Art and Architecture - Kielder Water and Forest Park
Cat Cairn Sky Space, james Turrell (2000)
Inspired by the programme by Dr James Fox (2016) on land art in the forest, sea and sky, when I came across this sculpture not far from the cycle trail, I had to go and have a look. Approached through a tunnel, the visitor enters the circular viewing room. The space is meditative, bringing the sky to the skylight, exposed to the elements although the observer is protected from them. It provides a good place to watch changing conditions away from distractions such as trees. On the website, the visitor is The visitor is reminded that "visitors are reminded that this is by its very nature, an individual experience, and no two people will 'see' the same thing". (Kielder Art and Architecture, 2016)
This links to my comments and development following Exercise 2.5, Text in Art.
http://nicolahampshirelandscape.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/text-in-art_19.html
Reference
Forest, Field and Sky; Art out of nature. (2016) BBC4. 8th May. 20:00hrs
Kielder Art and Architecture (2016) Cat Cairn: The Kielder Sky Space. Available from: http://kielderartandarchitecture.com/art-architecture/cat-cairn-the-kielder-skyspace.html [last accessed 17/09/2016]
Silvas Capitalis, Simparch, (2009)
My mobile phone does not do this sculpture justice in the photograph. All the images I have seen are with the head quite a bright yellow. Using Urry's tourist gaze, I set about using a bicycle light to light the inside to see if we could make it shine from the inside given the damp, dull weather conditions that we had in order to recreate what I had seen in the trail guide. having decided that it wouldn't work, we enjoyed the sculpture for what it was - "a watcher, an imagined presence who has observed the passing occupation of the landscape over past millennia and how the environment has dramatically changed during the last one hundred years with the coming of the forest and more recently the lake."
This fits into my assignment 5 theme of revisiting the land after 1000 years, except that this is a permanent feature and mine was ephemeral. Over this course, I have begun to see the artists statement as a way of understanding the context or artists intentions behind the image (or landscape scupture) and perhaps the more I take note of them the easier the language will become when it comes to writing mine in the future.
Kielder Art and Architecture(2009) Silvas Capitalis. Available from: http://kielderartandarchitecture.com/art-architecture/silvas-capitalis.html [last accessed 17/09/2016]
Viewpoints, Tania Kovats, (1998)
The sculpture is on the water's edge, just visible to the left of the left small tree on the shoreline. The track was too boggy to make it accessible. This sculpture is all about looking at the picturesque view. The tourist gaze springs to mind once again, although the irony here is that the viewpoint on the other bank has been removed, so the viewer can't find what they are being "told" to look at.(There is another pair of sculptures further on around the lake, which sit opposite each other).
New Pastoral paradigms
OCA Landscape Symposium
Bank Street Arts, Sheffield.
23rd July 2016
Jesse Alexander (OCA Photography Course Leader) presented an introduction to New Pastoral Paradigms. His definition is that pastoral images are varied and can include romantic expressions such as Casper Friedrich (1818) "Wanderer over a sea of fog" and cultural concerns such as the photographers Edward Burtynsky and Mark Power. Landscape photographs should be critical whether urban or rural and pastoral paintings are ingrained in landscape ideals. Similarities run through pastoral landscapes e.g. man-made features, figures, trees, animals. Figures in the landscape vary in size from Claude Lorrain's small figures, Jean Francois Millet's medium sized figures to James Ravilious and Peter Henry Emerson's large figures. We leave the fluffy white clouds of pastoral behind and start to see the darker side of the landscape with Albrecht Tubke (Dalliendorf 1990's realistic village life), John Darwell (Dark Days 2002 Foot and Mouth epidemic), Keith Arnatt (AONB 1982 (Gilpin country)) to Andy Sewell's "Something like a nest" (2014) looking at the liminal (boundary) space between domestic and farmland.
Other themes JA explored were around identity; exploring urban and rural areas, communication - adverts on phone boxes in rural areas and the speed at which changes evolve.
Early literature referenced around the pastoral landscape was Hesiod's Work and Days (c700BC), Virgil's Ecologues (c42-39BC) and Georgics (c37-29BC). Christopher Marlowe - The Nymph and the Shepherd and Sir Walter Raleigh's response.
JA discussed images such as Peter Kennard's (1980) political take on the Haywain with cruise missiles, Jo Spence and Terry Dennet's Victimisation, Fay Goodwin's Our Forbidden Land (1990), both regarding ownership and Ingrid Pollard's pastoral Interlude (1988) myth of collective ideas, John Davies (2011) Remembrance Sunday in Liverpool with ongoing signs of war, reproduction stills of Withnail and I by Murray Close (1986) Dir. Bruce Robinson and Simon Roberts (2004) Devil's Dyke, South Downs looking at romance.
As a landscape student, I found this a useful recap of landscape photography, with the introductions to a few photographers and painters I hadn't come across, noted for further research. I found the literacy references interesting and it prompted me to revisit Washington Irving's work in relation to my Assignment 6.
The Nymph and the Shepherd
JA took one photo every week for the Bank Street Arts residency. Photos displayed around the room using small magnets similar to those in the Hepworth for Martin Parr's exhibition.
Books to read:
John Barrell -The dark side of the landscape: the rural poor in English paintings 1730-1846
Paul Farley and Michael Symmonds Roberts - Edgelands (read)
Terry Clifford - Pastoral
Stephen Siddal - Landscape and Literature
JA's websites:
www.thenymphandtheshepherd.com
www.perspectivesonplace.com
Discussion points
political - EU subsidies for farmers. What happens next? (Brexit)
camera club type images - what sells but not what the land is like.
John Umney (OCA student HE6) "I keep looking for Him - I think I always will"
Uses landscape to reflect on memory and autobiography. Project based in a place called Purgatory. Conversation with memory. Had family conversation about construction of memory. Similarities - Barthes - Camera Lucida (mother photograph). Dante's purgatory is like John's purgatory.
It took John I hour to walk to Purgatory. Chose days where sun did not shine. Cold. Made several images. Trying to find punctum in viewfinder. John changed the way he practiced. Handheld camera. Used own memory for text as it fitted better than using standard written text which was fragmented. Visited Ashmolean museum to find out how to photograph historic artifacts such as his father's jewelry.
Shame the screen was so bright. Did not do some of the images justice. Presented as a slide show, AV with family's voices repeating the same phrase on the same piece of running water and photographs in a wooden box.
Really useful to see what HE6 students achieve and how theory is linked to practice.
Christina Stohn Paradise Lost and Sehnsucht
Commercial photographer specialising in interior and still life photography.
Paradise Lost is an ongoing series about estrangement, alienation and tourist cliches in the Black Forest. Of revisiting her homeland with a different pair of eyes.
Sehnsucht (yearning) - examines space in a flux. Romney Marsh, Kent. Proximity to the continent and yet along way from home. Emotional landscape. Distance and longing.
Entwurzelt - uprooted (earlier work). Storm in a forest likened to feeling of not belonging.
Inspired by a couple of books:
Lucy Lippard -The Altered Landscape
Liz Wells - Land Matters
Michael Ivanowski Clear of People and Minus the Mother
Clear of people - Recreation of his grandfather and great uncle's escape journey from a POW camp in Russia to return home, over 2200km at night. Recreation in daytime but looking at same landscape, buildings as described in journals. Forest -no time or space signifiers. Working out own relationship to the space traversed by relatives.
How authentic? Fugitive? Different stresses? Planning. Relatives were surviving the elements. Artist's statement important to sell the story, inspire viewers. Interested in what happened to the ordinary people of the war. National identity - How do other countries react to work like this? e.g Russia likes to be portrayed as a powerhouse, not a poor country. Book due out soon. Sounds interesting. Journal inside the pictures. Presentation. Book printing had numerous problems.
Minus the Mother - Exploring "anticipatory grief". Photos made over a 2 year period. Questioning, discussing subjects which may not ordinarily be toughed on. Generating an understanding of his mother's life. Interesting photo of snails on mother's feet! Mother becomes smaller and blends into the landscape as he nears the end of the project although mother is alive and well.
Hanna Katrina Jedrosz - I feel every stone of the road
Installation with audio from Grandma and self mixed together. Grandmother (20) fought in the underground movement in Poland. Imprisoned in POW camps in Germany and Poland during WW2 she kept journals with which Hanna was able to plan a journey to visit the POW camps and take photographs. Several photos, music score put together specially for the piece. Sounded raw, metallic, like being on a train. Fitted well with the photographs. Length of time photographs were shown for was fairly short, kept moving, encourages viewer to look again. How much of images is in focus? Does it matter? Not straight? Illustrating life of a 20 year old. Adds to the story. Voice of Hanna - older than that of her grandmother?
