Yes, but is it Art ?

It is almost two hundred years since the first photograph was made. Since then much has changed, both in process, technology and thinking about what a photograph is. Susan Sontag has considered the philosophy of the photograph ( "On Photography" 1971); John Berger has written extensively on the challenges of photography as an art critic ("Understanding a Photograph" -1978 and beyond) and many others have added thoughts, arguments and observations since on what photographs may achieve or be.

And of course they are many things to many people. They are holiday snaps and records of families. They are exaggerations to advertise and grow desire for objects. They are flattering portraits or memories of weddings. Pictures of pets and warnings about wars and other dangers. Still lives. Pornography. Illustrations for newsprint. What they are not, of course, is art. At least not uniformly. 

And yet some undoubtedly are. Some carry distinct messages and can communicate feelings and emotions in the same way that paintings can. They may use their technology to confuse or prompt some thought we may not otherwise have had. I have never advocated that all photographs are art but any medium that can be used to explore humanity and our psyche is always going to make the outcomes of these an artistic possibility. For me an important word to set alongside those words that are often used to describe art such as beauty, skill, imagination and feelings goes the word intention. Some photgraphers set out to use their skill and imagination to intentionally challenge us - and to me that makes those photographs art.

As photography has matured and become so many things it is worth stopping and thinking about the changes that have taken place and how cobjectivity has developed since the 1830's. Society and societal mores have altered considerably and it could be argued that photography has driven at least some of that - just consider the role of selfies...

Charlotte Cotton's book does this extremely competently and is well illustrated as a way of giving examples to the arguments. You probably won't agree with everything in here but that is not the point. The point is to think - and if you want to argue with her and cite some alternative views then please do. It is critical thinking and discussion that carries us forward. So - is it art ? You tell me ...

The Red Dress on tour

People who know my work will already have heard of The Red Dress and may have even seen the initial exhibition last year. In case you haven't it is a series of photographs which place a red dress in situations which range from the mundane to the threatening. In the exhibition and accompanying book I challenge people to find a picture that is striking to them and tell themselves the story behind it as they imagine it. I then ask them to consider why they thought that. The reason is that I would like people to think more about the position women occupy in the world today and consider whether they themselves consider equality and respect issues they consider sufficiently. Having two daughters and growing up during the second wave of feminism in the fifties and sixties this has become very important to me as a man.

The series continues to be photographed and probably will during the rest of my life. The Red Dress often accompanies me on trips out both in this country and abroad. I continue to read about and see ways in which women are severely disadvantaged and discriminated against and there are many ways in which women are given less respect than they deserve. These things are not always intentional. In some ways this makes it worse as it indicates a lack of thought.

This photograph was taken in Italy in an earthquake damaged house. The chair had been left there and the colours and darkness of the space appealed to me, especially the crumbling plaster and dark, negative space which seeps in from the left. The vines creeping in the window which invite you into the sunlight and the spotlight of sunshine illuminating the dress draped on the chair are all an invitation to make your own story about what has/is/about to happen here.

This picture has not yet appeared within the exhibition but may well do in the future. The company Exhibitours have taken on the show and it will eventually appear in smaller galleries around the UK although this year has, of course, been a challenge for all public exhibition spaces.

The book of the show, including an essay, can be viewed online here :-https://www.blurb.co.uk/b/9402176-the-red-dress 

If you would like to know more do email me :-)

Fan Ho

Ask a photographer to name a Chinese master of the art and Fan Ho is the name they are most likely to come up with. Many Chinese photographers are not well known in the West but Fan Ho was one who broke free and gained over 280 awards between 1956 and his death in 2016.

Born in Shanghai in 1931 he began taking photos on his father's Box Brownie and was largely self taught. By the age of fourteen his father had bought him a twin lense Rollieflex and he had learned to develop his pictures in the family bath tub. He used the same camera throught his career, working largely in mono.

The family moved to Hong Kong in 1949 and he made the city his own, prowling the markets and alleyways taking candid pictures of street vendors and children. As Hong Kong became a powerful metropolitan city he built a significant body of work. He was rewarded with Fellowships of photographic organisations across the world, including the Royal Photographic Society and the Royal Society of Arts in the UK. He was also named one of the top ten photographers in the world by the Photographic Society of America each year between 1958 and 1965. Later in life he also worked in film and served as a juror at a number of film festivals such was his reputation in this field as well.

In an interview two years before his death he said "As an artist I was only looking to express myself....I need to be touched emotionally to come up with meaningful works....My purpose is simple. I try not to waste my audience's time." 

The three photographs below are great examples of his use of light. The best way to quickly see some more of his notable pictures is this short You Tube presentation from Fotografia :-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJbBdu92Ky8 

A lovely thought - how a buyer followed up

A lovely thought

I was recently approached about a framed photograph someone had seen in an exhibition. They wanted to buy one for their newly decorated bedroom. We had a long discussion about the size etc and the purchaser was very clear that they did not want it framed as they had an idea of what they wished it to look like - which is all fine by me as I'm happy soemone likes a picture sufficiently to wish to buy it.

My printer, Visual Expressions -http://www.vefineart.co.uk/ made the print quickly and I delivered it. Often that is the end of the story and I never get to see the finished article or how it fits into the decor and room. 

Today however the picture ended up on the wall and I was delighted to receive a lovely message saying how delighted they were with the final placement. I have to say that the frame and photograph certainly suit the colour of the wall it is on. So thank you for letting me see it in situ.

