Going Beyond with Frank Ockenfels 3

• Santa Fe workshops presentation in their Creativity Continues series.
• Ockenfels is artist who uses photos as his medium: paints, collages, rips etc.
• Mainly a commercial photographer, currently doing a book on David Bowie.
• States it is important to go backwards and look where one has started.
• Uses journals, adds rants and whatever imagery he can collect.
• Graduated to using smaller, thinner books to accommodate the ‘swell’.
• Adds his own life to his journals – family photos etc.
• Important to collaborate with people around you, e.g. models, curators, writers etc.
• During analog years he cut up his contact sheets to create collages in his journals
• Started making hand made books (similar to his journals) which he then used as a portfolio of work. Size was 8×10 which became very worn and torn after doing agency rounds during the year.
• When digital became popular he collected paper off walls in cities he visited – posters, lamp posts.
• Used plyboard boards and skateboards to paste collages. Sold skateboards for about $500 each. All one offs.
• Discovered discarded photos that have been in the garbage bin stained with food juice make very interesting images.

Fig. 1 Image stained with garbage juice (right), regular image (left) [Artist Talk, Zoom: screenshot]

• Also uses crystals to make abstracts.
• During Covid shot off his PC screen, using mirrors to create the distortion.

Fig. 2 Experimenting with contact sheets [Artist Talk, Zoom: screenshot]

Ockenfels has on many occasions actually used his journal entries for some of his commercial work as they proved rather popular among his clients. Seeing his work displayed in its raw state is quite inspiring. I think I will definitely be trying out some of his methods. This has spurred me on to retry leaving work out in the elements to see what happens to it. My husband discovered a 3 foot icicle hanging off our staircase and I have positioned a few prints on the ground over some ice to see how the freeze affects them. I’m hoping a stalagmite will emerge …

What’s Next Photoworks Talk

George Selley – photographer & artist. Laureate for Paris Photo Student Award.

Maryam Wahid – Photography – identity. Mentorship is key. How to find mentors? Speak to visitors to university and partners that university works with. Little difficult for us OCA students to do this.

Selley: Got work into competition. This brought him into contact with other artists. Gain knowledge from other participants – in a community – lends awareness. Certain open calls are less exploitative. Enter as many as possible – way to meet curators – gets your work out, developing critical perspective. Can claims the expenses as a freelancer – good to know!

Wahid: Learning process to speak to other curators and artists. Develop skills when networking. My face-to-face opportunities are very limited in the rural area where I live.

Selley: Intimidating being in presence of the “big names” – but remember they are just humans. Be authentic and understand your own work well. Can still be successful even if not winning competitions – work is still out there on their radars. Networking – connection could come later. Have your eggs in different baskets.

Social Media

Good for networking. Pick up opportunities. Connect with other people and galleries. Galleries not always accessible. Talk about what you are doing. Follow up with email – stay in touch.

Funding

Jason’s art opportunities – email list that has latest open calls, vacancies, residencies, etc. FotoRoom.co has grants, fellowships. I checked out this site and found that many of the links are old and non-functioning.

Working in Collectives

Wahid’s opinion: works for some people. Doesn’t feel it helped her. She tries to attend master classes.

Selley’s opinion: good to have a critical environment – very valuable. Have crit sessions. Difficult to submit work if not working towards a common theme. Good to keep you on your toes – accountability.

Wahid uses portfolio reviews to push herself.

Selley: sharing contacts is helpful. The collective he is in has pooled their contacts and created a group email and all use it. Share resources.

Natasha Caruna (joined late): be organized. Start collective – just do it. Create your own opportunities. Talk about work every month. Use crits for funding applications. Make own support groups. Competitions give you deadlines and timetable. Find what works for you. Long term relationships. Know who fits your work.

All three artists offered some good advice about moving on after completing a degree. I am already trying to target Open Calls and competitions. My physical networking is probably going to be rather limited due to where I live, but I will make use of the tiny opportunities that do arise with the membership I’ve taken out with the Salmon Arm Arts Centre. They do offer pro-d days – just not sure how often they occur. The student groups I belong to are very much my support system and there has been talk of turning one of them into a collective once we are all done with SYP.

Panel: Promoting Your Work

This was the final talk for the Belfast Photo Festival. It was hosted by Clare Gallagher with panelists Stella Nantongo, organizer of the Uganda Press Photo Award, Trish Lambe, curator of the Gallery of Photography Ireland and Dr. Anna-Kaisa Rastenberger who is a Professor of Exhibition Studies at the Academy of Fine Arts, at the University of the Arts Helsinki.

The discussion revolved around ways of promoting one’s work. There was a lot of practical, commonsense advice given as well as the perceptions from the curator’s point of view.

• promote work during WIP, work towards feedback
• Partner up with someone if help with writing is needed.
• don’t expect overnight success – its a long game
• keep portfolio reviews focused and tight – no more than 1 -2 bodies of work
• research the people you are going to meet (are they a good fit with your work?)
• networking – important to take part and represent yourself. Ask questions and join in discussions, have own voice.
• Set up google alerts for events
• social media – see Mass Isolation Project on Instagram)
• what works – photo-books are at top of the list, just don’t overcapitalize
• participate in talks and events
• women supporting each other – collectives.
• create own peer groups and support groups, work with peers and share
• curators = gatekeepers/mediators. Approach them to see your work.
• institutions – online promotion, social media.
• comment on other accounts and talks, discussions help open doors
• working as collectives can help to level the playing field and shift the balance of power slightly, garnering more attention
• personal contact is important
• remember there are diversity quotas – these are tools to effect change. If your group is under represented talk to curators
• tips for social media – when following organisations get involved with the dialogue, but don’t direct message the curators. Rather send an email or a letter via post.

These are all great tips to take forward to SYP, but I need to start considering them now already. Luckily I belong to three very supportive peer groups, but I do need to start cultivating some support groups locally here in Canada.