T he I n te rn atio n a l J ou rnal o f fine art and do c u mentary p hoto g rap hy - is s u e 2
Fuzion
ISSU E 2 T he A nalog Ed i ti o n
Ana lo g vs D igi t al
Vive L a R evolu t ion !
G ab r i el Va n I n g en
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Lambis St rat o u d akis
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This Second edition is dedicated to
F ro n t Cover - John Bridges
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Contents
Digital v Analog Jonathan Stead
Editorial Five By Four The Collective
Shadows Of The Road John Bridges
Anima/Animus Jonathan Stead
Actual Entities and Visible Aspects Judith Lyons
Time Zero Film Lambis Stratoudakis
Et In Arcadia Ego Gabriel Van Ingen
Analogue Decay Alastair Cook
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F uzion N u mb e r 02- June 2011 Th e An a l og Editi on
Contributors Mark Bleet Lucy Fell Elliot Munns Amy Young Igor Trawinski Sam Marsh Natalie Mylozis Kim Hebblewhite Hollie Jackson Gabriel Van Ingen Judith Lyons Jonathan Stead Alastair Cook John Bridges Johnathan Stead Lambis Stratoudakis
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Published by Fuzion Magazine
This Edition
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Articles Judith Lyons Jonathan Stead 7
Digital v Analogue. Digital is best blab la bla. Who cares.
D i g i ta l v An a log u e Jo n a t han St ea d
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I use both, I love both, there are times when I would be stupid to use digital and times when using film would be ridiculous. For some of my work the ability of film to be able to ‘build’ a picture over many hours without a hint of noise, in the case of pinhole photography can’t be matched digitally. Similarly the ability to shoot at 100ISO one second and then move to ISO3200 and even 6400ISO in a low light situation the next is incredible. More often that not I choose film over digital, not because I want to seem somehow elevated above, or differentiated from, all the ‘digitalists’ out there, or because I am analy obsessed with mega pixel counts or film resolution. I choose film for a far more simpler reason… because I enjoy it. That’s it. That’s all there is to it. I love the sound, the hope, the separation between capture and having a final print to look at. Remember that… a final print - something to hold in your hand, to get framed and placed on a wall. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t live my life developing film and rocking trays in a darkened room, in fact like most people I don’t have as much time as I would like to get in the darkroom. But, whether making fine prints or just putting a little time aside for some experiments, it makes photography as it was when I was young - a physical process, something that lives in boxes rather than on a disk. It is almost as if digital photography should have been called something else entirely, as the actual process of image capture is so different. But I digress. Back to the taking - so there I am, planning what to do with my camera. I love this planning, this deciding, this choosing, not only of subject, be it object, landscape or experience, but whether to use one film stock over another, perhaps for it’s individual characteristics, whether the increased quality of a larger format camera is worth the associated weight and bulk and do I need to take ten rolls of 35mm film or just a single darkslide?. The underlying thoughts perhaps of narrative (a word I dislike) or meaning - what am I going to take? What, if anything am I getting at by taking the photo? Sometimes I have a very specific vision in my head that I wish to translate via the cameras lens, sometimes it is a just a chance to focus on something and just enjoying the process of getting out there and creating something. That click, that manual processes of winding on, or the sound of the motor winding to the next frame. But this is where the difference really lies - what I have captured is there, but in an initial undeveloped form, with a little understanding I can then go on to manipulate the latent image and begin to create the starting point for the final image - the negative… I’m making decisions. Am I shooting the sun-rise – lets down-rate my FP4 film to 64ISO to increase it’s latitude. Do I want to create a grainy, graphic and high contrast portrait by candle light – lets get some Delta 3200 and push it to 12000ISO. I know what I wanted, I know what I think I have but, it may be hours, days or even months before what has been captured is revealed in the form of the negative. One area I am particularly interested in the ‘voice’ of analogue photography, being chemical by nature, there are certain ‘laws’ that apply,
