Cartier Bresson: A Question of Colour

I went to the Cartier Bresson: A Question of Colour exhibition at Somerset House this week featuring 15 of Bresson's images (some never seen before in the UK) and another 75 by other photographers of the "Street Photography" genre.  A very exciting exhibition, I was thrilled to see works by Melanie Einzig and Joel Meyerowitz - in fact more thrilled than seeing Bresson's work.  (sorry...).  The objective of the exhibition was to make the point about the "decisive moment".  I think of Bresson as the founder of street/urban photography, and modern monochrome images.  However, the exhibition showed that the evolution of street photography to include colour is to the genre's advantage.  Many images work better in colour, as colour is one of the themes that street photographers seek.  In addition the size and quality of modern printed images is outstanding, compared with the Bresson era, so these modern images overshadowed Bresson's works considerably.  I wonder why the curator did not mount the Bresson's in one section so that they would not look overwhelmed by later works.

Images that really intrigued me by photographers new to me:

Sozio, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2010 by Karl Baden (and all Baden's images that had been included) - I loved the theme of photographing through the car window - like driving through madness!  The fact that the images were shot through the window gave a sense of detachment which highlighted the eccentricity of his subjects. 

Untitled (Chihuahua, NYC), 1993 by Jeff Mermelstein - dogs seem to be very powerful in street photography.  In this it's as if the street belongs to the dog.  The dog is the only subject actually looking at the camera - everyone else is just getting on with what they need to do!

Sharkbay, 2006 by Trent Parke- this is wonderful.  A line of emus walking towards some houses - incredible brilliant white but not blown out against stunning blue.  The sense of heat is really captured.

Bombardopolis, Haiti, 1986 by Alex Webb - as above - stunning use of colour and light - I like the unusual viewpoint in this image - over the donkey's head with the image framed on each side by people.

I might just pop back and look at this exhibition again!

For more information on the exhibition see:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/nov/07/henri-cartier-bresson-photography

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/bab40ff0-28de-11e2-9591-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2Bwy9weZs

Light

The afternoon light today over the Barbican was stunning - dark sky with bright patches lighting up the different buildings in turn - it was a spectacular sequence of slow moving flashes. I was stuck in an office doing some training but really wish I had been out in the street or even on top of a building (like James Burns!). The iPad photo doesn't do it justice and it seems to have lightened the sky - but I know exactly what I mean when I see it! This kind of light is also incredible in the Lake District lighting up entire fellsides.

Light, mist and frost

7.20am - beautiful light, mist and frost - even in Feltham! Pity about having to go to work...had pocket camera with me but no time fish it out...just a quick iPad shot! Time to follow Matt Stuart's example and always have a camera out ready! I would really like to see these conditions at Castlerigg Stone Circle - the sky was the faintest of pinks - almost ethereal.

Photography Monthly - Special Issue 2012

I found the article on Landscapes forming part of the series on the Landscape Recipe Book very informative.  Written by Mark Bauer the article describes how to mark foregrounds interesting.  The key features are:

• Enlarged rocks (wide-angle)
• Paths leading into the background
• Rocks framing the edges
• Plants providing an effect frame (although at Camera Club I was warned against this by a judge....)
• Smoky water
• Converging lines
• Empty foreground
• Pointers from the corners of the frame

The whole series of the Landscape Recipe Book has been very helpful - I shoot a lot in the Lake District and am very interested in creating different landscapes - I think I now need to go back through my previous editions and piece it all together.

2012 KCC Exhibition

I entered ten images into the Nature catogory for the 2012 Kingston Camera Club exhibition.  All images entered were accepted for the exhibition, however, two of the images recieved an Honorary Mention from the judge Ken Scott.  This felt like the first significant recognition of my work, so I was thrilled!  The category didn't distinguish between Standard and Advanced level; I am in the Standard class, so I was really pleased to get this given the competition :-).  The photos were in 4th and 5th places out of 27.  The two images receiving the Honorary Mention are:

Best Foot Forward

Birds Eye

Seduced by Art: Photography Past and Present

I went to the Seduced by Art exhibition at the National Gallery on Friday evening.  The point of the exhibition was to display the links between the art classics and photography, e.g. in portraiture.  I found the exhibition interesting, but thought that the connections were a little contrived.  I couldn't always see the connection clearly, although in same cases I could see some similarity.  I think photography is an art in its own right and doesn't need to be compared with classical art.  

What was significantly more interesting was the film showing the exploding flowers: a vase of flowers, with charges attached had been frozen with nitrogen and then detonated from a distance, creating a spectacular image Blow Up by Ori Gersht.  I was also pleased to see two Delahaye images in the exhibition, one of which I had previously seen at the Prix Pictet exhibition - 132nd Meeting of the Ordinary Conference - and one I hadn't previously seen named Detail From US Bombing on Taliban Positions which was compared with Battle of Jemappes by Vernet.

I also liked the chaotic bedroom pictures - my friends who came with me commented that these resembled their teenage daughter's room, and I found the poster image of the Man with Octopuss Tattoo by Richard Learoyd interesting: this image works on many levels - limited colour pallette, central composition with diagonal tattoo, subject matter.

For more information see:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/nov/04/seduced-art-photography-national-gallery

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/oct/30/seduced-by-art-national-gallery

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/interactive/2012/oct/30/seduced-by-art-national-gallery-audio-interactive?intcmp=239

Matt Stuart

I am a big fan of Matt Stuart - I love the comedy in his work - and have previously commented on him in my post about Street Photography Now.  I was fortunate enough to meet him a couple of days ago and a presentation he gave at Richmond and Twickenham Photographic Society.  Matt spoke about how he started out as a photographer, what motivates him and interests him, the camera/lens he uses and what he looks for.  The points I noted from the evening are:

