Denise Brady, owner of Lowestoft’s Denise Brady Photography, has emerged as a customer service finalist in the Suffolk Small Business Awards, marking a significant milestone in her career. With the awards aimed at celebrating exceptional entrepreneurs and small to micro businesses across the county, the opening of the voting portal has sparked excitement among the local business community. The shift in Brady’s professional focus from wedding to food, commercial, and theatre photography underscores her versatility and commitment to excellence, traits that have undoubtedly contributed to her nomination.
Denise Brady’s journey in photography began with capturing the essence of love and union at weddings. However, recognizing the dynamic nature of the photography industry and the need to adapt, Brady expanded her portfolio to include food, commercial, and theatre photography. This strategic pivot not only diversified her skill set but also broadened her client base, reinforcing her reputation as a versatile and talented photographer within Suffolk’s competitive landscape.
The Suffolk Small Business Awards stand as a testament to the innovation, resilience, and excellence of the county’s entrepreneurial spirit. For Brady, being named a finalist in the customer service category is not just a personal achievement but a recognition of her unwavering commitment to her clients. With voting now open until May 1, supporters and patrons have a crucial role in determining the outcome of this closely watched contest. Detailed information on the voting process is accessible online, offering an easy way for the community to back their favored nominees.
The anticipation builds as the Suffolk Small Business Awards ceremony, scheduled for May, draws near. This event not only celebrates the achievements of small businesses like Denise Brady Photography but also highlights the vital role these enterprises play in the local economy. As voting continues, the spotlight on these awards offers a unique opportunity for nominees to showcase their contributions to the Suffolk business landscape. For Brady, this recognition extends beyond the accolade, serving as a catalyst for future growth and innovation in her photographic endeavors.
As the vote count progresses, the community’s engagement and support reflect the collective spirit of Suffolk’s small business sector. Whether Denise Brady secures the coveted customer service award or not, her nomination alone signifies a remarkable journey of adaptability, creativity, and dedication. As the awards ceremony approaches, the anticipation and excitement serve as a reminder of the importance of recognizing and celebrating the hard work and achievements of local entrepreneurs.
Amateur Photographer Magazine has officially announced its partnership with Click Live for the 2024 photography show, setting the stage for an impactful collaboration at NAEC Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire, UK from 23-25 June, 2024. Nigel Atherton, the magazine’s editor, and Charlie Kaufman, CEO of Click Backdrops and Click Live organizer, have both expressed their excitement about the partnership, which promises to enhance the event’s offerings and reach a wider audience of photography enthusiasts.
The collaboration between Amateur Photographer Magazine and Click Live marks a significant milestone in the photography community. Nigel Atherton’s announcement highlighted the magazine’s eagerness to engage with both current readers and new audiences, offering a glimpse into the exciting activities planned for the event. Charlie Kaufman’s statement underscored the partnership’s role in keeping attendees informed and engaged as the event approaches, indicating a well-thought-out strategy to leverage the magazine’s influence within the photography world.
Click Live 2024 is set to feature a stellar lineup of photographers, including Lindsay Adler, Kelly Brown, and Chris Knight, offering attendees a rare opportunity to learn from some of the industry’s most renowned figures. The event promises a rich educational experience with presentations, hands-on activities, and exclusive ‘audience with’ sessions, designed to cater to a wide range of interests and skill levels. With tickets now available, the event is poised to be a landmark occasion for photography professionals and enthusiasts alike.
As Click Live 2024 draws nearer, the partnership between Amateur Photographer Magazine and the event organizers promises to add a new dimension to the photography show. This collaboration not only aims to enrich the attendee experience but also sets the stage for future partnerships that could further elevate the event’s status in the photography community. With both parties expressing their commitment to the event’s success, Click Live 2024 is shaping up to be an unmissable event for anyone passionate about photography.
Photo by Yvonne Mak. All images © Frankey, shared with permission
Each week, Amsterdam-based artist Frank “Frankey” de Ruwe finds a new location to inspire playful, often ironic installations around the city. From a bridge support transformed into a rhinoceros to a police car leaping over a portico to a miniature surfer riding an awning, his pieces both celebrate and find humor in locations throughout the city.
About two decades ago, Frankey landed on a copy of Banksy’s Wall and Piece, a collection of many of the famed graffiti artist and political activist’s interventions in cities around the world. Frankey tells Colossal it was an “aha!” moment. “I knew graffiti and always liked it because of the bright colors it added to the cityscape,” he says. “But Banksy showed me that art in public space could also be very funny and smart.”
On Saturdays, Frankey publishes a new artwork on Instagram and in the Dutch newspaper Het Parool. Without permits, installing the work is technically illegal, but he pays a great deal of attention to his materials and installation methods to avoid actually vandalizing any property. “I do have some rules for myself because I love Amsterdam a lot,” Frankey says in a recent interview with The New York Times. “I don’t want to harm the city at all, so all the pieces I make can be removed quite easily without leaving any damage.”
Frankey works with a wide variety of magnets, ties, and double-sided tape, challenging himself to connect sculptures to buildings, civic structures, or trees without using screws or permanent glues. The flip side of making them easy to remove is that they often are, as passersby pick them up or fans seek out pieces to collect.
Find more on the artist’s website.
