T'was The Night Before Christmas

I’m back home down south for the holidays looking after my friends' cats, Poppy and Hector, whilst they are having a lovely time in warm and sunny Mexico.

Even though we have three whole weeks break from uni I have a couple of assignments that need to be handed in after the break so I’ll be beavering away on those; making a start on my new ones; and cracking on with creating images for my personal photography project, which means trips to lots of beaches whilst they're deserted, how divine.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas, have a fabulous time, eat, drink and enjoy.

Attracting an Audience

As I work on this project I will need to be constantly aware of it’s final destination, a curated exhibition, and who I would like to see the final images that I produce.

Photographs started small.  They were collected, not exhibited.  As photography began to compete with painting, photographs got larger in scale.  But producing a large image meant collaborating with others to produce the print, this brought into question who had made the image.  As the medium of photography grew in the public's estimation, this became less of an issue and more of who could produce the largest paper.  Large photographs became photomurals for commercial and political use, particularly during the war.  Anyone could see an image at an exhibition, it was a shared experience for those who viewed these gigantic images, and created a community among them.

However, early photomurals were pasted rather than hung carefully on walls and unprotected from exposure to light and crowds; many were thrown away after their intended use.  In 1932, the Museum of Modern Art in New York was the first to introduce giant prints to an exhibition and to focus on the scale of photography.  The exhibition was Murals by American Painters and Photographers.  Large prints were not welcomed in the art photography world, with the great Ansel Adams referring to them as 'expensive wallpaper'.  The smaller the image, the closer it was to the photographic original, and therefore, the creative act.

By the early 1980s artists like Jeff Wall and the so-called Pictures Generation, including Cindy Sherman, Richard Prince and Barbara Kruger, developed an interest in large images, bringing them back into acceptance. With mural size images on display today at exhibitions such as the Wildlife Photographer of the Year at the Natural History Museum, London, and the Zanele Muholi's #Vukani/Rise at the Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool.

One of the main aims of exhibitions is to attract audiences, however, understanding those audiences and how to target them, can be intricate task.  The National Portrait Gallery's Exhibitions and Displays Policy states to "maintain, extend and broaden the range of audiences and increase our understanding of those audiences" as one of their main aims.  It is something even the big galleries need to think about.  The Manx National Heritage Museum lists 'think about your audience as number one in their list of how to prepare for an exhibition.  They suggest displays should entertain; give information; be attractive; use strong images; and be safe and accessible.

My project would ideally attract people who are environmentally aware, keep up to date with current affairs and are engaged with the arts.  However, it will also be targeted at those people who have an interest in learning more about lessening their impact on the environment.  My project will provide information on how they can do this, such as how they can use water more efficiently and reduce their waste, especially plastic.

Project Update

I am currently despairing of the grey skies that are a bit of a permanent feature in the North West at the moment.  So I've been in the digital darkroom trying to perfect creating a digital image and printing it.  I've got a couple of digital images now, but am having a few printer problems.  Watch this space and hopefully in a couple of weeks I'll have more successful news to report.

Delving Deeper Into The Research

My research so far had focused mainly on other photographers’ work, however, my subject area has been influenced by my own experiences and personal preferences, so I wanted to delve deeper and look for inspiration from other places.

When I'm not working on assignments I always have a book on the go.  I can go anywhere with a book, it keeps me occupied when I'm sitting in a coffee shop alone, or on a long journey (not driving though, I get car sick).  A couple of books I read over the summer immediately came to mind when thinking about this project.

In A Short Book About Drawing Andrew Marr explores the subject of drawing and painting, and how this has affected his own art.  There is a section in there about the natural world.  Marr argues many of us live in crowded cities far from open fields and skies.  "Advertisers, such as holiday companies, tease us with imagery of unspoilt landscapes lending a sense of sentimentality to the scenes portrayed.  A walk in beautiful countryside can induce a feeling of being vividly alive and in love with the world."  This quote made me think of an advertisement I'd seen for First Great Western trains who used the beautiful scenery of the South West of the UK to tempt customers to book a train journey with them.  This campaign was launched in February, when it was dark, cold and wet, in most parts of the UK.  Yet these images offered hope of warmer, sunnier days to come.  Richard Misrach, as discussed in my last blog post, used a similar approach with his photography, making industrial buildings look grand and implausibly beautiful.

