A new exhibition at the V&A – Shadow Catchers – is a beautiful as it sounds. The first of its kind, viagra sale it explores the work of five key camera-less image makers. It was a concept that, find when it popped into the Amelia’s inbox, I found hard to get my tiny brain around – photographs? Without a camera? Of course, I’d experimented with making photographic images without a camera at college but the quality of images that the five artists create is astonishing.
The exhibition is in the smaller gallery at the front of the grand building and is somewhat sidelined by the major Diaghilev retrospective, but shouldn’t be missed. It’s totally inspiring and tackles some thought-provoking concepts. Here’s a little look at the five artists that the show focusses on, each given their own room and space, along with some of their ground-breaking images.
Floris Neusüss
Floris Neusüss is the master of the photogram, a technique which involves placing an object on photo-sensitive paper before exposing both to light sources. He has devoted his entire career to this process – developing his work and teaching the concept to others. The most powerful of Neusüss’ work in his little area is The Latticed Window, Lacock Abbey, 2010. A life-size window from the Abbey is captured on photographic paper using light sources projected inside, and it is both imposing and relaxing at the same time – complete with all the dust and scratches as proof it is actually a photograph.
Neusüss also made beautiful and powerful images of women in Europe in the 1960s. Untitled Berlin 1962 and Untitled Munich 1965 are great examples of this – these ethereal silhouettes in foetal positions appear both active and motionless at the same time, removing any trace of personal identity but urging the viewer to think about the models’ circumstances and character.
Pierre Cordier
Cordier’s work challenges reality, aiming to produce ‘fake photographs of inaccessible reality’. His chemigrams create interesting geometrical patterns and are an exercise in simplicity. His work airs more on the side of science than art, despite employing a moer artistic approach than other camera-less photographers. The most interesting thing to note is that Cordier’s process – protecting the surface of photographic paper with art materials – means that the images he creates are impossible to realise by any other means. I do like his work, but I couldn’t help thinking that the captions were a little pretentious. And, viewing immediately after Neusüss’ powerful images of people, Cordier’s just aren’t as captivating.
Garry Fabien Miller
Fabien Miller’s dominant piece in this exhibition is Petworth Window 2000 – using a similar technique applied by Neusüss at Lacock Abbey. Petworth House and its long façade of windows is most famously depicted in Turner’s paintings, so there’s a whimsical element to Fabien Miller’s photographic version. His work is the most futuristic of the artists presented – his pieces are totally hypnotic; some appear to pulse while others look almost lenticular. Delphinium 1-8 1990 charts the growth and adaptation of a single leaf over a single day, starting with discrete, delicate marks and resulting in an almost standard photographic representation of the object in question.
Susan Derges
Derges’ work derives from an inherent interest in nature and how it is presented. It aims to reveal the hidden forces in nature that occur all around us but most go unnoticed. From sound waves to the flow of rivers, Derges captures unique patterns and formations in nature. River Tow 1997 appears almost like a charcoal drawing but is in fact a photographic record of patterns the river formed during an evening, using natural moonlight to expose the paper. The images are some of the most beautiful in the collection and made me want to run down to the Regent’s Canal at once to have a go. Vessel No. 3 (1995) sees the transformation of toadspawn into fully grown frogs over a series of photograms – from the intricate patterns the spawn first makes to the messy network of adult toads. Finally, her Arch series, capturing the four seasons in ‘dreamlike landscapes’ which appear like church windows (above), shouldn’t be missed.
Adam Fuss
So it’s to Adam Fuss to close this particular exhibition. The youngster of the group, Fuss began experimenting with camera-less photography in the 1980s. His work focusses on ‘the unseen’: events not usually documented in photography, rather than material forms. Invocation 1992 is an earnest piece of a newborn baby. Placing the baby onto the paper, submerged in water, the result is the peaceful image of the child’s outline with delicate ripples surrounding him (or her) like a baptism. My favourites were contrasting pieces Untitled 1988 and Ark 1990 – the former depicting rippling waves and nature’s chaos, the latter displaying a serene, solo drop of water and it’s minute ripples. Works like My Ghost 1997 – an ethereal image of a christening gown likened to an x-ray, have a real impact; Fuss makes the simplest objects into fascinating works of art.
This exhibition will fascinate anybody with the tiniest interest in photography and I came away feeling completely inspired. The works challenge both what we know of photography and how we think objects and nature that surrounds us every day can be depicted. Do go and see it – and catch the Diaghilev while you’re at it – you won’t be disappointed.
Written by Matt Bramford on Tuesday November 9th, 2010 10:32 am
A new exhibition at the V&A – Shadow Catchers – is a beautiful as it sounds. The first of its kind, it explores the work of five key camera-less image makers. It was a concept that, when it popped into the Amelia’s inbox, I found hard to get my tiny brain around – photographs? Without a camera? Of course, I’d experimented with making photographic images without a camera at college but the quality of images that the five artists create is astonishing.
The exhibition is in the smaller gallery at the front of the grand building and is somewhat sidelined by the major Diaghilev retrospective, but shouldn’t be missed. It’s totally inspiring and tackles some thought-provoking concepts. Here’s a little look at the five artists that the show focusses on, each given their own room and space, along with some of their ground-breaking images.
Floris Neusüss
Floris Neusüss is the master of the photogram, a technique which involves placing an object on photo-sensitive paper before exposing both to light sources. He has devoted his entire career to this process – developing his work and teaching the concept to others. The most powerful of Neusüss’ work in his little area is The Latticed Window, Lacock Abbey, 2010. A life-size window from the Abbey is captured on photographic paper using light sources projected inside, and it is both imposing and relaxing at the same time – complete with all the dust and scratches as proof it is actually a photograph.
Neusüss also made beautiful and powerful images of women in Europe in the 1960s. Untitled Berlin 1962 and Untitled Munich 1965 are great examples of this – these ethereal silhouettes in foetal positions appear both active and motionless at the same time, removing any trace of personal identity but urging the viewer to think about the models’ circumstances and character.
Pierre Cordier
Cordier’s work challenges reality, aiming to produce ‘fake photographs of inaccessible reality’. His chemigrams create interesting geometrical patterns and are an exercise in simplicity. His work airs more on the side of science than art, despite employing a moer artistic approach than other camera-less photographers. The most interesting thing to note is that Cordier’s process – protecting the surface of photographic paper with art materials – means that the images he creates are impossible to realise by any other means. I do like his work, but I couldn’t help thinking that the captions were a little pretentious. And, viewing immediately after Neusüss’ powerful images of people, Cordier’s just aren’t as captivating.
Garry Fabien Miller
Fabien Miller’s dominant piece in this exhibition is Petworth Window 2000 – using a similar technique applied by Neusüss at Lacock Abbey. Petworth House and its long façade of windows is most famously depicted in Turner’s paintings, so there’s a whimsical element to Fabien Miller’s photographic version. His work is the most futuristic of the artists presented – his pieces are totally hypnotic; some appear to pulse while others look almost lenticular. Delphinium 1-8 1990 charts the growth and adaptation of a single leaf over a single day, starting with discrete, delicate marks and resulting in an almost standard photographic representation of the object in question.
