Catlin Art Prize

I spent most of the last week documenting the Catlin Art Prize which is aimed specifically at graduate artists. It’s been running for 5 years now and this year featured the 5 nominated artists plus previous winners exhibiting alongside them. The top prize is £5000, this year won by Russell Hill. Two commission prizes of £3000 were won by Jasmina Cibic and Will Martyr. It was a pleasure working with all of them and Justin and Jennie Hammond who curated and organised the event. Oh, and Gripper the Harris Hawk, that was a first. That’s Jasmina with the tempting morsel of raw chicken. Here’s a selection of images:

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10 Foot High and Rising

This project is now completed, although not without the necessary highs and lows. In terms of what I actually presented for assessment I had to restrict myself in terms of numbers of images and therefore exactly what I was focusing on during my last couple of visits regarding the various aspects of Canvey. This, of course, is not always a bad thing and certainly helps refine a project. My original intention was to produce a book, but the four bank holidays made this impossible within the time limit. I have done one in the past, but this time I was hoping to create something more interesting graphically. I had also thought about producing a multimedia piece, but after several failed attempts to secure some interesting interviews I opted for print. Whilst I felt safe I could produce these to an acceptable level, I felt a little disappointed that I was losing an opportunity to experiment.  The images here were all shot in addition to the Thames project.

In the end I decided to concentrate largely on the wall between Canvey and the Thames estuary, defining as it does much of the activity in the town. My instinct for self-preservation does make me question why anyone would want to live 10′ below a mean sea-level which continues to rise and I can only conclude that must shape an attitude, although everyone I spoke to seemed somewhat blasé. Maybe that’s the point. The wall and the banking is so tall that you can’t actually see the river from the town and vice versa and this is reflected in the housing with the more expensive properties having the necessary height to be able to see over. The housing stock alone is worthy of a survey, largely a blend of mock-Tudor, Spanish villa and 70′s modernism; all the telephone lines are above ground, presumably because of the cost of sinking them in an area with such a high water-table.

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Towards the east is the majority of the housing and the wall stretches from here with a small marina and boatyard, along the town front and ends in the west at the disused oil and gas terminal. This industry has left a permanent mark along the length of the shore with a tide mark of congealed oil, to which  the residents again seem oblivious  I’m always tempted to say sea front with regards to the wall, but this is not true, it is certainly still on the river. However, at the wall’s most prominent point the water stretches to the horizon and it must be over four miles to the far bank which along with the tide gives a feel of being at the sea. This is reflected in the area closest to the town with the obligatory arcade and funfair. The wall also does a good job of providing a blank canvas for the disaffected youth with predictable results other than a large amount of racist/anti-islamic graffiti. Having lived mainly in inner city areas I found this quite a shock. I could count on two hands the number of none-white people I saw and I’m not convinced any of them were residents. I can only conclude that this was learnt behaviour since it certainly wasn’t born of experience. It may of course be the the handiwork of a only a couple of teenagers and I hope so, since everyone I met there was particularly friendly and unusually unsuspecting of someone with a camera.

Towards the west the wall backs on to fields, a holiday resort and the first of the fuel depots creating an odd visual mix. Once at this end it seems almost impossible to find a view without evidence of this bygone industry, shadowing as it does even the out-of-town cemetery. Time seems to treat industry kindly from an aesthetic angle and now large parts of this area are a bird sanctuary this is not an unpleasant place to be, certainly with a camera. Quite what is finding its way into the water and the North Sea I hate to think. Marshland stretches from here around the back of the town to the east and provides Canvey with further cover from the outside world. It also provides home for apparently an incredibly diverse range of insects which may explain the large metal statue of the fly in the centre of town. I speculate, as there is no plaque or information at the statue stating that this is the case.

Canvey Island

My initial idea for this project was to to re-travel the route of Paul Graham’s 1981 book The Great North Road, however after some serious accounting I realised that this was going to be an extremely expensive operation and given the time constraints I wasn’t convinced I could justify this. Having already attempted to document the Thames in 10 days in my previous project I decided that I should try to do something that I at least stood a chance of completing.

My travels up and down the Thames had taken me  to several interesting places I’d never been, Canvey Island being one of them. Located at the mouth of the Thames about 35 miles east of central London I’ve always been slightly intrigued why it was called an island when clearly it wasn’t. Well, only at high tide and then its marginal. The fortune of the town has changed along with the changing levels of the Thames, initially occupied in Roman times it has been used for harvesting shellfish, grazing sheep and raising crops. Its population at the beginning of the 20th century was around 300, it now stands at approximately 40,000.  It does however have a unique feel, partly I guess because of its geographical isolation and partly because of the fact it is surrounded by 14 miles of sea wall as it now lies 10 feet below sea level. It was flooded in 1881 and 1953 and the wall was raised a further 2m in 1972.

