A Photographic Life - 188: Plus Polly Alderton

A Photographic Life

In episode 188 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on learning and teaching, the lack of rules in photography and why there is no quick and easy solution to success. Plus this week photographer Polly Alderton takes on the challenge of supplying Grant with an audio file no longer than 5 minutes in length in which she answer’s the question ‘What Does Photography Mean to You?’ Polly Alderton is a British documentary and portrait photographer, who studied Fine Art at the Byam Shaw School of Art and Central St. Martins, and whose work is centred around the documentation of family and examining the class system in the UK. Her work concentrates on her immediate surroundings, with her family often being in the spotlight. ​Alderton's images have been published in The Sunday Times, The Observer, Invisible Britain: Portraits of Hope and Resilience, Portrait of Britain vol.1 & vol.3., and ID magazine, amongst others. In 2017 she produced a short film titled 12 Hours in North Essex for VSCO and in 2019 she was awarded the Firstsite Project Bursary to build on her independent project, Burning House. In 2021 Setanta Books, published Alderton's work in a monograph titled Polly Alderton. She also works as a stills photographer with the BBC, notably photographing David Attenborough in Climate Change: The Facts and working with Martin Parr on a series of idents for BBC One. http://www.dollyandfife.com ecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, a working photographer, documentary filmmaker, BBC Radio contributor and the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019). Grant’s book What Does Photography Mean to You? including 89 photographers who have contributed to the A Photographic Life podcast is on sale now £9.99 https://bluecoatpress.co.uk/product/what-does-photography-mean-to-you/ © Grant Scott 2021