The Official MIPP Newsletter
June 2015
FOCALPOINT
Issue No. 52
www.mipp-malta.com
EDITORIAL Here we are less than a month away from summer and half of the year gone by so fast!
On the last weekend of May, I gave a workshop on street photography and I must say I totally enjoyed giving this workshop, not only because street photography is my favourite photographic genre, but also the weather is finally accomodating and one can go out and shoot with no worries of bad weather stopping him or her. So I urge all of you to go out and shoot before it gets way too hot and we start grumbling that we cannot shoot due to the blistering heat. Top Image: Editor Therese Debono Above: Assistant Editor Kerstin Arnemann
Meanwhile us committee members are cooking up an interesting schedule for the upcoming November convention this autumn. So stay tuned with us for the second half of the year 2015!
Regards Find us on:
Therese & Kerstin!
If you want your photos featured on the newsletter’s front page just send the images to newsletter@mippmalta.com. Your contributions are always welcome!
Newsletter Team Editor: Therese Debono Assistant Editor: Kerstin Arnemann Design: Therese Debono Article Vetting: Vince DeBono Articles: Various contributors Editorial Advice: Kevin Casha Contact: newsletter@mippmalta.com
CONTENTS
JUNE 2015 pg 2 pg 6 pg 14 pg 18 pg 20 pg 21 pg 22 pg 23 pg 24
cover artist
President’s Viewpoint Featured MIPP members Out & About MIPP Monthly Event MIPP Past Event MIPP Notices MIPP Calendar MIPP Notices Member’s Gallery
Interview with Kitty Chou Defunct Power Station June Events Doing it Under Water Photos from visit to SO Gallery Winner of Olympus Camera Mark your diaries! Thank you letter International Online Competition Standings
Therese Debono “The following is an image shot whilst on location at the Defunct Power Station in Marsa. I was intrigued by the stillness of the place which for many years was constantly ongoing, producing energy. This signage caught my eye since now the place is shut down however it still echoes with the noise of the machinery and men at work”.
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KITTY CHOU - The Purist Photographer Interview by Kevin Casha Kitty Chou was born and raised in Hong Kong in 1961. She is the fifth of six sisters. Although outwardly shy and reserved, when talking about photography, Kitty immediately lights up. The passion shines through her eyes and a transformation comes over her when she meets people who are seriously interested in discussing her photography. Like most persons taking up photography, Kitty initially tried her hand at a number of diverse photographic genres, but she has always been fascinated and drawn to people and society. Like most photojournalists, Kitty has a natural knack of communicating and she loves engaging with people. Despite the human element features in a lot of her everyday photographs, there is, ironically, a conspicuous absence of persons in most of her Fine Art exhibition work. Her work is imbued with classicism although most of her fine art imagery borders on abstract and semi abstract subjects. Through her own admission, Kitty is an extremely curious person and one realizes that this characteristic filters through her work. Most of her Fine Art work invites the viewer to first of all, engage aesthetically, then to delve deeper into what the images can evoke. Kitty’s work is at times mysterious and leaves a substantial part to the interpretation of each viewer: she is not one who spoon feeds the viewer. After attending primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong, she went to the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, United States, graduating in Business Administration in 1982. Kitty was always keen to take what would be termed snaps or documentary images. She was interested in preserving the memory of a fast disappearing lifestyle with the development of the society, especially the one in Hong Kong. She was further inspired when she saw an exhibition of Henri Cartier Bresson at MOMA in New York while she was in university. Bresson’s work not only impressed her but set her reflecting on photography. Her first camera was a Minolta analog model. Like a lot of photography enthusiasts, she also developed her own films. After University, she seemingly drifted away from photography only to take it up in earnest again in 2002, buying a compact, point and shoot, two megapixel Casio digital camera. Kitty is mainly self taught
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viewpoint
Above: Kevin Casha with Kitty Chou
and does not put much store in what cameras and equipment she employs - for her, the camera is just a means to an end and the importance of her photography is encompassed through perception, subject framing and aesthetic composition. She recalls her early days when many people she encountered would be asking her what type of camera she uses – as if the camera makes you a better or worse photographer! Many tended to be biased and look down at her photography due to her not sporting the latest “professional” camera model! This reminds me of a dear departed friend and great photographer, David Facey, who once told me that to the question of what type of camera he uses, he used to respond: “One of those little black ones!” Her first exhibition, in 2011, at the New York School of Interior Design, was urged by her professor, who seeing her work, encouraged her to exhibit at the school gallery. She entitled her exhibition “The Accidental Photographer: Line, Colour and Perspective.” iThe response to her work was so positive and encouraging that Kitty felt that exhibiting and showing her work was the way to go. This is one of the factors which continue to encourage her to exhibit as she particularly enjoys the feedbacks of her audience.
