Seven level two photography students are taking the last steps in organising their trip to Santander. Following the success of the #Picbod13 Exhibition at Fargo in Coventry, two remote students on the course have been working collaboratively with the students organising another exhibition overseas.
Picbod Exhibition, Fargo Coventry, March 2013
The Picbod course, led by Matt Johnston, was a hit, engaging audiences online from all over the world. Charo Ruiz Davila and Ana Martin are two remote students from Santander, who both took part in the weekly tasks and were valuable for online feedback as well as supporting the exhibition in Coventry. Their encouragement did not stop at the end of the ten week course, but continued with their enthusiasm to hold an exhibition in Spain.
“Though the internet course is engaging, the personal contact, a face to face relationship is undoubtedly a better way to share the passion and enjoyment of something as creative and enticing as photography” – Charo Davila
Enclave Pronillo, Santander
Charo and Ana have successfully collaborated with the Coventry Students to create “Santander PHOTO” which will be exhibited 6th-8th June 2013. The photography event is supported by Espacio Imagen, Asociación de Fotografía y video de Sanatander (www.espacioimagen.org), and the Fundación Santander Creativa (www.fundacionsantandercreativa.com).
“It is a chance to let people from Santander to know about PICBOD. An opportunity to celebrate a gathering where students, amateur and professional photographers could exchange knowledge, watch and learn from other people work, and of course have fun taking pictures.” – Charo Davila
Kate, Brian, Iosef, Imogen, Caroline, Hollie and Ioana are excited to share the Picbod experience overseas to expand the online community. They are flying 5th June, loaded with work and equipment to continue their photographic practice during their stay.
“In portrait, to be a work of art, neither must nor may resemble the sitter … one must paint its atmosphere” – Umberto Boccioni
Throughout #picbod we explored the self-portrait through to the empowered portrait as a live encounter with the body. However, Boccioni highlights how we self reflect through our own environments. Therefore, this week’s task explores the self-portrait without your physical presence.
This has made me think about where I am at right now. I’ve just had a great push in terms of my photographic practice (as a photographer and as a teacher/organiser) however, I feel that I’m always striving for more. Having such greed for doing better somehow makes me reflect on what I’m not doing. I’ve not travelled in a long time- I need to broaden my geography; my photography is becoming familiar. Familiar places, familiar landscapes.
Like an unused stamp, I’m not going anywhere, just yet; but there is hope.
Not only did we have to make a physical artefact ready for exhibition, but also an appropriate digital version. The digital version should not be just a scan of the artefact as the magic would be lost. As I made a photobook and spent quite a lot of time designing and making it, I decided to document the production of it- this is something the physical artefact does not explain on its own. Therefore, it is a different experience for an online viewer.
I asked Alex Mason and Joseph Kesisoglou to informally interview me on camera so that they could ask questions that they would like to know as viewers. Some of my answers were satisfactory, but I felt that some needed rerecording. After starting with this interview style, I moved onto more of a monologue about the design aspect of the book. Although I talk to people about my work on an informal level, speaking more academically about my work is a little more challenging, as I’m a novice as it (to say the least) therefore, I appreciate that maybe in a years time or so I could improve the voice recordings as my public speaking (as well) is more improved. I feel that my voice is a little flat, but with practice this would be better.
That aside, I feel that my digital artefact allows the viewer to hear more about the work than a viewer at the exhibition; yet, they would not get the satisfaction of experiencing the book. I did not want to include many of the pictures in it as I would like to encourage the viewers to read more about it and contact me to see the book over just copying the images online.
Although the #Picbod13 installation is not quite complete, we’re almost there!! The two day event opens on Friday 8th March with a big celebration of 32 Coventry University students’ work along side the work of the remote students across the world.
Without shadow of a doubt, I definitely put my all into the exhibition, with its success at the forefront of my mind. I feel that I have worked hard trying to get as much as possible ready for the exhibition alongside my own studies. As part of the secretary team, it was my role to make sure that each team was keeping on track with what they needed to do and I feel that they have performed well and kept the group well informed online.
Head of Marketing, Melissa Stapleton, asked me if I could write the ‘special invitations’ and press release as I have had experience with Ikon gallery before; these were checked over with the team and the Facebook group to be agreed on before being sent. On top of this, as the whole group was asked, I have been keeping updates with Facebook and Twitter about the exhibition to up the hype, this included a video of a day Alex Mason and I spent on the projects.
