Journal

I really like this idea, Charity shop find….. It fits really well with my exploration into the world of nostalgia and found images too.

 

My project this module as been a bit of a journey.Starting out as a literal journey by bike to all the pro london football stadiums,visting them one at a time,when London was deserted as result of lockdown.These stadiums usually visited when they and the surrounding streets are teaming with people had a eery air of dystopia about them,it reminded me a little of the TV series I watched as a kid like Quatermass and The Changes without the horror ! It was actually very cathartic and an enjoyable experience I can’t imagine will be available to me very often if ever again.

I started to photograph them purely as a record and they soon became a project of their own.Whilst shooting this project I was able to take in and look on my journeys,planting the seed for for a project exploring Estate Pubs of the post WW2 period,built with a planners utopian dream in mind of new housing and mixed community living side by side,it was and is a great idea of course and initially the Estate Pub played a very large part in this acting as meeting place and entertainment hub.

This quickly inspired an idea drawing on my own experiences and those of my family around the tradition of the Working Mens Club also built around the utopian ideas of Victorian philanthropists before being taken on by the people usually working class who used them.They began independently setting their own up own silmilar ideals usually based around a particular trade or place of work.

Set up as places of learning and self improvement they also offered huge benefits to local communities as hubs for entertainment,lectures and meetings.

I have made contact with two local clubs who have adopted progressive ideas in order to survive,in keeping with the tradition of self improvement and learning one in particular has a Art Club,my plan is to show some of my work and perhaps the journey in the form of a slide show as a workshop to explain my future plans and how it involves the clubs and members.In doing so I hope to meet some of my future collaborators as well as offer an insight into the proccess. Of course in the spirit of WMC I will be offering a workshop,yet to be determined but after discussions with the Steward will probably be along the lines of basic photography skills for those who may be keen to start or get more use out of there own photography.

Below are a few examples of work.

 

 

 

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 ).