LIP - Central Satellite

More trees.....

2012-02-29T15:45:00.000Z

Some more from my Trees Have Feelings Too series

alone

scarred

branded

2012-02-22T13:20:00.000Z

Many thanks for the info about the Jan Banning lecture at Courtauld. I went and it was excellent! Here's the link if you want to see more of his work.

what's good enough for Robert Capa ...

2012-02-10T09:32:00.004Z

At the meeting on Wednesday, quite a few of us declared we had no time for rules. Yesterday, Susie Linfield in THE CRUEL RADIANCE (a great book on documentary, press and war photography: recommended) reminded me that Robert Capa's autobiography was called SLIGHTLY OUT OF FOCUS.

She also repeats the story that Eve Arnold told against herself. Talking to Janet Flannery in 1950 Arnold "blurted out that I thought his pictures didn't design well. She looked at me pityingly. 'My dear,' she said, 'history doesn't design well either.'"

Nor does the street, I suppose. What a relief.

ariadne

Invite to my private view, Feb 23rd, St John's Wood

2012-02-01T09:26:00.002Z

Please come!

To my

Private view

(and last week of my show, which is already up)

Thursday, Feb 23

5:30 to 7PM

at the Queen's Terrace Cafe,

7, Queen's Terrace,

St John's Wood,

London, NW8 6DX

020 7449 2998

queensterracecafe@btinternet.com

Looking forward to meeting you or seeing you again!

Best,

Catherine

cathames@btinternet.com

www.catherineames.com

Resolutions: short video presentation

2012-01-23T00:14:00.000Z

Click on the title to see a short video: I didn't have time to show this at the January meeting.

Exposure

2012-01-22T23:54:00.000Z

Ways of working

2012-01-21T14:54:00.002Z

Following Anniedog's comment on slow photography, I thought I'd post a couple of things where quick was the only way of working. Not as an opposition, but as a complement I hope.

The three images here were all taken with an M9 + 35mm lens on an incredibly changeable day in the Lake District over New Year. The challenge this time being that the light would only hold for a few minutes and there couldn't be any lag between noticing and making the frame.

Trees Have Feelings Too

2012-01-20T16:25:00.002Z

Hugh's trying to loosen up whereas I'm trying to be more disciplined! These 3 images are from a new series I'm working on at the moment, entitled 'Trees Have Feelings Too'. Shot on film using a Hasselblad 501CM, the compositions involve a slowing down and a more methodical way of working than I am used to. No inbuilt meter so I have to use a hand-held light meter, and no checking straightaway to see if the shot has worked like with my digital Nikon. It's a way of working which suits the subject matter, but I don't think I'd be happy working this way on the streets of London!

amputated

trapped

wounded

Gazing (significant otherness)

2012-01-18T22:54:00.002Z

Trying to loosen up.

Still Searching

2012-01-17T18:43:00.000Z

I came across this new photography blog today called Still Searching - well worth a look, if only to see how to stimulate a debate about a photographic topic.....

"Still Searching is aimed at anyone interested in photography and visual theory. This includes, but is not limited to, academics and professionals. There will be six bloggers per year. Each slot will last six weeks, during which the “blogger in residence” will write five to six statements on a specific theory or aspect of photography—or on anything else he or she is presently working on or thinking about. In order to guarantee a lively and highly interactive discourse on our blog, we will also feature two co-bloggers who will be responsible for generating and promoting online discussion, if necessary."

.....an interesting proposition. The current debate is on the topic of imperfection in photography and if you read the post and some of the comments you will see that there are loads of interesting ideas raised - the snapshot aesthetic, the reaction against technological perfection, the vogue for nostalgia and vintage, the difference between imperfection deliberately cultivated and imperfection achieved through lack of technique. Definitely a lot of food for thought and a blog I have bookmarked and will be following (though perhaps with a dictionary to hand!)

2012-01-15T18:14:00.002Z

The theme of January's meeting was: Out with the Old and in with the New. Here are two of the photos I showed. During the course of last year I've been doing portraits of people with sparklers - a great way of getting them to relax and enjoy the process. I'm keen to enlarge my portfolio, so if anyone is keen I'll be more than happy to organise a photoshoot.

Jan Banning lecture at Courtauld

2012-01-12T17:05:00.002Z

For those who are not yet aware that the Courtauld has photography-related lectures too (it took me about 25 years to find out):

HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY RESEARCH SEMINAR

Wednesday, 22 February – Jan Banning (photographer): Bureaucratics and Other Unorderly Subjects. 5.30pm, Research Forum South Room

Further information http://www.courtauld.ac.uk/researchforum/events/2012/spring/feb22_HistoryofPhoto.shtml

Banning's webpage for Bureaucratics is:

http://www.janbanning.com/gallery/bureaucratics/

Technically challenged

2011-12-20T10:05:00.004Z

In the December meeting we discussed how we deal with photos that we consider to be technically flawed - which ones do we keep, which ones do we chuck away? There wasn't time to include the ones that I'd brought along, so I agreed I'd post them to the blog. They're all images that I've kept, but which I also find odd, outside the range of images I'd normally consider showing to others. Often it's an issue of framing, sometimes an issue of blur or focus. One of the things that came up in the discussion was that we rarely reject an image on solely technical grounds - it's usually banality which constitutes the ground for rejection, not the presence of a technical flaw.

November Meeting

2011-11-24T11:12:00.001Z

There was a large turn-out for our November meeting wherethe subject of crossing the line in photography was discussed. It very soon became clear that everybody’sline was drawn in the sand in a different place – what one person felt unhappyphotographing, another wouldn’t bat an eyelid when pressing the shutter release!It is fair to say though, that everyone was aware of their own limits beyondwhich they would not venture. The imagesshown ranged from the hilarious to the moving but for the most part, shared anauthenticity and awareness of sometimes delicate situations.

Subjects included candid portraits of strangers in unflattering poses; portraits of friends or relations at vulnerable times in their lives; pictures of a personal nature relating to illness or death; photographs where consent was withheld or where the subject was unable to give informed consent; photographs involving tongue-in-cheek nudity reversing stereotypical gender roles; images where the photographer imposed their will on the subjects to make a particular point; photoshopping people out of the frame; pictures where the photographer crossed their own line in terms of authenticity.

