Welcome back to Doin' Work: Flash Interviews With Contemporary Photographers. This is a place to celebrate the photographers who inspire me, and present you with an easily digestible bite of their personalities and work.
This week's guest is Sian Davey. Sian is a photographer with a background in Fine Art and Social Policy. She has run a private Psychotherapy practice for the past 15 years, but has recently ended this work to dedicate her time to her photography practice. Her work is an investigation of the psychological, social and political landscapes of both herself and those around her. Having recently completed her MA in Photography and the Book, she is now currently taking part in the MFA programme at Plymouth University. Sian has been the recipient of numerous awards including two years running the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize and the Lens Culture Emerging Photographer Award and recently the Arnold Newman Award in New Directions of Portraiture. Sian has recently released her first book Looking for Alice published by Trolley Books.
Where do you live and work and how does it impact your photography?
I live in the wilds of rural Devon (England) and this countryside is the backdrop to so many of my images. The light is perfect here; it is crystal clear because of the absence of pollution.
When and how did you get your start in photography?
I started to take pictures about 5 years ago, I've no idea why, it just felt important.
What compels you to pick up your camera?
The observed quality of contact between people in the space around me, the light and my mood. I feel better and more at ease in myself when I'm working.
What are you working on now?
I'm collaborating with my daughter Martha on my current project. Alongside this I am forever playing catch up with the postproduction of all my completed work, and I'm preparing for two exhibitions one at the Guernsey Photography festival this September and another in Exeter. I'm also completing my MFA in September.
If you had to explain your work to a child, how would you describe it?
I photograph my family and how I feel about them; this tells me all about who I have become.
Do you make a living as a photographer? If yes, please explain how. If no, tell me about your day job and how you balance photography with said job.
Yes and partly no. I recently gave up my work as a psychotherapist to commit to my photography practice. It's unpredictable but it's mainly through public speaking, print sales, writing articles, commissions, editorial, grants and awards.
Show me the image you feel you're best known for. What are your thoughts on it?
This portrait of my daughter was taken in spring light at home. I placed this image of Alice (my daughter) as the last image in the back of my book Looking for Alice because I felt that her gaze invites us to reflect on our relationship with 'difference'. Her look is so unguarded, open and loving. She bears witness to all of me without condition. This is always how it feels to be with her.
What - if anything - frustrates you about photography?
Too many hours burning my retina on a screen.
Describe your working process.
I photograph most days, wherever I am. Currently, on the project with Martha, if she is out in the evening I might photograph through the night. When I'm not looking after the kids I'm writing articles, researching, scanning negs etc.
Describe the approach you take when establishing a relationship with a subject.
Well it's entirely different if it's a stranger, compared to working with someone I know. If I see something in someone that I want to photograph then I ask permission. Taking the picture is an entirely intuitive process. I work with whatever is presenting itself in the field between my subject and me. My background in psychotherapy is helpful here I think because I have learnt to sense the essence of another. Also having a genuine interest in people is essential, knowing how to put people at ease.
What drives you to want to document your family?
Initially it was circumstantial - having a young family meant I was primarily at home, but then there was the realization that everything I needed was right here in front of me and at that moment my pathway into photography opened up.
How does your background in psychotherapy influence your photography?
I spent years witnessing how people manage with psychological conflict, how we all armour ourselves in defense from pain, whilst knowing underneath that we strive for freedom around intimacy, contact and love. Really knowing this means I have a strong sense of where to place myself in relationship to the person I am photographing.
My psychotherapy and photography work are intertwined, since the psychotherapy work demands that I stay fully present to both my state and my clients. This attunement to process fully translates itself to my photography practice. I work in the same way; I am responding instinctively to both my external and internal world, it is a dance between them both.
What do you think of the vast sea of online photography? What's your approach for standing out?
Well, I've recently got into Instagram and I love it - particularly so because I live in a rural area and it keeps me connected with the international photographic community. Recently (though Instagram) I was invited to be involved in a woman's photography group with a bunch of amazing woman photographers in Bristol. In terms of standing out...a tight edit helps, particularly so because there is so much information on the web.
What are you most proud of in terms of your work?
Well I'm really happy about it all, I am very fortunate to have found something in my life that so inspires me every day and enables me to communicate how I feel and my relationship to the world around me.
What are you doing when you're not making pictures?
Loading the dishwasher, kids, editing, cooking, writing, gardening, social media, - all from my kitchen table. It's seamless.
What do you think the future of photography might look like?
No idea, it's hard to think ahead when my present experience is enough.
Name three contemporary photographers that blow your mind.
Cristina de Middel, Hannah Starkey, Elinor Carucci.
The most important question of all: dogs or cats? Why?
Always dogs. They talk back.
All images courtsey Sian Davey