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Camerawoman obscura: a ‘personal’ account
Women's Studies Int. Quart., 1980, Vol, 3, pp. 59-61
Pergamon Press Ltd.
Printed in Great Britain
CAMERAWOMAN OBSCURA: A 'PERSONAL' ACCOUNT* D I A N E TAMMES
9 Queen's Drive, London, N4, U.K. (Accepted November 1979)
'1 want to do it because 1 want to do it. W o m e n must try to do things men have tried. W h e n they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others.' (Amelia Earhart). I would encourage more w o m e n to think o f themselves as technicians. I n 1975 1 was one o f the first c a m e r a w o m e n to be accepted by the Association o f Cinematog r a p h Television and Allied Technicians (ACTT). Since then I have been working as a c a m e r a w o m a n in b o t h film and television.1 It is difficult to analyse one's position as a w o m a n technician in the industry as a whole; it is perhaps easier to think a b o u t w o m e n as a minority g r o u p in the technical grades. In 1979 there are approximately four camerawomen, two w o m e n sound recordists, four w o m e n sound assistants and twelve w o m e n camera assistants working within the A C T T . There are at present two m a i n ways o f admission to the A C T T open to w o m e n : they can either follow a course at one o f the recognized film schools (The National Film School, The R o y a l College o f Art, The L o n d o n Polytechnic) or they can be taken on as an assistant in a film c o m p a n y which will guarantee to employ them for 2 years and then apply to go o n the e m p l o y m e n t list. Other w o m e n w o r k independently outside the union t h r o u g h choice or lack o f the necessary training. I began m y own career in 1963 as a freelance still p h o t o g r a p h e r in Edinburgh. The sixties was a very rich and productive time for the theatre, improvised theatre, travelling companies and new ways of writing and presenting plays. I p h o t o g r a p h e d publicity material for the
* I would like to thank Helen Baehr who turned my efforts to write about my work into more readable prose. 1 Since 1975 I have worked on approximately 30 films including: 1975: Adam a documentary financed by Medical Grant (camera). 1976: Some Women o f Marrakech a documentary for Granada TV (camera). 1976: Riddles o f the Sphinx a film financed by British Film Institute (lighting camerawoman). 1977: Rapunzel Let Down your Hair a film financed by British Film Institute (lighting camerawoman). 1978: Angel in the House a film financed by British Film Institute (lighting camerawoman). 1978: Communist Party a documentary for Granada TV (camera). 1978: One Fine Day a drama for London Weekend TV (focus puller and second camera). 1979: Only a Game a drama for Thames TV (focus puller). 1979: Sandra and Louise (working title) a feature film for Kestrel Films (focus puller). 1979: Fats and Figures a documentary for BBC TV (camera). 1979: Division a film financed by British Film Institute (lighting camerawoman). 1979: Women a documentary for Thames TV (camera). 59
60
DIANE TAMMES
theatre, attended rehearsals and used the existing set lighting and effects. By living and working in the same space I could combine studio and dark-room work with looking after my child. I enjoyed the solitude of working as a photographer, the pressure of producing on time and capturing single images. I did not analyse my work and accepted that the images I made were my own images. This experience in the theatre and my work in portraiture, photographics and photojournalism formed a sound basis for much of my subsequent work in film. In 1972 1 applied to the postgraduate course in film offered by the National Film School. At that time the course took 3 years and was unstructured which meant that you were given a budget, equipment and facilities and told to 'get on with it'. The lack of structure seemed limitless. I tried to limit myself. I wanted to look at the work of cameramen, to examine the techniques they used, their camera movements and lighting skills. I shot and lit as many films as possible during those 3 years. I made my own short films and tried my hand at editing and sound recording. I watched films, discussed them collectively and worked to evolve some critique in my own mind of their worth. This experience contrasted strongly to the time I had spent working as a photographer to my own time scale on my own. I found the medium of film challenging and difficult. Most ways for women seemed completely blocked. Tutors were drawn from the film industry which provided direct access to the medium but also a back-up of 'ways of doing things' which could be restrictive. We were swamped with the films already produced by a maledominated film industry. There were no women on the staff. Out of 75 students at the Film School only 11 were women. The cameras Elair NPR, Arriflex, Aaton, filters, lenses and intricacies of the matt box seemed strange and unwieldy at first. I felt my struggles with the equipment were very public. I felt too closely observed for comfort. It took a long time to acquire the dexterity to be unselfconscious. But once learnt the technical mystique became a tool to be used. The hardest task of all was just t o feel that I was talented and courageous enough to persist. My self-doubts and struggle to break new ground often made me seem too radical and I was regarded with suspicion and hostility. The National Film School had negotiated an arrangement