Obviously in this day and age where the sharing of images on the internet is so ubiquitous, issues of invasion of privacy take on a greater significance but it was generally agreed that there are not many situations in the public realm which are totally out of bounds. It was suggested that as photographers, we should respect ‘private moments’ which take place in public and that perhaps we should ask ourselves ‘would we mind if someone did it to us?’ However, if that were the generally accepted rule, some of the most iconic shots and hard-hitting photojournalism of the past would never have seen the light of day. Now you can make up your own mind as to whether you think any lines have been crossed……

Brendan Delaney

A photograph I hate by Hugh Look

Chris Tribble

From the series Equal Oppor-nudities by David Reed

97 and counting by Sue Czapska

Ingrid Newton

In context

2011-11-22T18:32:00.001Z

I was asked at the last meeting why I took a photograph of a beggar in Venice. The question made me ponder why we take photographs when we are on holiday - as a memento, a souvenir to remind us of our good times perhaps? If I want one of them, I'll buy a postcard, thankyou! Some of my photographs from that time show a different side of Venice which goes hand in hand with the tourist view. Here are some of those images which may put the beggar photograph in context.....

The other side of the fence

2011-11-16T12:59:00.001Z

A couple of days after we'd be discussing where the making and use of photographs of people "crossed a line" this dropped into my letterbox. It's from a training course brochure published by an industry association. The photo was taken at an awards dinner I attended (I was one of the judging panel) that has nothing to do with their training programme; I sort-of knew it was being taken as they had a photographer floating around, but I certainly didn't know it was going to be used to promote their courses. Would I have agreed? Well, my dears, I'm vain enough to think it's not really my best side (your views may vary; the other people in the photo are, it has to be said, a damn sight more photogenic than I am) and I definitely looked a bit boozy (in fact I was driving and hadn't had a drop). As a photographer, I wouldn't have let something with so much emphasis on the hand rather than the face through, not to mention the flash highlight on the nearer woman's neck. I'm also not sure I want to be used to advertise something as tedious as citation analysis (don't ask; I could explain it but you really, really wouldn't like me if I did).

On the other hand, it's not the end of the world, and again I can claim "well I didn't object when it happened to me..."

Crossing the line

2011-11-15T22:56:00.001Z

Here are some of the images I showed at the meeting last week on the theme of crossing the line. Obviously the line to be crossed is entirely subjective and what one person deems acceptable, another person may feel uncomfortable with. Perhaps some people may think that I have overstepped the mark in terms of invasion of privacy, lack of consent or just sheer tastelessness but I stand by them......

When (lack of) technique gets in the way

2011-11-09T23:20:00.000Z

I'm interested in how far a "technical failure" matters: how "flawed" can a photograph be before it topples off the edge into pointlessness? All of these are blurred for one reason or another--motion blur, focus on the wrong thing--so I don't think much of them. Perhaps I'm being too hard on them, though.

I thought this might make an interesting topic for part of a meeting.

19th Nov: 'three men on the road' - exhibition at ArtCell, Cambridge

2011-11-09T15:00:00.000Z

http://www.stefaniereichelt-photographyandprints.com/artcell.html

View from the top of the bus

2011-11-04T17:45:00.000Z

Take a look at this video, made up of clips shot from the top of a London bus. It catches many moments of fleeting beauty and is well worth watching until the end.

On Margate Sands

2011-10-30T09:56:00.006Z

Margate is as the Council's strapline keeps reminding us the "original seaside" - the very first seaside resort in Britain. It is a place which connects Elliot and Turner via Dickens . A half forgotten place of shut shops and a closed pleasure park (which might reopen but only with nostalgia rides). A place which feels more then than now.

It would be easy to make the place seem a downbeat cliche -but then you see the sky and the light on the sands. "The loveliest skies are in Margate" Turner said. And if you catch the right day - just after rain - that is all you need.

Camp America

2011-10-24T18:10:00.000+01:00

Fancy a shagpile?

Camp America (Key Largo, October 2011)

Occupy

2011-10-24T11:11:00.000+01:00

Some images from the Occupy protest camp at St Paul's, taken last week. I don't think I crossed the line with any of these, despite the placard exhorting me not to take any photographs! Everyone seemed completely oblivious to the numerous photographers milling about.

Crossing the line - a possible discussion for the next LIP Central meeting

2011-10-23T08:56:00.002+01:00

I suggested CROSSING THE LINE as a topic for the next LIP meeting.

Most of us have faced moments when taking a photograph moves us into an inappropriate space. This can be for several reasons, be it because we’re invading privacy, abusing power, or revealing too much of our own lives for comfort. In this discussion it could be interesting to bring examples of the work of others where we feel that the line has been crossed, or is too close for comfort, or to bring examples from our own experience where we’ve faced these issues. From my own work I am intrigued by how I feel about images such as those below …

After LIP - John Adam Street

2011-10-19T09:09:00.001+01:00

Went to the LIP annual exhibition opening last night. Crowded but stimulating. It made me regret not having submitted work, so, walking along John Adam Street back up towards the Strand I took nine photographs in around 3 minutes,. Framed and catchily labelled, they might even make it in next year...

Chris Tribble

2011-10-17T08:56:00.005+01:00

What inspires me

Jennifer Roberts

Following the talk I gave at the last meeting, here are the books/exhibition I mentioned:-

Nadev Kander - Israeli photographer based in London. Images of the Yangtze river available in his book "Yangtze - The Long River" which I now own and will bring to the December meeting. (Currently on offer at Amazon)

John Martin - 18th -19th century painter. Exhibition "Apocalypse" at Tate Britain till 15th January. Unfortunately the colour in the catalogue is very poor - you need to see the real thing.

China Miéville - The City and the City. I came to this author because he writes Sci-Fi/Fantasy eg "Perdido Street Station", also recommended as an Ackroydian creation of a city populated by a mixture of creatures and cultures. "The City and the City" is a detective story set in a fictional Eastern Europe. It relates to psychogeography, and to urban photography in particular. It explores how we see - what is visible and what not, what is allowed, what is legal or not - the politics of walking the streets.

Merlin Coverley - Psychogeography. This small book is an excellent introduction.

