Author Archives: gemakatherine
Promoting our exhibition at the Truman Brewery
With a new blog dedicated to just that
You can find the blog to our ‘Patience exhibition’,Here
A couple of dates for the diary…
Some noteworthy exhibitions to visit and write reports on..
I like visiting photography exhibitions as it is, but now I’m having to think about ones I want to visit and write a 1500 word report on. This is because I am having to do a bridging essay to get in to the UNI i want to go to, to finish off my BA in London. I’ve been looking into what’s going on in London in the next few months, and well, there’s only two exhibs that I’ve found so far that I want to visit…
Somerset house is quickly becoming my favourite place to hunt out exhibitions.
Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition
26 April – 12 May 2013
The Sony World Photography Awards are widely recognised as one of the world’s leading photography competitions and the exhibition showcasing the extraordinary award-winning and shortlisted entries, held annually at Somerset House, returns this April. Offering a stunning snapshot of the world in 2012, the show will present international contemporary photography from both professionals and amateurs in the fields of fashion, travel, wildlife, landscape, portraiture and current affairs. T
The exhibition will also include a special display of work by iconic American photographer William Eggleston, who will receive the Outstanding Contribution to Photography award at the Sony World Photography Awards Gala Ceremony on 25 April.
Go here for more information.
Blumenfeld Studio: New York, 1941–1960
23 May–1 September 2013
Open daily 10.00-18.00 (Last admission 17.30)
East Wing Galleries, East Wing
Free admission
Berlin-born photographer Erwin Blumenfeld (1897–1969) was one of the most internationally sought-after portrait and fashion photographers in the 1940s and 1950s. America’s leading magazines, including Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar hired him for his imaginative and highly individual shots. The show focuses on the little-known history of his photography studio at 222 Central Park South in New York. Around 100 colour photographs and originals of Erwin Blumenfeld’s works in fashion magazines provide insights into this key artstic phase in his life.
Simple and wonderful
Toby McFarland Pond’s photography is just mmmmm
That’s the only way I can describe it simply.
Here’s another photographer I’ve come across lately that I love to look at. Eliot Lee Hazel. These are the kind of pictures I fall head over heels for, and would happily plaster them all over my walls so I could stare at them all them time.
Has Instagram done us a favour?
…It has brought to light the issues of photo sharing sites using our pictures…
Any one have any thoughts on this?
Instagram angered many members, who use its app to share and apply retro filters to smartphone pictures, by amending its terms and conditions to give it “perpetual” rights to the photographs that its users share on the website.
Steve McCurry on wordpress..
And if he is on here as a photographer, why shouldn’t we all be?
Steve McCurry, a professional photographer and author of several photography books, shares his reasons for why he blogs on WordPress.com. His iconic photo, Afghan Girl, graced the cover of National Geographic and was named one of the 100 Best Pictures of the magazine. McCurry has been recognized with some of the most prestigious awards in the industry, including the Robert Capa Gold Medal, National Press Photographers Award, and an unprecedented four first prize awards from the World Press Photo contest, to name a few.
You are a world-famous photographer. Why do you blog?
Steve: Who would even dream 20 years ago that we would even have the internet? Clearly the internet is changing the landscape of publishing, news, and entertainment. There are countless channels on television, infinite content on the internet, and stimuli literally everywhere we turn. . . . There is so much competition. My blog is just my way of introducing my work through this new media.
What advice would you give budding photographers on building their web presence?
Steve: If you want to be a photographer, you have to photograph. If you look at the photographers whose work we admire, they’ve found a particular place or a subject, dug deep into it, and carved out something that’s become special. And that takes a lot of time and a lot of work — that’s not for everyone. Regardless of how successful you are, it’s important for you to spend your time photographing things that matter to you. You need to understand the things that have meaning to you, and not what others think is important for you. Having a blog is one of the easiest ways for your to get your work out to a wide audience.
Full interview found here Iconic Photographer Steve McCurry Talks Blogging and WordPress
A gleeful pillow fight in a hotel room…
..and access to Michael Jacksons bedroom.
Harry Benson has without a doubt had an absolutely amazing career, and will continue to do so as long as he has a camera in his hand. I’m amazed at how little people have actually heard of him but have seen his iconic images. He has photographed every U.S president from Eisenhower to Barack Obama; was just feet away from Bobby Kennedy the night he was assassinated; in the room with Richard Nixon when he resigned; on the Meredith march with Martin Luther King, jr.; was there when the Berlin Wall went up and went it came down… Who wouldn’t want his career?!
Where studying Photography will get you…
Your Boss asking you to do Club photography…
I never thought I’d end up along this route, nor wanted too when I first decided to study Photography. But it seems to have happened anyway, and this isn’t the first club I’ve been asked to photograph either. Though it’s great going out of my comfort zone, getting experience and having ‘Get your photo taken by resident photographer Gema’ blasted out over the music, I very much dislike putting my camera and flash gun at risk in a crowd full of drunks. But at the end of the day, It’s great having my photos appreciated after being posted on line!
Here’s just a few pictures of the kind of thing I’ve been doing. Pretty standard as it goes.
Lights! Camera! Action!
Second year foundation photography students work..
The 2nd Year class completed a three day job of covering the Harold Jolliffe One-Act Play Festival on Saturday 14th April. The festival has been running since 1947 and gives local amateur production groups the chance to perform their play to an adjudicator, with a range of prizes to be won for the best.
With photographing the productions, the awards ceremony, and offering the actors and producers portraits, the whole event was a steep learning curve for all involved. Photographing from a small lighting booth, from the back of the studio, with challenging lighting conditions, needed a lot of thinking on our feet. Plus directing the actors for portraits after coming off stage into position needed quick judgement.
A great set of images were produced and the organiser, Ashley Heath is looking forward to the arrangement being a long-term partnership for the college.
Please visit this link to see the second years pictures on the Harold Joliffe One Act Play Festival’s website (Bit of a mouthful!)
Also, to see all their sets of images from this event, please visit their flickr page, Smile Photography
Swindon Act; Photo by Richard Maidment
Dead Meat Productions; Photo by Richard Maidment
Swindon Act; Photo by Kat Mabbot/ Jenny Langan
Posted By Gema Bird, Written by Jon Ratcliffe
Can you say Controversial
Chalk and sticks of cheese were the prop stand ins…
I came across this series by Frieke Janssens, and just was immediately wowed by the entire project. How often do you see children smoking?! Everything about this series has been done phenomenally well in my opinion; the context, the outfits, the models, the poses and facial expressions, the presentation of the photos as a circle, the quality…
Here is what Janssens says of the project:
“A YouTube video of a two-year-old Indonesian nicotine toddler inspired me to create this series, “Smoking Kids”. The video highlighted the cultural differences between the east and west, and questioned notions of smoking being a mainly adult activity. Adult smokers are the societal norm, so I wanted to isolate the viewer’s focus upon the issue of smoking itself. I felt that children smoking would have a surreal impact upon the viewer and compel them to truly see the acts of smoking rather than making assumptions about the person doing the act. To assure you of the safety of the children, there were no real cigarettes on set. Instead, chalk and sticks of cheese were the prop stand ins, while candles and incense provided the wisps of smoke.” – Frieke Janssens
To see more please go here
Posted by Gema
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