Having taken your tutor’s comments on board, use your PDF document (or, if applicable, a hard copy portfolio) to get some feedback from a professional photographer or another professional from within the industry. This could be done via a portfolio review or by a contact you already have.                                     (Boothroyd, S. and Alexander, J; 30, 2020)

Reference: Boothroyd, S. and Alexander, J. (2020) Sustaining Your Practice Course Manual. Barnsley, UK: Open College of the Arts.

PDF review with Ann Sellen OCA Post graduate photographer

I asked Anna , who I had not had contact with previously if she would review my portfolio PDF. I chose Anna, a UK based artist, living only an hour away from myself, as she graduated in 2023 and yet has successfully put her work out there and has had her work featured in many exhibitions and won several awards, for instance work featured at New Blood Art Emerging  art prize 2023 at Saatchi Gallery, Open Walls Arles Vol.4 2022/23 in France, FORMAT International Photography Festival 2023, Earth Photo International Photography exhibition 2023, the Royal Photographic Society International Photography Exhibition 2022, Photoworks UK Graduate Showcase 2022 and other events. Her work won awards, including Earth Photo Sidney Nolan Trust Prize, RBSA Photography Prize 2023, Single Image Award at OpenWalls Arles and FORMAT Shutter Hub portfolio award 2021. 

Also, as her projects often start autobiographically and evolve through extensive research. Transition and migration is a common thread in her work, as is belonging, so I believe that she would be interested in my work, and be able to offer me some useful advice on dissemination it.

This was my contact email to her:

Hi Anna

I am in the final part of my Photography degree with the Open College of the Arts, Sustaining Your Practice, which you are familiar with. Incidentally I am based in Newport Pembrokeshire, not far down the coast from you!

I am currently completing an assignment, which asks me to seek feedback from someone in the photography industry on a PDF preview of my work and the introduction to it. I would really value your feedback as a recent photography graduate and a visual artist, who I know sometimes works autobiographically and with transitions, and has been so successful in having work featured and awarded in events.

Any comments or suggestions you have will be gratefully received. My final product will be a book in which I intend to end with ‘footnote’ images with accompanying definitions, four of which I include in this PDF. I wonder if these samples should be included in a preview of my work, or possibly only two of them, and if you have any comments on this ‘signposting’ element of the work? I know that you will also understand the sensitivity of such work, so any suggestions on the line I am trying to tread between ambiguity and yet honesty would be helpful.

Thank you so much in advance, any insights you can give me will be really appreciated.

Many thanks

Niki South

https://nikisouth.myportfolio.com

Anna replied saying that she was happy to help, but that I’d have to wait a few weeks. We met by video call 17^th June.

This was the draft PDF that I sent Anna:

From our discussion:

• She understood the concept/intention of my work easily.
• Said the images strong and particularly like them when presented largest. Many reviewers never read the text so the images must stand out.
• Thinks the ‘footnotes’ are confusing in the context of the publicity pdf as the images are so different they jar with the rest.
• Suggested that I shorten the introduction, explaining that reviewers want their attention grabbed quickly or they just move on.
• Suggested renaming the ‘introduction’ as ‘project statement’
• Liked my poetry and thinks it sits well with the images.

My learning and action points for the PDF:

• Shorten the introduction and rename it as project statement.
• See if I can enlarge slightly the images that sit with the poetry, and/or add a separate page for the text as I will in my book.
• Omit the footnotes from the publicity pdf but include at the end of the book as I intended and at the end of any portfolio review.
• Have some extra images available for any portfolio review

We also had a free ranging conversation about the rest of my SYP and our photography futures.

Anna suggested look at: WORK Grow show: an online art education platform: https://www.workshowgrow.com/aboutWork Grow Show (2024) At: https://www.workshowgrow.com/about (Accessed 29/06/2024).

What’s included

• Bi-Monthly group mentorship session with Natasha Caruana 
• Monthly workshop covering professional and personal development
• Monthly crit give and receive feedback on your work
• 24/7 support from a members only co-working space
• Special Projects real opportunities to network and get your work out there

It is very expensive: monthly: £59 per month, quarterly £162. annually: £612 charged once a year.

I might consider joining if I can get a reduced rate for a couple of months to access past and upcoming workshops (Feb 11th Finding and engaging your audience, March 25th getting published and commissioned, April 29th funding an artist book, Jun 10th Crowd funding, Aug 26th Project planning, Aug 19th Submitting for open calls, Jul 22nd Writing a book.

28.6.24 I wrote:

Hi Natasha,

 I was recommended by a fellow photographer who has graduated to investigate what your online art school has to offer. Can you give me any more details than your website on what you offer other than crit groups and artist conversations please.

I see on your schedule about one workshop a month and that these are recorded and available to members – does that include the previous ones if I joined as you have one or 2 previous ones that may be interesting to me, and if so how far back would I be able to look for previous recordings that would be relevant to me?

Joining would be an expensive outlay for me as a student – would you beable to let me have acess to a recording say to see if what you do is right for me?

Many thanks

Niki