Alys Tomlinson presents Gli Isolani (The Islanders) we spoke to her about her latest project.
Millennium
Alys, thank you so much for joining us at Millennium to speak about your work The Islanders. Could you please tell us about the book and the exhibition.
Alys
It is called Gli Isolani, which is Italian for The Islanders. It’s exploring small communities, in islands of the Venetian Lagoon, in Sicily and Sardinia, the three locations. Actually, I just got back a couple of days ago from printing the book at EBS Verona. It’s going to be published by GOST books, who published my first book, which was called Ex-Voto. They are an independent photography publishers, and they publish a wide range of very lovely books. So, I’m just fresh from getting back from printing the book there, which was quite intense, but a productive and exciting week.
We don’t get it for a while, because it takes a while to ship everything, so I’m hoping to launch it mid-November at Paris Photo, and I’ve got an exhibition opening. I have gallery representation at HackelBury Fine Art, located near South Kensington in London, quite near the V&A. And I will be having a solo show, which opens on September 7. That will run until the end of October. And the book coming out just after that. I’m also giving a talk at the Martin Parr Foundation photo book festival in Bristol at the beginning of October.
So that’s some events to tie in with the launch of the book coming up.
Millennium
Where does your interest for photography in these communities come from? Where does it spark? Why are you interested in going to Italy?
Alys
I’m interested in communities that are very different from my own. For me, it’s about a real kind of curiosity that I have, about exploring other people’s lives that I don’t necessarily relate to, on a surface level. I feel like their lives seem very different from mine. But it’s really about connecting with people on a more human level. These are very long-term projects, I never know exactly what direction they’re going to take. Before that I started a project that was never finished. But I enjoyed working on it, which was exploring alternative communities in the UK.
I’ve always had this interest, in what makes the community, what builds the community, the sense of togetherness. It’s easy to feel quite isolated and alienated in London. So it’s about exploring people’s lives that seem on the surface very different to my own. But then, of course, we all have these human connections that we can build upon. A lot of my photo books are based around communities as well. Learning how other people live really is very important to me.
That’s why I did an MA quite recently in Anthropology, to really understand human behaviour, to understand togetherness to understand what makes us who we are. This relationship between people and the landscape is very important throughout my work.
Millennium
How do you use portrait photography to highlight the togetherness of these communities? How do you approach this in your work?
Alys
Most of it is through these connections with the landscape. So with Ex-Voto which was my first big body of work, it was about pilgrims in Europe, in three different sites. So I photographed most of them on their own because pilgrimage, although there’s a great sense of community on one level, it’s actually a very individual practice. People will go on pilgrimage, it’s very sociable in lots of ways but then at other times they’ll spend many hours on their own, thinking or praying or sitting or observing. I was interested in taking them out of the community group, but they’re still very much within this wider community.
With this new project, the community really shows through. But it’s quite different for me, there’s more pairings, there’s more groups. Especially the villagers who live in the mountains in Sicily and Sardinia. They’re these very close-knit communities where everyone knows each other. Rather than big groups I’ve photographed pairs and threes.
But also, what’s important about the latest work is recognising that many of the costumes and masks that I photographed are used in either religious celebrations like Holy Week, or used to celebrate particular feast days or Saint days. Many were handed down from previous generations. They had belonged to their grandparents, or their parents, and they were all made with so much love and pride, handmade often by their Grandma or friends. So these are objects and costumes that that have incredible significance for these communities. These events often involve music and dancing and singing and fire and all sorts of things. I photographed during the pandemic. They cancelled all the festivals. It’s very different. I didn’t experience the entire village turning up for the festivals, which can often be quite chaotic. But instead, I photographed them away from the festival.
Millennium
How do you approach photographing a community that is not your own in a way that doesn’t fetishcise them? What are your techniques? What’s your approach into this kind of work?
Alys
Well, my MA really helped with that. Because previous anthropological photography, often has been very problematic, colonial, very much about the gaze and control. So I am aware of that, through my studies, not wanting to repeat that in any way. My approach, is I hope always respectful and sensitive. Even if I don’t necessarily align with a lot of the beliefs.
For instance, with Ex Voto, I’m certainly not Catholic, I haven’t converted in any way. And there’s some things about the Catholic religion and Orthodox Christianity that I don’t agree with at all, but it’s about putting those prejudices or strong opinions to one side and actually engaging with the individual or the community on a human level. Definitely trust and respect, are very high up on my list of building these relationships.
Millennium
Would you say that time that you spend with these communities also helps to build relationships with them rather than just being an outsider?
Alys
I’m still an outsider to a certain extent, because I don’t embed myself in the community. I’m visiting these very small, tight knit communities for a day or two at a time, and then moving on to the next one. For me, a lot of my learning comes through my research. I read up about the area, I read literature, I read poetry, I read travelogues, I watch films about these islands to try and get an understanding of it. Because I’m aware that I am always going to be an outsider, and for me, it’s a huge privilege to be allowed access to these communities. I was able to show them images to express my style and show my approach. Also, working with that big plate camera it’s a very slow process, you know rather than taking 3 million shots with a digital camera. It’s a different way of collaborating and getting to know someone and actually making a portrait, everything changes when I am under the cloth and looking to the ground glass, it changes the relationship I have with my subjects.