• Either see the moment and take it - or fish out a context and wait for something to happen
• When approached by angry subjects, comment "like the ...." - always works
• Look for repetition of shapes and patterns, and people replicating them
• Look for funny slogans and captions
• Measure the exposure of the location beforehand, e.g. certain distances on the tube, so that you can then be prepared when the moment strikes
• Keep your eyes and ears open at all times
• Learn to predict what will happen
• 1/500s shutter speed will stop motion (so use Shutter priority) - good for capturing facial expressions
• 1/250s shutter speed won't stop motion dead in its tracks
• Look for single features within busy crowd shots
• Get your subject familiar with the clicking noise so that you blend into the background
• Look for places with lots of people - natural situations and unexpected situations
• Follow your subjects
• Always carry a camera whatever the conditions and however small the camera
• The more you do the luckier you will get
• Give yourself a brief or a project
• Mirror colours (e.g. Matt's photo of a lady with an orange turban looking at a picture of three wilson basketballs in the Tate)
• Look for scenes where a few things are happening within a busy picture
• Tune in to detail - be alert
• Locations with wide pavements are good locations for street photography
• Aim for about 12ft of distance from the subject or focal point
• Learn to walk backwards
• Keep elbows in

Matt also mentioned his montor Joel Meyerowitz several times, which got me thinking that I need a mentor too.  Where do I get one?

Sheep In Snow (c) Margot Baker

A delightful image taken by a fellow camera club member, Margot Baker: this was entered into a print competition last week.  What really made the image for me was the effect of the printing - somehow it looked as if the trees were bleeding very slightly into the sky - which was stunning.  This image works really well on many levels: the contrast between the bright snow and the threatening sky, the above-centre curved horizon line taking your eye towards the tree, the triangle sheep formation, with two eating and one looking, and the subtle shadows.  There is also an implied line from where the horizon intersects the left-hand verticle pointing towards the sheep in the bottom right-hand side of the foreground.  I found that in my mind I had an arrowhead shape from right to left making the image quite dynamic. Although there is plenty of light in this image, you can imagine the cold and feel sorry for the sheep finding grass growing through the snow.

I really really like this photo and I think it works well in monochrome.  I'm now hoping to see a similar sight in the Lake District this winter!

Sheep in Snow (c) Margot Baker

Men and Women

Men and Women exhibition by Tom Wood at the Photographer's Gallery overall didn't work for me, although I am a big fan of street photography.  I understood this to be a library of portraits shot by Wood in Liverpool over a number of years and I think it's an excellent catalogue of images from a curational perspective, but I didn't like it.  I couldn't get any meaning from it or relate to it.  However, there were two images that I found funny: Mad Max and Three Wise Women, both of which have also been selected by the journalist Sean O'Hagn for commentary.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/oct/12/tom-wood-men-women-photographers-gallery

With Mad Max, apart from the obvious comedy, the colours are interesting: complimentary blue and orange but not in the Freeman recommended proporations of 2:1 - this is more like 1:5 and for me it works.  I don't agree with the ratio theory and like this proportion where the majority is orange.

I like Three Wise Women because it reminds me of Last of The Summer Wine.  It's funny - that's it.  For more information see:

http://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/men-women

Out Of Focus

I also went to the "Out of Focus" exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery today. 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/may/09/saatchi-photography-out-of-focus?newsfeed=true

Strange, bizarre, surreal, odd, strange...I found it interesting - it pushed the boundaries of my understanding of photography, but I'm not sure I liked it.  The Californian portraits by Katy Grannan - incredible exposure against that white wall - the common element to all the portraits - but each character had something very sad to say - I think... almost as if they were hanging on to the past - hanging on to something that previously worked e.g. an outfit, a type of appearance, an image, but was no longer working.  The coloured Ansel Adams-esque landscapes - not sure I liked the colours (although pleased in a way because I've altered the colours on one of my Assignment 3 photos for TAOP to enhance purple to a point where it looks unnatural - so this series gave me some validation!) - I think I would have preferred to see the images in b&w - but then have I been biased by Adams?  

There were three photographers though that I really liked - amd three I would hang on my wall:

• Sohei Nishino
• Luis Gispert 
• Phoebe Rudomino

Nishino's collage/jigsaw puzzles of an apparent google earth type image, but deconstructed and reconstructed - one each of Paris, Tokyo and New York - very intriguing.  Not sure I want to try it - would certainly teach me patience!.

Gispert views across the dashboard - bizarre yet very pleasing - I liked the weirdness of it all.

Rudomino - underwater shot at Pinewood Studios - a beautiful image and wish I knew how to do that!

Power - Prix Pictet

I attended the OCA Study Trip today to the Prix Pictet exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in London.  

For more information on what the Prix Pictet is all about, and to view the images discussed below, go to: http://www.prixpictet.com/

Attending an exhibtion with fellow students and tutors was altogether a completely different experience to going along with some friends.  Being around people who view photography in an analytical way. and participating in those conversations, provoked deeper thought and stronger reactions than I was expecting.  And it was great to meet people studying photography with OCA for the first time :-)

OCA people

The exhibition showed a selection of work by the photographers who made it to the short list for the Prix Pictet.  It's difficult to know where to start a commentary, so probably with the winner is the best place, followed the other contenders (in no particular order).

Luc Delahaye

Three images by Delahaye were on display in the exhibition; larger than life with absolute clarity, the works showed are:

• House to House
• Ambush, Ramadi
• 132nd Meeting of the Ordinary Conference

House to House (with Clark and Sternfield panels behind)

Viewing the images online as I had done prior to attending the exhibition hadn't prepared me for seeing these enormous works of art.  House to House (an excellent example of colour accent - pink in orange) was striking the fact that the subject was carrying a gun made it emotional; 132nd Meeting is a busy image making the eye travel around the frame trying to take all the information in; Ambush, Ramadi was my favourite - I loved the subdued tones and lighting, the haziness and the sense that all was lost.

I'm not sure though that Delahaye was my favourite of the shortlist candidates.  The photos were slightly let down by the fact that the exhibition had not used non-reflective glass, so it was particularly hard to see 132nd Meeting due to the reflections.

