While I enjoy being able to work at my own pace, which is a strength of of the Foundations in Photography course, learning online does at times feel like an isolated experience with no one to bounce ideas off and there are few structured e-tivities to encourage participants to contribute and collaborate. With this in mind I was delighted to discover there was an OCA North Study Event in Halifax.

The guest speaker was Andrew Conroy, photography and OCA tutor who presented his resent work and talked about collaboration. His recent work can be viewed online at https://www.andrewconroy.info/work

He talked about his interest in a sense of space and the connections and disconnections between space, place, identity and capital. Psychogeography was discussed. This was a term I have never heard of so did some reading online afterwards. Tate (2019) describes this as the effect of a geographical location on the emotions and behaviour of individuals.

One of the works discussed was 1984, A set of twelve images of a community that appears to have a mining connection. These images show the town of Waverley. An area that has be regenerated with green spaces, country park, and is advertised as the new heart of Yorkshire. However, Waverley is a new name for Orgreave, and 1984 refers to what has become known as ‘the Battle of Orgreave’. Despite the change of name to the majority of people the place will always be known as Orgreave. The series of images are available online and also as a printed book, several copies of which have been left in the area.

Another project looks at 9 former collieries. This images highlight how development is concealing history as pits are converted in parks. Working class histories are excluded and references are depoliticised.

Different approaches to collaboration were discussed. For example one type of collaboration could be taking something that is already competed as a starting point. I like the use of the term exchange as a way of looking at collaboration as this is two way process. Andrew talked about his different ways of working. The Drive developed unexpectedly with the author of the poem sending a recording of him reading the text, changing his original plans, and leading to the addition of a musical drone underneath the poem whilst the images are displayed. The collaboration with artist Chris Graham, uses back and white photocopies of images that the artist can add his design to.

Through listening to Andrew talk I came away with a much deeper understanding of his work. He likes his work to be ambiguous and said that you don’t have to tell people what it is all about. I do like being able to see a piece of work and finding my own interpretation, however I do find it interested to also have to option to find out more in depth information.

After Andrew’s talk there was a chance for students to display and discuss their own work. I found this interesting, though mainly examples of photography there were also paintings – an art form I’ve never had to publicly discuss and I found it fascinating that the photographers all wanted to change the order of the photos (something we do all the time when considering how to present our work). It was useful to talk to people on the degree course who are further along in their OCA journey.

Following the talk and discussions afterward I came away with new ideas, areas to research and an action point to take some of own work next time.

• Ambiguity can be good. Let photos speak for themself without being over reliant on descriptive titles or accompanying text. If there is a context to be shared, this can be done in a way after it has been viewed
• Experiment with different formats. Photocopying a print and then rescanning it creates interesting effects.
• Gain inspiration from graduation exhibitions at local art colleges/universities.
• Research ways I can collaborate creatively with practitioners in other art forms.
• Take some of my own work to the next event

References

CONROY, A. 2019. Andrew Conroy [Online]. Available: https://www.andrewconroy.info [Accessed 10 Nov 2019].

TATE. Pyschogeography [Online]. Available: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/p/psychogeography [Accessed 10 Nov 2019].

Last updated 11 Nov 2019

Roman Signer (b.1938), Zelt (Tent) 6 Cibachrome prints (Videostills: Tomasz Rogowiec) (27.5 x 20.5 cm / 10 7/8 x 8 1/8 inches / 46.8 x 28.7 x 3.7cm / 18 3/8 x 15 1/4 x 1 1/2 inches (framed) each © Roman Signer, Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth http://www.romansigner/ch/en/arbeiten

Roman Signer is a Swedish artist for whom photography and video are used as a record of his performance art.

On a first glance before reading anything about the artist, the sequence of images were humorous and visually reminiscent of the surrealist comedy 0f Monty Python’s Flying Circus How Not to be Seen, Series 2, episode 11, first shown in 1970 (2017). John Cleese delivers a public service broadcast on the importance of not being seen and the explosive consequences of getting it wrong.

