Susannah Conway » Photography

Look what arrived today!

susannah — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:28:54 +0000

The door bell rang — it was the postman. He had a package that wouldn’t fit through the letter box, so I buzzed him in and padded down the stairs in bare feet. Waiting for me was a package from Chronicle Books. Could it be…. ? I ran back back up the stairs (not a small feat), stood in my kitchen and ripped open the mailer. And there it was — the book I created with Jen and Amanda. :) There’s not much light today but I had to take a Polaroid of it — and here are the Instagram shots taken as I first looked through the pages. A red letter day, frends!

* The book won’t actually be available till May, but you can pre-order (and possibly get it sooner) on Amazon…

A year in photos: July – December

susannah — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 11:16:20 +0000

This year I’ve written more than I’ve photographed, but with two books to finish and edit and a new course to run, I knew this would be the case. Still, when I don’t take photos for a while I feel out of sorts. Instagram has helped to keep my levels topped up, but I’m ending the year with less photographs taken than the previous four years. Next year I want to change this. If 2011 was all about going inward and crafting words then 2012 will be about going outwards and reconnecting with the world through my lens. More on that in my Word of the Year post…

August

September

October

November

December

A year in photos: January – June

susannah — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:05:32 +0000

One of the best parts of having a blog is the archives. In April I’ll have been blogging for six years and it’s so wonderful to be able to look back through the archives and see how I’ve changed and evolved. And not just personally — as a photographer I really appreciate being able to see the progression of my eye and style too. Mind you, the last few years haven’t evolved too radically as I’ve settled into my love of squares, both from Polaroids and lately from my iPhone too. It doesn’t surprise me that I’ve shot more photos with my phone than any of my other cameras this year. It’s always with me. It’s easy to download to my computer. It was my constant companion while writing the book — taking little Instagram breaks during the day kept me sane. Plus it’s fast, and considering 90% of my photos in 2011 were of my nephew, you need to be fast!

Inspired by Elizabeth and Shari, here’s my first photographic peek back through 2011.

And here are my photo reviews from 2010 :: 2009 :: 2007

February

March

April

May

June

My Photography Manifesto

susannah — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:29:53 +0000

There’s a camera out there for everyone. And, like babies, all cameras are beautiful!

The more you practice the more your eye will improve. Fact.

We can be inspired by others and imitate their style as we learn, but it’s our own style that will give us the most satisfaction. Give it time and you will find it.

Slow down. Take a breath. Look again.

Pay attention to the in-between moments.

Remember to lie on the floor and stand on chairs once in a while.

Play with digital and film. iPhones and Hasselblads. Canon and Nikon. Try everything to decide which translates your eye best.

Learn a few rules so you know how to break them.

Take a photograph everyday, even if it’s just your lunch. Especially if it’s your lunch. Shoot it every day for a month and see what happens.

The camera is only a tool; it’s your eye that really matters.

* * * * *

Tomorrow is the last day of the first session of Photo Meditations and I am sitting here feeling really rather in love with my course. And it’s making me laugh — I never thought I could ever create a course that I’d love more than Unravelling, but this five week foray into heart-centered photography has me all a-fluster :) I’ve loved pouring myself into this course every day for the last month and I don’t want to stop (I’m not kidding — i’m currently sketching out a sequel). It’s a photography course but, holy cats, it is so much more than that. It’s about connecting with the world, cultivating mindfulness, and being brave. It’s about tapping into the artist inside and giving her a voice through your images. It’s about shooting from the heart. I’ve just updated the course page with a slideshow, a week-by-week outline and some testimonials from peeps in the autumn class, so if you’re considering signing up for the January class (registration opens this Sunday) do check it out.

Okay, that last paragraph is more gushy than I would normal write here but I just ate my dinner and it was the first food I have been able to taste in over SIX DAYS, so i’m on a getting-better high. Happy December, everyone! x

Instant Love: the cover

susannah — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 10:56:51 +0000

I still can’t quite get my head around the fact that I have two books coming out next year. I mean, I did the work. I sat in this chair I am sitting in now and wrote for MONTHS. I shot the images. I pulled out every thread of myself for my book and collaborated with two women I admire so much for the other. And yet, as we get closer to 2012 and the final birthing of the books, I still can’t quite believe it. I’m almost embarrased to have two books coming out — it’s seems so greedy. But that’s just the way it happened. A little bit of serendipity spirinkled on a ton of hard work.

In this age of online magic having a paper book in your hands could be considered rather quaint, but after centuries of the written word, i don’t think they’ll be dying out any time soon. If anything, my Kindle makes me appreciate my paper books even more. I love watching my nephew playing on his mummy’s iPad but his favourite is still a paper book about tractors.

