the early 1960s, these photographs chronicle a hidden, coded world of homoerotic imagery. Physique reveals a forgotten chapter of American gay culture in which photographic prints served as a lifeline, connecting a community of men under threat while also providing solace, pleasure, and empowerment amid oppression. In their roving conversation, they talk about obsessions, Queer culture, FOMO, writing, the importance of incongruous connections, Bad Bunny and the evolving codes of masculinity.Vince Aletti is a writer, critic, curator and book maker. He is a regular contributor to the New Yorker and has also written for Aperture, Artforum, Document, amongst other titles. Vince was the art editor of the Village Voice from 1994 to 2005 and the paper’s photo critic for twenty years. In 2005, he won the International Center of Photography’s Infinity Award for writing. He has made many books, most recently, The Drawer and Physique made in collaboration with Self Publish Be Happy and Mack. Vince lives and works in ManhattenFollow Vince @vincealetti & Gem @gemfletcher on Instagram. If you've enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. Thank you for listening to The Messy Truth. We will be back very soon. For all requests, please email hello@gemfletcher.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Gem Fletcher talks to Charlotte Jansen, writer and Photo London curator. They discuss mechanics behind photography fairs, how she approaches the curatorial process and how this aspect of the industry can support the work of emerging artists. Charlotte Jansen is a British Sri Lankan author, journalist and critic based in London. She is the curator of Discovery at Photo London and writes on contemporary art and photography for The Guardian, The Financial Times, The New York Times, British Vogue and ELLE, among others. She is the author of Girl on Girl: Art and Photography in the Age of the Female Gaze, and Photography Now.Follow Charlotte @omfgnoway & Gem @gemfletcher on Instagram. If you've enjoyed this episode, PLEASE leave us your feedback in the Apple Podcast store. Thank you for listening to The Messy Truth. We will be back very soon. For all requests, please email hello@gemfletcher.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Gem Fletcher talks to photographers and longtime partners Carolyn Drake and Andres Gonzalez about their collaborative project and book, “I’ll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours,” published by Mack. For the last five years, the two artists have traversed the border between Mexico and the United States, working together for the first time and ruminating on ideas about human connection, migration and the mechanics of photography itself. In this conversation they talk about the reality of collaboration, and how as they studied the borderlands they were faced with an unavoidable reckoning that, over time, offered them a deeper understanding of each other and their work.Carolyn Drake works on long term photo-based projects seeking to interrogate dominant historical narratives and creatively reimagine them.  Her practice embraces collaboration and has in recent years melded photography with sewing, collage, and sculpture. She is interested in collapsing the traditional divide between author and subject, the real and the imaginary, challenging entrenched binaries.Andres Gonzalez is a visual artist based in Vallejo, California. His book “American Origami” (2019) won the Light Work Photo Book Award, and was shortlisted for the Paris Photo–Aperture Book Awards. We featured “I’ll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours,” his first collaborative project with fellow photographer, and life partner, Carolyn Drake, which saw them spend five years traversing the border between Mexico and the United States, capturing moments and characters from their individual perspectives.Follow Carolyn @drakeycake & Andres @andresvgonzalez & Gem @gemfletcher on Instagram. If you've enjoyed this episode, PLEASE leave us your feedback in the Apple Podcast store. Thank you for listening to The Messy Truth. We will be back very soon. For all requests, please email hello@gemfletcher.com  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Gem Fletcher speaks to Amak Mahmoodian about her latest body of work, ‘One Hundred and Twenty Minutes’, in which she examines dreaming for individuals living in exile. Working with 16 collaborators, Amak uses photography, poetry, drawing and video to explore the new lives created through dreams, as well as the ways in which dreaming enables individuals to return to a past that cannot be reached while awake. Amak Mahmoodian is a multidisciplinary artist and educator. She began her career as a research-based photographer in Iran in 2003 at the Art University of Tehran. Since 2010, she has been living in the UK, unable to return to Iran. She practices as a visual artist at the intersection of