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certain things that if not done, will result in a poor or even total lack of outcome. But equally, the amount of steps and stages in the process invites chance, surprise and more importantly enjoyment. There are certainly many opportunities to tamper with the very elastic relationships between exposure and development. The wide gamut of variations, options, processes, and products which paves the way for such a wide understanding of what we know as photography makes photography many things to many people. Some adore the exactness of the process, the repeatability. They love to know that film A will always produce result X if all the variables of exposure, development and processing are kept consistent, others, myself included, find wonder in the variability of the process. I’m happy to have a little play, I like to see what happens if one of the ‘rules’ is not followed. Some of the most beautiful work I have seen is by the photographic artist Lucy Ridges, (www.lucyridges.com) who creates her work in the darkroom, being witness to the process is however, a scary experience. Why? No timings, no measuring of the chemicals that are splashing everywhere - no strict rules. Almost a blur of movement complete with chemical overspills, placing physical objects under the enlarger, making the dust and scratches on the negative part of the work. The result… some of the most inspirational, real and beautifully-genuine work I have seen. To witness someone so at home in the darkroom and with such an intuitive process is inspirational, the freedom and feeling of expression is clear in her output, it becomes inherent in the
final work. In conversation with a fellow pinhole photographer Mark Tweedie, (www.marktweedie.co.uk) he raised an interesting point, that until that moment had never crossed my mind. He stated that sometimes to be out there and ‘taking’ pictures is almost enough in itself, and to see the resulting image is almost unnecessary. This is an interesting thought, almost as if the processes of taking of making the work is enough in itself and the result; the output, is secondary. After many years using digital and realising that all my best photos were only ever as good as the screen they were viewed on (often at small sizes online) made me realise how much I miss the physical. I want boxes of prints not piles of disks, I want fire or physical ripping to be the destroyer of my work, not a mechanical or electrical fault on a circuit board in a metal box. I want my grand kids to have to look through piles of prints not dig out an old rusty metal hard drive that they can’t be bothered to plug in (will USB 10 million be able to read USB1?). Above all this though, I want to enjoy what I do, and to me, at this moment, I’m far happier putting a few paper negatives through a large format camera and hoping and discovering what I get, as apposed to having that instant and unsurprising digital copy of reality with everything as I saw it. Personally, digital is like buying yourself a gift - its good but there is no surprise, analogue is wanting something, only for it to drop unannounced through your letter box, and sometimes it can be greater than all your expectations.
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FIVEBYFOUR ‘Five by Four’ are a group of photographic artists formed in 2009. Brought together by a shared passion of the arts, the collective includes a diverse range of work comprising of fashion and editorial, documentary, fine art and portraiture. Having a range of experiences enables them to bring unique critical viewpoints to one another’s work. This provides a distinctive platform for them to critique one another’s imagery, allowing it to progress and evolve whilst taking influence from within the collective. The collective also enables, through its very nature, to provide support for its members photographic projects. ‘Five by Four’ are holding a collective exhibition. It will showcase each member’s current project. Hollie Jackson’s documentary project explores the lack of interaction between strangers on the London Underground, through ‘breaking the silence’, whilst Elliot Munns’ uses narrative to develop a fashion orientated piece based on women and how the power of fashion influences sexuality. Kim Hebblewhite’s work portrays genuine moments in life to show the way in which we act in public, investing her work with her own ethos that ‘photography only succeeds if it informs and inspires us to make our own personal, imaginative journeys’. The ‘Five by Four’ exhibition will be held at the University Centre Peterborough. Opening night will be the 21st of June and the show will run until the 24th. More details can be found at www.fivebyfour.org.
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My work deals with social and personal issues that have resonance with me, encompassing storytelling within my imagery. Having an understanding of what it is I want to achieve and communicate with my work is at the core of my practice. My belief is that I must understand and engage with my work through research, in order for the viewer to fully understand it. My photography is very personal to me, believing that being informed about the issues and subject matter I approach will always lead to stronger imagery. Photography is a medium that can educate, and that is always a goal with my work. I take influence from many sources, the written word is one of those and this is how many of my projects start. My current piece of work is based on the Army Cadet Force. The project attempts to explore the contrasts between youth, adolescence and the path to adulthood in a military setting. Whilst at an age where many young people will be becoming aware of a sense of self and their environment, trying to gain a sense of their own context, this group choose to be in a setting of regimental obedience and conformity choosing the strength of a common bond and comradeship within a group and a path that could potentially take them to war.
