Other Ways Of Seeing

About Other Ways Of Seeing

A project to uncover art practices within the creative industries, by people that create for money and make art for themselves. Questions, musings, conversations and observations on what we do artistically, creatively, to complement or counteract our paid work. Fascinated by our urge to create Mel Fong talks to artists, filmmakers, musicians and creatives of all types about their (personal) practices. Mel Fong has worked in the advertising industry for two decades-ish representing film directors, artists and production companies. To find more information about the project plus supporting images and transcripts of each conversation please head to https://other-ways-of-seeing.com

Publisher

Mel Fong

Category

arts · society & culture · tv & film

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

20 May 2025

Latest episode

2 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

8 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   2 Oct 2026

   MAX ELWOOD AKA DANNY EDWARDS

   Welcome back to other ways of seeing. This conversation is with Max Elwood, otherwise known as Danny Edwards. Danny Edwards is the editor of Shots, one of the most popular publications in the advertising industry. So he's very well known, and he's a very nice guy. And on top of being well known and nice, and very talented at being a journalist, he’s also published a book. He's written a novel and he's published a book. I think it's mind blowing and it's very, very cool. We start the conversation with talking about how to get our work out there, falling in love with that process, social media, love / hate, you know, the usual. Meeting deadlines. We do talk about his process of publishing the book, self-publishing versus traditional publishing. His book, Dark Waters, is amazing. It's gripping. If you're into true crime or any kind of crime fiction, then you must read it. I urge you to read it. We talk about obviously Max Elwood, Danny's pen name. And we talk about pseudonyms in general. We also chat about when he gets feedback. We talk about his influences and writing about what you know. When to give up the day job or not to give up the day job, his creative background, and some advice for his younger self. Danny told me recently that actually the book has gone wide, which means it's available to purchase on Kobo, Apple Books, Google Play Books and Barnes & Noble Nook, and obviously, of course, Amazon, where it has been living for a year or so. I've also read Buried Lies, which is a short story, a prequel to Dark Waters, and also absolutely worth a read. And that is available on the Max Elwood website. More mind blowing is that he has another book coming out, which is the next in the series. Hopefully out early 2027, and he thinks it might be called Necessary Evil. Which I love the sound of… And before we get into our amazing conversation, here’s a quick word about our sponsor Hungryman… Hungryman is a global commercial production company, with offices in London, New York, Los Angeles and Sao Paulo. Hungryman's work spans, blockbuster spectacle, sharp comedy, and emotionally driven storytelling. Check out their website, hungryman.com, where you'll find all the amazing work that they do.. making art, dance activist pieces, films, and musicals, as well as commercials. Thank you Hungryman, for believing in this project. Thank you to Danny, too, for taking the time to talk to me. I really loved our conversation. Right, let's get back to it…

2. 

   4 Sept 2026

   GABY GRANT

   Welcome back to another Other Ways of Seeing conversation. It’s been a while since the last one.. longer than usual! But I’m hoping this is the beginning of a way more frequent and regular run. I’m changing things up a little in that I won’t be publishing the conversation transcripts on the website. It just takes way too long to translate crazy AI versions of our conversations into something actually readable. So the website other-ways-of-seeing.com will be here to support conversations with images, films and links for listeners to delve deeper into the work of the artists I talk to. I’m hoping that this way I can have more conversations with incredible artists, way more regularly and therefore inch closer to the dream of a major exhibition and a book. A quick word about our sponsor.. hungryman is a global commercial production company with offices in London, New York, Los Angeles and São Paulo. hungryman’s work spans blockbuster spectacle, sharp comedy, and emotionally driven storytelling. Check out their website hungryman.com where you’ll find all the amazing work they do.. making art, dance activist pieces, films and musicals.. as well as commercials(!). Back to our conversation, this one’s with Gaby Grant.. Gaby is a creative at Adam & Eve / TBWA, an advertising agency in London. She has a fine art background and has recently resurrected her practice in response to a frankly appalling event in her younger teen years which involved a topless photo of her going viral on the internet. This has culminated in what I would call a performance art piece but it is also a thriving business. In her words.. 'Gaby is the founder of These Tits Are Mine (TTAM), an activist clothing brand that creates custom garments printed with people’s own tits and chests to help them reclaim and celebrate their bodies. She started the brand after having her own topless photo leaked on the internet without her consent as a teenager. Since then, she has been on a quest to take ownership back of her body and help others do the exact same, no matter what their story.’ Our conversation begins with me explaining a little bit about how Other Ways of Seeing came about, and we discuss why knowing something about the artist behind a piece of work is so important in understanding art. We also talk about Lily Allen, the YBAs, the Sensation exhibition at the Royal Academy back in the late 90s, and how conceptual art can be a bit like the process of creating an advertising campaign. Gaby tells me the story behind her boobs going viral in her early teens and her artistic response to this irreversible nonconsensual public exposure. We talk about ‘These Tits are Mine’, the book she’s written, planning her first solo exhibition and how her art fits in with her day job. Gaby talks with such grace and hilarity about a truly awful thing that happened to her and how she’s turned that into a positive movement, helping other people reclaim their bodies. I loved taking to Gaby, I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!

