Tim Paton Global Head of Commercial Assignments, Magnum Photos

Tim Paton is Global Head of Commercial Assignments, based out of Magnum Photos London office and is responsible for generating commercial opportunities for the agency’s photographic membership. Tim has spent his whole career in the photography business. He started out as a photographer himself working for the legendary music Magazine the NME. He then went on to set up his own commercial photo agency called Balcony Jump, which quickly became established as one of the best agencies in London. Tim has worked with many of the worldwide leading brands including Nike, Gucci, Guess, Ford, Volvo and IBM and in doing so has helped nurture the careers of many well established photographers and produced both large and small shoots all over the world.

Tim started his talk by explaining the different commercial activities undertaken by Magnum. Magnum has a large back catalogue of images that is sells for advertising purposes. Unfortunately many of the images do not have the required model releases and that impacts Magnum’s ability to generate revenue from those images (Reflection: If there are people in the images and you are looking to sell the images commercially then it is important to get a model release.)

In addition to the Magnum back catalogue Magnum photographers undertake commercial shoots clients of Magnum include Nike, Burberry and HSBC.

Images from the Magnum library that have generated significant income are images such as the Steve McCurry image of the Afghan Girl.

Magnum have been involved in shooting all of the USA Presidents since the 2^nd World War when Magnum was formed.

Tim referenced the work by Jonas on the HSBC campaign and Land Rover. In the case of the HSBC campaign they has a team of 3 production assistants on location in Shanghai to scout out suitable locations as the campaign had to be shoot over a short period of time.

The Land Rover campaign required the creation of still and video assets as the campaign was intended for publication across multiple media formats. This included segments of the photographer talking to video as part of the road trip.

Magnum has a large social media following circa 1.1 million on Twitter which is a useful tool for brands and Magnum sometimes allows takeovers of the feed as to support a campaign.

Talk with Edmund Clark and Johnathan Watkins (Director at IKON Gallery in Birmingham) which is part of the PhotoLondon Talk that accompanies PhotoLondon Show.

‘Edmund Clark: The Day the Music Died features a linked series of publications and photographic projects completed over more than 10 years. This site-specific exhibition invokes an immersive and sensory engagement with the experiences of observation, detention, and disorientation explored through the artist’s work.’ (International Center of Photography, 2018)

Clark has recently exhibited at the IKON Gallery a show that will get discussed later in the talk. Clark is currently exhibiting in New York at IPC with a show titled ‘The day the music died’ ( a song by Don MacLean.) The IPC show is the third time Edmund has exhibited work from his war on terror bodies of work. This work has already been show in different forms at the Imperial War Museum (London) and in Germany. Each time the work has been shown Edmund explained that its configuration has changed to work with the gallery space and new work has been introduced alongside previous bodies of work. (Reflection: In preparing for my own exhibition this is useful point of reflection that the space can influence the way the work is read.) The shape of the gallery allowed Clark construct a central enclosed space to house projections for new body of work titled 198 2000 which is images of abuse of people held in detention. 198 relates to the number of images released. The space means that the reader will walk in front of the projector beam and the images abuse executed in our name by government will fall on our bodies.

The outside of the space has television screen showing images of individuals who are related to the war on terror. Another wall hosts the redacted documents related to detention of terror suspects. Another wall show picture of the safe houses used to hold detainees as they were  transported or detained alongside images from the detention camps. Clark states that the banality of these images is a way for people to connect with these places as the images could be seen as similar to the images one might take of our own homes when trying to rent a room on a site such as AirBnB.

Extraordinary Rendition was a new strategy for visual arts based around Investigative Journalism (Reflection contemporary art can take on new genres and forms as we explore different ways of telling stories and therefore one should not be afraid to explore new paths.) Clark discussed the way technology has changed views on fighting terror and the legality of unmanned drones. Nobody is there to record the effects of these weapons and impact on the ground which can make its feel this type of warfare is somehow clinical with no collateral damage that photographers and journalists on the ground would traditionally record. There are questions of the legality of these types of strikes where power is projected from homes in the USA.

The IPC exhibition was named after one of the songs played to disorientate detainees. Clark indicates knowing this fact means has fundamentally changed the way he view this song. Many other audio that we associated with our lives such as the Simpsons was also played to control those in detention alongside the use of physical interrogation techniques such as water boarding.

