Exercise: Symbols

Symbols...

Growth:

• This wonderful little man - Jake from Staten Island, USA - is for me the perfect symbol of 'growth'. Jake has a heart condition, with which I am familiar, and a few months ago he was really close to the edge... But, thanks to a heart transplant, made possible by a marvellous donor family, he is in good recovery. Just look at this guy! If this isn't a symbol of 'growth' from a very dark place, then I don't know what is.
• Speaking as a student of photography, I have to say that this image, out of all of the ones posted by his brilliant parents on his Facebook page, is the one that grabbed me most and nearly threw me to the ground. I just love the expression on his face and his tux: such a chipper 'young man about town'...! As far as emotional symbols go this is the one that did it for me. Way to go Jake, way to go!

Excess:

• A shot of wealthy party-goers in a well-heeled part of Marbella, Spain. As it was in one of the weekend 'heavy' newspaper's magazines, I cannot show the picture here. But the image is not hard to imagine: sun, sun tans, chic swimwear, sun glasses and lots to drink...

Crime:

• To be found almost any day in Italian newspapers: the victims of organised crimes...
  
  

Silence:

• A Red Kite circling slowly over my house.

Poverty:

• A photograph by Don McCullin of a child running across a rain-soaked, bleak and downtrodden street in a poor district of a town. Both the kid and the town seem to be 'up against it'...

Sky

The following pictures were all taken on my trip to London to see the Salgado exhibition. An iPhone camera was used throughout. It was a case of just gazing  up at the sky from time to time...

Although this post is not connected to any specific Assignment 5 project or exercise, it is dedicated to my friend and mentor Tracey. She has been my encourager and guide throughout most of this course and now it is her turn to travel the road of apprenticeship to the art form that is all things textiles. The last image, in particular, symbolises a spirit of hopeful optimism for a positive set of outcomes in the new direction her life is now taking.

Rob 8.9.13

Mark Neville exhibition / The Photographer's Gallery / 'Deeds Not Words' 2 Aug - 29 Sept 2013

I paid my second visit to this excellent gallery yesterday. Now knowing where to find it, I shall look it up each time I visit London. 

I rather like not knowing what to find there to be quite exciting: discovering this exhibition of the work of Mark Neville turned out to be a real revelation. The photographs on display are great examples of the genre of documentary photojournalism - in this instance the subject being the Northamptonshire town of Corby. The story centres around the closing of the one-time incredibly productive steel plant and the effect on the local population. Many people who worked in the steel industry here were of Scottish descent and the images tell the tale of how their inherited culture survives against the odds.

The pictures also recount the incidents of those born with a variety of defects, possibly as a result of post-industrial pollution.

Whilst Neville and Salgado differ widely in their photographic styles, they share a common ground in which they are both telling the story of a specific people in a particular location.

Exercise: Juxtaposition

I went looking for this image yesterday when I travelled to the Salgado exhibition. Such images don't leap out of nowhere - there are found because we are looking properly. Standing around on the busy streets of London didn't seem to be doing the magic, but then the process of really looking began to pay off. Sure, there were some great images that came and went before I could get my camera to my eye, but this served to sharpen the work of seeing. What follows are some photographs that seemed, if only slightly, to speak of 'juxtaposition'.

I guess this is a fairly obvious example: dinosaur mingling with the crowds...  Yes, there  is some striking contrast between the architecture of the museum interior, but we are not fooled. We expect the skeleton to be there because it's the Natural History Museum and we know this dinosaur 'lives' in the main hall. It's like we expect the Royal Albert Hall to be in any publicity images of the annual Proms concerts just down the road. So - a decent attempt but it doesn't 'ring true'.

Now this image is getting there. I came across this head office for all-things British sculpture in the Old Brompton Road. I could see it some way off, drawn to the striking orange / red of the piece that resides outside the front door.nI made a few exposure but chose this one as the cyclist added an element of dynamism and action. So, yes there is a strong sense of juxtaposition, with the sculpture being the 'interloper' in this example. But it leaves me almost cold: the three elements of old building, contemporary sculpture and an oblivious cyclist are all together in the moment of exposure - but there is no story.

So my choice is this picture. It is a scene in a street behind Regents Street and it's a link between one street and another. Overhead, a large mirror forms part of the ceiling. This creates a visual event that is quite arresting. In it, we can just make out the couple in the foreground. They, dressed almost exactly the same, are still at this moment while it is the figure in the actual subway who is moving towards us, bringing with him the tension of not knowing what he will do when he emerges. So our attention is torn between the couple, their reflection and this striding figure. Were the mirror not juxtaposed above this subway, the relationship between reality and image would not have been born.

Exercise: Evidence of Action

This was not easy. I am not convinced that the photograph placed here does the job really well. I would also not be surprised to find that as of now I shall see nothing but excellent example of 'evidence of action' - and the assignment will complete and I shall have left my camera at home...!

But here goes...

What are the police up to? What is going on in there? Everyone is looking into the coffee house. Has there been an accident? Did someone get into a fight about the mix of their mocha? Was someone making a break for the door with the cooky jar...? Whatever action is happening, the there observers are frozen in the act of turning, looking and guessing. Only time will tell, only time...

Sebastiao Salgado exhibition / Natural History Museum / 'Genesis'

I finally made it to the Natural History Museum to see the Salgado exhibition. As they say in Italy, I was 'Senza parole!' or 'speechless'... This was really something. A turning-point. A moment never to forget. I was minded of going to see the Edvard Munch exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, in 1973, which had - and still does - the same powerful effect on me.

I had arrived early to be in time for an experience I knew would be so special. It reminded me of seeing Springsteen at Wembley this year: not really believing that I was about to see something I had dreamed about for so long.

Walking down the corridors in the museum was akin to walking through the catacombs under St peter's in Rome. When I went in I vowed not to rush but to soak it all up instead.

The images were amazing: the sheer number of them; the over-arching theme; the wide scope of subjects; the utter power of individual photographs; the recurring 'is such an picture possible or real?' question...

The force of black and white was palpable in this gallery. It's tonal depth just kept hitting us again and again.

What really added to the process of viewing these pictures was trying to remember all the things we have been learning on 'The Art of Photography 1' and use to these elements as a guide to seeing and appreciating at a deeper level: framing, point, lines, diagonals, triangles, curves, rhythms, patterns, shapes, light, colour, tone, narrative and illustration. Having this as a way of seeing added so much more to the experience. Whilst I knew I was in the presence of a true master, it is thanks to the OCA that I discovered how much of a genius Salgado actually is.

Coming home from London on the train, I saw huge clouds and a rainbow. My reaction was simple: that's a Salgado sky...!

I owe my good friend Leo a huge debt of gratitude for bringing this exhibition to my attention. Next time we go out for a meal, it will definitely be my shout!