CLOSED DUE TO ILL HEALTH & LONG TERM LACK OF BOOKINGS

This website will be taken offline in December. This is due to no work enquiries for over 6 years, particularly in the last 3 where I have survived off government benefits. I am sadly now at the position where I need to close the studio due to finances and severe ill health caused by the long term stress of this situation. I am currently looking for 9-5 opportunities, particularly academic ones. So if you have any of those please email sarah@sarahginn.co.uk. I’m really keen to start working in a completely different area now so all enquiries for employment are welcome. CV available on request. I’m extremely interested in any type of work that could use my skills in areas outside what I have been practicing for 15 years within the studio.

I have closed the studio, rebranded and reopened, released a book, plus shifted into writing in attempts to continue. None of which have brought me any kind of photography bookings or income. Finally I have come to this conclusion due to these following factors:

1) Purposeful gatekeeping and bullying of over 5 years aimed at me by music photography content teams such as Khroma Collective/Lightfoot Agency and Mutual Friends Agency, who have stopped me working entirely in electronic music since 2019. This kind of thing is very common in the music industry. Khroma in particular have suppressed my work at the events we have rarely crossed over at this summer. They do this by restricting my stage access and stopping my work being shown on social media for the events and also extending to artists. I believe this abuse was caused due to the quality of my work, as sponsor managers of those festivals commented that my images were better than their media teams. Despite extensive marketing in the area my requests are ignored or I’m told teams have already been picked. This has ended up causing an extremely toxic environment for me which I unfortunately cannot now overcome. This unwarranted ostracism/intimidation from my peers over such a long period, has caused me severe and debilitating depression. Adding to that symptoms of complex post traumatic stress disorder also aggravated by the below for the last 16 months.

2) I have also lost further opportunities due to making public the plagiarism of my first XX concept for Sub Focus, a pitch called ‘A Circular Light’ by the photographer Sam Neill and his management Worship Artists. As the acts on this management company have powerful agents, people are also now too nervous to hire me or show my work since March 2023, therefore I have lost any large scale bookings within dance music worldwide. This issue also caused extreme misogynistic harassment from Sam and other male photographers online (in my opinion) and I was legally harassed/threatened by his management with defamation at the time (in my opinion). I was planning to take this to the IPEC court, but I’m not feeling well enough and now it’s possibly outside it’s time limit for civil legal action (which is really a blessing). Please note these are my personal experiences only and my opinions on this issue, I have no ill will towards any parties (only respect and forgiveness) and consider this matter is completely concluded (with no criminal charges/court appearances or civil court orders given to either side). I wish this team the very best with their future endeavours.

For further information and details of the above transgressions please see the Sarah Ginn XX Sub Focus tab above. This page will be made public access next week with further updates. Mainly I’m thankful this extremely stressful situation regarding the protection of my IP (which I have no regrets about making public) is complete and I have stepped out of it now completely. So there is no more drama in my life and swirls of distortion around me due to that. An absolute plus with this whole issue is it started my writing with my pitches, this pitch in particular. Which has in a strange kinda energetic way put me on another path I’m more passionate about.

3) A really great assumption also caused this in that I’m always assumed to be really busy, wouldn’t want to do a job offered to me, or would be too expensive. As everyone has thought that nobody had reached out for employment at all, and if I am rarely employed people exclaim how lucky they are to get me. Which is really wonderful. But this huge split in my reality to what people assume is extremely hard to deal with, along with people saying I’m ‘too good’. Such amazing assumptions coupled with intimidation in offering me shoots has unfortunately caused this ultimate negative consequence of closure, as my requests don’t reach them to say otherwise. It’s also very bad for my brain to contend with this assumption of a reputation that’s so revered I can’t continue shooting.

4) Economics are an issue as with any business, I have extremely old kit, with a 5 year old camera body and 10 year old lenses. So my tools haven’t been able to be upgraded, as I’ve had so little work. I do not have a laptop either. So realistically I can’t go into the market now with such kit, as I won’t be able to supply what my client needs unless I receive investment.

5) The business of photography has also changed, videography is now part of being a photographer. I can’t do that and unless I’m in a team (and none have allowed me to join them) that also has videographers as part of it, so I’m on a professional back foot. Also since moving to Bristol I’ve had so little interest in hiring me across all sectors, and I’ve asked an awful lot of people, my small amount of work is often in London, and this is also not sustainable for me.

My quality of life is the most important thing. I’ve not been able to do all the amazing experiences personally and professionally that life has had to offer in the last 3/4 years at least. And I am worthy of all those things. I’ve had to stay indoors and work continuously for which I’ve hardly had any pay for. All prospective email marketing and pitch work, because I’ve had really no bookings at all. There were zero donations for my writing and my book hasn’t broken even yet. Its been a very creative time for which I’m very thankful for and proud of, with lots of personal projects such as the book achieved, essays written & XX work pitches completed. I’m also lucky to have a secure home to do that in. So I haven’t wasted it, it’s had a lot of good sides. But it’s also been a really lonely and immensely stressful time & my work/life balance has become very poor, because I’ve been working so very hard with little paid opportunity. This has now made me sick and not want to create anything at all presently due to extreme burn out. So unfortunately despite my very best efforts, I cannot continue. I am totally exhausted and overwhelmed, I do need to work for money but I lack the energy to find it presently. And that’s really ok, it’s a relief to finally admit that. No loose ends here. I tried it ALL. Best thing now to do is have gratitude for what I managed to achieve against huge odds, how influential my work was, how it changed the landscape of music photography. Now it’s time to move into somewhere that allows me to work and thrive. If you are that area, I’m now urgently asking for your help. A change of direction into something new and positive is needed, and positive thoughts and directions are the best thing to focus on at the end of the day. I am so grateful for everything I have even and accomplished with these circumstances, because I am lucky in so many ways. And that’s a good feeling to have.

I am leaving up my work for a period of three months until this website is taken down for people to enjoy before it all disappears completely. If you would like password access to The Feedback Loop Theory please email sarah@sarahginn.co.uk

‘Let go of everything you fear to lose’ - Yoda

The legacy of my work is available through my book Super Sharp Shooter and my photography is extensively shown in fabric’s 25 year book titled: fabric 25