3. 

   22 Jun 2026

   WENDY MCBRIDE

   Welcome to another Other Ways of Seeing conversation. A podcast about the art we make alongside our already very creative jobs. An investigation into why we feel the urge to make that art. Or for the artist I will be talking to, the urge to make different work from what she’s known for and what she sells. This conversation is rather special because it’s with Wendy McBride my mum-in-law. She is a successful artist in the South West of England drawing inspiration from her home in Devon and Dartmoor, all the way to the Isles of Scilly. Working mostly in pastels Wendy paints landscapes which are sometimes representational and sometimes not so much. In her early eighties you’d think she’d got her practice down, sorted.. but as with many artists, she struggles with what she wants to make and what she feels she should produce for her audience and the galleries that represent her. Commissioned versus non commissioned art. We begin our conversation talking about Jude, her grandson who is an incredible drummer. Wendy’s love of Jazz and how that fits with her relationship with abstract art. We discuss the influence of her childhood, growing up alone in the wildness of Anglesey and drawing in books in wartime. Wendy speaks about how she first started selling her work in the Scillies after being encouraged by her husband Keith. We talk about how some of her earlier work didn’t sell because it was ‘too abstract’ but needing to sell to supplement the family income and how that changed her work. We chat about her most recent solo show at White Space Gallery in Totnes. Wendy explains why painting pretty pictures is not enough anymore. We talk about compromising quality for cash and we touch on Wendy’s poetry. We end with advice for aspiring artists and look to the future of her art. A little word about our sponsor hungryman… hungryman is a global production company with offices in London, New York, Los Angeles and São Paulo. Known for pairing high-end craft with a distinctive point of view, hungryman’s work spans blockbuster spectacle, sharp comedy, and emotionally driven storytelling. And here is where it gets interesting in terms of Other Ways of Seeing.. beyond commercial work, hungryman’s advocacy arm continues to expand the role of storytelling in culture. Across its two art activist ResistDance films and live performances, the large-scale dance protest project generated more than 100 million views, reaching 1.5 billion people across nearly 100 countries. Mind blowing. At the same time, hungryman’s growing entertainment division is developing a slate of films, documentaries, and stage projects. And hopefully we’ll be diving into those art projects here at Other Ways of Seeing soon. But now, back to Wendy McBride…

4. 