Daniel Beltra

For me, these were the most striking images of the whole exhibition and the ones I was most anxious to see (having researched previously); I loved the the bright colours but limited pallettes, the very simple compositons used, and the overall striking and compelling, and almost abstract, beauty of the images.  One of the tutors asked me if I had an issue with the fact that something so awful (the BP oil spill) had been depicted as something so beautiful.  I'm ashamed to say that I don't have an issue with it.  The world is a constant cycle of disasters, some man-made, others natural, but I think that to find beauty in something awful is comforting in a weird way.  And I don't think that Beltra meant to condone the oil industry and associated risk, I think he was trying to capture compelling images that struck a chord, and for me that worked.  Oil spill # 17 reminded me of slices of Agate that you see in museums and mineral shops in Dorset!  The four images displayed were:

• Oil Spill # 1
• Oil Spill # 4
• Oil Spill # 9
• Oil Spill # 17

I have absolutely no object to photographers saturating the colour in images in processing (I do it constantly because I am drawn to vivid colour) but in this collection it seemed slightly obvious as the elements that you would expect to be weathered, i.e. the oil rig and the boat were very brightly coloured.  But for me this enhanced the images, which I thought were stunning.

I also heard that Beltra has previously submitted entries into the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition of birds caked in oil (highlighting the damage and destruction), so I don't feel that he can be criticised for taking the wrong view on this dreadful incident.

Beltra's Panel

Edmund Clark

I was particularly captivated by the images by Edmund Clark and found these the most alarming of all the photography I saw today.  The exhibition included four images from the series entitled "Guantanamo: If the Light Goes Out":

• Camp One, Exercise Cage
• Camp Six, Shackles
• Camp Six, Emergency Response Four Equipment
• Camp Six, Unused Communal Area

All four images were based on a very simple colour pallette and simple composition yet were very compelling.  Clark managed to convey a sense of fear, expected violence, and continuity: these images depict a sense of endlessness and loneliness.  You can image the larger than life cages, shackles, barriers, enclosures, continuing beyond the frames of the photos, and as a result of which, the endless fear...which for me is an unbearable concept and far worse than an oil slick, which although devasting, the world will eventually recover from.

Carl De Keyzer

De Keyzer's sequence "Moments Before the Flood", which exhibited:

• Isola di Capo Rizzuto, Italy
• England
• Dublin, Ireland
• Store Heddinge, Denmark

was a series of aesthetically pleasing images, despite the grim message they conveyed (as in Beltra's sequence).   Again, a simple colour scheme and compositon in all four; I particularly enjoyed looking at the structures shown in the image shot in England and having searched Google and found De Keyzer's website , I found a description:

"The Maunsell forts were built during the second world war to protect London from the attacks of the German planes.  This one was said to be sold to a Russian millionaire who plans to turn it into a hotel.
During the sixties these forts housed pirate radio stations". 

I tried hard to think why I like this image in particular: sombre tones (blue/grey), sloping horizon, uncorrected wide-angle distortion, the fact that I had to think about what the structures might be, and then what must it have been like to be on such a structure defending England from attack, or in the future surviving rising sea levels. Beautiful!

De Keyzer's Panel

 Mohamed Bourouissa

Mohamed Bourouissa's series entitled "Peripherique" made me think.  The images displayed were:

• La Republique
• Le Reflet
• Le Miroir
• Le Cercle Imaginaire

Initially I found them very striking.  Also large format, I particularly liked Le Cercle Imaginaire and Le Reflet for the almost surrealist elements, but then somebody mentioned that these were shot from reconstructions, which ruined it a bit.  I'm not a great fan of constructed images - preferring life to be shot as it is, however grim.  Nonetheless, the image of somebody dressed as a skeleton standing in a ring of fire is disturbing sight.

An-My Le

Several of the attending students remarked that they were not too impressed with Le's images; I loved them.  I loved the pale tones, particularly against the white wall with white framing, the delicated shadows and the strong sense of light.  Reading about Le's background I initially thought these were genuine war photos, being surprised to learn that they were shot in training camps - which makes them constructed and which contradicts what I said previously about not liking contstructed images.  I found with Le's images, I wasn't interested in what she was trying to convey, or what the message was, I just appreciated the aesthetic qualities of the photos and in particular liked the shadow pattern on Infantry Platoon, Alpha Company and the composition of Mechanised Assault (can I apply this to my Lake District landscapes?).

The images included in Le's exhibits were:

• Infantry Platoon, Alpha Company
• Mechanised Assault
• Night Operations III
• Embassy Medevac

Robert Adams

Unfortunately I don't remember which of Adams' images were shown; it may have been the lot.  I usually like monochrome images, but in small size and surrounded by large frame colour (wide-screen TV size photos) - he didn't stand a chance of keeping my attention.  For me this exhibit was a non-event.  I know he was conveying a message about deforestation, an incredibly important issue, but he failed to grab my attention.

Philippe Chancel

I liked Chancel's images depicting the devastation of the Tsunami affecting Japan in 2011.  I liked the images from Google earth placing the photo in context and distance from the shoreline.  The image I particularly liked was Higashimaecho_GPS_39°16’23’’N 141°53’36’’E - 2011-06-1 4 _ 07 :59: 36 G.M.T because of the scale of the boat against the house, the colours of the boat against the sombre tones of the background and the fact that despite the damage to the boat (making it obviously unseaworthy) the boat is still standing.  I think though that had this been my image, I would have been tempated to have cropped it into square format (and possibly extending the vertical scale of the boat) removing the bulk of the building on the left-hand side: I don't think we need that much information about a white building.  But, I image that Chancel is more experienced in composition than I am and knows what he is doing.... The six images displayed by Chancel were:

• Higashimaecho_GPS_39°16’23’’N 141°53’36’’E - 2011-06-1 4 _ 07 :59: 36 G.M.T
• Rikusentakata_GPS_39° 1’ 14’’ N 141° 37’23‘’E-2011-06-13_03 :48 :35 G.M.T
• Sendai _GPS_38°2’20’’N 140°55’10’’ E - 2011-06-12 _04 :04 :44 G.M.T
• Minamisanriku _GPS_38°54’20’’N 141 34’ 22’’ E -2011-06-13 _04 : 52 :47 G.M.T
• Minatoguchi _GPS_37°43’22’’N 141°0’29’’E - 2011-06-07 _ 05 :10 :39 G.M.T
• Kitashita_GPS_38° 0’ 5’’ N 140° 54’ 20’’ E -2011-06-08 _ 02 :44 :56 G.M.T