I got a nice surprise this morning when I noticed the covers of the books had been added to their Amazon listings. It’s a pleasure to be able to finally show you the cover of Instant Love. It’s a book for anyone who loves Polaroids and photography and we hope it will inspire you to go exploring with your cameras!

Some stats:
The book will be hardcover
Publication date: May 16th, 2012
Price: $18.95 (£11.99) but you can pre-order it on Amazon.com/Amazon.co.uk right now for $10.76 (£9.23)

On trusting our creative path

susannah — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:29:44 +0000

I started taking my photography seriously when I was 19 years old. I was at art college, deeply immersed in making what I considered to be art. I was unsure of myself and couldn’t always articulate what it was I was trying to say, but those three years of experimentation gave me the space to explore my creativity. I left college at 22 and back then (1995) the photography I wanted to do didn’t seem to have a place in the world yet. I didn’t want to be an editorial photographer, which is where most of my peers were headed, but I couldn’t see how I could make a living as a fine art photographer. I’d left college with dreams of solo exhibitions and a fine art book, only to find myself back in the real world. So after a couple of years working to pay the rent, I went back to university to study journalism; I put those original dreams on hold, indefinitely.

It’s now sixteen years later and today I’m preparing the online space for my photography class starting next Monday. My photography path unfolded in ways I hadn’t imagined and along the way I learned that you do not need to be published in books or magazines, or belong to a certain association, or even earn money from your images, to call yourself a photographer (or writer or artist or musician, or whatever your heart yearns to called). All you need do is hold a camera in your hands with the intention of creating. Recording beauty and decay. Capturing memories. Documenting a scene. Telling a story. Catching a likeness. Exploring your inner world in pixels and film.

What I’ve learned in my many years of being a photographer and not being a photographer is we have to trust that our creative path will unfold exactly as it wants to. 22-year-old me wanted to make books and be seen, to be recognised as having some talent, some purpose, something to say. Back then I craved validation — these days I see that being a photographer is not a badge I wear but simply the way I move through the world. I take photographs everyday — it’s like brushing my teeth.

I’ve been thinking about how the time in my life when I felt most at peace with who I am as a creative person was when the opportunity to pen two books came along. Last week I mentioned that the books were a childhood ambition realised. And they are — i’ve imagined seeing my name on a book ever since I could read. But what I’ve been feeling lately, aside from the vulnerability of sharing my thoughts and stories in such a public way, is a quiet sense of rightness. I don’t feel validated or seen or any of those things younger me craved because somehow this isn’t about me anymore. I’m making things for others that I hope will be useful, and I feel just like I do on Christmas eve when I’m busting to give my family their presents and see their faces when they open them. It’s about sharing and giving and delighting.

Introducing Photo Meditations!

susannah — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 17:09:39 +0000

When everything seems to be going wrong…
When hormones are beating me over the head…
When i need an injection of inspiration…
When I’m some place new…
When I’m with the people I love…

… I take photographs.

I first fell in love with photography at art college in 1992. I remember developing my first roll of film and looking breathlessly at the contact sheet as I realised I’d found the way to transcribe what I saw in my head onto paper. I studied photography for the next three years, practically living in the studio and darkroom, totally committed to my art. The second time I fell in love with photography was in Seattle in 2006. It was my first time in the States and I was still grieving the death of my love the year before. I’d brought a borrowed digital compact with me to record the week and taking shots of a new city not only brought me out of my grief for a while but also reignited my photographer’s heart.

And now here I am, more obsessed than ever, with a house filled with cameras and two books under my belt.

Photography is truly one of the great loves of my life, and when I say it is like meditation for me, I mean that quite literally. Taking photos calms me and connects me into the moment more than anything else. I never go anywhere without a camera or two and I know that I will be lying on my death bed with a camera in my hands, croaking ‘just one more shot!’ to the nurses. Seriously.

[Amusing sidenote: I have the honour of being included in Jenny Doh's new book, Art Saves. When I received my copy last week it tickled me to discover a typo in my interview on page 29. It reads: "Photography is like a form of medication for me." You know what? That's not far off the mark either ;) ]

Photo Meditations: Infusing Your Images with Soul is the sort of course I would like to take myself. It’s going to be a delicious five weeks of the inspirational and the practical, including:

Weekly photo theory lessons
Weekly assignments
Photo slideshows to inspire you
In-depth posts detailing how I shoot
Group connecting in the private Flickr group
Interviews with soulful intuitive photographers
A comprehensive resources section
A beautiful PDF of the entire course for you to download and refer to again and again

Topics covered include:

Composition theory and application
Embracing the light
Portraits & self-portraits
Shooting for your blog
Story-telling with photos
My top tips for getting soulful shots
My photography manifesto
All my secrets :)

I’m going to share everything I know about photography in this class, so if you’re wanting to sink deeper into your photography and create images that carry more of your heart, please do join me in November! I should mention right now that I’m not a very technical kind of photographer — I’m going to be sharing some basics with you in the first week, but i am not concerned with histograms and what have you. What excites me, and what i hope to pass on to my students, is a passion for creating pictures that tell stories. That move the viewer. That convey what I feel. That hold layers of meaning. That delight the eye. That’s what we’ll be exploring in Photo Meditations.