Inspired by Robert McFarlane - Walking and photography in the landscape
Annie Prolux - Postcards
Reflection from the day - revisit Assignment 6 AV presentation, re-reading Washington Irving's book. He describes the landscape as it was at the time of his visit (journalistic). Use the literature and blend it with modern day?
Further personal research
McFarlane,R. (2015) The eeriness of the English countryside. The Guardian, 10th April. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/apr/10/eeriness-english-countryside-robert-macfarlane [last accessed 9th August 2016]
Researching McFarlane's work, I found this article in the Guardian online which lists several works of music, film, folklore and instillation which describe the landscape as pastoral paradigms. I was interested especially in Ben Wheatley's (2013) film, "A field in England", in which "high" Civil War deserters hunt for treasure buried in a field in a rural village, and Mark Fisher and Justin Barton's (2013) On Vanishing Land, 45 minute audio essay on an 18 mile walk in Suffolk,( which I was unable to locate). However, the search led me to Barton's (2015) book , Hidden Valleys: Haunted by the future which sounds an interesting read. Now I have nearly reached the end of the course, my initial ideas on the depiction of the landscape have changed and I found an area that I can associate with.
Gathered Leaves Alec Soth and Somewhere to Disappear
National Media Museum Bradford
13th June 2016
I looked at this exhibition with a focus on Alec's photobooks and newspapers, and I was interested to note that the presentation of photographs changed for each area of the exhibition. I actually visited the galleries in the wrong chronological order; the flow was designed to start at the upper level and walk down as if going into the cave; an element taken from his Broken Manual work. Signposting was an element of gallery design that I had not previously considered until this week, although I had found myself questioning our entry point to the gallery in the Hepworth as we walked into Martin Parr's work.
I found Broken Manual a fascinating piece of creative work. Soth takes on an alter ego called Lester B Morrison and sets out on a journey to find hermits and recluses and includes within the book a manual to help people who wish to escape from society learn how not to be found. This includes pieces on growing hair and beards so that DNA is not traceable. Within the book, small books are included. Having looked at the book, I was left to question how well his subjects had conformed to his rules. I later learnt that some images were fantasy such as the landscape with disco ball. I had questioned who this was representing, or whether it was a reflection of self?
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| (https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/424886546065507942/ accessed June 2016) |
There were a couple of occasions at the beginning where I felt uncomfortable, such as the way he questioned the first chap and didn't seem to listen to the chap's answers; perhaps being driven to find what it was he was looking for as it was early days in the project/film and as it wasn't quite what he wanted he was in a hurry to rush on? I think as he began to find the material he needed and came to terms with his journey, his relationships with his subjects changed, until at the end of the film he has found what he had been searching for for himself. So as well as it being a photographic body of work, it was also a personal project.
I was interested in the photo newspaper stories produced by Alec Soth, in particular the way it looked more like a photobook than a newspaper, but told the story of his and Brad's (his writer) escapades to capture the story.
It ties in with how much writing I should include on the page for assignment 5, where should captions go - left, right, centre, or plate indexes, page numbers or not? Throughout this and the Martin Parr exhibition I have kept my Assignment 5 and 6 in mind to help formulate some ideas. I had looked at blurb videos and planned it out so I understood a little of what I may be able to achieve.
I looked at Sleeping by the Misissipi for part 2 of this course so it was great to see these pictures in front of me. The above 2 landscape photographs reminded me of the work of Justin Partyka, although revisiting his work I think perhaps it is because he seeks out rural farming families who have not embraced technology and are not connected to the modern world.
I had not come across the Niagara photographs. I thought these worked well with his bodies of work. I started thinking about personal voice as something which comes through all his bodies of work as an artist. I especially liked the notes in the above book on Niagara. I took lots of inspiration and ideas away from this exhibition and thought the film and talk put the exhibition into context, enabling me to take more from it that just seeing the exhibition.
References
Partyka, J. (2011) Field Work [online].Available from: http://www.justinpartyka.com/#/photographs/field-work/EA001-ms [30th June 2016]
Soth, A. (2006) Niagara. Little Brown Mushroom Publishing Company: Minnesota
Soth, A. and Zellar, B. (2012) Upstate. 1st Edition, Little Brown Mushroom Publishing Company: Minnesota
The Rhubarb Triangle and Other Stories. Martin Parr.
The Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield
8th June 2016
Rhubarb
I visited this exhibition with Hazel just before the exhibition closed. We were a little confused as the order of the exhibition, and a friendly gallery assistant talked us through the order of the galleries. Photography was allowed and an important feature was the children's "to do" leaflets. These were well thought out and adults were interested in them too. They asked thought provoking questions about images such as Thumper's Quarry: What do you think is happening in the photograph? What time of year is it? What do you think happened next? What do you think the stone is used for? The sheet then asks the child to choose another photograph and use the same questions. In this way the child starts to engage with the photographs. I thought this was something which may be useful to me when staging an exhibition.
Autoportraits
This collection of photographs are different sizes, shapes and colours and work well as a collection of portraits. It shows changing styles of portraiture and how some occasions require a professional photograph (although these days it is usual to see people taking a similar photograph to the professional photographer on their mobile phones - e.g weddings)
The sheds are really dark meaning there is alot of movement captured within the photograph. The colour of the images is striking, which is picked up in his book which has pink pages for the documentary.
The whole story is documented, from the farm, to the tours by Lincoln WI, to prize giving for the growers, promoting the rhubarb at a farmer's market, judging show produce made from rhubarb and foods made from rhubarb. Photographs were pinned with small magnets which we questioned the staff about. The metal strips are already in the walls. This was the first time we had seen this method of attaching the unframed prints to the wall. It looked contemporary and was something to consider in the future. Cost - ctype prints - how much damage - messy fingers - cleaning. Display - different sized photographs. Logical sequence of Rhubarb story.
There was a seating area containing a film and several photo books on display to read and thumb through. A good discussion point and lots of inspiration and justifications for the photo book exercise - in particular in my case looking at how to link fact and fiction together. I did like the Joel Meyerowitz book.
Inside page of Martin Parr's "The Rhubarb Triangle and Other Stories." Inspiration for the acknowledgements and copyright page of my book. This was at the front of Martin Parr's book - another discussion point raised.
Emerge Photofest - Nottingham Trent University BA Photography Final Exhibitions
Nottingham
4th June 2016
This was a whistle stop tour of a couple exhibitions as I like to see what students at Nottingham Trent University exhibit for their final degree show and use it as a benchmark to see if I can identify with the current themes as well as sometimes showing the local landscape in a different light.
This exhibition was upstairs in a clothing shop which made it feel like a gallery as you were aware of the few shoppers downstairs. Talk in hushed voices. CCTV camera in the corner. Creaky floorboards. Felt like you were being watched.
The weather had been really hot and one students work was not adhering very well to the display board. One exhibitor had produced a fashion newspaper with her images. I had noticed that Blurb will print newspapers (bear in mind for future reference).
Across the road is another gallery. I was taken with Selma Paavola's work called "After Death". "This documentary explores the spaces behind the journey of the body after death and helps us to understand the unfamiliar processes behind preparing the body for its final rest. The aim is to celebrate death as a natural part of our existence in a society that doesn’t like to confront its sense of mortality." Selma Paavola (2016)
I thought the images of the were fascinating; perhaps because of the similarities to my job as a Operating Theatre Nurse and my studies on Roadside Memorials for Assignment 1.
Emerge (2016) After Death. Available from: http://emergephotofest.com/selmapaavola [last accessed 16/09/2016]
Joan Fontcuberta, The world begins with every kiss (2014)
Placa d' Isidre Nonel, Ciutat Vella, Barcelona
2nd June 2016
Whilst on holiday in Barcelona, I came across a leaflet of 50 free things to do listing the mural by Joan Fontcuberta. Having studied his work as part of the course and relating it to Assignment 3, it was on my "must see" tourist map.
8mx3.8m wall mosaic composed of 4000 small photographs taken by citizens of Barcelona. Fontcuberta posed a question in the paper asking readers to respond to "What does freedom mean to you" with a photograph. Kiss symbolises freedom, affection and empathy. Photographs printed onto tiles to make them weather resistant.
Photography Matters OCA Symposium
CAST
Doncaster
21st May 2016
Speakers
Les Monaghan
Keith Roberts
Dawn Woolley
Rachel Smith
Derek Trillo
Chair
Mark Durden
The link above explains the content of the day. This is the first OCA symposium I have attended. I will briefly encompass how the content fits in with my prior learning and how I think I have benefited from attending.
