carole evans photography

Experimenting with Photography

2012-01-26T10:11:00.000Z

Last Tuesday, I had the pleasure of chairing a talk on the theme "experimenting with photography". I organised the talk after I noticed that this seemed to concern quite a few of the members who entered this year's Members exhibition at Photofusion, which I curated. Photographers are making photograms, experimenting with colour and paper in the darkroom, writing on photos, manipulating them digitally to create something else... it is almost as if, with the ubiquity of digital imaging, photographers are striving to create something new and original.

©Chloe Sells

This trend was reflected in the final selection for the exhibition; four out of eleven of the exhibitors are experimenting with the photograph in some way. Jeremy Akerman takes pictures of landscapes or urban scenes, cuts them, and then pastes the pieces back together in a different order. The resulting images are still recognisable as landscapes, but something has happened to them; the act of destroying the surface of the print and then re-creating them adds another dimension to the image. Chloe Sells creates large colour prints in the darkroom, in which she plays with the light with prisms to create blocks of coloured light leaks. She also manipulates the surface of the image by folding the paper while printing, so concealing parts of the photograph.

©Eva Stenram, ©Judith Lyons

Judith Lyons and Eva Stenram use digital techniques in order to create their work, although they have both used analogue processes in previous projects. Lyons uses images of ova, sperm and foetuses to create digitally constructed montages, one for each month of the gestation period. Stenram's image, Drape, is a digitally manipulated vintage pin-up photograph, in which she uses digital technology to lengthen a curtain in the image, so that it drapes over the model and conceals her assets. Last night she also introduced us to new work, in which she finds hard core pornographic images on the internet, and removes the bodies to create the scene as if they were never there.

All photographers seemed to agree that their processes were about questioning the inherent meaning of truth which is linked to photography, and yet their reasoning for this was varied. Judith Lyons challenges the relationship between the image and the subject matter characteristic of photography; the fact that you can't photograph something which is not there. Eva Stenram is interested in the fact that photos can be changed again and again, and that, even if they don't pretend to be real, viewers tend to look twice.

For Jeremy Akerman, his cutting and pasting of photographs is a quest to get back to the physicality of the picture. Quoting Susan Sontag, who back in 1977 mentioned there were too many images in the world, and that was before the advent of digital photography, Akerman pointed out that the photographic surface was dead; most images we see nowadays are on a screen. For him, and for Chloe Sells, it is the surface of the photograph which is interesting.

This theme of experimenting with photography was also being explored at London Art Fair's Photo50 exhibition, curated by Sue Steward. I was excited about seeing this exhibition, entitled The New Alchemists - a reference to the old fashioned, analogue methods of photography - and I was expecting great things. But I was disappointed.

©Noemie Goudal, ©Jeremy Akerman

Many of the photographers I was familiar with; Julie Cockburn, Noemie Goudal, Joy Gregory and Esther Teichmann amoungst others. And maybe it's for this reason that nothing surprised me, nothing wowed me. Even Cockburn's work, which I love but had never seen in "real life" disappointed me. The highlight was Noemie Goudal's image, which certainly does trick the eye and successfully comments on the belief that a photograph is authoritative proof.

This idea of playing with the surface of the image and of creating camera-less images is nothing new; the Surrealists were all over it in the 1920's and artists have working in this way ever since. But there does seem to be more experimentation these days, and if I had the task of curating an exhibition of artists working in this way, there are ones that I would have chosen that are exploring the surface of the image in new ways. Carolle Benitah, for example, with her embroidery over old family pictures. I also think that the digital "alchemists" need to get a look in, too; it's not just about collage, or mixed media, but it's about experimenting with new processes in the way Eva Stenram and Judith Lyons do.

©Carolle Benitah

At the end of the talk the other evening, I asked the panel whether they considered themselves to be artists or photographers. They all said they were artists, which I found interesting. But of course they are; there's no decisive moment in their work, they use photography to create something else. And it got me thinking; could this distinction be as simple as Artists Make, Photographers Take? Or is it a way for photographers to get into the art market, as we all know that photography struggles to sell...

Whichever it is, I'm pleased some people are doing it. The work is challenging, inspiring and refreshing in this world of digital imagery. Get crafting, I say.

Watch the Birdie...

2012-01-18T15:34:00.002Z

For a while now I've wanted to get some wedding images onto a tumblr site. I don't necessarily want to market myself as a wedding photographer, but I've been getting a few enquiries and it's a nice way of presenting work.

I've called it Watch the Birdie, inspired by one of my favourite songs to dance to:

Any feedback welcome!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-16T15:25:00.001Z

Firstly, I'd like to wish you all a rather belated Happy New Year. Only two weeks into 2012, and yet life has well and truly kicked in again after the lethargy and well earned break of the Christmas period. I seem to have done loads already this year; not all photography related, but there is one thing worth mentioning; three of my Retro Girls are being exhibited at Silverprint!

If you don't know it already, you should get to know it. Silverprint is the store for analogue photography supplies; film, photographic paper, chemistry, film cameras and some digital supplies. The welcome wall often features a small photographic exhibition, and when I used to go in there as a student I always thought it would be a cool place to show work. So when they asked me I was delighted, and didn't hesitate to accept.

Retro Girls are up in the store til the middle of February, so if you didn't get to see them in all their framed glory at Collyer Bristow Gallery last Summer, now's your chance! Silverprint is based behind the Old Vic theatre in Waterloo, on Valentine Place.

Reflections of 2011

2011-12-20T19:42:00.000Z

2011 has been quite a year. It's the year in which I completed my first major project since leaving my MA, had my first significant exhibition, finally launched Brixton People as a book, got the cover of a national newspaper, was published in an international magazine, began teaching, and, perhaps most significantly, launched Portrait Salon, with friend and fellow photographer James O Jenkins.

It is this last which explains my rather scarce presence on this blog over the last few months. Portrait Salon was taking up an awful lot of my time, but it was well worth it. Set up as a form of Salon de Refusés, we aimed to show the best of the rejected images from the famous Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize, hosted every year by the National Portrait Gallery. What began as a little experiment escalated into a publication (designed and published by the lovely lads of Birch Studios) and a very well attended event at the Roxy Bar and Screen in Borough. We were even honoured with the presence of Anne Braybon (commissioner at the NPG), who was very supportive of our endeavors, and the project hasn't seen its end yet; in January we are taking the projection up to Open Eye in Liverpool, where we also give a talk.

This positive response has inspired us to continue this project in 2012. And who knows what else next year will bring? My new year's resolution: read more, write more, think more. Let's see I get on with that one.

In the meantime, I leave you with an image taken during the Festival Arbres et Lumières in Geneva last year. Merry Christmas!

BRIXTON PEOPLE: Book Launch

2011-11-26T17:24:00.001Z

Almost two years have passed since I set up a pop-up studio in Brixon Market and spent a week photographing passers by. And how much the market has changed! Now it is full of award winning eateries, with some of the best independent restaurants in London.

A good time, then, to finally launch the book I have made to go with this project. Do come down to Brixton Village on the evening of Friday 2 December to help me celebrate the occasion at Brick Box, just a couple of units down from where my studio was. There will be a chance to view the book, buy it (just in time for Xmas!) and taste the delights of the market around you... Festivities begin from 7pm.

Wrap up warm, this is a night not to be missed!

Exhibition Listings Nov/Dec

2011-11-16T18:20:00.002Z

This blog post is more for the benefit of my students. There are so many shows to see at the moment, I thought I'd list them here so they're all in one place. They are in chronological order of when the show ends.
To non students reading this; feel free to add any I've missed in the comments!

Other I; Alec Soth, WassinkLundgrun, Vivanne Sassen
Hotshoe Gallery, til 27 November
This is a show not to be missed. Curated by Aaron Schumann, it brings together three of the most interesting contemporary photographers.

Simon Roberts at Flowers
You've only got til Friday to see this, but go if you can! Simon is quickly establishing himself as one of the best British photographers around, and these landscapes of Britain are truly something.

Cabinet of Curiosities, Bill Jackson
The Front Room, til 30 November
Still time to catch this show in the tiny Front Room, run by Troika Editions. It is what it says on the tin; a collection of photographs of curios and stuff the photographer has found lying around, meticulously taken on a 5x4 camera.

Jeff Wall
White Cube, Mason's Yard
23 November - 7 January
I CANNOT WAIT for this! Jeff Wall rose to fame in the nineties with his large, staged photographs mounted on lightboxes. They are almost filmic in production, creating complex scenes and narratives. This show will be of new work, and shows a departure from lightboxes.. will be dead interesting, promise!

Michael Wolf at Flowers
25 November - 7 January
Wolf trawls Google Street View to find humorous goings-on, and isolates these scenarios into their own images. There are some featured in World Press Photo, and I have blogged about his work here.

AMPS/11 at Photofusion, 25 November - 27 January
Starting next week is the annual members show at Photofusion, showcasing work from 11 photographers. The work is diverse, complete with camera less photographs, digitally manipulated pics, and more traditional portraiture.

Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize, at the National Portrait Gallery
10 November - 12 February 2011, £2 admission fee.
An important show on the photographic calender, showcasing the best of contemporary portrait photography which has been selected from an open competition.

Shaped By War, Photographs by Don McCullin
Imperial War Museum, til 15 April 2012
This is a rare chance to see a broad collection of works by war photographer Don McCullin. McCullin has photographed in Berlin, Vietnam, Cambodia, Biafra, Bangladesh and the Middle East. There are loads of interesting events with this, too.

World Press Photo Award
Royal Festival Hall, Southbank
Important but often difficult viewing of some of the best photojournalism which has been selected for the World Press Photo award.

The Photographs Gallery at the V&A.
This has just opened and will be a permanent fixture at the museum. But it shows some really important work, including Julia Margaret Cameron, Henri Cartier Bresson and Man Ray.

Wapping Bankside
Always has good shows, and worth popping in as it's close to Tate Modern. Details of latest show on the website.

Other shows which should be seen:

Gerhard Richter at Tate Modern
til 8 January
Gerhard Richter is an important artist who uses a variety of media, including photography, which he often paints over. His work comprises of collections of vernacular photography, paintings, and mixed media. I haven't seen this show yet but I can guarantee it's not one to be missed!

And a couple of events which may interest you:
Portrait Salon
30 November, Roxy Bar and Screen
This was set up as a Salon des Refusés of work which was rejected from the aforementioned Taylor Wessing award at the NPG. The award gets 6000 entries, and they only show 60, so there are many which are rejected. This event will show a selection of those unsuccessful entries in the form of a projection, so it's a one off event with a bar etc.

Brixton People; Book Launch
2 December, 7pm, Brick Box, Brixton Market.
This the launch of my book! Come and buy one ready for Xmas!

A little gem

2011-10-11T13:36:00.001+01:00

It's rare that I come across a photography show which I haven't heard about. But that's what happened today. On my way back from Tate Modern I popped into the Purdy Hicks gallery. And there... was a little gem.

It's Bettina von Zwehl's new work, a series of miniatures made while on a residency at the V&A museum. Inspired by original miniatures, von Zwehl took photographs of the assistants of the museum, facing a window which emits a glowing yellow light. One particular work, Made up Love Song, is a series of 32 miniatures of the same woman, Sophia, an assistant at the museum. Shot in exactly the same position, two or three times a week, on first looking the photographs appear exactly the same. On closer inspection, slight differences become apparent, as time passes, light changes and the relationship between sitter and subject develops over the six months.

