Project Photography by Stewart Wall

This evening at the City Academy we were privileged to receive a special presentation of Stewart Wall, Project Photography.

Stewart's antecedents are impressive, MA, ARPS, a degree in photography, a Post Graduate Certificate in teaching and he is in the midst of working on a doctorate researching The Design of Documentary Photography and Community resilience. In 2021 he was awarded the Fenton Medal and was made a life member of the Royal Photographic society. All this from his beginnings as a press photographer in the 1970s.

"What I feel, not just what I see".

He talked of photo books as a tangible end for a project and how this will lead on from a Photo Essay. As an example he retold the story of his Stonemason's Project. How seeing a man in the street outside his studio led to conversation and an idea for a project. He broke it down to an initial plan, the project itself, an exhibition and the involvement of local schools.

He introduced other photographers (David Hurn and his Living in Wales) and then spent time on his own project Kasbah to Central Hall set in Hull and following the maxim "The art of seeing beyond what you see'.

You must train your mind to see and become lost in the moment, have a personal perspective.

An evening brimming with excellent advice and pointers from a master of photography, photo books and projects.