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Wren Agency is a London based visual artists agency which manages photographers and productions across still and moving image, creating content through considered partnerships and collaborations. How do collaborations and working across partnerships aid the creative process alternatively to working as a sole artist? When do creative collaborations work best and what advice can you offer? 

At Wren Agency, we have evolving relationships with both the photographers we represent and the brands / organisations that we partner with. As these partnerships grow, often the creative grows with it, and you can quickly begin to see the benefit in collaboration. Collaboration always works best when there is healthy trust amongst the team, whether that is between the brand and the photographer, or the photographer and the stylist… When a creative / client has totally bought in to the photographer’s style, this is when the photographer has a level of freedom to use their work to influence the idea and make interesting work.

In addition, for any artist, the process of making work can be isolating. So regular intervals of working on a production, whether it is the bringing together of a specialist team of people to create the shoot, or just the boundaries of working to a set brief, allows for exercising of your practice outside of your own self-initiated work. It can also be an opportunity to collaborate with different creative teams which then inspire future work. 

In terms of key advice, I’d say it is important to both be open to what other people can bring to the process of shooting, and at the same time aware of what you are trying to achieve from this partnership. Commercial assignments are often seen as a ‘pay-day’ and wrongly (in my opinion!) dismissed for creative integrity. The opportunity to create work to communicate an idea, whether your own, or someone else’s (a brand campaign, editorial story, advertorial etc.), can be a great platform in which your craft can be leveraged.

Recently, we saw Agents for Change & APHE (Association for photography in higher education) host a panel discussion on inequality in the creative industry. What key take-aways can you highlight from the conversation and what more do you feel needs to be done to tackle inclusivity and diversity in the industry? 

The panel discussion was the first event under the movement Agents for Change, which was chaired by the APHE. It was an opportunity to hear experiences from the speakers who represented different disciplines within the wider ‘photography’ industry, and the talk both highlighted and confirmed the need for systematic change in the industry when it comes to breaking-through as emerging talent and supporting creative talent overall.

Renumeration for work, lack of opportunity, and lack of inspiring role-models was a recurring theme in the conversation. Over the past years we’ve seen the #Metoo movement which created waves and exposed serious issues with the industry, and now Black Lives Matter. These conversations are so important to effect change, and it’s a change that I hope will open up creativity and influence progress within the industry

Resilience, adaptation and inclusivity are aspects in the industry highlighted particularly over the past couple of months during the pandemic. What recent projects have you seen taking this direction and what advice can you offer for photographers struggling with creative inspiration? 

Resilience is such an important thought for us all at this time. However, working within the photographic industry has always been a rollercoaster and it’s quite normal for a photographer to busy one moment, and for a sudden drought to hit, so in one way when the Pandemic stormed us, the photographers (and creatives as a whole) were already equipped with how to cope in this climate. 

Within a few weeks, there were a number of ‘lockdown’ projects appearing on social media, and magazine / brands looking to create work in new ways. There isn’t really one particular project that stood out to me. What was most powerful, was the sense of solidarity our industry displayed, where when logistics were challenged how we were able to come together and adapt quickly to a new way of working. 

At Wren, we used the gift of time that lockdown gave us to get the team and roster of artists together to strategize across the agency and gallery. Our resolution was simple. Keep going making ambitious work. To use the quiet time as productively as possible, whether that was developing ideas, building new websites, shooting work, or just having some time for R&R, allowing us to emerge from this period ready and positive.

There were still struggles despite this, and I think the ever-impending pressure of social media was something we were very aware of during this time and seemed heightened in the pandemic. It’s a conversation that comes up time and time again – a feeling of needing to post to be relevant and active, and also of comparison to what everyone else is doing. When everyone was isolated at home, without work, this was further amplified.

My advice would be that it’s important to avoid comparing yourself to others – it really doesn’t get you anywhere good, quickly. It’s better to use the time to look back at yourself. Where were you last year, how have you bettered since then? What can you take from that time to push yourself forward, and what didn’t work that you can leave behind? And aside from that, have real conversations with people, seems a small ask, but so crucial!

We recently saw Wren Agency member Rachel Louise Brown’s project ‘Simulations’ featured in the Guardian. How would you advise emerging artists, early in their career to gain this type of media attention? What aspects in a project have you seen the media pick up on? 

It doesn’t always come naturally to photographers, or anyone in fact, to talk about themselves or their work, but it is necessary. When creating projects, they’ll only get seen if you go out of your way to share them. There are magazines / blogs which have particular identities themselves which you can see that in the work they feature, and so it’s worth aligning yourself with these platforms, finding out their submission process, contacting the features editors etc. and keeping them aware of the work you are making. 

Although there is a clear benefit of getting additional coverage of work when featured in press, it’s important not to play to the media. The work you make should be what you want to communicate as an artist, and not about what you think the industry wants to see. By playing to the market, you may get short-term gain, but long-term there isn’t much integrity in it. 

In the return to the “new normal”, Jennifer Turner joins Cluster Crafts Residency Programme as a Jury Member. What inspired you to join Cluster’s Residency and what creative aspects do you see in the project? 

I’ve been speaking with Ema Marinova, founder of Cluster, for over a year or so now since we connected over one of the photographers at Wren, Dougie Wallace. When the Residency opportunity came up, Ema reached out and it felt like a really natural fit between Wren and Cluster. Ema runs Cluster with such ambition and leads the organisation with an emphasis on inclusion and craft, and we are excited to be aligned with this!

Why are artist in residency programmes a valuable experience for creatives and what do you feel can be gained from this type of experience? 

Working as a photographer, you are going to need to refine the pitching of your ideas, whether that’s for an arts fund, assignment, exhibition or residency. Applying to residency programmes is practice in communicating your ideas. If you are selected, it is a great opportunity to take undisrupted, dedicated time to develop a piece of work, often with resources which support the creation of your ideas. This residency is paired with interesting industry mentorship opportunities too, and this opportunity to reflect on your work with others is invaluable.

As a mentor how would you approach your mentorship sessions with the artist in residence? Your role will provide support on the artist's project during the residency whilst observing their practice as a whole. What would you like to hear from the artist? 

On a basic level, I will ask a lot questions, and it will be your job to think about the answers. This space to reflect together will help inform the journey moving forward, with both the project at hand, and with long-term goals.

One of the photographers I represent at Wren always asks “but what do you think?”. I don’t feel it is my job when developing talent to impart my voice, for me it’s about creating a supporting platform to allow the artist to realise their unique talents, voice & ideas, and I help to encourage this on-going evolution. This has never been so important as now, as we maintain a strong presence within the industry, particularly during these unprecedented times.

Thank you for reading,
Cluster Team.

APPLY TO OUR RESIDENCY HERE