We were lucky enough to have Alexandra (Ally) Lethbridge come and give a lecture about her work and then a tutorial advising us on our work. Ally first went into details about her education, pre her career which started with her studying a BA in graphics and photography. Ally then made the tough decision to sell everything she owned to fulfil a dream of moving to New York. Once in New York, she was conscious that she would need to be working in order to pay for the the lifestyle in New York. This is where Ally was lucky enough to meet Joel Meyerowitz at a talk and book signing who introduced her to his assistant and got her a job. Ally then became a studio assistant for Meyerowitz alongside starting studies at the International Center of Photography, where she spent the next 2.5 years.
After 2.5 years in New York, Ally’s visa was finishing up and she was stuck between whether to stay in New York or head back home to London. She thought it would be a good idea to write a list of things, people etc that would make going to London worthwhile. One of these people on the list was Tim Walker who Ally admired greatly, so she decided to write an email to his people and asked if she could be considered for an assistants role. Unfortunately this was declined due to Tim Walker having a huge team already, but Ally didn’t want to take no for an answer so offered her work in the offices/business side. Luckily enough they were happy to welcome her to the team and Ally worked on the business side of things before it led to a studio assistant job. However, this was only a few days a week so Ally reached out to Venetia Dearden and became her studio manager.
After that great start to Ally’s career she decided to focus on her work more and studied for her MA in photography at Brighton. During this time she discovered Photoworks, where she now works part time.
In terms of Ally’s own work, she is a very conceptual artist who uses a lot of archive within her own projects. I am particularly interested in her body of work called ‘The Meteorite Hunter’ which is an archival hunt for meteorites and the places they come from. This project follows the fictitious meteorite hunter, documenting the artefacts found, the places they might be found, archival images and constructed images. However, this body of work is so much more than just a hunt for meteorites, it’s actually a metaphor for finding treasures in the mundane of everyday life. I think there are many reasons why this project appeals to me so much. For starters the style of this project is something reminiscent of what I would like my current project to look like. For example, the use of layering, illustration alongside the original photography. Furthermore, the eclectic mix of archive, construction and still life that complement each other so well in a non-linear way is exactly what I hope to achieve.
It was really lovely listening to Ally talk, she made the idea of becoming a photographer much more achievable. I sometimes feel a bit like an imposter when wanting to become a photographer and i sometimes feel that its an unachievable career for me. However, it’s great to hear from people that start off in the same place as you progress so greatly in a seemingly smooth way. Overall, i feel inspired and motivated to keep going and strive for my dream career.