Paloma Tendero: 0:05

It's not that you don't have the skills, or you know, you can learn the skills as well, like everything can be learned, but it's about overcoming your fear, knowing that failure is part of the process, and you always gonna become better the more you try.

Angela Nicholson: 0:23

Welcome to the SheClicks Women in Photography Podcast. I'm Angela Nicholson, and I'm the founder of SheClicks, which is a community for female photographers. In these podcasts, I talk with women in the photographic industry to hear about their experiences, what drives them and how they got to where they are now. Our guest today is Paloma Tendero, a visual artist who explores themes around heredity, illness and identity. She's participated in several Artist in Residence programs, and she's one of the four winners of the first 70:15:40 Project, which aims to support photographers and videographers in creating a photo series or a short film and furthering their careers. Hi, Paloma, thank you so much for joining us today on the sheclicks women in photography podcast.

Paloma Tendero: 1:05

Hello. Thank you for having me today.

Angela Nicholson: 1:07

You're very welcome. Now, can we start by hearing about what sparked your interest in photography right at the beginning?

Paloma Tendero: 1:15

Well, I could say that it started very early on, when I was 10, when I did my communion, my family gifted me a camera. It was just a compact camera, but I used to take it with me during like holidays or school trips. And I felt that it was such a magical thing to have that, you know, I could kind of freeze those moments of those trips and then take the home and then see the photos. So when I turned 16, my grandfather gave me his old SLR camera, and I joined an after school class where I actually learned in the dark room how to develop my own film and how to actually make photos and understood the dead film and the F number, I don't know, I kind of like, I really got into it, and then I carry on through university.

Angela Nicholson: 2:16

Oh, fantastic. So you did a degree, and then you've got a master's in photography as well, haven't you?

Paloma Tendero: 2:21

Yes, but my degree is in fine art. So when I study back in Spain, it was five years so we did everything we did, painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, and I kind of started combining a bit. So my photography is very fine Arty, because of my background in fine arts, and then I did MA photography here at London College of Communication.

Angela Nicholson: 2:48

Why fine art? What was it that drew you to that?

Paloma Tendero: 2:51

Well, my grandfather was a painter, and every time he was visiting home, we will go to the Prado, or we will go to the Thyssen, any collection in Madrid. And I don't know, I found it like, really fascinating. I really, really love, I don't know, like everything about art. And yeah, so it's interesting how I found a really strong visual language within photography, bringing you know my my love for the fine art, and trying to combine the I don't know, like sculptural pieces or some more, like classical pieces into into the work.

Angela Nicholson: 3:34

What inspired you to work around the themes of illness, heredity and identity?

Paloma Tendero: 3:39

The idea of these projects emerged from my personal experience with illness, but also witnesses the journey of others around me having like health challenges. My mom had a kidney disease, which I inherit as well, and it was a real struggle to see her going through all of these, like Ill changes in her body. And then while I was doing my ma photography, and my mom passed away, and I really wanted to connect with her in a kind of, like a physical level, because she wasn't here any longer, I thought, Well, we do have this illness that is within me that, you know, I carry, and also my grandmother as well. So, so I thought that, you know, trying to connect kind of with my ancestors through, kind of like a physical present thing within today. So does it help you sort of process your own illness as well, think it through and deal with it absolutely 100% I do feel that making art is a very cathartic thing. And I feel like every time I make a project, it kind of like, sometimes it's like I question things. And through the work, I answer, and sometimes there is no answer. Is just basically questioning, and I question again through making art. So yeah, that's kind of like my my ways of like, processing life and understanding, you know, my body and the others around me.

Angela Nicholson: 5:18

Okay, so what inspired you to apply for the

70:15: 5:21

40 Project?

Paloma Tendero: 5:24

When I saw the open call and I saw the subject was change, then I thought, Okay, I think this is something that, you know, I'm interested on the changes that the body suffers. And I applied with a project called Shifting Bodies. And the idea behind the project is how maybe the natural stage of human beings are not just health. Maybe is also sickness. And I think we live in that kind of like combination of those, of those worlds between the health and the sick and inside and outside. You know, there is a lot of dualities in this, and my work really focused on those dualities.