©Bettina von Zwehl

There are single portraits of other assistants too; all women, all photographed in the same way and in the same location. The resulting photographs are so peaceful, so timeless. And there is something about seeing photographic miniatures in an industry which seems so obsessed with enormous images. These objects are precious, each one a little treasure. This gives them a status similiar to the painted miniatures back in the 16th, 17th century, used amongst the wealthy classes as a form of introduction; fathers would send miniatures of their daughter to possible suitors for example. The dagurrotype eventually replaced the painted miniatures, and I can't help feeling that this exhibition brings this history full circle...

The exhibition is on til the 7 November, and it is not one to be missed. Go see!

The Apocalypse

2011-10-05T18:30:00.003+01:00

Today I went to Tate Britain with my Dad... the John Martin show is dramatic and a little kitsch; the 19th century version of the Hollywood film. But the poster and the surrounding abstract design on the stairs inspired some colourful portraits...

The show's over...

2011-09-25T14:28:00.000+01:00

If you didn't get to see my show this Summer at Collyer Bristow Gallery, here are a few installation shots:

Momento Mori

2011-09-16T09:44:00.004+01:00

For a while now I've wanted to write about the subject of photography and death, but have struggled to find a context with which to write. The theme has been on my mind for the last month for a number of reasons...

Firstly, I am organisng an exhibition at Photofusion (which opens next week, on 22 September) featuring two photographers whose work is concerned with the death of a parent. When André Penteado's father committed suicide, he picked up his camera and took pictures... of the funeral, of his journey to and from the funeral (which was in Brazil), and then for a year later in the form of a visual diary. Striving to have one last physical contact with his father, André took photographs of himself wearing his father's clothes, eyes closed, pensive, on a stone grey background. He then took pictures of the left over empty hangers.

©Andre Penteado, Dad's Clothes

The other photographer is Joachim Froese, who has made quite a few bodies of work following the death of his mother, and the possessions she left behind. The work he will show at Photofusion is from Archive, a study of what happens to possessions once they have been taken out of context; when his mother's belongings were sent to him in Australia, he found they had no meaning for him anymore. His photographs show precarious stacks of china and books, a comment on the constructions of our own personal memory.

While working closely with these photographers, I have had the pleasure to meet (if only on the phone for now) Sue Steward, a journalist and independent curator who, on the death of her mother in 2009, found an urge to photograph the dead body. In an article she wrote for The Guardian, she describes the sense of guilt she felt as she committed this act, looking round to check no one was looking. But then she found that many other photographers had also had this impulse; most famously Annie Leibowitz photographing her partner Susan Sontag.

©Annie Liebowitz, November 2004, Untitled

All these conversations got me thinking about the link between photography and death, and then it became rather too relevant when I heard that my uncle died. He had been very sick, so it wasn't unexpected, but it doesn't make the sense of loss any less painful for us all. At the funeral, my father asked if I had brought my camera... and, although I had thought about it, I felt that it was inappropriate.

But a couple of days later I had a Roland Barthes moment. At the wake, my cousin told me that he had found many old photographs of our parents when they were children, and he emailed the scans to me shortly after. I felt like Barthes in his Camera Lucida... I was looking at picture of my uncle at a very young age and recognised him completely. This wasn't the sick old man I had last seen on a hospital bed at Christmas time, thin and wizzened, struggling to hear and lethargic with drugs. Here, in the eyes of this 10 year old boy, I saw the man I wanted to remember; the man with an amazing brain and an insatiable curiosity.

My late Uncle Rémi is on the left, my mother in the middle, and their brother Eric on the right. My mother told me she remembers going to get this picture taken, and she was scared as she thought it would hurt. How differently children respond to the camera these days!

At the beginning of this week I came across this film on the Guardian website, and I finally found the context with which to write this post. In the wake of the Japanese tsunami, hundreds of volunteers from the Fujifilm factory are collecting photographs found in the damaged areas, cleaning them, and archiving them in order to "save the memories of a nation". Many of the images have washed off the paper, a reference rather too close to what happened to the people depicted on them, and yet the volunteers still feel it is important to keep the indecipherable images. As one volunteer reads out the caption on the back of a photograph (dated 1954!) he turns it over to find the image completely gone. But we must keep it, he says, as it may help to identify the other pictures in the album.

The cleaned photographs are then organised by where they were found and sent to a centre where people can browse for their memories. As one man says, the people who go there "have lost their homes and their past". Photographs are such an important key to our past. I was so pleased to see the old photographs of my uncle, which still exist seventy years later, but I can't help wondering whether the children of our children of this digital age will be blessed with such tools as they get older. When, in eighty years time, my friend's daughter passes away, will her children have photographs of her as she is now? Or will they be locked in some digital timewarp, following the fate of floppy disks and the like. For all we know, we may be living in what will become the Dark Ages.

It's time to start printing pictures. As for photographing the dead, or the impulse to photograph what's left behind, it's a theme that occupies many photographers, and has inspired a book by Audrey Linkman. For my part, I am looking forward to hearing Sue Steward in conversation with André and Joachim at Photofusion on 11 October; I think it will be an interesting discussion, if perhaps not a very up-beat one.

Ways of Seeing

2011-08-17T10:54:00.001+01:00

Last Thursday, I went to the Private View of Nine Point Perspective; Ways of Seeing, at Hotshoe Gallery. The exhibition is a group show of photographers who form part of the Tri-pod group, set up by Hotshoe Deputy Editor Miranda Gavin, and photographer Wendy Pye. The group was conceived as a support network for "emerging and established artists and photographers to create a personal project in the context of a closed research and development group." The work made in the first year is shown in this exhibition.

Curating a show of nine photographers with such diverse work is always tricky, but curators Miranda Gavin and Sacha Lehrfreund have used the space to the full, creating separate spaces for each photographer's work, but succeeding in creating a flow. Every part of the gallery is used; including the glass front of the office, where Natasha Caruana has installed her piece Fairytale for Sale. This work is a collection of wedding photographs, with the bride and groom's faces blanked out in a variety of ways; using photoshop, black pen, blue tac or even bits of tissue paper. The effect is eerie, and it's only on reading the emails that are interspersed with the images that the viewer understands these pictures have come from a website where brides are selling their wedding dresses. For me, this project questions the act of marriage, reducing it to something farcical; all the effort which goes into buying the perfect dress is so easily frittered away when a little bit of cash is needed.

©Natasha Caruana

A far cry from Natasha's collection of digital images from the Internet is Dean Hollowood's project The Chase, which takes us back to the origins of photographic printing. His colour photographs of china animals are layered with test strips from the darkroom, with their different hues and tones, and including Dean's notes of exposure times. The visual effect is quite beautiful, and questions our "ways of seeing". And we get it; we've had experience in the colour darkroom and the work brings back all those agonising hours of trying to get the right colour. Most younger people, however, won't. The Chase is a project about photography, it's history and how it's changed.

In between these two bodies of work are seven other very strong examples of contemporary photography. Far too many for me to outline here... you best go and see for yourself. The exhibition runs until 30 August.

Picture Perfect

2011-08-15T08:57:00.001+01:00

Yesterday, my picture of Ceridwen was on the front cover of the Independent on Sunday's New Review.
That's it really. Pretty chuffed.

There is still time to see it in the flesh, at Collyer Bristow Gallery, as part of the 50's, Fashion and Emerging Feminism exhibition. Viewing is during office hours only, and the gallery can be found at 4 Bedford Row, London WC1R 4TF.

Best of Voies Off #3: Tilby Vattard

2011-07-27T09:13:00.000+01:00

Tilby was one of those chancers who come up at the end of the four hours, when all you fancy is a cold beer, and ask you if you could quickly see their work. He was so charming I couldn't say no, and I'm very pleased I didn't. I even arranged to meet him the next day in order to talk more about his work.

Mountains, again. But different. Tilby takes these shots with either a Holga or a Hasselblad, and then works on them digitally, adding glimmers of light, planets and inscriptions. The effect is very retro, and a little bit kitsch, but he succeeds in making sure it's not cheesy. Instead, the landscapes he creates are the landscapes of fairytales, where the paranormal come out to play.

Tilby Vattard is based in Montpelier, and seems to make a succesful living as a graphic designer, using his signature style in posters for festivals and theatre productions amoungst other things. His site has a comprehensive view of his work, which can also be bought via the site... enjoy!

Best of Voies Off #2: Heather McDonough

2011-07-26T09:39:00.003+01:00

Heather McDonough was my first victim. And her images stayed with me 23 portfolios later... a sure testament to some strong work!

She showed me two projects. The first, September Song, is a very tender study of her mother's battle with ovarian cancer. Heather has made it into a book, perhaps purely for the benefit of showing it to people, but it also works very well in this way. Intimate portraits are mingled in with still lives, of windows, doors... and observations around the home. The contrast between light and dark are ever present, a constant reminder of the fragility of life.

The second project, entitled Doris, is also a little bit about death. Doris was Heather's elderly neighbour, and after she passed away the photographer gained access to her house. Here she found a decor that had not been updated for many years... and pointed the camera at this marvellous aray of wallpapers. Again compiled into a book, the images are interspersed with old photographs of Doris herself... and the result is an intimate portrait of a very private woman.

Best of Voies Off #1: Michael Schnabel

2011-07-25T09:39:00.001+01:00

Arles already seems a long time ago... so I am going to spend this week re-living it a little. For two of the afternoons there, I offered my services as a reviewer at the Voies Off. This is a fringe festival which is run in conjunction with the main Rencontres, and organises exhibitions, screenings and projections throughout the town. The portfolio reviews they organise are much cheaper for photographers than the main ones, as it costs 6 euros to see two reviewers; this is mainly achieved as the reviewers are offering their services for free.

Throughout the two afternoons, I saw a total of 24 people. That's a lot of work, and I was reviewing a lot in French which was very good practice for me but quite exhausting! I met some very interesting photographers, and each day this week I will showcase the photographers I saw whose work I liked best.

First up is Michael Schnabel, from Germany. Michael uses the method of painting with light to photograph darkness. His main series, Stille Berge (Silent Mountains) is a series of photographs of mountains taken in the dead of night... no moon, no stars, no light. I like the thought of him trudging up the mountainside in the dead of night with his 5x4 camera, setting up the exposure for an hour, an hour and a half, and him just waiting there for his picture to expose. To me, the resulting photographs are a reminder of the world before the presence of man; they show the beauty of nature without any human intervention. They are quite primitive, primordial, and very, very beautiful.

On the back of this series, Michael was commissioned to make work for museums in Germany, using the same principle of photographing in the pitch black. These too, make for interesting images, showing us what we don't normally see.

If you're reading this blog on one of the shiney new Mac screens (as I am), I'm afraid you are not seeing the work in the best light, as the reflections are too much. Do keep a lookout for a chance to see the work in the flesh... he prints them at over 2m wide, and I imagine they are quite awe-inspiring at that size.

Stille Berge has been produced as a book, published by Edition Braus, and available on Amazon. It is a beautiful volume, I only wish my German was up to scratch so that I could read the text! If you happen to be in Germany in the Autumn, Michael Schnabel will be exhibiting in a solo show in Osthaus Museum, Hagen, from 11 September to 6 November. He will also be exhibiting a new series, called Weisses Land (White Land) which I am excited to see.

Another year, Another Arles; Part 2

2011-07-17T14:02:00.001+01:00

Right, so I got the rant over... now to what I liked best this year!

The exhibition I found the most exciting as a whole was that of French Collective Tendance Floue. Here was good quality work which was topical and innovatively put together. Tendance Floue is a collective of 13 photographers, who have been working together for twenty years. Surely a sign of a successful collective! What I appreciated about this show was that all the work was shown in equality; there were no captions near any of the photographs, so it really was a collective consciousness of work. The group jet off to China or India, for example, where they give themselves two weeks to produce a one-off magazine. The resulting imagery is a fresh look at documentary photography. The exhibition comprised of projections, photographs stuck flush on walls, printed on cushions... there was video footage of the collective working together on the edit, and snippets of text from their notebooks.