conceptual image-making and documentary photography, working with photographs, text, video, drawing, archives and sound.Her practice explores the presentation of gender, identity and displacement, bridging a space between personal and political across platforms and formats including installation, books and films.Her works are held in collections such as the Tate, and the British Library in London. She has published two books, Shenasnameh (RRB- ICV Lab, 2016), and Zanjir (RRB, 2019) which was the winner of The Best Photo Text Book award at Rencontres Arles, 2020.Follow Amak @amak_mahmoodian & Gem @gemfletcher on Instagram. If you've enjoyed this episode, PLEASE leave us your feedback in the Apple Podcast store. Thank you for listening to The Messy Truth. We will be back very soon. For all requests, please email hello@gemfletcher.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Gem Fletcher talks to artist Paul Kooiker. They discuss his process, unique way of seeing, his relationship to equipment, the archive, book making and sepia and how he thinks about the ecosystem around his practice. Paul Kooiker is an award winning artist based in Amsterdam. Disconnected from time and place, and transcending classic gender roles, his surreal images feel like film stills of stories we can only imagine. Paul’s practice is characterised by a conceptual and experimental approach to photography and for the past five years he created works that flirt with the boundary between commerce and art. As a result, he has become a much sought-after creator of iconic images and collaborated with Vogue Italia, Luncheon and AnOther, Givenchy, Valentino and Rick Owens. Paul has published thirteen books and had his work displayed in countless solo and group exhibitions in the Netherlands and abroad. His works can be found in a great many international collections, both public and private. Follow Paul @paulkooiker & Gem @gemfletcher on Instagram. If you've enjoyed this episode, PLEASE leave us your feedback in the Apple Podcast store. Thank you for listening to The Messy Truth. We will be back very soon. For all requests, please email hello@gemfletcher.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Gem Fletcher talks to Alessia Glaviano, the Head of Global PhotoVogue and Director of the PhotoVogue Festival. They discuss relevance, why Alessia hates nostalgia, the importance of obsession and why artists need the freedom to be controversial. Since joining Vogue Italia in 2001, Glaviano rapidly ascended from Photo Editor to Visual Director, where she played a crucial role in shaping the visual identity of the publication. In early 2022, with the relaunch of PhotoVogue on a global scale, Glaviano’s role shifted to focus on leading PhotoVogue, collaborating with all editions of Vogue worldwide. Under Glaviano’s leadership, PhotoVogue has become an industry-leading platform, curating a diverse pool of image-makers and exemplifying diversity behind the camera through a multitude of perspectives. In her expanded role, she continues to steer the platform into its future while overseeing its creative direction and driving key special projects.In addition to her editorial work, Alessia regularly lectures at esteemed institutions, including the United Nations, the University of Brighton, Central Saint Martins, IED, Bocconi University, and the Milan Polytechnic. She has also served on the juries of internationally acclaimed photography contests, including the World Press Photo, the Festival International de Mode et de Photographie à Hyères, and the Leica Oskar Barnack Award, and has participated in several prestigious portfolio review sessions, such as the New York TimesPortfolio Reviews.Follow Alessia @alessiaglaviano & Gem @gemfletcher on Instagram. If you've enjoyed this episode, PLEASE leave us your feedback in the Apple Podcast store. Thank you for listening to The Messy Truth. We will be back very soon. For all requests, please email hello@gemfletcher.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Gem Fletcher talks to Jack Davison about craft, creative development and the importance of taking risks, all through the lens of his new project A is for Ant, a multifaceted experience which includes his debut short film, two photo books, a live touring performance, and workshops.  