Les Monaghan-Les's talk was based on his current exhibition "The Desire Project" at the Frenchgate Shopping Centre in Doncaster which I visited after the symposium.
This is a collection of 71 individual portraits with a one line caption of what the person in the photograph desires underneath. Although individual can be viewed as a collective or reflection on what society wants - the captions can be categorized into themes e.g health, happiness, Exhibition is viewed by 70,000 people per week because it is in a shopping centre. Les's last exhibition "Aspirations" was in an art gallery DARTS with 1,200 subjects photographed and 1194 visitors through the doors. (See bottom of page) In comparison, more people see this exhibition, but is it the same people seeing it over and over again?
Les mentioned that people in the pub opposite judged the people on their comments. I think this does reflect the actions of a small part of society. The recent exhibition I visited in Mansfield had a comments book in which there were some inappropriate comments from a small number of individuals who had not engaged with the context of the photographs.
Les's paper discussed fairness of portraying a subject and broached on affecting change through photography. But whose life is the photographer aiming to change? The life of the viewer or the subject? News, advertising and portraits work to get a message across to people.
Book to read for the future:
Richard Brilliant (1999) Portraiture
I think this is an interesting subject and one which has relevance for me at this level of study. One of the considerations for my current project (Photography 2 Landscape Assignment 5) is how I would present my Vikings if the aim of my work is to ask viewers to engage with the history of the local landscape before Robin Hood? I considered using the Forestry Commission classroom / stand to display my work at a recent re-enactment event, so taking it to the people who were interested in being there. I think this idea may have worked - unfortunately I will miss the next event, but it is certainly something to bear in mind for the future.
Dawn Woolley- Hysterical selfies and disruptive bodies
I have followed Dawn's posts about advertising on the OCA newsletters, finding them interesting and learning from them. During the presentation I learnt that social networking sites were a contemporary space and that through commodification you can get the product and become it. I hadn't noticed that there are micro celebrities on social networking sites who are paid to endorse products. Intimate revelations about the product such as a Nivea cream prevent followers from blocking the advert. Dawn referenced Guy Debord and the society of the spectacle which I have now looked at briefly.
Keith Roberts - Photographic Archival Interventions within Edward Chambre Hardman Portraiture Collection 1923-63
I found this a really interesting subject especially the discussion around copyright and ownership, and the role of the photographer (or curator?) in developing the negatives. It built on research I came across through my critical review on memory and family albums. I wondered if other old photographic collections which are displayed by museums had been subject to the same process or whether they were presented by a curator. I had realized that a photograph was seen as a document but did not know that a negative was considered an artifact and not seen as art. Thinking through this though, I have seen different photographs from one negative so the art is in the production of the image.
The elaboration by Keith on his subject made me question if I ought to be putting this much detail into explaining my own photographs. I will be experimenting.
I was interested in the comments that a relative, when shown other photographs from the same sitting did not recognise the character of the relative. I recalled reading Barthes Camera Lucida and how relevant punctum became.
By building an archive database, Keith was able to run searches to find locations to re-photograph, look at typologies or chronotypes of one person over the 40 year period. I liked his quote from Allan Sekula (2004) suggesting that "once an image is accepted and accessioned into the archives it loses the meaning that was embedded in the relationship with its curator and previous uses i.e its meaning is up for grabs." To me this means that the negative or photograph can take on a new life on display giving meaning to a new set of visitors in an exhibition.
Keith's talk expanded my previous knowledge learnt for my critical review with a real life example. It is an area of study I am interested in.
Rachel Smith - The materiality of images. Exploring creative practice
This was a fascinating subject. My experience so far of this subject came from Joe Hamilton (Regular Division) The Lowry 2016 (video of photographs with paint over them) see below. I like the idea of what happens when a photograph stops being a photograph but had not linked the two together. Through the work of Gerhard Richter, it began to make sense. The paint becomes a curtain, allowing the viewer to peek into another world.
A couple of interesting photographers to research further are Anne Collier (Woman with camera) and Anastasia Samoylava (The landscape Sublime) I had come across similar reappropriated images in research around the sublime. Having looked at appropriated images, this now made much more sense.
Glitch Art - Sabato Visconti - degredation - physical photo - digital files become corrupt. Again I had seen something similar at Here and Now at the Lowry.
This session was great - so much began to fall into place.
Derek Trillo - Exploring notions of time through experimental photography. Using still images to represent a temporal world: Borrowing methodology from science
Another interesting session which is one I had looked at briefly in taking images of people in buildings for People and Place. This, I discovered, is a huge subject and Derek's work looked at how to portray "an experience of a slice of time in the life of a building." Donat, John (1980) quoted in Elwall, Robert (1991 p67). Derek used different examples of how he could show a piece of time in the building. From this talk I learned that I need to consider for my next project coming up with an idea and looking at different methods photographers use to illustrate an idea.
Follow up work from the day consisted of looking up the time work of Paul Graham, Anastasia Samoylava, and Gerhard Richter.
It was a good experience to see work showcased at a higher academic level and realise that this course is laying the foundations of good practice. I noticed there are common themes and subjects running through the works and it was a motivational day which will benefit my practice.
Thanks to Les and the tutors for organising the day.
The Photography Show
NEC
19th March 2016
Visited the photography with the aim of looking closely at Lightroom 6 and graphics pads to sort my work flow out. During Digital Photographic Practice (Level 1) I acquired a copy of Lightroom 2 which I installed and became familiar with over time. However, it now has limitations (and I get so frustrated with losing work when I move images around) that I need to sort this out!
After a session in the Adobe Theatre watching some editing, i decided it was time to move onwards and upwards into 2016 with an improved workflow method which would speed up my computer and leave me able to work smarter. The Adobe rep talked me into visiting Wacom to look at graphics pads, and I came away with a new toy and a free subscription to LR6.
I took the opportunity to visit a few talks to fill in some gaps in my knowledge.
David Higgs - The analogue darkroom in the digital world
Looked at techniques of darkroom printing, types of paper, some of his images on screen and print. I have a greater understanding of terms such as silver gelatin and platinum prints and why they last such a long time. We discussed "photoshopping" as a technique and I discovered that Dorothea Lange's migrant mother image had a stray thumb in which has been removed via photoshop.
How does this relate to my practice?
Hahnemuhle are developing a paper with silver in for exposing between 2 plates of glass and using sunshine I could have a go at developing my own prints. This inspired me because I like the soft look of the old monochrome prints. It is something to consider as a
project at some point.
Julian Calverley - A journey into landscape photography
Divided into 3 sectons - advertising, landscape and iphone. I had seen his Iphone exhibition at Masters of Vision in Southwell last year. I was interested to discover that some of his advertising images had been shot with people and place separately and then matched up on the computer at a later date, maybe due to time or people constraints. The Chris Hoy photograph, for example showed the feeling of speed and was filmed in 2 halves and married up very well.
How does this relate to my practice?
installed snapspeed to phone and experimented with it
Looked closely at the advertising photographs
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| Julian Calverley Landscape talk |
Steen Dupont - When one picture is not enough Macro photography in a museum environment
A fascinating insight into the dedication scientists go to in order to photograph and archive their insects to research them. Steen built a lightbox powered with car pimp lights and a Lego motor to rotate the insect and worked with Canon to be able to take for example 82 shots of the insect and stack them so that the insect is in focus. Impressive stuff.
How does this relate to my practice?
It made me aware of the dedication people go to to develop a project and showed me that anything is possible.
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| Comic Con show happening next door paraded around the show! |
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| Nikon are developing a helmet cam - however, this rider will end up crashing. Display must always be realistic to attract sales! |
28th February 2016
"Right Here Right Now" Digital Art Exhibition.
The Lowry, Manchester
Right Here Right Now Exhibition Catalogue
With a day to spend in Manchester and hoping to pull in an exhibition alongside shopping with my teenagers, I thought this may appeal to them as being different to the usual "white cube" display. It advertised some landscape photography (relevant to my course), different ways of displaying art (relevant to my course) and interactive displays and installations which I was curious about. It even had a link to an online exhibition (also relevant to my course). So I planned this as the first stop and promised them they could go to the shopping outlet if they were disinterested. However, they managed to be involved for the whole time so I really think the way in which art is installed and presented to the public is important.
My first impression was that it was different from other art shows I had visited because it was advertised everywhere that you could take personal photographs.
