From A level Photography student to Freelance filmmaker

Parky from Maria Hanlon on Vimeo.

This is a guest blog post by filmmaker Maria Hanlon.  Maria recently produced 'Parky" a short documentary following the life of a Brighton-based street artist. Below she reflects on her journey from A level to present day, and how photography has given her the confidence to seek out new stories.

I chose to study photography as one of my A-levels and it was one of the best decisions I’ve made. The course was so diverse and you had so much freedom. I remember making a project about dogs and their owners called ‘Dog Waste Only’, and then I made a video about the physical process of reading.  It was so much fun thinking of ideas and seeing them come to life.
 
But when it came to my final project, I hit a wall. I struggled to think of an idea I was really excited about. When my teacher asked me, “What are you interested in?” I replied, “People and their stories”. The next day he excused me from my lessons, and I was on a train on my way to Brighton with a camera.

Arriving in Brighton, I bought a small notebook and a pen. I began asking strangers “What has been your favourite journey so far?" I took their portrait, asking them to write their answer down in my notebook. I photographed 10 people in total, and placed their portrait next to their handwriting.

I found my camera gave me confidence to ask people personal questions that would have been very difficult to ask without a camera or purpose. It worked both ways - some of the answers shared were deep and private, yet surprisingly, people were willing to divulge them to me and my camera.

I loved my first trip to Brighton so much that I moved there later that year to study Media and English Literature at Brighton University. I remember one of the first projects I undertook was called ‘Confessions’, the seed of the idea had been planted in my first trip to Brighton. Similarly, I asked strangers a very personal question - this time it was, “Do you have a confession to make?”. I asked 50 people to write down their confession on a white piece of card and hang up their ‘dirty laundry’ on a washing line I’d constructed in a studio. Again, the camera brought comfort and people felt at ease confessing their hidden secret.

Confessions from Maria Hanlon on Vimeo.

 That summer, I went to Berlin to visit family. I took my camera and spent an afternoon in Neukolln, at a market. I took a notebook and asked “Why are you here?” to the people I passed. The results were such a success, I decided to send my work to a local online magazine called ‘Neukoellner.net’, and it was published in the form of a two-part series on their website’s homepage.
 
After returning to England, my dissertation was getting closer. I knew I wanted to focus on the theory that the camera is a psychoanalytic stimulant, but this time I wanted to take it a step further. Instead of asking strangers, I wanted to ask the people closest to me - my family.
 
I realised that I had never sat down one-on-one with any of my family members to ask them important questions like, “what are your aspirations for life?” and “what’s your happiest memory?”. Without the camera, these questions could have easily been dismissed or laughed at, with everyday distractions stealing the focus. But with just me, the subject and a camera, it created honest answers that had never been shared before.

The Family from Maria Hanlon on Vimeo.

Before graduating, I sent my university work to a local film company who annually choose one student a year from the University of Brighton to complete an internship with them. That year, I was the lucky recipient and as part of my internship, I was able to make my recent short documentary, ‘Parky’.  Parky follows the life of a Brighton-based street artist as he develops and hones his creative talents. It was a huge change working in a professional company while also making a documentary, but I enjoyed it so much that I stayed on for a year after my internship as a full-time member of staff.
 
Today I’m working as a freelance filmmaker and am currently in the final stages of making a documentary about a woman with cerebral palsy who is a brilliant boxer. Other projects include a music video soon to be shot in Brighton, alongside video content for a new app. Every day is different, but I feel privileged to be able to share each story – and I hope there are many more to come.