DEVELOPING

McCartney continuously strives to connect with her subject: “ I don’t want to just come away with a shot that I think is interesting -- I also want my sitter to connect with it themselves. I want it to have a real sense of them.” This is apparent in Developing:  a series that originated as an exhibition in 2013 at The Lowry Gallery in Salford, Manchester and went on to Izzy Gallery, Toronto. Developing primarily focuses on creative women, presented as themselves, or for some, in a guise – such as Tracey Emin dressed as renowned painter Frida Kahlo. 
 
The series, which was all shot on film, spans a range of contexts, from women in their private space, choosing how they want to be perceived, to behind the scenes of the Royal Ballet where the pinnacle of how we view femininity - ballerinas - is unveiled to show dynamic, raw and candid images of women doing the job they are devoted to. Developing highlights the different areas at play in photography, from capturing the developing relationship and trust between sitter and photographer, to the personal journey of the sitter and where they are at that moment time. And, of course, the physical developing process of the photograph: from camera to wall. At the heart of Developing is McCartney’s connection to those she is capturing and her non-invasive approach to photographing a person or a scene.