Branger Briz(collective
of artists, educators and programmers) 2011
Privacy is a misconception in the digital
age. Viewers are asked to think about what happens to their information when
charging their phone in public places.
Why is it free? What do companies want
from you – e.g. social media? What are the terms and conditions?
Artwork made at time of phone hacking
scandals.
How
relevant is this to my practice?
Mishka Henner The fields (2013)
This made me think of the concept of beauty and sublime - these images are aesthetically pleasing and on the other hand makes the viewer question what is really happening to the world at this time. This is one oil field in Texas which when presented in this way, the viewer is left to question the situation.How this is relevant to my practice
In part 2 of this course,( Is appropriation appropriate? I looked at photographs from satellites and google cars, including the work of Mishka Henner. I now have an awareness of his work which will stay with me because I have seen it for myself rather than on a website. I followed up the exhibition by revisiting his website and also my exercise. I could relate to his work through my studies. What particularly interested me about his photographs in this series is the amount of texture and detail that he shows, San Andreas Field (diagonal lines) especially.
So have my thoughts about appropriation changed? No, I don't think so; perhaps I can expand my ideas though. A similar image could be taken by a photographer on the ISS. I bought Chris Hadfield's book for the images and I noticed that Tim Peake was having photography lessons. With regards to the copy-write issue, Henner mentions Google Earth pro in his blurb. There are so many images out there that I think what these photographers are good at is illustrating something from which there must be unimaginable amounts of data and increasing public awareness by careful selection.
Henner, M. (2011) The fields. [online] Available from: http://mishkahenner.com/filter/works/The-Fields [Accessed 18th June 2016]
Felicity Hammond - Restore to factory settings (2014)
- Installation artist
- Tableau photograph which presents an uncertain moment
- deconstructed or reconstructed urban landscape?
- questions past and potential future
- beauty and the sublime
- symbolic blue cyanotope - low cost, blueprint, blank error screen
- classical landscape features of rolling hills
- multiple vanishing points - unease
- focal point - rubbish dump
- allegory
- virtual spaces
- layering
- photorealism
- dystopic - bitter sweet
How does this relate to my practice?
Joe Hamilton Indirect Flights 2015
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| Hamilton, J. (2015) Indirect flights [online].Available from: http://www.indirect.flights/ [last accessed 18th July 2016] |
- layered photographs
- landscape photographs
- artist selected work according to flight paths
- interactive like google maps
- noise soundtrack relates to images
Photography 2 Landscape Exercise 5.4 is entitled On line exhibitions. Not reached that point yet but will be able to give consideration to the exercise when I reach it.
Personally, it felt odd to be stood in an exhibition downloading another, although I thought it fitted in with this by providing the opportunity to experience it. It did, however work better on my computer than on my smart phone, and there is no noise on the smart phone version.
Would I consider using this technique? Perhaps not at the moment. I am still open to influencing though!
Regular Division Joe Hamilton 2014
- moving images
- soundtrack
- confusing sense of space
- abstract
- linking one connective place to an another
- transient
- hyper-real
30th January 2016
Chris Upton, Thoresby, the end of the mine
Mansfield Museum, Nottinghamshire
Chris Upton is a local
landscape photographer who has exhibited previously at MOVE (Southwell). He is
exhibiting about 50 large monochrome prints in the gallery room in Mansfield
Museum documenting the last 9 months of the life of Thoresby Colliery which
closed in July 2015 and was the last remaining pit in Nottinghamshire, creating
400 redundancies. Chris projected a film onto the far wall documenting stories
from the miners recalling their memories from the miners strike and working
life. Some of these anecdotes are captured within the photobook (which contains
about 200 images).
The images and subject work well in monochrome adding to the dirt and grittiness of the job. Chris captured the scale of the operation, scale of the buildings, movement of coal and busyness of the miners. His last image added a time and definitive ending to the sequence with the work rota which included the last shifts. I felt his photographs were very clear and will provide a document of what life was like at the pit for future generations and historians.
How this relates to my practice
Within the
Landscape course, I have questioned what a "landscape" should look
like. The earth movers on the slag heap show the slag and the land further
afield, with the power lines pit and areas of Sherwood Forest. This type of
image sets the scene of where the pit is and fits in with my idea of a
landscape. The strong architectural lines of the buildings and subject matter
lend themselves to work similar to the Bechers (although their work did not
include people). The interior buildings reminded me of Papplewick Pumping
Station and the images I had taken for People and Place. The mine was
definitely a real place. However, only time will tell what happens to the
industrial land and how quickly it changes. By including people, the work
reaches out to a wider audience and creates a lasting memory. Would this be
included in the family album though? I think it is more of an individual
keepsake.
In considering the gallery space, I think because the film is constantly running, there is background noise and people are encouraged to speak rather than it feeling "church like". On the day I visited, there were children running around screaming! As a photographer putting on a local exhibition, including portraits of the local miners will encourage visitors to the museum to see the photographs on the wall. The prints are offered for sale and Chris has produced a photo book which people can buy. This maximises sales potential.
I visited this exhibition with Jeff (OCA student) and have recommended others to visit.
Bibliography
Upton, C. (2016) Thoresby the end of the mine. [online] Available from: http://www.chrisuptonphotography.com/gallery_671881.html (accessed February
2016)
26th August 2015 (and 28th August 2015)
Emily Allchurch, In the footsteps of a master
Lakeside Arts Centre, Nottingham University, Nottinghamshire
Emily Allchurch is currently exhibiting her contemporary narratives of painter Utagawa Hiroshige's original woodblock paintings of Japanese topographical landscapes.
Emily Allchurch's compositions follow (as closely as possible) the original image, and composed of several images which show how life has changed (social landscape and topography) since the 1800's. The images are lit from behind in light boxes which, with their very sharp focus makes them look surreal. It is interesting to compare the perspective of each medium because in both, the mountain ranges differ. Life has changed, with the addition of a roadside shrine, more graffiti and town has changed from a rural town to having a skyline of tall buildings and bridges. Emily Allchurch has added in the modern day equivalents so a lady picking flowers is now a lady photographing flowers. Looking carefully at No 21 Marika from 53, I questioned whether the same viewpoint was used as the island in the original was replaced with a bridge. I noticed that there were very few shadows although the day was bright, ant this may add to the surrealism of the images. This was artistic representation and I considered how it applied to earlier in the course looking at the truth of the images. As an art form they are seamless in composition and serene to look at.
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| Valette, A. (1910) Albert Square in Manchester |
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| Piranisi,G. (1761) The drawbridge plate VII |
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| Piranisi, G. (1761) The arch with a shell ornament Plate XI |
Allchurch (2007) produced a set of photographic collages based on Giovanni Piranesi, artist (1720-78) called "the Prisons". Piranesi's idea was based on distortion, creating labyrinths, fantasy and destruction. Allchurch's series followed the idea and her works are based around modern cities. In "London, Urban Chiaroscuro 2 after Piranesi", the viewer has the feeling that anyone in the picture space is being watched from CCTV cameras (big brother). The scene causes confusion and conflict and is built up from prisons, escalators, tube stations with details such as broken windows, a mirror, newspaper sellers sign reads "Peckham Killing Mother's Plea", Nancy's steps - scene of a murder, City of London sign for identity.
Allchurch describes her work as "erasing and blending layers, modulating colour, contrast and perspective, focus, highlight and shadow - requires a painters eye and skill except for the fact that the traditional canvas is replaced by a computer screen." (2015 Lakeside Arts Centre, Nottingham University)
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| Patinir, J. (1520-24) The Temptation of St. Anthony |
Allchurch's work inspired me to look at my journey images for Assignment 2 and build up a collage of the landmarks. Through trial and error, I encountered a technical difficulty in that my images were compiled after the journey. Allchurch's work involves first finding an image to recreate and then looking for the images which will form the collage. Attempting this made me appreciate the editing skills and understanding of perspective and light required to make a meaningful image.