I started to speak to George Rippon about the space and how would be the most appropriate way to try curate 31 people’s work, he said it would be key to get key information about everyone’s work- theme/size/quantity of prints/colour scheme etc. Therefore, Lee Hassall, Hollie Woodward and myself chased up the group so that we could make a spreadsheet so that we would not run over the wall space limit.
Lee, Hollie, George and I made wall plans of the space and tried to work out who’s work would work most appropriately together with the wall space limit. We made a version for people at uni to come look at before putting it online for the group to see, we heard no complaints about it, but there has been discussion about the garage door’s opening, to which it will be closed for health and safety measures. On the first day of installation we did swap two people’s work as work was presented in a similar way and wouldn’t aesthetically work. But, the day before installation began, Alex Mason, Hollie Woodward and I went to Fargo, measured out the walls and marked where everyone’s space begins and ends so that there would be less confusion on the day.
Continuing with the exhibition plans themselves, I asked the group if they would like text panels next to their work, adding a deadline so I could get them printed. This means that everyone’s work is clearly identified for viewers on the night, as well as another opportunity for students to write more about their work.
Wanting to improve on last year’s exhibition of the remote students work, I thought it would be a great edition if their work was also printed as digital artefacts next to ours as a token of our appreciation for their involvement. This has been met with high regards on the Google Community.
This has taken a small amount from the budget, but has created more of an online atmosphere as the students from as far as Los Angeles are getting excited. So much so that Glyn Thomas from Philadelphia sent his own prints to us in Coventry; so, the course’s hub is in Coventry, reached Glyn whom responded photographically and his prints have returned back to the hub for the exhibition (quite romantic eh?). Furthermore, the involvement of the remote students in the exhibition has meant that two of the Spanish students have proposed we take the exhibition to Santander, what a great achievement!
For my personal work, I decided I wanted to attach a shelf to the wall for my photobook to stand on with a print above it to entice a viewer to pick up the book. As Picbod is about portraiture and the body, having a bedroom on the wall will look out of place, inviting the viewers to pick up ‘Unwelcome Invitation’
Although it has not opened yet, I think we have all worked really hard in getting the exhibition to where it is now and I am really excited for the weekend!
Jonathan Worth asked the class whether we think of ourselves as photographers, oddly few raised their hands. He then asked us what is a photographer? The discussion varies between a ‘professional editorial photographer’ to an author, telling photographic narratives. They say that there are a thousand words to every picture after all. How much can we as photographers tell a viewer without words? Or how could words completely change a perception of an image? These are questions I thought about during the first part of the lecture.
Jonathan shown us a video by the founder of VII magazine, Stephen Mayes, and how he wanted to change the attributes of a photographer from ‘supplier’ to ‘publisher’ so that the distributors no longer mediated the photographs to their own views, but the photographer has their own voice. This is an important point, as the paradigm shift between film and digital is almost over, the next hurdle is between photographic suppliers and photographic story tellers; anyone with the equipment and basic understanding can create beautiful images, but it is the underlying message. We have the power to reinvent photography to brand ourselves and express what our personal values are, for example. Jonathan himself said that he was commissioned to photograph 9/11 victim’s families with their voice recordings; but he rejected it, because he reserved the right to not tell that story, because of his own morals.
So how do we as photographers get these stories from people we don’t know? Jonathan shared with us different stories he found out from people and then had to react photographically in the best way to suit the subject’s voice. Photography can be very aggressive, putting a camera between two people somehow distorts conversation, for the subject to not see the photographer’s eyes as they are talking is uncomforting. Steve Pyke talks about this and how he uses a Rolleiflex camera so that photography is more passive, therefore being able to negotiate with the sitter. Photographic negotiation is a conversation, an ‘exchange’.
I feel that I learnt a lot from this lecture, how as photographers we need to approach people with a camera in a sensitive way. We need to be sensitive to a stranger’s or anyone’s story. Jonathan set the #Picbod task “Negotiation” as we had to photograph a stranger and get a story; however, with my photographic theme being ‘intrusion’ I wanted to have a discomfort from the sitter, therefore needed to make this boundary.
As I have made my physical artefact, a photobook, I decided that I wanted to create a digital video explaining the design while showing the production of the book. However, I felt that I wanted to look at other short films beforehand.
