The Online Photographer

I've just found a website, new to me, called the Online Photographer which adds new articles about anything at all every day.  Once you have managed to ignore all the sidebar adverts, there are some interesting articles about a wide range of topics, such as 'The Three Biggest Mistakes Amateur Photographers Make' and 'On Street Photography' which could have supprorted my images as I ploughed my way through the module 'People & Place'.  Still, better late than never, I will keep dipping in to see what new items features is publishes in the future.

http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/blog_index.html

Salvador Dali Exhibition Catalogue

11 May 2011

I work as a volunteer at my local hospice shop and it's surprising what comes in as donations for sale. Last week I found a copy of the Salvador Dali Catalogue from the Tate Gallery exhibition in May/June 1980. I've never taken much notice of Dali's work before but I had seen his Time Clock on the South Bank in London and enjoyed looking at it. It looks very tactile and I wish there was an opportunity to touch it as I think half the pleasure of seeing sculpture and art is to be able to touch it.

I've looked through the Tate catalogue and it made me interested enough to look into Dali's life. He was born in the Pyrenees in 1904 and attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando but didn't graduate as he felt his work far superior to any of the academic staff. He lived in Paris where he spent time in his studio creating some of his most famous works.

With artists like Pablo Picasso approving of his work, Salvador Dali's paintings, such as "The Persistence of Memory," became icons of the Surrealist movement. During this time, he also met his future wife, Gala and they married in 1934 and throughout the next decades, Dali and Gala lived in Paris, New York and Spain. Dali enjoyed great success not only as a painter, but also as a filmmaker, sculptor, architect, photographer and writer.

When his wife died in 1982, Salvador Dali's health deteriorated, and he spent his final years in near-seclusion with a host of health problems. The artist known for his radical artwork, his flamboyant personality and his unusual moustache died from heart failure in January 1989.

When I visit exhibitions or look at books or catalogues of well-known  respected artists I realise that I am a jobbing photographer but I am working hard to improve my work and how I see pictures.  I live my life pleasing others to feel accepted and end up losing my sense of identity.  It's not easy to live with my own inadequacies!

Visting the Past

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00zj4rs#clips



Harry Benson and Albert Watson discuss multiple imaging

'Two of Scotland's most successful photographers - Harry Benson from Glasgow and Albert Watson from Edinburgh - now live in New York.  They spent a day together revealing the tricks of their trade and revisiting some of their best known images - Benson's photos of The Beatles at the peak of their fame and of Bobby Kennedy's assassination and Watson's portraits of Alfred Hitchcock, Mick Jagger and Mike Tyson.'

I picked up the link for this TV clip from BBC2's Artworks Scotland in a blog I dip into occasionally and found it fascinating to watch and listen to two old pros talking about taking ‘real’ photos in the 1960s-70s. I too can remember when there was no Photoshop and you had to produce multiple exposure images with cunning and expertise. Oh, the tricks of the darkroom had to be seen to be believed, but how much more exciting to produce manipulated work than it is today when you just do a few mouse clicks and there you are with a new picture.

I found this though a blog at http://janetsocaphotographyblog.blogspot.com/  The owner is a lecturer called Janet Jamieson who lives in East Kilbride, Scotland. She is just completing Assignment 5 from the People & Place module. I find it really helpful to read other people’s blogs and sometimes see how they have tackled the projects and assignments. It’s like having friends who you can call on when you get completely stuck and need inspiration.

Finishing off final assignment

I haven't reviewed much lately as I have been so busy putting together the final assignment for People & Place. It was very hard work but very satisfying when it was completey finished. My tutor was extremely complimentary with the final portraits and once I get it back I will incorporate his comments, then pack up all five assignments, etc, and send it all off for final assessment.

Whilst I am awaiting its return I will review a couple of programmes I have missed. I keep a watching brief on the OCA forum topics but until now have been unable to listen to videos or watch old TV programmes to their full glory as I lost my speakers when we moved to Lyme. I have finally got some new ones and should be able to catch up soon. Here's posting!

Fay Weldon Exhibition

Fay Weldon

Fay Weldon

I followed a link from the OCA 'We are OCA' February 27th 2011, the Open College of the Arts Blog, to an article of an exhibition called 'Revelations from Back Home' reviewed by Gareth Dent, link here:

http://www.weareoca.com/photography/revelations-from-back-home/  

and onwards to a review of the Fay Weldon exhibition at the National Media Museum in Bradford,  link here:

http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/PlanAVisit/ExploreOurGalleries/GalleryTwoLandRevisited.aspx

I met Fay Weldon once, in the 1990s, when I attended a course in Twickenham on landscape photography.  She showed pictures taken of the British landscapes which depicted how it was being spoiled by the invasion of man into the wild and remote places that still existed at that time. All I can remember is a small, slight blond woman but who was full of energy and passion who wanted to get as many photographers as she could involved with saving the places she loved. I didn't realise at the time that she was also president of the Ramblers Association.

What I also didn't know then was that she had been an eminent portrait photographer and had moved away from that genre in the 1970s.  I followed further links to one on the National Portrait Gallery where there is a section showing 48 of Fay's most notable portraits.

http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person.php?LinkID=mp08162&wPage=0

I am very interested to see how she portrayed the people she photographed as I am working on the People & Place module final assignment and, through discussion with my tutor CliveW, am taking portraits of local characters where I live in Lyme Regis.  It's interesting to see how, in her published images, she posed her subjects in a very similar way coming in close to feature mainly portraits of the head and shoulders of a person. This goes against the advice I have been given by my OCA tutor, who says it is important to produce an image which tells a story about the sitter and this story can usually be found in the surroundings that the subject is shown in, ie, their own home. Sometimes a strong full face portrait can show much more character than one where the subject is smaller in the frame. There is a place for both, dependent upon what it is you want to show about the sitter but |I think that a full face or profile picture can be a very strong image.

Trawling for new ideas for People & Place Assignment 5

8 Feb 2011

I was trawling through OCA student blogs this morning for inspiration and read a student's reading list which included photo mags. I've always liked looking through magazines for new ideas for pictures so followed the link to Photo Pro magazine. Whilst I can't afford to  take out subscriptions or buy the latest offerings, it's always interesting to look at what 'new' photographers are doing. It often seems that young photographers are out to shock and thrill so I was keen to see what Patrick Fraser, a 'new kid on the block' could offer. He's not so new as he a wide portfolio of images on his website. It was fascinating to see his different styles with different age groups and how he managed to extract the idiosyncrasies of individual personalities. As my next assignment (People & Place assignment 5, on assignment) will feature a variety of local characters in the town where I now live, I was very keen to see how he portrayed a wide age range of people showing their individual strengths.