Made in collaboration with Shona Heath and Matt Willey  where each letter of the alphabet is represented by an animal - playfully characterised by both actors and live creatures and created in the inventive spirit of the Early modern avant-garde.British photographer Jack Davison's oeuvre 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. Jack'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.Jack received his first major commission from Kathy Ryan, photography editor of the New York Times, in 2016. His editorial work has since been featured in publications including the New York Times, Le Monde, Vogue Italia, British Vogue and i-D, and he has worked with fashion labels including Alexander McQueen, Hermès, Burberry, Craig Green and Moncler. His 2019 book Photographs, published by Loose Joints, is now in its third reissue. Song Flowers, a collaboration with the fashion label Marni, was published in 2020. Ol Pejeta, whose subject is the world’s last two living white rhinos in the Kenyan wildlife conservancy of the same name, followed in 2021. A limited-edition annotated artists edition of Photographs was published in 2021. Jack's works are included in the permanent collection of The National Portrait Gallery, London.Follow Jack @jackdavisonphoto & Gem @gemfletcher on Instagram. If you've enjoyed this episode, PLEASE leave us your feedback in the Apple Podcast store. Thank you for listening to The Messy Truth. We will be back very soon. For all requests, please email hello@gemfletcher.com  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Gem Fletcher talks to Cait Opperman about her creative journey and her new full service production company Flowers. Born from her desire for greater autonomy and more direct and meaningful collaboration with her clients, Cait is creating a new model beyond the  traditional photographer and agent dynamic. While she had a hunch that building Flowers would offer a more expansive way of working with less compromise, Cait also found it rekindled her personal connection to creativity in dynamic and unexpected ways. Cait Oppermann is a New York-based photographer, director and entrepreneur working in the fine art, commercial and editorial sectors and beyond. After receiving her BFA in Photography from Pratt Institute, Cait has built a successful career working with clients including Nike, Meta, Rapha, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Time, Volvo and On Running. In 2023, Cait launched FLOWERS, a cross-disciplinary creative studio and full-service production company based in New York, working across the globe.Follow Cait @caitoppermann & @flowersfullservice & Gem @gemfletcher on Instagram. If you've enjoyed this episode, PLEASE leave us your feedback in the Apple Podcast store. Thank you for listening to The Messy Truth. We will be back very soon. For all requests, please email hello@gemfletcher.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Gem Fletcher talks to Sophie Hackett, the photography curator at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto about the power of vernacular photography. We discuss her recent book and exhibition on Casa Susana - The Story of the First Trans Network in the United States 1959-1968. These incredibly inspiring photographs trace an underground network of transgender women and cross-dressing men who found refuge in a house in the Catskills region of New York. The house, known as Casa Susanna, provided a safe place to express their true selves and live for a few days as they had always dreamed - dressed as and living as women without fear of being incarcerated or institutionalised for their self-expression. This book opens up that now-lost world with a multifaceted collection of vernacular photographs - mostly discovered by chance in a New York flea market in 2004. During Sophie Hackett’s tenure at the Art Gallery of Ontario she has curated numerous exhibitions and collection reinstallation's, written and contributed to countless publications, participated on international juries and maintained an active academic profile. She is currently a faculty member in Toronto Metropolitan University’s Master’s degree program in Film + Photography, and was a 2017 Fellow with the Center for Curatorial Leadership. Hackett’s area of specialty is 19th and 20th century vernacular photography.Follow Sophie @hackettse & Gem @gemfletcher on Instagram. If you've enjoyed this episode, PLEASE leave us your feedback in the Apple Podcast store. Thank you for listening to The Messy Truth. We will be back very soon. For all requests, please email hello@gemfletcher.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Gem Fletcher talks to Photographer Jesse Glazzard renowned for making striking and intimate portraits anchored in his everyday life and wider community. Alongside his commercial and editorial work, Jesse’s passion projects immerse us in marginal, lesser-known worlds, such as a Trans boxing gyms, Queer camping and underground club nights. His photographs are informed by care and compassion and the impetus of his practice is on the importance of documentation, without necessarily showing the work right away. There is a sense of preserving his community, in a particular moment of history. Jesse Glazzard Is a Photographer from West Yorkshire, based in London. He has worked with clients including YSL, SSENSE, Calvin Klien, Adidas, Coach, Facebook, Death Jam, Sony Music as well publications including British Vogue, Interview magazine, GQ, Altered States, Perfect Magazine, Cultured Mag and The Face.Mentioned in the episode:Diamond Coating on a Blade - Jesse Glazzard for The FaceWinter on Fire documentaryFollow Jesse @jesse_glazzard & Gem @gemfletcher on Instagram. If you've enjoyed this episode, PLEASE leave us your feedback in the Apple Podcast store. Thank you for listening to The Messy Truth. We will be back very soon. For all requests, please email hello@gemfletcher.