Firstly, I looked at Ed Kashi’s ‘Eye Contact’. The video is a photofilm of the series of work with a voice overlay of Ed’s thoughts about how he created the set and the themes surrounding it. I liked how there was the information about the themes eloquently spoken over the images; however, I felt that filming my photobook would not be suitable, nor would simply displaying the pictures in the same way. I wanted the photofilm to have a different experience which was considered for the viewer watching it. Due to Vimeo privacy and sharing for this user, the photofilm for ‘Eye Contact’ can be seen here
Secondly, I wanted to look at another style of film. I watched the Elinor Carucci film about her ‘Born’ exhibition at the Sasha Wolf Gallery in New York. This is styled more like an interview with Elinor talking about her work, with features of her work. I felt that this was a more appropriate response for me to consider doing too. With the Picbod exhibition being a big event for the physical artefact, having talk about the photobook and the design of it would be a good way to go…
Such a long process it has been to create my photobook now entitled ‘unwelcome Invitation’.
Original Idea: To narrow the horizon between photographer and viewer as intruders, I wanted the portraits to be hidden inside envelopes to be opened up. However, to break this up I wanted to include ‘rests’ of artefacts within the homes attached to the portraits. The rests also acts as a second reading of people’s relationships with their homes and the decoration of the home.
Paper quality: For me, I wanted to have a rustic feel to the photobook with texture playing a vital role. I wanted to have a rough texture, almost like wall paper, to echo the inside aspect. Therefore, I decided that I wanted to use Fine Art Rough for my main pages; yet, I had to get some off cuts to practice folding the card in a neat way as it is quite thick. Also with its thickness, combined with wanting to have Japanese fold pages, I measured that for every page I need a 2mm filler at the spine so that there would be an even thickness when the book is shut. The envelopes are made out of recycled cotton so have this delicate roughness to them as well, but inside I have decided to use canvas material to print the portraits on, this means that they will be delicate to handle.
Text: After talking to George Rippon and Matt Johnston, I had different thoughts about whether or not to include text. George felt that he needed more instruction about the people, not necessarily on a personal level but just to familiarise a little more. Matt offered that not all the pages need text, or that maybe text can add second readings; so that the viewer is told something new to feel differently. However, after thinking about it, and how my title is ‘unwelcome invitation’ I feel that this is enough information for the viewer to understand this concept. I feel that adding text to such a short book will be adding too much.
Bertil Nilsson: When showing Bertil Nilsson a mockup of my photobook, he suggested that the rhythm becomes almost too predicable thus need to mix it up even further. When I was talking to him, the idea of having an empty envelope will catch out the viewer, feeling like they lost the portrait from its surroundings and also how the intrusion has taken a step too far. We were talking about the images and decided that I should reorder a few: although they are separate stories, the open door should start the image series as a gateway.
Furtherdesign: I wanted to include pages of just beds, to break up the colour palettes of the pink and the green as well. I chose to change the image of the coat hanger to the ladder in the garage with the circular wire for Josh’s portrait as the wire echoes the bike wheel in the corner of the frame. I decided that halfway through I added a closed door, with the empty envelope: this anomaly will heighten the intrusion further.
Michelle Sank came to Coventry University on Thursday to talk about her photographic works. She spoke of her relationship with light and how she is drawn to light from the coast, as it reminds her of the colour richness from her upbringing in South Africa. However, for me, I was drawn to the indoor portraits from ‘Into the Arms of Babes’. This collection explores the community of teenage pregnancy; often dismissed by society as improper, Sank wanted to display this issue with a more open and forgiving attitude.
Sank discussed how she values the relationship between people and their spaces. Having these portraits within their environment gives more for the viewer to understand. In this image Sank said that the vibrance of the aggressive red echoes the face of the father: the couple experienced some difficulties and the child had to go into care. I feel that this use of colour can say a lot more than meets the eye.
She felt that being open minded meant that she could get great results: she did not judge her subjects but trusted them to trust her. Therefore, her formal images as a whole highlight the natural devotion parents have for their children and their importance on the parents’ lives, just like any other family. I feel that having the context that the subjects are teenage parents is almost enough; we can draw our own opinions from what we can see in the images; however, this just raise the issue of bringing our own horizon to the image. Our preconceptions may well take over what Sank is almost celebrating.
After being given a week off, I came back with the hopes of lots to do, knowing that the next exhibition of Flaxman and Novikov would be opening this week. From what I have been told, this week usually is really stressful; however, they had it all under control. So, on my day at Ikon I was sorting out the Resource Room again; tidying it up and creating text panels to give more context to the work exhibited. I would say that this was not hugely challenging: I used basic photoshop tools and had to guillotine the text panels to fit onto the mounts.
I then had to help Emily in marketing setting up the galleries for events for that evening, although this comprised of ‘seat slipping’ so I put fliers on all the seats.
Like I say, not the most interesting of days, but in terms of marketing, it has opened my eyes up to how we can get more people to our #picbod exhibition; seat slipping lectures, cafes etc..
