I am so excited to have been part of photographer Paola De Giovani’s new photographic project. Paola has recently started an exciting photographic project with the aim to document and celebrate the talents and creativity of her fellow Banks Mill artists and makers.
I would like to share a selection of the images here… to invite you into my studio and see the process.
From the start, Paola had a fantastic ability to help me feel at ease, she was inquisitive and worked with creativity and flair… documenting the process, moving unnoticed around the space, in-between lots of conversation about the work and what drives it. Paola absolutely captured a sense of the process, but also something about me and the concentration and joy I feel when working in the studio.
While I admit I was nervous about being the subject of a shoot, usually a tough critic of my own image, it took only moments to relax into it, which is testament to Paola’s character and skills as a photographer. When the images arrived in my inbox I realised that she really had ‘captured’ me.
You don’t see yourself as others see you- so I found it quite revealing. I am so pleased to be able to have this insight into this moment in time, as a record and as a celebration.
"I have a confession to make", Paola says, "I love creative people, and I am chronically curious about what goes on in their studios. I have always wanted to be a fly on the wall and observe artists and makers at work, covered in paint, sculpting, sketching, lost in their work, their soul being poured onto canvas, clay, and artefacts.”
“I want to document the artists' creative process and give them unique portraits as digital files that can be used for press releases and promotional material on and off line.
The first artist to take part in this project is the very talented Clare Morgan, Instagram @curiousinkyme.”
Being a personal project, Paola does not charge the artist for the photo shoot, she is on a mission to celebrate creatives helping them to gain exposure via social media and hopefully in the near future through an exhibition and a book project.
I would urge anyone to take this opportunity- as our everyday can actually be more interesting than we think.
I create my work at Green Door Printmaking Studio in Derby.
If you are an artist-maker interested in taking part in this project, email Paola at paola_degio@yahoo.co.uk.
Paola's photographic work can be viewed on her personal website and Instagram account, and is well worth a look!