Susan Derges
Derges’ work derives from an inherent interest in nature and how it is presented. It aims to reveal the hidden forces in nature that occur all around us but most go unnoticed. From sound waves to the flow of rivers, Derges captures unique patterns and formations in nature. River Tow 1997 appears almost like a charcoal drawing but is in fact a photographic record of patterns the river formed during an evening, using natural moonlight to expose the paper. The images are some of the most beautiful in the collection and made me want to run down to the Regent’s Canal at once to have a go. Vessel No. 3 (1995) sees the transformation of toadspawn into fully grown frogs over a series of photograms – from the intricate patterns the spawn first makes to the messy network of adult toads. Finally, her Arch series, capturing the four seasons in ‘dreamlike landscapes’ which appear like church windows (above), shouldn’t be missed.
Adam Fuss
So it’s to Adam Fuss to close this particular exhibition. The youngster of the group, Fuss began experimenting with camera-less photography in the 1980s. His work focusses on ‘the unseen’: events not usually documented in photography, rather than material forms. Invocation 1992 is an earnest piece of a newborn baby. Placing the baby onto the paper, submerged in water, the result is the peaceful image of the child’s outline with delicate ripples surrounding him (or her) like a baptism. My favourites were contrasting pieces Untitled 1988 and Ark 1990 – the former depicting rippling waves and nature’s chaos, the latter displaying a serene, solo drop of water and it’s minute ripples. Works like My Ghost 1997 – an ethereal image of a christening gown likened to an x-ray, have a real impact; Fuss makes the simplest objects into fascinating works of art.
This exhibition will fascinate anybody with the tiniest interest in photography and I came away feeling completely inspired. The works challenge both what we know of photography and how we think objects and nature that surrounds us every day can be depicted. Do go and see it – and catch the Diaghilev while you’re at it – you won’t be disappointed.
Written by Matt Bramford on Tuesday November 9th, 2010 10:32 am
For anybody that’s been under a rock for the past year, Hipstamatic is an iPhone app(lication) that converts your terrible phone camera into an analogue wonder (sort of). For the past year, it has transformed the way we use phone cameras. Once a means of taking quick snaps of your mates having a pint, the Hipstamatic app has allowed everybody from Joe Public to professional photographers to capture beautiful images with speed and ease. Hipstamatic pictures now appear everywhere – on the front page of the New York Times, in fashion stories in magazines and on countless websites.
It was only a matter of time, then, that somebody would present an exhibition of Hipstamatic pictures (Jeez that H word is hard to type). The ‘Hipstamatics’ blog allows users from all over the world to submit their photographs and 157 of those submitted have been selected for this unique exhibition. 157, coincidentally, is the number of Hipstamatic 100 analogue cameras that were first produced by Bruce and Winston Dorbowski in the 1980s.
It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Hipstamatic. It’s transformed the way I take photographs. I would never use the standard camera on the iPhone for photographs to use in posts here, but Hipstamatic allows myself and other contributors to take aesthetically pleasing photographs that perfectly capture whatever it is we’re talking about. There’s also Autostitch, but that’s another story/blog/exhibition…
So what to say of the exhibition? It’s certainly presented brilliantly. Small prints of 6″x6″ cover the walls of the intimate gallery, held up pegged to string. There’s a huge variety of photographs, including obligatory cat portraits, cityscapes, beach scenes, cups of tea, fashion portraits and everything in between. All 157, presented side by side, taken by 157 different people in 157 different places, look fantastic. The problem I have (and I’m aware that I’m bitter for not submitting any of my own) is that everybody can take a great picture with Hipstamatic. That’s the beauty of it. Of course, there’s a certain amount of skill involved and there are some great pictures here that I assume are by professional photographers, or at least people with a damn good eye. Cropping, lighting and subject have all been considered. They’re all brilliant. But I could have done that! Anybody could have!
The best way for me to judge the exhibition is get over myself and ignore the fact that I could have been one of the featured artists. Instead, I’m genuinely pleased that somebody decided to do it. It cements the phenomenon that Hipstamatic has generated. I also think it’s a bit of a social experiment as well as an exhibition. It’s a modern day Duchamp’s Readymades; it questions who and what we should put in a gallery. This is ordinary people using a revolutionary app to create stunning photographs that don’t look out of place at the side of some of the world’s greatest photographers. Of course, I’m sure the exhibition hasn’t launched to be taken so seriously. It’s wonderful to see so many images of a similar nature, from all over the world, side by side.
You do have to wonder though. Can you imagine going to a gallery to see a collection of phone camera pictures? I mean, I’m sure if Hirst or Emin or some other famous wally at the Saatchi Gallery did it we’d all flock to it, but can you really imagine what that might be like? Without the vintage quality of the app – its ghostly vignetting, chromatic aberration, muted colours and film-like texture, the majority of these would just be ordinary personal photographs.
It’s retinal art. There are no hidden meanings or artist’s thought processes, they’re a selection of beautiful pictures and it’s interesting to see how people have used the app in a number of different ways. You can also see, clearly, that each photograph has been considered much more than your typical holiday snap. Many are posed (including the reclining cat – one of my favourites) while others make use of unusual light or extraordinary objects.
The problem I have with Hipstamatic, which becomes clear from the exhibition when you print the images, is that the resolution isn’t wonderful. Some of them had obviously been shot on the lower setting (there are two, and the high-res images aren’t great either) and some images are a little pixelated when you get close up. As a collection, though, this isn’t such a problem – but in a way it reminds us that these are ephemeral photographs and, really, they wouldn’t stand up at the side of traditional film images.
In terms of artist integrity, the exhibition isn’t going to win any awards. But as a Hipstamatic fan, thank God the Hipstamatics have cemented, in this small but effective way, the power and phenomenon of Apple’s App of the Year 2010 in this mesmerising and thought-provoking exhibition. Long may it reign!
Written by Matt Bramford on Friday January 14th, 2011 6:13 pm
Detail from the Head series, doctor 2001, see by Philip-Lorca diCorcia.
Exposed: Voyeurism, cost Surveillance and the Camera at the Tate Modern claims to be the first major exhibition to try and document our complex relationship with voyeurism and covert photography. It’s a fascinating subject and Exposed attempts to unravel this relationship via a series of themed rooms rather than a systematic historical walk through. So in the first room we are immediately confronted with the giant flash lit photos of people caught unawares in the street by Philip-Lorca diCorcia alongside tiny ancient photographs in sepia from Horace Engle, who captured his subjects sitting on the trams in small town America during the late 1800s at a time when unposed scenes were far from the norm. The contrast could not be more stark in terms of the garments worn or the technical prowess, but the unselfconscious expressions of those who don’t know they are being preserved for posterity just at that precise moment remain the same. The curation of this fabulous exhibition brings about a fascinating realisation that the carefully cultured veneer that humans present in public situations (where we know we are being watched) has not changed a jot over the years.
Detail from the Head series, 2001, by Philip-Lorca diCorcia.