Installation views of the Tendance Floue exhibition (apologies for poor quality - taken on iphone!)

In addition to the collective show, was a small exhibition showcasing each individual photographer's personal work. It is true that they are a bunch of very talented photographers, even in their own right. You can browse their work on the Tendance Floue site; I especially recommend looking at the following projects; Grins, by Gilles Coulon, Watching TV by Olivier Culmann, and Tu es l'air by Meyer.

Next on my highlights list was the winner of the 2010 Portfolio Award, Swiss artist Augustin Rebetez. I'm a little surprised if he won just on the strength of his single images, as it was the stop motion which caught my attention. A little reminiscent of the Clangers, in a good way, he creates these wonderful narratives, which are sometimes sad, sometimes scary, sometimes humourous. My favourite is Dinner of a Lonely Man;

The annual New Discovery Award was had some interesting work in this year, too... a new discovery for me was Joachim Mogarra, who takes photographs of everyday objects and draws over them to create something different, often with a fantastical narrative. The work reminds me a little of Keith Arnatt in its simplicity and playfulness.

©Joachim Mogarra

I also enjoyed seeing the work of Yann Gross, a Swiss photographer who has documented the (apparently large) "mid-West" scene in the Rhone valley. The work is quite straight documentary photography, but the pictures are well taken and tell an interesting story; one that I find very amusing and quite unlikely, with my knowledge of the Swiss...

©Yann Gross

Other highlights were; the 42m large print by the Chinese artist Wang Qingsong and the New York Times archive, featuring work from Gregory Crewdson, Ryan McGinley and others... this show did make me think that work in magazines is often of a better standard than work on the walls of galleries, but perhaps more of that in another post.

Another year, Another Arles; Part 1

2011-07-14T10:06:00.000+01:00

I have just got back from Les Rencontres d'Arles. Many of you will remember how blown away I was when I first went last year; I fear it will have to be a regular stint on my holiday schedule, as this year certainly didn't disappoint. Knowing what to expect meant that I could concentrate a little more on the photography; last year I was so bowled over by the locations of the exhibitions and how they were hung, I think it didn't bother me that perhaps not many of the exhibitions were my cup of tea. This year the hanging was equally as inspiring, but also there were many very interesting exhibitions, which introduced new ideas and ways of thinking, and provoked certain questions in my mind about the future of photography as a medium.

This was a theme that ran throughout the festival, particularly as one of the major shows was entitled From Here On, and was based on a manifesto created by Martin Parr, Erik Kessels, Clement Cheroux, Joan Fontcuberta and Joachim Schmid. Their manifesto suggests that, as there is so much visual material in the world now, we have become a series of editors, taking "work that has a past but feels absolutely present". An interesting precept, and actually, an enjoyable exhibition to visit, but completely vacuous. I realised a few hours after I had seen it that I could barely remember any of the exhibits; proof, surely, that the show didn't provide me with any food for thought, let alone educate me in anything of substance.

The exhibition essentially comprised of artists who used the Internet as a source of visual information. Many of them were fun and made me giggle... a video piece comprising of a collection of youtube videos of young girls shaking their arses to the camera, and a series of photographs of Kim Jong Il looking at things, which has been a very popular tumblr site, updated everyday. But then there was also a collection of sunsets from flickr, a selection of photos of penises on keyboards (yes, really), a cat-cam, web cam pics with insects obscuring the view, old photographs re-photographed with lego people (never got to the bottom of that one!) amoungst other vernacular. I was left wondering what all the fuss was about here... artists such as Joachim Schmid and Gerhard Richter have been working with vernacular photography for decades, and I struggle to see how this is different, apart from the source of imagery.

Mischka Henner: From the series Dutch Landscapes

It was the artists which directly comment on the effect of this abundance of images caused by the Internet which I found the most successful. Mishka Henner uses Google streetview as his inspiration, and his Dutch Landscapes are carefully selected streetview images of certain sites which the Dutch were concerned would be identifiable with the sudden visibility of political, economic and military locations. Instead of just blanking them out as other countries have done, however, the Dutch have used a type of blocky pixelation which provides a contrasting aesthetic to the surrounding views. Henner has also trawled streetview looking for images of girls who are prostituting themselves on the street; this work, entitled No Man's Land, can be seen at the Hotshoe Gallery in London until 26 July. Corinne Vionnet takes photographs of famous landmarks and layers them over one another, creating ethereal, painterly images which reflect mass tourism, and the quest to record our every move.

Corinne Vionnet: from the series Photo Opportunities

Perhaps it's telling that one of the most successful uses of this digital media was not by an artist, but an indie band based in Manchester, called The Get Out Clause. In order to keep costs down, they made a music video for one of their songs using CCTV. Taking full advantage of the Freedom of Information act, they recorded themselves on various cameras around the city, and then asked for the footage, creating a free and very clever music video, which you can see here. This, to me, is more a comment on how society has changed over the last ten years or so then many of the artworks in the show.

The curators of this exhibition seem to think that things will be different "from here on...". Well, this didn't seem to me to be all that different, and I certainly hope this is not the future of photography. A friend remarked that it was like watching a B movie... and it's true. It showcased the lowest of the low as far as photography is concerned. Perhaps it was because it was in an exhibition setting that it seemed so out of place. Perhaps it is an interesting collection of works, but should be shown in a way which reflects them; on screens, or as an online exhibition... maybe.

Coincidentally perhaps, FOAM magazine had created an exhibition entitled What's Next?, which accompanies a website of the same name. The most interesting thing in this exhibition was the quotes from people industry people, and their ideas of how photography can progress from here. Many can be seen on the website, which is well worth looking at, if you can fathom the navigation...

More from Arles coming soon! Next post will focus on my highlights.

Image of the week #15

2011-06-15T09:36:00.002+01:00

This is the month of shooting weddings, babies and family portraiture. Not my usual fare, but one has to make a living, right?

Here is a pic of my friend Jo and her beautiful daughter Sophie.

Image of the week #14

2011-06-06T23:03:00.001+01:00

Gosh, I'm getting a bit slack at doing these... and it's not cos I ain't taking pics! Just don't get round to putting them up.

I'm doing a couple of weddings this month. I don't generally market myself as a wedding photographer, and actually I haven't done one for ages, but they are fun and it's nice to feel part of someone's special day. In a couple of weeks it's that of Becky and John... here they are on little pre-wedding shoot on the South Bank.

An excuse to brush up on my Italian

2011-05-18T19:49:00.001+01:00

I got a very nice surprise when I collected the post this morning... a package from Italy, with a copy of Fotografia Reflex inside. In Arles last year, at the Voies Off portfolio reviews, I met Claudio Marcozzi, who really liked my Brixton People project, and said he'd like to include it in this magazine. And, almost a year later... here is his feature! 8 pages, 14 images, and (from what I can understand) a very comprehensive text outlining the history of Brixton, describing the market, and a complimentary view of my photographs. So thank you Claudio!

The magazine is kind of the Italian equivalent of Practical Photographer, with reviews of cameras and software, and a showcase of different genres of photography including nature and the like. There is also an article on the Polaroid collection... so it's a mixture of all sorts, and i suspect it's targeted at the keen amateur. But I'm pleased to be included; my name is even on the front cover!

Image of the week #13

2011-05-17T21:37:00.001+01:00

My friend Mayumi, in Pete's Bar, Austin, Texas

Shot on Mamiya 6.

If you don't ask, you don't get...

2011-05-11T10:26:00.001+01:00

About 10 days ago, my Dad emailed me to let me know that there is an exhibition beginning at the end of May entitled Fifties, Fashion and Emerging Feminism. He thought that, considering my Retro Girls project, I'd be interested in attending the Private View. What I actually thought when I got that email, however, was "I want to be in that exhibition".

The show is held in a gallery connected to a firm of solicitors, Collyer Bristow. I couldn't find any information on the internet so I called them up. They gave me the number of the curator and I called her to tell her about my project. As I expected, she said that it was a bit late in the day, they were writing the press release etc, so not this time.

Then, five minutes later, she called me back saying that she and her partner had just looked at my website and they did like my project, and did think it would fit very well. They happened to be in a cafe in Clapham Common - I picked up my portfolio and raced over. An hour later, after a very pleasant coffee and chat, I had 3 pictures in the show.

Needless to say I am very excited! And very flattered that space was made for me at this late stage. Obviously it means I am not featured on the printed card, but I sneaked into the press release and will be on the website and other information. It just shows that, if you don't ask, you don't get...

The show runs from 25th May - 21 September, so there's plenty of time to go and see it! As it's part of a solicitors, it's view by appointment, and only during office hours, but it's dead central (near Holborn tube) and just a quick phone call should suffice. The exhibition features prints from the V&A archive by photographer John French, who was working in the 1950's, and new commissions on the theme by artists Alice Angus with Fee Doran, and Freddie Robins. The show is curated by Day&Gluckman, a partnership of two lovely women, Lucy Day and Eliza Gluckman. The private view is on the 25th May.

The address of the gallery is: 4 Bedford Row, London, WC1R 4TF. Tel: 0207 242 7363. Click here for a map.

Image of the week #12

2011-05-09T08:30:00.003+01:00

Haven't done one of these posts for a while, but there's a very good reason for that; I recently spent a couple of weeks in America. After much deliberation as to which camera to take, I finally decided on my Mamiya 6, and my Contax T2. So, to make up for lost weeks, here are three images from the trip, taken in Austin, Texas.

Why they chose the final scene from Truffaut's Les 400 Coups to put on the side of this cinema is anyone's guess... but it was proof to me of how cosmopolitan a city Austin is.

Slideshows ARE the new black

2011-05-06T13:04:00.001+01:00

Slideshows are the way forward. Last night I went to one organised by the ASA Collective, who regularly organise such events. The first event of theirs I went to was one they did in conjunction with Contact Editions, who also regularly organise "Slideshow Slams"; two projections shown simultaneously, each curated by a different organisation. These tend to be mingling, social events, with the slideshows occuring in the background, whereas last night's event was a sit down affair; each photographer's show went on for maybe 10 minutes, accompanied by sound, and then the photographer said a few words about their work and there was an opportunity for questions.

To me, this is the future of photography; or at least, the future of showing photography. Either set-up, be it two projections at once or a more formal event, are great ways of showing work. The first time I came across the idea was in Arles last year, and it blew me away. The thing is you can showcase so much more work in a slideshow, with many more photographers. And this suits what the industry has become; most photographs, if not taken digitally, are digitised at some point for websites etc, and there are many more photographers than ever before, making it all the more competitive to get exhibition space. And then there's the cost - printing and framing work gets very expensive, and yet a projection is, essentially, free (once a good projector and screen is bought!)

It's not easy putting on a good slideshow, though. It's not just a case of lining up some great images and pressing play. If sound is involved, it has to be good, and it has to go with the work. Sound plays on emotion so much that it can totally alter the way the images come across - sometimes it adds but it's terrible if it jars in some way. It's almost better if the sound is made or composed for the purpose of being with the images... a popular tune comes with all sorts of personal connotations.

Another consideration is how long each image is up for. This could potentially be the only negative point with a slideshow - your time in front of the image is preconsidered, so it's impossible to linger and impossible to go back. Perhaps now, with the Internet and the amount of images we are confronted with on a day to day basis, we can read visuals quicker and don't need to spend time in front of them. But I think that's a shame... contemplation in front of a photograph makes us see more, think more. So, in a slideshow set up, the longer the better.