Photo by Jurre Rompa
Photo by Jurre Rompa
Photo by Jurre Rompa
Photo by Jurre Rompa
Photo by Jurre Rompa
Photo by Jurre Rompa
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article The Nooks and Crannies of Amsterdam Are a Canvas for Frankey’s Playful Interventions appeared first on Colossal.
You know, Pentax just announced that their new film camera will be out soon,” says Varun Gupta, president of the Chennai Photo Biennale (CPB) in a conversation about their Darkroom Workshops, whose 2024 run starts this weekend in Chennai.
Clearly thrilled, he is referring to the Japanese camera-makers’ latest development in their Film Camera Project: the successful prototyping of a brand new compact film camera to be launched in summer this year. “Exciting things are happening for analogue photography, with brands coming back and committing to film lines,” he says. Think Leica reintroducing their M6 rangefinder camera in 2022, and Lomography launching a new line of film called the LomoChrome Color 92 film in mid-2023. “It really is a testament that there is a market for film photography and that market is growing,” Gupta adds.
Such developments, coupled with the trends they have noticed and nurtured with photographers of all stripes in India, have led CPB to the juncture they find themselves at today. As they kick off the 2024 Darkroom workshops this weekend—earlier led by Gupta and now being mentored by photographer and multi-disciplinary artist Aishwarya Arumbakkam—next week, they will also launch India’s first black-and-white reversal film, which is a slide film that shows a captured shot as is, directly through a projector. “We are calling it Ulta 100. A play on the Hindi word for upside down,” Gupta says.
In India, the resurgence of analogue photography has fed into a youth subculture by itself, with millennials and Gen Z thrifting film cameras and shooting on film available in the market. They have also formed networks over messaging apps like Whatsapp and Telegram, and social media like Facebook and Instagram. And while there are a few senior photographers, artists and academics who hold talks, photowalks and workshops in some pockets, a more mainstream and cohesive intervention that will help guide the community and expose them to artists and diverse analogue photo-practices seems to be lacking.
This is where the CPB Darkroom workshops hope to step in. Their Darkroom 101 and Darkroom 102 courses are geared towards covering the basics: what is special about film, and about how to expose, shoot, develop, and print, along with a critique by the artist leading the workshop. These have seen a total of 115 participants from across India, including Coimbatore, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, and Kashmir, over both courses since starting in June last year.
Now, their recently added Darkroom 201 course, with its next batch starting in April, will focus on visual storytelling through film, with a simulated assignment where a participant will shoot a photo essay on one film roll of 36 shots, over 3-5 days. “This course teaches you film photography as it is meant to be done…not just shooting one roll over six months, developing it and then saying, ‘wow, how charming’,” he says.
For him, it is the intentionality that film photography forces onto the photographer—with the inability to see the image you shoot in real time, the limited number of shots per roll, and the sheer effort it takes to process, develop, scan and/or print a negative—that is crucial. “It is important to instil that into photographers to appreciate the making, because that also then affects the practice,” he notes.”
Also Read: A photography exhibition focuses on 10 Dalit communities from across India
The CPB Darkroom workshops will continue to take place at the CPB Lighthouse, a community space that opened in July 2023. The space, which has a photography library and their fully kitted commercial darkroom, also has areas demarcated for workshops and teaching.
In an interview with Mint Lounge, the workshops’ current mentor Arumbakkam, who was named in 2019 as one of the ‘Ones to Watch’ by the British Journal of Photography, and awarded the Magnum Foundation Photography and Social Justice Fellowship in 2020, talks about the sessions, analogue versus digital photography, and the relationship one builds with analogue processes. Edited excerpts:
In the context of your question, we are assuming that the audience for the picture (the viewer) is the same as the photographer (the user). Inherent in this situation is one of the crux of working with film.
In the situation you have described, the person who is photographing is looking at the photograph as they are photographing it. However, while photographing with film, you cannot do that. Instead, you are looking at the subject you are photographing. The photograph itself reaches you much later. You work with what many people have described as the “latent image.” This passage of time affects the way one both looks at and makes the image.
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Both film and digital have their own unique characteristics. I wouldn’t say starting with one is better than the other. Oftentimes these decisions are quite practical and are based on what you have access to at a certain point in time. In my experience, you learn with whatever you have access to, whether it is film or digital, and I find it important to be open to that. They each bring their own set of learnings with them.
I wouldn’t frame it as “graduating” from one to another, but look at it as a more conscious movement between the two. In some ways, I find that film distills the technical aspects of photography to its very basics and that can be quite freeing.
A photograph, shot and developed by Murugan, a participant at an earlier Darkroom session
(Courtesy Chennai Photo Biennale Foundation)
In my limited experience, the reasons people have to start working with film are quite individual. It is also important to note that for a lot of people, it is not about working with film “again.” Many people starting to work with film at present are interacting with film as a medium or even material for the first time. Most people in our workshops seem to start with a sense of curiosity, which is a beautiful place to begin any process. In the best-case scenario, the answer to “why” is personal and is revealed over time by the medium to you.
The next CPB Darkroom workshop, Darkroom 201, will run from 28-31 March. The next Darkroom 101 & 102 will run from 9 April-14 April. For details and registration, visit www.chennaiphotobiennale.foundation.