Returning to Signer’s work, one of the reasons the series of images works is because it is shot from the same viewpoint. The man running away from the exploding tent towards the camera shows the scale of the explosion more effectively than if the focal length of the lens was changed or the camera moved. Keeping the same viewpoint is another technique that Signer has used to create a unified approach. Other aspects that support this are the grid layout, the portrait layout, and the sequence showing a change over a period of time.

Viewed individually, the interpretation of the images changes noticeably from the first image of a tent, to the second where a man is running to the third where the man is running away from the tent that has exploded. the final three images only make sense in context of the sequence.

The work is thought provoking in many ways. It could be interpreted at face value of a man running away from a tent that is going to explode, but it also documents a transformation, and the images record a creative act that is only recorded in the memory of the people present. I find it humorous, a feature that that other commentators such as Cashdan (2010) and Meyer (2018) have identified in Signer’s work.

The work raises questions about the role of photography in capturing performance pieces, which provides a record of the event. Robert Enoch (2018) draws parallels to the work of artists working with land art such as Andy Goldsworthy (b.1956) who use photography to capture their work, which by its very nature is transient. This raises the question, are photographers who plan and stage scenes or series any different from performance artists such as Signer or earth artists such as Goldsworthy. Is the work of art the photograph or the subject being captured. Is the photograph merely a mechanical representation of what is captured on the screen?

Bibliography

CASHDAN, M. 2019. Roman Signer Swiss Institute Contemporary Art, New York, USA [Online]. Frieze. Available: https://frieze.com/article/roman-signer [Accessed 22 Oct 2019].

ENOCH, R. 2018.  Foundations in Photography, Barnsley, Open College of the Arts.

GOLDSWORTH, A. 2019. Andy Goldsworthy Digital Catalogue: Home [Online]. Available: https://www.goldsworthy.cc.gla.ac.uk/ [Accessed 22 Oct 2019].

How Not To Be Seen Monty Python’s Flying Circus. 2017. YouTube video added by #500000 Show [Online]. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-M2hs3sXGo [Accessed 21 Oct 2019].

MEYER, M. 2018. ‘Explosive’ Swiss artist Roman Signer turns 80 [Online]. Available: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/multimedia/weightless-and-suspended-in-air-_-explosive–swiss-artist-roman-signer-turns-80/44123288 [Accessed 22 Oct 2019].

Last updated 22 October 2019

A sequence of images is one that shows images that are linked in time or concept. My research started with looking at the work of Eadweard Muybridge, Dueane Michals, Keith Arnatt Self Burial (1969), John Hilliard, and Ed Ruscha’s Every Building on Sunset Strip (1966). Each of these artists uses sequence differently. As most of these images are copyright I have referenced the sources and provided a link in the text.

Eedweard Muybridge (1830-1904), is well known to horse lovers as the man who first showed the moment of suspension when a horse is cantering and all four legs are off the ground. He is famous for his work studying human and animal motion. Using a series of cameras and triggers (the shutter was triggered by a thread as the horse went past) he took images of a horse, and other animals in motion An online resource created by Kingston University and Kingston Museum (Animals in Motion) provides a resource of his work and collections for researchers. Muybridge uses the images to show the sequence of the movement over a period of time

Duane Michals (b.1932) uses sequences to create a narrative, often with an unexpected twist. There is a playful and unexpected element to his work, which makes the viewer look twice. Images are often described with hand written text on the border of the print, sometimes just to indicate a number or a more descriptive paragraph. This is an inventive and thought provoking use of sequences (Oxford School of Photography, 2011)

O Hagan (2015) describes Keith Arnett (1930-2008) as a mischievous artist. His work Self Burial was created in 1969, uses sequence to highlight the disappearance of the artist or artwork in the natural world. In this work he is seen over a sequence of 9 photos gradually sinking in to the ground until nothing is left. The work was originally shown on German television with one photo shown each day for approximately 2 seconds. There was no explanation. This is a good example of conceptual art where the idea behind the image is more important than the final image. The following two photographers’ work could also be described as conceptual art.