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For me this wall seems to be one of the defining characteristics of the town. As a photographer however, the challenge is how to convey not only the physical characteristics of the town, but also the feel of the place, making the invisible visible.  The areas outside the town are a curious mixture of oil storage depots, disused refinery, marshland and wildlife reserve and this diversity seems to be matched by the inhabitants – life-long Islanders, escapees from the city, visitors and the elderly – each with their own housing requirements.

The Genius of the Thames

The Genius of the Thames

Our next assignment was to document or describe a journey and was completely open to personal interpretation.

In deciding to use the Thames as my journey I realised I was approaching subject matter that had been used many times before and I saw this as a challenge in avoiding cliché. It seemed the only way to do this was to acknowledge the river’s literary and artistic associations and use these to reference both the actual landscape and the river as metaphor.

Once I started researching the project I soon realised what a huge task I had taken on. The number of references to the Thames through history, painting, poetry, songwriting and other artistic forms is enormous and sifting through these would take far too long for the length of time I had. And that is ignoring the actual task of photographing the 143 miles of the river. This was therefore always going to be something of a compromise so I chose a number of points along the way that I hoped would illustrate some of the many different visual and historical settings. I set about constructing a two-way methodology whereby the references would dictate the photos and simultaneously the photos I took independently of the research would point me in the direction of the appropriate reference. I hope that makes sense!

My personal relationship to the subject matter would be the framework within which all this would take place. I don’t see the river as having a beginning and an end, but rather as being part of a cycle which aligns it with the tremendous sense of history evident along its banks. This is particularly so in the centre of London where the constant rebuilding of the landscape always seems to contain some visual clue to the past. Viewed from on high we can see these sedimentary layers working their way to and from the shore and how the banks have been both a privileged position and the site of slums, the river a location of both work and play.

The images here are a selection of what I produced for the project which I presented as a Powerpoint so for visual continuity I had to dismiss the vertical shots, another compromise. Some of the images/captions work better than others and ideally I wouldn’t have used Conrad twice, but I think that this may be long project in the offing so I’m seeing this as a rough sketch. I had to read some terrible poetry in the process.

The sea-reach of the Thames stretched before us like the beginning of an interminable waterway.

In the offing the sea and sky were welded together without a joint…

Heart of Darkness, J. Conrad 1902

(Be)fore I leave this world behind

‘Cause that oil slick on the water

Is bound to ease my worried mind

Down by the Jetty Blues, W.Birch/Dr.Feelgood(adapted)

 

So here’s to those who worked away –

That Father Thames is tamed today!

Old Father Thames is Tamed Today, T. Norwell 1984

I wander thro’ each chter’d street,

Near where the charter’dThames doth flow,

And mark in every face I meet

Marks of weakness, marks of woe

London, W. Blake 1792

Down by the banks of the River Thames

That’s where you’ll find me

Along with lovers, muggers, and thieves

Well I love that dirty water

Oh, London, you’re my home

Dirty Water, E. Cobb (adapted) 1966

The docks down the river, abreast of Woolwich, are imposing by their proportions and the vast scale of the ugliness that forms their surroundings—ugliness so picturesque as to become a delight to the eye.When one talks of the Thames docks, “beauty” is a vain word, but romance has lived too long upon this river not to have thrown a mantle of glamour upon its banks.

The Mirror of the Sea, J. Conrad 1906

But I don’t feel afraid

As long as I gaze at Waterloo sunset

I am in Paradise

R.Davies 1967

And Thames, that knows the moods of kings,

And crowds and priests and suchlike things,

Rolls deep and dreadful as he brings

Their warning down from Runnymede!

Runnymede, R. Kipling 1911

I love the music of the weir,

As swift the stream runs down,

For, O, the water’s deep and clear

That flows by Marlow town!

A Marlow Madrigal, J. Ashby-Sterry1886

A quaint little inn stands where the bridge joins the left bank of the river and overlooks Anders Island, the lock, weir and backwater above the bridge. This was the first hostelwe saw which looked as if its host might make one comfortable for an hour.

In Thamesland, H. Wellington Whack 1906

Thames the most loved of all the ocean’s sons

By his old sire, to his embraces runs;

Hastening to pay his tribute to the sea,

Like mortal life to meet eternity.

