Three Photography Films

Please join us in Madison on December 12

Film still from Tish, courtesy of Modern Films

This one’s for the film buffs.

I’ll keep this brief because it’s a short week, and I imagine many of you are preparing to log off for some turkey with family and friends in a few days. Before you do, I thought you might appreciate hearing about these films.

To begin with, I want to invite my Midwest photography friends to save the date. We’re screening the third and final installment of our fall photography film series at ArtLitLab next month. I’m delighted to announce that we’ll screen Paul Sng’s film, Tish, in Madison on December 12. This is a free event, and everyone is welcome.

Tish looks terrific, and I’ve heard great things. Peter Bradshaw reviewed the film for The Guardian last year. Here’s how Modern Films describes the movie:

A working-class photographer captures the impact of Thatcherism on the north of England but is unable to escape the poverty and inequality she exposed.

Driven by a commitment to document the impact of deindustrialisation on working class communities in Northeast England in the 1970s and 1980s, Tish Murtha used her camera to expose societal inequality. She felt she had an obligation to the people and problems within her local environment, and that documentary photography could highlight and challenge the social disadvantages that she herself had suffered. However, despite early acclaim for her work, she was unable to make a living from photography and died in poverty.

The film is a journey of exploration for Ella Murtha as both daughter and custodian of the Tish Murtha archive, a chance to elevate and preserve a legacy that has been lost and to tell the story of an artist and woman outside of the ‘mother’ that existed for her – or the version of Tish claimed within dominant narratives of the 70s and 80s photography – from the people who knew Tish and the images she left behind.

We decided to focus on photography films when we started brainstorming our documentary series this summer. That’s obviously in my wheelhouse, and I hope we’ll do more of it. As it happens, two new movies turn their lens on photographers, and I want to make sure you know about them.

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Rachel Elizabeth Seed emailed last summer to tell me about a film she was developing called A Photographic Memory. I love hearing from artists and made a note to keep an eye on it. I was excited when Rachel emailed announcing the film’s New York premiere last week.

Alissa Wilkinson

reviewed the movie for The New York Times, and I’m eager to see it. Here’s a gift link: ‘A Photographic Memory’ Review: The Imperfect Past — Congratulations, Rachel!

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Finally, Raoul Peck has finished a new documentary about South African photographer Ernest Cole. I’ll be honest: I don’t know much about Cole and have a lot to learn. Fortunately, John Edwin Mason profiled the photographer for Hyperallergic recently, and his piece is an excellent introduction. Here’s another New York Times gift link: ‘Ernest Cole: Lost and Found’ Review: Chronicling Apartheid and Beyond. I’m a big fan of Peck’s work and hope to see this soon. It looks fantastic.

Okay, I’ll leave you there. I hope that each of you has a fabulous Thanksgiving holiday. Don’t eat too much pumpkin pie ;) Stay grateful, friends. Take care!

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