Tracy Marshall - Women in Photography Series
- Eli Regan
- Jan 17, 2019
- 5 min read
Updated: Jan 18, 2019
Tracy Marshall is Director of Development and Partnerships at the renowned photographic gallery – Open Eye in Liverpool. Energetic, optimistic and hard-working she brings bags of enthusiasm to the world of Photography. Tracy and her partner Ken Grant co-direct Northern Narratives – an organisation set up to engage with communities in a meaningful way and to promote understanding of photography projects - past and present - supporting artists in new spaces, residencies and projects. As part of Open Eye, Tracy is co-curating 209 Women, a massive commission involving female photographers photographing the 209 women Members of Parliament.
Can you tell me about your previous work in the social welfare sector? How do you think these development skills have helped you re-entering the Photography/Arts sector?
I began work as a campaign director for a number of homeless charities in Ireland and in London. I developed large scale national and international campaigns to raise awareness of issues and raised income to support the work of the charity in the direct and indirect provision of their work. I also worked in advocacy and external communications providing the public with information on homelessness and surrounding issues. This extended later into working in other charities in directorship roles which covered suicide, heart issues, age and cancer. I returned to the arts as I moved into a job to develop campaigns and income around an Irish orchestra and their work with education and outreach. This later extended into an interim cover for the vacant CEO and subsequently to taking up a directorship in another Belfast arts organisation when that position ended a few years later.
In that role I augmented my development skills and used them to build partnerships, campaigns, exhibitions and projects. I always tried to be innovative and support established and emerging artists, students, young people, pupils and communities through gallery work and specific projects. It’s a trait that I’ve carried through in my work in Open Eye.
You co-direct Northern Narratives with Ken Grant. Could you tell me a bit more about the Northern Narratives programme and the training/career/residency opportunities you will be offering?
Northern Narratives is a new arts initiative: we have been running for a year. Ken and I formed it after we both felt we wanted to do small, in-depth and long-term projects in our spare time. The first such project turned out to be anything but small and was the New Brighton Revisited exhibition which saw Ken, Tom Wood and Martin Parr revisit their first work in the Merseyside seaside resort from the 1970's and 80's and show it for the first time in the town to the people who had inspired them and set them all off on their career paths. We built a new venue, specifically created in the town, in a public space called The Sailing School and it involved an 8 week residency for one of the artists accompanied by a series of talks, events and workshops specifically for the community and the people of the town. It was an immense success.
Our aim is to recreate the success of New Brighton Revisited by taking our time to interact with an area, a subject or community and engage in a high end project and exhibition. We want to present our projects in innovative ways to the people who were originally involved as subjects in the photographs as well as people who already participate in the visual arts, cultural and heritage sectors. This approach will provide new insights and opportunities for learning to a wider public and do so in interesting and novel spaces.
In the next few weeks we will be releasing details of other projects which will see Ken and another photographer make a lasting history of area as part of a wider programme in the Wirral.
In 2020 we will be working in a new way and focusing on the development of projects with the archives of other photographers. Also from 2020, we will undertake international workshops and residencies and publish a number of key photography pamphlets. This is a very exciting time for us. Our projects will always offer intern and residency opportunities to emerging photographers and one of our key aims is to provide platforms for people throughout our projects – for example - a number of graduates and students profited from opportunities at our New Brighton show.
Open Eye has a history of socially engaged projects including the recent Culture Shifts produced by Elizabeth Wewiora with photographers such as Tony Mallon involved and different community groups. Do you think Open Eye and Northern Narratives are reaching artists/practitioners from low income backgrounds? Are the participants in the projects in turn pursuing artistic pursuits or even careers?
Both Open Eye and Northern Narratives aim to reach photographers from low income backgrounds and community groups. Open Eye has some very key projects working with schools, universities and young people which are often based in the geographical areas of Merseyside which are regarded as less affluent. We support them, provide mentorship and training opportunities and help guide them on a creative path. We also offer some individuals the chance to work on photography projects with us.
Can you tell me about 209 Women and how your role as co-curator was instrumental in getting this project off the ground? Can you recall a particular successful pairing of MP and photographer?
209 Women was an intense, amazing and all-consuming project. It was a marathon in so many ways. My role in the curatorial team was to support and provide the experience of directing large projects and budgets. I sought funding, partnerships and managed a lot of the operational side of things. It’s been immense. The show comes to Open Eye in February and we are really looking forward to seeing it here.
A particularly successful pairing involved the photographer Sarah Lee and SNP Livingston MP Hannah Bardell. Discovering a common love of swimming and diving, the intrepid photographer and equally daring subject decided to brave the cold sea. The resulting photograph is incredibly joyful with Hannah in her wetsuit grinning at the camera.
How to represent the 3 female Sinn Féin MPs was an interesting task. No Sinn Féin MPs sit in Parliament in a policy called abstentionism. The 209 Women exhibition in Parliament does not hold their photographs coinciding with their wishes. Instead three plaques stand in the absence of the pictures. However, the three pictures of the women Sinn Féin MPs will be shown at Open Eye in Liverpool.
Who are your favourite women photographers and women working supporting Photography?
I love so many female photographers. My favourites are Helen Sear and Marketa Luscakova – their work fills me with delight every time I see it. I also love the work of Jillian Edelstein, Hannah Starkey, Fast Forward Women Anna Fox and Karen Knorr but this is just the tip of iceberg. I have some really interesting friends in photography – Amak Mahoodian, Kirsty MacKay and Tabitha Jussa who are doing some really ground-breaking work. Tabitha’s Common Ground project about football also involved Tom Wood and Ken Grant. There are so many women working in photography making things happen like Hannah Watson from Trolley Books, Christiana Monarchi at essay-based website Photo Monitor, Karen Harvey at Shutterhub, Fiona Rogers at Firecracker, Vivienne Gamble with Seen Fifteen and Peckham 24.
What advice would you give those seeking to start a career in Development in the Arts in the UK?
The arts are an inspiring place to work and developing projects is a key element of allowing the arts to flourish and grow. Developing a project from an idea or a photograph and turning it into a large scale project or exhibition through all the mechanics of income generation, curation, marketing, production and PR is amazing. I love it and will stay in this field now longer term. This year I am working within Open Eye on the production of LOOK Photo Biennial and that will be such a great thrill with multiple exhibitions and events over the year taking place with so many partners. Such a great experience!
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