From Cooper’s Hill, Sir John Denham 1642

And ancient trees,in green attire,

Diffuse a deep and pleasant shade,

Thy bounteous urn, light-murmuring, flings

The treasures of its infant springs

The Genius of the Thames, T. Love Peacock 1810

London Zoo – 5 pic story

This assignment followed on, logically, from the 3 pic story with a 5 pic edit. Well it should have done, only my first attempt had to be abandoned. The idea was to spend some time on Primrose Hill, interviewing and photographing visitors and inhabitants and their relationship to the area. London is such a vast, sprawling city it’s very easy to lose one’s psychological bearings and I’m guessing that is why people often migrate to vantage points such as the Hill.  Anyway that was the idea, but due to inclement weather there was hardly anyone there and with not allowing any leeway in my schedule I ended up back at London Zoo. For those that have looked at my work on my website you’ll know I spent some time there last year,  and with its location at the foot of Primrose Hill I decided to follow up on this earlier work. I’ve always had a fondness for this surreal masterpiece with its bizarre blend of modernist architecture and simulated habitats, exotic creatures and melancholic air. Even as a child when I was taken on trips here I felt the thrill of my natural curiosity being  tempered with an indefinable unease.

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Whilst not wanting to decry those working in the zoo and its research facilities who have the animals’ welfare at heart I can’t help thinking – is this the best we can do? Or rather, is this the best we want to do? It would be easy to draw some slightly crass conclusions regarding our relationship with the ‘natural world’ , but I hope I have at least touched on concerns regarding the inherent simulcra, commodification and urbanisation. Perhaps not so far removed from my original idea of shooting on Primrose Hill.

Columbia Road Flower Market – 3 pic story

This assignment was aimed at refining our editing skills – choosing and photographing a story and then producing a three picture edit that would effectively recount that story. There were no restrictions on the structure of the narrative, but some thought as regards to the story itself was necessary, obviously there was no point in attempting something that could not be illustrated in three pictures. My idea was to shoot the flower market held every Sunday on Columbia Road in the East End, hopefully a good visual project. Having made contact with one of the shop owners on the street I learnt that the traders started setting up at around 5.00am which meant pitch black at this time of year, I felt this could be good as the changing light would add it’s own natural timeline.

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The best pictures I got, in my opinion, were from early in the morning which along with dusk is my favourite time to shoot. My aesthetic inclinations however had to be put to one side in choosing the three images to tell the story of the day. The three I chose are the first three in the slideshow. I would have liked some variety in the images, perhaps a portrait of one of the traders, however their reaction to me changed during the day from one of tolerance to suspicion. Quite what brought this on I’ve no idea, but as Christian said sometimes people don’t quite understand what you do as a photographer. Perhaps they thought I just wanted a couple of pretty pics and I’d be off. I had made a point of introducing myself early in the day and explained I would be around until the close, so I’m not sure what more I could have done.

Portraiture – Environmental and Formal

What is a photographic portrait? It is often defined as a ‘likeness’, which in itself implies only similarity. Similar enough however, for police forces, charities and medical agencies to be early adopters of photography’s ability to describe physiognomy. Those of a more artistic bent were busy justifying  the aesthetic  integrity of the ‘the pencil of nature’ by competing with more traditional art forms. Working within the Pictorialist movement photographers such as Henry Peach Robinson would feature characters from history or literature, their subjects acting a role rather than they themselves being the subject.

Commercially though, during the mid19th century fortunes were being made by photographic studios specialising in portraiture. An implicit if not stated motive for the consumer was that this representation would outlive them, creating apparent immortality oblivious to time and space. Elaborate studio settings could also be created to illustrate or exaggerate the status of the subject. In many ways this continued to mimic the role of the painted portrait, although it should be noted that portrait painters used photography as an aid almost immediately from its conception. Up to the end of the 19th century facial expressions were fixed to a stoic grimace by the lengthy exposures and I wonder just how profoundly our perceptions of the Victorians, for example, are formed by this constraint. The advent of role film, cheap processing and shorter shutter speeds ushered in a new era of portraiture, allowing sections of society to make themselves visible in a contemporary and historical sense.  There was also in the stylistic influence it had on painting, evident in the work of Toulouse-Lautrec for instance, and in its apparent ability to freeze motion.

Portraiture remains the most popular genre of photography whether practised in the vernacular or commercial form. In professional terms our appreciation is shaped by the photographers ability to show more than the physical appearance, that in itself is not enough for a ‘portrait’ (police records require a profile as well as a face-on shot) we need some revelation of the sitter’s character. He achieves this through environment, clothing, posture,lighting and facial expression, his relationship with the subject being paramount in achieving this. We all love to see the ‘human’ behind the celebrity façade, the portrait photographer’s skill is in (apparently) revealing this, Irving Penn being a consummate practitioner.