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A year later, Kitty conducted a talk with slide show, as well actual prints at the Asia Society in Hong Kong. Ben Brown, a gallery owner, was invited to attend the talk by the forum moderator. The gallerist was intrigued by Kitty’s work and expressed interests in working together. Less than six months after that initial contact, Kitty had a solo show in their Hong Kong gallery. She followed this exhibition by taking part in a Hong Kong collective exhibition during 2013. This was held at Duddell’sii, a very up market restaurant and gallery in Hong Kong. This exhibition merits particular mention due to the fact that iconic Chinese artist, Ai Wei Wei, who was under house arrest then, was the curator. In 2014, another milestone followed for Kitty when car manufacturers Rolls Royce, converting their showroom into a pop-up art gallery, hosted Kitty’s work as their first Art Series in Asia. Ironically, there was a time when Kitty refused to go and see other photographic exhibitions as she felt that her work would be influenced and lose its distinct, personal character. Yet, today she has reversed that, mainly because she is confident
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enough about her work. These last years, she feels unshackled and free to do her ‘own thing’ and not be unduly influenced by what people say. Kitty does not use any supplementary lighting in her images, preferring to keep her work as simpleand true as possible. Her main ally is natural light. In fact, her style and work resemble more the photojournalistic or ‘street’ photographer. She does not manipulate, arrange or set up her images - her process is one of keen seeing and intelligent selection, cropping only in the camera and not in post process,maintaining that, if this is done, her images would lose or stray away from their initial purpose and concept. For this same purpose, even her digital editing is kept to a minimum - just some minor colour correction and brightness and contrast levels. Apart from Cartier Bresson, who remains forever one of Kitty’s inspirations, other photographers she admires are Horst P. Horst and Herb Ritts. She is particularly attracted to the more vintage photographers due to their studied composition and intelligent perception. This is actually interesting as in fact, although a large part of her work ends up being abstract and semi abstract, Kitty’s work is always imbued with classical inference. She has now been working totally with the digital medium, due to its convenience and wide creative possibilities, printing her Fine Art exhibition work on high end special art paper. Kitty is increasingly looking to explore subjects which have a meaning to her and is interested in producing more work that possibly can have a social concept. Kitty is also looking at future challenges, and a project that is slowly taking birth is the production of a book on her photography. Finally, I asked her how she would describe herself, a fine art photographer, or perhaps a photojournalist. She promptly replied that she really does not feel boxed to any particular type of photography but that photography has gradually just become an integral part of her lifestyle andis one of the main purposes and driving forces of her life. Kitty today is married and has one son. She commutes regularly between New York, Paris, and her own Hong Kong. Note: Kitty Chou will be exhibiting her latest work in Malta at the Natural History Museum in Mdina between the 20th of May till the 7th of June, 2015. The exhibition is called Cotidie The Magic of the Everyday. i http://www.nysid.edu/news-events/events/kitty-chou-exhibition ii http://duddells.co/venue/en/
THE DEFUNCT POWER STATION For this edition of our monthly newsletter we decided to feature some work from members who visited the Defunct Power Station in Marsa during a visit to the site organised by the MIPP. Joe Smith “The grime and dust on the helmet and cap diffuse this still life with a forlorn aura. The ambience is one of departure and abandonment and the sensation of dereliction is further enhanced by the cracking paint on the wall. The image also works well on a chromatic level where complimentary colours offset each other�.
