Hart School: Photography workshop with Kamilla Kuc

Week 3 of Hart School was a jam packed week of field trips, exploring our surroundings and understanding the power of photography for story telling. The week begun with our students learning about Cyanotypes, a hands on photography process in which images are exposed on to the paper with the power of sunlight. We left the gallery for our local parks and foraged for materials that we could use in photographic compositions. By the end of the day the gallery walls were filled with deep blue abstract photographs.

Later in the week we took a trip to the Tate Modern. The Turbine Hall has been transformed into giant drawing room as part of the Uniqlo Tate Play project and the whole team loved decorating the floor and working on such a large scale. We also visited the main collection rooms for some photography inspiration and artist research.

This week we were joined by visiting artist, Kamila Kuc. The film maker and photographer gifted everyone their own black and white film camera along with a set of instruction of things to document through out the week. We explored the local area, snapping architecture, nature and each other. The images we took this week will form part of another workshop later in the year and our students have been keeping a photographic diary of their daily lives as well.

I originally contacted Helen Ralli with a proposal to conduct a remote photographic workshop at Hart Club. The team was in the process of putting together an experimental summer school with a series of workshops in drawing, printmaking, graffiti art, music and my photographic workshop fitted right in with the rest of the activities. I was pleased that my original idea of a remote workshop turned into a continuing multi-stage in person engagement.

Working with Hart School artists was the most enriching experience. The outstanding talent, commitment and enthusiasm of all involved were infectious, so was the playful nature of all our artful interactions. I learned more about neurodiversity in a day at Hart School than I ever did in any of my studies.

I am very grateful that Hart School exists and that it is developing and growing. It is an important contribution to the creation of an inclusive and equal society, which is what we so desperately need right now. Thank you all for welcoming me into this wonderful family. It is an honour to be part of it and I hope to continue working with you.

Kamila Kuc is a 2021 Jarman Award nominee. Her short film, uchronia no.1, received Jurors’ Award at the 59th Ann Arbor Film Festival. Her 2020 noonwraith blues was awarded the Honourable Mention at the 2021 United States Super 8 Film and DV Festival, New Jersey and it was among the three winners of the 2020 Bomb Factory Artist’s Film Festival, London. Her films have screened internationally: most recently at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, British Film Institute, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London. In August 2021 Kamila delivered a photographic workshop at Hart School as part of her Arts Council England funded project, Laughter Is the Final Song, which consists of a film and a website that features photographs of  neurodiverse artists from Morocco and the UK.

Hart School is a 3 month Arts programme that is designed to be free, inclusive and accessible. This opportunity is open to adults of all ages and prioritises those who are typically excluded from similar opportunities due to financial barriers and lack of specialised support for disabled artists. Hart School is an intensive summer school where students and teachers work in a radically inclusive, non-hierarchical, collaborative learning environment that supports participants to develop confidence in their creative practice.

We provide highly specialised and supported learning with a ratio of one facilitator per two learners. With a superstar team of educators and industry professionals, students are guided through demonstrations, talks, studio visits and weekly meetings with an Art Therapist.

This is art school – with a difference! One that focuses on enabling and empowering some of the most creative but marginalised people in our society.