A Photographer's Playbook - book review

A Photographer's Playbook

Edited by Jason Fulford and Gregory Halpern

Published by Aperture (2014)

As the cover says this is a book of ideas - 307 of them from photographers worldwide. The editors, having had some involvement in teaching, wondered how others gained inspiration, had fun or tested limits, so thought they would ask. This book is the result. It is what I sometimes use when I feel in need of a challenge or inspiration. It doesn't work all the time but there is good advice available.

The page below by Sasha Rudensky uses a quote by novelist Anthony Burgess as the starting point for her challenge.

You can even download as a pdf and try it for free (well for 30 days anyway) here :-

http://ebookmediastar2.over-blog.com/20e4s_347ke36e0q 

Classic Ribblehead Viaduct shot

On a week's break in the Dales last year we had already driven past Ribblehead and admired the view. I was not especially expecting to get a classic shot at any point in the holiday but when we met some rail enthusiasts the next day they were excited about this train passing through. We noted their comments and the time and day of the visitation and the fact that this train was known to put out steam as it crossed the viaduct.

On the day the weather was pretty perfect and so we arrived early and walked to what we imagined would be a good vantage point and prepared the cameras with a few introductory shots of, well, nothing really apart from the surrounding country.

In the picture it looks empty but the reality was that many people where about but mainly in the same spot as us!

We heard the train before we saw it and then, there is was. Billowing steam and fluffy clouds with that wonderful engineering feat of brick and steel gave me the perfect picture at first attempt. An hour later we were at the Ingleton water falls. Who needs to go very far in this country for some spectacular photo opportunities :-)

So if you want a shot like this find some experts to talk to and follow their advice. They know what they are talking about!

Joel Meyerowitz podcast

Today a link to the recent FRAMES Magazine interview with Joel Meyerowitz.

Joel Meyerowitz (born in New York in 1938) is an award-winning photographer whose work has appeared in over 350 exhibitions in museums and galleries around the world. Celebrated as a pioneer of color photography, he is a two-time Guggenheim Fellow, a recipient of both National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities awards, and a recipient of The Royal Photographic Society’s Centenary Medal. He has published over 30 books. Meyerowitz lives and works in New York and in Italy.

W Scott Olsen interviews Joel Meyerowitz for FRAMES Magazine : 

https://readframes.com/frames-podcast-with-joel-meyerowitz/ 

This is one of several podcasts that FRAMES has online. You can also explore from this link.

Brimham Rocks

When I woke up yesterday I realised that if I didn't make it to Brimham Rocks before the weekend  then the school holidays would probably make it a challenge to find space. I had meant to go for some time but the weather had been awful and the skies leaden so I had put it off. In fact the weather wasn't that great yesterday either but in the spirit of adventure I set off. As I drove down the motorway and up the A1 into North Yorkshire the clouds shifted into manageable cottonwool balls and the rain disappeared. Arriving shortly after the car park opened I was pleased to see few cars.

Underfoot was damp but with my super waterproof boots it didn't matter. Two and a bit hours later I was back in the car and heading south and home for an afternoon of editing as it started to rain again. Perfect timing as it happened.

Somehow the moodiness of this 184 hectare site calls for mono treatment in my eye. The rock formations, left behind when the ice melted 18,000 years ago, are striking and have been weathered by wind, rain and ice ever since. A bit of scrambling around by children and (largely) dads wanting to show off has helped as well. Now a site of Special Scientific Interest as well as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty I was lucky to have it largely to myself for a while.

A weekend sale by Taschen

A quick blog today. Taschen, the art book printers, have a sale on over the weekend. They have many books on photography as well as art and the production values are high. 

Sebastiao Selgado's "Genesis" (see above) is just £30. 

First published in 2013 this massive coffee table book of black and white photographs from across the globe is described as "A love letter to the planet". Eight years in the making it is a beautiful set of pictures as well as making us consider our place in it and our responsibilities to it.

Of course there are other books but this is the one I focussed on. A big bargain. A link below - 

https://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/photography/all/05767/facts.sebastio_salgado_genesis.htm 

and an interview about the project here - 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ESGW7HovOA 

Deconstruction or a different way to shoot a sunflower...

Sunflower

Flowers are a constant source of inspiration for me. Whether in the wild or the studio there are numerous varieties, colours and shapes. Of course all have been photographed before and so the challenge I find is to try and take pictures that have something different about them. A new angle or way of seeing something.

Planning my show FLORA last year I wanted to include sunflowers because their vibrancy and colour. Their deep yellow stands out on any wall. But how to do this when so many other excellent pictures already exist? 

Setting up a light in the studio and then placing thick perspex on top and over that a sheet of tissue paper meant that I reduced the glare. I had already raided the kitchen for some sunflower seeds. I carefully dissected the yellow petals from the centre of the flower and arranged them on the tissue paper, scattering the sunflower seeds on top. Switch on the light and shoot away. 

The overlay of leaves produced deeper and lighter yellows. The seeds on top barred the light but they are clearly not the proper sunflower head. I allowed any natural flaw in the leaves to remain rather than edit them out as some might have done. I felt that it helped retain some of the truth of the original flower.

I did this several times over a couple of days and ended with well over two hundred shots of which I post produced about thirty, one of which is shown here.

At the time of writing FLORA is still in SALT Architects gallery in Beverley because of lockdown. Although the office is not open currently you are welcome to peer through the window and see it :-)

My influences - Francesca Woodman

Francesca Woodman - Self Portrait

It is never a happy occurrence to know that someone died too young. Sadly Francesca Woodman was only 22 when she jumped from a window in New York. She left behind some 10,000 negatives and around 800 prints. Her parents now manage her estate and much of her work has still not been seen.

Having found photography whilst at High School she quickly developed her own style. Much of her work involved herself or friends, mostly women, in isolated situations. They are often naked which increases their appearance of vulnerability, a key feature of her pictures, although some also seem a form of celebration. The long exposures which became a part of her trademark, blur the movement and can provide an unsettling experience which makes the viewer question the events they are seeing. Almost all of her work is in black and white.

She had little acclaim during her life and it is said that a combination of the industry rejection of her work coupled with a failed relationship led to her death. Her work is now critically acclaimed however and seen as a statement, in part, of her vulnerability and as a major contribution to the developing view of women in society. Certainly the surreal influences that she acknowledged from photographers such as Man Ray and the Gothic and Surrealist movements are notably present in her work. She is also known to have admired the work of Deborah Turbeville, a fashion photographer whose work was dark and dreamy and far more feminine than her more edgy and erotic counterparts such as Helmut Newton.

Since her death books, articles and worldwide exhibitions have abounded and a critically acclaimed film "The Woodmans" released in 2010. (  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zqNUdtCwkU ).

Many museums and galleries now have prints of her work (including my local gallery The Ferens in Hull) and to me they are always immediately recognisable. You can see some of her work at Tate Online ( https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/francesca-woodman-10512 ) or Art Net ( http://www.artnet.com/artists/francesca-woodman/ ).

There are a number of books available too and I recommend Francesca Woodman by Chris Townend published through Phaidon although the new hardback version at £360.32 seems a bit steep even for such a comprehensive tome. The softback version is a more manageable £35.00.