Seminar Programme

Paul Sng is a biracial British Chinese filmmaker and writer based in Edinburgh. His work is driven by methodical research, creative storytelling and a collaborative approach that strives for inclusivity and diversity in people and projects. In 2015, Paul founded Velvet Joy Productions to explore the lives and work of individuals who have been neglected, marginalised or misrepresented in the arts and media. Paul’s documentaries have been broadcast on national television and screened internationally and include Sleaford Mods – Invisible Britain (2015), Dispossession: The Great Social Housing Swindle (2017), Social Housing, Social Cleansing (2018) and Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché (2021). (Image: © Alicia Bruce)

Joanne Coates is a working class photographer, based in rural North England. She is interested in rurality, hidden histories and class. Joanne’s practice is as much about process, participation and working with communities as it is the still image. Joanne is Director of Lens Think, an arts organisation with the aims of fighting for class equality and a more creative industries through participation and radical community arts. She is the awardee of the Jerwood / Photoworks Prize (2021), and winner of the Portrait of Britain: British Journal of Photography (2020). Coates’ work has featured in The Guardian, BBC, Financial Times, The Telegraph and The British Journal of Photography. Selected exhibitions include Daughters of the Soil, Vane Gallery, Gateshead and The Gymnasium Gallery, Berwick-upon-Tweed (2022) and The Unseen Beautiful, Crown Street Gallery, Darlington (2019). (Image © Piotr Sell) www.joannecoates.co.uk

Amara Eno is a photographer from London, UK. Her work focuses predominantly within the areas of documentary, portraiture, and reportage. Amara's work aims to initiate important dialogue between audiences and to empower those who often feel marginalised by mainstream narratives. Most notably, Amara has been recognised for her long-term documentary work-in-progress, The 25 Percent, which explores the multi-faceted landscape of single-parenthood in the UK. A selection of her work is on show at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery until Sunday 25 September 2022 as part of the 'Counted | Scotland's Census 2022' exhibition. Selected clients and publications include The New York Times, GuardianLabs, The British Red Cross, The Financial Times, Monocle and Global Citizen. www.amaraeno.com

Ciara Leeming is a photographer, writer and former journalist based in Manchester. She spent four years collaborating with Roma families and members of the Traveller community to produce documentary work about their lives. This year she has worked with people from a Chester mental health centre and a Wigan homeless charity on socially engaged projects centred around the high street. www.ciaraleeming.co.uk