Image courtesy of The Leith Agency

Marr also discusses the paintings of Claude Monet and how he recorded the changing environment.


Monet's Impressionist painting style sought to capture a moment in time without the detail and smoothness of previous painting eras, which resulted in stark depictions of the industrial revolution and its more adverse effects such as pollution.  In Le Pont du chemin de fer a Argenteuil shows a new bridge cutting across an idyllic rural scene, with a train belching steam into the air.  This is in direct contrast to traditional, picturesque connotations a viewer would have with paintings of landscapes and creates a bleak and grim view of the changing environment.

Image courtesy of Christie's

I will do some further research into these two approaches of depicting industry and how I can use one or the other in my own project.  Do you think using beautiful imagery is a more effective way of engaging with the viewer?  Is it more effective than showing people shocking, atrocious images?

Recommended Settings

I'm still happy with my project idea of portraying the impact humans have had on the environment and so these last could of weeks I have been spending some time researching the technical considerations and how I might be able to try something new.

As this is my final university project I wanted to try a style of photography I had not attempted before whilst I still had experts on hand to help.  Back in March there had been a Google Doodle to mark the 216th Birthday of English photographer and botanist Anna Atkins.  Atkins is credited with being the first to use a photographic printing process that produced a cyan-blue print, a cyanotype.  Atkins used the process to create a limited series of cyanotype books that documented ferns and other plant life from her seaweed collection.  Cyanotypes were used extensively by engineers as a simple and low-cost process to create copies of drawings, and were named blueprints.

Image courtesy of Anna Atkins, Ceylon Fern, 1854

I was very taken with the vivid blue colour of the images that were created through this process and wanted to try it myself.  I ordered a starter kit from Silverprint and scoured the local hedgerows for some interesting props to create my image.  It took several attempts, with the first completely disappearing after a couple of hours, but I did manage to finally produce something I was pleased with.  You can't see it very well on the image below, but just at the top of the feather it has captured where it has slightly parted.  Some parts are a lot more detailed than I thought they would be

I need to do a lot more experimenting as the white is still fading away after a while, and I want to try it with a digital negative to perfect this before I have to submit my images.  I am also attracted to double exposure images and think this could be used to portray the good vs. evil sides to the environment.  This is another new process I need to learn, and then turn into a cyanotype print.  I have lots to be working on for the next couple of weeks.

Please do let me know if you have tried making cyanotypes.  Can you recommend any other kits to try?  Or where I might start with learning how to create a double exposure print.  I'd love to hear what you think.

Think Of A Project, Any Project

It's my final year at university.  I can't quite believe how fast it has come around.  When I handed in my notice at work in 2013 I was quite calm in the knowledge that I had a plan for the next three years, but now, those three years have become eight short months.  So many shades of scary.

I'm doing a double module in Photography this year entitled Digital Photography: Production, Curation and Exhibition.  There are three assignments, create a Portfolio; write a Critical Evaluation;
and host a Production Event; the conclusion to the project.

First things first, I need to think of a topic for my project.  The world and everything in it is my oyster, I can chose any topic I like.  That's quite a lot to consider.  To try to narrow this down I thought about the things I am most passionate about and what I felt would be worthwhile exploring in greater detail.  I have a great love for wildlife, nature and the coast.  For one of my modules last year I went a placement to Costa Rica where I volunteered at a national park where they monitor sea turtles.  Although it was probably on the periphery of my mind, I'd never really considered just how much plastic makes it's way into our seas and, in turn, our marine life.  In Costa Rica, I experienced it first hand with daily beach cleaning patrols.  For a beach that is monitored for plastic on a regular basis, we still managed to collect several black bags full of plastic each day.

When I got home, as always seems to be the case when a thing you just found out about suddenly seems to crop up everywhere, this video showing a research team who found a turtle with a 10-12cm plastic straw lodged in it's nostril, was released in August this year.

