Fotofest and me

I thought for my last blog post I would copy a letter that I wrote to Wendy and Fred the octogenarian powerhouse behind the whole festival. I met them again recently at a launch for the accompanying book to the Biennial exhibition: ‘Changing Circumstances’ on the future of humankind in the face of environmental change and degradation….

here it is:

Hi Wendy

Great to see you at the book launch and I hope you are both comfortably home with your feet up after a very busy few weeks and months! I admire you greatly and wonder at your energy, drive and commitment. I feel it is unparalleled and explains why and how Fotofest is such an unusual and unique experience.

So, today I filled out my survey and I wanted to just write to you too to summarise my sense of Fotofest, having participated for the first time.

Firstly, I have attended review sessions before. I went to Rhubarb in 2009 and NYPH in 2011, Aperture’s reviews at Paris Photo in 2010. So I have some experience of reviews.

Fotofest was recommended to me several times by English artists who described it as “the mother of all reviews” a sort of trial by fire: four days, four reviews a day. It took me eight years to finally get to Fotofest and I agonised greatly about the cost before getting there.

But once there, I wondered at my own faint heartedness: I was amazed at the quality of reviewers, the quality of opportunities on offer, the quality of organisation. All of this conspired to create an atmosphere of utter seriousness. I felt the reviewers were genuinely looking to find talent, nurture it and push it along. After two days I was on a strange sort of high. My work was being recognised, appreciated and understood in ways that I had rarely experienced before. Reviewers were articulate, educated, interested and encouraging.

My work is not your typical editorial/documentary style. I have struggled enormously to be understood as an artist working with photography within the confines of the British photographic art world. Now I found every other reviewer describing my work to me: it was conceptual (Ann Shafer), important historically (Fabian Conclaves Borrega), it would sell easily in New York Galleries (Barbara Tennenbaum), was deeply intellectual (Anna Kasia Rastenberg/Alejandro Malo), I could go on. I couldn’t believe that the format of 20 minutes could produce such sophisticated readings.

Finally I felt understood, accepted, believed in. I didn’t go to Fotofest expecting anything. I had never really received any concrete offer from a review session although I know that is probably what 99% of artists want. In fact, I am still only just following up on various leads because, as an artist and as a person I am slow and plodding and I find I can’t rush into anything. But within two weeks of returning Caroline Docwra had contacted me to remind me to apply to the juried exhibition coming up at HCP, and fantastically, I had been selected by Phaidon for a book on ’The Art of Botany’.

There is a feeling of solidity at Fotofest: that the reviewers  are invested in the process as much as the artists. This comes across in the way that they speak to reviewees. They disclose their preferences and respectfully offer only reflections if your work is not their ‘cup of tea’. In the past I have felt reviews were something of a shooting gallery with artists racing to avoid being hit by sardonic, harsh and entirely un-self aware comments. I saw none of this. Every reviewer was entirely genuine in their approach. Even after four days they were steadfast in their approach to be open minded, interested, alert and articulate. This was mirrored in the fact that they came to openings with us, ate with us, offered more reflections out of hours, made time for us in all the unofficial events. This generosity was amazing to me, I have never seen it before. It was such a warm, accepting and nurturing environment that everyone wanted to support everyone else. Exhibiting artists shared their hopes and frustrations with reviewers. I got to meet Susan Derges who is my all-time hero and talk to her in detail about art, the art world and art careers. I spent time with Jeff and Gina Glover and we discussed the idea of a curated show about fertility. Together with Jessa Fairbrother this is something I will pursue over the course of the next couple of years.

I hope that what I am communicating is the depth and breadth of what Fotofest gave me. I laughingly compared it to “Big Brother combined with the X Factor” when I got home. It was something of this in the hothousing and talent competition. But it was so much better than this: nobody was stuck in a box, reviewers reviewed each others work in between sessions, we gave each other professional tips, we formed strong bonds and made promises to ourselves and each other. We got to see what the world could be like if we just believed in ourselves. For those four days I lived without doubt, without fear. I was suspended in a reality where art was everything. The ‘real’ world of bills,  children, responsibilities didn’t exist. And that bubble I now carry inside me. Because knowing that Fotofest exists, knowing that I can go back in two years for another injection of love, acceptance and inspiration, gives me such hope, and the energy I need to keep going, keep making the work, keep trying to get better as an artist…

Coming back I have met other artists who have been to Fotofest and I realise it’s something of a code: this is how artists get their careers started. Fotofest is sort of a pass code for success. It’s a word that signifies something only if you have been. Undoubtedly many have gone and still floundered. But what I am realising now is that most of those who have succeeded have gone to Fotofest.

And that’s what I mean when I say it’s an eye opener.

So thank you both for all you have done, all you have achieved. It’s more than you can ever possibly know, as you have clearly planted seeds that will continue to flourish and reseed across the globe for decades, if not centuries. I’m sure you’ve been told all this before but I wanted to tell you myself.