References
Patinir, J. (1520-24) The Temptation of St. Anthony [online image]. Available at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joachim_Patinir_-_Temptation_of_St_Anthony_-_WGA17103.jpg [last accessed 18th July 2016]
Piranisi,G. (1761) The drawbridge plate VII [online image]. Available from: http://artmuseum.princeton.edu/object-package/giovanni-battista-piranesi-imaginary-prisons/3640 [last accessed 18th July 2016]
Piranisi, G. (1761) The arch with a shell ornament Plate XI [online image]. Available from: http://artmuseum.princeton.edu/object-package/giovanni-battista-piranesi-imaginary-prisons/3640 {last accessed 18th July 2016]
Valette, A. (1910) Albert Square in Manchester. [online image]. Available from: http://www.manchestergalleries.org/the-collections/search-the-collection/image.php? [last accessed 1/9/15]
Bibliography
Allchurch, E. (n.d.) Website [online] available at: http://www.emilyallchurch.com/emily-allchurch.html [last accessed 18th July 2016]
17th August 2015
MOVE (Masters of Vision Exhibition) Southwell, Nottinghamshire
Click on links to view photographers websites
MOVE is a biennial exhibition in Southwell Minster. This year 7 landscape photographers exhibited landscape photography taken with a range of cameras and using a variety of creative techniques. Set within the Minster, it provides an atmospheric backdrop which adds to the experience. This year was particularly interesting as it ties in with studying landscape photography. I found recurring themes throughout the exhibition such as portrayal of the mood, images conforming to 18th and 19th century conventions, creativity, seascapes and forests. I also took home some ideas.
Valda Bailey
Valda Bailey's work is interesting because it is quite abstract and there is movement (Intentional Camera Movement) depicted in some of the images displayed. I particularly enjoyed her series called "what lies beneath" in which she photographed through the ice showing texture and a fairly dark colour with a hint of accent colour from foliage or flowers. "On the eve of autumn" is a study of reflection in subdued colours which reminded me of Impressionism. Bailey suggests on her website that she has been inspired by several painters including Van Gogh.
Valda Bailey worked with Jay Maisel (street photography). She explains that her "objective is not so much to portray literal representation but rather depict my feeling evoked by the landscape. I try to find something extraordinary in the mundane." (MOVE 2015)
This work had a different approach to landscape photography from what I was used to and I thought it was creative rather than traditional.
David Baker
David Baker exhibited images of "sea fever and ridge trees". Again, the theme is the power and energy of the sea as waves are an expression of the seas moods and the resulting images were David Baker's interpretation. 
For ridge trees, he studied 3 geographical points within the New Forest. All images were made at dawn, in mist and during autumn and winter. I particularly liked his image called "Puckpits" shot at dawn, early December, showing mist, suns rays and a portrait orientation. Another displayed image was of a silver birch tree lying on the floor which he had taken by shooting along the trunk. For me what made the image come to life was the colour of the sky at the back of the image which was the focal point and not the colour I was expecting! The image looked 3D. In Hebridean Sea 3, David Baker explained that he "sought a painterly approach to the image to say this is how it feels to be at the shoreline with the battering wind full of salt, spray and the thump of the waves, the sense of vulnerability." (MOVE 2015) It reminded me of some of the paintings I had looked at during the "Establishing Conventions" exercise.
I decided to look at shooting my "location" at dawn and see if it looked more atmospheric.
Pete Bridgewood
Pete Bridgewood is a fine art photographer and writer of Outdoor Photography Magazine. His blurb explained that "as a digital artist, digital manipulation of my images is a vital part of their creation. I use the creative process (both at the capture stage and in post production) to subtly enhance the "atmosphere" and "soul of a scene" rather than to corrupt or debase it." (MOVE 2015) He also mentions emotional transference to the scene.
Some of his images displayed use conventions such as low horizons, single points, leading lines etc and use of colour. I enjoy looking at Pete Bridgewood's images and whilst I admire the beauty of them, I have found myself being drawn towards artists like David Anthony Hall or David Barker's trees as something which I would like to become better at.
Julian Calverley
I Phone only - a book of landscape photos taken only on an I phone and prints made from these images. Julian Calverley explains that he found himself taking ordinary landscape images on his phone and then processing them using apps available. He uses his phone camera as a visual notebook.
Looking at the images of Glen Etvie reminded me of Victorian images - detailing railway lines, trees, rocks etc. It certainly made me think I should get into the habit of using my phone camera more, instead of drawing a picture of where I positioned my camera!
David Anthony Hall
David Anthony Hall had displayed his artists statement. I read this because I had noted that one of the exercises later on (part 5) is about writing an artists statement.
He started off by explaining his work in a couple of paragraphs and then what he aimed to show. "Aimed to reveal the wonder and harmony of the natural world, producing images that emanate the very presence of nature, reminding us of its forceful past and present. By picking out every exquisite detail of form and atmosphere, my images are designed to envelope the viewer: providing a window in which to gaze and empowering an expression of their existence within the magnitude of creation." (MOVE 2015)
He then mentioned his process of leaving his photo's for a year before revisiting "with hindsight and nostalgia" (MOVE 2015)
David Anthony Hall has created the NHS Forest Scheme and along with psychologists Rachael and Stephen Kaplan, discovered as quoted by Sue Thomas that "even small glimpses of the natural world - nearby nature" could have measurable effects on wellbeing". (MOVE 2015) These benefits include a reduction in blood pressure, improve self esteem, enhance mood.
The work on display is huge. "Forest Green" was made to 54'x10' (slightly smaller here?) and curves round to envelope the viewer in the forest. A carefully positioned footpath at step height invites the viewer along it, on a journey of wellbeing and discovery.
Another image (winter light) - deciduous trees on an early frosty winter's morning invites you to wrap up warm and explore the scene. This image is very still, compared to the previous one where you can imagine the birds singing and light dancing through the trees.
These fit in with the idea of escapism and one image "Blessington" has inverted trees as a reflection so the ground is at the top and the bottom. I thought this was clever - the trees blended together well. I wondered how much was "true" and certainly it was in the realms of fantasy. I thought it worked well.
To appreciate the image of Yosemite, I had to stand further back. I questioned whether this was because the image was flat as opposed to curved. How much of the first two images had I "seen" or had my brain filled in the gaps?
Writing up my blog, I clicked on to the photographers websites. David Anthony Hall's struck me as being different as it had large images on it which the viewer can explore. The whole image was in focus and one could pick out a point and zoom into it such as the oak leaves on the floor.
Paul Kenny
Paul Kenny's work was interesting. He "blurs the distinction between large and small, making consciously ambiguous images that might be bacteria or whole worlds - or somewhere in between - an ocean wave. He practices a new kind of landscape art where view is scaled down and distorted to remove us from the comfortable perspectives of the traditional genre." (cited by Gerry McCarthy The Sunday Times displayed at MOVE 2015)
Paul Kenny's work is sometimes circular, sometimes abstract, and often colourful. His work is very creative and I liked the lighting, texture and colours present in his work. His work made me think of the exercise I had completed on land art.
Mark Littlejohn
The essence of Mark Littlejohn's photographs were about capturing a scene rather than creating one (with perhaps some use of Lightroom and Nik Silver Efex if necessary). Again, his work was about the mood of the image, using mist, lighting and little views or alternative views rather than the main views. He explained that sometimes he shot with a larger aperture to create sharp and soft images.
What I took away from this set of images was that you have to be patient and experiment with different settings until you find one that works for you.
References
MOVE (Masters of Vision Exhibition) August 2015
Bibliography
Bridgwood, P (2015) Masters of Vision [online]. Available at: http://mastersofvision.co.uk/[last accessed 18th July 2016]
Bailey, V. (2016) website [online]. Available at: http://www.valdabailey.co.uk/ [last accessed 18th July 2016]
Bridgwood, P. (2016)website [online]. Available at: http://petebridgwood.com/wp/ [last accessed 18th July 2016]
Baker, D. (2016)website [online]. Available at: http://www.milouvision.com/[last accessed 18th July 2016]
Hall, D (2016) website [online]. Available at: http://www.photohall.com/ [last accessed 18th July 2016]
Calverley, J. (2016) website [online]. Available at: http://www.juliancalverley.com/personal/ last accessed 18th July 2016]
Kenny, P. (2016) website [online]. Available at: http://www.paul-kenny.co.uk/ [last accessed 18th July 2016]
Littlejohn, M. (2016) website [online]. Available at: http://markljphotography.co.uk/[ last accessed 18th July 2016]
Arts night BBC2 7/7/15
Reflection - reference is not correct - can't find link to programme. have printed off British Universities Film and Video Council Audio Visual Citation BUFVC Guidelines for referencing moving image and sound.
Next time reference as follows: "The programme episode title", Series [television programme] Dir. First name Surname. BBC, UK, time, date, Channel, length.
5th June 2015
Nottingham Trent University Degree Show (Various Art Galleries throughout the City)
http://www.fifthwallphoto.com/photographers is a web site which displays some of the work from Nottingham Trent University's Photography students final year degree. Having looked at the website with the intent of visiting students landscape work, I narrowed down the work displayed in to a handful of galleries in the City of Nottingham. I gave myself the option of looking at work which did not fit into the landscape genre which was displayed within the chosen galleries. I discovered that the students exhibited in friendship groups.