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My photography hopes to combine aspects of fine art with cultural and social issues. At times my work tends to focus on the metaphors and hidden meanings behind the imagery that I create. This forces the viewers to study and analyse my work, so that they may question it and develop their own opinions of the work and its underlying issues. Whilst I use a variety of materials, and am constantly experimenting with new methods my approach to the subject matter will always be the same. The subject matter of each body of work determines the experimentation and thus the media that I will use. My current piece of work is attempting to deal with disability in particular what it is like to live with Epidermolysis Bullosa. It will examine how the illness affects the lives of those who suffer with it as well as how it affects their family. It will explore issues that surround living with this condition, the psychological effects it can have, together with the positive attitude that is portrayed as a means of coping with this painful condition.
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I am a fashion photographer who sees the world as a series of fashion photographs. It evolves, it never gets old and it will never be forgotten. Fashion combined with the sublime human form and a camera creates fashion photography. Through my work I aim to bring my view of fashion to a wider audience. I press the shutter with my heart, not my finger and I do everything to make the viewers see a little bit of my very own “self” in the photographs I create. My work is a mixture of pure fashion photography as well as surrealism; the surrealism is a very strong element within my work and one that means that the work never sits still and constantly evolves. It helps me to discover extraordinary things in everyday life which I incorporate into my photographs, aiming to create imagery that contains my voice; I seek to find beauty where it is hidden, and to capture the precious moments often overlooked. I am currently working on a fashion and surreal based Idea that involves women, portrays their weakness for shoes, also known as their attribute. The series of images will examine women’s identity and sexual personality through out this one, certain inanimate object that has an impact on their self – esteem or even personal appearance. The series of images will be a combination of both the shoes and the naked form in surreal montage, inspired by the work of Bela Borsodi for V magazine called “The Foot Fetish”.
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Having a developing interest in global documentary, exploring both places and people with the view to producing a documentary styled narrative reflecting on the positives and negatives of lives across different boundaries that separate this world. With the knowledge of photography combined by the appreciation for art and a passion for multiculturalism. I believe I have the ability to capture something straight from the heart. My inspiration comes in many forms, from other photographers, artists and the written word. Whether it is on the same genre or not, as ideas develop and expand from alternative ideas. Through exposure to visual elements , via seeing and analysing is enabling me to produce visually strong imagery. My current body of work entails an investigation into the different characters within the boxing club fraternity. With each member comes a personal reason for joining be it through the desire to build upon their health and fitness, increase their muscles and stamina or to simply have fun and meet like minded people whilst doing something they have an interest in. The collection of work will consist of portraits and a group shot, viewing the club as a team regardless of their age, weight, height or cultural background.
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I have an intense curiosity and a constant need to record such characters and their visions throughout their city life. Having a growing interest in street photography, along with a continuing interest in documentary photography, I am building an intriguing collection of individuals, caught for a moment in their urban journey. By breaking down the barriers of ignorance, observation and reflection upon the people of Britain shows how ‘Britishness’ has evolved. We as people are too complex and individual to be judged by a single event or moment. Such works can raise discussions about the lifestyle we live today, in order to keep ourselves conscious and aware of the changes around us. I use photography as a way of exploring identity, as I am interested in how a clear strong approach can have different effects on different people. Various emotions such as joy, sorrow, curiosity, and pain can be seen on the faces of these people that I’ve never even seen before, these people that I will likely never see again. Street photography is natural, full of energy and stories and is forever developing.
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I come from a general photographic background and have developed my skills in various areas. Recently delving deeper into the genre of fashion photography I have learnt many different skills and practises. I love bringing out the models raw personality to creative aesthetically strong images. Images that are bold, exciting and different really stand out for me; I try to incorporate at least one if not all three of these elements into my images. The medium I choose to use is digital photography because I feel it gives me much more freedom and control over what my final outcome will be however I am open to using other materials if I feel that it will benefit my work. For my current project I am using metaphors to portray childhood fairy tales; however I want to take more of a view that reflects current vagaries in our society today. To create a tableaux of imagery encompassing the subject matter.
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The visual arts have held both a fascination and over the last few years become a source of inspiration. Therefore photography is a natural choice of platform from which I can explore subjects and tell stories in an engaging and meaningful way. I use photography as a means to express myself, a way in which I can use my own experiences to develop strong narratives within my work. Understanding my subject is vital to developing the narrative and to producing successful outcomes. Inspiration by other visual artists, particularly photographic artists, is an important part of the process in helping to formulate visual approaches, and to establish a photographic road map for my work. I am interested in developing themes of social and political relevance. In particular, homelessness is an issue that I have been exploring, working with a homeless day centre over the past year, and more recently developing a multimedia piece with a local charity, the Peterborough Soup Kitchen. In an age where we are bombarded by images of global poverty, war and hunger, and to a greater degree have become desensitised to this kind of imagery, my aim is to raise awareness through my documentary projects on more entrenched issues within the UK.