with the ACTT and I obtained my ticket when I left in 1975. Working in a film industry which is occupied almost totally by men and into which women are seen as an intrusion is difficult. Energy goes primarily into creating the best possible impression and being impossibly perfect. As women technicians we are challenging a traditionally male occupation and the position held for too long that women cannot cope with technical jobs. I am often the only woman on a technical crew and it is my responsibility as a camerawoman to lead the crew of sound recordist, sound assistant, camera assistant and electrician. When I arrive on location with a male assistant he is approached as the cameraperson. There is a belief commonly held by male technicians that if a woman can do the job it is not worth doing. A cameraman is seen as a macho technical expert and this notion supports the egos of some directors. It is difficult for them to accept a woman behind the camera because it demeans their position. Independent film-makers are becoming more accustomed to women technicians and as more of us acquire the necessary skills we are beginning to see that women are producing essentially different and exciting films of their own. Women working within the television industry are joining in the struggle to use freelance all-women crews where they see the need, since there are insufficient numbers of women technicians on the staff of TV companies. As
Camerawoman Obscura
61
an experienced camerawoman, however, I am still not accepted by the feature film industry where my role so far has been as a focus puller or second camera operator. The only way that the number of women technicians will increase is if we create more space within the system for ourselves+ We need to petition for training schemes and positive discrimination programmes for women at all the technical levels. We must work on every kind of film and not allow ourselves to be ghettoized into restricted areas producing only films for women about women. New opportunities are opening for us; can be opened by us. I would encourage more women to think of themselves as technicians for the skills are not difficult to acquire. The idea that women who do something different are 'exceptional' is not true: I am doing something I have been trained to do and that training must be opened to more women. 'As women recognise their strengths and as they raise their own concerns, they can, not only progress towards a new synthesis, but simultaneously clarify and make more obvious the issue central to all human beings. '2 Women's technical skills, their creativity and imagination are something different and more than just a synthesis of all that men have achieved so far.
2 Miller, Jean Baker. 1976. Towards a New Psychology o f Women. Pelican, Harmondsworth.
Pergamon Press Ltd.
Printed in Great Britain
CAMERAWOMAN OBSCURA: A 'PERSONAL' ACCOUNT* D I A N E TAMMES
9 Queen's Drive, London, N4, U.K. (Accepted November 1979)
'1 want to do it because 1 want to do it. W o m e n must try to do things men have tried. W h e n they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others.' (Amelia Earhart). I would encourage more w o m e n to think o f themselves as technicians. I n 1975 1 was one o f the first c a m e r a w o m e n to be accepted by the Association o f Cinematog r a p h Television and Allied Technicians (ACTT). Since then I have been working as a c a m e r a w o m a n in b o t h film and television.1 It is difficult to analyse one's position as a w o m a n technician in the industry as a whole; it is perhaps easier to think a b o u t w o m e n as a minority g r o u p in the technical grades. In 1979 there are approximately four camerawomen, two w o m e n sound recordists, four w o m e n sound assistants and twelve w o m e n camera assistants working within the A C T T . There are at present two m a i n ways o f admission to the A C T T open to w o m e n : they can either follow a course at one o f the recognized film schools (The National Film School, The R o y a l College o f Art, The L o n d o n Polytechnic) or they can be taken on as an assistant in a film c o m p a n y which will guarantee to employ them for 2 years and then apply to go o n the e m p l o y m e n t list. Other w o m e n w o r k independently outside the union t h r o u g h choice or lack o f the necessary training. I began m y own career in 1963 as a freelance still p h o t o g r a p h e r in Edinburgh. The sixties was a very rich and productive time for the theatre, improvised theatre, travelling companies and new ways of writing and presenting plays. I p h o t o g r a p h e d publicity material for the
* I would like to thank Helen Baehr who turned my efforts to write about my work into more readable prose. 1 Since 1975 I have worked on approximately 30 films including: 1975: Adam a documentary financed by Medical Grant (camera). 1976: Some Women o f Marrakech a documentary for Granada TV (camera). 1976: Riddles o f the Sphinx a film financed by British Film Institute (lighting camerawoman). 1977: Rapunzel Let Down your Hair a film financed by British Film Institute (lighting camerawoman). 1978: Angel in the House a film financed by British Film Institute (lighting camerawoman). 1978: Communist Party a documentary for Granada TV (camera). 1978: One Fine Day a drama for London Weekend TV (focus puller and second camera). 1979: Only a Game a drama for Thames TV (focus puller). 1979: Sandra and Louise (working title) a feature film for Kestrel Films (focus puller). 1979: Fats and Figures a documentary for BBC TV (camera). 1979: Division a film financed by British Film Institute (lighting camerawoman). 1979: Women a documentary for Thames TV (camera). 59
