A Photographic Life - 116: Plus Rhodri Jones

In episode 116 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed considering the need to keep on going, reflecting on when photography raises issues larger than the simple image, and addresses's fashion photography's need for rawness and reality in a superficial world, based on the work of Nan Goldin. He also mentions the morality of teaching photography. Plus this week photographer Rhodri Jones takes on the challenge of supplying Grant with an audio file no longer than 5 minutes in length in which he answer’s the question ‘What Does Photography Mean to You?’ Rhodri Jones, was born in Gwynedd, Wales in 1963, and has been based near Bologna, Italy since 2000. His interest in photography began in the mid 80s and in 1989 he moved to Nicaragua and started to work as a professional photographer with the Sandinista Press Agency (ANN) and in El Salvador with FENASTRES union and local human rights organisations. Rhodri returned to Europe in 1991 and has worked as a self-taught professional photographer ever since on both personal and commissioned projects around the world since 1989 and has had six books of his work published; Made in China (2002), Return/Yn ôl (2006), Hinterland (2010), Scambi Ferroviari (2011), Cosi E’ (2015) and Marconi Express (2019). Described by Magnum photographer, Philip Jones Griffiths as “a Welsh poet with a camera”, Rhodri has exhibited in China, Ireland, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, the UK and USA. His images and stories have been distributed by Panos Pictures since 1992, and seen in multiple leading magazines, newspapers, publishers worldwide. His work is held in several public and private collections. Rhodri speaks English, German, Italian, Spanish and Welsh fluently and has a working knowledge of French, some Portuguese, Albanian and Mandarin Chinese. www.rhodrijones.com If you have enjoyed this podcast why not check out our A Photographic Life Podcast Plus. Created as a learning resource that places the power of learning into the hands of the learner. To suggest where you can go, what you can read, who you can discover and what you can question to further your own knowledge, experience and enjoyment of photography. It will be inspiring, informative and enjoyable! You can find out here: www.patreon.com/aphotographiclifepodcast You can also access and subscribe to these podcasts at SoundCloud https://soundcloud.com/unofphoto on iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/a-photographic-life/id1380344701 on Player FM https://player.fm/series/a-photographic-life and Podbean www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/i6uqx-6d9ad/A-Photographic-Life-Podcast Grant Scott is the founder/curator of United Nations of Photography, a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, a working photographer, and the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Focal Press 2014) and The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Focal Press 2015). His book New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography was published by Bloomsbury Academic in 2019. His documentary film, Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay can now be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd47549knOU&t=3915s. © Grant Scott 2020