Mythogeography - Pub Triarchy Press. A challenging book which is a dérive in itself.

www.mythogeography.com

Inspiration and Death

2011-10-15T10:55:00.000+01:00

Joachim Froese gave a fascinating talk last week, at Photofusion in Brixton, about how he photographed his mother's books as he spent the last few weeks of her life caring for her. Documenting her life in this way was a type of therapy for both of them. It allowed them to review their relationship through the 1000 books or so she had accumulated. The exhibition runs until18 November.

Joachim Froese's Archive consists of images of books and china left by his mother. Arranging the objects in stacks, which are then assembled into seemingly precarious towers, Froese is creating his own archive of his mother's possessions, which seemed unfamiliar once they had been removed from the context of her house. The work is a comment on the possessions we accumulate throughout our lives and how we construct our own history. The images depict imaginary scenarios which present only an illusion of stability and rationality, when in fact the structures we build in our memory are as unsound as the ones depicted in the work.

Inspiration

2011-10-13T21:01:00.003+01:00

One of the inspirations for my photographs is the photographer, film maker and musician Luke Fowler whose work I came across at the Serpentine Gallery http://www.serpentinegallery.org/2008/06/luke_fowler7_may_14_june_1.html

His series of short films about his neighbours in a Glasgow tenement were enigmatic and beautiful and described the neighbours through showing items from their flats.

The images below show items from my flat which show some aspect of my personality - a self portrait without me. I am also very interested in the nature of places and how they can be represented without simply taking a picture which everyone has taken and actually try to describe the place itself. I have tried to find something different to say about Cornwall and Wimbledon Common, to peel away layers of received meaning. However my living room is a space which doesn't exist for me without the layers of meaning I have put there.

The Dieppeness of Dieppe

2011-10-07T09:36:00.002+01:00

With thanks to Edith and Hugh for getting me to look back at what I did on my summer holidays. Out of season, like so many other seaside places, there's a certain emptiness which attracts...

Chris Tribble

September Meeting Review

2011-10-06T19:20:00.000+01:00

Inspiration was the topic of the evening at our September meeting and the variety of work on show demonstrated just how wide-ranging and personal it can be. Some of the inspirations motivating the work shown included feelings of alienation in a foreign land; graffiti and textures to be found on the street; inspiration taken from other art forms such as music, literature and philosophy; interaction with strangers as the guiding principle behind portraits; shadows, reflections and abstract shapes; capturing the absorption of young performers at rehearsal; the strangeness inherent in everyday situations and transient moments; portraits that hint at a narrative and indicate complexity of character by capturing motion. Examples of some of the work shown can be seen below.

Wings by Suvi

Stardust by Heather Martin

From the series Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum by Hugh Look

Clockwork Orange by Barbara Luckhurst

Inside the Lair by Ingrid Newton

Michele by Stefanie Reichelt

Our next meeting will take place on Wednesday 12th October, at 18.45 at the usual venue – The Artworkers Guild, 6 Queens Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3AT. Our debate on photographic inspiration will continue – if there are any particular photography books which have inspired your creativity, please bring them along to share and discuss. As usual, if anyone wishes to show work, please bring along a maximum of 6 images which illustrate your inspiration – either as prints or on a memory stick.

Home is so sad

2011-09-21T17:57:00.000+01:00

Home is so sad. It stays as it was left,
Shaped to the comfort of the last to go
As if to win them back. Instead, bereft
Of anyone to please, it withers so,
Having no heart to put aside the theft

And turn again to what it started as,
A joyous shot at how things ought to be,
Long fallen wide. You can see how it was:
Look at the pictures and the cutlery.
The music in the piano stool. That vase.

Philip Larkin

Color Correction by Ernst Haas

2011-09-18T19:51:00.002+01:00

Color Correction (sorry about the abysmal spelling, but that's how it is!) is an excellent little exhibition at the Atlas Gallery of some of Ernst Haas' beautiful colour prints, most of them on show for the first time ever. The images feature often ambiguous and enigmatic close-ups of inanimate objects, torn and peeling posters, reflections in windows and mirrors, shiny surfaces and shadows etc. He plays with depth of field and focus, often framing his subjects at acute and unusual angles. The depth of colour in the prints is incredible - many of them are original dye transfer prints. This is a superior kind of street photography - I love it (probably because these are the sort of subjects that I am drawn to).

In his own words: "Bored with obvious reality, I find my fascination in transforming it into a subjective point of view. Without touching my subject I want to come to the moment when, through pure concentration of seeing, the composed picture becomes more made than taken. Without a descriptive caption to justify its existence, it will speak for itself - less descriptive, more creative; less informative, more suggestive - less prose, more poetry."

....inspiration indeed.

Antitheory/antetheory

2011-09-16T22:06:00.000+01:00

"Là, tout n'est qu'ordre et beauté,
Luxe, calme et volupté."

BUYING BOOKS

2011-09-15T12:38:00.002+01:00

A somewhat belated response to Hugh's dangerous tip of Camden Lock Books - and I agree with Ingrid, Photobooks is lovely & very fair in its pricing (also dangerous). I'd also recommend Walter Koenig in Charing Cross Road, for a very good collection of high-quality remaindered titles in its basement.
Most of my collection of photography books actually comes from second-hand and remainder shops (but then my partner used to be a second-hand bookdealer: I've been programmed.

Andrea Baczysnki's 'Path-Crossing' exhibition at Clare Hall, Cambridge, Thursday 22nd Sept. 2011

2011-09-12T18:04:00.001+01:00

Current exhibitions

2011-09-12T17:12:00.000+01:00

A couple of exhibitions which might be of interest - the first is a truly amazing exhibition of the work of Charles Matton. I had never heard of him, but he is a multi-disciplinary artist who includes, amongst other things, photography, sculpture and painting in his work. This is an exhibition of glass fronted boxes featuring the most beautiful interiors at a scale of 1/7, all the details of which have been painstakingly made by the artist. There are also many photographs in the exhibition. A really remarkable and beautiful body of work - if you get the chance, go and see it at All Visual Arts, just round the corner from King's Cross station.