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The last two weeks assignments have been portraiture, environmental and formal. Environmental should feature the subject within appropriate surroundings, home or work for instance, which help to flesh out our understanding of the person by placing them in context. There is naturally some area of overlap between the two forms although the studio setting clearly defines the formal format. In these assignments all restrictions had been lifted although this did not make the task any easier, if anything it made me acutely aware of the talents of the great portrait photographers in their ability to create a mesmerising image through their control of the various elements. In terms of success, there are some images with which I am reasonably happy, although I feel I have much to do in order to achieve a personal style and technique.

Assignment 3 – Human Relationships

This week’s assignment was to depict human relationships, how we interact with each other through gesture, body language and facial expression. Again the constraints were rigorous – fully manual camera operation, 28, 35 or 50mm only and only global processing with no crops or straightening in the presentation. I’ve kind of got used to these restrictions now bar the fact I seem to have lost the ability to focus, although in my defence the contemporary focusing screen makes  manual focus difficult compared to the split prism.

For my first location I headed to the British Museum and specifically the Great Court which has lovely even light and is a popular meeting point. I managed to get a few decent shots here.

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For the next location I tagged on to a friend’s invite to a party. I thought this might be a good opportunity to get closer to the subject  and some more intimate scenarios, however the light was so low that it was almost impossible to shoot except in the beam of the occasional downlight. I managed to extract something, but in the end I thought a disappointing result. Having said that I like the sequence of the couple having a tiff, the 3-4 shot grouping is an interesting form of presentation being somewhere between the single and moving image in terms of its narrative capabilities, similar to that used by graphic novels for example.

Finally I headed round to Simon Pollock’s (excellent music photographer @GTVone) to shoot him and his nipper Seb, which was great fun. I have to say I really enjoy shooting kids, they respond really well to the camera by in turn playing up to it and then completely ignoring it. Many thanks to those two again for their hospitality, I managed to get some nice shots of them.

Assignment 2 – Street Photography

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Q. How would you react if you were walking down the street minding your own business and someone pushed a camera in front of you and took a shot? At best disgruntled, at worse…? Clearly issues surrounding street photography have been magnified post 9/11 and the situation has been exacerbated by inappropriate use of Section 44. While being respectful of the public’s sensitivities there does seem to be a wholly unfounded collective paranoia regarding shooting in public. The ability to judge this reaction was just one of the skills we had to acquire prior to stepping out for this assignment. Having said that, being able to evaluate the mood of your subject and react accordingly is  a necessary part of any photographer’s armoury. Here’s how Bruce Gilden does it, guaranteed to incense some and draw praise from others. Personally I see him picking on some pretty soft targets here.

Here’s Daido Moriyama talking about his discreet approach and the benefits of the compact camera:

This was a tough assignment, not only was there the possibility of  a serious confrontation but also the restrictions of working fully manually with a maximum ISO of 400 meant quick reactions were vital. I found after several hours with no worthwhile success that the best strategy was to find a good spot where people walked into the frame, on the blind side of a corner or tucked into the window of  a coffee shop. Interesting to see how people chose to look either straight into the camera or turn away and ignore it. Getting anything in focus was a struggle, but as night arrived I found myself getting more joy, the dynamics of the images heightened by the increase in contrast. I was beginning to sense the addictive nature of working on the street.

First Assignment

End of the first full week and the presentation of our first assignments. It took a little nerve walk up to strangers and ask to photograph them at work, but I have to say that neither  could have been more accommodating, a pleasant experience in itself. One night last week I’d stopped for a hot dog on the way home and I remembered how amiable the guy had been so I approached him and he was more than happy to oblige. The restrictions placed on us really made me stop and think - where to stand, when to press the shutter, slowing down but being ready. Obvious, but easily taken for granted. Shooting this way while reading David Hurn and Bill Jay’s ‘On Being a Photographer’ has helped to re-emphasise what is mechanically and mentally necessary in order to take a good photo. All in all an ok start.

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On to the next shoot at Shangri-La tattoo parlour on Kingsland Road, again Andrew and the staff could not have been nicer. I was obviously anxious that anything I did that resulted in a slip by Andrew would have made for a very unhappy punter. ( Note to self – check public liability insurance)

I was shooting in low light, 1/30 and F4, so a steady hand and careful framing were paramount. I’d picked up on a few faults from the first shoot and this one produced a better return. It was an awkward space to work in so I had to keep moving to try and find the best angle. This shot seems to answer the brief, not the most dramatic I’ve ever shot, but the composition is nice and tight and shows Andrew concentrating hard on his work.

It would have been good to have had a contrasting shoot showing more physical labour. It would have presented a different set of problems and choices in terms of viewpoint and more light would have allowed the opportunity to experiment with the depth of field.  Having said that I found the assignment a good test and a rewarding one. The next one, Street Photography, I’m sure will provide a different set of challenges.