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featured members
Lorraine Abela “From all the images I took on our visit to the Marsa Power Station I must admit that this is my favorite one. Although today the place is totally deserted and abandoned, in this image I feel that when I look at it, even though there are no humans; I still can feel the spirit, the presence and the energy of those workers who have spent most of their lives in this building�.
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Etienne Cassar “The visit to the power station was quite a new experience to me. I had never before been in such a place. The problem with being in such an environment for the first time is that you tend to get overwhelmed but the multitude of things there are to photograph. The picture I chose gives me the same feeling that I experienced in every corner of the building, that of organised chaos. All that paraphernalia of machinery, ducts and pipelines was somehow organised in such a way that it used to function and produce electricity.�
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Adrian Caruana “This photo was shot in the oldest, underground part of the powerstation. I like it because even though it was shot inside a very dark enclosed unit, there was this ray of light coming in, illuminating the centre gauge�.
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Ron Kerr “Power station the source for light heat and any other form of energy . Were all forms and medium collide. Warm and cold colours contrast & collide in a harmonious way�.
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Oriella Casha “I was intrigued by the interplay of the multiple tones and textures, particularly by the way the light fell on the intricate metal structures and was reflected back in the barrel in the photo. The looming ominous presence of the Marsa powerstation will now eventually belong to the past. However this visit made me aware that even though it was often considered by many to be purely functional, drab, and even unsightly, it could still be deemed as majestic and attain beauty through the eyes of the photographer�.
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Kerstin Arnemann “ The defunct Marsa Power Station and its human traces� . When I entered the soon defunct Marsa Power Station I felt overwhelmed and did not have a theme in mind. Roaming around I found a lot of human traces, so I decided to dedicate my photos to all its workers. The picture of Jesus Christ captured my attention in this small control room.
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OUT AND ABOUT
June Events axra www.ax-ra.info Master of Fine Arts in Digital Arts Final Degree Exhibition. Dates: 5th June - 1st July Venue: St James Cavalier Artists: George Abdilla Andrew Aquilina Therese Debono Patrick J Fenech Matyou Galea Jennifer Mallia Sararh Mifsud Amanda Muscat Joe P Smith Jean Marc Zerafa
Following an intensive one year course, a group of artists are putting together a one-off multidisciplinary exhibition at St. James Cavallier, Center for Creativity. Exhibits include interactive sculptures, photography, digital games, video projections and other disciplines which might not be as commonly associated with the Digital Arts. The pieces exhibited reflect the individuals’ differing areas of intrigue which has driven each artist on his or her own journey, epitomising in these final works.
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New Weapons Dates: 12-21june Venue: Blitz, St lucy str, Valletta The networked image proliferates in extreme abundance online. We accept as routine that an image can be in many places simultaneously: on your smartphone and your laptop, in Europe and Asia, on Google and Facebook. In short that there is no original, only versions. How can the exhibition of photography echo this dynamic and radical state of affairs? This collective is operating in terrain that understands the visual image in philosophical terms – multi-dimensional, process-driven, fractal – in short, beyond a linear rhetoric of content, measurement and description. New Weapons is the first exhibition worldwide to fully embrace the photographic concept of the network by existing in multiple versions in multiple locations. Artists: Aava Anttinen / Rachel Channa Kremer / Zhanna Bobrakova / Sarah Crew / Bonamy Devas / Valerie Driscoll / Helena Goñi / Benjamin Knight /Albena Martinova / Laura Marques / Hana Vojackova / Dario Srbic / Parvaneh Rahimi / Dana Strango / Hengxi Li / Trilokjit Sengupta / Mengjiao Yu This exhibition is a collaboration between BLITZ and Central Saint Martins University of the Arts London.