Angela Nicholson: 6:10

And how is the project going?

Paloma Tendero: 6:12

Good, much better than expected. Or maybe, I don't know what I expected, I guess. You know, we had a year to work on it, and it has been like really great to have a year to actually think about it, to test, to do some work, is really difficult sometimes because I'm a bit of very visual person, and I go a lot with my gut, and I have a very organic way to work. So sometimes when I have to put it into words, or, you know, something has to go through, like a reading process or explaining, even, I get nervous, and I'm like, Oh, I'm not sure, but no, I'm actually really pleased. And I have done a few shootings, and I'm doing one more this Sunday, which I'm quite excited about it. So how many shoots have you done so far? I have done three. And maybe I don't know, it depends on the photographer. That might not be a lot, but for me, and the way I work is quite study, it's good because I take my time to think about what it is that is going to come into the images. And I want to, I don't know. I don't want to just shoot, because it's like, yeah, let's just do it is, I know I really need to think about the process behind and organize what it is that I'm gonna reflect on that, on the work. So, so yeah, three.

Angela Nicholson: 7:45

You photograph yourself a lot within your work. Are you doing that this time with this project?

Paloma Tendero: 7:51

Yes. So the idea was that I wanted to bring other bodies within the work, but then I found it challenging, because I know myself very well, and I know exactly like what it is that I want to do. And I felt like bringing other bodies. I feel I am bringing the story as well, like because it's quite a personal thing when you talk about health, and I wasn't sure like how to, you know, bring other people into this like story. So I created sculptural pieces which are made of recycled like domestic items so far, and pillows and Adobe and mattress. So those are the bodies that they are kind of like enveloping me, and they are quite like large as well. So it's kind of like the same size as me, but then I'm kind of like wearing them, wrestling with them, like, yeah, it's, it's quite physical the whole act, or the photo, you know, like, what it will come Yeah. So yeah. I'm in the photos.

Angela Nicholson: 9:12

Are you trying any new techniques, or are you doing anything particularly different for this project?

Paloma Tendero: 9:17

Yes, I am trying to shoot from different angles, and not just to have a tripod and have it set up in one way. So I'm trying to find a different ways of like perspectives where I can have the camera obviously I have someone helping me, because I cannot be wearing all of these things and also shooting at the same time. But I have been like looking at ideas of Venus lying down, like on bed, and kind of resting. So I have some photographs references to how I want you know the body to be positioned. And I'm also shooting on analog with expiring film. And I think the expired film is really cool, like the colors get a bit washed, and it's a very dreamy feeling of the photos, which I like it a lot. And I wasn't sure when I started doing it, like, Oh, God, am I really wasting my time and money, you know, using this spiral film from, like, you know, 2010 but no, actually, it's working and and it's, like, very dreamy. Do you shoot any digital backups or anything like that? Because it just, it's just a bit hit and miss, isn't it sometimes with such old film? Yes, absolutely, I do have a digital camera always around. And I do, yeah, I do like to have it. And I kind of it goes, it comes and goes. Really with my projects. I have shoot, like most of my projects in digital. And I really like, like the you can look at the photos straight away, like it has something about the immediacy of it, and also it's cheaper. You can put it in your computer, and you don't have to, kind of, like, spend money on developing. But I guess, like, it's just changed over the pandemic. But I wanted something a bit more like tactile. And I think that the thief it happened that, you know, slowing down something a bit more like making something that is more tactile, I guess also the lack of predictability of expired film, perhaps, does that resonate really with what you're trying to portray as well, when you're talking about illness and the unpredictability of bodies, yes, yes, absolutely. The first project I made with an analog camera was my project On Mutability that talks about infertility. And, you know, some of my friends were trying to have babies, and I suddenly questioned, oh, like, Will I have kids knowing that I will pass down my genes and the consequences that comes with it? And and then I started working on analog and I thought, well, I guess there is something about the weight and not knowing and that you can predict what is happening and the chemistry as well. So in that project, I actually blended the chemistry and I did a cross processing so to look how it looked like. So I guess now I'm trying to see, like, what happened with the film expire, like, where it gave me a different outcome. Yeah.

