Joanna Casey is a London based photographer.  She has just finished a BA in Fine Art Photography at the University of Gloucestershire.  She has a wide range of photographic interests, but her main focus is on candid street photography and social documentary.  Since 2010 she has participated in the Street Photography Now Projects initiated by The Photographers Gallery on Flickr.  In 2012 Joanna had a series of 4 still life images shortlisted  for the Association of Photographers Student Award.  She has recently taken a studio in the Bow Arts Trust collective in East London and is now available for assignments of all types.


I think I search for beauty, but I often end up taking pictures of melancholy subjects - abandonment, isolation, and decay - maybe because those things are more interesting to me.  I am essentially interested in showing the world through portraits, including ghostly self-portraits  which occur in reflections.  I am also particularly interested in aspects of waste - particularly food and recycling.

My inspiration and drive for this type of photography comes from an enduring curiosity about life - people's faces, the overlooked, and the small details - and also the pathos and humour of mundane existence.  My eye is drawn to surreal juxtapositions and the unusual, as well as the banal and the repetitive. When I'm out on the streets I often wonder what people in 2050 might make of the way we live now, just as I find it fascinating to look at the street photographs of the 20th century.  

I have also been working on projects,  using both video and still photography, which attempt to express visually the feelings of loss, passage of time, and how we record memories.  The project that became my video 'Don't Blink' started out as a few still pictures of  a dead person's possessions and ended up as a video composed of over 300 digitalised old family photographs with a voiceover. 

I have been self-employed for the last 30 years,  working mainly in art and design related areas.  I owned The Antique Print Gallery, in London's New Kings Road, which specialised in antique and reproduction prints and framing, both for retail customers and interior designers.  I lived in Dubai for 10 years and owned a shop there which sold furniture, artwork, and decorative accessories.

I have travelled a great deal since the age of 18, and have spent time living in Italy, Nepal, and UAE, as well as England.  The desire to experience alternative cultures never leaves me.  On reflection, I think a lot of my work is about contrast - between cultures - but also increasingly, about similarity.  I speak Italian, French and some Nepali.


Recent clients I have worked for include:
Kwickscreen - a new and dynamic company specialising in putting artwork and photographs on portable room dividers for the NHS and events companies.
Capture the Event - a company providing images for sponsors, participants and the public at a wide variety of sporting events.

Exhibitions:
2013 -  "Delve".  Leyden Gallery, London E1 7LE.
2013 -  Degree Show, University of Gloucestershire.

2013 - "In Between Time".  Group show at Meantime Gallery, Cheltenham.
2012 - AOP Student Award shortlist exhibition held in Hoxton Gallery, Shoreditch, London.
2012 - "Tu et Tu".  A group show held at Centrespace Gallery in Bristol.
2012 - "Distilled".  A group exhibition held in Cheltenham.
2011 - "Fringes: Images From The Street".  A group show of street photography held in Brixton during the London Street Photography Festival.

Education:
University of Gloucestershire - BA in Fine Art Photography, 2010 to June 2013.
Stroud College - HE Access to Art, a broad based foundation course, 2007.


Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joannacasey/sets


Blog: www.joannacaseyimages.wordpress.com

I also have another website which is a more comprehensive overview of my work: www.joannacaseyimages.com