This is not a scene many of the audience at CoL&CPS admitted to knowing much about, but as with all our speakers, the passion and commitment with which Molly MacIndoe pursues her image making is what we found so interesting. Molly was already into photography thanks to a school darkroom available to sixth formers and an encouraging photographer parent, when she began attending underground raves in London. These were mostly in old warehouses, dilapidated buildings and half demolished industrial sites where people gathered, thanks to the secret party bush telegraph. Molly made a decision to use film, with only available light and to combine being a participant with the role of observer, in the interests of documenting the scene. She feels that using film and having to gain the trust of partygoers helped to slow her down and make more deliberate compositions. She was able to use the lights of the party to her advantage, waiting for the right moment to capture the mood and atmosphere as best she could.
When she started to travel abroad to places where the parties were not just underground, but forbidden, she had to become even more discreet, but she never stopped taking pictures. She would show around prints from her previous work to gain credibility and make friends, and she was prepared to compromise by shooting people so that they were not easily identified or otherwise put at risk.
Molly has published two books from her twenty years of attending raves and what she loves is the freedom of expression, the music and dancing and the cultural exchanges which cuts across boundaries. Her presentation was called ‘Documenting the Rave Road from Putney to Persia’, and she finished with her dream of going back to the Middle East to see how the scene has changed and what is happening now, having witnessed police brutality and repressive regimes trying to stamp out the underground raves altogether. She has been in dangerous situations and met people who had been severely punished for being present at raves and her images are a powerful record of her experiences. During this time, Molly was able to draw on her project to complete her degree in photography and now returns to talk to students about using film and digital images in documentary work.
Molly’s website: www.mollymacindoe.com
In the interval, CoL&CPS members were reminded to bring a camera to the next session: a workshop led by Cris Jepson and Paul Shelley was pleased to be presented with the Tiger Trophy for winning the Flickr Pick of the Week monthly competition.
When she started to travel abroad to places where the parties were not just underground, but forbidden, she had to become even more discreet, but she never stopped taking pictures. She would show around prints from her previous work to gain credibility and make friends, and she was prepared to compromise by shooting people so that they were not easily identified or otherwise put at risk.
Molly has published two books from her twenty years of attending raves and what she loves is the freedom of expression, the music and dancing and the cultural exchanges which cuts across boundaries. Her presentation was called ‘Documenting the Rave Road from Putney to Persia’, and she finished with her dream of going back to the Middle East to see how the scene has changed and what is happening now, having witnessed police brutality and repressive regimes trying to stamp out the underground raves altogether. She has been in dangerous situations and met people who had been severely punished for being present at raves and her images are a powerful record of her experiences. During this time, Molly was able to draw on her project to complete her degree in photography and now returns to talk to students about using film and digital images in documentary work.
Molly’s website: www.mollymacindoe.com
In the interval, CoL&CPS members were reminded to bring a camera to the next session: a workshop led by Cris Jepson and Paul Shelley was pleased to be presented with the Tiger Trophy for winning the Flickr Pick of the Week monthly competition.
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