Photograph of one of Charles Matton's boxes, by Ingrid Newton

Opening later this week is a retrospective of John Blakemore's photography at Hooper's Gallery in Clerkenwell which promises to be of great interest. Also worth a visit is a display of Don McCullin's work at Tate Britain. This is not his war photography but features portraits of homeless people, documentary work from Britain's industrial north and East Berlin, and my favourite - his wonderfully dark and brooding landscapes of the Somerset Levels. His work puts much contemporary practice to shame - in his own words "Photography isn't looking, it's feeling. If you can't feel what you're looking at, then you're never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures". How many of the current crop of photographers can say that about their work?

September meeting

2011-09-12T14:57:00.000+01:00

Just to remind you that our next meeting will take place this week on Wed 14th September, at 18.45 at the usual venue – The Artworkers Guild, 6 Queens Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3AT. Topic for discussion will be Inspiration – what inspires us to photograph’.

If you wish to show work, please bring along a maximum of 6 images which demonstrate your inspiration – either as prints or on a memory stick.

We will also be looking at issues surrounding copyright for photographers and giving a short review of Eyewitness – the exhibition of Hungarian Photography at the RA.

You can see the update of August’s meeting with examples of work
shown on the LIP website http://www.londonphotography.org.uk/satellites/.

2011-09-10T16:13:00.000+01:00

The LIP Annual Exhibition selection list is on the website (http://www.londonphotography.org.uk/exhibitions/LIP23Annual/selections2011). Congratulations to Central London group regulars who have had work selected, including Ariadne, Brendan, Ingrid, Krystina, Quentin and Simon. Bravo.

Camden Lock Books (which is nowhere near Camden Lock)

2011-08-28T22:51:00.000+01:00

I'm working on a new project, partnering with a firm based in City Road. This means I go through Old Street underground station at least once a week. For those who don't know it, there is an odd mixture of small shops in the exits under the roundabout, one of which is new and remaindered bookseller Camden Lock Books (it was originally set up in Camden Lock: I don't know the full story of how it shuffled along the underground to Old Street yet.) At the back of the shop is a small room with a very good selection of slightly offbeat photography books. On Friday I picked up a 2004 monograph on Willy Ronis and Martine Franck's One Day to the Next, which has an interesting essay by John Berger as well. £40 for the two, which I should not really have spent as I had to divvy up £30 for the Thomas Struth catalogue. In the past few weeks I've picked up Beyond Memory, an interesting overview of "non-conformist" Soviet photography and The American Invention of Our World, a book on the first 20 years of Kodachrome , including among many treasures two fascinating photos taken in ruined Berlin on a sunny July day in 1945, George Patton looking more like a mad bastard than any other photograph of him I've seen and an hilarious, wonderful, image of Charlton Heston in full-on beardy prophet mode in The Ten Commandments, preaching to an audience of appreciative cars at a drive-in cinema in Utah.

Stock comes and goes, and while it's not Claire de Rouen I've never been there and not found something I'd have liked to take home (although commonsense has sometimes got a grip and kept my hand out of my pocket.) If you are in the area, well worth a browse.

Any other recommendations for places with a good stock of photography books? Sources of good secondhand books would be especially useful.

Whitechapel Gallery

2011-08-27T11:48:00.001+01:00

20110826_HEL1854_0024, originally uploaded by hughlook.

I feel a series coming on...

Random jottings from the Thomas Struth show

2011-08-27T11:42:00.000+01:00

With Edith's comments still in mind, and also with some less favourable remarks from a gallery curator about the overwhelming size of the pictures, I skived off after a meeting near Old Street to go and see the Thomas Struth exhibition.

It's only on for a couple more weeks, and if you haven't been I really would try to go. I came away liking his work even more, and in fact the size was a part of that. Most of them justify it.

The large cityscapes from Korea and South America were fascinating: I loved being able to walk towards them and immerse myself in the tiny stories they contain. The very last image in the gallery (Lotte Hotel, Ulsan) was one of the most interesting: I was drawn again and again to a detail in the lower centre foreground: three little refrigerated delivery vans semingly ready to be loaded for the day. It was wonderful example of a punctum. Struth isn't a photographer in whose work I'd expect to find that, but I did, over and over again and it made the exhibition very rewarding.

This particular photograph isn't in the catalogue, which is shame, but it's otherwise a good catalogue.

The Paradise series left me slightly uneasy that I might have missed the point: like being in a botanical garden glasshouse; should paradise feel so oppressive? You feel as if you are going to come to the wall at any moment; the light is in the distance. Perhaps heightened by knowing how threatened these environments are?

Family portraits: even here, I felt the scale worked. I was very interested in the oldest people, and how they seem to have more in common with one another across the photographs than they do with their own families. The picture of the Robertsons is still one of my favourites portraits, partly because it is so redolent of the New Town.

In the hi-tech images there is often a little touch of wording or human scribble that provides the punctum.

The video is worth watching. The insight into his working methods is nothing unexpected, but his thoughfulness about his purpose was illuminating.

Where the latent image lives

2011-08-26T10:07:00.000+01:00

This looks like it could be interesting. For further information visit the gallery website

Life Goes On

2011-08-25T18:35:00.000+01:00

Some of my work has been selected for an exhibition of garden photography in Oxford (not my usual subject matter!). The images are from a series I did a few years ago called Life Goes On - photographs taken during the winter months of gardens backing onto the canal inOxford. The gardens exist in a kind oflimbo – a state of suspended animation, waiting for the spring to wake them outof their winter hibernation – whilst life goes on oblivious elsewhere in thecity. The exhibition is at Art Jericho, Oxford and runs till 17th September.

Festival memories

2011-08-22T14:25:00.000+01:00

Last show (Orlando)

"The contrasts that make Edinburgh unique also make it typically Scottish, for, despite its reserved exterior; it is also a city capable of great warmth and, upon occasion, gaiety."

"Who indeed that has once seen Edinburgh, but must see it again in dreams waking or sleeping?”

First show (After Hours Comedy)

Unreal City

2011-08-17T23:24:00.000+01:00

Here are a few more I took last week to add to the ones I showed at Wednesday's meeting, though I'm not sure if I'll enter them for the annual exhibition. I'll probably just let the series develop over the next few months and see where it takes me (if anywhere!)

Here's a link to my blog where you can read about the inspiration behind the series - london muse

What I did on my day off

2011-08-08T21:29:00.001+01:00

20110806_hel1469_0054-pp-acr, originally uploaded by hughlook.