It is always important when buying a picture that you have a sense of where it is going and how it will fit into those surroundings. Naturally you want to buy a picture that you like but the size and framing matter almost as much.

When I exhibit I often need to frame the pictures and the frames I use are a standard black. Whilst these usually work against the white walls in a gallery and with some space around them they are less likely to look as good in a domestic setting, especially if there is a dominant colour theme. Lately I have had some prints made on di-bond which can be mounted without frames. These have been very successful and can go almost anywhere.

So if you are buying a photograph think about where you want to place it and, if a framed version doesn't fit then buy a print and think about an unframed version. Talking to the photographer usually helps as it can make a difference to the print size and paper. 

Good framers will also be able to make recommendations. A framer that I often works with (and who is cheaper than most framing shops I know) always does a home visit and decides with the client what would work best.

I hope this helps next time you consider introducing a new photograph to your living quarters or office and thanks to this purchaser for following up with me. It was a lovely surprise.

Context - Dan Kitchener graffiti

Context

There is some great graffiti about these days all over the world and some artists move between cultures and cities easily. It was therefore a pleasure to see that Dan Kitchener, a world renowned street artist, was in Hull and painting the side of the King Billy pub. This is a freehand spray painting. The position is perfect and can be seen by all the traffic passing by on the A63. 

So it was inevitable that I would go and take some pictures there. This presented a couple of challenges. Firstly there is a large advertising hoarding/fence which separates the mural from the pavement. This makes it impossible to gain a top to bottom view. However I can quite understand the desire to protect this lovely work from passing oiks. 

The second challenge, which is linked to the first, is to give the picture context within the photograph. By that I mean that to only replicate the work seems like using some else's graft to make a photograph and claim the credit. Showing the scale and surroundings gives far more context to the finished work.

The first challenge was partially overcome by a couple of grey metal boxes which (I assume) carry some electrical equipment for the nearby traffic control lights. Standing on them meant that I could achieve some sense of the whole while also squeezing in the statue of King Billy on the far right of the picture as well as giving a sense of scale with the street light. A conversion of this particular picture to mono served it well.

The next two pictures I left in colour, saturating them slightly as the day had been very grey. In one I show the tower of Hull Minster which I hope gives both a sense of place and a sense of old and new. The second favours a shot which again gives context through including the pub frontage. In both the hoarding is inevitably present as is the phenomenal amount of road signage and furniture. I would have liked to have some people gazing up at it but having hung about for half an hour there was no-one about. I'll have to return at a busier time...

You can see more of Dan Kitchener's work here :- https://www.dankitchener.com/

Harvest - continuing a series

The Harvest 

At this time of year I start to look seriously for pictures related to harvest time. The genesis of this lies with the artist Peter Watson whose work I first came across and showed some years ago when I still had Creation Fine Arts gallery.

Peter was born in Beverley and attended school locally before going to art college in Liverpool. He has been a succesful artist over the years and there is a link to his work below which has a quality of graphic design which I like and admire.

About three years ago we met at an opening and he suggested that we might collaborate on a series of paintings and photographs. After some thought and discussion we decided that the theme of harvest was a very suitable one for the East and North Yorkshire area (Peter now lives near Scarborough) and that it could make an interesting juxtaposition if my photographs were in mono against his colour paintings.

So for the last three years we have been slowly gathering material. We still don't know when it will be finished or if we will ever find a space to show it in but we live in hope.

So if you see me standing near a field looking at the work of harvesting getting done, or the fields ripen and the tracks across them slowly disappear you'll understand it is all part of a bigger plan.

This picture is a new one which may or may not be used eventually. I happened upon the combine harvester as I drove out of York and the dust, the position of the trees and the darker sky all seemed perfect for a shot.

Below is a painting showing Peter's style and a link so you can see more if you wish. You may have already seen a series of his pictures if you have visited the coalmining museum near Doncaster from commissions he undertook for the NCB before the mines closed in the 70's and 80's.

http://peterwatsonpaintings.co.uk/ 

John Bulmer

John Bulmer - photograph by Veronika  Lavey

John Bulmer was born in 1938 and still lives in Herefordshire where his grandfather established Bulmer's Cider. He was a pioneer of colour photography in the UK and initially worked for the Daily Express but later became more associated with The Sunday Times Magazine.

Much of his early commissioned work in England covered deprived areas and his acclaimed book "The North" (Bluecoat Press 2021) contains many of his photographs from this time. Whilst much of his photogrpahy at this time focussed on provincial Britain he was also commissioned by The Sunday Times to visit Africa following Harold MacMillan's "Winds of Change" speech. Together with journalist Richard West he visited and photographed fourteen countries in two months reporting on the changing politics as colonial powers lost their grip on the continent. An entire issue of The Sunday Times Magazine was devoted to the report and his photographs. His book "Wind of Change" (Bluecoat Press 2014) recalls this and later work in countries facing challenge and change.

In the 1970's Bulmer changed course and moved into documentary and travel film making for the BBC, National Geographic Magazine and the Discovery Channel among others much of this work took him to unexplored and largely undiscovered parts of the world.

Now in his eighties he is still cataloguing his vast archives and his work has appeared in exhibitions at The Photographers Gallery, Gallery of Modern Art in New York and Bradford's National Media Museum. Recognition may have come late but if you are my age and see the photographs you will probably realise that you have known his work all along!

More here :- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bulmer

Bluecoat Press books can be viewed here :- https://bluecoatpress.co.uk/