Does it get easier?

A new project has started.

The first photograph has been taken.

It was very difficult to take.

The project is deeply personal.

I'm not sure if anyone will ever see it's completion.

London's Calling

Sometimes when you walk out from the cinema after watching an inspiring film you feel a rush of adrenaline, and your senses can feel heightened. Lately I have become interested in the way that we can experience these same feelings from exhibitions.

Inspiration is a feeling and an emotion.

These feelings can be triggered by different things. Sometimes exhibitions are in museums dripping with beautiful architectural features, how does this affect how we feel about the work we are viewing?

Sometimes exhibitions are displayed in constructed rooms, false walls, ceilings and atmospheric lighting, possibly even sound is added. Shows are designed to provide the best possible atmosphere in which to view the work...I would like to look into this more.

What is in my mind at the moment?

The production of a book and an exhibition. Two completely separate projects.

The V&A

In the architectural rooms at the V&A there was an exhibition on called 'King's Cross: Regenerating a London Landmark'. After recently documented the development of St. George's Park for the FA and Bowmer & Kirkland this exhibition caught my eye. It is a huge undertaking to document a construction like this and the project can result in some really interesting photography and information about a changing landscape. There is a feeling that something needs to be done with these photographs in order not to lose that history and seeing this exhibition has given me a few ideas about how the project could help to display some of the work and draw it to a close.

The V&A Illustration Awards exhibition is still on. The illustration awards is a display of the best work published in 2011. All of the entries can be viewed online at http://www.vam.ac.uk/projects/villa-2012 It is broken up into different categories including Book Cover, Book Illustration, Editorial and Student Illustration. With thoughts deeply in making a book, it's clear why there was an interest to see this exhibition.

Tom Struth at The Portrait Gallery

A selection of family portraits by Struth are on display at the Portrait Gallery

Struth’s interest in photographing families relates to his own early experience of family albums.  The photographs contained in albums form a compendium of information about individuals and their place within a genetically connected group. Struth’s family photographs explore the idea of connectedness, a context in which a person’s appearance, personality and psychology are formed. Characteristically, Struth’s sitters arrange themselves. The resulting images invite the viewer to contemplate the nature of the relationships depicted.

Having read the above quote from the NPG website there was an interest to see these portraits. As I am sure many of us have our own experiences and memories of family albums. Last year I worked on a project that involved being inspired by my own family photographs. For me it was more about the diffusion of childhood memories and understanding of truth, whereas for Struth it seems to be more about the family dynamics. Giving the families no direction gives us, the viewers, the opportunity to read their body language between one another, read their facial expressions, a slight insight into the possible relationships that are between them.

Latest Photography Book Discoveries

I'm eager to get stuck in on a new project and I have gained inspiration from a recent conversation I had a few weeks ago while down in London. I was lucky enough to get a few hours with my head in some photography books, it's always good to discover new work and new photographers. Here are a few that really caught my attention.

Taryn Simon's 'The Innocents' I found particularly interesting. They are a collection of photographs that document the stories of people who have served time in prison for crimes they did not commit. Many of the crimes these people have been accused of, result in the death penalty. The location in which the photographs are taken are either where they were arrested, where the innocents are accused of committing the crime or the location of their alibi.

Alongside the photographs in the book is a piece of text about the crime they have been accused of and how they came to be wrongly committed. The words add so much more emotion to the photographs. 

To me, the photographs have an almost cinema like feel to them, they could easily be stills from a film. Each individual is alone in the frame, looking straight into the camera at us, the viewer.

Another photographer John Londei's book 'Shutting up shop' was interesting. Over the space of 17 years he photographed specialist shops and shopkeepers as they slowly began to disappear from the high streets. Shot on a large format 10x8 camera it's interesting to see the people within the photographs, what they are wearing, the layout of the shops, the design of the packaging on the shelves, the signage and the little personal touches each shop seems to have.

Art shop, Covent Garden, London

Chemist, Leather Lane, London

Hardware Merchant, Chelsea, London

Tobacconist, Leather Lane, London

Reminds me of a project I started a few years ago documenting the mixed heritage of those who worked in shops within the town of Burton on Trent

               

And finally Stephen Gill. I have come across his work a few times before, I have a book of his called 'Unseen UK' a project in which he worked with employees of the Royal Mail. Those who wished to take part were given a disposable camera to photograph their life as an postal worker. The book is a 230 page book which picks out some of the best photographs from the project. The book I was looking at the other week was 'A book of field studies'. Personally my favourite work from this book was the 'Billboards' section. Gill enjoys photographing the everyday and the things we do not normally see. Here he photographs the back of the billboards and beneath each image is a caption of what the advert is displaying on the other side.

