Portfolio Review with Emily Ryalls
February 17, 2022Today, I was fortunate enough to have an online portfolio
review with Wakefield based Photographer Emily Ryalls. Emily’s ‘These Ties that
continue to bind us’ project focuses on hers and other women’s experience with
Female healthcare and chronic illness. Using the camera as a stage for performance,
Ryalls challenges the representation of women in Female healthcare and conveys
her own sense of self through self-portraiture.
When viewing Emily’s work in an online talk a few weeks ago,
I felt a resemblance between her reflection on medical notes and my own use of
medical documents in my work and using the camera to challenge myths and
ideology around health conditions. After contacting Emily, she agreed to
schedule a zoom meeting with me to discuss my project ‘Seeking out Euphoria’
and its progression.
Emily discussed the raw emotions present in my images, their
juxtaposition, and their ability to invite a spectator in but also keep them at
arm’s length. Emily recognised their ability to confront misconceptions around
Transgender individuals and healthcare and perform as an educational tool. Emily
recommended continuing with more performativity in spaces present in my work
and to continue showcasing my project. Emily recommended visiting the Tetley
gallery in Leeds for portfolio reviews and watching their online talks on
commissioning. We also briefly discussed the possibility of self-publishing my
photobook when complete and how to manage budgets when self-publishing a book
from her experience when self-publishing ‘Something different starts to happen’.
My portfolio review with Emily Ryalls was very informative
and gave me ideas on how I could develop my work further and events that I
could go to such as the ‘Tetley – Panic! Together’ portfolio review to showcase
my work.
