Exhibition by Devon photographer James Ravilious

The RAMM (Royal Albert Memorial Museum is holding an exhibition by the renown Devon photographer James Ravilious from 19 May to 29 July 2012. His pictures reveal real life as it was being lived in the late 20th century rural England when the country traditions that have been handed down for hundreds of years were still part of everyday existence.

This exhibition features a new selection of photographs, taken by Ravilious during the 1970s and 1980s. Selected from the 70,000 Ravilious images in the Beaford Archive, www.beafordarchive.org.uk, familiar photographs will share space with others rarely seen before. The result is the most intensive record of any rural area in England. James' pictures are composed with the eye of an artist and above all, they show his affection and admiration for the people whose lives he recorded.

I am really looking forward to viewing this exhibition when it opens and will review it when I have.

Fossil Festival 2012

I find it constantly amazing that I actually live in a town which has such a thriving arts community and that it has so many different arms to it.  Since moving here in late 2009 I have watched the local communities in and around Lyme put on so many arts and crafts exhibitions and shows that I feel privileged to have the opportunities to look at and study such a wide range of mediums and styles. 

Lyme Regis is taking part in the Jurassic Coast Earth Festival which runs from early May until late September throughout the county of Dorset.  This weekend there have been activities for adults and children on the local beach and walks along the coastal path.  

 There was also an exhibition, at a local venue, called Deep Time with material from four artists involved in the Jurassic Journey project including an extensive collection of sculptures by Lal Hitchcock, photographic images by Ben Osborne, slate panels inscribed with Matt Harvey's poems and a soundscape by Sammy Hurden.  Lal's characters "Tilly and Cliff" will be there in person, complete with deckchairs and a beach.

Ben Osborne's distinctive cliff phorography

Lal Hitchcock has spent her time recently walking the beaches of Dorset collecting detritus and debris on the shore line to make her distinctive sculptures.  She uses the bits and pieces that she finds to create the most interesting and creative works.  Her sculpture, Nefertiti has the centre piece of an old bicycle saddle whilst her other large pieces use all that rubbish that is left on the beach or washed overboard at sea.

'Nefertiti'

 Her imagination runs riot with the pieces of abandoned rubbish and gave much pleasure to those many people who visited the exhibition during its 4-day stay in Lyme.

Motivation or Fear

http://oca-student.com/node/82794

I've been following this thread in the OCA Coffee Shop student forum and can genuinely relate to it.  Sometimes it takes hard pressure internally to move on with the exercises and reach the assignment stage of a module.  I truly believe the old saying that 'procrastination is the thief of time' and that the internet also leads you away from what you really want to do.
But the main thing that keeps holding me back is the fear that what I do isn't good enough.  I look around, especially as I live in a very 'arty' town, and see great pieces of work and wonder how the artist came up with the original idea and developed it on.  I see my fellow camera enthusiasts produce pictures which I would give my right arm to have taken and my confidence drops another notch. 

I have a new tutor for the Photography DPP level 1 module and he seems  very knowledgeable but I find it quite hard to feel confident when I send my assignments off to him.  By the time I finished People & Place in the Photography module, I had gained enough confidence in my tutor that he wouldn't trash it but consider the whole assignment and give constructive criticism.  I was happy that I could accept what he said and move on.  With a new tutor, who I haven't got the true measure of, I am very nervous to post off my work, albeit now in an electronic format which saves a lot in postage and insurance.  I await my return email with its attached report nervously, yet when it's delivered into my Inbox, my work is generally praised so why did I worry?

It's all down to confidence, which ebbs and flows like the tide.  In my lifetime I have found that as I become more confident, life has a bad habit of knocking me back.  So I pick myself up, dust myself down (as the song goes) and start all over again.  I think the main message of this post is to keep on trying, you can only get better, eventually.

Victoria and Albert – A passion for photography

Royal Albert Memorial Museum Lunchtime Lecture, 21 March 2012

Sophie Gordon, senior curator of photographs at the Royal Collection 'explored how the royal family formed a bond with pioneering British photographers, commissioning and collecting work that survives today in Windsor Castle' quote from the RAMM booklet. Sophia indicated that in the royal collection there were over 450,000 negatives slides and prints from 1842 to the present day.

This hour long talk was a real gem. After the previous two lunchtime lectures that I had attended which had proved to be so disappointing Sophie Gordon was a breath of fresh air. Her whole demeanour was that of a person who enjoyed her work and it came across in her talk. No notes, no hesitation, she talked spontaneously about the images that she projected on the screen and brought them so vividly to life, even including the ones that showed Prince Albert and Queen Victoria on their death beds (separately, of course).

Whilst Queen Victoria liked to collect early private family pictures and portraits of the royal family, Prince Albert focussed his interests on scientific and fine art pictures. The first known image in the collection was one of Prince Albert as a daguerreotype image. The disadvantage of these was that there was only ever one image and it was impossible to copy or duplicate it. Queen Victoria amassed over 20,000 images, negatives and boxes of glass slides, and items are still being unearthed in the cellars of Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle where Sophie Gordon is based.

After the disappointing previous talks, this was a real gem and I was glad that I made the effort to attend. Well done RAMM for engaging this excellent speaker who knew her subject thoroughly and who was able to put over her enthusiasm for her subject. Hopefully RAMM will continue the theme of Victorian photography in their next series of lunchtime lectures when the new programme is released shortly.