Detail from Subway Passengers, New York, 1938 by Walker Evans.
Oh woops, this isn’t in the exhibition, but it’s an example of covert photography on the tube in May 2010.
At a time when photographers had become more sneaky about their trade Walker Evans spent three years during the 1940s surreptitiously photographing passengers on the New York subway, and an accompanying case displays examples of the cunning implements that were used by him and others, including a walking stick, a shoe and a flattened disc worn beneath a shirt – lens peaking out through a buttonhole. Deception could have its downsides though as HR Voth discovered whilst documenting the Hopi Indians in Arizona over a period of 9 years at the turn of the 19th century – when they found out what he was up to he was summarily blamed for all their ills and ejected from their tribe.
All sorts of sneaky tricks were used to capture an unaware public; Yale Joel set up a trick mirror in the Broadway movie theatre to capture women and men making subtle adjustments to their best clothes. By the 60s photographers were quite literally stalking their prey – the photographs of Lee Friedlander include his shadow, eerily close to the backs of his subjects.
Salinas, CA, 1972 by Lee Friedlander.
We are then given the opportunity to examine the crossover between covert photography of the masses and the classic paparazzi shot. Alair Gomes shot strangely homoerotic pictures of young men pumping iron on the beach in Rio using a telephoto lens whilst John Gossage went one better, picking out people on a Mexican beach from his location several miles away in California, safely across the famously dangerous border. Alison Jackson became well known for her carefully staged set ups of famous people seemingly at ease and Exposed features a famous shot of the Queen playing with her corgis.
Perhaps one of the most interesting series in the exhibition belongs to an early fan of self promotion. Over a period of forty years from the mid to late 1800s Pierre-Louis Pierson was hired by the French Countess of Castiglione to present her in some extraordinary fantasy poses drawn from ideas in fashion magazines and theatre. Just think of all the celebrities who have taken her ideas to heart in the years since – all those staged marriages in the pages of Hello! magazine have their genesis in the Countess’s photo albums.
Detail from Game of Madness, 1863-66 by Pierre-Louis Pierson
Of course, as soon as the use of cameras become sly what should photographers turn their attention to but erotica? We are treated to a whole room of voyeuristic shots of prostitutes and their punters, mostly taken by secretive means. Amongst the more familiar images of the great Henri Cartier-Bresson and Helmut Newton we are treated to some fabulous shots taken by the likes of Weegee, who used infrared flash to take pictures of lovers on the beach at Coney Island or snogging each other’s faces off at the movie theatre.
Details from Lovers at the Movies and Palace Theatre, both c.1940 by Weegee.
Infrared flash is a technique that has been revisited by voyeuristic photographers the world over, and a whole run of wall is devoted to a series taken by Kohei Yoshiyuki during the 1970s, when he infiltrated groups of men who liked to stalk and attempt to touch lovers making out in the park. Although he regarded himself as one step removed from the men he joined he admitted that the act of photography was one of voyeurism too.
Photo from the series The Park, 1971 by Kohei Yoshiyuki.
And therein lies an interesting conundrum. What is the difference between a voyeur with or without a lens to separate them from an event? At the end of the day is there any division at all? Or does wielding a camera merely legitimise an act of voyeurism, allowing us to partake in an event without feeling too closely attached to it? As someone widely practiced in the more voyeuristic end of photography I can confirm that I use the camera as a form of safety blanket in high stress situations like climate activism, allowing me to get closer to subjects than I would otherwise feel less confident about engaging with (very large Danish riot police with huge steel boots, batons and pepper spray). Taking photos satisfies my need to be in the thick of an event whilst retaining an element of separation. I’m there, but not there. The reason I enjoy taking photos in other situations – such as on the tube – is less clearcut. I simply enjoy capturing a visually interesting scene that hasn’t been staged for my benefit.
All this brings me to the last rooms of Exposed, which are devoted to surveillance, CCTV and the use of documentary photography to capture acts of aggression. I didn’t have as much time to peruse these sections, but they necessarily featured lots of photos from more recent times, as cameras have become a more and more ubiquitous part of our existence.
Detail from a photo in the series The City, 1997 by Mitch Epstein.
This is a thought provoking exhibition and a must see not just for photographers but for anyone intrigued in how the documenting eye has become ingrained in our lives over the space of less than two centuries.
You can find out more about Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera here. The exhibition opens today and runs until 3rd October 2010 before travelling on to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art where it will be open from 20th October 2010 – 17th April 2011.
Written by Amelia Gregory on Thursday May 27th, 2010 9:17 am
Detail from the Head series, 2001, by Philip-Lorca diCorcia.
Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera at the Tate Modern claims to be the first major exhibition to try and document our complex relationship with voyeurism and covert photography. It’s a fascinating subject and Exposed attempts to unravel this relationship via a series of themed rooms rather than a systematic historical walk through. So in the first room we are immediately confronted with the giant flash lit photos of people caught unawares in the street by Philip-Lorca diCorcia alongside tiny ancient photographs in sepia from Horace Engle, who captured his subjects sitting on the trams in small town America during the late 1800s at a time when unposed scenes were far from the norm. The contrast could not be more stark in terms of the garments worn or the technical prowess, but the unselfconscious expressions of those who don’t know they are being preserved for posterity just at that precise moment remain the same. The curation of this fabulous exhibition brings about a fascinating realisation that the carefully cultured veneer that humans present in public situations (where we know we are being watched) has not changed a jot over the years.
Detail from the Head series, 2001, by Philip-Lorca diCorcia.
Detail from Subway Passengers, New York, 1938 by Walker Evans.
Oh woops, this isn’t in the exhibition, but it’s an example of covert photography on the tube in May 2010.
At a time when photographers had become more sneaky about their trade Walker Evans spent three years during the 1940s surreptitiously photographing passengers on the New York subway, and an accompanying case displays examples of the cunning implements that were used by him and others, including a walking stick, a shoe and a flattened disc worn beneath a shirt – lens peaking out through a buttonhole. Deception could have its downsides though as HR Voth discovered whilst documenting the Hopi Indians in Arizona over a period of 9 years at the turn of the 19th century – when they found out what he was up to he was summarily blamed for all their ills and ejected from their tribe.
All sorts of sneaky tricks were used to capture an unaware public; Yale Joel set up a trick mirror in the Broadway movie theatre to capture women and men making subtle adjustments to their best clothes. By the 60s photographers were quite literally stalking their prey – the photographs of Lee Friedlander include his shadow, eerily close to the backs of his subjects.
Salinas, CA, 1972 by Lee Friedlander.
We are then given the opportunity to examine the crossover between covert photography of the masses and the classic paparazzi shot. Alair Gomes shot strangely homoerotic pictures of young men pumping iron on the beach in Rio using a telephoto lens whilst John Gossage went one better, picking out people on a Mexican beach from his location several miles away in California, safely across the famously dangerous border. Alison Jackson became well known for her carefully staged set ups of famous people seemingly at ease and Exposed features a famous shot of the Queen playing with her corgis.