   5 May 2026

   DANIEL EATOCK

   Welcome to the fifth Other Ways of Seeing conversation. Woohoo number 5! Other Ways of Seeing is a project to discover the personal or not so personal art practices of people who work in the creative industries. Now I’m walking on thin ice here because for the person I’ll be talking to - conceptual artist Daniel Eatock, there is no distinction between personal artwork and commercial art.. it’s all art. And it’s all work. He also has issues with the term ‘Creative Industries’ and what that means to him.. or what it doesn’t mean to him. I mean, I possibly need to edit my whole intro and description of this podcast and project. And that was what our whole conversation was like.. mind-bending. You can almost hear the cogs in my brain grinding away.. Dan has an incredible knack of making you look at things differently and question what you thought you already knew. It was a gift having that time to rework my brain. Stuff I will take away with me and use forever. I hope you do too. Our conversation was recorded in Dan’s amazing studio in East London. We spoke about intention, the artist Ithell Colquhoun, painting and photography as mediums, Fontana, Dan’s rolling pin paintings, work and being creative. We talked about the creative industries (you can’t see me but I’ve put that in inverted commas with my fingers), Andy Warhol’s Factory, compromise and collaboration, Dan’s film for Winsor & Newton with Maria Lax and his one minute circles and one hour circles. Lastly Dan explained how he came to think the way he does and honing that skill, every day.

5. 

   23 Feb 2026

   STEPH

   Welcome to the fourth Other Ways of Seeing conversation. Other Ways of Seeing is a project to discover the personal or not so personal art practices of people who work in the creative industries. What they make and why they make it. This conversation is with Steph. I can’t reveal her whole name as she’s chosen to talk to me anonymously. Steph is the Global Creative Director of a toy company. I mean that’s dumming it down, it’s probably the most famous toy company in the world and it’s not just for kids either. It’s brilliant at encouraging creativity.. and clearly her job is incredibly creative. And yet.. in her very little spare time she chooses to be creative in a different way. She is a comedian. She’s been writing comedy for a few years now and more recently she’s been performing. This conversation was recorded at the end of November 2025. We talk about not quitting your day job and why.. The practice of waking up early every morning to write. The comedy writing techniques she’s learned from Logan Murray. Drinking coffee (and vodka!) though tampons.. bit sad we go into that more. The ‘crumbs of validation’ from her Instagram profile. Admitting the thing that you really truly desire. Bombing but carrying on. Being funny at work. The 90s ‘lean in’ culture. What it means to be ‘professional’. The blurring boundaries between personal and work life. Becoming more confident at stand up. Making people laugh being the best feeling in the world. The sitcom Hacks. Writing about immigration and getting negative comments. And hurricane names. Before we get into the conversation, a quick note about sponsorship. Right at the beginning of the conversation I mention not wanting to monetise Other Ways of Seeing or look for sponsorship as this could affect who I talk to. Which of course is true but not necessarily a bad thing. I take it back! Hungryman, a super successful production company have just offered me sponsorship. I didn’t even ask for it! And it would be crazy to refuse because now I can buy some decent mics. And they have opened the doors to some ridiculously interesting conversations. So thank you Hungryman for the support and being my first ever sponsor.

6. 

   3 Oct 2025

   ANTHONY BURRILL

   Welcome to the third Other Ways of Seeing conversation. Other Ways of Seeing is a project to discover the personal or not so personal art practices of people who work in the creative industries. What they make and why they make it. This conversation is with Anthony Burrill. Ant is a super famous graphic artist, most well known for his positive aphorisms, in particular his extremely popular poster ‘Work Hard and Be Nice to People’. We began the conversation talking about his son Jack’s final show for his fine art degree at Camberwell, working solo, collaborating with Oswin Tickler (omg I love his name), keeping on doing what you love, taking commissions, not taking commissions. You & Me & Me & You, the epic piece that’s the size of a building because it’s ON the side of a building! Work that didn’t translate so well, simplifying, trusting your intuition, a wine bar that he sent me pictures of by mistake (glad it was just a wine bar Ant), unfortunate places your work can end up, and the power of a single image.

7. 

   7 Jul 2025

   FITCH/BAKER

   Directing duo Matt Fitch and Chris Baker discuss their creative partnership, short film "Backmask," balancing personal projects with work and family, and finding inspiration in unconventional ways in this interview.

8. 

   20 May 2025

   SOPHIE EBRARD

   Photographer and filmmaker Sophie Ebrard discusses her career journey from advertising to photography, influences, motherhood, and exhibitions in this interview with an unnamed host.

Who has been a guest on Other Ways Of Seeing

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Matt Fitch
• Chris Baker
• Sophie Ebrard

Podcast Authority Score: 19 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

38

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

0

Contact Other Ways Of Seeing

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.