Casey Dunn, Hoop Dreams.

Another piece of photography work i came across through twitter (it's becoming really rather useful actually) is the work of Casey Dunn. A set called 'Hoop Dreams' is a documentation of basketball hoops that have been left and abandoned, just like the chilhood dreams they represent.

Casey Dunn: "When I was 8 years old my dad came home with a fiber glass basketball goal and put it up in our backyard. After a couple of hours of grunting and swearing he tossed me a ball and said "shoot with your wrist" and walked inside. I spent hundreds of hours out there over the next ten years avoiding family functions and shooting hoops on that rim. I usually spent less time working on my game and more time daydreaming. Shooting hoops has always been my escape. As I started to travel a bit more, I started to notice more and more back yard goals that had fallen into disrepair the same way my childhood rim had. I loved the idea that some other kid had spent countless hours dreaming while shooting baskets the same way I did. This series is a collection of their basketball goals."

We've all had dreams when we were young kids about what we want to be when we grow up, and this set touches upon these 'goals'. Maybe they aren't so out of reach as we sometimes think, its just a case of dedication and persistence.

To me this work also makes a statement about the way the young generation are growing up in our society. When i was younger, i would have toys and games passed down to me from my siblings and cousins, and so i guess i'd expect that something permanent like these hoops would be passed down in the family and be in use by the children, yet maybe because society feels unsafe about letting their children play in the streets (for fear of attacks, kidnaps, bullying etc) they're sat inside infront of their video games? Maybe this work should make us question why this form of play is abandoned.

http://alexandsons.squarespace.com/

http://www.featureshoot.com/2012/01/photographs-of-abandoned-hoops-and-rims/

William A. Ewing, FACE The New Photographic Portrait.

I was recommended this book in relation to my current photography project based on representation and portraiture, and (in my short time of experience in the field) i haven't yet come across a photography book that i was so engrossed by. So much so, i bought myself a copy because i know that it will be so useful down the line.

Ewing dots the book with quotes by photographers, critics, theorists etc that are inspiring and thought provoking, as much as the work itself sometimes. The book itself promotes the question of what has a portrait become? How has it changed? And portraiture itself really has come a long way. From traditional full length, to head to waist length and just head and shoulders. And now these boundaries have been pushed, they're being taken even further step by step. People want to make new work that is contemporary and says something different. And to do this, work has to be made differently.

For example the work of Eva Lauterlein and her series 'chimères' (2002)

"Real, yes, but something tells us that these beings are not fully human. There is a disengaged, robotic quality to them. Yet Eva Lauterlein's subjects are real, and human - to a degree. Or rather to several degrees. Their faces and bodies are computer-aided reconstructions from photographs of real men and women she knows, with as many as forty different photographs employed. Lauterlein might well have gone on to create freaks, but in her eerie (re)creations she cleverly skirts the line between attraction and repulsion." William A. Ewing, FACE 2006

It's clear to see how contemporary photographers take a new approach to portraiture, new techiniques and technologies play a part in work such as Lauterlein's. Maybe we can only expect portraiture to become more ground breaking over the years!

http://www.evalauterlein.net/chimeres/index.html

Ewing, William A, FACE The New Photographic Portrait, Thames & Hudson, London. 2006

Jasper James, City Sillhouettes

I recently opened a twitter account, which was previously something i had said i would never do, but when someone mentioned how useful it was for contacts and seeing other peoples photography, i thought maybe it would be worth it, and it was! The amount of creativity i have seen just by following certain people and pages has amazed me.

For example the work of Jasper James, tweeted by Feature Shoot. A Set of portraits that are layered over city-scapes in the most beautiful way.  Subtle colours and tones that create a calm atmosphere but that makes me think and consider the work curiously.

What is the connection between these people and the city which they are blended with? Is it their home? Their future or past? Or is it a statement about society and its relationship to the city. The new world we live in. Our world has become hugely modernised and over-run with technology, and a lot of the buildings in these images represent that.

One final image that really held me from this set, was this one with the aeroplane. For me it has immediate connection with the 9/11 and i cant find out if this was the intention of Jasper James or not. But the sense of fragility from the image strikes something inside me. The fact that the plane is being controlled by something outside, a higher power if you like. The scale of the hand shows how it overpowers all that is within the frame and the reality of it something quite deep in comparison of how his other images affected me.

http://www.featureshoot.com/2012/01/new-city-silhouette-portraits-by-jasper-james/

http://www.jasperjames.co.uk/

Roland Barthes, Camera Lucida

"So how does it sound to you, how does it read?" my tutor asks...