Rena Effendi

One of the tutors commented that for him this was the most compelling collection and reminded him of his own work (tutor - please email me a weblink!!).  I found Effendi's images both disturbing and comforting.  Disturbing on the basis that surely no one wants to eat contaminated food or grow crops on contaminated soil, yet comforted by the fact that, as previously commented, life goes on - nature recovers from disasters.  The images displayed were intriguing - 6 out of 7 were square format but not centrally composed (I often use square format for symmetrical subjects that look better within a central composition) so this has now left me wondering about composition in general and in particular within a square frame.  The pig's head in the snow aside, these are not disturbing images until you understand the commentary and get the fact that although the food looks like normal food - it's not - it is contaminated.  I particularly liked the image of tree though growing in the abandoned gym - that has to be a symbol of hope for the region?  The images exhibited in this panel were:

• Gas masks scattered on the floor of a school lobby in the abandoned city of Prypiat. As a result of the nuclear accident and the subsequent... (OK - this one is disturbing and echoes a war photo)
• Birch tree growing through the floor of an abandoned gym in the ghost town of Pripyat. Following the radioactive fallout after the nuclear accident...
• Hanna Zavarotnya's trophy falcon.  
• Hanna Zavarotnya's pig, butchered for the New Year holidays in Kapavati village. 79-year-old Hanna Zavarotnya survived WWII Nazi occupation and the...
• Nadejda Gorbachenko's wine and corn from the orchard. Farming is forbidden in the Zone due to high levels of radiation in the soil..
• Deer horns in the shed of Galina Konyushok's house. Hunting is strictly forbidden in the Zone, due to high levels of radioactive contamination.
• Galina Konyushok’s chicken broth. The food chain is contaminated with radiation, especially animals that consume local grain and vegetation.

Jacqueline Hassink

I think this photographer sparked more debate than any of the others and particularly from the perspective that feminism is now outdated.  Is it really breaking news that women run companies and boards now?  It obviously is, even in Europe, as the newspapers still comment on the disproportionate gender mix in business.  However, Hassink depicted a panel of images of pairs of board rooms and dinning rooms.  What struck me was the symmetry in each pair: the dinning rooms resembled the boardrooms - not only in numbers of chairs, but also in orderliness, geometric shapes, neat and tidiness - each pair seemed sterile.  I wondered whether the photographer was trying to show that in rising to the top, and presumably sacrificing family time in the process, the women had traded their identities and had stopped investing emotionally in their homes.  Had these dinning rooms been purchased for them?  The dining rooms looked like they'd been put together for show homes - there was no real evidence of family life and the disorderliness that comes with it.  Traditionally, in Europe and in Arabia, the dining room is a place of nuture.  Mealtimes are ritualistic and bring families together.  In making the room where nuture is supposed to happen resemble board rooms, had the women traded their families for power?  Interesting concepts!  I actually didn't like these images, but they certainly made me think, making the photography successful in itself.  I believe that all ten pairs shown on the website were displayed in the exhibition.  As a panel they worked, but I don't recall reactions to individual images.

Joel Sternfeld

One of the tutors commented that these images would work as part of a news magazine, but not on their own as individual photos.  I agree with him - they are portraits, and possibly very good portraits, but without the context of the narrative, they are also meaningless.  The idea behind the panel of four, was to display the moment when the subjects realised that the full extent of the horror of what they were hearing about ecological collapse and when it was most visible on their faces.  I don't think that Sternfeld achieved that.  The four portraits on display were:

• Anandi Sharan Meili, Managing Director, Velcan Energy, India
• Stephan Singer, Head of European Climate and Energy Policy Unit, World Wildlife Fund, Belgium
• Robert Kofi Bamfo, Corporate Manager, Forestry Commission, Ghana
• William J. Clinton, Former President, United States

I think Bamfo definitely looked worried if not devastated, but the others look concerned at best.  Clinton, perhaps also looks a little shocked, but Meili and Singer, just look cross but not horrified.  This  panel did not work for me as well as the other collections.

Guy Tillim

I don't have much to say about Tillim's images.  There were not as compelling as the others in the exhibition.  I liked "Residents of the town of Goma in eastern DRC salute Laurent Kabila after his army took control, displacing the Mobutu forces" as I think that this does convey the concept of power, but I didn't really notice much about the others.  On display were:

•  Residents of the town of Goma in eastern DRC salute Laurent Kabila after his army took control, displacing the Mobutu forces.
• The statue of the explorer Henry Morton Stanley which overlooked Kinshasa in colonial times. It rests on a steamboat that belonged to the African...
• Presidential candidate Jean-Pierre Bemba enters a stadium in central Kinshasa flanked by his bodyguards during an election rally.
• A traditional dancer and crowd salute Jean-Pierre Bemba as he walks to a rally from the airport, Kinshasa, July 2006.
• The looted remains of Mobutu Sese Seko's residence at Gbadolite.

As far as the OCA Study Trip experience goes - thank you!  I really enjoyed this afternoon, it was great to meet like-minded people, and I will definitely attend more in the future.

Slot Canyon (c) Keith Every

Another stunning image from a fellow camera club member, and one that is timely in view of my course work.  A beautiful example of "similar colours" comprising shades of red, dark brown, yellow, orange, pink and horizontal lines in the weathering of the rocks and diagonal lines provided by the shape of the light and colours.  The composition is unusal with the main off-centre triangle with a top apex and the lower triangle formed by the rock formation in the shade - the dynamism is increased by the triangle apexes not aligning and the intersecting curves formed by weathering.  In fact, the composition is triangular more than anything else - if you look from a distance you see a series of triangles in increasing sizes.  I haven't checked yet with Keith (but I will), but I imagine this was shot on a very slow shutter speed and slightly under exposed so as to avoid (successfully!) burn out with the light coming through at the top.  This would have been perfect to use for Assignment Three for TAOP - if only I had taken it!