Angela Nicholson: 12:40

And when you're working on a project, is it your intention to include all of the images that you create in an exhibition, assuming there's enough space? Or do you make a selection?

Paloma Tendero: 12:50

I make a selection. Yeah, not everything goes sometimes it's difficult to edit. And I think this is something that another reason why I applied for the 17:15:40 project was because I wanted to have, like, mentoring support on how to edit a project. And when do you decide, okay, this photo make it, and this one doesn't, and sometimes it's get another pair of eyes. So it's not just you deciding what it is going in or not.

Angela Nicholson: 13:23

Yeah. So in the ideal world, what would we

expect to see at the 70:15: 13:27

40 Project exhibition from you? Have you thought about how big the prints are going to be? How you're going to print them? How many we might see?

Paloma Tendero: 13:37

Yes, so I'm doing some test prints and thinking about how will, how I will like to show the project I usually frame, but then I have a collections of frames at my studio of like prints that they I haven't sold, or, as you know, exhibit, and they are just there. And in the last project, I started experimenting with other ways of showing photography that is not just like printing and framing. So I'm trying to see other ways of presenting the work. It might happen that I end up framing, and I love it too, you know, but it's a good way to show work in a different way, and especially when talking about the body I want something, I want something physical into the space or maybe hanging or, I don't know.

Angela Nicholson: 14:36

Do you think that your experience as a female photographer or artist is different from that of a male photographer. Have you noticed anything different?

Paloma Tendero: 14:46

I think there is something about the confidence that male photographers have that maybe female photographers don't have. And, And it's not something about the abilities or, you know, like even the work, but it's the way of, like, how people put themselves out there. And I remember going to a talk with a curator, and she was saying that she often have a lot of like, men being very direct to her about, so we have a coffee. Do you want to see my portfolio? Do you have any work upcoming? But then she does. She noticed that females don't do that. A woman just don't go and ask her about, do you want a coffee? Or, you know, it's always kind of like, oh, sorry to bother you. And it's like, no, you're not bothering me. But you know, I think we are being educated to kind of like, not bother anyone, and that's why we are a bit more like, I know a behind, let's say.

Angela Nicholson: 15:52

Sometimes people question the need for competitions or programs that are specifically targeted at women. But it sounds like, really, they're still very much needed, because there needs to be that extra encouragement to get women to participate.

Paloma Tendero: 16:09

Yeah, I think, as a woman, I don't know, there is a lot of things going on, you know, from, I would say the typical things, but it's like, it's through the hormonal cycles, or then, you know, having children. There is certain things that, you know, I don't feel necessarily the industry is having in consideration when, you know, putting work out there, or, you know, making open calls or something that they sometimes the roles are still like it needs some work on society till you know, not everybody has the same the same roles.

Angela Nicholson: 16:45

So what advice would you give to other female photographers who are thinking about applying for a bursary or

a scheme like the 70:15: 16:51

40 Project?

Paloma Tendero: 16:54

Well, I will encourage them to keep applying and to seek opportunities you don't have to apply for everything, but for opportunities that really speaks to you and to your artistic vision. And I feel that persistence often pays off, and after many rejections, there is one opportunity that can make a significant step in your career. So don't give up. You know, even if you have rejections, there's always there an opportunity for you. So keep going.

Angela Nicholson: 17:27

Okay, I think that's really good advice. Thank you, right, I think it's a really good time to go to Six from SheClicks. And I've got 10 questions from SheClickers and I would like you to answer six of them please by picking numbers from one to 10. So could I have your first number please?