The talk proceeded to talk about the recent exhibition at IKON ‘A Place of Hate’ (Ikon-gallery.org, 2018)  Clark has been in residency at the prison for a number of years and the work on exhibition has been created with the approval of the HMP. ‘

Established in 1962, HMP Grendon requires inmates to accept responsibility for their offence. Within the prison environment they can exercise a degree of control over the day-to-day running of their lives, making a commitment to intensive group therapy and democratic decision-making, whilst holding each other to account. Evidence shows that Grendon has delivered lower levels of violence in prison and reduced instances of reoffence after release.’ (Ikon-gallery.org, 2018

The exhibition was split across multiple rooms each room displaying different aspects of the life of residents of Grendon. 1.98m2 is lightbox constructed based on the dimensions of a prison cell. Residents spend from 7:30pm locked down in their cells. The lightbox contains pressed flowers that Clark collected from the unused spaces in the prison. Clark explained the flower were pressed using prison paper and due to a lack of experience with the technique a number of the flowers have rotted. He explained that once residents became aware of his collecting of flowers they who inform him of the location of different flowers in the prison. The plants in the display are symbolic of the variety, detail and fragility of the residents going through therapy. Johnathan felt the exhibition was transformative in way it makes us look at people in prisons. (Reflection: Using non photographic material to help convey meaning is something that during the last module I started to do with the rubbing of the piers and surrounding structures. This something that is potentially worth considering for inclusion in the exhibition. The rubbing patterns remind me of the general ripples we see on the surface of water surrounding the landing staging stages and piers. An abstraction of a physical structure can look the same as an abstract view of the water.)

The second part of the exhibition is screen showing paths that residents can take with the walls of the prison. The videos do not contain images of residents referencing the that that when you enter prison you disappear from society. When residents accidentally entered the videos of theses walks Clark has used a mosaic effect to remove them from the videos. The longest possible journey lasts some 14 minutes and is around the perimeter of the prison. The clips are exhibited as continuous loops to mirror the repetitive nature of journey’s with the prison. (Reflection at the current time my exhibition does not incorporate any form of moving images though early in the project I did create short timelapse videos of some of my walks that were used to capture images during the “Informing Contexts” Module. This is something that is worth considering as part of the exhibition.)

The third part of the exhibition is a recording of a group therapy session based on psycho-drama where protagonists of the crime play their victims. This is based on Greek tragedy. The process is a cathartic process where we see inmates wearing masks as they play out bad behaviours and then discuss  the experience from the perspective of perpetrator, victim and witness. The session was recorded from there different angles and is displayed on three screens placed on chairs from Grendon in a therapy circle. Clark was not able to use close-ups of the inmates to ensure that if they were released at a future date they could not be recognised.

The final part of the exhibition uses consists of projections of inmates on to the bed sheets used in the prison cells. Clark created the projections using a pinhole camera to mask the identify of the individuals in the portraits. The images were created using long exposures lasting 7 minutes. During that time subjects answered questions about themselves during the exposure. Clark commented that the images are a reflection of the words of the prisoners and this gives meaning to the images. The images do appear almost ghostly in form but when the residents was they images they made comments about the images reflecting them as a person.

The talk concluded with a questions and answers session. I asked Clark where he has show work in multiple exhibition if he felt the work was ever resolved. Clark’s response was that he felt work could be resolved even though it might be presented in different forms at future exhibitions.

I presented Clark with an invite to my FMP show in August on the back of a photograph from the series ‘Last person to leave turn off the tap’ as the images use photographic language similar to that used by Clark in his Camps series.

(Ikon-gallery.org, 2018)

(International Center of Photography, 2018)

References

• Ikon-gallery.org. (2018). Ikon In Place of Hate. [online] Available at: https://www.ikon-gallery.org/event/edmund-clark/ [Accessed 20 Apr. 2018].
• International Center of Photography. (2018). Edmund Clark: The Day the Music Died. [online] Available at: https://www.icp.org/exhibitions/edmund-clark-the-day-the-music-died-traveling-exhibition [Accessed 20 Apr. 2018].

I decided to attend the Photographer’s Gallery talk with David Hurn and Simon Robert’s for a number of reasons. They are both exhibiting in London at the same time as my show across the river at the National Maritime Museum. Simon Robert’s work has been has contextual relevance to my practice as The Pier’s in my project featured in Simon’s Book Pierdom. While David was the source of inspiration for the print swop activity organised by Philip Singleton at the Falmouth Face to Face event in February.

I created a set of notes from the talk and include my own thoughts on the dialogue.

David and Simon first met when David critiqued Simon’s work and now they are exhibiting at the same show. David’s view is that one’s photography gets better over time. David joined the army and the start of his photographic career can be traced back to a photograph in Picture Post of a Russian soldier buying his wife a hat and that resonated with David’s childhood memory of his father buying his mother a hat. For David photography is about capturing the intimate moments between two people. For him photography hits you emotionally and can counteract propaganda. (Though there are many cases where photography has been used for propaganda purposes such as 1930’s Germany such as some of the work by August Sander during that period.) David feels his photography is actually about life and the reaction of people doing stuff. His photography can be described as observed life.

David’s view is there are many good photographer like there are many good doctors., however not all good doctors are surgeons. There are a lot of photographs being taken today and photographers need to recognise that fact. Good photographers he felt take a lot of pictures (the 10,000 hour rule.(Anon, 2018) required to become an expert) however they need to master technique which is what photographers such Don MuCullen and John Bulmer have achieved in the opinion of David Hurn. He felt mastery of photography is in essence similar to a concert pianist you play the piano a lot.