John Hilliard (b.1945)  has an approach to photography that has been described as rigorous and systematic (Saltoun, 2019).  This can be seen clearly in series such as Photographing Out (1971) (Hilliard) , where the subject reduces in size, and Camera Recording its own Condition (7 Apertures, 10 Speeds, 2 Mirrors)(1971) (Hilliard) where the same subject is shown at different exposures. In the latter image, Hilliard uses light and shade organising the images diagonally creating a more interesting result than a standard horizontal sequence of lines.

Ed Ruscha’s, Every Building on the Sunset Strip (1966) used sequence as a type of  visual record of a journey with images stitched together of the Sunset Boulvard. It could be thought of as creating a visual map. Opposite sides of the street are shown at the top and bottom of each page with the white space in between creating a road like space.

Bibliography

Animals in Motion [Online]. Eadweard Muybridge Collections. Available: http://www.eadweardmuybridge.co.uk [Accessed 8 Oct 2019].

Ed Ruscha’s Every Building on the Sunset strip [Online]. Kopeikin Gallery. Available: https://www.kopeikingallery.com/exhibitions/ed-ruscha-s-every-building-on-the-sunset-strip-1

[Accessed 9 Oct 2019].

HILLIARD, J. Camera Recording its own Condition (7 Apertures, 10 Speeds, 2 Mirrors) (1971), 2013 [Online]. Available: https://www.richardsaltoun.com/artists/182-john-hilliard/works/11043-john-hilliard-camera-recording-its-own-condition-7-apertures-10-2013/ [Accessed 9 Oct 2019].

HILLIARD, J. Photographing Out, 1971 [Online]. Available: https://www.richardsaltoun.com/artists/182-john-hilliard/works/12122-john-hilliard-photographing-out-1971/ [Accessed 9 Oct 2019].

O’HAGAN, S. 2015. Keith Arnatt is proof that the art world doesn’t consider photography ‘real’ art  [Online]. Available: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/aug/27/keith-arnatt-photography-exhibition-spruth-magers-absence-of-the-artist [Accessed 9 Oct 2019].

Oxford School of Photography. (2011). Duane Michaels Sequences [Online]. Available: https://oxfordschoolofphotography.wordpress.com/2011/07/27/duane-michals-sequences/ [Accessed 8 October 2019].

SALTOUN, R. 2019. John HILLIARD biography [Online]. Available: https://www.richardsaltoun.com/artists/182-john-hilliard/biography/ [Accessed].

 Self- Burial (Television Interference Project) [Online]. Tate. Available: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/arnatt-self-burial-television-interference-project-t01747 [Accessed 9 Oct 2019].

Last updated 9 October 2019

After looking at Michael Wolf’s Series My Favourite Things, and Gerhard Richter’s Atlas, I wanted to explore displaying photos in grids using Photoshop to display my work for exercise 3.2 Series.

As usual with Photoshop there is always more than one approach, but to start I used How to Make A Grid Collage In Photoshop.

The brief notes below are a reminder for future work

1. Create a new document
2. Create vertical and horizontal guides (turn snap to guides on)
3. Open the images to be used and copy one at a time to the main document
4. Adjust the image using transform
5. Select the image and duplicate the layer (control+J). Delete the original layer.
6. Add layer style stroke (10px, position inside, colour white)
7. Repeat for all images
8. Enlarge canvas size Width 10px, Height 10px, click the Relative checkbox, Select centre for the Anchor
9. Save document

Bibliography

How To Make A Grid Collage In Photoshop (n.d.). Available: https://effectphoto.blogspot.com/2015/10/how-to-make-grid-collage-in-photoshop.html. Last accessed 6 October 2019.

