Rene Lumley - Women in Photography
- Eli Regan
- Feb 28, 2019
- 6 min read
Rene Lumley is a socially engaged photographer and teacher with 20 years’ experience in community settings, as a university lecturer and in the past few years working with pupils who would be termed difficult by the establishment.
Full disclosure alert – Rene was my university tutor 14 years ago. It wasn’t the easiest of environments but in Rene I met a kindred spirit. She’s feisty, kind, smart as a whip and will do anything to help you but doesn’t take any prisoners.
With Howard, her husband, she runs Creative Arts and Minds . Their purpose is to help pupils who are experiencing difficulties: those with SEN needs, violent pupils, young people who are adrift, etc. Some of the girls Rene works with affectionately call her ‘Queen Bee’ – in a reference to being a Manc and also the fact Rene loves bees.
Rene’s past projects include working with people with cystic fibrosis for LIME Arts, people living with breast cancer, partially sighted people who exhibited their work at the Trafford Centre and many other projects throughout the years.
Like a worker bee, she labours incessantly to facilitate others’ creativity. Rene’s Arts for health approach really has lasting results as one of the girls who was taught by them a few years ago, Adina is now studying Photography at MMU.
Can you tell me a bit more about how you discovered Photography and its magic and what made you pursue it when you studied it at Blackpool?
I left school with just a handful of GCSEs and because those were the days of a 'career for life' I worked in a bank to make my Mother proud. I had a very bad relationship with my Art teacher, who said I had cheated in the exam because I turned around to pick up the pencils that had fallen on the floor from the class pet to return to her table as she was clearly on for an A. I was furious, and cannot possibly repeat my reactions! She then proceeded to scream at me 'You will never make it in the arts anyway!' Totally destroyed me.
I spent the next few years working three jobs. The bank, a job in a pub and got a Saturday job assisting a wedding and portrait photographer while also doing evening school three nights a week studying A Level Photography, Business Studies and English. My magic moment was when I saw my first image appear in the development tray in the darkroom and I totally fell in love. I did my research and the next year applied to Blackpool. At that time there were over 600 applicants for 30 places. I didn't think I had a cat in hell's chance of getting in as I was competing with students who had done Foundation, worked with slide and colour and there was little old me who had only worked in a darkroom. I didn't even know what slide film was. It was a really scary time because I was married to a very abusive man, had a mortgage and was still at the bank. I accepted a conditional offer before the A level results were published. I took a punt. I started divorce proceedings on my then husband without a solicitor because I couldn't afford one, put the house up for sale and quit my job without knowing if I would get in or not. By some miracle I did.
You have worked on many socially engaged projects throughout the years – cystic fibrosis, breast cancer patients, partially blind photographers. Why is this important to your practice?
My personal feelings are that sitters and photographers should work in collaboration. I have little respect for photographers that clearly dictate and the results say more about them than their sitters or the situations that they are photographing. I am at heart a socialist and I strive to put across both sides of the coin. My creative influence which obviously involves a degree of direction, but the stories belong to them, not me. It is my job to bounce around ideas, give confidence and promote a cause. I would never publish or exhibit a work without the sitter’s permission.
Tell me more about your joint role with your husband Howard in Creative Arts and Minds and the various projects you’ve undertaken together throughout the years.
Creative Arts and Minds has been running now for 5 years. We have four Directors, one of is an ex-student of ours. We have worked with all sorts of groups: traveller communities, in mental health, women's groups, the elderly, the ill and most recently very difficult pupils. Pupils with behavioural issues, pupils who bring knives and guns into schools and pupils that are tremendously vulnerable or have Special Educational Needs or just have very limited skills and are under achieving. I’m not saying it's easy. It can be very emotionally draining and exhausting. That is why H is up at 4 AM painting and we are currently waiting for the water supply to be installed our studio so I can have a darkroom. Then we’ll be able to have our creative release, of which we have very little time for at present.
You must be elated that one of your original GCSE Photography students is now studying a BA Photography at MMU. Why do you think it’s important to broaden the range of practitioners and encourage diversity and working class young people into careers like Photography?
One thing I think we are good at after 20 years in and out of teaching from nursery level to Post Grad is recognising talent and this should be nurtured no matter who you are or where you come from. Another thing we are good at is working with pupils with attitude. We can deal with that that. It's apathy that we struggle with.
Who are some of your favourite photographers and why?
Wendy Ewald - how she engaged with children all over the world allowing them to express themselves. Francesca Woodman - because her work is so raw. Diane Arbus - because it's Diane Arbus! Richard Billingham’s 'Ray's a laugh' just blew me away and he is so humble and versatile – he’s a professor and has moved into film direction. I love photographers that present their work in a different way than just in frames such as Roger Szmulewicz. Writers inspire me too such as Margaret Atwood and Victor Hugo. Artists too. Love Goya. Tracey Emin, Jenny Saville - so unapologetic. But my total favourite artist has to be Frida Kahlo - I adore her bravery.
Do you think university Photography courses are taught well or is there room for improvement in their teaching approaches/reaching students from poorer backgrounds?
Firstly in defence - I know the pressures not just uni lecturers are under, but also teachers and FE staff face. That said, and this may sound a bit harsh but it can sometimes to me in my experience like a cattle farm. Everyone do the same project, individuality is not always noticed and promoted. Staff don’t keep up with emerging new talents, visit exhibitions, read up, visit amazing shows like London and Paris Photo for example. Some of the passion has left - a lot of the time due to the stress of the job. It's too results based. I would just love just one day, one day for a member of senior management to swap their role with me. We may have a better understanding of each other’s struggles. I would say that over 95% of our students come from poorer backgrounds. Both H and I came from nothing - it's about finding that one person that can nurture that self-belief.
What are your hopes for 2019?
I have been really unwell and this has had massively affected every area of my life including work. So firstly get as well as I can and as soon as I can. Organise my time a little differently to allow me to pursue my own projects more and explore my ideas. I literally just started one today. Very, very early stages, but I think it has legs! Yes, it's a social one, portrait-based as you know that is my thing primarily. For a photographer, I hate photographs of myself! For once someone else sparked the light bulb for me rather than the other way around. It was my former student Adina who is now at MMU studying a degree in Photography. Can't speak for H, but he is such a talented painter and I think he needs to think about getting an agent. Help me persuade him!
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