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Isle Landers Exhibition on Campus Dates: 13th May - 11th June Venue: University of Malta, Library Foyer Within the framework of the Global Campus project, Kopin is glad to invite all students and staff at University of Malta to visit the Library foyer between the 13th May and the 11th June, when a selection of photographs from the original Isle Landers exhibition will be shown. Islelanders is a photographic art project, based on Darrin Zammit Lupi’s experience as a photojournalist, documenting the lives of asylum seekers and migrants through and after their journey across the Mediterranean Sea. This event is realised with the support of Darrin Zammit Lupi Photography, the University Of Malta Library, Unhcr Malta and the Malta Arts Fund. For more information, visit: globalcampus.eu islelanders.com
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Vat explained Dates: Saturday 6th June at 10:00hrs & Wednesday 10th June at 18:30hrs Venue: St James Cavalier BOOKING NEEDED, see below for details An information session organized by Arts Council Malta in collaboration with the VAT department. Attention all creative practitioners! Are you a creative practitioner offering a service or selling a product in the culture and creative sectors? Arts Council Malta, in collaboration with the VAT department, is organising an information session on the 6th June at 10:00am at St James Cavalier, Cinema in Valletta. Officials from the VAT department will provide general technical information and will be available to answer your queries. The information session is being held to inform and assist creative practitioners to register and manage their economic activity with the VAT department by the 30th June deadline. To book a place, send an email to fundinfo@maltaculture.com. Places allocated on a first-come first-served basis.
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Doing it Under Water!
Victor Fabri
Our next MIPP members lecture will be in collaboration with ATLAM. Note that it will be held at Atlam Club House in Bahar ic-Caghaq and NOT at Le Meridien. The club is situated on the Coast Road, further in from the ice cream van, opposite Palm Beach. Underwater equipment will be demonstated and several image presentations by Atlam members will be shown. The idea of this lecture and get together is also to have an opportunity to socialize and afterwards have an informal drink at the Atlam Club House Bar. Networking is important for all of us. Friends and partners are welcome! See you there!
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Monthly Talk at So Gallery Images from the recent MIPP visit to SO Gallery and Picture House in Iklin. Joseph Simon Gauci, owner and director, hosted members for an informative networking session about Fine Art, Marketing Photography and promoting the photographer.
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Winner of Olympus Camera Winner of Olympus Camera, Mr Francis Darmanin being presented his prize by Martin Fenech from Oval Brands (Attard & Co). The winning ticket was no.11 Blue. MIPP would like to thank Attard & Co and their representatives for their constant support.
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CALENDAR 4th June Doing it Under Water! 19:30hrs, Atlam, Bahar ic-Caghaq
16th June PTYA Judging 19:30hrs, Le Meridien
23rd June Image Assessment Night Joseph Simon Gauci. 19:30hrs, SO Gallerie
7th July Theater Photography; Patrick Genovese 19:30hrs, Le Meridien
14th July International Online Comp Judging 19:30hrs, Le Meridien
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27/03/15 Kevin Casha President Malta Institute of Professional Photography MIPP Dear Mr. Casha, I would like to personally thank you and the Maltese Institute for Professional Photography for the generous donation made to CCIF this week. The photographs are simply 5 masterpieces. I admire the skill and creativity complemented with a solid technique of these artists and I would like to thank them all for their donations. I feel profoundly honoured to have known you for the past 2 years. The support and care you show for the things CCIF fights for is commendable. I am proud that you and I will be partners for the upcoming MSD project. As a young organisation, CCIF aims at raising awareness to become established in Malta by organising events during the year that reach out to the local community. As a non-profit organisation, CCIF relies on fundraising activities to fund its events. Therefore CCIF will be auctioning the photographs in the coming weeks and the income will aid CCIF financially for the upcoming events like the Code Red Human Trafficking Awareness Conference on the 12th June and the Code Red Human Trafficking Awareness Concert on the 27 & 28th of the same month. Once again thank you for your donation, your continued support means so much to me. Truthfully yours,
Alec Douglas Bvumburah Chairman Cross Culture International Foundation VO/0628
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MEMBERS’ GALLERY
Left: ‘Bahia Lady’ by Sandra Hotrum
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International Online Competition 3rd Round
Above: ‘Richard’ Ab ‘Ri h d’ by b Podge P d Kelly K ll
Above: Maasai Mara by Simon Attard
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