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Gem Fletcher chats to designer and educator Brian Paul Lamotte about  reimagining the possibilities of form, production and distribution in art and photobooks. In a deep dive into the book making process we open up a conversation about the changing scope of publishing, the transformative experience of being entangled with an artist and their intentions and ultimately design as a form of collaboration. Brian Paul Lamotte (b. 1984, San Francisco, USA) is an independent graphic designer & publisher specializing in art and photography books. Educated in graphic design at London’s Central St. Martins, he established his creative practice in New York and is currently based between Milano and Zürich. His design approach utilizes extensive visual and production research paired with image-led solutions and minimal typography. His publishing practice is driven by exploration and experimentation with the book form, production methods and models of distribution. He has designed and produced various books and projects for select publishers and clients including Aperture Foundation, Dashwood Books, Edition Patrick Frey, Fondation Louis Vuitton, GOST Books, Hauser & Wirth Publishers, Images Vevey, Ithaca Image Text Press, Jiazazhi, MAST Foundation, Meta/Books, MoMA, Pro Helvetia, Rizzoli,SPBH Editions and Twin Palms Publishers.Follow Brian on Instagram @brianpaullamotte Follow Gem @gemfletcher on Instagram. If you've enjoyed this episode, PLEASE leave us your feedback and maybe five stars if we're worthy in the Apple Podcast store. Thank you for listening to The Messy Truth. We will be back very soon. For all requests, please email hello@gemfletcher.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nathaniel Tonelli, known by their monika Female Pentimento, has cultivated a vast audience on social media in awe of their celestial images which both advocate for climate awareness while traversing the space between heaven and earth, life and death, spirituality and science fiction. While Nathaniel’s work feels provocative and exciting, it’s their approach to designing a practice that prioritizes care, independence and anonymity that I wanted to dig into with them during this episode. Together we talk about crafting a creative practice, affirmations, independence and the importance of finding a methodology that works for the individual. You can order Nathaniel’s photobook Inner Nature here published by Broccoli Press.Nathaniel Tonelli is an artist and art director whose work bridges photography with speculative storytelling, exploring themes of mysticism, deep ecology, and humanity’s imprint on nature. Through these lenses, Nathaniel considers the interwoven futures of our ecosystems and spiritual lives. Rooted in vibrant experimentation, their work is guided by gratitude, reverence, and mindfulness.Follow Nathaniel on Instagram @Female Pentimento Follow Gem @gemfletcher on Instagram. If you've enjoyed this episode, PLEASE rate and review on Apple Podcast store. Thank you for listening to The Messy Truth. We will be back very soon. For all requests, please email hello@gemfletcher.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Gem Fletcher welcomes back Charlie Engman to talk about Cursed, his new book of AI Images. Cursed stands as a testament to Charlie’s visionary role in the rapidly evolving and highly contentious field of AI, offering an immersive exploration of uncharted artistic territories and proposing a new paradigm for the future and possibilities of photography. During their roving conversation, AI Images act as a way to not just reflect upon Charlie’s work but also to interrogate the discourse around value, provenance, creativity and economics as well as other pressing issues which get very little attention. Charlie Engman is a Brooklyn-based photographer, director, and art director whose work pushes the limits of traditional image making, simultaneously principled and irreverent — imbued with both the weird and wonderful. He has exhibited work globally and made four books. His work has been featured across AnOther Magazine, Dazed, Garage, POP, and T: The New York Times Style Magazine, among other publications. His commercial clients include Prada, Marni, Adidas, Hermès, Kenzo, Nike, Vivienne Westwood, and Stella McCartney. Charlie has also worked as Art Director at Collina Strada since 2019 — continuously pushing the creative & conceptual boundaries of the contemporary, sustainable brand.You can order Cursed  and Hello Chaos, a love story over at Mack. Follow Charlie on Instagram @charlieengman Follow Gem @gemfletcher on Instagram. If you've enjoyed this episode, PLEASE rate and review on Apple Podcast store. Thank you for listening to The Messy Truth. We will be back very soon. For all requests, please email hello@gemfletcher.