Slot Canyon (c) Keith Every

James Burns

I don't even know where to begin talking about this photographer - his work has left me speechless!  Probably best to go straight to the link: Raw Images

I went to a talk at the City and Cripplegate Photographic Society  on Tuesday this week by James Burns, a young, exciting and original photographer with a unique perspective on life, who is TOTALLY inspirational!

Through my examination of other photographers' work, I am finding out more and more that the photographer has something to say and that photogrpahy is a medium through which to convey a message, philosophy, social commentary and so on.  Burns is passionate about the condition of social housing and much of his portfolio depicts what really are (let's be honest about this) appalling living conditions, yet he manages to translate these into stunning and compelling images.  He admits to being a good "blagger" - finding his way onto the rooftops of these monstrosities to capture, not only the awful architecture of social housing, but also the way of life of the inhabitants and the stunning views from the top.  Burns manages to convey a sense of beauty through what in reality is pretty ugly.  Burns is also a funny and honest speaker and I would definitely stop by another talk if I had the opportunity and I'm trying to get him a booking at my camera club in Kingston (that'll rock Kingston!).

I'm not going to single out individual photos to comment on - they are all amazing and it would be impossible to compare one against another.  Sitting in the audience, I felt oooh after oooh after oooh!

BUT I love the concept of "Puddleography".  It's witty and beautiful and original.  I would like to contribute to the Puddleography movement, with Burns' permission, so watch out for a link to a new blog (once I've checked with Burns that he doesn't mind!).

Seeing Burns' work has made me think about what it is that I am passionate about: what would I like to communicate through photography?  In the past few days I have been looking at blocks of flats and wondering whether I would like to photograph them, can I capture any beauty and what would it be like to be standing at the top in the wind and cold looking out over London!

The biggest takeways for me from this talk were those that I can relate to landscape photography in the Cumbrian mountains, which is my passion (and thorn - exposure issues....) - the similarities are being high up (obviously), having to define a frame within a wide panorama, photographing through haze (fog), making distant objects appear close, lugging kit up flights of stairs (scree tracks), wind, rain, possible danger..and of course stunning views and different light.  The takeaways are:

• ISO 100
• Small aperture (large f-stop)
• Slow shutter speed and tripod
• Long lens (with extenders and balancing devices to minimise blur)
• Look for an original view
• Take a friend to hold on to your feet
• Don't be afraid!

David Fettes

I went to a talk by David Fettes in Kingston last night.  Fettes is a wildlife photographer, whose trade mark is to try to capture animals from unusual angles or from a different perspective to how they might normally be shot.  He had many images of lions and elephants charging towards him; not a situation everyone would choose to be in!

The presentation was mainly about showing the images and talking about the experience, rather than elaborating on techniques, but the takeaways from that evening are:

• Invest in lenses rather than the camera body; it is better to have a cheaper body and better lenses than the other way round
• Look for natural framing around the subject, e.g. photographing an elephant through the legs of another elephant
• Look for elements of design, e.g. lines, triangles - he actually had an image of three giraffe standing in height order
• Lie on the ground shooting upwards - this makes the animal more impressive
• Focus on the eyes of the subject (the rest can be out of focus but the eyes must be in focus)
• Lie still on the ground for hours so that the animals get used to you being there and make eye contact
• You don't have to go to Africa for wildlife - look around Richmond or Windsor parks

For more information, go to http://www.davidfettes.com/

Photography Monthly - November 2012 edition

A bumper packed edition for November, with many interesting articles:

Wow! Image by CJ Kale pg 6-7

An image of a rolling wave shot at Sandy's Beach on Oahu in Hawaii.  The image has a low horizon (dynamic compostion) with the wave rolling in from the left hand side.  The colour palette is mainly the complementary colours of blue and orange, with fantastic light captured and crystal sharp water frozen in action.  This image is simply incredible and prompts the question of exactly where was the photographer at the time?  I then googled CJ Kale and found out that the photographer is from Hawaii and specialises in extreme photography. Lucky CJ Kale!

To see CJ Kale's work and those stunning glass waves, go to http://500px.com/cjkale?page=1

Secret Countryman by David Cole pg 16

Overall winner in the wildlife category, this is a really cute picture of a mole.  I have never seen a mole in real life so I am always interested in photos of them.  The composition of the image is along the rule of thirds with three horizontal sections and the mole taking centre position.  The grey of the mole contrasts beautifully with the blurred green background and I really like the detail of the earthy on his face and the soft texture of his fur.

To see a copy of the image, go to http://www.fwi.co.uk/blogs/rural-life/2012/07/a-mole-in-one.html

North York Moors by Richard Watson pg 12

Worth a mention - this would have been a good image for me to have attempted for Assignment 3 - this image shows a great combination of violet, green and blue (similar colours), with contrasting yellow patches.

To see a copy of this image, go to http://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/article/judges-highly-commended-photographs-the-princes-countryside-fund-photography-competition-42211/ and scroll down to the Finest View category.

English Longhorn Cattle by Sylviane Moss pg 14

Winner of the Down on the Farm category (accessible via the same link as above), I love the simple composition of this shot, the limited colour scheme of black, white and brown with a touch of pink, and the dark background.  This set up really allows you to focus on the animal's tranquility and almost isolation as it eats its straw.  A beautiful image but also sad in a way.

The Landscape Recipe Book by Mark Bauer pg 25-33

I have been following the Landscape Recipe Book each month; particularly as I love taking landscape photos but have difficulty capturing something that means as much to somebody else as it does to me.  Judges often comment that landscapes are lacking an extra detail, e.g. a house next to a mountain...., so I am very interested in finding out what makes landscapes work for other people.  This month's recipes of coastal shots are different: they are simplistic, atmospheric and generally lacking in detail.  They mostly seem to have been shot on slow shutter speeds, to get clarity of the few details that there are and then a general milky/misty effect on the water.  I noticed that with these shots, they are not always composed along the traditional landscape thirds; some have equal prominence to sky and sea, yet this does not make them static.  The dynamism comes from the relationship between the two halves: reflections, mist, colours, horizon and sky blending together.  I also like the inclusion of small amounts of detail: an isolated deck chair, a lonely groyne, a tiny detail of land on the horizon and the remnants of derelict piers.  I really like the feeling of desolation and emptiness that these images convey.  These images are inspiring and it is helpful how Bauer also explains the processing carried out.  I feel like going to the coast now to have a go!  I may check out his workshops....

