Category: PHO703:Coursework

My project at the moment is at a crossroads with 3 intrinsically  linked routes.One common factor is community another is pubs.I have exhibited several times in pubs in the past,using the space as an alternative to a conventional gallery that suited both the audience and the subject well.

I exhibited my project on Mods in the back room of a pub once,it’s a space that is familiar to that scene with many such clubnight’s and gigs being held in similar places.I also purposely chose it because often the opening  night is the most important night and I feel where possible it is a good thing to reflect the subject matter,be it people or objects and to allow that event to become part of the work.In this case the sitters and their friends were invited (of course) and the music provided by “scene” dj’s.  I got very positive feedback from the ‘non scene” people I invited who were mostly art directors,picture editors or those aligned with mainstream media,who told me it achieved what I wanted and despite it being a simple series of images on the wall the venue and setting was an immersive experience adding to the understanding and enjoyment of the work.

I’ve used the same technique several times another being showing work in a shop gallery setting in collaboration with drinks and clothing sponsors and is something I would recommend when looking for funding.It takes a while but if you can pair up your subject with a brand most will have a budget for this sort of thing in this case it was for an exhibition  showing the work I had done over 20 years with a record label specifically around dance music and clubs,so for the brands its was perfect and for me I got the funding.Again on the opening night we made it an immersive experience around clubbing with a good DJs and the work this time displayed as installations,prints and as light boxes,we even had images stuck to the floor !

For this project because it started out as a series around exploring football and community and as now morphed into a not unlinked study of pubs,working men clubs and my relationship with them. I think maybe a localised pub crawl may be in order with traditional prints on the walls  or perhaps given the covid 19 situation outside where maybe menus would appear or possibly where the traditional pub sign would appear,with clues or a map to where each set of images would be,an art route.Alongside this I like the idea of beermats having the images on them enabling the audience to participate and collect,with only certain ones in each venue,something that reminds me of collecting football stickers as a boy,maybe a card game ,Top Trumps maybe to be played whilst enjoying a drink. (i’m actually teetotal by the way ).

Been a great week for activities,reading and coursework.I have been making more effort to comment and take part in the forums,still no feedback from peers ! I am impressed with a lot of the work produced,maybe i’m just not hitting the mark. That will change.

Work in progress is slow but getting there,trying not to talk myself out of it and just get going with shooting it,i’m definitely always going to be a photographer who develops ideas on the hoof.

Research is going well using social media,local knowledge and the internet and google maps/earth.Tomorrow the weather should be close to alright so an early start beckons.I’m keen to show the Estate Pub in a non patronising way,in a positive but objective way.Whilst I realise the reputation which is no doubt true I want to show a positive light on these bastions of community life.To begin with this will involve simple ideas of technique,for example no forboding moody skies hence the early start if i’m to show it in the morning glory of a golden sunrise.

Pubs are still shut until July 4th so some exteriors this week and hopfully with more research or maybe even a chance conversation one of the locations will throw up a welcome to explore further the character’s and stories.

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I guess you would call my practice very much planted in the camera/lens based category,I’ve always enjoyed organic hands on areas such as printing,photograms,cyanoptypes etc but have shied  away from more computer base experimentation,I’m not even much good at retouching.

I did enjoy this experience though and decided to use it to explore the non lens based digital options available.The results are simple and varied .I learned alot about the process and other ways of seeing.Particulary I enjoyed the way time is altered when using google maps/earth.

Starting of as a tool to view potential sites I plan to photograph for my lens based project it soon became apparent that there was potential to investigate further how photography and time relate in story telling,taking some of the work we explored last module around time I was able to expand  my knowledge and ideas around this further.

Because of the nature of the technology quite minute movements from say 2D to 3D or even as simple as turning a street corner certain things appear,disappear or even reappear,usually people or other vehicles,in the most peculiar and unnatural way,out of sync.It reminded me of one of the first movies to use simple special effects A trip to the moon by  Georges Melies who used a simple technique by todays standard but at the time was groundbreaking called substitution splice.This is where the cameraman,in my case the google camera car stops filming something is replaced in my case again it could be a passing car into a clear space then filming commences giving the appearance of objects suddenly appearing and disappearing.Its a crude method of using time,in Melies on purpose and in the absence of sophisticated editing techniques of today and in Googles I guess because it just does not matter with the objective mapping the city,the idea of continuity is not important and as such it throws up lots of interesting scenarios.

Doug Rickard explored these in his book A new American Picture.In searching he found moments in time on street corners and remote roads of the US.

It’s not something I felt I would have been interested in too much before beyond a novelty value but can see it offers lots of ideas around time,revisiting and reusing imagery,I will be taking this further as my next two projects progress.

Below are 5 examples of how I have started to explore .

For most of my work i’d say the subject is of the main interest to me,of course once I start to make photographs that is the icing  on the cake and takes over from the excitement and enjoyment of the research period.For me the process and of research,production involved in reaching my objective of taking the images are one part,the taking and telling of the story another,both equally important and both useless and pointless without the other. For me the story telling,the discovery of something or someone new to me is the exciting moment,I use photography sometimes within my commercial work but mostly in my own practice to inform others but more often or not to educate myself.

I have a strong moral compass and feel it is important in my work to have the co operation of the subject,for them to realise my true outcome goals and be happy to participate,if I was to feel I was exploiting them in some way i’m not sure I would feel comfortable with that the proviso being it was something or someone I had empathy with.

It is important to remain impartial in most circumstances and try to avoid the influences from the subject but also it’s fair to say by taking some things on can lead to a more informed judgement as to how the project may develop.

For my next project I envisage meeting people as it develops and I fully expect to be informed about things in the stories they tell that will influence the way the project develops and most likely who and what I photograph.What I will avoid and have had to in the past is perhaps straying to far off the original path to maybe shoot something more out of a sense of obligation than necessity or any real use towards the end story,sometimes this can really take the project off on a tangent that must be avoided.