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Gem Fletcher talks to curator Alona Pardo about her rich practice rooted in multiplicity. Alona is one of those curators who knows how to truly capture the imagination of the audience, planting ideas in our minds that reverberate long after we have left her exhibitions. During the conversation, Alona talks about her process, interests and how her curatorial practice has evolved over time. Alona Pardo is Head of Programmes at the Arts Council Collection, UK, and was until recently a curator at Barbican Art Gallery in London for 15 years. With a focus on photography and film, she has curated numerous exhibitions including most recently RE/SISTERS: A Lens on Gender and Ecology (2023); Noemie Goudal: Phoenix (2022) as part of Les Rencontres de la Photographie, Arles; Masculinities: Liberation through Photography (2020); Trevor Paglen: From Apple to Anomaly (2019); Dorothea Lange: Politics of Seeing (2018); Vanessa Winship: And Time Folds (2018); Another Kind of Life: Photography on the Margins (2018); Richard Mosse: Incoming (2017) and Strange and Familiar: Britain as seen by International Photographers (with Martin Parr; 2016). She has a particular interest in work that operates at the intersection of gender, social and environmental justice.Follow Alona on Instagram @alona_pardo Follow Gem @gemfletcher on Instagram. If you've enjoyed this episode, PLEASE rate and review on Apple Podcast store. Thank you for listening to The Messy Truth. We will be back very soon. For all requests, please email hello@gemfletcher.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Gem Fletcher delves into the unique approach of London-based photographic artist, Laura Pannack. Her practice, which is a blend of experimentation and research, is a deep exploration of the intricate relationship between subject and photographer. The work is rooted in intimate collaborations with individuals and communities, and it constantly pushes the boundaries of what photography can be. Laura Pannack, a London-based photographic artist, has made a significant impact in the field of portraiture and social documentary. Her work has been widely exhibited in prestigious institutions, including The National Portrait Gallery, Somerset House, The Houses of Parliament and the Royal Festival Hall. Her numerous awards, including the World Press Photo Award and the Julia Cameron Award, are a testament to the profound influence of her work. Last year, she published 'Youth Without Age and Life Without Death, with Guest Editions, a response to her need to escape and find adventure in the face of the relentless passage of time.Her artwork has received much acclaim and won numerous awards, including the John Kobal Award, Vic Odden Prize, World Photo Press Awards, Juliet Margaret Cameron Award, and the HSBC Prix de la Photographie prize.Follow Laura on Instagram @laurapannack. Follow Gem @gemfletcher on Instagram. If you've enjoyed this episode, PLEASE rate and review it on the Apple Podcast store. Thank you for listening to The Messy Truth. We will be back very soon. For all requests, please email hello@gemfletcher.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Gem Fletcher talks to Jermaine Francis about his multifaceted practice. Jermaine’s work is both deeply personal while also speaking to the intersection of politics and culture in the UK, inviting us to explore the physical and psychological aspects of our space, unpacking themes of history, power, class and race in photography. Jermaine Francis is a London lens Based Artist, his practice works within, Documentary & Portraiture, archive in the format of personal driven Photo projects & Editorials, exploring the issues that arise from our interaction in the everyday environment. He has published two books, Something that seems so Familiar in 2020 & 2021 Rhythms from the Metroplex, & is currently working on a new book with publishers Here Press. The International Centre of Photography NYC, The National Portrait Gallery, Galeriepcp Paris, Hetton Lawn Haus Wien, Vienna Austria 2021,Pembroke JCR galley Oxford, Saatchi Gallery, Centre of British Photography, a nominee for the 2024 Paul Huf foam Award, Awarded the Lightworks /Autograph 2024 Residency, and Cora Oxford Brookes 2024 Residency.Follow Jermaine on Instagram @jermainefrancisstudio Follow Gem @gemfletcher on Instagram. If you've enjoyed this episode, PLEASE rate and review on Apple Podcast store. Thank you for listening to The Messy Truth. We will be back very soon. For all requests, please email hello@gemfletcher.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.