For more information see: http://markbauerphotography.com/

The Storyteller pg 55-59

This article is about Eric Kruszewski, a self-taught photographer who turned pro within a year of picking up his camera, and is now published by the likes of National Geographic.  Backpack photographer/photojournalis - basically this is what I want to happen to me.  Ok, might take longer than a year but what a dream!  In the photo details, I noticed that although many of his images are shot in bright light, Kruszewski uses a high ISO; in some cases above 1000.  This would be beyond the capabilities of my camera - the images would be too grainy - but in Kruszewski's case this means he can use a very fast shutter speed resulting in crystal clear images.

I particularly liked Haiti Watering Can on page 56 because of the perspective and wide angle and Girl on Willis Tower Ledge on page 59 for the highly original view and expression of the child's face.

A very exciting photographer to follow!  http://www.erickruszewski.com/

National Geographic - October 2012 edition

It is hard to comment on the images from National Geographic; I subscribe to the magazine, partly because I am intersted in natural history, anthropology, geology etc, but also because it gives me access to stunning photographs.  So selecting individual shots out for a particular merit is tough, because they are all amazing.  The October 2012 edition had a particularly interesting and saddening article about ivory poaching and the plight of the donor elephants.  The associated images are distressing yet compelling.  Not images to hang on the wall, but images that give you so much information that you actually don't need to read the article to get the message.  In contrast, I really enjoyed looking at the landscape views of the "Sky Caves of Nepal" and the charming sequence "Once Upon a Home" showing some animals that had moved into deserted cottages in Finland.

Whilst reading the October edition, I noticed that a number of images that could have been cropped to square format with central composition, were left rectangular with composition following the rule of thirds.  This provides a sense of space and a dynamic relationship between the subject and its environment.  For instance, the turtle on page 96 would have worked very well as a centrally composed portrait of the turtle, but including more of the background water and sea plants tells you something about the space that the turtle occupies.  Something to remember...

One image though that I particularly liked was the picture of the whale shark on page 145 taken by Brian Skerry called "Big Fish, Little Fish": a simple and striking colour pallette of turquoise, shades of grey and white, centrally composed without any distracting information in the background and a sucker fish in the shark's mouth just off-centre towards the bottom LFS.  The photographer said that the shark would not eat either the fish nor him, yet nonetheless I bet he was scared!  The presence of the little sucker fish contrasts and highlights the enormity of the whale shark.

To see the image, go to: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/10/mesoamerican-reef/skerry-field-notes

Southbank (c) Tim Morland

Another inspiring image a from fellow Camera Club member with lots of "wow factor".  This is a stunning example of use of HDR (see previous reference to HDR), which Tim created from three different exposure conversions shot in a RAW file (so no need to take three images on a tripod as previously thought!).  I love the light in this image illuminating the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, the fact that the people and dog actually appear to be in motion and the way the eye takes you round the curved building of City Hall to the same point on the horizon that the river and banks take you to.  The sky is also very dramatic with the clouds appearing horizontal from the wide-angle lens effect and the darkening effect at the top of the sky (polariser or n-grad?).  If you look closely at the river you can see ripples also, which appear to be moving - this is the HDR effect.  The effective horizon line is only just below the vertical halfway point, yet this does not matter.  There is so much drama in the sky and so much movement in the lower half of the image with the movement along the South Bank that the overall effect is still dynamic.  In addition, the composition is broken up by the City Hall structure occupying a good chunk of the left-hand side, breaking up the horizon.  I am also drawn to this image because I used to work in St Katharine's Dock, just behind Tower Bridge, and so used to regularly walk this route from London Bridge and then crossed the river at Tower Bridge to get to work.

Southbank (c) Tim Morland

This view is not too dissimilar to a shot I had taken previously using a fish-eye lens for my work on contrasts in section 1 of TAOP to illustrate the contrast between old and new architecture, which in fact I didn't use in the end, although I much prefer Tim's composition, lighting and sky - well the whole thing really!

But, I am now tempted to go back to the same location and have another go!  And I have to learn how to use my software (keep saying this) to have a go at HDR! (I have just realised that my software doesn't support HDR, so I now have an economic conundrum to resolve....)

Maximon (c) Brian Collins

I saw something new last night: Maximon, photographed by a fellow Camera Club member (reinforcing my view that the role of the photographer is to document and inform).  Maximon is a Mayan folk saint venerate during Holy Week (for more info see Maximon).  I was drawn to this image, not only because it is unusual and is showing me a subject that is new to me, but also because of the lighting in the image. There is fantastic tonal contrast in the monochrome version and you image from the variety of patterns in the fabrics adorning the statue that in real life the whole thing is probably quite garish or gaudy.

Maximon (c) Brian Collins

But, when you see the original, that there are some bright colours, but also some rather subdued hues as well, which surprised me.

Maximon (c) Brian Collins

You can really see how the black and white conversion has strengthed the image and brought a quality of light that enhances the final product. I also really like the tight framing; the photo is all about the effigy and nothing else; also the black and white version helps play down the background.  I would now be interested in seeing more Mayan artifacts!

To A Point (c) Keith Wellbelove

A graphically striking image by a fellow member of my Camera Club.  I love the clear lines and strong yellow and blue - great timing from my perspective as I am currently working on Part 3 of TAOP dealing with colours. As far as elements are concerned, there is clear direction in this image with the black and white bend sign taking the eye to the focal point in the top left hand corner, plus a pattern formed by the shadow of the railing.  The colour saturation is great, rendering the image from a landscape to almost an abstract.  For me, this is one of those "wish I'd seen that" images!