Richter, G. (n.d.). Atlas. Available: http://www.gerhard-richter.com/art/atlas. Last accessed 6 October 2019.

Wolf, M. (n.d.). My Favourite Things – Groups. Available: http://photomichaelwolf.com/#my-favourite-thing-groups-2/1. Last accessed 6 October 2019.

Last updated 6 October 2019

Commissioned by The National Trust, We are Bess is a photography exhibition at Hardwick Hall featuring 20 modern women. It highlights the challenges faces by modern women and shows their response to the the story of the sixteenth-century Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury, also known as Bess of Hardwick.

The images were taken by award winning documentary and portrait photographer Rachel Adams. I think she succeeded in her aim to create strong images of women and bring out their character. Though there are smiling faces on some the images, they all feel as if they relate to a personal story.

The exhibition includes

What makes the exhibition so striking is the way the images are exhibited in the Long Gallery alongside Tudor portraits of people who have been connected with Hardwick Hall and. For example, Bess of Hardwick sits side by side with Dame Mary Beard (Bottom left)

You can see the images and read about how Bess’s story has a modern resonance with the women in Rachel Adam’s portraits at this link https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/hardwick/features/we-are-bess-exhibition

#WeareBess

Facial expression: engaged, listening, watching, ignoring, bored

Posture and Gesture: raised hand and arm, folded arms, resting on hands, sitting, standing, posed

Clothing: Traditional, vibrant, colourful, Indian, head dress, jewellery

Character of location: Western, trailer, untidy, overgrown bushes, poorly maintained grass.

On the surface this appears to be two small groups of young women in traditional colourful Indian dress engaged in conversation. The first group appear to be concentrating on one person has to say who is gesturing with her arm. The second group are looking in different directions and not engaged at all.

The image appears to be staged. Though the subjects are in traditional dress, their features are not Indian. The background is incongruous with the subjects. I don’t find this reminiscent of 19th century photographers like Henry Peach (who used models and created poses that could be from a painting) or Raphael, as the image does not feel authentic or as if it was imitating a painting.

The photo is from a series called Constructing the Exotic. The photographer’s aim was to ‘explore he conventions of the figure in painting and photography through the lens of historical colonial and Indian art’. The image is certainly constructed, I do not find it exotic. The image makes more sense as part of the whole series, but personally it does not succeed in being exotic or depicting a conversation. It is however, thought provoking and that may have been the intention of the photographer.

https://www.michaelbuhlerrose.com/constructing-the-exotic

This was a three hour photo walk led by photographer Richard Storrow visiting some of the historic buildings of Leeds and looking at ways to photograph buildings. The morning started with a quick overview of camera settings and rules of composition (rule of thirds, and Fibonacci series). The rules of composition, were a guide only and we were encouraged to look for interesting shapes and patterns in our images.

The route included Leeds Market, The Corn Exchange, Leeds Bridge, Granary Wharf, The Dark Arches, Leeds City Square, Leeds City Museum, The Town Hall, and Leeds City Library. A selection of images from are shown below including some more modern architecture on route.

I particularly liked that at each location we were given 10 minutes to explore and shoot a range of photographs. We were then able to compare our shots and share ideas. There was lots of time for discussing technique relating to photography and processing in general.

For me the key learning points were

• How effective a piece of white card can be as a makeshift reflector for portraits (we really did discuss lots of areas).
• Lightroom has different crop guide overlays. I’m going to enjoy exploring these, especially the spiral.
• Think creatively when looking for shapes.
• How to set a custom white balance. Research the background to the building beforehand.
• Explore different angles.
• Photograph the same building at different times of day and in different light conditions
• Come back to your selection later, below is my second selection of images.
• Practice, practice and practice!

An evening workshop on portraiture seemed well timed to link in with my work for part two, on portraiture.

The tutor, John Arnison is an experienced photographer who has worked in the industry for over 15 years. His images are showcased in the permanent collections of the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

The evening was split into three parts.