60
DIANE TAMMES
theatre, attended rehearsals and used the existing set lighting and effects. By living and working in the same space I could combine studio and dark-room work with looking after my child. I enjoyed the solitude of working as a photographer, the pressure of producing on time and capturing single images. I did not analyse my work and accepted that the images I made were my own images. This experience in the theatre and my work in portraiture, photographics and photojournalism formed a sound basis for much of my subsequent work in film. In 1972 1 applied to the postgraduate course in film offered by the National Film School. At that time the course took 3 years and was unstructured which meant that you were given a budget, equipment and facilities and told to 'get on with it'. The lack of structure seemed limitless. I tried to limit myself. I wanted to look at the work of cameramen, to examine the techniques they used, their camera movements and lighting skills. I shot and lit as many films as possible during those 3 years. I made my own short films and tried my hand at editing and sound recording. I watched films, discussed them collectively and worked to evolve some critique in my own mind of their worth. This experience contrasted strongly to the time I had spent working as a photographer to my own time scale on my own. I found the medium of film challenging and difficult. Most ways for women seemed completely blocked. Tutors were drawn from the film industry which provided direct access to the medium but also a back-up of 'ways of doing things' which could be restrictive. We were swamped with the films already produced by a maledominated film industry. There were no women on the staff. Out of 75 students at the Film School only 11 were women. The cameras Elair NPR, Arriflex, Aaton, filters, lenses and intricacies of the matt box seemed strange and unwieldy at first. I felt my struggles with the equipment were very public. I felt too closely observed for comfort. It took a long time to acquire the dexterity to be unselfconscious. But once learnt the technical mystique became a tool to be used. The hardest task of all was just t o feel that I was talented and courageous enough to persist. My self-doubts and struggle to break new ground often made me seem too radical and I was regarded with suspicion and hostility. The National Film School had negotiated an arrangement with the ACTT and I obtained my ticket when I left in 1975. Working in a film industry which is occupied almost totally by men and into which women are seen as an intrusion is difficult. Energy goes primarily into creating the best possible impression and being impossibly perfect. As women technicians we are challenging a traditionally male occupation and the position held for too long that women cannot cope with technical jobs. I am often the only woman on a technical crew and it is my responsibility as a camerawoman to lead the crew of sound recordist, sound assistant, camera assistant and electrician. When I arrive on location with a male assistant he is approached as the cameraperson. There is a belief commonly held by male technicians that if a woman can do the job it is not worth doing. A cameraman is seen as a macho technical expert and this notion supports the egos of some directors. It is difficult for them to accept a woman behind the camera because it demeans their position. Independent film-makers are becoming more accustomed to women technicians and as more of us acquire the necessary skills we are beginning to see that women are producing essentially different and exciting films of their own. Women working within the television industry are joining in the struggle to use freelance all-women crews where they see the need, since there are insufficient numbers of women technicians on the staff of TV companies. As
Camerawoman Obscura
61
an experienced camerawoman, however, I am still not accepted by the feature film industry where my role so far has been as a focus puller or second camera operator. The only way that the number of women technicians will increase is if we create more space within the system for ourselves+ We need to petition for training schemes and positive discrimination programmes for women at all the technical levels. We must work on every kind of film and not allow ourselves to be ghettoized into restricted areas producing only films for women about women. New opportunities are opening for us; can be opened by us. I would encourage more women to think of themselves as technicians for the skills are not difficult to acquire. The idea that women who do something different are 'exceptional' is not true: I am doing something I have been trained to do and that training must be opened to more women. 'As women recognise their strengths and as they raise their own concerns, they can, not only progress towards a new synthesis, but simultaneously clarify and make more obvious the issue central to all human beings. '2 Women's technical skills, their creativity and imagination are something different and more than just a synthesis of all that men have achieved so far.
2 Miller, Jean Baker. 1976. Towards a New Psychology o f Women. Pelican, Harmondsworth.