To a Point (c) Keith Wellbelove

Fire Tornado

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/912276-fire-tornado-captured-in-spectacular-close-up-by-filmmaker

Metro newspaper, 17 September 2012, featured a photograph by Chris Tangey of a fire tornado in Alice Springs, Australia.  Impressed, because not only that I didn't know fire tornados existed (I'm 44! - how did this happen?) but the photograph is stunning.  Lucky photographer being in the right place with camera in had (I would miss the moment checking settings...) but the image is perfectly composed with the vertical and horizontal lines along the rules of thirds, plus that bright orange accent against a neutral background of grey swirling dust in the wake of the tornado, and the yellow/green grass and scrub.  And when you look closely again you see red/pink within the charcol grey dust - a really effective colour scheme.  All the warm colours, red, orange and yellow are present, against the cool green and harsh grey.  Fabulous! Wish I'd been there!

Fire Tornado (c) Chris Tangey

Peter Cairns

On 3 September 2012, I went to a talk at Ludshott Camera Club by an extraordinarly photographer, Peter Cairns.  Cairns is a wildlife photographer and I would challenge anyone who said his images aren't incredibly stunning.  What is interesting about Cairns is that he is primarily interested and motivated by ecology and conservation.  He claims that photography is just a means of expression.  Looking at his images, it's hard to believe that his relationship with photography is so casual; they are so stunning that you can't imagine anything less than hard work and devotion to the cause.  But he is passionate about protecting the environment and uses his art to communiate to the world through his participation in various collaborative projects, such as 2020 Vision and Wild Wonders of Europe.

Cairns is also inspiring as he has achieved what I would like to do; he's left the world of 9-5 (or 8-6 in my case...) and changed his life moving to Scotland to fulfill his ambitions.  I would definitely like to see more of his work and perhaps get some tuition from him one day on one of his workshops or tours.

No point in critiquing his work, or even picking a favourite image; it's all amazing.  Just look:  http://www.northshots.com/

Mind you.. I do like the Lynx in the snow, and the walrus, Scottish wildcats, and the owls....

Macolm Browne

I saw in the news this week that Malcolm Browne, the associated press photographer in Saigon during the Vietnam War, had died on 29th August.  Browne is known for his disturbing image of Thich Quang Duc, a vietnamese monk, who set fire to himself in a Saigon street in an act of self-immolation on 11 June 1963, which won a Pulitzer prize. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-19396149

Browne won the World Press Photographer of the Year competition in 1963 for a similar photograph:

http://www.archive.worldpressphoto.org/search/layout/result/indeling/detailwpp/form/wpp/q/ishoofdafbeelding/true/trefwoord/year/1963

I prefer the top photograph - the Pulitzer one.  You can see the crowds of monks standing by and the nearby car with its bonnet open.  It's hard to imagine seeing such an event for real and on top of that being able to stand there a take a photograph, although this must be true of war photographers in general.

More of Browne's photographs in a collection of images showing the atrocities of the Vietnam war are available through this link:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/9259915/Malcolm-Browne-Horst-Fass-and-Roy-Essoyan-the-men-who-documented-the-Vietnam-War.html?frame=2322902

Another London

The "Another London" exhibition was held at the Tate Britain in London during the summer of 2012.  The exhibition showed photographs of London captured by international photographers between 1930-1980; some tourist, some journalistic assignments, some as refugees; all different.  What was fascinating about this collection was that it has documented artifacts, customes, a way of life that has now disappeared.  I saw things that I remembered from my childhood in the 70s that I had forgotten all about.  This really brought home to me about the fact that whether the photographer deliberately tries to or not, each one is documenting life at the very moment the shutter is pressed.  The photographers and images are too numerous to comment on individually - and there were some really iconic scenes in this collection and a few that would be distrubing had they been taken now.  I have put the catalogue on my Amazon wishlist so that I have a permanent record of the exhibition.  I have found a few articles that also describes the exhibition and show some of the images:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/4fe51e9a-d1d0-11e1-bb82-00144feabdc0.html#axzz25rFGuWTi

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/jul/29/another-london-photographs-tate-review

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2012/jul/23/another-london-tate-britain-in-pictures

Seeing this exhibition has got me thinking about what is considered normal now that I could capture, which in 20-40 years time might disappear and find its way into a catalogue of life in the 20teens.

Travel Photographer of The Year 2011

I visited the Royal Geographic Society on 18 August 2012 where the winning images from the 2011 competition were being exhibited.  The advertising alone on the RGS website told me that this was going to be amazing - and the captivating image in question of  scuba diver swimming alongside a beluga whale was just incredible.  I was also interested to see images from West Africa, having spent some time there myself.  What I liked about this exhibition was that it didn't just show one image from the winning photographer, but a selection of images.  In addition, it showed images from previous winners making the most of their prizes.  And I also liked the fact that some vintage photographs were shown.

This exhibition made me want to get out and go travelling again.

My only criticism was that on the day in question, it was brilliant sunshine, which made it had to look at the white outdoors stands because of the glare. 

Of course, I took advantage of the special offer for all four books, which I am looking forward to reading!

For more information see:

http://www.tpoty.com/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18522990

Vauxhall - early evening..

I saw this view walking back to Vauxhall from the Tate Britain and really wished I had my camera....and stupidly I now have a handbag-sized Canon and still haven't got round to putting it in my bag...perhaps this is why my street photography isn't advancing....

Anyway - I was struck by the irony of the beauty of the evening light reflecting off the new, modern apartments and the poor man making his evening resting place by the Thames with his collection of carrier bags. Bizarrely, even though he lives on the streets, he realised I'd taken this with my iPad and still yelled at me!

Photography Monthly - September 2012 edition

September's edition of Photography Monthly featured a very interesting article about a self-taught photographer called Lee Jeffries who captures extraordinary portraits of mostly homeless people.  PM describes these images as sinister but powerful, however I think they are stunning.  They show a vulnerability and sadness that makes you feel their pain.  Even the pictures of Roger Bannister and Ian Wright are soulful, and these are not people (that I am aware of) that are living rough in the streets.  To get such expression in the photos he must have built up a relationship of trust with his subjects.

