Creative Photography Lectures

There is a day of photography lectures taking place on Friday March 22nd at the Mshed in Bristol.

The creative photography and commerce lectures include talks from Chris Floyd, Rhea Thierstein, Olivia Gideon Thomson, Laura Pannack, Kate Peters and Toby Smith.

It's set to be a good event and with tickets only £25, how could anyone say no? Booked my tickets today.

Anyone interested should checkout the following link for information http://www.rps.org/workshops/view/2959

Photo by Kate Peters

Photo by Chris Floyd

Photo by Laura Pannack

Recent work

Being asked to photograph in an old factory...what more could a photographer ask for? - Except maybe some more time.

It was a freezing cold December morning in the derelict Spode factory with the creative director of Flux.

"We've got an hour."

It's one of those places a photographer could get lost in for whole days at a time and still not feel they had photographed enough. Old pottery wheels and kilns, tables, chairs and random pieces of furniture scattered around the place, barns filled out with racking stacked high full of casts and moulds. An interesting place to visit and I only got chance to see such a small part of it.

In many of the rooms there was no light, it was a difficult environment to shoot in but after the hour was up my freezing cold hands were relieved, I was covered in dust, my kit was covered in dust but I think we did it.

The reason for the quick turn around was due to the designers awaiting the photographs for the brochure that Flux requested to be ready in time for the Paris trade show later this month. I'm pleased to say I received the first draft today and I'll try and get my hands on a final print as soon as I can.

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.