Having looked at the use of gallery space recently, it was interesting to find and visit local galleries. Most are tucked away in a cul-de-sac or alley and all painted white inside. Some consist of small rooms - one was a huge, almost urban space. They were well signposted which added to the experience of finding and visiting. Different display methods had been used such as printed and mounted photographs, maps with photos as comparisons of more than one area, slide shows and video, photobooks, boxes of photos and a newspaper. I was able to chat with some of the students which gave the experience a personal touch. I was surprised that during my visit to all the galleries, my Mum and I were the only visitors at the time apart from one lady who had modelled for a photographic study.
No photos were allowed, so I have included a link to the website and collected a few of the remaining business cards.
PS Spowage Art Gallery 1 and 2 (2 Byard Lane, Nottingham NG1 2GJ)
Joanna Dolan Fragility of memory Storytelling, emotion, sense of place, some "mundane" images which mean something to others - a journey. Loved the scarf series of images.
Hannah Ross Immersed in a memory Panoramic landscapes of nostalgia, people being immersed in a memory. Different weather conditions for different landscapes.
Katie Tinsley A journey in someone else's shoes Video of stills through train window (some artistic licence) book on journey through life documenting place and emotions
Nottingham Society of Artists (71 Friar Lane, Nottingham NG1 6DH)
Lauren Douglas Redevelopment of Stockport social and political influences, textile industry
Katie Ryan Sublime landscape of Iceland Prints and detailed photobook. Landscapes in winter, volcanoes
Kim Watson Destruction and reconstruction of the natural world Displayed so that the light penetrated the transparent images. Interesting colours. Imagined landscapes.
Cobden Chambers and Cavology, Cobden Place, Pelham Street, NG1 2ED
Tom Illsley Co-ordinates Meridians through the country and comparison of "the centres of England" Contextual meaning or centreography? Display using map and photographs.
Pierre Melion Skateboarding Culture of scateboarding, lives among it, storytelling, lifestyle
Onyu Park Orange trees lit by street lights, people accustomed to seeing them
George Smith Photographic journey trip up the Snake Pass, sense of wonder?
Surface Gallery, (16 Southwell Road, Nottingham NG1 1DL)
Jessica Frank Transience emotion of memory when someone passes away, dried flowers with photographs of living flowers
I discovered a couple of interesting pieces of work: one from Brogan Lees Collier Too Broke for San Tropez book with gold cover documenting a model in a paddling pool living the high life in a mobile home. based around fashion photography.
Nicola Brown Fashion and identity disposable fashion, identity, comparison of who we are and what we wear, prints, newspaper.
How this relates to my practice
I visited last year and enjoyed the experience of looking at work from my peers as a change from established artists. Another year further on with my course on and I can look at work, think about where I have seen similar and compare with how the student photographer has made it their own. Other work can be a comparison to my own studies such as landscape - I have been researching "a journey" and it was good to see a take on using a train window for a journey. Other work reminds me of work I have done on recent courses and I am able to compare how areas of Nottingham have been used. Other work makes me think I know very little about a particular genre so I found it good for self assessment and confidence building.
Further research
Work which has interested me tends to influence me in some way. Having looked at some images of "flat landscapes" I am looking at buying one of the books on the reading list (Cramerotti, Alfredo, (2010), Unmapping the city: Perspectives of flatness,) as it is not available in the county libraries.
3rd May 2015
Drawn by light - National Media Museum, Bradford (20th March-21st June 2015)
Found this exhibition advertised when working through the various exercises on the history of photography at the beginning of this course. The blurb advertised it as celebrating "photography in all its myriad forms, as revealed by the remarkable Collection of The Royal Photographic Society. Eclectic, moving, intriguing, often surprising, it embraces the many different ways of seeing that photography represents." National Media Museum 2015.
I was keen to see this as there were photographs on display from photographers whom I had studied on my journey through photography. I was able to see up close the images which I had looked at in the course material and on line.
Photographs exhibited covered a time line from the infancy of photography with 3 of Nepice's original images right up to modern day and included work from Emerson, Edward Weston, Roger Fenton and Ansel Adams to name a few. Of the photographic compositions, I studied Henry Peach Robinson's montage image of "fading away 1858" made up of 5 negatives. When it was published, the scene caused controversy as it was thought it was not a suitable subject for a photograph rather than the technique.
Frank Eugine (1910) - the negative had been etched with a needle to "emphasize the subject and enhance the natural texture of his images" (National Media Museun 2015).
In gallery 1, I came across a photograph by Yousuf Karsh of Winston Churchill with a cigar.This was the portrait that Karsh had 2 minutes to take it in. It was much more striking on a gelatin silver print than on my computer.
Also in this gallery was an image from Erna Lendvai Dircksen (1803-1962) who I had not come across before. Her image of "Head of a Child 1938" was striking, (with blue eyes and blond hair) especially as I learnt that she started her project in 1911 photographing rural children, she was a member of the Nazi party and was commissioned by the state to take propaganda photographs.
An interesting concept of portrait sitting was to ask famous people to jump. In 1956, Philip Halsman did this with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Perhaps not the sort of portrait I would have thought of, but photographers do the same thing with children. In fact, browsing through his works at home, I came across a style of portrait which I had seen people copying on Twitter recently.
One of the surprises for me was a photograph which Lewis Carroll (pseudonym) had taken. I researched more about his photographs later. charles lutwidge dodgson the dream interested me because it featured 3 children - with one child inside a transparent picture frame, whilst one girl is holding onto him. Relating this back to the exercise on "what is a photographer?", this is art photography from 1863.
Another Henry Peach Robinson image from 1861 depicted The Lady of Shalott. This was a staged image in which he made the barge, arranged the background to illustrate Tennyson's poem and altered the model's hair. His critics thought it was real. In 1913, De Zayas's essay looked at the distinction between artist photographers and photographers. I had not appreciated that this bending of the truth was happening this early in photography.It was not well accepted because it was too similar to real life.
In Steichen's self portrait of 1898, it was cropped eccentrically and exhibited in 1900 in London at the New School of American Photography. His critics questioned his ineptitude. Steichen went on to become one of the Masters of Photography of the 20th century. He had studied painting before becoming a photographer.
Albert Renger Patzsch, a German Photographer pioneered the New Objectivity Movement, "rejected sentimentality and pictorialism and embraced photography's ability to create a faithfully objective vision of the world revealing beauty and order." (National Media Museum 2015) I had not come across his work before so did a little research into his work. ‘There must be an increase in the joy one takes in an object, and the photographer should be fully conscious of the splendid fidelity of reproduction made possible by his technique’ . Renger Patzch (cited by the Tate accessed May 2015)
Margaret Bourke White Statue of Liberty 1952. Worked for Time magazine. Took a series of images from a helicopter of American landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty and Coney Island. Had not come across her photographs before and her photographs span 60 years. Need to read up on her work.
I had heard of Harold "Doc"Eugine Edgerton as being the inventor of the flash, and I can see the beauty in his milk drop coronet image. Although a scientist rather than a photographer, the flash allowed us to see the world through different eyes.
Other artefacts on display which caught my attention were a sutton panoramic circa 1861 which had a wide angle lens of 120 degrees enabling photographers to produce panoramic images on a curved glass plate.
There were several stereoscopic images on display but the modern invention which caught my eye was in the gift shop. A box into which you drop your I Phone 6 and with the app, you can view your images stereoscopically!How this relates to my practice
This consolidated the first chapter in Photography 2 Landscape. I have seen some of the images mentioned in the course material and others which I had come across previously. I have gained more of an understanding of where photography fitted in to art and the context of the history of art. It was useful to look at dates of images and question why the dates were important. Of the other photographers mentioned, I have looked up further works by them or their biography so that I have more of an understanding of where they fitted into the genre.
Further research
Certain photographers such as Margaret Bourke White and Albert Renger Patzch produced work which appeals to me. I will go back and look at their work in more detail.