For Edith: sometimes you just need to catch your personal experience of the cornwallness of Cornwall or the brightonness of Brighton.

If modernism didn't exist, we'd have to invent it

2011-08-08T21:18:00.001+01:00

Nothing here that couldn't be fixed by Walter Gropius with a flamethrower.
20110806_HEL1419_0004, originally uploaded by hughlook.

What I did on my summer holiday....

2011-08-02T20:40:00.000+01:00

Surprisingly I took photographs, I took far too many photographs.

We were in Cornwall which is also over photographed and it is hard to find a different take on sea, sand and rock. There are so many pictures which all look the same - even the professionally taken ones - and yet do they actually say anything about Cornwall or do they simply add to a picturesque idea of Cornwall? How can you ever really "take" a place?

Here is a sample of my view.

August meeting

2011-07-29T11:47:00.001+01:00

Our next meeting will take place on Wed 10th August, at 18.45 at the usual venue – The Artworkers Guild, 6 Queens Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3AT, where we will be discussing the current Thomas Struth exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery and giving feedback on the LIP Preparing for an Exhibition workshop taking place on 6th August. This will be of particular use for anyone considering entering work in the upcoming LIP Annual Exhibition. We will also continue the theme of Working on a Project - if you have a project in progress which you would like to show and discuss, please bring along up to 6 images either on a memory stick or as prints. Discussions are informal and aimed at giving constructive comments and ideas.

Reminder: No meeting on 6 July

2011-07-04T13:36:00.001+01:00

Hi everyone,

Just to remind you that there is no meeting tomorrow (Tuesday): instead, it's on 20 July.

Venue as usual: 18.45 at Artworkers Guild, 6 Queen Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3AT

Topic for discussion will be ‘Working on a Project’.

Although the single, stand-alone image has its place, project-based photography gives the photographer the opportunity to develop and explore a theme in depth. Contributions welcome from anyone who has experience, advice, observations on the subject.

Some possible points to debate – how and why we choose particular projects, the advantages/disadvantages of working in this way, developing your project, editing.

If you have any projects in progress which you would like to show and discuss, please bring up to 6 images either on a memory stick or as prints. If you want to bring more, put then in a separate folder and we'll try to fit them in if there is time. It would be helpful if you could let us know if you would like to show anything.

As usual, there will be a small charge to cover the venue costs: the more people come, the smaller the charge! This is going to be a popular meeting as it's something a lot of people are interested in.

Look forward to seeing you all.

Hugh

PS We'll soon be moving over fully to the Google group to manage the notifications for meetings. You don't need to do anything: as you are already on the mailing list you have been automatically added to the Google group.

LIP Central London Satellite group July meeting--PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF DATE

2011-06-24T14:52:00.000+01:00

The next meeting of the Central London Satellite group of London Independent Photography will be on 20 July, and not 6 July as previously announced.

Venue as usual: 18.45 at Artworkers Guild, 6 Queen Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3AT

Topic for discussion will be ‘Working on a Project’.

Some possible points to debate – how and why we choose particular projects, the advantages/disadvantages of working in this way, developing your project, editing.

Look forward to seeing you all.

Hugh

PS We'll soon be moving over to a Google group to manage the notifications for meetings. You won't need to do anything: if you are already on the mailing list you will automatically be added to the Google group.

Next meeting: 8 June

2011-05-31T10:32:00.000+01:00

The next meeting of the LIP Central London Group will be on Wednesday 8 June at 18.45. Venue as usual:

Artworkers Guild, 6 Queen Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3AT

I can't be there as I'm away at a conference. Ingrid is going to give our exhibition plans a kick-start. Ideas for the rest of the meeting welcome from anyone who is going to be there: let me know and I'll pass them on.

"Anniedog" is going to show some lith prints that she has been making (see her recent blog post).

If someone can collect money and pass it to Elspeth that would be great. If she is busy, let me know and hang on to the money: I'll send her a cheque and pick up the money later.

We have a problem with email: I've had a lot of undeliverables that seem to be because they are getting screened out by servers that use Spamhaus. I will try to email people individually, but either:

1) we need to move away from standard email altogether; or:

2) I will have to CC rather than BCC people. However, this does mean that other people will be able to see the list.

Suggestions on how to solve this problem would be welcome. Whatever the solution, it will need to allow for people to get notifications by email: not everyone wants to deal with RSS feeds, Google groups etc even if these form the basis of the solution. Thanks!

Your servant aye,

Hugh

Lith Prints

2011-05-28T15:42:00.000+01:00

Just thought I'd share with you what I've been doing over the last month. We had no internet at home for over a month so I got back into the darkroom and have been experimenting with doing some lith prints. These are developed in special lith developer and are characterised by delicate, creamy highlights and dark, grainy shadows. The colours range from caramel and beige, to pinky orange depending on the paper used and each lith print is unique. I'll bring some along with me to show at the next meeting.

What I was going to show on Thursday

2011-05-15T21:30:00.000+01:00

Sorry to have missed the meeting on Thursday 12th -I had a very long day in Brussels.

I was going to show some photographs which have been inspired by the images and discussion on street photography. The most obvious ones are shown here and were taken on from the level 5 balcony and the Royal Festival Hall. At first I was more interested in the patterns that people made but eventually I began to put to see that there might be a narrative and focussed more on individuals.

I then became a bit bored with doing things in a straight way and decided to take photos from a slightly odder angle.

I'm not sure that this is really a style I feel comfortable with but I would be interested in your comments.

Next meeting

2011-05-09T16:03:00.000+01:00

Next meeting:

Thursday 12 May 18.45
Venue: Artworkers Guild, 6 Queen Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3AT

No special theme: a couple of people are going to show some new directions and experiments; anyone else--please let me know if you want to show something as usual (as usual, I know you won't, but everyone will be pleased to see it anyway).

Your servant aye,

Hugh

Next two meetings

2011-04-26T12:41:00.001+01:00

Hi everyone,

Our next two meetings are:

Thursday 28 April
Thursday 11 May

The meeting on 28 April will be the last of the 4th Thursday in the month meetings: following the survey and a discussion at the last meeting, it's clear that we can't sustain the two meetings at Artworkers Guild. The strong preference was for continuing the meeting on the 2nd Wednesday of each month as the main meeting at AWG; if people want to find a venue for an informal meeting on the 4th Thursday (or any other day) I think there would be plenty of support for that and I for one would come along as often as I could.