Perhaps one of the most interesting series in the exhibition belongs to an early fan of self promotion. Over a period of forty years from the mid to late 1800s Pierre-Louis Pierson was hired by the French Countess of Castiglione to present her in some extraordinary fantasy poses drawn from ideas in fashion magazines and theatre. Just think of all the celebrities who have taken her ideas to heart in the years since – all those staged marriages in the pages of Hello! magazine have their genesis in the Countess’s photo albums.
Detail from Game of Madness, 1863-66 by Pierre-Louis Pierson
Of course, as soon as the use of cameras become sly what should photographers turn their attention to but erotica? We are treated to a whole room of voyeuristic shots of prostitutes and their punters, mostly taken by secretive means. Amongst the more familiar images of the great Henri Cartier-Bresson and Helmut Newton we are treated to some fabulous shots taken by the likes of Weegee, who used infrared flash to take pictures of lovers on the beach at Coney Island or snogging each other’s faces off at the movie theatre.
Details from Lovers at the Movies and Palace Theatre, both c.1940 by Weegee.
Infrared flash is a technique that has been revisited by voyeuristic photographers the world over, and a whole run of wall is devoted to a series taken by Kohei Yoshiyuki during the 1970s, when he infiltrated groups of men who liked to stalk and attempt to touch lovers making out in the park. Although he regarded himself as one step removed from the men he joined he admitted that the act of photography was one of voyeurism too.
Photo from the series The Park, 1971 by Kohei Yoshiyuki.
And therein lies an interesting conundrum. What is the difference between a voyeur with or without a lens to separate them from an event? At the end of the day is there any division at all? Or does wielding a camera merely legitimise an act of voyeurism, allowing us to partake in an event without feeling too closely attached to it? As someone widely practiced in the more voyeuristic end of photography I can confirm that I use the camera as a form of safety blanket in high stress situations like climate activism, allowing me to get closer to subjects than I would otherwise feel less confident about engaging with (very large Danish riot police with huge steel boots, batons and pepper spray). Taking photos satisfies my need to be in the thick of an event whilst retaining an element of separation. I’m there, but not there. The reason I enjoy taking photos in other situations – such as on the tube – is less clearcut. I simply enjoy capturing a visually interesting scene that hasn’t been staged for my benefit.
All this brings me to the last rooms of Exposed, which are devoted to surveillance, CCTV and the use of documentary photography to capture acts of aggression. I didn’t have as much time to peruse these sections, but they necessarily featured lots of photos from more recent times, as cameras have become a more and more ubiquitous part of our existence.
Detail from a photo in the series The City, 1997 by Mitch Epstein.
This is a thought provoking exhibition and a must see not just for photographers but for anyone intrigued in how the documenting eye has become ingrained in our lives over the space of less than two centuries.
You can find out more about Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera here. The exhibition opens today and runs until 3rd October 2010 before travelling on to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art where it will be open from 20th October 2010 – 17th April 2011.
Written by Amelia Gregory on Thursday May 27th, 2010 9:17 am
Detail of Interrogator/guard’s call button in Camp Five courtesy of Edmund Clarke. Photograph by Valerie Pezeron
Where is the fire in Edmund Clark’s exhibition? Guantanamo: If the Light goes out is a photography exhibition now showing at Flowers galleries in the East End next to all those yummy Vietnamese restaurants. And I was licking my whiskers heading to the opening last Thursday, and “This show has great promise to be explosive!”
Edmund Clark’s commercial work for people like Adidas is widely known. He balances advertising assignments with smaller more prestigious gallery projects that garner critical acclaim and his first book was a well-lauded affair. His specialty? Private and personal portraits conveyed through domestic settings and people’s objects.
Ex-detainee’s sitting room and original handwritten child’s letter courtesy of Edmund Clarke.
Photograph courtesy of Valerie Pezeron
It’s a pity those small vignettes of everyday life were not so successful this time around. What went wrong? For one thing the large scale of the photographs did not serve what should be a highly charged narrative in intimacy. The gallery had a hand in it too with crude choices such as similar frames to tie together the upstairs Clarke exhibition and Nadav Kander’s Yangtzee show downstairs.
Detail of Administrative Review Board Letter courtesy of Edmund Clarke. Photograph courtesy of Valerie Pezeron
Original, ampoule handwritten and hand-censored letter to a detainee from his daughter. Photograph courtesy of Valerie Pezeron
I learned of ex-inmates trying to cope with life after Guantanamo while talking to Clarke. These folks had no anger but seemed resigned to their fate and had formed an ex-Guantanamo old-timers community thus a support system. Very touching stuff indeed and the letters brought tears to my eyes. But I struggled to find a sense of broken domesticity in the Clark’s own pictures on display and some are more suggestive than others.
Camp One, exercise cage. Camp One, Isolation Unit. Camp Six, mobile force feeding chair. Ex-detainee’s sitting room. All Photographs courtesy of Edmund Clarke.
The irony in all of this is, as my fire was never lit Nadav Kander’s sweeping evocative Chinese landscapes gradually pulled me downstairs. Those beautiful pictures of Yangtzee- The Long River merge the great beauty of China with the Chinese government’s attempt at taming it.
Of the two private views at Flowers downstairs was the place to be at. Photographs courtesy of Valerie Pezeron.
This great battle I witnessed first hand when I visited Shenzhen a few years ago and saw for myself the damages on nature and the people living off the land. There the large format suits the visual conflict between the fragility of the daily domestic scenes and the imposing totems of China’s economic success. Think high towers, concrete bridges and family Sunday diners that sit uncomfortably side-by-side by the banks of the Yangtze river.
Photograph courtesy of Valerie Pezeron
Written by Valerie Pezeron on Wednesday October 20th, 2010 10:12 am
From student life to Vogue fame in one action packed year, here Daisy Knights’ creations have already been snapped up by our most loved style icons and proved that ethically responsible jewellery can still be achingly cool.
Splitting her time between the simple life in the countryside and the rush of her production process, Daisy tells us a little bit more about the passion and inspiration behind her jewellery collections and what the future holds for this wonderfully British label.
Your collection has taken off at incredible speed, how does that feel?
It’s great, I’m so happy that people want to buy and wear my designs! I saw my bracelets in Vogue this month and had a moment of “wow, this time last year, I was at university and now my jewellery is in Vogue!”
Two of your pieces, the Oxidised Feather ring and the 22 Karat Skull ring have recently been worn by Daisy Lowe and Alexa Chung, two of the UK’s biggest style icons. Did they approach you personally or was it just a wonderful surprise?
Well, we share the same publicist who made them aware of my pieces and happily, they seemed to love them!
Which inspirations lie behind your jewellery designs?
Every collection is named after a friend and I use them as a muse for that collection. I aim to embody that person in the collection, My new one is Talullah, after my friend Tallulah Harlech.
You pride yourself on having an ethically responsible ethos throughout your collection, is this something you have always had a strong belief in?