©Chloe Dewe Matthews

All the work shown last night was by female photographers. A couple I was already familiar with, due to the firecracker website, but there were two projects which were new to me which I thought were excellent. The first was by Chloe Dewe Matthews, who immersed herself in the very macho world of banger racing to make her project Banger Boys of Britain. The images are arresting, disclosing an unfamiliar world, which, as she herself states on her website, "satisfies a common human urge; to create and destroy."

The other project which I was very happy to discover was Urban Cave, by Andrea Star Reese. These photographs of people who live in makeshift dwellings around New York (but don't want to be considered "homeless") tenderly portray a nomadic lifestyle, with all its trials and tribulations. Some of the images are raw, but to me these images show how resilient and proud these people are, living outside of conventional society.

So, go see some slideshows. You could start with the Slideshow Slam I'm organising at Photofusion on 19 May, in collaboration with Contact Editions. But this isn't just a plug. It's a genuine interest and enthusiasm for slideshows. I ♥ slideshows. Go see some.

Right Royal Campers

2011-04-29T07:04:00.002+01:00

I am not a royalist, by any stretch of the imagination. And, if I could, I would happily pass over today's events. But it's such a media circus that the only way to cope is to embrace it. So yesterday I went and joined the many journalists, cameramen and photographers from around the world to watch in wonder at the many people who have been camping outside Westminster Abbey. It felt like I was watching people in a zoo, and personally I think they are all nuts, but there's denying there was a great atmosphere:

And today I have been persuaded to join the masses in Hyde Park... the promise of more great photo ops!

Image of the week #11

2011-04-11T08:32:00.000+01:00

Back in September, I found a bunch of negatives lying on the pavement near where I live. I picked them up, but didn't get round to contacting them til last week - and what a joy I found! This is one of the images from the set, which depict a family holiday in Malta. I love the scratches and imperfections...

I have a plan as to what to do with the series... watch this space!

Image of the week #10

2011-04-05T08:46:00.001+01:00

The cat at the Scooter Cafe, Lower Marsh.

Taken with My New Toy, 23 March 2011.

Image of the week #9... and then some.

2011-03-28T11:51:00.003+01:00

On Saturday, I bravely took my new toy to the demonstration against the spending cuts. It's always tricky to take interesting photographs at demos... they all begin to look the same. But, to me, this is my most successful shot of that day; a cut out of our prime minister being used as a mask, with the protestors on the awning of Fortnum & Mason's in the background. This is what he has reduced us to doing.

I know this is not photography focused, but I want to take this opportunity to voice my thoughts on the demo on Saturday. I joined the initial TUC march with 250,000 other people - an amazing turnout and there was a great atmosphere. A completely peaceful protest which showed solidarity and showed the discontent of the people.

While on the march, we got a tip-off that ukuncut were planning an occupation at 3.30 at Oxford Circus. I had heard of the group before, as I follow them on twitter; they perform peaceful occupations of stores and banks who evade tax. They are offering the Government an alternative to the spending cuts, saying that if Philip Green from Topshop and BHS, or Barclays Bank etc, paid their tax in full, the spending cuts wouldn't need to occur. I support this sentiment, and so once we arrived in Hyde Park we headed down Oxford Street to see what was going on.

Central London with the streets shut to cars is really quite something. There is an eerie silence (even with the hoots and whistles of the protesters). Oxford St had sort of become an outdoor arena for street performers and impromptu theatre acts. The crowd were much younger, and many groups were dressed up as clowns, and other forms of fancy dress. The atmosphere was quite carnivalesque. However, I noticed an underlying edginess; quite a few groups were all dressed in black, with black face rags and hoods, and seemed quite threatening. I have since learned that these people are instigating what is known as black bloc tactics; vandalism, rioting and street fighting. They do not belong to any particular group, and are not necessarily united with any beliefs, although they are usually out to get capitalist banks and corporations.

Towards Oxford Circus, BHS and Topshop had already been closed (not occupied) and police were standing guard. A group had gathered on the Circus, and soon we were given a little slip of paper with the instruction "you follow blue". Sure enough, there was a blue flag, and we followed it (along with the red and green flags) down Regents St and into Piccadilly. This was the ukuncut protest; to occupy a building which had been evading tax. Little did anyone suspect this was going to be Fortnum & Mason's.

My friend and I got separated at this point; he entered the store and I was left outside. The crowd was cheering and pushing, but it didn't feel threatening. The police soon barricaded the store, so protesters climbed up the pipes to get onto the awning. Fortnum & Mason's had been officially occupied, and it transpired that the owner does owe thousands of pounds in tax to the Govt. I hung around for 2 or 3 hours outside there, with another friend of mine; the scene was compelling... so many photographers, protesters of all ages, policemen... it was fascinating. Once the crowd began to diffuse due to tactics employed by the police Piccadilly felt almost apocalyptic; empty, with just rubbish on the floor and the remnants of smoke bombs in the air.

My friend and I had been in touch regularly throughout his occupation. When I saw the people leaving the store, they were being handcuffed and searched. I called him to warn him and he said the police inside had been told they were not going to be arrested. Well, they were... my friend spent 22 hours in a cell in Lewisham Police Station, and has been charged with trespassing. Communication between police inside the store and outside broke down completely; there is a good article in The Independent about it here. And I think these arrests aren't fair; the occupants of F&M did not damage anything, they didn't steal anything or harm anyone. They are just using their voice, which, last time I checked, was a human right.

The problem I have with the way the media has covered this story is this; they are getting the protestors of ukuncut confused with the black bloc group. Ukuncut is a peaceful protest which doesn't just oppose the Government, as the Unions do, but offers an alternative. And this is really important. The black bloc group, on the other hand, I suspect are just out for a fight, with no real purpose or message.

Being present at the protests on Saturday has made me aware of the power of the people, and it has made me think of the Middle East, especially Egypt, and how exciting it must have been to actually succeed in bringing down a Government. It is my belief that this shouldn't be the end of protests; we need to be a bit more French about the whole thing and really show how we feel. Many of my good friends have children, and, if we want them to be able to grow up in a fair society where they can have a good education and not worry about Health fees, it is now we need to say so.

Image of the week #8

2011-03-21T10:10:00.002Z

I probably shouldn't announce this to the world, but I'm very excited cos I have a new toy. And it's mighty fine. Here are the first pics I have taken with it, of my friend Tori's adorable baby Millie...

Charity Print Auction for Japan

2011-03-19T16:21:00.001Z

The recent earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster in Japan has shocked everybody. It seems to make all other news seem somewhat trivial (apart from I've just heard French jets have flown over Libya... bad too). A triple whammy; how does anyone, let alone a nation, cope with that? The loss, the destruction, the uncertainty, the terror, the snow... so many horrific things to deal with, all at once. And the Japanese face it with a certain calm and stoicism which is nothing but admirable. And here, in the comfort of our own homes watching the events unfold on the news, it is hard to know what to do, how to help. But you can help. Everyone can.

My little piece of help is in the form of a great initiative run on the photo-sharing site Flickr. Charity Print Auction for Japan is a group which has been set up in order to raise money for the crisis. Photographers post pictures to the group, which are then auctioned off. The photographer pays for the print to be printed and the shipping, and the winning bidder gives his cash directly to one of the charities supporting Japan. On receipt of a screen-grab to prove this has been done, the photographer sends the buyer the print. Everyone wins... Japan gets a little more help, the buyer gets a lovely print to go on their wall, and the photographer feels like he's done a good turn.

Some prints are going for as much as $200, others for as little as £15. But every penny counts... and there is some great work on there. Personally (and I probably shouldn't say this!) I'm bidding on one of David Axelbank's Night Flowers. I have a print (shown here) up there also, which I'm very pleased to say has raised £50 already... but more bids very welcome! My auction ends on Wednesday, but other prints end earlier... and later... and more images are being added every day so it's worth checking back!

Street Photography; How to lose friends and alienate people.

2011-03-11T11:20:00.001Z

This seems to be the year of Street Photography. Format Festival, in Derby, has it as its theme, the London Street Photography Festival launches in July, there is a big street photography exhibition on at Museum of London, and this season's issue of fLIP, the magazine for London Independent Photography, has the theme streetlife. Last year saw the publication of a Thames & Hudson book on the subject, and in-public published a book in honour of their 10th anniversary.

But here's the thing. I'm about to issue a statement which may lose me some friends. I have a problem with street photography.

"Their first murder", Weegee, 1941

At the launch weekend of Format Festival, my friend told me that a mutual friend of ours, who's in his 50's, asked her "what's street photography?". This person is not completely alienated from the photography world, although he is not a photographer; he is an artist. But his question interested me because I realised that street photography is a fairly new genre. The term is new, but the actual type of photography it stands for has been going on since cameras were small enough to take out on the street (or not, if you count Weegee). Henri Cartier Bresson, Rodchenko, Robert Frank; all these people took photographs of life unfolding around them; but only now do we refer to them as street photographers. A l'epoque, they were just great photographers; a little later, they were reportage photographers.

Don't get me wrong, there are still some great photographers who are documenting life on the street. A lot of the Magnum photographers who are showcased at Format - Chris Steele Perkins, Ray Depardon, Bruce Gildon, and members of the street photography collective in-public are good examples. But it is my opinion that others who jump on this street photography bandwagon are exploring it not for the original ideas of reportage photography, but for the sense of humour with which it is often related. It is now all about visual puns or mismatched elements in the composition, and the fact that people go out to create these photos make it much less successful. They become a one trick pony, and all start to look a little same-y.

"Beer St", Hogarth, 1751

In his launch speech at Format, Joel Meyerovitz (another one who is termed a street photographer; although actually it seems he hasn't been doing that kind of photography for quite a number of years, certainly not since the term began being used) said that street photography was the one genre which was truly photographic, because it wasn't present in painting. And I have to disagree with this. Think of Hogarth's engravings of street scenes in London - ok, they were to make a point about the social classes, but they are still a document, or a report of street life. Likewise, Pieter Breugel's large paintings depicting carnivals and festivals are not exactly recorded in a fraction of a second, so not conforming to Bresson's Decisive Moment, but they are a document of latter day street life.

The Fight between Carnival and Lent, Pieter Breugel, 1559

My point is that documenting the streets has been a point of interest for centuries, because it is an interesting space; it's where life is played out for all to see. And I'm not saying we should stop doing this; it's true that photography is a perfect medium for it. I just think we need to question what "street photography" really is, and what the point of it is if it's in the form of endless visual puns. Can't we just go back to documenting life like the great photographers of the mid century?

I'm expecting a barrage of comments from people I know and like from the industry (you know who you are!). But I'm not dissing you - you are all great photographers. I just have a problem with the term, and the bandwagon it has created. Maybe I'm too much of a control freak to be hanging around the streets waiting for the decisive moment...

Image of the week #8

2011-03-07T21:46:00.003Z

This week, the image of the week is not one of mine, but one of the great Joel Meyerovitz, who I had the good fortune to listen to at the Format Festival this weekend. My own review on the festival in another post... for now, enjoy this:

Image of the week #7

2011-03-01T23:53:00.000Z

Ooops... missed last week's image of the week. Have been busting a gut to get my new project scanned and printed in time for showing at Format... here's a sneaky peak:

I'm gonna try and get the whole series on the website tomorrow... so watch this space for details!

Unfortunate Events

2011-02-17T13:46:00.000Z

I don't usually follow the World Press Photo Awards. Not sure why - somehow it doesn't fall on my radar. But now that I've started tweeting (follow me!) it's hard to avoid; I am, of course, following photography-minded people, and the great thing about Twitter is that you do seem to be the first to know.