Registration opens on Saturday October 15th and class starts Monday October 31st.

Click over to read more about the course and check out the FAQ.

* * * * *

* Some Unravellers have asked if it’s okay to take Photo Meditations and Unravelling at the same time — it’s okay, but I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s much better to do one class at a time to get the most out of your Unravelling journey. If the Photo Meditations course does well — meaning everyone enjoys it and gets lots out of it — then I will run another session in the new year, so if you’re Unravelling with me this autumn you’ll be able to sign up for that class.

* I’ve also been asked if Blogging From the Heart will still be available. It will! I’ve just had to put it to one side for now as I realised I am all written out after writing the book and needed a wee break. Once my inspiration cups have been refilled I’ll be diving back into that project :)

Get your om on

susannah — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:29:00 +0000

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments and emails after my last post. I really wasn’t expecting that and it’s helped to buoy my mood. Because, you see, I’ve been feeling a bit blue… hormones and a cancelled holiday will do that to you. What was getting me down the most was not being able to teach my class at the Teahouse Studios. It’s quite a big deal for me to teach in person because, despite appearances, i’m really quite shy. I have to gather all my introverted wiles and just launch myself into teaching. So I’d been building myself up to the challenge, and was really looking foward to stretching my teacherly wings.

And then two days ago i had a why-didn’t-i-think-of-that-before moment.

While putting the class together I’d found there was a lot of material i had to leave out — there was no way I could cover everything i wanted in a one-day workshop, so i distilled the juiciest bits down into a few exercises we would do together on the day. Meanwhile, I have been working on my Blogging From the Heart guidebook, and while the writing section has flowed like a dream, the photography part has proven more tricky. Because there’s so much I want to share, and much of it needs to be experiential — assignments and lessons, rather than chapters you read.

And that’s when it hit me — I’ve been trying to fit the teaching into the format *I* decide, but actually, it’s got its own thoughts about that. It’s not a workshop or a chapter, it’s a freakin’ course!

I’ve always been a bit reluctant to teach a photography class as there are a bajillion photography classes and ecourses out there, so really, do we need another one? But you guys, I am so excited about Photo Meditations! Now I’ve given mysef permission to make it bigger, my head is spinning with ideas. The last time I was this inspired I was creating Unravelling back in 2008 :)

So before I share more, i wanted to see if anyone would be interested in doing a (probably 5-week) photography course with me in November? It’s called Photo Meditations: Infusing Your Images With Soul.

:)

Right this moment

susannah — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:19:39 +0000

ps. what are you doing on September 18th? Would you like to spend the day with me in Berkeley, CA? I’m heading back to the Bay Area and will be teaching a one-day workshop at the lovely Teahouse Studios! The workshop is called Photo Meditations: Infusing Your Images with Depth & Soul:

In this peaceful and nurturing one-day workshop we’ll explore how we can infuse greater depth and soul into our photographs by using our camera as a meditative tool. To do this we’ll practice the art of paying attention, starting with a series of exercises in the studio before we head out on a photo safari after lunch. Photography has a wonderful way of bringing our focus back into the present moment and we’ll be exploring this as we literally focus our lenses on the world around us.

pps. A little birdie tells me that Ms Hula herself, Andrea Jenkins, will be teaching a Polaroid workshop the day before, so if you sign up for both it’ll be a photography weekend bonanza — keep an eye on the Teahouse website for more details… x

New film, new possibilities

susannah — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 10:09:34 +0000

This week I took some time out to test the latest colour film from the Impossible Project, and as you can see, it’s not too shabby! Their PX680 film is designed for 600 and 680 cameras, but I tested it in my SX-70 and it responded very much like the original Polaroid 600 film. The guys at TIP say the white speckles will be gone in the final version of the film, although i personally find them rather charming. The colours are SO MUCH better than the previous films they’ve produced. The team have made such incredible progress in just a year, it makes me excited to see where they’ll be in 2012 when our Polaroid book comes out — can you imagine it? You’ll be able to buy the book AND invest in a couple of packs of really fantastic TIP film to practice with! Jen, Amanda and I have been toying with the idea of leading a Polaroid retreat next year — would anyone be interested in joining us for that? We’d hold it somewhere lovely (thinking USA or Morocco) and we’d share how we take our shots and practice the art of Polaroid photography — it’ll be like the book coming to life before your very eyes. ;)