I have often seen faces that are interesting, even intriguing, although not necessarily beautiful in the stereotypical fashion sense, but was too shy to ask if I could take their photo, although in my mind I imagined how they would look as a gritty b&w portrait similar to Jeffries' images.  In fact, in Russia, about 20 year ago, I saw an old babushka, whose face had more wrinkles than a walnut, and I had a b&w film in my camera.  When I asked her if I could take her photo, she replied that she wasn't a monument and no I couldn't!

Jeffries uses a handheld reflector to illuminate the face and retain detail, a 24mm lens and ISO 100.  He also uses a wide aperture to focus on the eyes, and soften the rest of the face, generally underexposes the shot and uses a very plain background to avoid distractions. 

See: http://leejeffries.500px.com/

Flying Colours (c) Sue Buller

Moving into Part 3 of TAOP on Colours, I started to think about where I would go to shoot for the exercises, and I remembered a very striking image entered into one of the Kingston Camera Club competitions by Sue Buller of a brightly coloured plane against a stunning blue sky.  I really like the justaposition of the complementary colours, blue and orange, against the contrasting yellow and blue, and the harmonious yellow and orange.  I also like the unusual aspect and composition of this image: Sue has used the rule of thirds combining a vertical and horizontal sectioning.  The end result is really quite abstract!

Flying Colours (c) by Sue Buller

Sue shot this at Brooklands Museum in Weybridge in Surrey, which is very close to my home in Feltham, so on the next sunny day opportunity, I will pay the museum a visit to get some colour shots for the exercises for Part 3.

Steve McCurry

I was recently advised by my tutor to have a look at Steve McCurry's images.  And of course as soon as I accessed his website, www.stevemccurry.com, I immediately recognised some of his shots from National Geographic magazine.  The Afghan Girl shot in Pakistan is probably the most famous (this has also featured in Photography Monthly), together with the one showing her many years later after she was tracked down as an adult, but I found an image of the Camels and Oil Fire shot in the Ahmadi Oil Fields in Kuwait in 1991 very evocative.  The colour and clarity is stunning; the horizontal composition is simple (rule of thirds) but effective, with central positioning of the camels, and the image is truly powerful bringing home the drama of war and its impact on life, and the fact that life survives.

To see the image in question, go to:

http://stevemccurry.com/galleries/war or

http://stevemccurry.photoshelter.com/image/I0000rV_5qZCjYH8

Ahmadi Oil Fields Kuwait (c) Steve McCurry

National Geographic - August 2012 edition

I have subscribed to National Geographic on and off for more than ten years.  Originally because I was interested in anthropology, natural history, the world in general, and then because I was studying art and used the images for inspiration for abstract paintings.  More recently I have renewed my subscription for access to the stunning photos in order to support my course learning.

In this month's edition, I was intrigued by an image sent in by a reader, Wieslawa Dabrowska, a Polish art restorer, published in the "Visions Your Shot".  Dabrowska had turned to small objects in the home to explore close-up photography and sent in an image of the inside of a red pepper, where the abstraction is such that it actually looks like as woman's neck adorned with a ruff collar and red dress. 

Every image in NG is stunning; it would be possible to pick them out on that merit alone, however another image I found intriguing in the August edition is the one below showing the ethnic diversity of Stamford Hill in Hackney, East London against some iconic images of London (the phone box and bus).  This was published on page 76, and shot by photographer Alex Webb.  The photo featured as part of an article describing the diversity of East London as it comes under the spotlight during the Olympics.  The composition of this image is also interesting: the positioning of the three people in the shot forms a triangle with the apex pointing towards the bottom of the frame, and there are many converging diagonal lines from the bottom to the back of the photo.

Stamford Hill (c) Alex Webb (taken with handheld by me)

British Journal of Photography - August 2012 edition

A fascinating article in August's edition of BJP called "Sworn Virgins" about the Burrnesha.  The article describes the research by Bulgarian photographer Pepa Hristova (now living in Germany) into the men-women that live in isolated, traditional and rural communities of the mountains of north of Albania. Hristova treats the subject sympathetically stating that she was able to get the women to relax in her prescence, particularly after photographing them.  The Burrnesha are women who for one reason or another (choice, superstition, parental imposition, easier way of life) live their lives as men renouncing marriage and intimacy.  The article implies that they accept their lives, although the photos show a distinct sadness.I have recently started to think about photojournalism and documentary photography and am interested in the process of integration and getting to know the subject before the shooting begins.  The relationship between the subjects and the photographer is critical to this process and is clearly captured in Hristova's images, as is the stark reality of unlavish living conditions compared to those of western Europe.

One of the more intriguing images from Hristova's website is of Qjuste, 66, who started living as a man following a divorce.  This meant that she was able to achieve a much better standard of living than she would have done as a single woman.  The composition of the photograph is interesting, as there is in fact a triangle formed by the three points of the subject, the flower vase and the bird on the wall, and the monotony orif the wall is broken by the curtain on the left (adding texture) and the bird on the right.  In addition, the colours of the image are harmonius, with a simple colour spectrum of black, dark red, shades of brown and pink.  The expression on Qjuste's face is one of acknowledgement but also of resignation.

See http://www.pepahristova.com/sworn-virgins/27/ for the image in question, also included below:

Sworn Virgin (27) (c) Pepa Hristova

For further details and the images in this portfolio, see Hristova's website http://www.pepahristova.com/sworn-virgins/info/

Lioness and crocodile

The Metro newspaper ran an incredible story this week about a lioness fighting a crocodile in Botswanna's Okavango Delta so that her cubs could cross the river safely.  The image was shot by Ms Dierickx, 48, from Antwerp, Belgium and published in the paper on 24 July 2012. The lioness escaped a crocodile roll because she kept the crocodile's mouth closed with her front legs.  Apart from the fact that this is an amazing act of courage by the lioness this is also an incredible image.  This was one of three photos taken in one second and is beautifully composed with excellent clarity, frozen water and perfect tones and hues, with the colours of the landscape reflected in the animals.

Wish I'd taken this!

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/906164-lioness-battles-deadly-crocodile-to-clear-the-way-for-her-family-to-cross

Lioness and Crocodile (c) Ms Dierickx

Olympic flame

Got my days in a muddle and as usual no camera....thank god for iPads! Here is the Olympic flame making its way towards the Museum of London.