Politics in the Classroom

Social Work

Jesse and Clare talk to Linda Jarrett and Justin Quinnell about their creative practices, both of which involve alternative processes and working with communities.  Justin Quinnell is an artist and educator based in Bristol and Linda Jarrett is an artist based in New Zealand. They talk about the value of analogue and alternative photographic processes and the greater sense of community that these can come with. They discuss how alternative processes can  communicate ideas to new audiences and are remarkable tools for learning. See their work, or connect via: ⁠@justin_quinnell⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/justin_quinnell/?hl=en] ⁠https://www.pinholephotography.org/⁠ [https://www.pinholephotography.org/] ⁠@lindajarrettphotography⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/lindajarrettphotography/] ⁠https://lindajarrett.com⁠ [https://lindajarrett.com/] If you have and questions, or themes, that you’d like Jesse and Clare to discuss in an episode, please get in touch or leave a comment.  Thank you for listening!

Play!

"Play is the highest form of research." -Albert Einstein. Clare and Jesse talk to George Bull and Michal Iwanowski about photography and 'play'. They ask how play has featured in their education and creative practices, and discuss their experiences of students' willingness (or not as the case may be) to play, experiment, take creative risks and get things 'wrong'. George Bull is a photographer and lecturer in photography at Henley College in Berkshire and completed the MA Photography (online) programme at Falmouth University in 2025. https://www.georgecbull.com [https://www.georgecbull.com/] @George_C_Bull [https://www.instagram.com/george_c_bull/] Michal Iwanowski is an artist and lecturer in photography at Cardiff Metropolitan University. He has exhibited widely and his work is in numerous collections. His project 'Go Home Polish' which explores his identity in a post-Brexit climate was first published as a photobook and will be exhibited at Y Storiel in Bangor on March 20th, to mark the 10th anniversary of Brexit referendum. https://www.michaliwanowski.com [https://www.michaliwanowski.com] @MichalIwanowski [https://www.instagram.com/michaliwanowski/] Thank you also to Joe Costigan @CostiganJoe [https://www.instagram.com/costiganjoe/] for the playful artwork! (Sorry we ever doubted the wisdom of using a fisheye lens for a portrait!)

Politics in the Classroom

Join by Dr. Catarina Fontoura, Course Leader for BA(Hons) Photography (online) at Falmouth University, Jesse and Clare discuss the challenges of teaching a subject that is steeped in politics, in an unprecedented time of polarised viewpoints.

"Opportunities"

Clare and Jesse explore the idea of graduate “opportunities” such as prizes, awards and other ways to get your work noticed. They ask what best practice looks like, in terms of organisations running such schemes, and to what extent such things exploit new graduates trying to get started in the creative industries.  Helping them navigate this are Siân Addicott, Director of Ffotogallery - the photography development agency for Wales, and Philippa James - photographer, Associate Lecturer at Oxford Brookes, and graduate of the MA Photography programme at Falmouth University. Siân mentions Ffotogallery’s annual ‘Ffocws’ exhibition and mentorship scheme for recent graduates as well as those who are entering the industry through other routes. Philippa talks about various activities, including her experience as a finalist for the National Portrait Gallery’s Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize.   https://www.ffotogallery.org [https://www.ffotogallery.org/] https://philippajames.net [https://philippajames.net/]

Returning to Study

Jesse and Clare talk to Michelle Sank and Geoffrey Bird, both educators and photographers, about their experiences of returning to study photography at postgraduate level as 'mature students'. Michelle is a celebrated documentary photographer and environmental portraitist, and Lecturer on the MA Photography (online) programme at Falmouth University. Geoffrey Bird is a photographer and teacher at the Vancouver British Columbia Institute of Technology, and graduate of the Falmouth MA. The episode discusses the challenges that getting back to study after an extended period of time can bring, and also asks what maturity brings to a cohort of students, and a creative practice more generally. @Sank_Michelle [https://www.instagram.com/sank_michelle/] @Geoffrey_Brid [https://www.instagram.com/geoffrey_bird/] PhotoPhone theme tune by @MichaelJamesUK [https://www.instagram.com/michaeljamesuk/] Portrait by @CostiganJoe [https://www.instagram.com/costiganjoe/] Thank you so much, Alan Pelz-Sharpe for giving us this topic to discuss! If you have a topic you'd like Clare and Jesse to explore in an episode, please add a comment here, or use this form [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSczaRWK2ey6RprWQNuY6ptmdjYAj7bUyiB9CKWfdfAwB65OBw/viewform].