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photodustorg · 7 years ago

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LUMINA: CONVERSATIONS

PART ONE: CHLOE BARTRAM AND MORGANNA MAGEE

Morganna Magee, Shania, 17. From the ongoing series Teenage Wildlife.

Morganna Magee: Your portfolio at first glance seems so diverse–family, sexuality, memory and children and there is a strong thread of feminine rebellion running through much of it. Your newer work has a more tangible sense of this but even Sparkle, baby, which is more of a traditional documentary project, questions the gaze and preconceptions of the audience toward females. Is that a conscious consideration in your work? Does it come through organically in the way that you photograph?

Chloe Bartram, Untitled. From the series Sparkle, baby.

Chloe Bartram, Silent Protest. From the series secretsilentwhispers.

Chloe Bartram: I think the rebellion started very organically and perhaps even incidentally. However, I would say now it is very purposeful. It is not always enough to photograph the subject–I don't think the story starts and ends with the click of a shutter. I feel I need to have a broad background knowledge of historical aspects, social sciences and be up-to-date with the current political climate in relation to the work I am making. My artistic practice grew as my thirst for knowledge and current affairs did and of course when I truly discovered and immersed myself in feminism. I craved to read feminist literature from Simone de Beauvoir to bell hooks and to work alongside fellow women. History is full of female-led rebellion but it's also full of resilience. We persist and we always will. It is this resilience and persistence that I make a conscious consideration to bring into my work.

Morganna Magee, Daisyanna, 18. From the ongoing series Teenage Wildlife.

MM: I think our personal ethos eventually comes through in our photography whether we want it to or not. Your work is also quiet and dignified in a lot of ways–I'm thinking of your self-portraits and photos of your mother. Knowing you now, I struggle to think of you as a photographer who would work in that traditional photojournalism style. You’re so curious! How did you deal with that when you were photographing Sparkle, baby, which is your most editorial style work?

Chloe Bartram, Untitled. From the series Sparkle, baby.

CB: You're right Morganna, much of my work is collaborative. There are times when being a fly on the wall is needed or preferred but in most cases, if we're going back to our participants time and time again rather then for one-off opportunities, we're going to have to be more than that.

I think it's important that those we photograph are referred to as participants rather than subjects. They're not a thing that's being discussed or described. They are humans that are actively participating in our storytelling. Individuals with something to say and we are the tools in which it is told through. We are almost irrelevant yet we are privileged with their story.

This also leads to the line being blurred as to what shape we take in their lives. Have you found in Teenage Wildlife that you are more than a photographer and rather a permanent fixture in their day to day lives?

Morganna Magee, Bedroom detail. From the ongoing series Teenage Wildlife.

Morganna Magee, Teeya, 14. From the ongoing series Teenage Wildlife.

MM: Completely, for my process, it works better to be immersed. A lot of that is about my own hang-ups about my role as a photographer and the only way to give myself permission to make the photos. With Teenage Wildlife, the relationships I’ve formed have probably been the most intense but even with the work, I did previously I always became close with the people I photographed. I think it comes back to why I photograph, I’m interested in people and photographing allows me to foster relationships. It’s strange now with that series though, one of the girls is nearly 19 and I was joking with her about how I will be photographing her for the next 20 years. It’s interesting because once you’re in someone’s life like that it becomes very hard to know what your role is if the photographing ends.

Chloe Bartram, Whispered Wants. From the series secretsilentwhispers.

Chloe Bartram, Secret Rebellion. From the series secretsilentwhispers.

CB: I think a lot about endings. Lumina has only just begun and yet I found myself thinking about how it would end. I don’t mean end by the finish but rather how could it ever complete its goals or objectives? Is there such a thing in photography? We are constantly chasing. We are infinitely unsatisfied. As soon as we have a success or finish up a story it is immediately tainted with ‘but what now, where to next?’ Do you think that’s the curse of the freelancer or is it more than that? I would describe it as a thirst that can never be quenched, only ever restrained when the camera is in my hand.

Morganna Magee, Bedroom detail. From the ongoing series Teenage Wildlife.

MM: It’s the hardest part of being a creative I think. The benchmark of ‘success’ moves constantly so by the time you’ve reached that goal you’re already looking past it for something else. That searching combined with the momentum that builds when you are in the throes of creating can be a powerful thing for an artist.

www.chloebartram.com

www.morgannamagee.com

Lumina is an Australian collective of award-winning photographic artists intent on breaking ground in visual storytelling, founded by Donna Bailey, Chloe Bartram, Aletheia Casey, Anna Maria Antoinette D'Addario, Lyndal Irons, Morganna Magee and Sarah Rhodes.

www.luminacollective.com.au

Instagram: @luminacollective

Facebook: Lumina Collective

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