Video courtesy of Christine Figgener

*****warning: strong language and graphic scenes*****

Over the summer I kept an eye out for other news articles about plastics in our oceans and anything else related to this subject.  I went to the Environmental Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Royal Geographical Society in London.  The competition is an international showcase for the very best in environmental photography and film. Honouring amateurs and professionals of all ages, it provides an opportunity for photographers to share images of environmental and social issues with international audiences, and to enhance our understanding of the causes, consequences and solutions to climate change and social inequality.

Eduardo Leal's project, Plastic Trees, was made to raise awareness of the problems caused by plastic bags on the Bolivian Altiplano.

Image courtesy of Eduardo Leal

These images are not specific to this area of the world, I know I can remember seeing plastic bags caught in trees in my local park, it is something we are all witness too.

I am currently researching other photographers who have created photography projects on the impact people and industry have had on the environment to further inform my own project.  More information on this in a couple of weeks.

If you would like to support Christine's research into sea turtles, visit her Go Fund Me webpage.

Zanele Muholi Exhibition, Open Eye Gallery, Review

Art can sometimes take the form of political and social activism, with the artist seeking to influence a culture and society.  The Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool is currently hosting the Zanele Muholi Vukani/Rise exhibition.  Muholi is a self-titled "visual activist" who uses photography as her medium to communicate her message and affect the lives of people around her.  All of her projects are ongoing and encourage the viewer to bear and share witness to the dehumanising of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersexual (LGBTI), South African community.

The exhibition includes a selection of images from four of Muholi's projects, Faces and Phases; ZaVa; Brave Beauties; and Mo(u)rning.  We are first introduced to Faces and Phases, a growing collection of black and white portraits of the black South African lesbian and transgender male community.  Muholi's aim is to give her participants a voice and visual presence.  She works closely with each person, on location in their home, teasing out their strength, dignity and personality, which translate into their relaxed stance in front of the camera.  Notable empty spaces are visible between the faces peering out at the viewer to represent those who have been lost to the aggression, intolerance and ignorance.

You are introduced to the other projects in the next room of the gallery, dominated by an image from Muholi's blog, Inkanyiso, of Nathi Dlamini after she attended the funeral of a gay man who was brutally attacked and raped by a group of men for being gay.  The funeral was a celebration of the life of someone who didn't hide away and this is reflected in the larger than life, 2m plus, glamorous image of Dlamini in her eye-catching outfit.

ZaVa is a collection of intimate moments of Muholi and her partner, Valerie.  Again the images are black and white with neutral backgrounds, depicting Muholi and her lover at ease and enjoying the closeness of each other.  They offer the viewer an insight into their lives at rest, in contrast to the message behind the other images in this exhibition.

Brave Beauties celebrates the gay and transgender men featured in this project, emphasising their ease with their bodies and of being seen in these stylised, playful poses.  Muholi wants them to be adored by the viewer, creating safety and acceptance; however, this is not their reality.  Their bravery props up the beauty that is so deliberately on display.

The final project on display, Mo(u)rning, is a staged event in remembrance for those from the LGBTI community who have died through intolerance and hate crime.  The images are in the main lit with soft candlelight and use a narrow range of colours, creating coherence to the collection.  However, the images selected from this project stand out from the others included in the exhibition.  There is an unreal and artificial quality to them, which isn’t shared with the other collections.

There is a unity amongst the images that lends itself to the community Muholi is seeking to create.  That community engage with their audience through intently holding their gaze, drawing them in, not allowing them to look away from or ignore the atrocious way the participants, and many others, have been treated.

The exhibition is an interesting and thought-provoking one, although does require some time spent in the gallery perusing through the literature and watching the videos playing on the first floor to understand the narrative in full.  The participants in Faces and Phases are still to be identified with their names, which would overcome a minor feeling of many faceless victims without a story, which is anything but what the project aims to portray.  The gallery encourages contemplation and reflection with benches in each room where visitors can sit and absorb the messages Muholi is expressing through her photography.

14 October 2015

A Sense of Calm

We did a little activity in class today looking at how our senses affect our creativity and the images we make.