Lisa

Wendy and Sian Bonnell at the launch for Changing Circumstances by Schilt Publishing, London, May 2016.

Outside the book launch with artists from this year and previous Fotofests, from the UK and USA.

On day one I had six reviews. Of these, three reviewers asked for more information to be sent to them. one was a gallery, one a web publisher, one a museum curator.I was on a high: the conversations I had with reviewers were of an excellent quality, despite the time restriction of twenty minutes. I knew already that this was to be a worthwhile experience. The next day was the same rate of outcomes: three more reviewers asked me to send them information, images and links.

Both days were so long, stretching far into the night and sleep was merely a punctuation before it all began again. I barely had time to write down my notes after the reviews before I raced out to the evening programme: something I had barely registered when I signed up. After the reviews, we were taken off in a coach.

What I had not expected was how much fun Fotofest was!  On day one we drove for one and a half hours to the sea. I was so disoriented I couldn’t work out where the sea could be, but it turned out to be Galveston on the Mexican Gulf. Here we saw a show and then fell into groups, walking through beautiful waterfront warehouses to find shacks selling seafood and steak.

On the coach I had chatted to Kyle Meyer, a Parsons student studying photography in New York. Together with Cecilia Mezulic, they had come to their first ever review sessions with much trepedation. They were young and passionate and I took an immediate liking to them both. When I eventually got to see their work I was astounded: they were both remarkably talented with unlimited potential. They became my Fotofest buddies along with Jessa  Fairbrother, Donna Schwartz and Barbara Karant, Ryan Bush and
Natasha Caruna.

The quality of attendants at The Meeting Place reviews was extremely high. Although I am something of a ‘conceptual’ and decorative digital artist, I can appreciate that photographers such as Barbara and also Matjaz Krivic are exceptionally talented, mid career photographers who use Fotofest as a way to take time to think about their practice and check in with museums, curators and publishers.

The age of attendants was also surprising: most attendants were over forty, the mean age was probably 45.

Perhaps it is the calibre and level of experience of attendees explains why the reviewers were so comfortable spending their evenings chatting, travelling to openings and eating and drinking with participants. I have never experienced such a non-hierarchical approach to review sessions but the structure of Fotofest – an intensive four day hothouse approach, gives rise to real friendships and bonding beyond the  bounds of jobs or roles. It is an endurance test, as much for the reviewers as the attendants and by the end of it, we were all congratulating eachother on having survived.

On days three and four I found myself flagging.  Still half of my reviewers were asking for more information and several had concrete ideas of how I should progress. I met with three members of the Houston Centre of Photography. Each told me to apply to their juried exhibition in the summer. One reviewer took the trouble to write her advise down for me in my book “Ann Shafer says reach out to Elizabeth Fairman at Yale Center for British Art…” and so on. The commitment to our potential was amazing; these reviewers want the attendants they meet and like to succeed. Everyone was generous with their ideas, their contacts, their hope.

I had brought with me some slides: old work. These I had shown to nobody, ever. But somehow the format of Fotofest – the fact that over and over you are pitching your ideas, your images…you are forced to try new things. SO on day three I brought out my slides: “here is where I began”. One reviewer saw these and got cross: “Why are these not on your site?” he asked “I needed to see these when I looked at your site!” he insisted. I promised I would stop hiding my old work. I had known for years that I had never allowed anyone to see where my current work began. Now I promised myself: when I go home I will scan my archive. I will stop hiding.

Fotofest is more than a review session, it’s a place to meet and share ideas. It’s a little bubble where Art matters, artists are important and talent wins. It’s not like the rest of the world and for that reason I loved it. It was the antithesis of anything I’d tried before. it’s nurturing, caring and supportive. Doors open for those who are ready and willing. But more importantly, the doors we close on ourselves are propped ajar with possibility: maybe, maybe….?

On the last night we went to three exhibitions, ending at the Houston Centre for Photography where we had the most divine barbeque, washed down with iced tea and a live Blue Grass band. I had to say my goodbyes but I knew that many of these people I would see again.

I came back from Fotofest with a full head and a happy heart. I’m still acting on the advise I was given. I’m scanning my archive, making public finally, 16 years of work that I had kept hidden.

I was contacted within a couple of weeks by Caroline Docwra from Houston Centre for Photography: “don’t forget to apply to our juried competition!” she reminded me. I dutifully applied.

I am still getting back to reviewers, still discovering how significant that experience was. I’m deeply grateful to An for helping me get there and taking the sting out of the cost. Undoubtedly, it will turn out to be a small price for the wealth of contacts and opportunities that are already coming out of it…

I strongly recommend any artist working with photography to consider Fotofest. It is a deeply liberating experience, full of opportunity, hope and love.