My workshop is in Britain and even my pouches are made here. I really try to be responsible but it’s not possible yet to get everything transparent sourced, which is what I hope for one day! There are so many grey areas within the industry in regards to where things come from. Keeping things in Britain means I know every person working for me, I know exactly how things are made and every person in my workshop is a highly skilled craftsman/woman. It means that my prices are higher than if I used a factory in India or China but I think the kind of people who buy my jewellery respect that it is very high quality and British made.
Illustration by Matilde Sazio
Each one of your pieces is hand made from recycled materials, which is becoming increasingly popular in a society where everything seems so disposable. Is this something you aim to maintain and something you think your buyers appreciate above anything else?
I don’t want the main aspect of my jewellery to be that it is recycled. For my brand, it’s about the design and the recycled silver is just a plus! Not every piece is recycled silver but the majority is. For example, the chain is not recycled because it’s not possible to obtain. I would love my jewellery to be made from ethically mined silver rather than recycled but right now, not enough is produced and I’m not even sure it is possible yet, so right now recycled is better than nothing. I do hope, however, for it to be ethically mined silver one day in the future. My fine jewellery and bespoke engagement rings are ethically mined gold and diamonds.
You personally make one of your designs, the Studded Wrap Around ring, at your home workshop away from production, is there any particular reason as to why you chose this one to work on alone?
I don’t ever want to be separated from the making process and this is a very popular piece so it’s nice to feel involved. I also make the Michelle stacking rings and a few others. It keeps my skills up for when I make engagement rings and bespoke pieces! I hate being away from the bench and I’m constantly making new samples for collections or adding pieces to existing ones.
Are there any designers out there that you would compare yourself and your work to?
At this early stage in my career, (I only graduated from Central Saint Martins last year) I’m not sure I could compare myself to anyone yet! However, my favourite designer is Matthew Williamson and I like to think my jewellery matches his clothing quite well!
Which of your pieces are you the most fond of?
My favourite piece has to be the new skull ring that I’ve done in an exclusive collection for Urban Outfitters… it’s not out yet though so you will have to wait and see!
What do you get up to in the spare time that you have away from designing?
I live in the Cotswolds and I love going for country walks with my boyfriend and our dog, Ace Ventura Pet Detective (Ace for short). There’s a great pub in my village called the Falcon Inn which serves amazing locally sourced food and I love sitting by the fire there. I also love to sail and surf and when my boyfriend is back from work (he’s a pilot in the RAF) we go on surf trips together. I also love going to the British Museum and the V&A.
What does the future hold for Daisy Knights?
Well hopefully it holds a long and happy career. But for the immediate future keep your eyes peeled for my new Spring/Summer collection…
Illustration by Emma Block
From student life to Vogue fame in one action packed year, more about Daisy Knights’ creations have already been snapped up by our most loved style icons and proved that ethically responsible jewellery can still be achingly cool.
Splitting her time between the simple life in the countryside and the rush of her production process, approved Daisy tells us a little bit more about the passion and inspiration behind her jewellery collections and what the future holds for this wonderfully British label.
Your collection has taken off at incredible speed, visit this how does that feel?
It’s great, I’m so happy that people want to buy and wear my designs! I saw my bracelets in Vogue this month and had a moment of “wow, this time last year, I was at university and now my jewellery is in Vogue!”
Two of your pieces, the Oxidised Feather ring and the 22 Karat Skull ring have recently been worn by Daisy Lowe and Alexa Chung, two of the UK’s biggest style icons. Did they approach you personally or was it just a wonderful surprise?
Well, we share the same publicist who made them aware of my pieces and happily, they seemed to love them!
Which inspirations lie behind your jewellery designs?
Every collection is named after a friend and I use them as a muse for that collection. I aim to embody that person in the collection, My new one is Talullah, after my friend Tallulah Harlech.
You pride yourself on having an ethically responsible ethos throughout your collection, is this something you have always had a strong belief in?
My workshop is in Britain and even my pouches are made here. I really try to be responsible but it’s not possible yet to get everything transparent sourced, which is what I hope for one day! There are so many grey areas within the industry in regards to where things come from. Keeping things in Britain means I know every person working for me, I know exactly how things are made and every person in my workshop is a highly skilled craftsman/woman. It means that my prices are higher than if I used a factory in India or China but I think the kind of people who buy my jewellery respect that it is very high quality and British made.
Illustration by Matilde Sazio
Each one of your pieces is hand made from recycled materials, which is becoming increasingly popular in a society where everything seems so disposable. Is this something you aim to maintain and something you think your buyers appreciate above anything else?
I don’t want the main aspect of my jewellery to be that it is recycled. For my brand, it’s about the design and the recycled silver is just a plus! Not every piece is recycled silver but the majority is. For example, the chain is not recycled because it’s not possible to obtain. I would love my jewellery to be made from ethically mined silver rather than recycled but right now, not enough is produced and I’m not even sure it is possible yet, so right now recycled is better than nothing. I do hope, however, for it to be ethically mined silver one day in the future. My fine jewellery and bespoke engagement rings are ethically mined gold and diamonds.
You personally make one of your designs, the Studded Wrap Around ring, at your home workshop away from production, is there any particular reason as to why you chose this one to work on alone?
I don’t ever want to be separated from the making process and this is a very popular piece so it’s nice to feel involved. I also make the Michelle stacking rings and a few others. It keeps my skills up for when I make engagement rings and bespoke pieces! I hate being away from the bench and I’m constantly making new samples for collections or adding pieces to existing ones.
Are there any designers out there that you would compare yourself and your work to?
At this early stage in my career, (I only graduated from Central Saint Martins last year) I’m not sure I could compare myself to anyone yet! However, my favourite designer is Matthew Williamson and I like to think my jewellery matches his clothing quite well!
Which of your pieces are you the most fond of?
My favourite piece has to be the new skull ring that I’ve done in an exclusive collection for Urban Outfitters… it’s not out yet though so you will have to wait and see!
What do you get up to in the spare time that you have away from designing?
I live in the Cotswolds and I love going for country walks with my boyfriend and our dog, Ace Ventura Pet Detective (Ace for short). There’s a great pub in my village called the Falcon Inn which serves amazing locally sourced food and I love sitting by the fire there. I also love to sail and surf and when my boyfriend is back from work (he’s a pilot in the RAF) we go on surf trips together. I also love going to the British Museum and the V&A.
What does the future hold for Daisy Knights?
Well hopefully it holds a long and happy career. But for the immediate future keep your eyes peeled for my new Spring/Summer collection…
Illustration by Emma Block
From student life to Vogue fame in one action packed year, dosageDaisy Knights’ creations have already been snapped up by our most loved style icons and proved that ethically responsible jewellery can still be achingly cool.
Splitting her time between the simple life in the countryside and the rush of her production process, Daisy tells us a little bit more about the passion and inspiration behind her jewellery collections and what the future holds for this wonderfully British label.
Your collection has taken off at incredible speed, how does that feel?
It’s great, I’m so happy that people want to buy and wear my designs! I saw my bracelets in Vogue this month and had a moment of “wow, this time last year, I was at university and now my jewellery is in Vogue!”