Simon Robert’s photographic degree provides structure to his photography though listening to his story about his time as a photo journalist in Sheffield you start to understand that is where he learnt to operate photography as a business. He realised the importance of owning authorship of his images there was image he took of John Prescott that was syndicated by the local newspaper and earned them more than his salary for the whole time he work at the paper. David started shooting his own projects including work about a boxer Daniel Teesdale that went on to become a story about a tap dancing boxer.

Simon said that photographers need to create stories they believe in and need to control their archive (Simon’s pension scheme.) David commented that newspapers teach you about being on time shooting regardless of the weather and he felt providing Simon with a grounding for life.

The conversation moved on to talk about Magnum Photography which David views as a benchmark for a certain type of photography. Though interestingly the most recent photographers to join the Magnum family have not photographic educations they come from other disciplines and have started to use photography as a vehicle to communicate.  David was of the opinion that a unless you are careful when selecting a photographic degree you might end up with lecturers who teach you how not to do things. He recognised the importance of selecting lecturers who are master practitioners in the an area that you want to gain mastery in otherwise there are maybe better ways to spend the money required to complete a degree. (Note: An interesting point of reflection on my own decision to go back to university to complete the Masters and the decision to select Falmouth with its reputation for having lecturers who are photographic practitioners.)

We recognise the importance of a photographer developing their own photographic voice. The last time David accepted a brief was in 1970 since then all his work has been self-initiated. When creating work from your own ideas it is important to follow through on the ideas and understand the rules of the game. David asked Simon for his strategy to which he replied that you cannot wait for others you need to work from your own personality. They both felt it was analogous to composers one say’s that Mozart is better Bach they create different work. It is important to get your work out into the public domain Editorial is shrinking now stories need to be created in 3 days. Pitching ideas to editors can make their life easier and therefore they are more likely to commission the photographer who had the idea than get another photographer. Shoot to define your voice.

Simon got a commission from Parliament from the last General Election. He had to pitch his idea to a parliamentary subcommittee, he got the commission possibly because a number of other photographers turned down the project because it stipulated in the brief that parliament would own copyright. Once he was awarded the commission he renegotiated the contract so that the work would be created as an edition of 3 and parliament would own one of each piece of work which has allowed Simon to retain copyright.

Print sales for both David and Simon are important income streams. David has a unique strategy in that he produces his work in 3 different sizes. The large two sizes are editions however he retains he right to sell small size print in an uneditioned form which he feels sits better with his own values. Simon commented on the importance of having multiple income streams so that if the market moves you are protected. For him that is editioned prints, books and commissioned work.

David made the comment that photography transitions to being art when a gallery can sell the work. David reflected on the earlier part of his career he would visit Magnum and look through loads of contact sheets to understand the work of other photographers and the fact that photographers might only select 1 or 2 images from several rolls of film to develop into prints. He referenced a lunch conversation between Henri Cartier Bresson, Eugene W Smith, Bill Brandt and himself where Bresson asked smith how many good photographs he took a year. To which Smith replied about a dozen leaving Bresson to retort you always had a high opinion of your own work. (Note of reflection if master photographers such as these might only produce a handful of great photographs in a year that is a real challenge for an MA student to develop a representative body of work for exhibition in the 2 years of a part time course where we are still developing our voices.) The conversation moved on to bias in selecting of photographers as the Great British Seaside exhibition is 4 white male photographers possible not representing gender and racial equality of society today. Similarly Magnum has been dominated by white male photographers. David’s view was that Magnum was looking to select from a certain standard of International Photographers rather than their being any form of bias in the selection process, just a lack of talent because of the environment in countries in places like South America. 

The final part of the conversation moved on to photographic legacy. David has amassed an amazing collection of photographic images which he felt is worth in the region of £3.5 million. He has used that asa bargaining tool to have the Museum in Wales agree to take his own photographic archive and create a gallery for social documentary photography. The challenge for other photographers is the cost of space required to hold archives and especially film which needs to be kept cold to prevent it deteriorating overtime. After all who wants to spend time in a chilled room reviewing negatives.

The talk concluded.

After the talk I went to speak to Simon Roberts due to his influence on my current project. I has also printed a 5×7 from the WIP of the Walton Pier Superstructure and presented it to Simon as a hand written invite to my exhibition in August. Simon though that showed a level of imagination and foresight to do that. Though on reflection I should have got someone to take a picture of me giving him the invite and then posted it on Social Media.

References

•    Anon, (2018). [online] Available at: https://problogservice.com/2012/03/15/what-malcolm-gladwell-really-said-about-the-10000-hour-rule/ [Accessed 20 Apr. 2018].