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Fashion photography is my world, a world where we are constantly bombarded, through the media, with imagery of every description. I try to capture the visual excitement that my imagination generates and hope that I can bring a real sense of originality to my work, incorporating classic imagery of the past to develop a new view of fashion that reinvents and pushes the boundaries of fashion imagery. I try to explore our individuality and self expression and use it to open sensory realms in which we feel free to express our selves visually. My passion for fashion photography developed from a young age, seeing and experiencing how clothes bring change in people, how the very act of wearing clothes could make them feel more confident, even more attractive. This is a feeling that everybody wants to have and my purpose as a photographer is to explore that desire. And that’s simply why I am a fashion photographer. Currently I am putting together a project that uses strong narrative to develop a fashion orientated piece, based on women and how the power of fashion influences sexuality.
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I am a photographer interested in producing documentaries which incorporate aspects of fine art within my practice. Documentary photography offers me a broad canvas to be both passionate and expressive. Narrative is at the very heart of my imagery, and choice of subject matter. My work centers around people and I am passionate about exploring different aspects of their lives trying to gain insight and understanding. Through this visual exploration I feel it is important to build a relationship with my subjects as this informs my work and helps to develop it through stronger and more informed narratives. Photography has a power to both reveal and conceal? I am trying to reveal a more hidden side to people’s everyday lives.
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S h a d o w s oftheRoad John Bri dges
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These images are selections from two series, “Shadows on the Road” and “Reverie.” While the subject matter of these series are at first glance different they both share a connection in the exploration of intimacy. Shadows explores the intimacy of public spaces and Reverie explores the intimacy of relationships. I find it hard no matter if I am exploring the external or the internal to not and try and find that visual narrative, departure of narrative, that can expand the image into each viewers own interpretation. Upcoming Exhibits Center for Fine Art Photography, Center Forward Juried Exhibit, May 2011, Fort Collins, CO Gallery 26, Little Rock, AR, June 2011 Selected Recent Exhibits National Small Works Competition, Soho Photo Gallery, Richard Klein Juror, New York, NY - 2011 Pose and Gesture, PhotoPlace Gallery, Tim Anderson - Juror, Middlebury, VT - 2011 Krappy Kamera 13, Soho Photo Gallery, Steve Rooney and Phil Block Jurors, New York, NY - 2011 4th Annual Plastic Camera Exhibition, Ann Jastrab - Juror, Rayko Photo Center, San Francisco, CA - 2011 3rd Annual Short Exposure, 3rd place, Prince Varughese Thomas - Juror, Longview Museum of Fine Art, TX - 2011 Language of Light, Paul Paletti - Juror, Photo Place Gallery, Middlebury, VT - 2011 Center Forward, Hamidah Glasgow - Juror, Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO - 2011
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Anima / Animus b y J o n a t h a n Stead
I am fascinated by the seemingly insignificant moments that reveal something of a person. It is in these most diminutive of moments that the real beauty of a person is revealed; the way someone stands, the way they undress, even the way they move their hair from their face. I aim to capture these moments, to capture some kind of essence. I am trying to pick away at the things I believe I understand, exploring further layers of hidden and possible unintended meaning, made visible only through the process of physically creating work. I am looking for some kind of truth, some kind of raw simplicity, something revealed through the work – revealed because of the work. In these initial figure studies I allowed the passage of time to create a distilled image of my subject. Using purely analogue means allows a freedom of expression that adds to the serendipitous approach of the project, I am interested in what the process of photography allows me to see. What it makes apparent to me. It is the subtle that I find so fascinating, so evocative. These images are an embarkation point from which further direction becomes apparent. Through process I aim to offer the correct conditions for photography to reveal both understanding and beauty. (All images here were created via the in-camera paper negative process. Exposure times were between 30secs and 2min.)
