Kate O’Neill & Jessica McDermott
In Conversation: Kate O’Neill and Jessica McDermott Photography is often a solo endeavour, and embarking on a new career after regular work or full-time study can be daunting. However, online and around the country, the photographic community is thriving. Networks of existing and emerging artists collaborate and support each other in many ways allowing ideas to form and new connections to be made. There is more to photography than taking photographs. Kate O’Neill has been working in the photography industry for over 10 years across the UK & Ireland - from project management and marketing to curation and mentoring. As Marketing & Partnerships manager at Metro Imaging, her role is mainly client facing; working with artists, advising on production and/or promotion, helping them get their work from concept to physical art (Secret Life of Pencil, Free Range Awards, But We Are Still Here). She is Director of The Old Girls’ Club (‘The OGC’), an initiative to support women across the visual arts industry and last year managed Brighton Photo Fringe as well as curating ELASTIC, a collective exhibition for the biennial Cork Photo Festival. Jessica McDermott is a London-based photographer whose work explores patterns in history, memory, and the legacies we leave behind. Her ongoing series, Recollection, tells the life stories of people living with dementia in a single image, while Fifty Decades To Visit Before You Die takes you on a journey through lost and misunderstood herstory. She is currently working for Tate on Steve McQueen’s Year 3 Project and is the Host and Producer of Scenario, a podcast about the hidden stories from behind the camera. Kate and Jess have known each other for just over four years and in that time a professional collaboration has been born out of a genuine friendship. They have collaborated on The OGC, Scenario and ELASTIC becoming part of a movement for championing visual artists through storytelling and visibility of female photographers.
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