1. Looking a photographers who have inspired John
2. Practical work with a musician who was a cellist
3. Reviewing and editing images in Lightroom in a computer lab

The first session has added to looked photographers who specialise in portraiture and showed how portrait photography has developed over the years. We looked at work by the following photographers.

• Dorothy Wilding
• Ida Kar
• Yousuf Karsh
• Mark Gerson
• Jane Bown
• Anthony Armstrong Jones
• David Bailey
• Steve Pyke
• Arnold Newman
• Jillian Edelstein
• John Reardon
• Evan Atwood
• Francesca Woodman
• Corrine Perry

I particularly liked hearing the stories behind some of the images. For example the famous photo of Winston Churchill scowling taken in 1941, was taken after the photographer, Yousuf Karsh took the cigar out of Churchill’s mouth after he had refused to stop smoking. The look of defiance created a classic image.

The practical second part involved working with a cellist. John lead the first part of the session covering ways to get the subject at ease. Then each person took turns in directing the subject. John made us think about getting photos that were not a standard portrait e.g. with the subject laying on the floor with her cello beside her. The resulting shots were very different from anything I would have considered. This was good experience of working with a subject. The images were taking using natural light with an ISO of 4000 and aperture of f/5.6 against a white wall. No other equipment was used showing how images can be taken without the use of flash. Due to photo permissions, no images can be shared at the present time, but once approved by the subject I hope to be able to add some to this post.

The final session involved looking at the images in Lightroom and discussing how to set highlights, shadows, whites, and blacks to achieve a pleasing result. Cropping the image could also produce a very different result from the original. Though pleased with the results, I would have liked more variety in my final set of images, particularly with positioning in the frame.

My key learning points were

• Plan what type of shots I would like to take from researching the work of other photographers
• Take more images in the session
• Include more variety of shots
• Find out what type of images the subject prefers
• Practice, practice and practice
• Though the object was not to use flash, the first part of the session looked at different lighting techniques, something that is on my list to investigate.

Currently on display in the visitor centre at Grizedale Forest, Solar Portraits is a fascinating exhibition of images lit only by solar power. The photographs show people around the world who have only access to electricity through solar power.

The images are intended to be a visual diary showing the impact of solar power on people living in Myanmar where only 27% of the population have access to the power grid.

The subjects of the images were asked to describe how solar power had changed their life. The images, which range from children doing their homework to a shop lit with solar light were inspired by their answers.

A selection of these images can be viewed at https://www.lensculture.com/articles/ruben-salgado-escudero-solar-portraits-myanmar#slideshow, however a computer screen does not do them justice. Viewed as a printed exhibition, the lighting reveals exquisite detail in both the lit subject(s) with at times a texture reminiscent of a painting.

Viewing these portraits, I was struck by the planning that had gone into developing an idea that involved the participants in a meaningful way demonstrating how solar power had change their lives. This was supported by his skill in shooting in low light conditions, and composition.The importance of the choice of paper for printing cannot be underestimated, as the matt texture brought out the detail.

Salgado Escudero describes his passion for photography, and his desire to tell stories through his work.

Photography is such a universal language. Engaging photographs have the power to make people feel something, no matter what language you speak or what country you’re from. It has the power to speak to everyone and there are many many people out there that, unfortunately, don’t have a voice. They don’t have a medium to be heard. I find it important to be able to use photography as a megaphone to allow people’s voices to be heard. You can channel or create a link to someone’s cause. Through photography and narrative story-telling one is capable of bringing more people to a person or cause’s voice.

References

Daniels, Chris. (2019). A Interview with Rubén Salgado Escudero. Available: https://www.mastinlabs.com/photoism/articles/interview-with-ruben-salgado-escudero. Last accessed 10th April 2019.

Salgado Escudero, Rubén . (2015). Solar Portraits: Myanmar.Available: https://www.lensculture.com/articles/ruben-salgado-escudero-solar-portraits-myanmar#slideshow. Last accessed 10th April 2019.