Well with difficulty i think to myself. And also like a train of thought of someone who is not a photographer... But this text is important in photography, i have been recommended it numerous times and have occasionally taken it out the library to look at specific areas (like the student i am). So why is it so well known and considered within the field?

(hops onto amazon and orders a copy... after reading thinks...)

Well as it sounds like a thought process, for me it made me think of questions i have about photography. Like when you share a conversation with someone and suddenly all your own thoughts and ideas come to the front of your mind. I begin to question 'what does make a good photograph?' and i do agree with Barthes's comment "the photograph becomes 'surprising' when we do not know why it has been taken". Surely this is what draws you into a photograph? You begin to think and consider the details of an image.

Barthes categorises those details into 2 groups, the Studium and the Punctum. The Studium is the part of the image you first take in, for example the cultural, linguistic and political interpretations and a sense of 'general enthusiastic commitment' like a general overview that all people see. The punctum is something within the image that might catch just one persons eye and be something that they connect with. It 'punctuates' the studium in Barthes's words.

In reflection i am glad i have taken the time to read this book, even though at times it was a real struggle to get a grasp of! But i now understand just why my tutors over the years have repeatedly mentioned this title, and i recommend it to you too!

Barthes, Rowland. Camera Lucida, Vintage, 1993.

"Another fine Hetherington™ product"

Sometimes when i sit infront of my laptop and decide to post an entry to my blog, something deep inside has a little grumble and groan as i ponder what on earth to write this time. It appears that i dont seem to have the same excitement for blogging as the rest of (or most of) the world.

So while i was pondering, i thought WHY is it i dont get the same urge to tap away at my keyboard and produce some beautiful posts like the ones i read online? Those of both professionals and course peers. And then i thought, well maybe i havent found something yet that really strikes an interest with me, so off i went sifting through numerous links of blogs etc to find something to inspire me (and this did take a little while as there is a countless number of blogs out there) until i came across the blog of Whats the Jackanory? and at this point it was the 2nd post that took me.

Andrew Hetherington is a photographer who started his blog WTJ in 2007 as a promotional tool but it has since taken off and become much more. It was his set 'A Room with a View' that stirred something inside me, and it was a much more positive reaction to that of writing blog entries! A collection of images taken of the view out hotel room windows which he has stayed in over the years. With titles as simple as 'View from from 623' it made me think what an excellent idea! And the pictures were just as pleasing! Take a look for yourself at this small selection:

View from room 149

View from room 322

View from room 623

View from room 302

View from room 221

You can see Hetherington's blog here: http://www.whatsthejackanory.com/

A Room With A View's book site: http://aroomwithaviewbook.com/

and his photography site: http://ahetherington.com/#/PEOPLE/People/1/

http://www.ahetherington.com/#/PROJECTS/A%20Room%20with%20a%20View/1/thumbs

Saatchi Gallery - The Sunday Times Magazine 50th Anniversary

The Saatchi Gallery is holding an exhibition of a collection of some of the best photographs to be published in The Sunday Times Magazine to celebrate its 50th Anniversary, and it has extended its opening until the 18th of March.

Images include that of celebrities, world leaders, pictures by famous photographers, and images of powerful moments that have taken place around the globe. Set in two rooms with the pictures shown on light boxes that lined the walls of the room, it felt very modern and clean, even though its a room full of history. The light boxes added emphasis to the colour in the images, and really brought the whole room together. 

A lot of the images have become very famous in their own way, and this goes to show the power of photo  journalism. The room has an air of excitement, which fulfils its celebratory aim, and with all these beautiful images that surround the room, its hard not to be amazed at just how spectacular The Sunday Times images can be!

http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/

http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/current/sunday_times.htm

Whitechapel Gallery - Zarina Bhimji, Yellow Patch.

Yellow Patch is a 30 minute film full of beautiful shots of desolate spaces in India by Zarina Bhimji. Those spaces being old colonial offices and Haveli Palaces (which I later learnt are private mansions). Bhimji was inspired by immigration and trade routes between India and Africa and these places she filmed were interpretative of the sea and deserts of the trade routes.

To accompany the images, sound was played over top. A mix of mellow notes, voices and Indian prayer music. As the spaces were devoid of any human activity, these sounds gave the feeling of the life that was once there. The motion and movement that took place beforehand of which we're now seeing the remainders of. 

It reminded me of a time when you're sitting in a peaceful area, in silence. Yet there is no silence, the dark room of which the film is played in is filled with sounds. Layers of sounds. Is there really any silence in this world? The quiet chirps of birds, the calm sounds of the winds and the noise of distant voices are all amplified in this small space.

A very poetic piece which can be watched here: http://www.zarinabhimji.com/dspseries/18/1FW.htm

And i really do think it's worth it!