So I couldn't avoid the hoo-ha on Twitter when the World Press Photo Awards was announced. And I had a look at all the entries. There really is some great photography in there, and to me, it's a reminder of what photography is fundamentally for; educating us on what is happening in strange and unfamiliar places. I am so much in the world of art photography that I sometimes forget the importance of the medium to inform us on what is happening around the world; which is exactly what the World Press Photo awards recognises and honours.

Obviously there are some very difficult, distressing images amoung the entries (my friend Russell has written a very interesting blog post on the winning entry by Jodi Bieber - you can read it here). But the series that caught my (art - trained) eye was the work by Michael Wolf. Not documenting one particular event in the World, indeed not using his own camera to document anything, instead it is sort of a document of the whole world, and serves as a reflection on our Big Brother-esque society. Wolf's project, A series of unfortunate events, is a collection of stills from Google Streetview. He has painstakingly searched this new technology to find scenes which are amusing, or strange... in a word, unfortuante. In one, we see an old woman lying on the kerb, while a man mends a bike behind her, seemingly oblivious to her plight. In others there is a woman caught having a pee behind a car, a car on fire, a bike crash, a man being arrested. All these things just happened to happen when the Google streetview camera passed - and consequently documented forever.

I am pleased to see Wolf's images honoured by World Press Photo - I'm sure it's very different to other entries they have ever had. And yet it is relevant; it's a document of society, not only of people going about their daily lives but also of the new (and sometimes controversial) technology of Streetview. It almost represents the all seeing eye, looking down on us from above and recording what we do. It is also reminiscent to me of the staged photography of Jeff Wall. A signal, perhaps, of how talented a photographer Wall is, as he succeeds to re-create scenes which could easily have happened by chance.

©Jeff Wall - Mimic

Wolf is not the only photographer who has had the patience and tenacity to search for unfortunate events... Jon Rafman has also done this. His website is well worth a look, as is an essay he wrote about the technology, which can be found here. (thanks to Contact Blog for bringing that to my attention!)

Michael Wolf's project will be exhibited at the Format Festival, which looks very exciting this year. There is one show I cannot wait to see... more about that in another post!

Image of the week #6

2011-02-15T09:28:00.000Z

Taken with the Kodak Brownie Cresta 3, featured in my last post. Yes - it works!

Look what I found!

2011-02-09T11:39:00.000Z

I was wandering through Brixton Village yesterday, for the first time in ages. It really has come on in the last year since I was there with my studio. There are loads of really exciting cafes, restaurants and quirky little boutiques... well worth a trip.

In one of these boutiques, I was very excited to find a Kodak Brownie Cresta 3, complete with camera bag, instruction manual, and (most exciting of all for me) a luggage label with the previous owners name and address, and the Hotel to which she was going to... which just so happens to be a village in Switzerland called Les Marecotes, which I visited with my family in 1991. With that bit of Swiss-ness in there, I just had to buy it.

It seems that the mechanism works... I will pop a 120 film through it soon, and let you know the results!

(Oh, and I have searched Google for the previous owner. Her name is Georgina Rowe, which is a very common name. The camera dates from the second half of the 1960's, so I reckon she'd be in her 70's now... perhaps you know her or someone who knows her?)

Image of the week #5

2011-02-07T10:24:00.000Z

At the end of last year, I was invited to give a portraiture workshop at a primary school in Southwark. We studied the use of portraiture in order to convey identity, and looked at a number of different portraits to see how they told a story. I then took photographs of the pupils, in their uniforms one week, and in their own clothes the next. Here is my favourite image of the series; I'm not sure I'm very happy with the light setup, and the depth of field could be shallower, but love his expression and his cute hat!

On Wednesday, the pictures will be in show at the school for parents to come and see...

Image of the week #4

2011-02-02T09:10:00.001Z

This is a bit of a cheat, because it's a pic I shot in the summer. But I'm continuing the Hipstamatic theme - just found out that the exhibition I mentioned in my previous post is now on until 11 Feb - so still time to see it! I'm excited...

Hipstamatics are also running a competition, to be the 158th print in their exhibition. Post your best Hipstamatic print on their Facebook wall, and the winner is the one with the most "likes".

This is my contribution. Oh it reminds me of the Summer! So sick of this cold...

Hipstamatics only getting Hipper...

2011-01-26T18:48:00.004Z

A few months ago, I wrote a post mourning the loss of my iphone, and with it the fabulous Hipstamatic app.

It seems I am not the only one to have fallen in love with this digital way of creating retro looking pictures. Now there is an exhibition devoted to the Hipstamatic photograph, at Orange Dot Gallery in Bloomsbury. I'm hoping to get a chance to see it... it's on til 31st January...

In the meantime, I was excited to discover a blog dedicated to the app, with a link to the website of the man who created it. It describes it's history - it really did exist as a camera and there is a sad story which goes with it. The Guardian thinks this story is dubious, but I wanna believe it... a sucker for marketing, me.

Last Chance to see...

2011-01-26T18:48:00.003Z

Friday sees the last day of AMPS/10, the Annual Members Show at Photofusion in Brixton. I'm sad to see it come down... over the last few months I have nurtured and created this, from selecting the work and working with the photographers to produce the work, to curating and hanging the work. It has been a very successful exhibition, and I'm really pleased to have been working closely with Miranda Gavin from Hotshoe. She judged the inaugural Hotshoe/Photofusion award (which went to Odette England for her project As Above, So Below) and she ran an event with our members about furthering their career in this world of photography.

Throughout the exhibition we have encouraged the public to vote for their favourite photographer; and last night I announced the winner: Vikram Kushwah. I am not surprised he captured the public's imagination... his images are reminiscent of fairytales and the world of Alice in Wonderland, and successfully combine the genres of fashion and fine art photography. Definately one to watch...

Image of the week #3

2011-01-24T18:38:00.001Z

A year ago today I began a long but fun week of photographing the people of Brixton. In five days, I photographed 200 people, 70 of which I am putting into a book. Unfortunately the book isn't ready for the first anniversary, so instead here is one of my fave portraits from that week...

The complete gallery of images can be seen here. And follow this blog to find out when the book is published!

Having a LAF

2011-01-21T09:52:00.004Z

Terrible title... couldn't resist though...

Last night I went to visit the London Art Fair. Based in the Business Design Centre in Islington, it is a chance for contemporary art galleries to show off their wares, many of which I found uninspiring. I found the people more interesting than the art; gallerists are a strange breed, and many of the punters were those sort who have too much money to know what to with, and think they are cool by investing it in art.

And I couldn't help noticing a curious lack of photography features in this type of gallery. Is the art vs photography question still burning? Do photographs have a place in a fine art gallery? I don't know the answers to these questions, but I can speculate... I think that, due to the ubiquity of photography in our day to day lives, people are so familiar with the medium that they find it difficult to place a value on it. Add to this the fact that we are not sure how the new digital papers are going to stand the test of time, and the fact that photographs can be reproduced over and over, thus giving the photographer the possibility to re-print and make more money at any time, de-valuing the work in question, and we have many reasons why collectors are dubious. It seems that it is only the Gurskys and the Shermans of this world who will ever sell. And yet photographers are asking more and more for their work.

©Aliki Braine

But there is a kind of counter attack occuring in the shape of online print sales, which was outlined by Miranda Gavin in the current edition of BJP. It seems that, over the last few years, it is online galleries which are selling photographs, and at really reasonable prices. Troika Editions (who represent Aliki Braine, above) and Contact Editions in the UK for example. And it was nice to see Troika present at the fair, making their mark amongst the over-priced, almost corporate world of contemporary art.

In addition to all this commercialism was an excellent curated exhibition called Photo50. It brought together many famous photographers, including the wonderful Helen Chadwick. The highlight for me, however was a photographer who I had never heard of before...Scarlett Hooft Graafland. Her images are humorous, surreal and beautiful...

"A very jolly show" as my friend Leila put it... and she was right. It's not often that's the case these days...

Image of the week #2

2011-01-17T09:11:00.001Z

Yesterday I started shooting for my Retro Girls project again... and had the pleasure of Lena Weber from The Vintage Guide to London in front of my lens...

Image of the week #1

2011-01-10T11:16:00.000Z

Another new year's resolution - to post an image a week on here, each Monday. A good exercise for me!

Taken in Lausanne, 31.10.10, on a Mamiya 6

A New Year, a New(ish) Blog...

2011-01-06T16:02:00.001Z

Happy New Year all! I do wish all my readers all the best for 2011.

Here, I will strive to be still more and more active with regular posts on my thoughts on photography. In order to give me a structure of some sort, each month I will give myself a theme to write to... let's see how long I can keep that up!

For the month of January, I would like to start with the theme of pop-up studios. Partly because the end of the month sees the first anniversary of my own pop-up in Brixton Market, but also because I spent the last day of 2010 in an exhibition of Irving Penn's street portraits - a sort of pop-up studio in itself. I was in Lausanne, at the wonderful Musee de l'Elysee; the first time I've ever been, can you believe it! A Swiss-ess with a mother born and bred in the city and I only get to visit this famous photography institution at the ripe old age of 31...

It really is a wonderful gallery. Set in a beautiful old mansion on the banks of Lac Leman, it has four floors of exhibition space, a well-stocked bookshop, and has the most comprehensive photographic archive in Switzerland.

And the exhibition, too, was wonderful. In 1950 and 1951, Irving Penn photographed people with "small trades"; firemen and shoe-shiners for example, who often worked the streets. He would invite them into his studio to be photographed, with a prop which marked their trade. The work started as a personal project on the streets of London, but soon it was published by Vogue and he did the same thing in Paris and New York. What was most interesting for me about the exhibition was seeing the same trade depicted in each city; the differences in uniform, in prop, in attitude. And with that, Penn's own observations about the different nationalities:

"En général, les Parisiens doubtaient que nous ferions exactement ce que nous leur avions dit. Ils pensaient que quelque chose de louche allait arriver, mais ils arrivaient au studio plus au moins comme convenu - motivés par le cachet. Les Londoniens étaient différents des Français: etre photographié en tenue de travail était pour eux la chose la plus logique au monde. Ils arrivaient au studio toujours a l'heure et se présentaient devant l'appareil photo avec un sérieux et une fierté qui étaient particulierement touchants. Des trois, les Americains étaient le groupe le plus imprévisible. En dépit de nos recommandations, quelques un arriverent aux séances changés de pied en cap, rasés et parfois meme dans leurs costumes sombres du dimanche, convaincus de faire lur premier pas vers Hollywood"

"In general, Parisians wondered whether we were going to do exactly what we sad we were going to do. They thought that something dodgy was going to happen, but they arrived at the studio more or less as requried - morivated by the prestige. Londoners were different to the French; to be photographed in their work clothes was, for them, the most natural thing in the world. They arrived at the studio on time and presented themselves in front of the camera with a seriousness and pride which was particularly touching. Of the three, the Americans were the most unpredictable. In spite of our recommendations, some arrived to the sessions completely changed from head to toe, shaven and even sometimes in their sombre Sunday best, convinced that this was their first step towards Hollywood." (text quoted from the panel in the exhibition; my translation)

The exhibition also included some vintage copies of Vogue, showing the work as it was published in the three countries, and Penn's first monograph, Moments Preserved, published in 1960.

So all in all a great way to end 2010 - and funny that it was just after I had mentioned that the Penn exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery was one of my favourites of the year. A great inspiration and a great way to begin my theme on pop-ups... more to come!