References
Drawn by light Exhibition, National Media Museum, Bradford, UK May 2015 accessed may 2015
http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/display/albert-renger-patzsch accessed may 2015
Bibliography
(all accessed may 2015)
http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/collection/photography/royalphotographicsociety/collectionitem.aspx?id=2003-5001/2/23282
http://www.karsh.org/#/the_work/portraits/winston_churchill
http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?txtkeys1=Erna+Lendvai-Dircksen
http://philippehalsman.com/?image=jumps
http://www.artfund.org/supporting-museums/art-weve-helped-buy/artwork/10510/the-dream-and-xie-kitchin-playing-a-violin-reverend-charles-lutwidge-dodgson
http://www.victorianweb.org/photos/robinson/2.html
http://www.masters-of-photography.com/S/steichen/steichen_selfportrait_full.html
http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/display/albert-renger-patzsch
http://www.moma.org/collection/artist.php?artist_id=1774
http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/collection/photography/royalphotographicsociety/collectionitem.aspx?id=2003-5001/2/20956
http://www.iphf.org/hall-of-fame/margaret-bourke-white/
http://life.time.com/culture/air-america-picturing-the-united-states-from-above/#1
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140722-the-man-who-froze-the-world
http://museumvictoria.com.au/collections/items/407437/view-camera-sutton-panoramic-circa-1861
18th April 2015
Take better pictures - Chris Davies (Travel and Adventure Sports Photographer)
MTB Meetup Llangdegla, Nr Wrexham
One of my interests is mountain biking and over the last couple of years I have started doing more mountain bike race photography of my husband and friends who enter races all over the country. I have found that it is tricky to get the right lighting to add the impact to the shot, and there is definitely room for improvement in my skill set. The difficulty I found was that everyone uses different settings and has different ideas on technique and I had to pick my way through it all before settling on something that worked for me.
Chris Davies was doing a morning session in which he aimed to show us how to improve our photos. This included a classroom session and time out on track practicing skills. He set us a task before the session to find 3 photographs which inspired us. I chose 3 mountain bike photographs to aspire to.
Chris is published in Single Track Mountain Bike Magazine, Side Tracked Magazine and Women's Cycling Magazine.
Russell Burton (Click on link)
Russell Burton is a mountain bike and sports photographer who promotes action shots on his website. His images are clear, well lit using natural lighting and I have actually been looking at them for a couple of years as he has done magazine covers for What Mountain Bike, Mountain Biking UK, and cycling plus.
Seb Rogers (Click on link)
Seb Rogers is also an MTB documentary photographer who shoots covers for What Mountain Bike and Single Track Magazines. So I have also come across his work too. Seb mentions that if his images inspire people to put down their magazines or tablets and go for a ride he has done his job. I understand this sentiment and think it fits in with the photographer conveying emotion to the MTB enthusiast. Sebs trail riding photographs are awe inspiring from the dramatic landscapes that he uses (I think he sources his own locations) and from the fact that it makes me want to go exploring. His choice of natural lighting adds to the drama of the images.
Dan Barham (Click on link)
Dan Barham English Photographer, now based in Vancouver. His photography is telling stories through sports including mountain biking. I came across an image from his "Wander" set of images and film which fitted in well with the sublime which I am looking at at the moment. This image was full of atmosphere. The tall trees and small rider added a sense of scale to the image. I have this on my phone to inspire me when out and about in the forest looking at landscape.
The session (my images)
Different types of shots:
1. The Berm
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| f4 1/1000 ISO100 24mm Aperture Priority |
This first image looks over the groups bikes towards the MTBer coming round the berm. I had to crop a little on either side. Rider was shot just about on the third. Could have used a narrower angle on the zoom lens. From a safety point of view I was well out of the way of danger. Rider is in focus. The bright weather and harsh shadow makes it look like it was shot elsewhere. Previously I would have shot this with a much tighter crop. This adds another viewpoint to my repertoire.
2. Dappled forest light
Challenge - to put a MTBer in the patch of sunlight!
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| f4 1/250 ISO200 28mm Aperture Priority |
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| f4 1/250 ISO200 28mm Aperture Priority |
A group of us were crouched waiting for the riders to come round the corner. Background is everything - trail centre or not trail centre? To achieve no sign in the background means careful positioning. In the first of these images, the rider is more visible because he is in a bigger patch of light, although the image is cluttered because of the sign. In the second, there is not enough light. When shooting on continuous, I think it is helpful to know how far apart the continuous shutter will take the shots. This was the first time I had used RAW for sports shots - with my 1000D the camera was too slow. I think the first image was the best. Expose for the patch of sunlight and pre-focus. Track the rider as they come round and rider should be in focus. This shot is not in focus but the depth of field was very small. This needs more practice.
3.Panning
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| practice shot |
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| f18 1/50 ISO100 24mm manual |
Rider is sharp against the background. When crouching in the undergrowth, I need to pay more attention to trees and vegetation which will get in the way. If the view is good and the track not very exciting, get the rider to stand up or put their arms out (chicken wings) to add action to the shot.
I have noted the difference in the direction of shooting. In the first image, Mike's face is in shadow. In image 2, the rider's face is in sunlight. Chris submits images to MTB magazines and I was interested to note that certain magazines require the images to be shot without flash. It was a subject of debate in a previous assignment of mine. You need to know what the client requires - e.g flash or no flash as well as types of shots before the shoot (links back to Assignment 5 of Photography 1 People and Place).
4. Dappled forest light - panning
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| f16 1?50 ISO800 24mm Manual focus |
This image uses panning and manual focus to keep the rider in focus. Even though the ISO is on 800, the grain is not too noticeable. One tip I learnt was to alter the focusing point and always get the rider in the last third. Need to remember to alter the camera back afterwards.
How this relates to my practice
My practice tends to be of a documentary style. I needed to expand my repertoire in order to allow me to add in different shots. I think MTB documentaries should be all about the action mixed with the behind the scenes / preparation shots. If I can make the action more varied, it will tell a story better and give me more choice in final selections of images.
Further research and practice
Chris showed us the work of some other photographers who are useful to follow, and a tip to follow photographers on Instagram to keep up to date with the current trends.
I did go out and take a few shots of my husband learning to jump at the local trail centre.
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| f5.6 1/125 ISO400 24mm shutter priority |
I thought about composition and being able to move if it all went wrong. A lower down position would give a more dynamic image and make the tabletops look bigger. Wi
22nd March 2015
The Photography Show, NEC, Birmingham
Having been last year to The Photography Show, I knew what to expect from the day so planned sessions to visit to maximize my day. As with all things when there is so much on offer, I had to choose between attending talk from Martin Parr or learning about painting with light from Mark O'Neill who was awarded the International Light Painting Award in 2013. Painting with light won because it is something I would like to learn more about. It enthused me to start thinking about locations in which to experiment.
HS2 Walk the line -Toby Smith (click on link for images)
Toby Smith describes himself as a political, editorial, contemporary photo journalist. He is "focused on large scale photography and research projects, exhibition, communication and advocacy." (http://www.photographyshow.com/page.cfm/Action=Visitor/VisitorID=1693) accessed 24/3/15
How this relates to my practice
For my final exercise in Photography 1 Digital Photographic Practice, I put together a research project looking at bridges on the River Trent. I had to narrow down my area to make it feasible in a short time span. I discovered that the bridges I initially thought I would use based on images on the internet and Google maps was different to my final selection. Toby's point about walking the whole line makes sense based on this so it is something I would consider for a future project.
He reinforced the idea of working closer to home which I am working through with choosing a landscape to study for the whole year. The point about using a tripod for all shots and taking each shot as if it is for an exhibition I found useful and I am finding I use a tripod more to try and improve the quality of my images.
Setting editing parameters is a useful idea which I think would work for a larger project where you don't know what situations you may come across. So far I have planned assignment shots and tried to visualize what I take before I take it, but I can see that this would be a useful way of working.
I like the idea of using a local river and investigating where it goes and what happens along it which is one of the reasons I think this session appealed to me.
Further research
I followed up this session by looking at Toby's website. I especially like his images of the power stations and wind farms of the UK. I will be following his work as it is an area of the changing landscape in which I am interested.
Achieving amazing results with on camera flash - Andrew Appleton
Panel member for the Guild of Photographers. Delivers seminars and training sessions to people on photography and publishes work in magazines and books.
How it relates to my practice
Having just completed Photography 1 People and Place where my speedlight became a valuable part of my kit I had noticed that sometimes the colour just wasn't quite right in my portraits. I now understand more about the colour of light from different light sources and how using gels works in theory to make the colours more natural. I also learnt tips such as firing the flash pointing towards the wall behind to soften the shadow which I will be practicing at my next opportunity.
Further research
I looked at Andrew's training courses on offer with a view to learning more about my speedlight and using coloured gels. From 2 sessions during the day, I learnt that gels such as the orange (CTO) were useful for portrait photography. Taking this forward I will be working out my daylight flash settings for the speedlight as a "go to" setting. During pp1 I developed my use of flash during mountain bike races. I think knowledge of the speedlight has helped me understand how to maximise the "burst" from it, so looking forward to practicing this at the weekend with more MTB racing.