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C am er a les s P hot o g ra p h s o f N a tu ra l F o rms
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Actual Entities and Visible Aspects b y J u d i t h Lyo ns
As a mode of representation, photography entered the public consciousness in 1839, when Louis Daguerre announced the development of the Daguerreotype. Writing in September of that year, Daguerre described how his process permitted the “spontaneous reproduction of the images of nature reflected by means of the Camera Obscura.” The Daguerreotype, he declared, had given nature “the power to reproduce herself.” (Batchen 1997:33) In stressing that his images were formed spontaneously by the action of light falling upon a sensitised plate, Daguerre was highlighting an essential aspect of this new medium. As Tom Gunning observes in his essay, “Phantom Images and Modern Manifestations”, “essential to the belief system which photography engendered was the fact that the image was created by a process over which human craft [appeared] to exert no decisive role.” For the Victorians, photography was “a scientific process free from the unreliability of social discourse.” It could serve both as a tool of discovery and “a means of verification in a new worldview constructed on an investigation of actual entities explored through their visible aspects” (Petro 1995:42) By 1841 the Daguerreotype had been superseded by William Henry Fox Talbot’s Calotype process, which allowed for the reproduction of multiple images from a paper negative. Less than a year later, scientist and astronomer Sir John Herschel developed the Cyanotype, in which highly archival, Prussian blue, images were formed by the action of light on iron salts. As a result, by the mid 1840’s, photography offered the artist and scientist a variety of exciting new methods for exploring and recording the world about them. In an era of intense scientific exploration and discovery, Botany was a popular area of academic enquiry and one deemed suitable for both men and women. However, the production of accurate visual records of plant specimens required a high level of artistic skill and scientific knowledge. With its capacity to reproduce fine detail, photography was surely the answer to the Victorian botanist’s prayers. Initial indications were indeed promising; Fox Talbot (1800 – 1877) used botanical specimens as his subject matter from his earliest experiments and in 1836 he succeeded in producing a series of permanent, photographic, botanical studies. Whilst these images were somewhat ethereal, they nonetheless provided an accurate depiction of the outer form of their subjects and promised to supersede the need for laborious sketches and engravings. Botanical photography received a further boost with the publication in 1843 of Anna Atkins’ volume, “Photograms of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions”. This publication, coming a year before Fox Talbot’s “Pencil of Nature”, won Atkins’ the distinction of being the first author of a book illustrated by photographs. Utilising Herschel’s cyanotype process Atkins produced a series of contact prints showing the intricate shapes of a wide variety of British Seaweeds. But despite the undoubted beauty of her work, Atkins’ techniques do not appear to have been widely adopted by other botanists. The reasons for this were, perhaps, two fold. Whilst the cyanotype process enabled Atkins to produce precise impressions of tiny specimens, the resulting images showed the plant in silhouette, with little indication of
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volume, texture, colour or surface detail. As such, as a descriptive device, her prints were still unable to compete with an accurate drawing or painting. Moreover, there was another, more fundamental reason that photographic methods of reproduction were resisted by Victorian botanists. The botanists aim was not to depict the individual characteristics of a particular plant or flower, but rather to show the “ideal” or “typical” specimen. A photographic image inevitably failed to show this “ideal”, revealing instead the individual attributes of an actual entity. And yet, it is this “failing” which arguably constitutes the essential characteristic that sets analogue photography apart from other modes of artistic expression. The idea of a photograph as an index, with a direct and contingent relationship with its subject, is one that has been addressed and developed by writers Susan Sontag and Roland Barthes in their works “On Photography” and “Camera Lucida” respectively.