My pick of exhibitions 2010

2010-12-21T10:48:00.001Z

2010 has been a great year for photography shows. Some of them I have reviewed on here, but many of the great ones I have seen I haven't mentioned, most probably cos something else got in the way.

A highlight for me was the Camille Silvy exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. A studio portrait photographer in London in the mid nineteenth century, Silvy was renowned for taking exquisite portraits of the aristocracy for cartes de visites etc. The beautiful thing about the exhibition, though, was his early work of French landscapes, with detail as to how he printed them. Often using 3 negatives combined (each exposed for different areas of the scene) his printing techniques were key; a reminder of the craft of photography, which has disappeared in this digital age. The exhibition was full of information and rich in social history; Silvy was a prolific photographer and businessman, and I can't believe I had never heard of him. Sadly, he suffered from a bipolar disorder (which he believed was brought on by the darkroom chemicals) and the last thirty years of his life he spent in hospitals and convalesent homes.

Another inspiring show, also at the National Portrait Gallery, was Iriving Penn Portraits. A well known portraitist, what I found fascinating was his incredibly simple approach to studio work. In contrast to the fashion of studio photography at that time, which was all dramatic sets and backdrops, Penn would photograph his sitters in his empty studio, just how it was; complete with cigarette butts and litter on the floor. In one series, he places his sitter as if wedged in an acute corner, providing opportunities of performance and self-expression from the sitter. Due to the receding line of the walls, the eye is drawn to the subject; any gesture is exaggerated, and small gesture emphasised. A simple trick, to such great effect.

Duchess of Windsor, © Irving Penn

There have been other great shows... Sophie Calle at the Whitechapel Gallery, Neeta Madahar at Purdy Hicks, Stephen Gill at Brighton Biennale. One of my new year's resolutions is to write up all the shows I see, be it good or bad... if only for my sake of recording what I have seen!

Superhero Grandma

2010-12-13T09:05:00.000Z

I have just come across this work, and I just had to share it...

These are photographs taken by Sacha Goldberger, of his 91 year old Hungarian grandmother. Noticing that she seemed lonely and a little depressed, he proposed that he take photographs of her in outrageous costumes and poses as a way of cheering her up. And so evolved the character of Super Mamika (Mamika means grandmother in Hungarian).

The photographs are technically brilliant, and succeed in creating a narrative around this humorous superhero. And apparently Grandma got so in character she just couldn't stop being photographed! It's so nice to see some fun photography...

Based in France, Sacha recently had an exhibition at Wanted Paris. His website can be seen here.

Little furry objects make me smile

2010-12-02T22:13:00.002Z

Gosh it's been a long time since I last posted... November was a quiet month, and I put my mind to more personal matters (such as getting my bathroom re-done, which has the knock on effect that I can't continue shooting my current project because the room I use as a studio now looks more like an architectural rescue place. The whole project is now on hold til the New Year).

But I did have the honour of being a judge at the LCC MA Photography final exhibition. This is with my Photofusion hat on - each year Photofusion offers a prize to a graduate from the LCC MA course. I went to judge it this year with Director and fellow photographer Gina Glover; I must admit that work in MA shows tends to get a little repetitive, but there was one piece of work which was unlike any I had seen before.

Perhaps Finally Alone is a series of photographs of unidentifiable furry objects on plinths, set against wildly patterned backdrops. There is a playful exploration of textures, colours, and an uncertainty of what we are looking at. In some images, the furry object is very definately an animal; one can detect a tail, or some ears. In others, we realise we are looking at a human head of hair, or the plinth is a woman's shoulders. This play on what we are looking at challenges the viewer, and asks all sorts of questions about the nature of a photograph. It is a quirky, humourous series which made me smile... the photographer is Elisa Noguera, and the whole series can be seen on her website.

Salon '10 @ Four Corners

2010-11-01T20:52:00.001Z

Just a quickie to mention that one of the pics from a new series I am working on is in the Salon '10 show at Four Corners Gallery in Bethnal Green. The exhibition includes work from members of the Photo Imaging Network, a professional development programme run by the gallery for emerging photographers. It goes on til 11 December.

The private view was last Thursday night, and was very well attended. I am getting very good feedback from this work so I am excited... more here soon!

Photomovette

2010-10-25T19:12:00.001+01:00

Yesterday I was very excited to wake up to find that Photomovette was featured in the Independent on Sunday, in an article about Photobooths. Some of you may or may not know that, in my spare time, I run an old school, black & white photobooth, complete with chemicals. It's one of the only ones in the UK (I only know of 2 others) and it lives in a studio in Deptford. It is in full working order and has been used at events at the studio, but there is one technical hitch which is preventing us from getting it into a public space. All in good time...

A couple of weeks ago Siobhan (the other half of Photomovette) and I were approached by a journalist who was writing a piece for the Indy about the resurgance in these old machines. Cos oddly, there is a resurgance... although a lot of the time they are digital machines which have four exposures, as opposed to the boring ones in Boots which duplicate one image four times to fit to passport regulations. We were asked to be one of the case studies... I was interviewed by the lovely Kate Burt and Jean Goldsmith came to take our picture (which resulted in one of the funniest afternoons ever; I think there were 7 of us squashed inside the booth!) The article can be read here.

As soon as we get our little technical hitch sorted, we are going to be looking for a venue or public space to put it. So let me know if you know of anywhere which may be interested. In the meantime, keep up to date with when it is in use by joining our Facebook group, and following our blog. We also have a website, which can be found here.

LIP Annual Exhibition

2010-10-18T18:49:00.002+01:00

This year, I was very honoured to be asked to join the curating team of the LIP Annual Exhibition. Organised by London Independent Photography, this year the show has moved to the much more prestigious Strand Gallery, which was once Proud Central, but still part of the Proud conglomerate.

A tricky space to work with, especially when the show comprises of 60 individual photographers, and lots of single images. But I was lucky enough to be curating with the very experienced Carol Hudson, and the two Carol(e)s (as we became known) became quite a team.

©Jason Yeomans

There is some very good work in the show. A few of my highlights are a Hans Bellmer doll-esque contorted nude by Jason Yeomans, elaborate fantastical sets made up by Graeme Webb, and an eerie triptich by William Head. In true LIP style, there is some outstanding street photography. Notably a series exploring darkness and light at Tate Modern (i will check the photographer's name when I go back - a momentary lapse in memory!), a single image documenting the World Cup by Jonathan Goldberg, and another series by someone whose name escapes me (argh!).

©Jon Goldberg

The Private View is tomorrow night, from 6pm, and the show continues until the 31 October. Do pop in if you get a chance and you're in the area. There is also a catalogue to accompany the show, which will be available through Blurb shortly.

A Pregnant Pause

2010-10-13T09:17:00.000+01:00

I haven't posted in a while... there's a lot going on and I'll have a lot of news very shortly!

Meanwhile, here are some pictures of my very good friend Tori, glowing in her pregnancy. They were taken on a beautiful summer's evening in August, in Yorkshire.

A world of fairytales

2010-10-02T13:45:00.000+01:00

Troika Editions is an online print sales gallery. They have a great selection of photographers, whose work they sell at very reasonable prices. And they have recently opened up a small gallery in Clerkenwell; their next exhibition begins this week, featuring three winners of the Troika Editions/FORMAT Exposure award: Kurt Tong, Katrin Koenning and Schinster.

Each month, they invite a "distinguished expert" to choose one of their artists and a write about them. Diane Smyth from the BJP, Jon Levy from Foto8, Debra Klomp Ching from the Klompching gallery in New York have all contributed. So I felt incredibly honoured to be asked to write something for their October slot, which you can read here.

I chose to write about Jan Dunning, who constructs her images by building sets, which she then photographs using a pinhole camera. I was immediately seduced by the soft aesthetic of her images, and the sense of narrative they portray. Looking at them evokes fairytales, nightmares, and unnatural forces... it's all really good stuff. Check out her website and hear her talk about the process of making the images on the Troika website.

Switzerland vs the World

2010-09-22T19:26:00.002+01:00

As you may or may not know, I am half Swiss. Half Swiss and half Welsh: Swelsh. (If there are any other Swelshies out there let me know; I suspect we are a rare breed.)

And for a while now I have been collecting things to do with Switzerland. Not tourist stuff, like mugs and T-Shirts, but things I see which either take the mick or honour the small country. For example, in Germany a few years ago I came across a magazine (in German) with the following cover;

In my very limited German, I got the gist that this was saying that the Swiss were boring, that they couldn't speak German, that they were crap at Football… It turned out the whole issue was dedicated to the Swiss. A German magazine dedicated to a tiny, non-European country; I found this fascinating! For some reason people are intrigued by the Swiss; maybe because they are a very private nation with some very dark secrets, a nation where four cultures are united but in constant dispute over whether to become part of Europe. But what is often forgotten is that Switzerland has also produced marvellous things; chocolate, cheese, Jean-Luc Goddard, Roger Federer, and Alberto Giacometti, to name but a few.

So when I was in Arles this year, my eye was caught by a book called Switzerland vs the World. Published by Riverboom, the book “tells the story of the unique visual match between Switzerland and the rest of the world”. It is essentially asking "What is typically Swiss? What is the same, and what is different, in Afghanistan, China and the United States?" The answer is given in a series of photographic typologies of certain categories, (fur coats vs burkhas, alpine beards vs Hindu-Kush beards, chariots vs lawn-mowers). With each typology appears a small text, discussing the category in each country, and deciding which country “wins”. It is a chance for Switzerland to strike back, to reclaim its place in the world. The result is light hearted and humorous, and an entertaining read for anyone, not just the Swiss!

These small thumbnails don't really do it justice, but you get the idea. Sadly, it isn’t distributed in the UK just yet. You can order it online though, from Riverboom. And you can read more about it and see some of the double page spreads here.

To blog, or not to blog?

2010-09-14T22:16:00.008+01:00

Today I was pleasantly surprised to meet someone who reads this blog. Surprised because he is someone who is not a loyal friend, nor a member of my family checking up on me, but another photographer who I come into contact with occasionally through work or other photography related things. And surprised too because lately I’ve been wondering whether anyone reads this. I get the impression when I write on here that I am writing to a brick wall. It’s more like writing for myself, really; I enjoy writing, and sharing my thoughts about photography. And of course I’d like people to read it but I have no followers so no indication of who does stop by.

Equally, I don’t follow many blogs. In fact, I don’t follow any religiously; I have some bookmarked which I look at occasionally, when I remember. And there are so many out there that it’s hard not to wonder what it’s all for; why we invest so much time doing this. But many photographers do, and it’s a wonderful insight into their world, and a great way for them to show off new work and what they are up to. So I thought I would take this opportunity to share with you a few of my favourite blogging photographers:

If at First, by Ben Roberts

Ben talks about his experiences as a photographer, where he’s been and what he shoots. He also offers tips to assistants, shares the lessons he’s learnt and has the occasional rant. The content basically includes anything photography related that he is interested in, and to encourage followers he offers a free jpg of one of his images which can be printed at 8x10, downloadable in the first 3 days after posting. His enthusiasm and love of photography is apparent, and his blog has helped his career no end; indeed, it was featured in an article in the BJP recently about the benefits of social media. (Which is well worth a read if you are into this subject. It is a thorough study on the benefits of all social media, including facebook and twitter etc, and can be found here)

Emma Case Photography

Emma Case is one of my favourite wedding photographers. She has taken much of her inspiration from American and Australian style of shooting, creating photographs with a retro feel to them (and you should all know by now – if you are out there?! – that I love all that stuff). She updates her blog regularly with recent weddings or engagements pics she has shot, along with her impression of the day and of the couple. And her impressions are always so positive, so joyous, that you can almost feel the emotion of the occasion. And this is the reason for her success… she obviously cares for the couples she works with, and she obviously loves her job. She comes across as happy and approachable, which probably sells her product as much as the quality of her images.