Two of your pieces, the Oxidised Feather ring and the 22 Karat Skull ring have recently been worn by Daisy Lowe and Alexa Chung, two of the UK’s biggest style icons. Did they approach you personally or was it just a wonderful surprise?
Well, we share the same publicist who made them aware of my pieces and happily, they seemed to love them!
Which inspirations lie behind your jewellery designs?
Every collection is named after a friend and I use them as a muse for that collection. I aim to embody that person in the collection, My new one is Talullah, after my friend Tallulah Harlech.
You pride yourself on having an ethically responsible ethos throughout your collection, is this something you have always had a strong belief in?
My workshop is in Britain and even my pouches are made here. I really try to be responsible but it’s not possible yet to get everything transparent sourced, which is what I hope for one day! There are so many grey areas within the industry in regards to where things come from. Keeping things in Britain means I know every person working for me, I know exactly how things are made and every person in my workshop is a highly skilled craftsman/woman. It means that my prices are higher than if I used a factory in India or China but I think the kind of people who buy my jewellery respect that it is very high quality and British made.
Each one of your pieces is hand made from recycled materials, which is becoming increasingly popular in a society where everything seems so disposable. Is this something you aim to maintain and something you think your buyers appreciate above anything else?
I don’t want the main aspect of my jewellery to be that it is recycled. For my brand, it’s about the design and the recycled silver is just a plus! Not every piece is recycled silver but the majority is. For example, the chain is not recycled because it’s not possible to obtain. I would love my jewellery to be made from ethically mined silver rather than recycled but right now, not enough is produced and I’m not even sure it is possible yet, so right now recycled is better than nothing. I do hope, however, for it to be ethically mined silver one day in the future. My fine jewellery and bespoke engagement rings are ethically mined gold and diamonds.
You personally make one of your designs, the Studded Wrap Around ring, at your home workshop away from production, is there any particular reason as to why you chose this one to work on alone?
I don’t ever want to be separated from the making process and this is a very popular piece so it’s nice to feel involved. I also make the Michelle stacking rings and a few others. It keeps my skills up for when I make engagement rings and bespoke pieces! I hate being away from the bench and I’m constantly making new samples for collections or adding pieces to existing ones.
Are there any designers out there that you would compare yourself and your work to?
At this early stage in my career, (I only graduated from Central Saint Martins last year) I’m not sure I could compare myself to anyone yet! However, my favourite designer is Matthew Williamson and I like to think my jewellery matches his clothing quite well!
Which of your pieces are you the most fond of?
My favourite piece has to be the new skull ring that I’ve done in an exclusive collection for Urban Outfitters… it’s not out yet though so you will have to wait and see!
What do you get up to in the spare time that you have away from designing?
I live in the Cotswolds and I love going for country walks with my boyfriend and our dog, Ace Ventura Pet Detective (Ace for short). There’s a great pub in my village called the Falcon Inn which serves amazing locally sourced food and I love sitting by the fire there. I also love to sail and surf and when my boyfriend is back from work (he’s a pilot in the RAF) we go on surf trips together. I also love going to the British Museum and the V&A.
What does the future hold for Daisy Knights?
Well hopefully it holds a long and happy career. But for the immediate future keep your eyes peeled for my new Spring/Summer collection…
If you’re feeling a bit delicate and would quite like to be wafted by a soft feathery fan type device, no rx as you contemplate, viagraMartha Tilston is for you. With songs entitled; Wild Swimming, Rockpools, Space and Firefly, she is all about sweet country and looking out from under the covers. But with the protection of delicate notes and kindness.
I first discovered Martha Tilston a few years ago and to be honest, I didn’t really want to tell anyone about her. She is my safety blanket and makes me feel at home. Back when she and I met, I had just left University in Cornwall and was at a loss as to what the hell to do next. My boyfriend and I moved to Bristol and temped for a hideous agency. All winter we were stuck working together inputting money off coupons for Tena Lady. Fabulous for any relationship. We’d cycle there, numb ourselves for eight hours, then cycle home. I kept a notebook by my desk and had my i pod streaming Tilston. I wrote loads in those endless, dark hours.
Then our bikes got stolen, we were laid off Tena Lady, our rented flat was put up for sale and I wrote even more. Tilston is good as a background to “Why is the world doing this to me?!” She restores faith. I give you Lucy:
Literally surrounded by art, Martha Tilston must have found it hard not be inspired as she grew up. She was born in the West Country and is the daughter of English folk singer, Steve Tilston. When her parents split, she moved to somewhere just outside London with her artist mother, who remarried a theatre director. As a teenager she would play the piano every night to the family. This led to Tilston writing songs and then picking up the guitar. Throughout she also visited Bristol, where her father and stepmother, Maggie Boyle– also a folk singer – lived. There she would spend time with folk legends like John Renbourn and Bert Jansch. Imagine! How could she not be arty?
In 2000, she formed a duo, Mouse, with guitarist Nick Marshall. Releasing two albums, they became extremely popular with the more underground loving, festival goers. However, Tilston decided to go solo in 2002, supporting Damien Rice on a tour in Ireland. Then in 2005, she released her first full length album, Blimbling on her own label Squiggly. This album holds Brighton Song, (which is where she was living at the time) a song I adore and makes me think about my years growing up in the hills next to the coastal city. Ah – nostalgia. Bimbling was funded by selling the original canvases she had painted to provide the artwork for the CD.
Tilston was nominated for Best New Act at the BBC Folk Awards in 2007. She has since become increasingly popular and has opened the Acoustic Stage at Glastonbury. However, she still loves impromptu and small shows. Her love of music outshining any desire for glitz. Her latest album Lucy and The Wolves, (Squiggly Records through Proper) is out now. It features her glorious band; The Woods, comprising of a host of instruments, including the mandolin, cello, violin and double bass. They truly add and compliment the atmospheric, delicate sound. Favourites include the aforementioned; Wild Swimming and Rockppols. The former, a slow, purposeful song full of delicious lust and feeling. The simile of liberating and beautiful night swimming, illustrating the purity of her love. Whilst Rockpools is also dedication to love and nature, it is centered more on her comfort found in the landscapes and nuggets of beauty. Eyes clapping on a tiny piece of peace, that at that second is shining only for you to see.
To summarise; Tilston is thought out, dancing on the hills, living in yurts complete with outdoor fires, English folk. If you like artists like Mary Hampton, Alela Diane and gentle Bellowhead, and you don’t know about Martha Tilston already, then you really should listen. If you don’t like folk, listen anyway, as she will make you feel wrapped up and safe on a blustery January day. Like today.
If you’re feeling a bit delicate and would quite like to be wafted by a soft feathery fan type device, look as you contemplate, adiposity Martha Tilston is for you. With songs entitled; Wild Swimming, more about Rockpools, Space and Firefly, she is all about sweet country and looking out from under the covers. But with the protection of delicate notes and kindness.
