Exhibitions

And now it's dark - American night photography, Djanogly Art Gallery, The University of Nottingham, November 2014

Featured photographers: Jeff Brouws, Todd Hido, Will Steacy (with Jack Delano, Rene Burri and William Klein)

I met up with a fellow OCA student to visit this exhibition at the University of Nottingham. The exhibition explored "how American night photography has captured a decline in the optimism so evident at the turn of the twentieth century America", Rawlinson (2014)

The photographs of Jack Delano of rail yards showed people going about their work with light trails made from their torches. One of these had several light trails, cris-crossing through the yard showing that several people were employed.  Rawlinson (2014) explained that these images could represent stoicism and hope.

Burri captured New York during the time of the blackout in 1965. These were an interesting set of images, showing fear, panic and chaos, and the authorities trying to maintain law and order. I could see the panic on the people's faces and some of the expressions captured ensured that the viewer could empathize with the situation which was unfolding. The images showed how people reacted when suddenly the norm was removed. There was variety in the photos exhibited - some showed several people, others were illuminated by what must have been candle or torch light.

Jeff Brouws's work reminded me of the work of the Bechers. Further research of his work on the internet showed that he compiles his work into typologies; the difference being in his subject matter. Brouws shows parts of America which are on display to all but not represented as part of the American dream, from abandoned gas stations complete with neon signs to the less affluent corners of towns.

Steacy's images seemed to concentrate more on the more human aspect of the abandoned American dream. I felt these images told a story - and it didn't matter if the collection of images was not taken in the same location or at the same time (although must have been taken in the dark.) A narrative could be  put together by the viewer - e.g bullet hole   through a window, a portrait of a man, memorial to a man who was a brother which conveyed a sense of place to the location of where he died which gave the viewer questions to raise and held their interest. 

The photographer whose work I was most interested in was Todd Hido (figures 8 and 9 of the accompanying guide). These images were captivating in the sense that the people looked as if they were unable to escape their lives and I built up a narrative around the images displayed, trying to make sense of whether they are related or whether they are just a collection of images. His portrait images made me feel that I was looking in on another world, which I know is there but America don't want the world to see. His landscape images through the rain on the windscreen present a view which fits in well with the images. The grouping made me consider style and similarity  of colours and tones between a group of images.

I spent time in the bookshop reading around some of his images,  (and discovered that the images were not related) and have ordered a copy of the book "Excerpts from Silver Meadows" to read to follow up this visit. I think the exhibition fitted in well to where I am on People and Place 1 at the moment. 

References
Rawlinson,M (2014), And now its dark, American night photography, The University of Nottingham publication 

Bibliography

http://www.lakesidearts.org.uk/Exhibitions/ViewEvent.html?e=2666&c=5&d=0

accessed Nov 2014

Carol Rama and Bepi Ghiotti, Nottingham Contemporary, July 2014

Bepi Ghiotti - Inside Carol Rama. Project over 2 years working in Carol Rama's home in weekly sessions to document her lifestyle. He used a single light source and documented what was hidden away in boxes and the corners or the room to give an understanding of the life of the artist.

Carol Rama's work is described as "expressive as a direct result of personal tragedies ". (Nottingham Contemporary) Her father owned a bicycle factory and committed suicide  following bancruptcy and her mother was admitted to a psychiatric clinic when Rama was a teenager. These events shaped her artistic work which was based on females in the clinic, using symbols and materials such as the rubber from bicycle tyres and plastic eyes meant for toys. 

I wandered around the exhibition looking at the exhibited work of Carol Rama to give me an insight into her art. This made the images exhibited by Ghiotti  more powerful as I could relate to the artist's work.

I visited this exhibition shortly after receiving feedback for assignment 1, and came away with the sense that this described the portrait of the artist in her studio. 

The art gallery had advertised the work of Carol Rama and Danh Vo. Vo had exhibited a few photographs in the collection. Personally, I attained more from the work of Ghiotti on Rama. Nottingham Contemporary had  exhibited Ghiotti's work in a small studio which was full of art students. Having looked at the exhibition of Rama's work and the small number of larger images from Ghiotti's book which were displayed, I stood in the shop reading the display copy. 

http://www.bepighiotti.com/index.php?/projects/2012-2014-inside-carol-rama/ accessed

 July 2014

http://www.nottinghamcontemporary.org/art/carol-rama accessed July 2014

Nottingham Trent University Degree Show, Bonington Gallery June 2014

I went along to the degree show at Nottingham Trent University because I was interested to look at how students presented final work - format, creativity, size, uniformity of images and how it flowed.

Some students exhibited photobooks. One which particularly appealed to me was Female Farmers by Rachael Foster. She had spent time observing her family who farmed sheep in various parts of the country and illustrated differences between lifestyle and working conditions. In my opinion the images told a story, supported a few words explaining something the image couldn't say. Another one which caught my attention was Following the Cromford Canal by Peter Lewer which took the viewer on a walk along the canal. This used several small images and illustrated restoration, decline, vandalism etc. 