Tong Blog

Rather confusing, this address, as it's very similiar to the famous Alec Soth blog (which should be featured on here too… but I figure enough of cyperspace is dedicated to him already). Kurt is a great photographer who can also write well; unfortunately he doesn’t write enough! He talks about his own work as well as reflecting on the place of photography in society and his experiences in Hong Kong. All interesting stuff… more please Kurt!

There are loads of other great blogging photographers, which have either slipped my mind right now or which I have yet to find. And there are certainly loads of good blogs and webzines about photography by curators, picture editors, etc (some of my faves are listed on the right). Blogs written by photographers serve to add a little personality to a name and a portfolio, which is no bad thing, as well as giving them much needed exposure on the web.

As to whether people read them, though, who knows?

If you do, give me a nod. There’s more I want to say… and it’s nice to know you’re there!

Little London Observationist

2010-09-05T19:15:00.004+01:00

My work was featured on Little London Observationist last Sunday. Run by Stephanie Sadler, her blog does exactly what it says on the tin; provides snippets of observations in and around London. Each Sunday, she features an artist who lives and works in this mighty capital city; and last week I was the chosen one.

The images are really pixelated, for some reason, but I was very happy to be asked and honoured to be part of what is becoming a great archive of London-based artists... thanks Stephanie!

FOUND!

2010-09-01T12:05:00.002+01:00

I found those negs! Of what I thought was going to be the last day of Summer, in Hyde Park...

Lost not found

2010-08-22T18:45:00.007+01:00

This blog post was gonna be featuring some dreamy pics I took in the park the other day, on my newly repaired Mamiya 6. Photos of my friends dog, sunshine through the trees, the new Pavilion at the Serpentine... the negs looked great. But then I left them on my desk at work; never to be seen again.

So instead, here are some dreamy pics from my holiday. Also taken with something which has recently disappeared from my possession; my iphone. I miss the iphone. But mainly I miss the Hipstamatic app. As a big fan of all things polaroid and olde, I believe this is the nearest digital technology has come to recreating the same feel. And it's so nicely designed...I especially love the colours and curvey corners...

Brixton People @ Brixton Splash

2010-08-02T23:26:00.005+01:00

Yesterday I was invited to set up my pop-up studio at the Brixton Splash, a festival celebrating the cultural diversity of the area. And so I did... slightly different to Brixton People, as I was outside, so I adjusted my lighting and crop accordingly. But the people of Brixton still love to be photographed, and boy do they have style!

More to come... and many thanks to my beautiful assistants Hydar and Maja...

Les Voies Off

2010-07-30T10:29:00.000+01:00

As with any good festival, there is also a Fringe Festival in Arles. This is entitled Voies Off, and holds many smaller exhibitions and events in the old town which are free. Many of the shows which are curated in “dead” spaces (disused shops, garages, etc) form part of the Fringe, as do the shows in cafés and bars. The Thursday night of the first week is Nuit de la Roquette; a night of projections, talks, private views and events surrounding Rue de la Roquette, and all part of the Fringe festival.

I think the best thing about this part of the festival for me was the projections. Often curated to a theme (such as work, or desire) each projection shows the work of perhaps 10 photographers, accompanied to music (which is often live). It is a chance for emerging photographers to be involved and seen, and there was some very good work. (I had written down some names but they were in my notebook which was in my bag which got stolen last weekend – bummer)

The other inspiring thing about this festival was the use of space (and I know I keep banging on about this!) Check this out – a woman put a ladder outside her window with a sign inviting us to go up and peer in. Inside, there she was doing her washing up, with a great big photo over her sink. (I’m sure the washing up wasn’t part of any so called “performance” – she was just going about her daily business!)

So that’s it for Arles until next year. I will definitely be going again. For anyone fascinated about photography, it’s not to be missed.

The Analogue Trail

2010-07-23T11:32:00.001+01:00

With my passion for photobooths and Polaroid cameras, this was surely the theme I was most interested in. And it didn’t disappoint. Following the recent bankruptcy ofthe Polaroid Coporation in 2008, and the recent sale of the Polaroid Collection at Sotheby's, there seemed quite a nostalgia for the instant film and it was honoured in a timely fashion. The Espace Van Gogh had a selection from the Polaroid collection which is held by the Musee de l’Elysee in Lausanne, featuring polaroids by Ansel Adams, Andy Warhol and other big names. As part of the fringe festival, there was a small show in a bar, of polaroids taken using the new film produced by The Impossible Project, an organisation trying to recreate instant film in a more ecological manner. It was interesting to see the results of their film; very subdued, pastel colours, and still that wonderful eerie feel.(The film is onsale at the Photographer’s Gallery in London; it’s expensive, but I think it’s worth supporting their enterprise).

The Analogue trail also included a retrospective of the work of Italian photographer Mario Giacomelli, his wonderfully high contrast black and white images still full of life after all these years. Also included was the collection of Marin Karvitz, the tycoon behind the French cinema chain MK2. Typically very cinematic in feel, the photographers in his collection ranged from film directors such as Abbas Kiriiostami and Chris Marker, to installationists such as Annette Messager and Christian Boltanski, to classic black ad white photographs by Doisneau, Sugimoto, and Kertesz.

But THE highlight of the festival was an exhibition entitled Shoot! This was based on an old fairground game, in which the punter shoots at a target, and if he gets the bullseye, his photograph gets taken. A German woman, Ria Van Dyke, has played this game each year since 1936 (with a break between 1939 – 1945, for obvious reasons). She would give herself 10 shots, and every year she got her picture. The result is a record through time – of trends, fashions, and photographic technology, as polaroids come in in the early 60’s. And throughout all this time she doesn’t change (apart from the signs of age)… her posture remains exactly the same. A wonderful series of portraits which was collected by Erik Kessels and made into a book, perhaps a little prematurely as the woman is still alive and could have another go (although sadly in 2009 she missed her target in her allotted 10 shots).

Ria van Dyke in later years. Interestingly, with the advance in technology there is the demise in quality of the print.

The rest of the exhibition showed a collection of artists who were inspired by this idea of shooting yourself (which is essentially what is happening here). Swiss artist Rudlof Steiner set up a row of pinhole cameras (without the hole), only to fire at them in order to make the hole and expose the negative. The final video installation by Christian Marclay was also amazing; a screen on each of 4 walls, each showing snippets from films of gangsters loading their guns. The build up is slow, the sounds very loud, you hear (before you see because it’s hard to tell which screen is going to show something next) the bullets going into the guns, the cocking of the safety catch… this builds up and builds up until BANG! You are caught in the crossfire as the villains shoot to the opposite screen. Hard to explain, and I hope you get a sort of sense of it… one of the only video art pieces I’ve seen which I've been really engaged with.

To the left, is a model of what the set up in the fairground would have looked like. A 5x4 camera! The mind boggles... there must have been a little man in the back quickly developing the print and printing it. To the right, an example of Rudolf Steiner's pinhole work.

And then, to culminate this wonderful exhibition, there was a chance at playing the Shooting game yourself. I had 4 tries… and managed it on the final one. Not sure how, as there is no hole in the bullseye of my target – a fluke ricochet no doubt. But I’m happy – I never knew I could look so concentrated.

The Rock Trail

2010-07-21T22:11:00.006+01:00

I am not a big fan of music photography, although I am a big fan of music. I think maybe I don’t know enough about it (the photography, I mean)… and to be honest there wasn't much that sparked my interest.

Although it did include one of the highlights of the festival for me; an exhibition of the portraits taken of Mick Jagger, apparently the most photographed artist, from his first shoot at the age of 19 to the present day. Seeing a series of maybe 50 portraits depicting the same face over time was quite incredible. It becomes a record of fashions through the ages – not only clothes and hair but also the styles of the photographs and what visual imagery was considered on trend. The show was a collection of the most famous names in the business; Anton Corbijn, Terry O’Neill, Cecil Beaton, to name but a few. Interestingly, David Bailey didn’t want to include his famous portrait of Mick in a fur hoodie, surely one of the most iconic images of the singer. Also, there were supposed to be quite few portraits by Annie Liebowitz, which were not there; I couldn’t help wondering if this was a reflection of her current financial situation.

But the best thing about this show was the way it was curated. In an enormous church on the main street, you had to go through a dark corridor before the cburch opened up before you, images adorning the walls in a somewhat haphazard fashion, lit from below. It was truly awe-inspiring, and perhaps, on reflection, it helped to idolise ol’ Mick.

The rest of the Rock trail was in the Ateliers, in an exhibition I sort of whizzed through as I had to get somewhere else. Accompanied by snippets of sounds from the punk era, including radio shows as well as the music itself, it managed to bring together both photographs of bands (concert pics as well as posed portraits for album covers or other commercial means) as well as work which was inspired by the punk era. Things I noted was a lovely display of artwork for one of David Bowie’s albums (love the picture resting on pink buckets), a wapping great typo under a portrait of the wonderful Susan Sontag, and some interesting collages by fellow Mancunian Linder Sterling.

The Argentinian Trail

2010-07-20T22:37:00.001+01:00

Guest of Honour at this year’s festival was Argentinian artist Leon Ferrari. The exhibition was situated in a church on the main central square in Arles, a perfect location for his work, which is often a scornful comment on religion or politics. In pride of place at the altar of the church was hung a crucifix unlike any other; a figure of Christ as if crucified onto an American warplane. Other works continued in much the same vein, much of the time with use of press photographs or postcards to make up a satirical photograph. Mice and cats featured heavily too…

Unfortunately pictures in the church were forbidden - this crucifix is taken from the web, and doesn't do it justice. It's position at the alter was quite amazing.

Just across the square from this show was an exhibition of photographs taken by Leon’s father, Augusto Ferrari. A photographer in the turn of the 20th century, his work was mainly large format photographs of theatre sets and actors and actresses. Although interesting from a historical context, it was more the environment of this exhibition which was fascinating… a beautiful cloister with ancient tapastries hung on the walls.

More Argentinian photographers were featured in one of the warehouses in the Parc des Ateliers, a cluster of warehouses a short walk from the city centre where trains used to be built (and stored). These buildings are ideal spaces for exhibitions – large and spacious, floating walls can be erected in any manner of ways to create ideal spaces for the work.

Out of this selection of young Argentinian photographers, my favourite by far was a project entitled Mothers of the Disappeared by Marcos Adandia. This project is a series of black and white portraits of elderly women who lost their children during the dictatorship the late 1970’s. As a signal of solidarity and protest, they cover their heads with white linen; a tradition which still occurs to this day. The simplicity and poignancy of this protest is reflected in these portraits, which also portray the sadness and loss. There is a quest here for social justice and human rights, while also honouring the bond of a mother’s love.

Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of this project either, which was wonderfully displayed on a curved wall at the entrance to the exhibition. Instead, here is a pic of the Parc des Ateliers... seemingly desolate, but full of treasures:

Les Rencontres d'Arles

2010-07-19T20:21:00.014+01:00

A week ago I got back from Les Rencontres d’Arles, one of the biggest and oldest Photography Festivals in the world. And I was bowled over – it truly is amazing.

Arles is a beautiful town in Provence, its Roman history still apparent in the old town, which is complete with Arena and Roman Amphitheatre. For 2 months during the Summer, the town is dedicated to Photography – exhibitions crop up everywhere; disused warehouses, churches, bars and restaurants, empty shops… not to mention the projections which go on at night, at the Amphitheatre, in squares and in the streets.