I first discovered Martha a few years ago and to be honest, I didn’t really want to tell anyone about her. She is my safety blanket and makes me feel at home. Back when she and I met, I had just left University in Cornwall and was at a loss as to what the hell to do next. My boyfriend and I moved to Bristol and temped for a hideous agency. All winter we were stuck working together inputting money off coupons for Tena Lady. Fabulous for any relationship. We’d cycle there, numb ourselves for eight hours, then cycle home. I kept a notebook by my desk and had my i pod streaming Martha. I wrote loads in those endless, dark hours.
Artifcial:
Then our bikes got stolen, we were laid off Tena Lady, our rented flat was put up for sale and I wrote even more. Martha is good as a background to “Why is the world doing this to me?!” She restores faith.
I give you Silver Dagger:
Literally surrounded by art, Martha Tilston must have found it hard not be inspired as she grew up. She was born in the West Country and is the daughter of English folk singer, Steve Tilston. When her parents split, she moved to somewhere just outside London with her artist mother, who remarried a theatre director. As a teenager she would play the piano every night to the family. This led to Martha writing songs and then picking up the guitar. Throughout she also visited Bristol, where her father and stepmother, Maggie Boyle- also a folk singer – lived. There she would spend time with folk legends like John Renbourn and Bert Jansch. Imagine! How could she not be arty?
In 2000, she formed a duo, Mouse, with guitarist Nick Marshall. Releasing two albums, they became extremely popular with the more underground loving, festival goers. However, Martha decided to go solo in 2002, supporting Damian Rice on a tour in Ireland. Then in 2005, she released her first full length album, Blimbling on her own label Squiggly. This album holds Brighton Song, (which is where she was living at the time) a song I adore and makes me think about my years growing up in the hills next to the coastal city. Ah – nostalgia. Bimbling was funded by selling the original canvases she had painted to provide the artwork for the CD.
Martha was nominated for Best New Act at the BBC Folk Awards in 2007. She has since become increasingly popular and has opened the Acoustic Stage at Glastonbury. However, she still loves impromptu and small shows. Her love of music outshining any desire for glitz.
Her latest album Lucy and the Wolves, (Squiggly Records through Proper) is out now. It features her glorious band; The Woods, comprising of a host of instruments, including the mandolin, cello, violin and double bass. They truly add and compliment the atmospheric, delicate sound. Favourites include the aforementioned; Wild Swimming and Rockppols. The former, a slow, purposeful song full of delicious lust and feeling. The simile of liberating and beautiful night swimming, illustrating the purity of her love. Whilst Rockpools is also dedication to love and nature, it is centered more on her comfort found in the landscapes and nuggets of beauty. Eyes clapping on a tiny piece of peace, that at that second is shining only for you to see.
To summarise; Martha is thought out, dancing on the hills, living in yurts complete with outdoor fires, English folk. If you like artists like Mary Hampton, Alela Diane and gentle Bellowhead, and you don’t know about Martha Tilston already, then you really should listen. If you don’t like folk, listen anyway, as she will make you feel wrapped up and safe on a blustery January day. Like today.
She is touring in May
If you’re feeling a bit delicate and would quite like to be wafted by a soft feathery fan type device, more about as you contemplate, look Martha Tilston is for you. With songs entitled; Wild Swimming, Rockpools, Space and Firefly, she is all about sweet country and looking out from under the covers. But with the protection of delicate notes and kindness.
I first discovered Martha a few years ago and to be honest, I didn’t really want to tell anyone about her. She is my safety blanket and makes me feel at home. Back when she and I met, I had just left University in Cornwall and was at a loss as to what the hell to do next. My boyfriend and I moved to Bristol and temped for a hideous agency. All winter we were stuck working together inputting money off coupons for Tena Lady. Fabulous for any relationship. We’d cycle there, numb ourselves for eight hours, then cycle home. I kept a notebook by my desk and had my i pod streaming Martha. I wrote loads in those endless, dark hours.
Artifcial:
Then our bikes got stolen, we were laid off Tena Lady, our rented flat was put up for sale and I wrote even more. Martha is good as a background to “Why is the world doing this to me?!” She restores faith.
I give you Silver Dagger:
Literally surrounded by art, Martha Tilston must have found it hard not be inspired as she grew up. She was born in the West Country and is the daughter of English folk singer, Steve Tilston. When her parents split, she moved to somewhere just outside London with her artist mother, who remarried a theatre director. As a teenager she would play the piano every night to the family. This led to Martha writing songs and then picking up the guitar. Throughout she also visited Bristol, where her father and stepmother, Maggie Boyle- also a folk singer – lived. There she would spend time with folk legends like John Renbourn and Bert Jansch. Imagine! How could she not be arty?
In 2000, she formed a duo, Mouse, with guitarist Nick Marshall. Releasing two albums, they became extremely popular with the more underground loving, festival goers. However, Martha decided to go solo in 2002, supporting Damian Rice on a tour in Ireland. Then in 2005, she released her first full length album, Blimbling on her own label Squiggly. This album holds Brighton Song, (which is where she was living at the time) a song I adore and makes me think about my years growing up in the hills next to the coastal city. Ah – nostalgia. Bimbling was funded by selling the original canvases she had painted to provide the artwork for the CD.
Martha was nominated for Best New Act at the BBC Folk Awards in 2007. She has since become increasingly popular and has opened the Acoustic Stage at Glastonbury. However, she still loves impromptu and small shows. Her love of music outshining any desire for glitz.
Her latest album Lucy and the Wolves, (Squiggly Records through Proper) is out now. It features her glorious band; The Woods, comprising of a host of instruments, including the mandolin, cello, violin and double bass. They truly add and compliment the atmospheric, delicate sound. Favourites include the aforementioned; Wild Swimming and Rockppols. The former, a slow, purposeful song full of delicious lust and feeling. The simile of liberating and beautiful night swimming, illustrating the purity of her love. Whilst Rockpools is also dedication to love and nature, it is centered more on her comfort found in the landscapes and nuggets of beauty. Eyes clapping on a tiny piece of peace, that at that second is shining only for you to see.
To summarise; Martha is thought out, dancing on the hills, living in yurts complete with outdoor fires, English folk. If you like artists like Mary Hampton, Alela Diane and gentle Bellowhead, and you don’t know about Martha Tilston already, then you really should listen. If you don’t like folk, listen anyway, as she will make you feel wrapped up and safe on a blustery January day. Like today.
She is touring in May
All Hipstamatic photography by Matt Bramford
For anybody that’s been under a rock for the past year, medicineHipstamatic is an iPhone app(lication) that converts your terrible phone camera into an analogue wonder (sort of). For the past year, no rx it has transformed the way we use phone cameras. Once a means of taking quick snaps of your mates having a pint, mind the Hipstamatic app has allowed everybody from Joe Public to professional photographers to capture beautiful images with speed and ease. Hipstamatic pictures now appear everywhere – on the front page of the New York Times, in fashion stories in magazines and on countless websites.
It was only a matter of time, then, that somebody would present an exhibition of Hipstamatic pictures (Jeez that H word is hard to type). The ‘Hipstamatics’ blog allows users from all over the world to submit their photographs and 157 of those submitted have been selected for this unique exhibition. 157, coincidentally, is the number of Hipstamatic 100 analogue cameras that were first produced by Bruce and Winston Dorbowski in the 1980s.