Left - Fight the cold. Practice self defence - Donone Actimel.

Right - It's time to leave the country - Thomas Cook

L'Oreal Paris. Because you're worth it.

Photo Professional Magazine Interview

As I mentioned in a previous post I was interviewed by Photo Professional Magazine about entering competitions...well today I find out, it made it to print!

What a boost of confidence it is to see this image in print in a magazine. I'm excited about getting started on the next project now.

There are a few more big opportunities and decisions to make over the next couple of months but it's only 6 weeks now until the group and I are setting up the Melbourne exhibition.

Next week is going to be printing and marketing design for the show. Will be in London at the end of the week and really hoping to get to a few galleries while down there, not sure what to go and see yet but it would be nice to see the photographer gallery as I have not been since it has reopened.

Need to investigate what exhibitions are on.

Article on Hunger TV

During college nearly every photography lecture that came in to talk to us always stated that so much time is spend arranging, organising, planning and finding photography work and that just a little tiny fraction of time is spent actually photographing. That statement is being overly apparent of late!

It's little moments like today when I get sent a link by Amelia from Hunger TV that makes it worthwhile.

http://www.hungertv.com/photography/feature/the-student-dad-award-winners/

Photography Interview

Out of the blue I was interviewed by Photo Professional Magazine. Unsure when or if it will make it to print yet but it made my day! 

I will be sure to post the article if it is published.

Talent Profile Is Up

I was unable to make it to this years New Blood but from what I can see online there was some incredible work on display. 

After winning 'Best of Year' this year, I was able to create a portfolio on the D&AD talent page...and it's up!

Click to view!

Unfortunately not being able to make it to New Blood meant that I didn't get chance to meet my mentor but am definitely looking forward to doing so later this month!

Exhibition Update

Things have been a little busy lately to say the least. The exhibition went ahead 2 weeks ago at the Town Hall in Burton on Trent.

For those who wanted to see it but I knew could not get to the venue, I have added a much smaller version of the original 3 meter long banner that I produced.

The great responses and feedback that I have received is very much appreciated. The majority of remarks were at how professional it looked, which is a great motivator for the next project.

The print is still up at the Town Hall but will be moving to Melbourne Art Festival in September when I team up with a number of other photographers and artists. Hopefully by then I will have something to show from the next project too.

Redeye Review

Redeye, I discovered the other day are a great source of advice and support for photographers. I had the opportunity to attend a portfolio review session with Paul Herrmann, the director of Redeye. Undoubtably the best portfolio review I have had. Not only did I get some great feedback on my work but he reflected my thoughts about future progression, which makes me feel more confident I'm heading in the right direction. It has inspired and motivated me to get on with some projects but more importantly to keep working no matter what gets in the way.

Redeye are based in the Manchester area, it's a couple of hours drive away but personally I think the benefits are worth it. They regularly host a range of events and networking meetings, find out about them at www.redeye.org.uk

Ready steady exhibit

Yesterday was dedicated to getting the exhibition piece printed!

Hayman graphics in Nottingham were such a great help. They not only gave me a great price on the print but even though they were busy preparing work for many other students they managed to get my print ready for me in a few hours. The print looks great, from what I can see, trying to keep it wrapped up until it's installed on Monday.

Having to wait around for a while meant I got chance to check out the current exhibition at Nottingham contemporary by Mika Rottenberg. I had not seen her work before and still don't think I have got my head around it. I didn't have a great amount of time to spend watching all of the films but the whole time I was there I felt like I was in a bizarre dream, or trapped inside of a weird film where humans sneeze rabbits and scary things happen in cabbage fields...I'm going to have to research and find out what that's all about!

Mika Rottenberg currently at Nottingham Contemporary

Back to the exhibition, everything is ready for the opening night on 18th June. All I need to do is figure out why the quality of my photofilm decreases when I export it, and then I can get it up on YouTube. 

Believe The Hype

First Photo Film complete....well, nearly

It has taken me all day but I think I have completed my first photo film! 

I still need to source some background noise but besides that it's pretty much there. At the moment I'm thinking it's not bad for a 1st attempt...but I'm going to give it 24 hours and see if I still feel the same way and if I do, I will share it and get going on the second one.

Square Eyes Syndrome

My eyes are going square from all my time being spent looking at this computer screen at the moment!

The main chunk of my efforts being focused on getting everything ready for the exhibition at Burton Town Hall on the 18th June. It's only a few weeks away now and me being my usual self has set myself the challenge of displaying work in a way I would never normally do so.

