Future Focus Vol 1: Photographer Alice Hutchison
What does the future hold?
Future Focus is a series of interviews with individuals from various industries and backgrounds where we ask the question, what lies ahead in the future of their industry and ours? Each member of our team will take turns in interviewing inspirational individuals, each gaining a different point of view and coming into the interview from a place of curiosity and intrigue. In the spirit of international Womens day, Our Revolution designers Faye and Lily seek to learn what other female creatives are thinking about the future and the way this is shaping their practice.
“As women creatives ourselves, we are constantly learning from the stories and experiences of the inspiring women we get to work with. With their permission, and through the future focus series platform, we hope to share their wisdom, opinions, and hopes with others.”
So we start this series with an incredible photographer Alice Hutchinson. Alice is a Photographer, Art director and Motion director based in Melbourne. Alices work is inherently fresh and idiosyncratic, integrating a multidisciplinary approach to image making. Her background lies in graphic design and fine art; both powerfully influencing her photographic style and art direction.
In a few sentences explain how you’ve gotten to where you are now?
I studied photography as a mature age student after having completing a BA in design and worked as an artist. This deliberate pivot was prompted by the realisation that I needed a commercially viable career, haha. My background in design and art was not lost though. Whilst completing my studies I found myself extending the role of what a photographer is into creative/art direction and styling. Because I have always worked as an artist I naturally continued an art-based practice alongside my commercial work.
This series was made in collaboration with Biscotti AKA Carla Ori.
Are there any particular women who have inspired and shaped your practice?
Taryn Simon is right up there. Her work is astoundingly beautiful, complex and touching on a personal and political level. Alex Prager, whose solo show I stumbled across at the NGV one afternoon, introduced me to the idea of creating fictional realities and re-creating imagined cinematic landscapes. Tracey Eminʼs work, titled “My Bed”, gave me the impetus to mix real life objects into my own work, whether that be via an image, an installation or a mixture of both.
Can you tell us a bit about your project Trophy girl that you did with Ilona Savchenko?
“Trophy Girl” was a rumination on teenage girlsʼ sporting endeavours in the late 80s and 90s. This series is filled with objects and symbols laden with aspiration and longing. Each image is representative of the mixed feelings I had participating in sport at a time when this space was still very much male-dominated.
Itʼs clear through your work that being a woman influences your point of view. You playfully pick at gender constructs having described the ʻfemale narrativeʼ as a theme in your work. Why do you think it important to challenge these ideas and how would you like to see them to change in the future?
Male storytelling has dominated our cultural landscape, resulting in male stories, perspectives and female representation via the male gaze. I talk to my female experience from a nuanced perspective because it is my lived experience, and I believe the best work you can create starts with your own story. Exploring the richness and depths of underrepresented narratives is at the heart of all the most exciting art being made right now.
Is there anything you’d like to see change in the industry to be better in the future?
A union would be great! Haha. The industry has fundamentally been reshaped over the last decade and Iʼm happy to say womenʼs participation is high and continues to increase. I suspect the pay gap is still present as lower paying jobs are offered more frequently to women, and there is still an absence of maternity leave for freelancers. It will be interesting to see how these issues play out as photography enters a new era of AI.
Oat So Chobani
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