(Need to look at TTL and reread Light, Science and Magic.)
Travelling Light - Jacob James (click on link for images)
Jacob showed some interesting travel photographs and discussed lighting and the best use of available light. I enjoyed the images and the stories behind them. My learning points:
Bulb Mode - Night Photography - Mark O'Neill (click on link for images)
"Mark is an experienced night photographer, combining his passions for abandoned architecture and the night sky to create vibrant colourful imagery." (http://www.photographyshow.com/page.cfm/Action=Visitor/VisitorID=1453) accessed 24/3/15
Following a visit to American Night Photography at Nottingham University last year, I trialled some night photography in Nottingham city centre for an assignment for PP1. I thought it would be interesting session.
Demonstration of how to achieve painting with light
How it relates to my practice
Had experimented lighting in different ways and collected Quality Street wrappers to wrap around bicycle lights to add colour to an image. Keen to experiment with this genre.
Further research
Already use sun calc on the laptop for planning. Will look for a moon calculator for the laptop. (http://moontrajectory.net/) downloaded to phone.
Researched suggested light painters - Mart Barras, James de Luna, LED Eddie, Troy Pavier.
Looked at suggested light Knog Qudos on selfie stick (although will have to wait for this)
Written a rough list of local buildings / structures to experiment with.
Land, sea and sky - Land, Sea and Sky - John Miskelly (click on link for images)
"One of the leading landscape photographers working in the UK and Ireland today. A multi- award winning fine art landscape photographer, his style which is instantly recognizable through the visual drama and artistry of his photographs is born of a keen eye for the many moods of the natural landscape..."
http://www.photographyshow.com/page.cfm/Action=Visitor/VisitorID=1211 accessed 24/3/15
Currently I have started the Landscape course with the OCA and looking at how different artists and photographers have depicted the land. I thought it would be useful to attend this session to look at John Miskelly's landscapes as part of exercise 1.3 Establishing conventions.
How it relates to my practice
Having started looking at a dynamic landscape to study for the next year, the tip to move around the scene to simplify it was helpful. Fits in well with understanding establishing conventions.
Further research
A photographer I can include in the establishing conventions exercise.
References
http://www.photographyshow.com/page.cfm/Action=Visitor/VisitorID=1693 accessed 24/3/15
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/Magazine/article1365326.ece accessed 24/3/15
http://www.photographyshow.com/page.cfm/Action=Visitor/VisitorID=1453accessed 24/3/15
Bibliography
http://www.photographyshow.com/page.cfm/Action=Visitor/VisitorID=1206 accessed 24/3/15
http://www.photographyshow.com/page.cfm/Action=Visitor/VisitorID=1693 accessed 24/3/15
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/Magazine/article1365326.ece accessed 24/3/15
http://jacobjamesphotography.co.uk/ accessed 24/3/15 http://lostamerica.com/ accessed 24/3/15
http://digitalnoisephotography.co.uk/ accessed 24/3/15
http://www.johnmiskelly.co.uk/ accessed 24/3/15
http://www.photographyshow.com/page.cfm/Action=Visitor/VisitorID=1453accessed 24/3/15
https://www.flickr.com/photos/martinbarras/accessed 24/3/15
https://www.flickr.com/people/lededdie/accessed 24/3/15
http://lostamerica.com/accessed 24/3/15
http://www.photographyshow.com/page.cfm/Action=Visitor/VisitorID=1211accessed 24/3/15
14th March 2015
Format Festival Derby
21st February 2015
OCA Study visit to DARTS (Doncaster)
"Aspirations" Les Monaghan (click on link for images)
"How does your upbringing affect your chances in life?
How important are family, education, environment, location, culture, media, society and other factors in helping or hindering the prospects of young people today?
How have these values increased and diminished over time?
When faced with the portrait of another person what can we glean from the image they have projected, filtered as it always is, by the choices of the artist?
The Aspirations project engages with these questions through a body of photographic work created during 2014 in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Over six hundred portraits were made. Sitting next to the young person in each portrait is a parent or carer, a representative of family or a friend who is helping share their future.
The artist asked each young person, ‘what would you like to be when you are older?’ He then asked the older subject what they wanted to be when they were the young person’s age. The venues are formative spaces such as schools, clubs and sports halls. The aim is to create a contemporary history of Doncaster through the hopes of its residents, both past and future."
OCA Aspirations 210215 Study visit pdf (2015) unpublished
This was my first study visit with the OCA. To put it in context with my studies, I had just completed Photography 1 People and Place and submitted my blog for assessment, so I have included a brief writeup within this blog (landscape).
This was a very informal visit to the art gallery which housed Les Monaghan's exhibition and started with viewing the body of his work on the walls and in photobooks. The discussion session took place around the table in the middle of the exhibition. Les informed us that the type of photopaper his images were printed onto was phototex paper; a repositionable image that could be peeled off the walls and moved to the next location. It came in various sizes - from photograph size to large format. Les also had large photobooks printed with all the images in category order. The group discussed "the white cube" - using white walls for exhibitions and I was interested to note the reference at the beginning of the course material for this course on "the white cube" which I will follow up. As well as an exhibition, Les had his images posted on billboards which was another way of displaying images and taking his work to the people of Doncaster.
I had taken the 4 questions at the beginning of the study material and put some thoughts together beforehand. On the whole I felt that if parents / carers were taking the time to be interested in the project, they were helping to shape the future of the child, so maybe it was a case of what isn't the project telling the photographer? Les explained his representative sample , permission gained in the form of access and consent, what he had learnt from a similar study and how moveable the exhibition was (e.g. this was Doncaster and how many other towns would be interested or would they insist on their own study?) I considered if the age of the child made a difference as a 3 year old may want to be a cat and a 15 year old may have clear ideas and be shaping their options towards achieving their goal. This appeared to be evident in the way the images were grouped on the wall (according to the responses).Parents who answered with a "don't know" answer had a child with a "don't know" answer.
Media and culture have changed over the years. Doncaster was in a mining area and historically families expected their children to follow them into the mines. With the decline of the mining industry children did not have that opportunity open to them. Instead there is a category of children wanting to be you tubers or work with computers. So within the last generation, there has been a shift away from traditional jobs which has been captured by the project. It would be interesting to see with the next generation whether any significant changes in aspirations were noted. Les informed us that a socio-economic study was carried out (not by him) which mapped Doncaster as being not far from the centre of England so I thought it was probably a fair representation of aspirations.
Les mentioned another study he had been involved with where the RAF could pick out successful recruits based on someone's looks. He pointed out a child who had the characteristics based on their looks. Looking at some of the faces of children and adults who had taken part in the project, it was difficult for me to predict what they aspired to. Should the words of their aspiration be on the image? Does it help or hinder the viewer? I think it is important to have the text underneath because it gives the viewer more information to work out the collection of images with.
Overall I learnt much from this visit, especially looking at how a project started off as a concept and seeing it now as an exhibition. Reading through the material for this course, I hope it will stand me in good stead for some of the projects and assignments.
Follow up
Introduction written by Thomas McEvilley (1986). This chapter forms an introduction to O'Doherty's ideas that gallery space can be traced back through the ages to the time of cavemen. All ancient civilizations had a "space" which was revered such as caves, Egyptian tombs or churches, and within that space the behaviour of people changed as they entered the walls. They were not permitted to eat, drink, sleep etc and became more spiritual when they were in the space. The space was there "to eliminate the awareness of the outside world" McEvilley (1986 p8). If this is looked at in the context of today, it could be argued that by creating gallery space such as this, only people interested in art or the subject will visit the gallery to look at the artists work. In my experience of studying with the course so far, I agree with the principal of the white cube as being somewhere that the outside distractions are removed to let one concentrate on what they are seeing. I think if exhibitions are held within this space, to appeal to a wider range of people, they need to be invited in and perhaps guided through the work. What happens if the images are removed from the walls and exhibited in a photobook or on a computer? I think the same effect still occurs - people will still whisper and respect the rules. If art is moved out of the gallery and into the public domain (such as the collection photographs of world war landscapes and artefacts taken for the centenary last year and exhibited in the centre of Nottingham) is it noticed and if so by whom? I think it is an interesting idea and one which I will consider with more insight when visiting the Format Exhibition in Derby this month.
Bibliography
O'Doherty B, (1999)Inside The white cube: The ideology of gallery space, University of California Press p7-12
(http://www.oca-student.com/sites/default/files/oca-content/key-resources/res-files/the_white_cube.pdf) accessed 9/3/14
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