There are a lot of photographs involved, design elements and the layout it paramount. It needs to be perfect. It's getting there but there is something just not right and I can't see what it is yet. I'm the sort of person who likes to know every little detail and what i've got to work with, however i have very little way of knowing what exhibition space i have to work too. And there is always that voice in your head when you do something a bit different that says "Is it just me that thinks this is a good idea?" No one is around until next week to see it and I'm planning to take it to print on Wednesday.

The piece I'm working on is looking to be a 3m x 1m possible 1.5m print. I'm trying to encompass as much of the St. George's Project into it as possible, making it visually interesting while at the same time somehow tying all the different strands of the project together. Going through photographs, interviews and audio clips over the last week I could have filled the town hall - if only I had the budget! Trying to cram it into 3 meters is harder than it may seem.

Taking a break from getting the exhibition piece ready I'm attempting to work on a few photofilms, something I've not really tackled fully yet. I'm confident all will come good in the end, it always does. I see many more late nights and square eyes in my future.

D&AD 'Best of Year'

A little late (I have been a bit wrapped up in other things) but better late than never!

Last week I received an email congratulating me on achieving 'Best of Year' for this years D&AD photography brief!

The second award in the space of two months, I'm still a bit flabbergasted. It's a great feeling that I could happily get addicted to and the perfect ending to the course ... you've got to love it when a plan comes together!

http://www.dandad.org/awards/student/2012/categories/20/photography/11040/stephanie-gilbert

Eden Project

It was great to head back to the Eden Project a few weeks ago. I spent a week there last year, mainly focusing on product photographs but I was still a little concerned as to how I would handle a week photographing an area I thought I had already photographed to death. 

It might not be obvious from these photographs but the weather was terrible for 90% of the week, working on five briefs in five days in bad weather was a bit of a challenge.

Last year the bakery was still under construction so this was one of the areas I was keen to photograph this year. There is something very clean and uniformed about food that seems to attract me to photograph it. I have had a project in my mind for some time now around the idea of food photography and I was hoping to communicate these ideas to those at Eden. Unfortunately I was unable to reach the specific people, possibly a blessing in disguise with the majority of my time at the moment spent on the St. George's Park project.

A project for 2013 possibly?

It's always a pleasure working with the Eden Project, great photographic opportunities and challenges to overcome.

Burton - Now and Then

There seems to be a few interesting projects on the horizon that next years students are going to be working on, involving history and documentation on Burton on Trent. To test some ideas and generate a bit of creativity we were out in Burton town centre armed with historic photographs. Our aim was to recapture these photographs as they are now. In the way that the Museum of London have created a map of old photographs that could then be seen via interaction with a smart phone. 

What I found really interesting was being at a location with the old photograph and trying to figure out where the photographer must have stood to take it. Where they stood up, shooting at eye level, knelt down, standing on a wall that was no longer there?

AOP Student Awards

Received notification the other day that I have been selected as a finalist within the AOP Student Awards!

Surprised and still speechless...

5x4 Portraits

After having the chance to work with the 5x4 camera a few weeks ago and the recent workshop with John Myers, it left me wanting to take more portraits.

It seemed the perfect answer to how I could capture some of the builders portraits over at St. George's Park. Alongside the pop up photographs I have already captured, I still had an urge to photograph some of the builders in more detail.

I will be hoping to get in the darkroom over the next week to process these but for now have scanned them in. I'm really pleased with how they have come out and glad that the background, a freshly plastered wall worked in the way that I hoped it would by creating a multi tonal wash of colour. 

Looking back I can see how much more organized I was working with the 5x4. Not working slowly but knowing how many films I had, shooting them and then leaving. I think its something all photographers do when we are photographing, we get the shots we want and then hang around, just in case, or in search of another photo and another. I much prefer knowing the shots I want to get and focusing on getting them as best I can.

35mm Boring Photographs

Since going to IKON a few weeks ago there has been a lot of inspired sessions on "Boring Photographs" in response to John Myers series. The first session was capturing boring photographs around Burton using black and white 35mm. 

Looking for boring photographs takes more thought than you might believe. Very quickly I discovered there is a difference between boring photographs and just pressing the shutter aimlessly at anything.

We all take photographs at times that we look at and question why on earth we chose to press the shutter. We tend to discard these images but when you choose to look for boring photographs or irrelevant photographs they somehow start to become interesting.

Up to now I have only had time to print 2 of the photographs from this session but will certainly be trying to find time to print some more.

Since IKON we have also been out working with the 5x4 camera. The intention of the session was to understand how the camera works and to capture boring photographs using the same equipment that Myers used for his photographs within the exhibition.

There is a lot to remember using the 5x4 but it's straight forward. The detail within the photographs are incredible, but for me its the joy of slowing the process right down.

