I have a Masters degree in Fine Art (photography) and two years experience teaching City and Guilds photography courses, as well as over 12 years experience working with children using art, craft and photography including children with additional needs. My personal documentary work involves working with charities in Ghana as well as exploring youth culture and how communities are changing in the UK.
My photographs were also featured on hoardings on a main rd in Croydon, as well as in a permanent exhibition at the Whitgift Centre, Croydon. The exhibition was curated by Jeanne-Marie Eayrs and Susan Beresford.
Fotografia Argenta, Trueman Brewery Gallery, London Nov. 2002. Group exhibition featurng MA Degree show work. My work was a documentary project about signs and how they shape our environment.
'Music' photographs of musicians from 1997 Notting Hill Carnival, The Bun Shop, Cambridge, Aug. 1997
'Shooting Stars' (film installation and short films)
London Filmmaker's Co-op, Nov. 1992
Recent Project 1
Feb 09 - July 09 'The Big Picture' Foundling Museum and Treehouse School. Photography project with autistic children, making a photo treasure hunt to display alongside well-known children's book illustrators in gallery.
June 09 - July 09 Cypress Infant school 'Environment' mosaic project, oin conjunction with Beth Mander, mosaicist and ceramicist.
Jan 09 - May 09 Julian's Primary School, Streatham. (Creative Partnerships) Collaborative photography and sculpture project in conjunction with Jaimini Patel.
Jan 09 - May 09 Elthorne Pk High School, Ealing. (Creative Partnerships) Collaborative photography project with Yr 9. Documentary project with exhibition and 'flashmob-style' drawn public activity.
July 08 Harlesden Community Project. Photography projects and carnival costume making.
June 07 Tolworth Junior School: Photography project designed to help the children document new games they had devised, learn how to capture movement, and make their own magazine.
Friday Art Project: an art project for children under 5 with special needs. Crosfield Children's Centre, South Norwood. November 07 - present.
Hillingdon Inclusion Conference: delivered workshops for early years practitioners designed to implement inclusion strategies when devising and carrying out art activities.
Recent Project 2:
Feb '06 - ongoing
'Crazy Chameleons', an art project for under-5s and their parents and carers, based in New Addington, Croydon. Exhibition of large-scale jungle collage inspired by the work of Eric Carle (The Very Hungry Catrepillar) at Croydon Clocktower, July 07.
Funder: Local Network Fund, Children's Centre Fund.
This project has been sucessful in gaining funding from the Big Lottery Fund for its third year.
Cypress Infant School (30 Sep 2006)
Sue Ackon has been known to me for seven years as a parent. During that time she has always worked closely with the school and supported fund raising activities. In the Autumn term 2005 and Spring 2006, she embarked on a large scale art project with our year 2 pupils. They painted an urban scene on the front of our Nursery. She worked with the children collecting ideas and then helped them put it all in place. She was reliable, enthusiastic and child friendly. Our pupils, both artists and recipients, gained greatly.Fieldway Family Centre (30 Sep 2006)
Sue Ackon has worked within The Family Centre since February 2006, providing a highly developed art project for families of young children living in an area of multiple deprivation. The project, called 'Crazy Chameleons', aims to encourage parents and carers to interact creatively with and make art with their pre-school children.The project has proved to be extremely popular with our service users and the number of participants continues to grow. As part of the project Sue has successfully recruited and trained three parents as volunteers which has empowered them to consider possible future career prospects.
Sue is respected and valued by the staff team for her hard work and commitment to the over all aims of the centre. She is highly motivated and her flexible approach ensures that all service users individual needs are catered for in an inclusive and sensitive way.
In the fourteen months that I have worked with Sue I have found her to be punctual, diligent and professional. Overall her achievements indicate organizational skills and an attractive personality.
I have every confidence in recommending her as a work colleague and wish her well in her future career