Paloma Tendero: 17:42

Two.

Angela Nicholson: 17:43

Number two, how do you decide when a project is finished or are they never really finished? That question is from Mari-Ange.

Paloma Tendero: 17:51

Okay, cool. It's really difficult, because something sees, as I say before, when that question is answer, let's say so when I have something to explore internally and I feel like, okay, I have explored it, now I can let it go. But all the times you making work, and then you keep going and going and going, and it's like, Oh, why do I keep going? You know? Is that? Is that because I haven't answered the question, you know? Or is it something that I am looking for? So, yeah, I think eventually you get satisfied. We know when you explore long enough.

Angela Nicholson: 18:43

Yeah, that sounds a little bit like the images that you create are really just like a side. I'm trying to think what the right word - a byproduct of your creative process. And there's much more going on. Obviously, you you make you have a lot of props in your photography, don't you, and you do a lot of planning. But is that actually the creative part that answers the questions for you, or is it the images?

Paloma Tendero: 19:10

It is the shooting, actually. So I start, as I mentioned, like very organically, making these kind of sculptural pieces that sometimes I'm not really sure what they are. And then I start building, building, and it's a moment where I get in front of the camera and I perform, and I do this when inside, that's it. It's done. That's when I finish.

Unknown: 19:35

Okay,

Angela Nicholson: 19:36

Okay, all right, could I have your second number then, please?

Paloma Tendero: 19:40

Umm that's going to be number three.

Angela Nicholson: 19:42

Number three, you've answered this in a way, but let's explore it a bit further. Do you do a lot of pre planning of your images, or do you just go with the flow? Now you've mentioned that you do quite a bit of planning. You have some reference photos. Do you do a bit of sketching? Do you know exactly what you're going to shoot for each image? Or is there some sort of play that goes along?

Paloma Tendero: 20:02

There is planning, and there is a lot of sketches, and I do drawings, and I have like inspirational, like storyboards, I don't know, like, I do kind of have a plan, and then suddenly I don't have a plan, and then I freestyle. So it's kind of like both ways, you know. And I think it's good to go into a shooting with open mind and not just with a rigid idea of like, This is it? Because you might not feel that way the day of the shooting, you arrive, you have all of your planning, and then you don't feel it, and then you think you know what? I'm just gonna put some music on and I'm gonna see how I feel, and I'm just gonna move with what I have. So So, yeah, I think you have to be open minded to freestyle as well.

Angela Nicholson: 20:53

Yeah. Can I have your third number please?

Paloma Tendero: 20:56

Nine.

Angela Nicholson: 20:57

Number nine. What emotions do you experience when you're creating your images, and how do you counteract any negative emotions? That's from Janina.

Paloma Tendero: 21:06

There are different elements and different emotions going on through the work, and sometimes I explain a lot of frustration, and I think when the more I make, the less frustrated I feel. It's like, you know when, when you are like, cooking, and you might cook a dish, and you are like, oh, you know it could have been better. So you try again, and then you are like, okay, it's getting better. And then you master it. So I feel with photography, with art, it's about keep going and keep trying and do it again. Because somedays, we get stuck with an idea or an emotion, and it's frustrate us, because it's like, oh my god, like, I did it right this time. Why this one is not coming, and it's, it's just maybe the space or the time that you are at the moment in your life. You know it's not that you don't have the skills, or you know you can learn the skills as well, like everything can be learned, but it's about overcoming your fear, knowing that failure is part of the process, and you always gonna become better the more you try.

Angela Nicholson: 22:21

It sounds like you're able to put aside the emotions associated with having an illness and your family's illness, and actually, it's more to do with the creation of the artwork that gives you the frustration and the emotion you're experiencing.

