The work that I have been doing for Genesis Trust has been a fundamental part in the progress of not only my photography, but me as a photographer. Having to set up meetings via phone calls, emails and in person has given me the confidence and ability to talk confidently about my work and my practice. This growing confidence has been mirrored within my portraiture as I have become a lot more prepared to talk to strangers and ask for their involvement within my photography. I feel as though this helps with the work that I do for Genesis Trust as I have to be able to adapt my communication skills to match the clients. A lot of the people who use the charity as a service have had a difficult upbringing and past so they are often not open to speaking to strangers. Therefore, I need to be as approachable as I can in order to make people comfortable with communicating with me.

In the past, I have taken photographs of people straight away as I felt as though I would miss a moment if I didn’t. Sometimes this is still the case, but I have recently learnt through other projects that my photographs have been more successful when I have spoken to my subjects before hand as they are so much more at ease with me and the presence of my camera. I have used this approach when photographing for the Genesis Trust, approaching people and speaking to them first, asking their permission to take the photographs, and then when I feel confident that they are settled with me, I would then take their portrait. I feel that this is something that the charity have appreciated with me as a photographer as I am taking their clients privacy and needs into account.

Vitalie, who runs the communications team for the charity emailed me to say that my photographs were going to be used in their leaflets and posters. I was obviously so happy with this, but one of my requests for them was that they included my name on everything that they produced. They did this for the first two leaflets and posters that they sent out to people but the ones that I found afterward had not included me being the photographer. This is disappointing as it was the only thing that I asked of them so I emailed them explaining how it would be beneficial for me to have my name on things that I had done because it would create exposure for me.

I walked in to Boston Tea Party on Alfred Street in Bath to meet a friend and found these posters and leaflets on their notice board. I didn’t even know that these were getting displayed so I was obviously really happy and excited when I discovered that they were because it would be amazing for my exposure as an artist. The size of the poster makes the images more exaggerated and therefore are obvious when people walk in and read the poster. The only thing that got me down when I walked up to the poster was that my name wasn’t anywhere on there, which means that people wouldn’t see who took the photographs and I wouldn’t get an extra audience for my photography.

I will continue to work with the charity and carry on photography for them, their projects and at their events. In the future, I will push the fact that using my name means a lot to me and my photography as it is one of the ways that my audience horizon expands. I think that it is important for people within the creative industry to stand up for themselves and their work, making sure that they get as much exposure as they can.