Photographers and Research ─ The Role of Research in Contemporary Photographic Practice

This book emphasizes research as the lifeblood of the photographic practice. By illuminating the nature and scope of research and its application to practical photography, this guide explores the ways in which research provides a critical framework to help develop awareness, extend subject knowledge, shape ideas, and inform the development of photographic work that has relevance. Through a range of richly illustrated case studies, the authors consider research as integral to the creative process, and explore ways that photographers have embedded research strategies into their creative practice.

Shirley Read is an independent curator based in London. She currently curates exhibitions for the Idea Store Canary Wharf during the Photomonth International Photography Festival. She has been interviewing photographers about their lives and work for the Oral History of British Photography (part of the National Sound Archive at the British Library) for twenty years. She teaches at every level of photographic practice and her book Exhibiting Photography (Focal Press 2008 & 2014) has been published in Chinese and English.

Mike Simmons is a photographic artist and is Leader of the taught Master’s Program in Photography at De Montfort University. His research interests are centered on the development of innovative approaches to exploring issues of social concern, through the application of creative photography. He has contributed to numerous exhibitions, conferences and symposia in the UK, Europe, Australia and the USA.