Paloma Tendero: 22:37

Yeah, I guess,'cause it's difficult, but this a part of acceptance, whereas I, well, I accepted that, you know, we are human beings in the world, and this is it like we, we experience both health and illness and and it's frustrating to think that, you know, we have the lack of control. But even though I cannot control my body or I cannot control my family illness, I can control my art. And I think that is for me, the power, you know, I have a power of control over my art that I don't have over my physical body, and that's really special for me to have, that, you know, I can see where my project is going. So that's how I work.

Angela Nicholson: 23:23

Yeah, no, I think that's a great approach. Could you give me your fourth number, please?

Paloma Tendero: 23:29

That's number eight.

Angela Nicholson: 23:30

Do your project titles or image captions come before or after the picture? That question's from Liz.

Paloma Tendero: 23:36

Usually they come after the picture, yeah, I will shoot the project, and then I will be like, Oh yeah, it's about this. It's about that. And then I will kind of build the narrative. However, after going to university and then applying for grants and applying for like, awards, people wants to know the title before, and it's something that is very challenging, and I feel like you have to practice quite a bit in your writing and your project research way in advance and and know that, okay, you are putting a title to this project, and you're trying to work towards that, And it might change. I might not, but yeah, so I usually prefer to put the title after, but now I put the title first, and I'm trying to words toward that, and it's also a nice experience. Yeah,

Angela Nicholson: 24:34

Okay, well, fair enough. Could I have your fifth number then please?

Paloma Tendero: 24:38

Ahhh, number five.

Angela Nicholson: 24:39

Do you work on one project at a time, or do you have several on the go?

Paloma Tendero: 24:43

Usually, I work in one project at a time because I also have another work to do, which is my day job. And obviously, you know, I can't be in everything, but while I'm doing a project, I read several books at the time. So I might have, like, a text or a book or an article or so I kind of like pick in many things at the time to kind of fit my creativity. So I try to, like, yeah, read a lot.

Angela Nicholson: 25:19

Sounds like a good plan, and your final number, please.

Paloma Tendero: 25:23

Seven.

Angela Nicholson: 25:24

On a practical level, how do you photograph yourself? Do you have an assistant? Do you use a remote cable? Do you use a self timer? Several people asked that. Yeah. Very ingenious. Okay. Paloma, thank you so much for joining me on the SheClicks

Paloma Tendero: 25:49

him well, and he knows me, so it's easy to work, but I have done everything. I have have self timers, and I run back and forth. So then I got a cable then I got, like, a remote one, and and then university friends has helped me flatmates as well. It has been a combination. And I think every shooting is special in its own way. You know, regardless if it's like me alone or with someone else, like, yeah, because looking at some of your work, some of the positions you're in, it's very precise. You're very carefully positioned, and it will be really hard to have just run in and done that. And equally, in some it looks like it would be impossible for you to be holding anything. Yes, absolutely. There is one in telula, the project, where I have something in my head, so I have my control remote inside the headpiece, so I keep clicking through the top of my head so I am there. Like trying, yeah, seeing events. Yeah. Yes, absolutely. There is one in telula, the project, where I have something in my head, so I have my control remote inside the headpiece, so I keep clicking through the top of my head so I am there. Like trying, yeah, seeing events. Yeah, yeah. Very

Angela Nicholson: 26:57

ingenious. Okay. Plymouth, thank you so much for joining me on the sheclicks women in photography podcast. It's been really lovely to hear from

Paloma Tendero: 27:02

Thank you so much for inviting me today and have a lovely day.

Angela Nicholson: 27:06

Thank you. You're very welcome. Bye. Bye. Thanks for listening to this episode of the SheClicks Women in Photography Podcast. I hope you enjoyed it. Special thanks to everyone who sent in a question. You'll find links to Paloma's social media channels and website in the show notes. I'll be back with another episode soon, so please subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast platform and tell all your friends and followers about it. You'll also find sheclicks on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube if you search for sheclicks net. So until next time, enjoy your photography.