Firecrackers: Women and Wit in Photography

With a special screening of Finding Vivian Maier

Date: 5 May 2015 1-5.30pm (arrive 12.45 promptly please)

Photography is sparkling with the work and wit of the women who create and shape it, but the path has been never straightforward. Join us for a viewing of the essential documentary Finding Vivian Maier, the story of an extraordinary photographic talent that remained invisible for too long. Questions of conformity, identity, self-portraiture, wit, art and ownership raised by the film will be discussed by Fiona Rogers in conversation with Brigitte Lardinois. Rogers founded Firecracker, a platform for female photographers, in 2011, and, to celebrate its fourth anniversary, she will talk about its continuing necessity, with Brigitte Lardinois, who was instrumental in the women’s photography movement in the 1990s. Presentations by outstanding contemporary practitioners will follow, including Natasha Caruana and Anna Fox, whose show opens at PARC the same night – Firecracker attendees are invited to the private view. In addition, Eleanor Macnair will be participating as the Firecracker Artist in Residence, rendering a photograph by each of our speakers in Play-doh during the course of the day.