Kelly and I set up this photograph together and she later printed a copy for me. We were drawn to the sharp lines and different textures within the frame. Unfortunately the focus was not very sharp, its not an easy camera to focus. 

Branding Decisions

Over the past few weeks I have been developing branding for myself. However I'm having trouble deciding over 2 designs, and the only reason I'm struggling is because I'm not 100% settled on how I am presenting myself, who I am aiming my work at or what I am offering.

Logo design and branding

The last few week I have been working on producing a logo and overall branding for myself, as a photographer. I found this difficult as I found so many inspiring designs that I began to get confused between a style that I liked and a style hat best suited my photography.

For me the design for Mareiner Holz shows how a good design should flow throughout the business and reflect the work and service that a company produces.

Mareiner Holz are leading wood processors in Europe. What I like about there branding is how simple it is. The logo is a woodpecker, which is a bird that is often linked with woodwork. The style in which there photographs are taken reflect the woody earthy feel of the business and so does the paper that they have chosen to print there booklets on. Everything has been considered. The branding looks professional and the quality of the printed work gives you the impression that there work will be to as high a standard.

I need to look at my work and analyse where my work fits best and how I can create the branding to complement this. After looking through various paper types, quality and colour it really highlighted how using the right material and printers can immediately typecast your work. People will prejudge the quality of your work based on the first impressions, the first impression being a business card, your website or a leaflet.

Jill Cole

Jill Cole came to visit us in the college to discuss our work on the national forest brief 'Photo Canopy'. Its the longest brief we have ever had to work on and seems that many of us have forgotten to work on this project.

Personally my project had to change from my original idea. I experimented for a while with the concept of maps and layered images printed on acetate. Mid way into the project I received confirmation from the FA to work on the documentation of St. George's Park. The area i will be photographing will be within the National Forest so my idea is to combine the 2 projects.

In Jill's lecture she expressed her difficulties with the project, the main one being that she lives 150 miles outside of the National Forest. However Jill researches deeply into her subject and had gathered material from annual reports, maps, leaflets and walking guides. 

She questioned what a forest is? what it is used for? why the forest is in the location it is. She became focused on the fact that the forest is continually changing everyday.

There were a set of about 10 final images that Jill shared with us that were inspired by the maps she had been continuously referring too thoughtout her time in the forest. Jill described how the layers of the forest played a part in her inspiration, how they land will be changed, how the seasons change etc.

The final images consisted of a number of photographs layered upon each other to reveal textures, lines and shapes.

I'm interested to see how she will edit down the final images for selection of the exhibition and how they will be displayed.

IKON

The current show at the IKON gallery features work from Stuart Whipps and John Myers.

I went to view the show last week, it was nice just to see some work, we get so used to viewing peoples work online you forget how great it is to view work as it is intended by the artist to be viewed.

My favourite part of the Stuart Whipps exhibition without a doubt was the main body of the exhibition “Why contribute to the spread of ugliness?” The focus of the work was on 486 boxes of paperwork from John Madin’s Architectural archives. Within this work are photographs of the boxes themselves, their contents and the building in which they represent.

I particularly liked the abstract architecture photographs and felt that presenting them on a medium format slide projector did them justice. The size and detail within the print room photographs felt like you could step out of the exhibition and into the photograph.

I recently showed my portfolio to someone who said they would like to have seen it as a projection display. I have used projectors in my work and had never thought about presenting my portfolio via a projector. I also think that some of the work I am currently working on could look really interesting in a large format. 

Jonathan Safran Foer

At the cinema a few days ago I noticed a poster advertising the film adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foers book extremely load and incredibly close. I read this book last year and if you have read it you know how the design and layout of the pages adds to the story.


As a photographer having visuals, for me adds a deeper understand. In this case of the story and an insight into the characters personality and state of mind.


Within the book are pages of text overlayed multiple times to the point it's almost a black page, words are crossed out or ringed with red pen, some pages just have one word on them and some pages are completely blank.


I wonder how they are going to reproduce this book visually, when the book is so engaging already.

Another book that Jonathan Safran Foers has recently produced is "Tree of codes" the story within this book is produced with words in layers. In some cases people highlight words within books or cross them out when they are editing. In this case some of the words have been cut out entirely and as you read the book you can see deeper into the book.

I have always been interested in books and over the last few years have been interested in more creative and unusual books, book that have other elements within them. With ipads and apps making reading digitally more appealing and easier the desire for a physical book is disappearing.  I have been looking into the thought of how the role of a physical book could be in years to come and personally I believe that books will go back to being treasured items, and it will take the diverse, creative and interactive element to give them an appeal that can separate them. you can read words on a page or you can read words on a screen but books have the possibility to create another dimension with ideas like the tree of code book.