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Writing in her essay “The Image World”, Sontag famously remarked, “A photograph is not only an image (as a painting is an image), an interpretation of the real. It is also a trace, something directly stencilled off the real, like a footprint or a death mask. While a painting, even one that meets photographic standards of resemblance, is never more than a stating of an interpretation, a photograph is never less than an emanation (light waves reflected by objects) – a material vestige of its subject in a way that no painting can be” (1977:154) Barthes also identifies the essential nature of the photograph as residing in the relationship between the image and its referent, the “that which has been”. For Barthes it is as if the image and its subject are bound together like “a class of laminated objects, whose two leaves cannot be separated without destroying them both”. (1981:6)
Working without a camera, producing images which are created solely by virtue of the interaction of the subject matter, light and photographic chemistry, brings the subject matter and image closer still. The relationship between subject and image is direct and unmediated by the camera’s lens. As citizens of the twenty first century we exist within a society whose cultural norms differ greatly from those of the Victorians. Yet, despite this, and the advent of digital technologies, we continue to operate within a society that recognises the possibility of a photograph as an indexical, and largely objective, rendering of reality. The images in “A Different Nature”, seek to reveal the transient beauty of plants and flowers, preserving those fleeting moments before the lush richness of the blooms gives way to decay and death. Employing camera less techniques in the colour darkroom led to the production of a series of unique C-Type prints. Each print is a physical object, unrepeatable and showing both the marks of its production and its subsequent, temporal, existence. And yet, unlike Atkins’ and Talbot’s botanical images, modern de-
velopments in the sensitivity of photographic emulsions mean that the prints in this series, reveal not just the silhouette of their subject but also the plant’s inner structures; a secret world invisible to the naked eye - the realm of what Walter Benjamin termed the “optical unconscious”. Similarly, modern techniques offer the opportunity to play with scale and colour, allowing images to reflect a mood or feeling, rather than displaying scientific accuracy. The ideas at the heart of “A Different Nature” have been developed and explored in the subsequent “Un/natural forms” and “Meditation on a Spring Garden” series. Here traditional analogue techniques are combined with contemporary digital technologies in an attempt to produce images which invite the viewer to question both the nature of the photographic process and their own relationship with the natural world. In “Un/Natural Forms”, plant components are deconstructed and recombined, creating hybrids which are unnatural and botanically flawed. Their photographic representations (black and white photograms) are transformed through the application of inks and dyes, raising questions about contemporary society’s relationship with the natural world and the growing using of genetic modification of
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Judith Lyons London May 2011
plant species. In “Meditation on a Spring Garden” photograms of spring leaves are scanned, duplicated, manipulated and recombined to produce geometric forms reminiscent of Buddhist Mandalas. These circular structures reflect the unending, natural cycle of birth, growth, death and rebirth and invite the viewer to contemplate both the beauty and order to be found within natural forms and the ability of light and photosensitive chemistry to reveal that which cannot be detected by the human eye alone. Whilst these three series seek to engage with, and ask questions of, contemporary society, in their subject matter and technique, they share Fox Talbot and Atkins’ quest to show the visible aspects of actual entities. Bibliography: Barthes, R. (1981) Camera Lucida. London:Vintage. Batchen, G. (1997) Burning with Desire: The Conception of Photography. Massachusetts: MIT press.
Judith Lyons (b.1965) is a photographic artist. A graduate of both Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and the London College of Communication, Lyons’ work demonstrates an engagement with the natural world and with the perpetual cycle of birth, growth, decay, death and rebirth. Lyons’ work has been exhibited in institutions and galleries nationally and has been published in books and journals. Her work is currently on display at the One Church Street Gallery, Great Missenden, as part of the Photosensitive Exhibit. In 2010, Lyons was invited to lead the “Catching Shadows: Camera less Photography” workshop at the V&A, supporting the major exhibition of the same name. Following on from the success of that workshop she will be leading a further 3 day practical workshop this summer entitled “Picturing Plants: Camera less Photographs of Botanical Specimens”. Further details about the workshop can be found on the Museum’s website
Batchen, G. (2008) William Henry Fox Talbot. London: Phaidon Press Petro, P. Ed. (1995) Fugitive Images: From Photography to Video. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. Sontag, S. (1977) On Photography. London: Penguin Books. w w w.j udi thl yons.co.uk
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Time Zero film L a mbis Stratoudak i s The day I started to experiment with Time Zero film was the day I discovered the aesthetics I had been searching for, for a long time. Red, warm and painterly. It’s all about dreams,wishes and magic. Sculpting these Polaroids that are hard to control, pushing the soft emulsions, the faded and muted colours and trying to reveal what lies behind - not just in the colours and light but also the feelings and memories ..like extracting souls.This is the most rewarding part of creating them.
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Et in Arcadia Ego b y G a b r i e l Va n Ingen
“I am fas cin a t e d b y t h e al ch em y of p h o t o g ra p h y as well as th e b e a u t y o f t he pr int. To g e t h e r t h e y al l ow me to se e a l i t t l e f urt her.”