The first week is that of the Rencontres (or “Meetings”); that is, a week for professional photographers or enthusiasts to meet one another and network. Seminars and conferences are held outside in a leafy square, portfolio reviews take place for those who can afford them, and every time you go for a beer you bump into a famous face from the industry.

It is apt that the first Rencontres I go to has the logo of a Rhino. Ever since playing a bit part in Ionesco's Absurdist play Rhinoceros while studying French at uni, I have been somewhat obsessed with these animals. Needless to say I bought the t-shirt.

It was for the Rencontres that I was there – in a rather budget fashion, camping just up the road. But this was also a great opportunity to meet other photographers from around the world – Eva Schwimmer and Holger R Weimann from Austria, whose project about Cosplay re-enactors takes them all over the word, fellow Londoner Andy Sewell, whose book The Heath is about to be published, as well as many photography enthusiasts from Germany and other parts of France.

Camping also meant that we got to pass this every night. A huge projection (or was it screening?) on the roof of an old warehouse, of waves tumbling against the shore.

The website says there are 60 exhibitions; in the week I was there I didn’t get to see every one. But the ones I did see were very inspirational – if not because of the work then because of the way the show was curated. The use of space (both dedicated exhibition space and “dead” space) was wonderful, a revelation to me. In the following few blog posts, I will break down my account of the festival into the way that it itself was broken down; exhibitions were curated under three themes: the Argentinian trail, the Rock trail, and the Analogue trail.

Bite! Magazine

2010-05-28T13:11:00.001+01:00

Brixton People was featured on Bite! magazine last Sunday... thanks to Julie for recommending me!

Renaissance

2010-04-26T21:01:00.003+01:00

On Wednesday night, I was honoured with the task of photographing the Renaissance Photography prize. Renaissance was set up 3 years ago by Fiona Gifford, who suffered from breast cancer at the age of 34. Impressed by the support she received from the Lavender Trust, she was inspired to give something back, and she dreamt up the amazing idea of a photography competition and exhibition. All entry fees to the competition, and proceeds from print sales, go to the Lavender Trust at Breast Cancer Care. Over the last 3 years it has raised an impressive £94,000 for the charity.

The event was at the Hospital Club, and it was a very swanky affair...

FLIPpin 'eck!

2010-04-19T21:54:00.005+01:00

God that's a terrible pun... but I couldn't resist! My work is on the front cover of FLIP, the new look magazine of London Independent Photography, with an 8 page feature and interview inside...

You can get hold of a copy at The Photographer's Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, The Serpentine Gallery (Koenig Books) and Viewfinder in Greenwich.

Turning the clocks back... for a hairstyle shoot.

2010-02-19T08:32:00.005Z

Shooting on location on one of the rainiest days of the year... for a hairstyle shoot! But with many thanks to the owner of the Golden Hind in Marylebone, good things came of it...

Hair and stylist: Leigh Keates, from Michael van Clarke
Model: Jobe from Bookings Agency.

Valentine's Day 2010

2010-02-14T23:22:00.005Z

This years instalment of the Valentine's Day project... this time at Columbia Road flower market.More from the series can be seen here.

Brixton People: Day 4

2010-01-29T21:10:00.004Z

There's nothing more to say... I am still as overwhelmed as ever, and people keep on coming to have their picture taken. What gets me is the people who have probably never entered an art gallery in their lives, and yet they are totally mesmerised by the pictures on the wall, making insightful comments about what they see... I am so happy that I am giving this to the people of Brixton. I will miss them.

Brixton People: Day 3

2010-01-28T20:59:00.003Z

Another successful day down a the market... and the show is getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger...

Brixton People: Day 2

2010-01-27T18:11:00.004Z

Another overwhelmingly successful day in Brixton Market... again, many thanks to my fabulous assistants Portia and Andrea, and to all of yesterdays people who spread the word and brought their friends today. I already have 60 photos which has exceeded my expectations of what I was going to achieve the whole week! So the exhibition on Saturday will be big... and why let it stop there? I am plotting...

Brixton People: Day 1

2010-01-26T18:09:00.005Z

Woo! Day 1 done of Brixton People project. And boy, was it fun! We had such a good turn out... thank you thank you thank you to my assistants Leo and Chereise, and to all you wonderful Brixton People who make such beautiful models!

My name in lights

2010-01-23T12:59:00.006Z

Preparation for Brixton People is fast underway... last night I spent the evening painting polyboards black to use as killspills, have managed to find assistants to help out, email invite out, facebook event up, flyers made....

and the project is in the South London Press!

So I'm getting very excited... please do come down and say hi, have your picture taken and partake in the delights of the newly revamped Brixton Village. I'll be there from Tuesday to Saturday, 11 - 5pm.

Walking on Clouds

2010-01-20T17:29:00.010Z

I have just entered the following images to the very worthy Renaissance Prize, where proceeds go to the Lavender Trust. The title Walking on Clouds is from this beautiful quote:

When there's snow on the ground, I like to pretend I'm walking on clouds.

And that's exactly how I feel in the snow. I just love it!

Brixton People

2010-01-16T15:49:00.004Z

Welcome to 2010!

2010-01-12T16:00:00.005Z

So, a new year... a year of glamour, of change and of exciting new projects. A year which began amoungst the snow in Scotland...

Hulaboogie Christmas

2009-12-29T14:41:00.000Z

Just before Christmas, I was invited to photograph Big Boy Bloater's final gig, which was held at the award winning Hulaboogie at South London Pacific. An amazing evening, if a little sad...

More images can be seen here. And I'm back there next month to celebrate the 7th anniversary of Hulaboogie, with an exclusive show from Ray Collins Hot Club with Mike Sanchez. Watch this space for pics.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-22T22:04:00.002Z

Brixton People

2009-12-09T15:14:00.004Z

I have an exciting new project coming up; I have been awarded the opportunity to create a pop-up studio in the heart of Brixton Village, courtesy of SpaceMakers Agency, and in collaboration with Lambeth Council. From 25 – 31 January, I will become a resident photographer at Unit 45 of the Brixton Village arcade. During this residency, I intend to create a body of photographs which encapsulates the population of Brixton, challenging the genre of street photography with the use of a pop-up studio.

Passers by will be invited into the makeshift photographic studio to have their portrait taken. The backdrop and lighting set up will remain consistent, to ensure that the focus of the portrait is on the sitter’s facial expression, their clothes, the way they stand and what they are carrying. Inspired by projects such as Exactitudes by Ari Versluis and Ellie Uyttenbroek, as well as the Brixton Street Studio by Alison Locke and Chris Anderson, the resulting photographs are a study of the inhabitants of Brixton; a series of portraits of people from diverse cultures and walks of life, united by where they live.

The shoots will take place in the afternoon; in the mornings, I will work on the images I have taken the day before, and print them in house. The prints will be pinned to the walls, so as the week progresses, an exhibition will build up. Sitters will be invited back to see their photograph, while new participants will be encouraged to pose for my camera. It is important for me that I involve the community, by encouraging them to participate in creating their own photographs.

Participants will be offered a free print in return for their time, and the whole series will be put on a website so that the exhibition can continue long after the residency ends. The body of work will encapsulate the demographic of Brixton in 2010, and be a record of this vibrant and diverse community.

Come down and see me if you're in the area!

A little decadence...

2009-09-28T19:21:00.005+01:00

Haven't posted on here for ages, but am going to more and more now. And have back dated quite a bit of what I've been up to over the Summer... quite a few weddings, a craft event at John Jones, and some other bits and pieces... do scroll down and take a look.

On Saturday I went to the Grand Vintage Ball at the beautiful Rivoli ballroom. I had been there before, but once again I was dazzled at the beauty of this place... it's like stepping back in time. I have to get onto the people there to make some pictures - I have tried before but I was met with stoney reception. At least this time I had free reign, but concentrated on the guests; who were dressed in finery which dated from 20's to 80's...

There was a vintage dress pageant...

followed by much dancing...
More images can be seen here.

And I took some with my Rolleiflex TLR. Here's hoping they come out. And if they do, this'll be where you see them first.

4 July

2009-07-10T15:41:00.004+01:00

Another wedding I was commissioned to do was that of the lovely Fiona and Nick, who got married at Strelley Hall near Nottingham. A truly beautiful day in a beautiful venue:

More images can be seen here

An Indian Spring

2009-05-01T19:47:00.008+01:00

I was very lucky to be the chosen photographer for Nick and Neelum's wedding, at Painshill Park on the 25th April. My first Indian wedding, and I was bowled over by the colours, the rituals, and a very beautiful venue:

A little strobist practice

2009-03-30T21:12:00.005+01:00

Tonight I had a little Strobist practice... photographs of teddy bears I have owned. Some have been with me almost all my 30 years....

Women in Photography; South of the River

2009-03-08T12:16:00.008Z

An image from Le Bain is being exhibited the Lewisham Arthouse as part of International Women's week. More details can be found here.

And it has been picked up by the press here.

Valentine's Day

2009-02-19T15:59:00.006Z

Every Valentine's Day, I take photographs of people in the street who are holding a bunch of flowers. It all started off 4 years ago, when I was single, and I especially noticed how many people succumb to the commercial side of the day, and buy flowers for their partner. The following year, I began the project. Every year I learn, and every year my portraits are getting better. This year I shot on digital for the first time, with an off camera flash. As it was Saturday, I also spent the whole day at it; and it paid off. Here are a selection of the results: More can be seen here.

Xmas Pics

2009-02-10T15:35:00.004Z

Every second Monday of the month, I meet with a group of girls with whom I did my MA. It is a great way to get feedback on a project we are working on, talk about different opportunities and generally chat about photography. Before Christmas, in an attempt to break the inertia the festive season tends to bring, we set ourselves a mini project. We were to take a photograph on the hour of each hour of Christmas Day. Here are just a few of the results of my day, taken on my new(ish) Contax T2:

Printing 60 Year Old Negs

2009-01-12T16:12:00.009Z

When clearing out the house of their late mother almost 2 years ago, my half brothers' found some old 6x6 black and white negatives, still in their Kodak envelope. They gave them to me to contact, and we discovered they belonged to Dad; a record of his time as a Doctor in Malaya (as it was known then), just after the war. Dad was born in 1927 (he is still fighting fit!), and was excused military service during World War II as he was studying medicine at Guys in London. Instead, he was stationed in Malaya shortly after the war had finished. These negs have been in my possession now for 2 years, and I have only just got round to printing them. They have been well kept, but have the scratches and marks which one would expect after over 60 years. Even so, they printed remarkably well. Here is a selection - Dad is the tall skinny character. There are plenty more where they came from so watch this space!

Flashy Halloween

2008-11-11T15:50:00.004Z

I am falling in love with flash. Here are a few surprises from Halloween night...

Studio

2008-11-10T14:40:00.004Z

Thanks to those of you who made it to see Earthly Treasures at the London Independent Photography exhibition. There is a book to accompany the show, which can be bought here.

The month of October has been a busy one for me... I am plotting a couple of projects, details of which I will post on here when they are more concrete. The major thing is that I now have a studio to work in. I am sharing with a photographer and friend Millie Burton (www.millieburton.com). Watch this space for updates!

The Beginning

2008-09-24T14:01:00.004+01:00

I am excited to announce that my new work, Earthly Treasures has been selected for the London Independent Photographer's 20th Annual Exhibition. The exhibition will be held at Cotton's Atrium, Tooley Street (nearest tube London Bridge) from 19th October - 2nd November. A map can be found here: www.london-se1.co.uk/places/cottons-atrium/map. There is no private view as such but do let me know if you go and what you think of the project - it feels so good to be doing something new once again and I want as much feedback as possible!