I had been out this week to Hornchurch Country Park, a park that I'm very familiar with, but haven't been to for a while as I've been working away on assignments in Warrington.  Whilst I was there I noticed how out of breath and unfit I felt on my walk and I felt annoyed with myself for being so cooped up for the last couple of months.  It was a pretty windy day and I especially noticed the noise of the wind rustling through the long, dry, Winter grasses.  My aim of going over the park was to look for signs of Spring.  The reality I discovered was it is still very wet and muddy and the buds on the trees are only just there if you look very closely.  I think I am trying to wish Spring along more quickly.

I felt refreshed and happier after my walk round the park with my camera, and did manage to find some blossom on the trees, Spring isn't too far away after all.

I used this walk to influence where I went for the class activity.  When I am on campus I am always rushing around, to and from the library or lectures, and I wanted to find a place of calm to see what images I could create that would represent this.  I had previously spotted a couple of long tailed tits one early morning on campus and it had given me a sense of nostalgia of the one and only time I had seen them before when I was little in my Mum and Dad's back garden, on the bird table, so I went back there to see what other moments I could create.

I immediately spotted the beautiful white camellia in flower and so didn't focus too closely on my other senses rather than sight, focusing more on finding quiet moments that I wouldn't notice whilst I was rushing around.

As I was sitting there I heard a blackbird rustling around in the undergrowth, and then spotted this wren hopping around, quickly darting his head around, keeping an eye out for anything that may cause alarm.

The last two images were taken on my iPhone and the quality isn't very good at all, but they definitely make me smile when I look at them.

Where do you go to seek a sense of calm and peace?  Does nature ground you as it does me?  Please feel free to share photographs of your favourite places of serenity and tranquility.

Food and Identity

I like to pick up a copy of The Metro every day and a recent article by comedian, Carl Donnelly, about being a vegan caught my eye.  He says there is an assumption that all vegans can't stop going on about living a cruelty-free life, however in reality the requests to discuss it usually come from meat-eaters.  It got me thinking about my own decision to become a vegetarian when I was little and how food affects our identity.

Unlike culinary tourism where you seek out locally made food, some tourists look to reinforce their sense of identity when in a foreign country.  This could be the English seeking fish and chips in Greece, Australians hunting for Vegemite on Toast in Asia, and Americans looking for burgers everywhere.

Tea has become the most widely-drunk beverage in the world and has important cultural traditions and social practices in certain countries, for example, the Japanese tea ceremony and the English afternoon tea.

Tea is much-loved by British people of all social classes.  A cup of tea is such a vital part of everyday life for the majority of British people, and so integral to their daily routine, that it is difficult to imagine life in the UK without it.  Going to a tea shop became a favourite past-time of ladies in the nineteenth century and evolved into an elaborate social occasion.  Tea would be drunk from the best china and small amounts of food presented perfectly on little china plates.  On offer might be bread and butter, scones and cakes, and sandwiches with the crusts cut off.  Photographs from the time can provide a record of the history of tea rooms and how the social identity of women has changed over the years.  It became socially acceptable for women to visit tea rooms either alone, or in company, without it looking like they were breaching propriety, they were even regular meeting places for Suffragettes.

Image courtesy of J. Lyons & Co.

Nowadays food and politics mix in politicians' quest to be seen as in touch with their public.  In the image below, Barack Obama treats David Cameron to the traditional fare of hotdogs at a basketball match during the Prime Minister's trip to Washington in March 2012. Eating food seems to have overtaken kissing babies as the photograph opportunity of choice for many politicians.

Image courtesy of BBC News

These occasions are closely monitored, often staged, and hardly ever found in publications without a reason behind them.  In some cases photojournalists are given advance notice of the lenses to use to get the best photograph.  Often the aim is to make them look like a normal, everyday person and authenticate their identity.  What do you think of these photographs?  Do they achieve this aim?

Culinary Tourism

The act of posting a photograph of your meal has branched out into a social media app called Foodspotting.  This goes one step further than Instagram and is a visual guide to good food and where to find it, anywhere in the world.  It isn't jut useful for foodies, but tourists can use it to find their nearest dishes, and they can specify a particular food, from dumplings and dosas, to cronuts (a donut-croissant mash-up) and flagels (a flat bagel).

