Reflection of Ó Bhéal Project

During this trip, I am in group one for the Ó Bhéal projects. That means that I am learning about arts administration through video production and event support. The purpose of our group is to help out at the weekly poetry nights on Mondays at The Long Valley as well as the production of a promotional video for the organization. This group would not have been my first choice but I chose to be in group one because it was the only one that had twenty planned hours of work through which I could petition to have this class be counted as satisfying the Community Engagement requirement at Saint Mary’s. I would have rather been in the group doing the photo essay since photography is my art form. When we signed up for our groups, we did not really know what we would be doing beyond the vague titles given to each group. I did not have a choice, but if I did not have to get Community Engagement and I knew what this group entailed, I would not have chosen it.

As far as the event support part goes, I figured we would be doing a lot more but we actually did not do a whole lot of work. For some reason, I thought we would be like extra servers or something like that, going around and taking people’s drink orders and then delivering them. We mainly just helped move around some furniture and laid out brochures on the tables before the event. After the event ended, we helped encourage people who were still lingering to leave the bar, as everyone was supposed to be out by a certain time that was quickly approaching. That part of our job title was very easy and painless. The other part of our job, however, is not.

Screenshot from Natalie Leduc's Computer

I currently am and have been feeling extremely overwhelmed by the amount of work involved in this trip. I was already stressed out with the blog posts, final showcase, and digital story but then I found out I would have to make a promotional video for Ó Bhéal and that just made it worse. Since I am the only person in the group with a nice camera, I have the job of filming everything and taking any photographs we may need. On top of that, since I have all of the media on my laptop and since Dylan and I are the only ones doing this for Community Engagement, I have also been given the job of editing the video. The other group members have offered to help and have been, but the majority of the work seems to be falling on me. On the bright side, Paul Casey seems very relaxed about the product of our work and has said that if it works great, but if not we should not worry. Obviously, I still want to create a video they can use, but having him say that did alleviate some stress. 

One thing I have learned from this process is that one person cannot be in charge of every aspect of arts administration; it is best when the responsibility is shared among a group. The amount of work involved can become overwhelming and the individual would likely not have any time to actually create art at that point. There are many facets to arts administration that many people do not think of, and I must give respect to those who manage this work.

Arts Administration as Resistance

Typically, people do not consider what happens in the background in the production of art. Arts administration is at the base of any organization or personal artistic practice. Without the many functions included in arts administration, an artist would not be able to get anywhere with their art and resistance work. One must have a strong base to build off of. However, I do not really see how arts administration can be a type of resistance in and of itself. In my opinion, it is all just part of the whole, finished product.

As an artist, there are many aspects of arts administration that must be completed in order to be successful. A lot of people likely do not think of this or know how to perform these functions, so it is definitely something artists need to be educated on. One must be able to be both an artist and a businessperson at the same time, or have other people to help with the business side. Both of these aspects must be equally supported and equally focused on. An artist can produce a beautiful piece of work but if they do not know how to properly price their piece or how to market their piece, for example, the process will end after production. Artists must be able to determine who their target market is and sometimes alter their work in a way that would be more attractive to that particular group.

Arts administration can support resistance work by informing an artist of their capabilities and limits in their practice. A large part of creating art to consider is the financial feasibility of whatever one is creating. When I interviewed my artists for this trip, both mentioned how they would not accept any job unless they knew they could complete it well and make a profit at the same time. Of course, an artist can absorb the cost of production for themselves but without the funds, larger resistance projects with the intent to be widely distributed are likely impossible.

As a photographer, I have had to learn how to market myself as an artist as well as marketing the work I have created. Currently, I am selling my images through Fine ArtAmerica and using a Facebook page to get my images out there and to build a following. This process has been difficult. It has just been something I do for fun, not expecting much profit, but I have committed a great amount of time to market myself through these outlets. I must keep track of expenses involved in production of items I sell and price my work accordingly in order to be profitable. I am considering starting my own website and taking charge of the production of items as people buy them due to the high costs Fine Art America charges due to their high production costs. I have gotten feedback from a few potential customers saying the pieces are out of budget so a change may need to happen in order to make more sales.

Art and Activism in Cork and Dublin

The journey to learn about arts and activism in Cork and Dublin was a rocky one. When I was researching artists to interview while in Cork or Dublin, I really struggled. I spent countless hours googling artists using different search terms and topics, hoping to find something new and worthwhile with each search. Although I emailed around fifteen artists, only six or seven of them actually emailed me back. Out of those, many of the artists were no longer living in Cork or Dublin, or were on trips somewhere else in the world. This made my options very limited. At one point, I did have a photographer to interview in Dublin but a week before our trip, he canceled due to work commitments. Luckily, I had found another photographer I could interview in Cork and an interview with an activist photographer I could sit in on.

From LinkedIn

For my artist interview, I chose photographer Cathal Noonan. He currently lives in Cork but he grew up and went to university in Dublin. I found Cathal by chance while googling artists in the area. He started out with sports photography but got tired of that after about ten years. He then switched to commercial and public relations photography, which he is still doing today. Cathal also does some landscape photography but says that is more of something fun to do on the side as it will not make him any money. As a freelance photographer, Cathal is enjoying working for himself and has learned to only accept projects he thinks he can complete well and make money on. After all, photography, like many other art forms, is a very competitive field to go into that may be difficult to make a living off of. The link below leads to one of my favorite images on Cathal's website. 

http://cathalnoonan.com/p/UJBg7b 

One thing I found interesting was that Cathal originally was at university studying sound engineering and just messing around with photography on the side. After finishing his schooling, Cathal started taking photography a little more seriously. This is a similar situation to where I am at with my work. I started out just messing around with photography and, as I get older, have been working more and more on my photography skills. I learned from Cathal that in order to actually make a living with his photography, he has been forced to adjust his vision for a piece to what the client envisions themselves. 

From Website

For my activist interview, I met up with Anthony Griffin. Esther Whoo actually planned this interview and I just went along with her for safety and because he was a photographer. We conveniently met him in the pub right next to our hotel in Dublin. I did not have a chance to look him up and I did not know much about his work so Esther did the majority of the questioning. Through the interview, I discovered that he is a portrait photographer who has been doing activist work for many years. He recently did a project where he took portraits of women with Alopecia, a condition where one permanently loses all of the hair on one’s body. His goal was to bring this condition into the light to show how many women have this disease and how beautiful they still are. The link below will lead you to Anthony's website, where you can see the images from his project on Alopecia, "An Uncommon Beauty," as well as other projects he has done. 

https://www.agp.ie 

During the interview, I asked Anthony what his best advice would be for someone looking to get into portrait photography. His main advice was to help the subject feel comfortable showing their story. When he first started, he would plan sessions for short periods of time. However, he found that the more he talked with the subject, the more comfortable the subject was with him, and the more likely they would be to dive into the shoot and show their story. The best pictures came out of the sessions where he sat down and really got to know the person and their story before even touching his equipment or taking any photographs.