Millennium
Why is the selection of the camera important for your project? Why do you select to use black and white instead of colour film?
Alys
Yeah, I mean, sometimes I think, what on earth am I doing? I’m making things so difficult for myself. In 30 degree heat on top of the mountain, with my tripod and large format camera. And you know, it can be very challenging. But I work in a different way with that camera, and I think in a different way with that camera. And I have to be very careful, extremely precise with each shot. It becomes a meditative process for me.
Millennium
I totally understand.
Alys
Yeah, it’s much, much slower, a more thoughtful way of working. I’m more careful and thorough with what I’m presenting and trying to say. Particularly with Ex-Voto, which was about faith and belief, and sacred landscapes and spirituality, it was a perfect fit to work in that manner. And that’s just the way I’ve continued.
With film, although it’s very expensive, I still never really know what I’m going to get. There’s still that level of excitement and anticipation. When you get the film back from the lab, the contact sheets, you know, what’s going to be there, what worked, have you managed to capture something special about this place, and these people, so there’s always that level of kind of unpredictability and anticipation.
Millennium
On this kind of long form projects, how do you know when a project is finished and how do you know whether it is destined to be an exhibition or a book?
Alys
I don’t really see them as either in the beginning, because I never know exactly the route it’s going to take, or the kind of photographic journey that I’ll go on, I never really know what to expect with each project. I have an idea. And then I may start, I do my research, and then I’ll start shooting, but I’ll never really know the final outcome.
It’s lovely to have a photobook, something tangible that hopefully will outlive me. It is important to have a project in one place, that’s available for people to respond to and interact with. But in terms of kind of closure, when I start losing enthusiasm for a project, that’s time to know that it’s either hasn’t worked, or it’s time to close it down.
I’m lucky because I have a gallery, they’re very supportive. So I have an outlet to exhibit my work. But, I don’t start a project thinking about a photobook. As the project develops maybe I start thinking about sequencing or about which images I will want to include, and which I probably won’t use, but that’s quite far down the line.
I think for a lot of photographers, a photobook is almost like a status and I think it’s not always helpful to be thinking that, because not every project should or will result in photobook or exhibition.
And I think accepting that a project hasn’t worked, you’re not necessarily a failure, but it can be an important part of the process. I think you can only really make projects for yourself. Ex-Voto was a very kind of quiet, personal project. When people started seeing it, and I was getting very positive reactions, that was that was lovely, but it wasn’t something that I expected, I am making work for myself, but also for the people I’m photographing. It’s about exploring something I’m interested in and a discovery, a journey. I don’t really like to look too far ahead or decide in advance -I want this to be the outcome- I don’t think that’s very helpful for the development of the project.
Millennium
Now shifting a little bit from your projects to being a full time photographer, how do you manage between being an artist and then shooting campaigns for Universities, and other commercial work. How do you mingle between these two works? I believe there’s a lot of pressure for photographers who are artists -just to be artists-, or photographers who have a commercial practice -just to have a commercial practice. How do you navigate these two worlds so successfully?
Alys
I think there’s less pressure now. People also understand that it’s very hard, practically impossible to be an artist to make a living from photographic work. There are few photographers who are able to make a living from print sales, for instance, or artistic commissions. We have to be more realistic about that. You can do long term projects and be an artist, but you also have to make a living somehow and survive.
What I find more difficult is the psychological shift between photographing villagers wearing sheepskin and cow bells on tiny islands and then, coming back and picking up my digital camera and shooting 1000 images for a university. It takes more adjustment. And I think that’s partly why my latest project, Gli Isolani is shot abroad, because it takes me out of my usual environment. That is all I focused on, I’m not distracted by emails about work or having to edit things or having to having annoying clients getting in touch, I’m immersed in that work. So yes, it’s difficult, ideally I would love to just be a photographic artist but I you know, that’s perhaps may happen in the future but at the moment it’s not realistic.
Millennium
Do you self fund your artistic projects, do you get grants, a mixture?
Alys
It’s a real mixture. There’s limited resources and budgets for artists. Funding, particularly in the UK is really poor for artists. I’ve had Arts Council funding before and I won a couple of big competitions that gave me a good sum of cash that kept me go for a couple of years. And then it’s just about juggling things.
I have things with stock agencies, do editorial commissions and work with design agencies. We have to have as many kind of outlets, because it’s so difficult. It’s so competitive. There’s so many photographers out there that you can’t rely on one kind of income stream to survive. So a little bit of money sometimes comes from my photobooks, but it’s about just trying to have as many different outlets possible.
Millennium
That’s the end of my questions Alys – thank you so much for your time.
Gli Isolani (The Islanders), is available for purchase here and is published by GOST Books in November 2022 and will be exhibited at HackelBury Fine Art, London from September 7 – November 5th, 2022.
Alys Tomlinson is a Millennium Images contributor and you can buy her Millennium prints here. Follow Alys on Instagram.