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

I can't believe it has been so long since I posted on this blog, but things have been a bit quiet in the town recently. One thing that I have done is visit the Exeter Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM) to listen to a couple of lunchtime lectures.

The first one was on Modernism and given by Dr Carol Brand who would 'focus on the exhibitions, art critics, debates and events in the art world as more avant-garde forms of modernism emerged around 1910 in England', quoted from the RAMM catalogue. The reason I wanted to listen to this hour long lecture was to try to gain an insight into modernism, post-modernism and onward in the art world as I felt that I was sadly lacking in this area.

I went with my friend who had studied the history of art whilst studying on an Access to Education course and we both felt that this short lecture fell well short of an attention grabbing talk. We were both, independently of each other, disappointed that the lecturer read for the whole of the 50 minutes from her notes in a fairly flat monotone. It wasn't until the last 10 minutes, when Carol answered questions from the audience, that she spoke spontaneously and, for me, this was the only highlight of a dull lunchtime.

The second lecture was by Professor John Plunkett from the University of Exeter who would explore Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's interest in photography as collectors. This lecture would also 'show them as subjects of the photography industry which was fast becoming a commercial and popular media for disseminating the images of distinguished people and celebrities'.

John introduced his lunch-time lecture by saying that it would be in 2 parts, that of the way that royalty had used the media to show themselves and parts of their photographic images which they had collected. The disappointment was that he ran out of time to show any pictures that Victoria and Albert had collected but once again the whole session was spoiled by the delivery. This eminent professor, who should have known his subject inside out, read his notes for 80% of the time he spoke. He was quite able to talk 'outside the box' as the saying goes and when he did he was enthusiastic and interesting but all the while, when he read his notes, it come over in a monotone and flat tone.

There is a final lunchtime lecture on Wednesday, March 21st, and I am looking forward to this as its entitled 'Victoria and Albert, a passion for photography. Sophie Gordon, senior curator of Photographs at the Royal Collection, will explore how the royal family formed a bond with pioneering British photographers including Roger Fenton and Francis Bedford, commissioning and collecting work that survives today in Windsor Castle -direct quote from the RAMM programme booklet. I have my fingers crossed for a lively and stimulating debate, hope I'm not disappointed. Watch this space.

Photographs not taken

I've been following a recent thread in the OCA Photography, Film & Digital Media forum entitled 'Photographs Not Taken: what makes a photographer freeze?' This links up with The Guardian website which ran an article on the subject and gave several instances when a photographer missed the opportunity to take a stunning image or wouldn’t take it on ethical grounds.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/mar/15/photographs-not-taken-photographer-freeze

I've been photographing for 25+ years now and the one area I find difficult to photograph is when people are distressed in any way. Years ago I was photographing a company football match and one player ended up with a badly broken leg. The ambulance was called and whilst we waited its arrival, my colleague tried to goad me into taking a picture of this poor man in agony. It was something I couldn't and wouldn't do and the moment passed. I'm still glad that I didn't record this man's suffering. What does it make me, an idiot for missing the opportunity or a better person for having passed it up?

Woodroffe School Exhibition

There's one good thing about living in an 'arty' town, there are always lots of exhibitions and shows going on.  The latest one is a show from the local comprehensive school, Woodroffe with an excellent rating from Ofsted, who have put on a display of work from their Years 9, 10 and 11.

I went to view the art and exhibits and was truly amazed, as I usually am, with the bredth and depth of work from students of this age group.  Their ideas and imagination seem to explode in all directions and they create the most exciting work.  I would like to photograph of some of it to display here, it's not only photographs, drawings and paintings but sculptures and mobiles, but not sure it would be allowed.  The show is on for another week and I want to go back this coming weekend to view again such interesting work.

A snapshot view of some of the work

28.1.2012: I went back to this exhibition this afternoon and was struck again at how teenage students can be so uninhibited with their imagination and use of colour.  This is an excellent choice of work and should be visited again to gain a greater insight into the students' work. Well done the students of the Woodroffe School!

Book: The Genius of Photography - Gerry Badger

An excellent book, both visually and written, superb guide through the history of photography, a must for anyone interested in photography! This book is an excellent guide to the culture of photography, examining various significant photographers, mostly  from the 20th century. There could be more actual photographs but the text is well written, making interesting links between various movements and styles.

It tends to jump around a bit but is a good introduction to many previously little known photographers and I was sorry when I had finished reading it as I would have liked more of the same! It's full of wonderful images and interesting information. Perfect for anyone keen to develop their skills and perspective of capturing just the right image.

Book - The essential color manual for photographers, Chris Rutter

“The Essential Colour Manual for Photographers" is a comprehensive guide to the technical, practical, and inspirational aspects of colour photography. Whether you are just beginning your journey into the world of photography, or an experienced photographer wishing to hone your skills, you will find plenty to inspire and instruct you throughout.

I read a recommendation for the above book on colour management and managed to eventually get hold of a copy. It seems to be a book that you dip in and out of rather than start at the beginning and work your way through. It covers just about every aspect of colour management - colour theory, calibrating hardware, dealing with different/mixed light sources, seasonal variations in natural light and post-processing techniques. As I work through the level 1 Digital Photographic Practice module I feel I need to gain a greater understanding of colour ,much more than I know at the moment. This book seems to be highly recommended so let's hope it gives me the insights I need to produce realistic images.

The link below takes you to Amazon and give a better review of this most useful book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Essential-Colour-Manual-Photographers/dp/2940378118/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1325429487&sr=8-3