The Art of PR Featured Artist: Ade Lee

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The first exhibition to feature artists from the UK public relations (PR) industry, titled “The Art of PR,” will open to the public for one week in London. It will be held at The Coningsby Gallery from November 18th to 23rd, 2024. This diverse and vibrant exhibition is free to attend and will showcase a collection of original contemporary works in various media, including oils, watercolors, pencils, digital art, print design, and photography. Supported by the communications agency Boldspace, the exhibition will also include live portrait drawings by artist and PR professional Joe Thomas. As part of our series of special features, we caught up with photographer Ade Lee.

Working in PR since the mid-nineties Ade was exposed to many talented and inspiring photographers and developed a passion for photography, but had never taken a camera out of automatic mode. In 2012 he decided to ‘go back to basics’. He bought a 1950 Rolleiflex Automat and studied black-and-white darkroom techniques at Greenwich Community College. He went on to shoot thousands of rolls of monochrome, honing his style and gaining an Instagram following. He spends most of his spare money on medium format film, and most of his spare time shooting, developing, and printing in his darkroom in Charlton, South East London.

Ade has worked at various PR agencies since the mid-nineties, was director of publicity for Sky TV from 1999 to 2007, and is Senior Creative at brand agency Boldspace.

Thank you for agreeing to catch up with Occhi Magazine. Before we explore the “Art of PR” initiative, what motivated you to pursue a public relations and communications career?

I was studying at Goldsmiths University in the 90s and didn’t have much of a plan for afterwards, then someone I knew from the student magazine fixed me up with work experience at a PR agency called Jackie Cooper PR. It was an amazing place to learn and an exciting time to be in PR… landing bold publicity stunts, hitting the phones, building up media contacts and the agency was thriving. At that moment London was coolest city in the world, and Soho was right in the middle of it all. It was very exciting. I got on well with journalists and photographers, I lived media, and the parties were outstanding. I still enjoy PR 30 years on, but don’t do the parties anymore.

For the benefit of our readers, could you describe a typical day and your working pattern?

Now, I just do PR ‘Creative’, meaning I come up with ideas for how a brand could get media attention, and then some other poor sod has to actually implement it. The best PR stunts do or say something that provokes an emotional reaction, make people laugh, or go ‘wow’ and get them talking about it and sharing. Coming up with ideas for PR is part inspiration and part process. A good idea sometimes just comes to you, but most often you have to go to it. I largely sit around a lot with a pad and pencil, muttering half-sentences out loud as I try and come up with ideas for what a new digital bank or brand of instant noodles could do to make the public remotely interested in them.

How did you discover your passion for photography?

In PR I’d worked with a lot of photographers from product to portrait to paparazzi. It was one of my favourite parts of the job, but I’d personally never taken a camera out of automatic mode. I decided to learn more by going right back to fundamentals and signed up for a film and darkroom course at Greenwich College. I had an excellent tutor, Robb Horsley, whose wisdom still resonates. Around the same time I ‘met’ my first Rolleiflex, a relatively cheap 1940s Automat model, and fell in love with the cameras and film photography. I also quit drinking at the same time, and photography helped me enormously.

Is there a particular photographer whose work inspires you?

Erno Vadas, Henri Cartier Bresson, Dorothea Lange, Vivian Maier, Weegee, Letizia Battaglia, Diane Arbus, Rinko Kawauchi, and Gregory Crewdson in particular.

In this era of smartphones, anyone can take photos with their digital devices. However, the quality and style of a photograph depend on more than just the device. As a photographer and artist, what do you look for in a shot, and do you have a specific methodology for selecting your subject matter?

Generally, I’m just searching for a mood, and tend towards melancholic, sombre vibes, solo people and plants, and moments that remind me of classic movies like The Third Man. I used to take very clean street photography but I realised I much preferred shots a bit obscured and messed up. I started deliberately blurring and contorting my shots by smearing Vaseline on a cheap UV filter. I found you could adjust the effect by smearing and molding the Vaseline in different ways using clay modeling tools and glasses wipes, a bit like dodging and burning in techniques in the darkroom.

Do you prefer a particular camera or manufacturer?

I only use Rolleiflex cameras from the 50s and 60s. To me they are perfection. It’s like driving a beautiful classic car – basic manual functionality, outstanding engineering, and a joy to work with. Weirdly, I find less functionality gives me more control. I’m so lucky to have Brian Mickleboro service all my cameras. He worked as an engineer for Rollei his entire life. He’s a total Rollei legend and there’s nothing he doesn’t know about these beautiful cameras. He’s 80 now and deserves to retire but the Rolleiflex community won’t let him, we need him too much!

Can you tell us more about “The Art of PR” and what inspired you to create this show?

I respect anyone who makes art. It takes an awful of lot of dedication, commitment, and time often with little or no exterior reward. It’s a decision to use your time purposefully, skip that Netflix series to go out instead to photograph puddles or paint a tree. I genuinely admire artists and wanted to create a moment that might help celebrate and support them a bit.

I also believe in the power of art for good, and for improvement. Personally, professionally, and as a society the act of making and enjoying art helps us be better in so many ways. Every Industry should provide platforms to promote artists and art. I couldn’t find one in PR so I had to make one instead. My employers, Boldspace, were very supportive and have backed me all the way on this for which I am extremely grateful.

What other art-related projects are you currently working on?

In January, I am launching a small film photography ‘school’ that will offer training in black and white film photography, developing and darkroom techniques. In terms of exhibitions, it’s just The Art of PR exhibition for now. It’s been quite time-consuming to organise, mostly because I have a PR day job but also because this is all new to me, I don’t really know what I am doing. That said, I’m genuinely thrilled with how it’s come together and hope it will become an annual event.