The catalysts that got me to enter teaching were two-fold; a strong sense of social responsibility, having always found more purpose and enjoyment when what work I undertake helps others. Also, a mentor, who was excellent at challenging my behaviours and asking the difficult questions, picked up on my love for developing others and saw the potential in me before I did.

EMULSIVE Interview #193: I am Lee Gavin and this is why I shoot film

“I managed to grab some time with Lee Gavin, an English film photographer and teacher based in Kent, UK”

When I bring my camera out to shoot I often get labelled a ‘hipster’, often this term is used in a derogative way. My reasons for using the methods I use are part of a considered methodology and routed in traditional photographic education.

My first experience and memories of photography was with the assembly and ritual of the family album. My parents taking turns with the family point and shoot 35mm camera during various significant events. Along side this, was the customary waiting for the films to come back from the developers, opening the envelope and flicking though the glossy six by nine prints to see the range of successes and remembering the past activities, often months after the actual event. 

I am in a privileged position, I identify as a creative and also a teacher. I get to experience future creatives at the very start of their journeys. I also get to work with many different creatives, from teaching colleagues, to external partners, to my own clients. As such I witness the journey of the expectations, assumptions and realisations from parents to practitioners. Most students entering college are quite passive. They definitely know what they do not want to do, yet they only kind of know what they do want to do, which is okay. That is why we have education and training opportunities; to explore, to test, to practice.