This niche area of food photography has branched into culinary tourism, looking at a destination's culture and how we connect with food.  This is not just about food on a plate, but includes everything around it; the moments, the connections, the scenes, the places, the stories, the authentic experience whilst in that particular location.

A local market is a great place to visit and full of photograph opportunities.  This is where the locals are, where people gather to go about their everyday business.

Street food can look great on camera, but keep in mind that if you add extra sauce to make it look good you should still be able to identify what it is.  You could even try re-plating the dish and even adding more of one of its ingredients if it needs a boost of color.  If it has a lime, for instance, ask for an extra, squeeze it on the food, then place it on the plate before photographing.  Remember that you want people's mouths to water.  If your mouth doesn't water when looking at the food, no one else's will either.

Image courtesy of National Geographic

I purposefully visited Bakewell in the Peak District to sample a real Bakewell pudding, not one of Mr Kipling's tarts.

The pudding boasts a charming history, with most claiming that it was originally made by accident at a local inn around 1860.  Mistress of The White Horse, Mrs Graves, instructed her cook to bake a strawberry tart for some guests; but instead of stirring the egg mixture into the pastry, cook accidentally spread it on top of the jam instead.  The surprisingly delicious result was declared a triumph, and Bakewell resident Mrs Wilson obtained the recipe and began selling the puddings from her cottage.

As well as the delicious pastries on offer, I wanted to explore the breath-taking views of the Peak District.  This was a perfect day trip for me to work on my travel photography portfolio.  I was able to create a story of the town of Bakewell, with images of the various shops that claim to sell the original recipe for the puddings to the surrounding natural beauty of the moors and dales.

Whilst there I stumbled across the annual duck race along the River Wye from Bakewell Bridge.  Over one thousand rubber ducks floated down the river to raise money for local charities.  This event added an extra dimension to my story of the town as I was able to include something unexpected, but part of the life of the locals.

How do you respond to food when you are on holiday?  Do you search out the nearest place that does a full English fry-up, or go exploring and go native?

London's Larder

Food and places are often linked when marketing restaurants.  It is not just the building's interior that is used to sell the dining experience, but the location as well.

London's Larder is not a photographic image, but an illustration by Cajsa Holgersson, that serves as a guide to London's hottest and tucked away foodie delights.  Holgersson uses bright colours to re-imagine London's landmarks as food items, for example, Tower Bridge is a giant cake.

Image courtesy of Herb Lester

Instagram is also a popular marketing device for restaurants and food shops.  Finding creative ideas for their use of this particular image-based social media tool.

The most common use is through encouraging the flaunting of "food porn," which can be defined as a delectable meal that customers take and upload to social media to share, brag about and drool over.  Many restaurants encourage customers to post pictures with a particular hashtag.  For example, #marivanna, a Russian restaurant with branches around the world, has nearly 10,000 posts linked to that hashtag on Instagram.  There are photographs of the food, but also of the plush interior, demonstrating the overall feeling customers may have by dining here.

Image courtesy of @bullinka

This is my own favourite food porn image.  It is from a recent holiday to India and reminds me of watching the sunset on the beach in Palolem, Goa, and the many delicious curries I savoured on that trip.  This was also the last night of my holiday, so for me, it is quite poignant as I knew I would soon be returning to the UK's cold weather and inferior tasting food.

Restaurants and food shops also use social media, particularly image-based posts, to create a personal bond with customers to make them love the brand.  They aim to establish a community or culture where the brand is a movement or way of life.  Starbucks introduced a campaign called "what do you want five more minutes of this summer?" and produced the video below to conjure images of ideal summer activities.

Images courtesy of Starbucks

People were encouraged to post their own images of summer, creating a positive link in their minds between them and Starbucks.  When they think of Starbucks they have positive thoughts and are more likely to buy this brand of coffee.  Images can have powerful connotations for people, marketers use this to prompt action, such as buying their product.

Using social media can be a powerful marketing tool, but what if the service was unsatisfactory?  Poor customer service in a restaurant, or badly cooked food, can be instantly snapped and shared with the online community instantly.