Areum Lee looked at dressing a figure in a Korean national costume and placing a yellow box on the head of the image to question viewers' response to different skin colour and how people are or can be treated differently. She and a number of students presented pop up images. I am not used to viewing a scene created from flat images to make a 3D image so it was interesting to question my feelings around this idea of presentation. I can see that pop up books has a place in learning when teaching young children and so to relate the two ideas was not something I had previously considered.

I will try and attend this next year as it was useful to look at different ways of presenting photography.

All that is solid melts into air - Jeremy Deller, Nottingham Castle Museum, 15th March 2014 

All that is solid melts into air (link)is a travelling exhibition from the Southbank Centre in London which included a couple of large images from John Davies photographer who I had been researching.

 "In All That Is Solid Melts Into Air Deller takes a personal look at the impact of the Industrial Revolution on British popular culture, and its persisting influence on our lives today.  The exhibition combines contemporary music, film and photography with a vast range of 19th century images and objects.  Deller approaches this wealth of material like a social cartographer, revealing neglected ley lines of cultural history[....]  Deller will explore how the trauma of the Industrial Revolution and chaotic urbanisation affected British society"

John Davis had two large photographs on display (Stockport Viaduct 1986 and Mersey Square Stockport 1986). It was great to be able to stand in front of such large monochrome photographs and pick out the detail of life frozen at the time of taking the image. I thought both photographs fitted into the context of the exhibition, because firstly it captured as it was, and secondly that life may be more modern and people think things have changed but there are similarities between life in 1986 and life in 2014. I thought the size of the prints on display enabled the interested viewer to absorb the details of the image and find more hidden detail. Being familiar with the image of Stockport Viaduct as I had looked at it carefully in relation to my project on bridges, I was able to see and think about differences between how I had taken the image of my train crossing a railway bridge and how Davies had captured his. I deliberately took mine of the train and bridge in focus; Davies had captured the train passing through the image and it carried motion blur. In my opinion, this lent itself to his image because it was as if the shutter had just been pressed at that moment. 

Photographs of Amazon were on display from Ben Roberts  (link). It was interesting to see how the curator had linked these with working conditions of the industrial revolution. During my visit, I found this captured people's imagination more than the photographs of John Davies. Maybe this is because it is topical at the moment? The display featured a mannequins arm wearing a motorola bracelet similar to those worn by workers with an idea of messages that may be sent to the workers when production was unacceptable to the workers. This linked into Robert's images of Amazon workers in which he questioned whether there was any truth in the display he saw. I was interested to read Robert's article of his involvement with the exhibition.

Reference

http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/find/hayward-gallery-and-visual-arts/hayward-touring/future/jeremy-deller-curates-all-that-is-solid-melts-into-air

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/oct/13/artist-industrial-revolution-popular-culture

Photography Show, NEC March 2014

In preparation for People and Place 1, I attended the photography show at the NEC in Birmingham in march 2014. My full account  (link) is posted on my previous blog. 

You are more than a photographer Catherine Connor, Hayley Luxford, Jeremy Price, John Parris

This seminar was aimed at creative and confident thinking for weddings. A discussion took place between the panel and I was able to pick out key points which I feel were relevant to people and place 1.

• Tell the story which the Bride and Groom (client) wants told (listen and consult with them)
• Be able to meet their expectations and if you can't, pass on to someone who can
• Network with other photographers and build contacts
• Define your style and set expectations of what you want to achieve / learn during the year (almost a personal development plan) Know your limitations
• Back up with extra equipment
• Have to be jack of all trades - sales, marketing, advertising, photographer, after sales, graphic designer
• Need an understanding of graphic design and colour management for making your photos stand out from other photos taken of the person.
• Represent yourself and your brand, personality is important

Thinking about this list was a good starting point for the set of exercises and assignment 1. Although I used willing family members, i still consulted with them before posting anything to my blog because I I want to represent them in a way in which they want to be shown. 

Shoot perfect portraits and breathtaking beauty images Damien McGillicuddy

I attended this session because one of my personal learning objectives is to be more creative and be able to direct my model with more confidence. This practical demonstration held some useful techniques to consider which reflecting back over the course so far was beneficial.

• The model posing had dark skin. With portraiture on dark skin it was explained that you can't throw a shadow, it has to be highlighted. This is interesting as I work with several colleagues who have dark skin and now I am keen to try this out.
• The demonstrators technique to ask the model to move her face was to cup his hands and then move them slightly to the left, right, up etc. The camera was mounted on a tripod so his hands were free to do this. 
• To achieve an image with no compression, position the camera level with the mouth for a head shot, the bust for a head and shoulders shot. Can elongate legs by crouching down and looking upwards at the model.
• Try using 35mm or equivalent focal length.

Dreamcatcher Project Jen Brook

Having looked up Jen's project,  I liked her images and was intrigued. How did one go about setting up conceptual  art and what did it mean? It would be interesting to see her talk through creating an image live on stage.

Jen was from a modelling background so as she told her story, it was interesting to hear from the other side and how she worked with photographers to get what she wanted too. I am interested to watch this project unfold.

Jen talked though the position of the eyes of the model being so important with this type of photography. She also mentioned one of her heroes being Miss Aniela (Natalie Dybisz) whose book I had read in the past.