Ironically, the next scheduled meeting is one of the days when we could not get the 2nd Wednesday at AWG, so is on the 2nd Thursday instead..

Nothing particular planned for the meeting on Thursday 28; hope to see recent work from everyone who comes along.

Usual venue at 18.45:

Artworkers' Guild, 6 Queen Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3AT

Your servant aye,

Hugh

Revised meeting schedule

2011-04-26T12:40:00.000+01:00

Just a reminder of the meetings booked for the rest of the year. Please note that we could not get the room for some meetings, so occasionally they are not on the usual Wednesday.

28 April (Thursday)
12 May (Thursday) - Wednesday 11 May NOT available.
8 June (Wednesday)
6 July (Wednesday)
10 August (Wednesday)
7 September (Wednesday)
12 October (Wednesday)
10 November (Thursday) - Wednesday 9 November NOT available.
7 December (Wednesday)

All will take place at the Artworkers' Guild, 6 Queen Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N
3AT, at 18.45.

Time for an Exhibition?

2011-04-16T17:39:00.000+01:00

I thought it would be a good time to start talking about organising an exhibition to showcase our talents - some of us were discussing it at the end of last week's meeting. We are a diverse group of photographers but I'm sure we could all work around a broad theme to produce some interesting work. A comment that Hugh made about finding occasional moments of transcendent beauty in London got me thinking that this could be a good theme for an exhibition - after all, we all work, live or have connections to London. Anyone else got any ideas?

I went to the London Street Photography exhibition at the Museum of London the other day and this comment by Bill Brandt caught my eye: "A photographer must be prepared to catch and hold onto those elements which give distinction to the subject or lent it atmosphere. They are often momentary, chance-sent things: a gleam of light on water, a trail of smoke from a passing train, a cat crossing a threshold, the shadows cast by the setting sun." It sums up everything that I love about photography and could be a good starting point for our exhibition.

2011-04-14T19:21:00.000+01:00

As I was unable to be at the Wednesday meeting, here are three photos from my series 'Using the Camera as a Paintbrush' in which I moved the camera while the shutter was open. They are virtually monochrome, although taken as colour, because of the natural light conditions at dusk.

2011-04-14T19:15:00.000+01:00

Here are two of the photos I showed at the first of the meetings on process. They are from a series 'Phantom Feet' using slow shutter speeds.

Survey results

2011-04-11T20:59:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone,

Thanks to the 21 people who responded to the survey--a good cross-section of the membership.

People who responded had attended between 1 and 7 meetings. 50% had come to a 2nd Wednesday meeting, 11 to a 4th Thursday meeting and 39% to at least one of each. Overall, only 30% had been to more than one meeting in a month.

Encouragingly, all 21 hope to come to future meetings.

If there is going to be only one meeting a month, the preference is overwhelmingly for the 2nd Wednesday--68%.

There are various meetings that clash with either date.

One issue came a few times in the comments: for some people, 2 meetings a month at around £5 each is too expensive.

Survey apart, we have now had three Thursday meetings which have been attended by only six or seven people: good meetings, but the financial contribution required was higher: in two cases one or two members ended up subsidising the meeting, something that can't go on.

We can discuss on Wednesday, but my recommendation is that we stabilise on the 2nd Wednesday as a regular meeting at Artworkers Guild, and look for a free venue for an informal meeting on the 4th Thursday. We'd have to use a laptop rather than a projector, but it would also be good for print practitioners.

I for one would do my best to get to both.

Please comment!

Your servant aye.

Hugh

ArtCell Exhibition: 'April is the Cruellest Month..." Opening 9th April, 12-5pm

2011-04-03T18:30:00.000+01:00

A new show at ArtCell Gallery, Cambridge

will be opened by the Mayor of Cambridge

on the 9th April, 3pm.

This is an exhibtion of photographs by

Cinnamon Heathcote-Drury,

Stefanie Reichelt, Jim Haseloff,

Fernan Federici and Andrea Baczynski.

All welcome !

http://www.stefaniereichelt-photographyandprints.com/artcell.html

Hello and some images

2011-03-22T22:46:00.000Z

This is my first blog post so apologies if things go awry.

Here are some images which I meant to show last time when we were discussing process. They demonstrate my process such as it is of wandering around apparently aimlessly. I say apparently because in reality I am searching for the perfect image.

The perfect image is illusive but the quirky - the sign from an old school above - the abstract or the well shaped come close.

photo events in London

2011-03-22T10:42:00.000Z

Hi all

you may already know about these (I can be a bit slow in finding things out) but:
1. WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL, 26 April - 1 May, Somerset House (lots of workshops too):
http://www.worldphoto.org/
the festival pass is 30 pounds, but B+W Photography Magazine has a 15% discount promo code.

and
2. WORLD PINHOLE PHOTOGRAPHY DAY on 24 April:
www.pinholeday.org

Hope to see many of you tomorrow!
ariadne

Next meeting--23 March

2011-03-19T18:32:00.000Z

Yes, this month it's a Wednesday, not the usual Thursday--Artworkers Guild was already booked for 24th.

Wednesday 23 March, 18.45
Artworkers Guild
6 Queen Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3AT

Theme: there is still plenty of mileage in the process ideas we began to discuss at the last meeting, so we'll continue with that. Tje meeting will be chaired by Ariadne and Chris--let me know if you plan to show any work and I'll pass the details on to them.

Sorry I can't be at this one--I'm sure it will be a great meeting.

Your servant aye,

Hugh

PS don't forget the survey

Meetings survey

2011-03-19T16:49:00.000Z

Hi everyone,

At the moment we have two meetings a month. Attendance at one or two of these has been quite low, so we need to get some information to help us decide what to do next.

I've set up a survey: Click here to take survey

It will only take a few moments to fill in so please do it! Your answers will help us to plan.

Depending on the answers, we could do different things; for example:

Continue as we are, with two meetings a month
Go back to one meeting a month
Have one larger formal meeting a month, and an informal get-together as well

There's room for general comments on the survey, but please also feel free to email me with anything you think might be useful.

