The Wick - Photographer Hannah Starkey self-portrait

Monday Muse

Interview Artist Hannah Starkey

Interview

Hannah Starkey

19 August 2024

Interview

Hannah Starkey

19 August 2024

This World Photo Day, we celebrate Hannah Starkey, who is renowned for her carefully constructed photographic tableaux, which are resplendent and inquiring, focusing on women of all ages and backgrounds in urban environments, mixing evocative cinematic and narrative approaches with aesthetics drawn from the documentary and portrait canons. Born in Belfast and based in London, the award-winning artist has contributed significantly to the British contemporary art scene and in particular to the evolution of the female gaze in the medium of photography over the last three decades. In 2019, Starkey became an honourary fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, and last year The Hepworth, Wakefield, held a major retrospective titled Hannah Starkey: In Real Life on her work.

THE WICK: Any advice you received over the years you’re glad you ignored?

Hannah Starkey: I don’t remember anything said to me directly but I do remember the culture in the art world didn’t seem particularly keen on women, particularly mothers. I ignored all of that.

Sometimes it wasn’t easy. As a young woman I had to deal with a man abusing his position of power in the art world. After this bull**** experience I realised Photography is precious to me, and I take my autonomy and agency in it seriously. I also think we owe it to young women to inform them and protect them. Times have changed now and #MeToo has helped break the culture of silence. I’m determined not to let this happen to my two daughters in their career.

Talking of whom, I really trust my daughter’s advice. They have grown up with my photographs and they will always tell me the truth.

I listen carefully to the advice from people I respect and have the right intentions. It’s always good advice. The rest is just noise.

TW: An artwork you would add to your collection if money were no object?

HS: That is an impossible question. There is so much choice. Can I choose two which I would hang on opposite walls and stand in the middle of their power and energy?

The artwork on one wall would be a Rothko and on the opposite wall would be a small Black and White photographic print of Lee Miller in Hitler’s Bath. In physical space I would love to see what it felt like to be in between these two forces of great art.

TW: If the lens were reversed: who would you choose to photograph you?

HS: Nadav Kander is a brilliant portrait photographer. He goes beyond the surface to find the real person. His portraits seem to transcend the physical becoming the true essence of that person’s spirit. They always seem to transmit a respect and love for his sitter and his craft. I love his portrait of Jane Goodall. I wish I had made it.

TW: Your favourite place to take a stroll with your camera?

HS: London. All over central London but mostly in my own neighbourhood in East London. I love living here and working here because of the shear variety of humans I can interact with on a daily basis. It has the buzz of a city full of people from all over the world. I’m inspired by this and how women make their way in it.

“I’m in a dialogue or even a relationship with photography. To me it is magical in many ways. We are all asking the camera to tell us what we look like in the world.”

Hannah Starkey

The Wick - Hannah Starkey
‘Pussy power’, Women’s March, London, 2017
framed c-type print mounted on aluminium
122 x 163 cm
© Hannah Starkey, courtesy Maureen Paley,
London

The Wick - Hannah Starkey
Untitled, January 2013, 2013
framed c-type print mounted on aluminium
124.5 x 165.4 cm
© Hannah Starkey, courtesy Maureen Paley,
London

The Wick - Hannah Starkey
Yvette Cooper, 209 Women. London 2018, 2018
framed c-type print mounted on aluminium
50.8 x 60.9 cm
© Hannah Starkey, courtesy Maureen Paley,
London

TW: How did you manage making your art and raising two daughters?

HS: Slowly. My daughters are an asset to my practice and an inspiration. It is an education raising girls, particularly when I am a visual artist and know how images work. I taught them visual literacy from an early age.

Raising two girls, and now young woman, gave me an insight into the lives, challenges, struggles and joys of another generation of women. I could compare and contrast it with my own. And as I said only your children can be brutally honest with you.

TW: How do you see your self-portraiture work in relation to your portraits of other women?

HS: Photography has a long tradition of self-portraiture. I guess it’s the looking for answers but I think as a medium, photography can only really ask questions. I’m in a dialogue or even a relationship with photography. To me it is magical in many ways. We are all asking the camera to tell us what we look like in the world. Curiously. You can never really see yourself, your brain won’t let you. The camera, an intrusive but powerful device that can influence and control our very selves and by extension, society.

I also think if I am asking other women to be in front of the camera, then I should do it too. Mostly my self-portraits are reflections in surfaces. A kind of me looking at the viewer looking at me scenario can lead to a very intimate knowing of one another.

TW: Favourite gallery or museum to visit in London?

HS: Tate Modern. Early in my career I was commissioned to produce artwork for the just about to open, brand new Tate Modern. Nicolas Serota was a fan and had encouraged Tate to collect my work. Being in the Tate collection gives you an Artist Card which gets you into any exhibition with a friend, for free. It’s one of my favourite things to do. I can walk to it from my studio and along the way, look for pictures. To get to Tate bankside, I have to walk through London Fields, Columbia road, Shoreditch, Bricklane and down through the city or financial district in London. I love this walk as it keeps changing from area to area. I was the artist in residence at Guildhall so I know the city well. The contrast of both cultures and how they come together to see and feel art are on full view at Tate Modern.

TW: What are you working on now?

HS: Growing up in Belfast during the conflict politicised me as a girl. It taught me that women are powerful and equal power sharing is critical. The stats on female participation speaks for itself. The two projects I am currently working on both address this.

Right now, I’m working on a photographic installation for COP29. Over the years I have been photographing our female elders that come from all parts of the UK to descend on Westminster to defend Mother Earth. I thought I’d bring their voices to the people that make the decisions on the welfare of our planet.

The second project is a year-long commission, looking at how women from different cultures and backgrounds and legal status can form bonds that cut across the barricades and make real progress in equality and inclusion. This will take place in Brussels, as it has 180 nationalities, 100 languages spoken and two out of three residents are born abroad, Brussels is the second most cosmopolitan city in the world after Dubai and it’s closer.

TW: The best thing about being an artist in London today?

HS: The people I meet through photographing in London has been life affirming. I came to London in 1995 to study at the RCA and never left. I really enjoy the art and photography world, I enjoy the history we are accumulating together. I still see people on a regular basis who I have known for a long time and I love it. Also, it’s an environment that’s intellectively and intuitively ahead of society, so shapes society. Art is a place where difficult conversations can start.

TW: Who is your ultimate Monday Muse and why?

HS: Sinead O’Connor. I was first introduced to her music when I was 15, growing up in Belfast. I absolutely loved her. Her look, what she stood for and of course her music. Lion and the Cobra was the soundtrack to my youth. It made me feel so powerful as a young woman. She showed great integrity and a deep respect and love for her craft.

I think she was the bravest woman in Ireland, and has done so much for her fellow Irish men and women by releasing the grip of the Catholic church. She was magnificent.