It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Hipstamatic. It’s transformed the way I take photographs. I would never use the standard camera on the iPhone for photographs to use in posts here, but Hipstamatic allows myself and other contributors to take aesthetically pleasing photographs that perfectly capture whatever it is we’re talking about. There’s also Autostitch, but that’s another story/blog/exhibition…
So what to say of the exhibition? It’s certainly presented brilliantly. Small prints of 6″x6″ cover the walls of the intimate gallery, held up pegged to string. There’s a huge variety of photographs, including obligatory cat portraits, cityscapes, beach scenes, cups of tea, fashion portraits and everything in between. All 157, presented side by side, taken by 157 different people in 157 different places, look fantastic. The problem I have (and I’m aware that I’m bitter for not submitting any of my own) is that everybody can take a great picture with Hipstamatic. That’s the beauty of it. Of course, there’s a certain amount of skill involved and there are some great pictures here that I assume are by professional photographers, or at least people with a damn good eye. Cropping, lighting and subject have all been considered. They’re all brilliant. But I could have done that! Anybody could have!
The best way for me to judge the exhibition is get over myself and ignore the fact that I could have been one of the featured artists. Instead, I’m genuinely pleased that somebody decided to do it. It cements the phenomenon that Hipstamatic has generated. I also think it’s a bit of a social experiment as well as an exhibition. It’s a modern day Duchamp’s Readymades; it questions who and what we should put in a gallery. This is ordinary people using a revolutionary app to create stunning photographs that don’t look out of place at the side of some of the world’s greatest photographers. Of course, I’m sure the exhibition hasn’t launched to be taken so seriously. It’s wonderful to see so many images of a similar nature, from all over the world, side by side.
You do have to wonder though. Can you imagine going to a gallery to see a collection of phone camera pictures? I mean, I’m sure if Hirst or Emin or some other famous wally at the Saatchi Gallery did it we’d all flock to it, but can you really imagine what that might be like? Without the vintage quality of the app – its ghostly vignetting, chromatic aberration, muted colours and film-like texture, the majority of these would just be ordinary personal photographs.
It’s retinal art. There are no hidden meanings or artist’s thought processes, they’re a selection of beautiful pictures and it’s interesting to see how people have used the app in a number of different ways. You can also see, clearly, that each photograph has been considered much more than your typical holiday snap. Many are posed (including the reclining cat – one of my favourites) while others make use of unusual light or extraordinary objects.
The problem I have with Hipstamatic, which becomes clear from the exhibition when you print the images, is that the resolution isn’t wonderful. Some of them had obviously been shot on the lower setting (there are two, and the high-res images aren’t great either) and some images are a little pixelated when you get close up. As a collection, though, this isn’t such a problem – but in a way it reminds us that these are ephemeral photographs and, really, they wouldn’t stand up at the side of traditional film images.
In terms of artist integrity, the exhibition isn’t going to win any awards. But as a Hipstamatic fan, thank God the Hipstamatics have cemented, in this small but effective way, the power and phenomenon of Apple’s App of the Year 2010 in this mesmerising and thought-provoking exhibition. Long may it reign!
Written by Matt Bramford on Friday January 14th, 2011 6:13 pm
Detail from Su Kyung Lee’s The Imaginative Battle.
The Central Saint MartinsMA in Communication Design graduate show was held earlier this summer in the spacious rooms of the high ceilinged Rochelle School. The quality was of an exceptional standard throughout, site and there were informative descriptions helpfully placed next to all the work.
Su Kyung Lee‘s The Imaginative Battle explored patterns of protection and destruction, website focusing on the visual aesthetics of destruction and chaos through patterns. Cells and germs became the camouflage, web splattered across and fired from tanks, rendered in glorious neon brights. An apt subject in these difficult times.
Matt Nicholson showed his work half spat out of a digital printer. Inspired by his desire for high status objects he can’t afford Matt reproduced them for free, using printed paper patterns to create giant wall sculptures. They even retain functionality: the Lieca camera takes photos via a pinhole. Follow Matt Nicholson on Twitter.
I was totally enraptured by Kanitta Meechubot‘s enchanting collages. A Garden of Illuminating Existence repeated and matched the branching nerves and veins of the body in trees and natural forms: merging memories and landscape. ‘To produce a map of experience through the internal landscape which changes with the seasons, is to capture the beauty of the illimitable renewals and decays of our existence.’ The real beauty of these pieces, with names like Six Feet Under Yew Tree and The Season of The Soul, was the fine detail used to build delicate pictures in 3D, including not only old photos and engravings, but real dried flowers and paint splats.
Sarah Langford was inspired by the movement of water, it’s necessity and destructive capabilities. Using scientific measurements she created beautiful textures to produce abstracts: parts and fragments of rock formations, shells, glimpses of the landscape being ripped and shredded by the passage of time.
Gareth Barnett was inspired by Brutalist architecture (my favourite, though not to live in myself…) and the hellish writings of the Marquis de Sade to create an investigation into the power structures and systems of control within an urban environment. The resulting 20 pictures were splayed across the wall, interlaced with projections. With names like Climax in Concrete and Fuck Me Building there was no escaping the ruptured baseness of his conclusions.
Carl Partridge looked to a place he’s never visited: America, believing that it’s easier to buy into the idealisation of America if you’ve never been. Using tiny shreds of paper and stickers, holographic beads, parts of adverts and marbled plastic he created delicate collages that seemed to question our love of consumerism. Follow Carl Partridge on Twitter.
For marvellous hand done typography look no further than Beth Salter. She was inspired by private conversations overheard in public surroundings. Me too, I love them! But mainly her bright letters were just a lot of fun. Follow Beth Salter on Twitter.
For The Fear of Life Ann-Kathrin Schubert had decorated discarded plastic bottles to become the most tropical of fish, tribal in their boldness.
Jesus Madrinan had taken a series of portraits in London nightclubs: Good Night London featured some suitably inebriated yet oddly disillusioned creatures.
Golbanou Moghaddas was influenced by Arthur Schopenhauer‘s philosophy of existence typified by unrest. Strange fattened figures tumbled from a bony etched pelvis filled with birds. Painterley strokes combined with fine etching skills.
Alexa Galea was inspired by human desire to control and tame nature and the wild, particular with reference to European folk art and ritual.
Oat Montien explored the relation between ritual and identity in contemporary interpretations of Thai traditions.
Paraskevi Ferentinou explored the ‘agency of furniture‘ in the role of children’s growth.
Ying-Chen Lu worked with 3D papercutting to create exploding type and depth in landscapes.
I could easily have missed Aindri Chakraborty‘s work which was nestled in a grimy corner, but I’m glad I didn’t as it was really rather wonderful: Heritage through Glass explored how the glass cabinets in museums separate the tangible object from the intangible visitor, and how stories are passed down the generations. People Tree and Conversations with Baba featured frantic truncated shapes, fire people and vomiting heads.
Written by Amelia Gregory on Thursday August 11th, 2011 12:12 pm