Liberated by the freedom of leaving behind the encumbrance of a heavy tripod, camera bag and of course a large field camera and associated accessories; landscape photographer Gabriel Van Ingen explores the freedom of expression offered by the humble plastic toy camera. Starting my photographic career in under the tutelage of Landscape Photographer Martyn Greenhalgh I became profoundly influenced by his quiet and methodical approach to the medium. Before I met Martyn I was a complete novice both in Camera technique and in the darkroom. By the time my two years was up he had introduced to me a whole new world of film and darkroom techniques from the zone system, mixing our own chemicals from raw materials to platinum printing. I cannot overestimate the huge influence he had on my work and career. The two years I spent with Martyn fostered my interest in landscape photography and my love of the Darkroom. These images reflect a symbiotic relationship between myself and the viewer. Started in 2007 after completing my MA thesis on how we see, and ultimately how photography communicates as a visual language, they embrace they symbolic relationship between viewer and image. (All images here were shot with a Holga camera, taken using Kodak Tri x 400). Gabriel Van Ingen has began working with alternative process’s since 1992. He has a BA in Photography from Nottingham Trent University and an MA in Photography from De Montfort University. He has exhibited in the Uk and Europe. Gabriel was the creative director and founder of Secta Studios in Nottingham from 1991-2001, the first independent cultural industries centre in the East Midlands.
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Analogue Decay Ala s tai r Cook Analogue Decay – a new collection of fine art photography by artist Alastair Cook. Alastair’s film and photographic work is guided by his knowledge, skill and experience as a conservation architect. His work is rooted in place and the intrinsic connections between people, land and heritage. Analogue Decay is a collection of new work of analogue photography, a progressively changing medium affected by the natural decay within the chemical process of developing film and plates. This exhibition celebrates the disintegration and imperfections of this near obsolete process and the unique painterly images it can produce. These pieces are not digitally manipulated and are shown at full negative ratio. Alastair offers insight into his working practice: My work is centred on the immediate; I try to reflect what I see, what I feel, through this lens. I try to avoid image manipulation, letting the film or 35mm negative be raw and honest. This often makes for dark and derelict imagery, but often tinged with positivity, with a move forward. Colin Herd, in his review of Analogue Decay for Aesthetica Magazine states: Alastair Cook’s new solo show can be read like a photographic essay. As the title suggests, Cook is specifically interested in the fragility and unpredictability of analogue, the possibility at every stage of the process for something unexpected to occur. In presenting these accidentally manipulated photographs Cook seems to be coyly riffing on post-production, the digital manipulation of images. I say coy because rather than a knee-jerk appeal to analogue’s higher claim on veracity in the face of digital’s fakery, as some photographers do, Cook’s more thoughtful approach is to prioritise analogue’s own propensity towards illusion and uncertainty.
www.a l a s t air c ook . c om
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A thoughtful and smart exhibition that explores the specific things analogue photography can do better than its digital counterpart (non-totalizing, imperfect, expressive, chance-oriented), the photographs in Analogue Decay are beguiling and breathtaking: decay, maybe; extinction, no. Alastair has recently completed a residency at North Lands Creative Glass in Lybster, where he pursued his interest in Collodion wet plate photography, developing a new kilned ambrotype process which he will show in Edinburgh in the Autumn of this year. More information about Alastair’s work can be found at www. alastaircook.com
Anal o gue Dec ay - Cla i fe , C u m b ri a [ 2 1� x 14� pr int , 2010 ; Il fo rd F P4 d a te d 1 9 9 1 ; damaged negati ve]
Light falls upon a photographic emulsion and is recorded as a latent image.The processing of this image is entirely chemical and as such unique; each element of this process also has the propensity to decay: the negative, the paper and the chemicals.The result can be both beautiful and beguiling. Each of these images is transformed in a different way by a mistake,an error or part of the chemical process.
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Anal o gue Dec ay - Ly b s te r, C a i th n e s s [ 2 1” x 14” pr int , 2010 ; Il fo rd F P4 d a te d 1 9 9 4 ]
Op p o s i te p a g e An a l o g u e D e c a y - E l vanfoot, B i ggar [1 0 ” x 1 5 ” p ri n t, 2 0 1 0 ; Il ford X P 2 dated 1999; negati ve caught i n processi n g m achine]
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D i p tych - E lgol, T he Is l e o f Sk y e [P i e c e On e ] [ 2 1” x 14” pr int , 2007 ; K o d a c o l o r VR -G 4 0 0 d a t ed 1999]
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D i p tych - Ty ningham e [P i e c e Tw o ] [ 2 1� x 14� pr int , 2010 ; K o d a c h ro me 6 4 d a te d 1 999]
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Lam b i s S t r a t o u da ki s