A Photographic Life - 179: Plus Dan Burn-Forti

In episode 179 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed dedicating this week's episode to the photographer Colin Jones, and reflecting on supporting child refugees through photography, the need for clear and simple language in communication, and inclusion through events being held online. Plus this week photographer Dan Burn-Forti on the challenge of supplying Grant with an audio file no longer than 5 minutes in length in which he answer’s the question ‘What Does Photography Mean to You?’ Dan Burn-Forti was born in Mortlake, West London.  Age 14, he began taking pictures with his mother's Fujica SLR and, after a little assisting and three slightly wasted years studying photography at Middlesex Polytechnic, he has worked ever since primarily in the fields of editorial and advertising photography.  His work spans a range of subjects including everything from celebrity portraiture to animals, reportage to cars, but his work is linked by a love for the absurdness of human beings and the incongruous oddness of modern life.  Over the years his pictures have appeared in numerous publications such as The Observer, Wired, Esquire, Tatler and The Sunday Telegraph.  These days he is increasingly working in the advertising field, having shot many global campaigns for a range of clients that includes Mercedes, HSBC, Sony, John Lewis, VW, Channel 4 and Nike.  In recent years he has also worked as a director, having directed a number of TV commercials for clients such as O2, MINI and Bulldog. Outside of his commissioned work, his passion is for unconstructed observed photography, work that has appeared in two self-published books titled Go Away and Golden Sun.  Burn-Forti has won many awards including The AOP Awards, The Taylor Wessing Prize, Creative Review Awards, Photo District News, the Creative Circle, Communication Arts and The American Photography Awards. www.danburnforti.com Dr. Grant Scott is the founder/curator of United Nations of Photography, a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, a working photographer, documentary filmmaker, BBC Radio contributor and the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019). Grant’s book What Does Photography Mean to You? including 89 photographers who have contributed to the A Photographic Life podcast is on sale now £9.99 https://bluecoatpress.co.uk/product/what-does-photography-mean-to-you/ © Grant Scott 2021