Photoworks Director, Celia Davies is heading to LOOK/15 Liverpool's international photography festival running from 15 -31 May 2015
LOOK/15 celebrates every facet of photographic practice, from its early rise to tomorrow’s technologies, local and international. Celebrating the rich democracy of the form through to its high art and scientific capabilities, audiences are invited to engage, view and take part in exhibitions and activities designed to improve access to the arts, develop skills and encourage cultural understanding, in environments that allow people to view and create work in one of the world’s most photogenic, international cities.
The theme of this year’s edition of the biennial festival is Exchange celebrating the dialogue between three subjects often overlooked in photography: women, migration and memory.
Celia will be speaking at a morning debate organised by Redeye in partnership with Impressions Gallery
Public photography commissions – who benefits?
Sunday 17 May 2015
10.30am -1pm
The Bluecoat
School Lane, Liverpool L1 3BX
Speakers include: Celia Davies of Photoworks and photographer Colin McPherson of Document Scotland. Chair: Anne McNeill, Impressions Gallery.
FREE but booking strongly recommended
Photography commissioned by public bodies ought to be a vital part of the photographic eco-system, benefitting both photographers and the organisations who commission. But it doesn’t always go smoothly. Photographers should be paid fairly, but organisations might not be able to afford a full commercial fee, so end up unable to retain prints of the work, or use it in all the ways they would like. Photographers need to retain copyright while organisations need an appropriate usage licence, but that can be a tricky negotiation. Storage and archiving needs to be properly managed, as do sharing and touring of work. When these processes go wrong some publicly commissioned photography ends up being little seen, sold to the private market without proper acknowledgement, or even lost.
What can we do to build and agree best practice guidelines and share knowledge? How can we encourage more public organisations to see the benefits of commissioning.