Your servant aye,

Hugh

LIP Central London Group 9 March

2011-03-03T22:14:00.001Z

Hi Everyone,

The focus for Wednesday's meeting is Process--an idea from Sue Czapska, who writes:

There are different ways of finding inspiration, and choosing a subject. (Including Ingrid's introduction of serendipity by throwing dice).

Some people find the dark room process a vital part of their pleasure, some like to explore using different cameras. The approach to our subject varies from studio work to going out on the street and engaging with strangers. Process isn't just they way we do things: it can have a profound influence on all apsects of our photography
If you can, bring a few prints or images you feel illustrate your own approach.

This promises to be a fascinating discussion.

Meeting details:

Artworkers Guild
6 Queen Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3AT

18.45 as usual.

It would be great if you could let me know if you are planning to bring anything to show.

Your servant aye,

Hugh

Meeting schedule

2011-03-02T16:36:00.000Z

Patrick has kindly reserved the room at Artworkers Guild for meetings for the rest of the year. Please note that we could not get the room for some meetings, so are not on the usual Wednesday or Thursday.

We will be asking members what they think about the two-week schedule. The last meeting only drew a few people, and I'm wondering if two meetings a month is too much. I'll try to get some sort of survey out early next week (advice from anyone who knows a good free online survey website would be welcome).

9 March (Wednesday)
23 March (Wednesday) - Thursday 24 March NOT available.
13 April (Wednesday)
28 April (Thursday)
12 May (Thursday) - Wednesday 11 May NOT available.
26 May (Thursday)
8 June (Wednesday)
23 June (Thursday
6 July (Wednesday)
21 July (Thursday)
10 August (Wednesday)
25 August (Thursday)
7 September (Wednesday)
21 September (Wednesday) - Thursday 22 September NOT available.
12 October (Wednesday)
27 October (Thursday)
10 November (Thursday) - Wednesday 9 November NOT available.
24 November (Thursday)
7 December (Wednesday)

All will take place at the Artworkers' Guild, 6 Queen Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N
3AT, at 18.45.

Hugh

Next meeting is on Thursday--18.45 24 February

2011-02-20T21:25:00.000Z

The next meeting is on Thursday--18.45 24 February, at the usual venue:

Artworkers Guild
6 Queen Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3AT

Discussion theme: who we take photographs for--just ourselves, a small audience we know well, or a wider world?

Other ideas welcome, as always.

As usual, a part of the meeting will be devoted to members showing and discussing recent work either on screen or in print: can you let me know if you would like to show anything. Also as usual, you don't have to let me know until the night if you do want to show something, but it does help if I have some idea of who wants to. Photos for projection on a stick (not a portable hard drive--we've had problems with them), please: jpegs or tiffs.

See you on Thursday.

Your servant aye,

Hugh

Photography Fair

2011-02-17T16:25:00.001Z

Hello all

For those of you who love (window)shopping old photographs and secondhand photography books, the quarterly Photography Fair is on this Sunday in Bloomsbury. Admission is £3 but you can go in for free after 2pm with a voucher from here:
http://www.photofair.co.uk/#/promotions/4547591615

Some of the photographs are incredibly expensive, but you can also pick up cheap but fascinating prints (as I do).

ariadne

Icarus practises

2011-02-15T13:25:00.001Z

_20110214_5099__hel8173-pp-acr, originally uploaded by hughlook.

Next meeting for LIP Central London Satellite Group--9 February

2011-02-07T21:54:00.001Z

The next meeting is on Wednesday--18.45 9 February, at the usual venue:

Artworkers Guild
6 Queen Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3AT

As usual, a good part of the meeting will be devoted to members showing and discussing recent work either on screen or in print: can you let me know if you would like to show anything. Also as usual, you don't have to let me know until the night if you do want to show something, but it does help if I have some idea of who wants to. Photos for projection on a stick (not a portable hard drive--we've had problems with them), please: jpegs or tiffs.

It seems like a good time to kick off some discussion themes, as well. A few of us went to the Shadow Catchers exhibition at the V&A, and that set me thinking about whether the way in which we take and present out photographs is important to us: does the process have an impact and what and how we communicate? This could cover anything from when and where you usually make your favourite photographs, through to the importance that making fine prints using unusual processes has for some photographers.

If that doesn't work as an idea, then another suggestion might be who we take photographs for--just ourselves, a small audience we know well, or a wider world?

Other ideas welcome, as always.

See you on Wednesday.

Your servant aye,

Hugh

__________________________________
e: hl@futureglance.com
__________________________________
t: +44 (0)7989 850847

In the midst of life

2011-02-02T17:59:00.000Z

Some new work I've just started on, looking at the ways in which we memorialise the dead. Shot on film using a Hasselblad medium format camera, the photographs involve a much slower and more meticulous way of working than is usual for me, somehow suited to the subject matter.

Shadow Catchers visit: 4 February

2011-02-01T12:56:00.000Z

As agreed at the last meeting, there will be a group visit for anyone interested to the Shadow Catchers exhibition of cameraless photography at the V&A:

http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/photography/shadow-catchers-camera-less-photography/exhibition/index.html

The visit is Friday 4 February. We'll meet at 18.45 at the entrance to the exhibition. We are not buying tickets for the group, so buy your own in advance if you want. I don't know if that's necessary or not. At the time of writing, the online booking system is not working!

Hope to see you there!

Your servant aye,

Hugh

Collective - A Total Image Nation Exhibition - Ayscoughfee Hall

2011-01-31T11:50:00.000Z

Fellow Central Photographers,
For those of you who are not afraid of travelling into the sticks,
here is some information about an exhibition in Norfolk.
It could be a nice day out in the woods.
Andrea Baczynscki and I have some photos in this exhibition.
http://www.total-image-nation.co.uk/events_detail.php?event=587
Best wishes,
Stefanie

Materiality

2011-01-27T15:35:00.001Z

_20110127_8405__hel7610-pp-acr
Originally uploaded by hughlook

Over the past few days, the concept of "materiality" in photography has come at me from a lot of different directions, and this morning I saw this collection of objects and concepts in front of me: all of these suggests ways of living that were almost unimaginable when I was a child.

