Surfaces and Strategies – PhotoMonth 2017 – An Interview with Gordon MacDonald
After listening to Gordon MacDonald talk about the exhibition ‘We also dance’, Philip Singleton (also on the MA Photography course) and myself went to ask MacDonald a few questions. Philip asked the questions and I decided to record some of the conversation on my iPhone. At the end of the discussion, MacDonald agreed to us using the video for our blogs and signed a note to this effect in my notebook.
The video has been uploaded to YouTube:
MacDonald was extremely generous with his time and shared with us some of the thought processes behind his decisions as curator of PhotoMonth 2017. He explained in some detail some of the exhibits which really helped contextualise what we had looked and and went on to look at during our visit.
Philip and I learnt that interviewing someone is actually quite a tricky process and requires preparation beforehand. Also, sometimes chance and serendipity play a big part in capturing moments like this. At times the sound is not a good as it could be. The interview was conducted in a busy gallery and you can hear the background noise and chatter as I only had the iPhone to record this and no directional microphone which would have improved the sound.
Each of the shows within PhotoMonth were different and he explained how the bodies of work chosen tended to coalesce into the themes during the curation process. The discussion really opened my eyes to how curators will select bodies of work based on their own interests and the interests and themes of a show.
I am very grateful to Gordon MacDonald for his generosity in sharing with us his experience and for spending so long talking to us.