the importance of research

Paola Paredes - Until You Change
Paola Paredes – Until You Change

The importance of research. with Paola Paredes.

If you are stuck on what to photograph, or how to complete a project, then this lecture may help.

Paola’s oeuvre is underpinned by rigorous exploration and research. Her first major photographic work, Unveiled (2014), details her experience of coming out to her conservative Catholic parents. The three-hour conversation during which Paola revealed her sexuality was the culmination of a complex, delicate process; to familiarise her family with the camera, Paola spent three weeks capturing the everyday activity of her parents’ lives – cooking, shaving, watching soap operas – in empathic detail.

Drawing on examples from her own practice, Paola will discuss the importance of research and illustrate how detailed initial exploration can exponentially increase the depth and nuance of photographic projects.

This is a practical experience based lecture. It will provide a starting point for applying research to improve your own work.

Saturday October 23rd 14:00 BST

We are in week 2 of 5.

Paola Paredes

Paola Paredes (b. 1986) is an Ecuadorean photographer.

Characterised by interplay between documentary conventions and orchestrated composition, her work conveys her courageous commitment to challenging social injustice and raising awareness of trauma. Understanding the perspective of her subjects is a crucial element of Paola’s practice.

In her critically acclaimed series Until You Change, Paola recreated the experiences of women inside Ecuador’s illegal homosexuality conversion centres with unflinching clarity, staging her photographs according to testimonies from former inmates. The series has been distributed widely online and exhibited internationally.

Combining contemporary issues with acute honesty and compassion, Paola’s photographs delineate expansive political and social tensions through a distinctively personal lens.