Next meeting: Thursday 27 January

2011-01-23T17:23:00.000Z

The next meeting of the LIP Central London group will be on Thursday 27 January at 18.45. This will be the first of our fortnightly meetings, so be interesting to see how it goes. The schedule for meetings booked ahead can be found on our blog at: http://lipcentralsatellite.blogspot.com/2011/01/next-meetings-for-lip-central-london.html

Venue:

Artworkers Guild
6 Queen Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3AT

If you would like to show something (projection, prints or books) please let me know as soon as you can. There are still some people who have asked to show but haven't been able to fit in a meeting: it woulod be good to hear from any of these.

We've also had a few people suggest getting together for an exhibition visit, so a sensible idea might be to pool ideas and opinions about what's on at the moment.

Proposed agenda:

LIP Central London group's proposed exhibition: ideas and volunteers to take things forward
Exhibitions worth visiting at the moment
Members presenting their own work

Look forward to seeing as many of you as can make it next week.

Your servant aye,

Hugh

__________________________________
e: hl@futureglance.com

January 12 meeting

2011-01-14T22:28:00.000Z

Thanks to everyone who came along on Wednesday: I thought we saw some really interesting work and the discussions were very stimulating.

It would be good to post an example from each person that showed prints, books or projected images: if you can put them up on the blog they'd be there for everyone to appreciate.

Particular thanks to Brendan for arranging the venue. We are back to the Artworkers Guild for the next four meetings.

Look forward to seeing you at the next meeting (details posted here, on the LIP Flickr group and emailed to the list).

Hugh

Next meetings for LIP Central London Satellite Group

2011-01-14T22:21:00.000Z

Please note that there will NOT be a meeting of the Group on Wednesday 19 January.

We have booked the following dates for the next few meetings:

27 January (Thursday)
9 February (Wednesday)
24 February (Thursday)
9 March (Wednesday)

All will take place at the Artworkers' Guild, 6 Queen Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3AT, at 18.45.

More details of what will be going on shortly.

January meeting

2011-01-06T12:24:00.000Z

Thanks to everyone who offered help and ideas for a venue. We tried for both 12 and 19 January: best compromise for finding a venue turned out to be Wednesday 12 January at 18.45. This is near London Bridge. Putting this one together has been a bit tricky, mainly because of the holiday period.

Brrendan Delaney has very kindly arranged for us to meet at a room at Guy's, where he works:

Capital House, 42 weston street, SE1 3QD
Building B on the detailed Guy's campus map: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/campuslife/campuses/guys/Guys.aspx

People should say they are visiting Prof Brendan Delaney and come directly to the 6th floor, where the door will be propped open to allow access to the seminar room opposite.

People will need to sign IN and OUT downstairs. The building closes at 9pm.

If any problems getting access, call me on my mobile--07989 850847.

IMPORTANT BIT: let me know if you hope to come: we need to give a list to security in advance. If in doubt, it's better to to say you hope to come, even if you can't make it in the end.

Programme:

Discuss the possibility of an exhibition and how we would organise it
What people would like to learn about if we run a session on Photoshop (a lot of people have asked for this--we need to get a bit more specific)
Prints and digital images from anyone who has not yet introduced their work (useful if you can let me know in advance if you'd like to take part)
(If time) Interesting books and current exhibitions that have caught people's eye: a chance to talk about other photographers you find interesting and let people know about

I'm trying to negotiate a few dates ahead now, based on having meetings every 2 weeks to see how it goes.

Anyone who can't make it but who has any ideas about Photoshop learning sessions, please let me know what you think.

Look forward to seeing as many of you as can make it.

Your servant aye,

Hugh

PS I think it's time we set up an organising group.....

street portraits

2010-12-23T16:35:00.000Z

Dear all
Well, this is my first ever post ... so forgive me if this goes horribly wrong. I'll only try one: one of my favourite street portraits, made in Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta) in 2009. I've been going there for about 10 years, as a tourist with a camera around my neck (b/w negatives) Brendan's great portraits from LA made me think that perhaps others would be interested in discussing street portraits one day. The politics, the poetry, the ethics, the interactions, the fun.
Also, could we use this blog to recommend good writing about photography? I enjoyed Susie Linfield's The Treacherous Medium: Why photography critics hate photographs (she now also has a book out called Cruel Radiance): http://www.bostonreview.net/BR31.5/linfield.php

Christmas Shopping

2010-12-18T15:15:00.000Z

More London Nights

2010-12-12T17:49:00.000Z

Some more images of London by night - taken on the hoof without a tripod, so not as sharp as they could be, but perhaps that adds to the mystery. Or am I just being lazy?!

LIP Central London group: December meeting

2010-12-10T08:33:00.000Z

The next meeting of the LIPCLSG will be at 18.45 on Wednesday 15 December. Venue as before:

Artworkers Guild
6 Queen Square
Bloomsbury
London WC1N 3AT

Agenda:

1) Continuing the Introductions session from last week (most of the meeting).
2) Brief discussion of an exhibtion
3) Next meeting

Can anyone who wants to show either prints or digital images please let me know ASAP: we'll have a projector as before. Even better if you want to email them to me beforehand so I can have them ready on the evening.

Don't worry if you want to decide later: last minute contibutions will be just as welcome.

A particular thanks to Chris, who chaired the November meeting despite having a broken elbow and being in quite a lot of pain, and to Ariadne who helped out when Chris had to leave.

work in progress and hello

2010-11-26T17:31:00.000Z

these images set in a dolls house are part of a series I'm working on at the moment in preparation for part II of LIPs fantastic workshop with Paul Hill. shot on ADOX.. not had a chance to make any prints yet, these are negative scans. Jo

A rainy night in London

2010-11-23T17:50:00.000Z

Last week's meeting seems to have kick-started the creative process once more and on the way home I felt inspired to take some photographs of the rain-sodden streets. The city at night has a strange, unsettling beauty which seeps into the soul.

2010-11-20T16:33:00.000Z

2010-11-20T16:26:00.000Z

2010-11-20T16:18:00.000Z

sr411@cam.ac.uk

2010-11-17T20:34:00.000Z

come with me into the woods (Stefanie Reichelt)

2010-11-14T23:24:00.000Z

2010-10-22T12:04:00.001+01:00

wunderbar

2010-10-09T02:29:00.001+01:00

CSI Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa.

From the series Faint traces

i like this

Our first meeting at the Art Workers Guild

2010-10-07T10:19:00.000+01:00

this was our first photo discussion looking at London and its beautiful cityscapes