The act of sharing a photograph of your delicious, or disgusting, looking meal can be popular with some diners, but it is not liked by all.  It is seen as a breach of etiquette by some restaurant customers, especially when the photographer uses a flash, moves the furniture or even won't let their companions eat until they have 'foodstagrammed' it.

Love it or hate it, Instagramming food porn is here to stay.  What do you think of customers posting these pictures?  Please share your answers in the comments below.

Quintessentially British

Beatrice Peltre's book La Jardine Gourmande: Recipes For An Inspired Life expresses her desire and passion for cooking, the people, and the places she loves.  She says ". . . flavours are collected as souvenirs and shared as heirlooms . . ."

Another chef who celebrates their location is Rick Stein, selling locally sourced seafood in Padstow, Cornwall.  Although many people would argue curry is our national dish, eating fish and chips from a newspaper bag is quintessentially British.  You can't go wrong with the deliciousness on offer at Stein's Fish and Chips.  Every year they sell over 204,000 portions of chips, all made from potatoes grown right there in Padstow.

Stein's own blog features his suppliers, offers tips from the restaurant chefs and recommends inspiring ways for discovering Cornwall, using images that tell a story of their customers and the food they offer.

Images courtesy of Stein's Fish and Chips

Photojournalists and documentary photographers often use a series of images to create a photo-essay to tell their stories.  They rely on their images to establish the location and time to give viewers a true feeling of where and when it took place.  This is known as the establishing shot and usually taken at a wide angle to get as much in the frame as possible.

The above images from Stein's Fish and Chips are detail shots.  They are tightly composed and focus on something specific, in this case the food, central to telling the story.

Filler shots are other images that help to tell the story.  They help to set the scene.

The closing shot is used to end the story.  It needs to have a sense of closure and should portray an emotion you would like the viewer to feel about the narrative you have been working to tell, for example, is it a happy or sad ending, would you like them to take action after looking at the photo-essay?

Here are a series of images I took at China Town in London.  I used the first image to set the scene and tell viewers where they are.  I think took a variety of photographs of the food on display at the location, from crispy duck to garishly coloured sweet things.

It was great fun watching the people around China Town.  I also enjoy the tranquility of a seaside town like Padstow.  Why not try creating a photo-essay of your own on your next day trip, holiday overseas, or even in your own home town and share some of your images in the comments below.  Just remember if you go to Padstow, watch out for the chip-stealing seagulls.

Food Photography Inspriation

Whilst working on a cookbook project for Chilli Gourmet, I touched on the peripheries of food photography and the myriad of images and industries that spiral off of this genre.

My research led me to Beatrice Peltre, photographer and food stylist at La Tartine Gourmande.

Bea started her own blog in November 2005 talking about her first attempts at food photography.  She has since published her own cookbook, La Tartine Gourmande: Recipes for an Inspired Life, with nearly 100 recipes and charming anecdotes.  I was drawn the brightness of her images and how she shows off fresh produce in the best possible light.

Image courtesy of Beatrice Peltre

The primary aim of food photography is to make that food irresistible to the viewer.  In addition to the technology they use, the photographer can use colour and texture to create a sensory experience.  You can also play around with depth of field, the whole image doesn't have to be in focus.  Experiment with what you include in the frame, you may not want to include the whole dish, think about flaunting the best part of the food.  And, be daring with your props.

Taking inspiration from Be a, I styled the image below for my client-based assignment.  It is a seasonal dish of pheasant, rocoto chillies, blackberries and salad leaves.  The blackberries instantly make me think of the end of summer and going blackberry picking as a kid, the purple stain on your fingers and sweet taste of the berries.

Set Up

The equipment and settings I used were:

• Canon EOS 5D Mark iii
• Canon EF 24-105mm lens
• f4  
• 1/125sec.  
• ISO100

I used Elinchrome location lights to light the food as the natural light at the location was quite dull.  I used a white umbrella with the lights to diffuse the harshness.

I found it really helpful to plan my ideas for styling ahead of time so I can start to think about the colours, the plates I'll use, the ingredients.  For this dish I used a bright green background to contrast with the purple radicchio leaves and red of the chillies.

 Warm Pheasant Salad

Have fun with your own food photography.  I'd love to hear about how you got on, and don't forget to share your photos in the comments.