Jan Enkelmann The Long Game – Working in long-term photographic projects

This talk explores what it means to commit to a subject over years rather than weeks. Drawing on his long-term projects – Serious Conviction, To the Races, Smoking Chefs, and The Triangle – Jan Enkelmann demonstrates how sustained access, trust, and patience shape his work in ways a single shoot never could.

He will discuss the relationships, observations and unexpected discoveries that emerge through sustained engagement. He’ll consider how time changes the way he photographs, how trust and access shape the work, and how projects evolve in directions he couldn’t have anticipated at the outset.

The talk will also look at the process of editing and sequencing large bodies of work, why returning, revisiting and remaining curious are central to his photographic practice, and why long-term work remains vital in an age of instant images.

About Jan Enkelmann:

Jan is a south London-based photographer and graphic designer. He is dividing his time between commercial work and personal projects. His photography occupies the space between documentary and street photography. He often engages in long-term projects and most of his work is concerned with observations of people in public spaces.

Jan has published several books of his photography, among them Happiness (winner of the ITB Book Award for best Travel Photobook), Serious Conviction and Smoking Chefs. His book Pause, documenting a deserted London during the early Covid Lockdown won the German Photobook Award in Silver.

With his latest publication, The Triangle, Jan has compiled a decade’s worth of photographs made in Brixton, his home for over 25 years.

www.enkelmann.co.uk
Instagram @jan_enkelmann