Paul David Kemp

The Trail

2012-03-13T05:01:00.001-07:00

I went out yesterday to take some further images of what must be now a new project. One visit to a location and there just pictures of a location, a second visit and you have a startings of a project. on that visit you look and see things that you did not see the first time and you have to work harder or look differently. A second or third visit and maybe many more makes you develop the work engage with the space, your technique that you are using to capture the space and your concepts behind it.

Title so far is 'The Trail' as that location is the basis of the work, i do though see the project developing location wise to the areas around it, to ground it, to place it in context of its surroundings.

A few more visits and i may have something.

New Work

2012-03-06T04:09:00.001-08:00

I went out on Saturday and photographed a trail that runs next to a busy road that goes to a supermarket in Hove, the entrance is overgrown and once inside you are walking through trees and bushes with remnants of what possibly happened the night before shown in the detritus scattered about. There is a beauty in this area that for me is as valid and important as travelling to the Peak District or Grand Canyon, not as spectacular i would agree, but beautiful, and a nature that is far more accesable to me.

More to come!

Out with my college students

2012-03-02T00:52:00.001-08:00

During my City & Guilds class last week we went out to produce some night time images. We had fun, myself especially as i had my 6X7 film camera with me.

Here are two of the images and quite unlike myself i was having fun with car light trails.

2012-02-25T07:20:00.002-08:00

Check out Matt Phillips, his website has drawings of his trips to Nepal and are well worth a look

http://www.mattphillipsartist.com/

John Davies Video

2012-02-23T04:49:00.001-08:00

I was putting together some materials for my class and came across the this YouTube video of John Davies taking about his work, produced by The National Media Museum.

Blurb Book For Sale!

2012-02-10T01:45:00.000-08:00

I have put together a book of one of my Masters projects and it is available via Blurb, take a look!

Into The Woods by Paul Kemp

The Garden, The Field, & The Pond

2012-02-07T06:47:00.001-08:00

The beginings of a new project, i need further time to work on ideas and what next image taking wise but i thought i would share some images from the first shoot.

There is more to come i will put on Flickr in the next few days

Devils Dyke

2012-02-05T15:22:00.001-08:00

It was so very cold on the day last Saturday up there (possibly warmer though than this weekend with the snow!) that we did not stay long up there!

My Weekend ahead

2012-02-02T01:56:00.001-08:00

With 24 films to develop from Tuesday my weekend ahead looks something like this.

Image above from Flickr here

Images from my endevours will follow!

I do like the romantic idea of washing my films in the Gulf of Mexico like the National Geographic Photographer above!

Postcards From America Book

2012-01-31T12:46:00.001-08:00

There is a bit of a buzz about the release of the book which is the culmination of the project involving 5 Magnum Photographers and one writer. It looks amazing and really shows how big a part photobooks play in being a material, individual art piece in this digitized online world.

It is an item on many peoples wish lists a the moment, I am though spending my money on more film to continue ongoing work!

At Devils Dyke on on very cold Saturday in January

2012-01-30T02:49:00.001-08:00

Six black & white images taken to then use to test development times and agitation. A far too cold and windy day, i felt like i should be in arctic weather gear. I will post the images at later date!

2012-01-29T13:16:00.000-08:00

Alec Soth shows us the Postcards from America Box, really nice stuff!

A Walk By The Sea

2012-01-11T15:33:00.001-08:00

Back from holiday travels I took a walk along the sea near the harbour.

Out on a sunny day with my camera a rare event for me!

Blackpool Sands

2012-01-11T00:56:00.001-08:00

During the New Year break in Devon we stopped off for a walk at Blackpool Sands, it was raining a little and so while one of the family was holding the umbrella covering the camera, I worked taking these images! Then we went to the pub.

New Year

2012-01-10T11:08:00.001-08:00

A New Year break in Devon staying in a cottage in the country brought with it many photo taking opportunites, and when it was not raining i did just that!.

Christmas

2012-01-10T04:51:00.001-08:00

Christmas visiting relatives relaxing and taking photographs. It was good to get away, a break from the routine and time to catch up on important things.

A grey day in the back garden

Hove Lagoon

2011-12-15T04:07:00.001-08:00

Hove Lagoon, East Sussex

Boundary Row

2011-12-07T01:16:00.001-08:00

Boundary Row, London

Webber Street

2011-12-06T04:39:00.001-08:00

Webber St, London, SE1

Spring Term Teaching

2011-12-04T11:47:00.000-08:00

With one term coming to an end i start looking towards the next and the courses starting during that term.

Here's a heads up!

Courses starting during the Spring term: (click course titles to go to Morley College website to book)

BEGINNERS' DIGITAL SLR PHOTOGRAPHY

This course demystifies the digital single lens reflex (SLR)camera so that students can get the most out of their equipment. Throughdemonstrations and hands-on sessions, students will learn how to use thesettings and functions of their cameras while practising taking digitalphotographs.

Course Starts: 13th Jan 2012

LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY FIELD TRIP: HAMPSTEAD & HIGHGATE

The first day we meet on location (outdoors), withdemonstrations on technique and one-to-one help on camera skills andcomposition. Working in groups you will explore the location and take images.Day two is classroom based, with demonstrations on editing technique and use ofAdobe Lightroom to review and edit your images.

Course Starts: 21st Jan 2012

LIGHTROOM FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

Learn photo management and image-editing digital workflowusing Adobe Lightroom – the powerful programme for professional and enthusiastphotographers. Explore this increasingly essential and user friendly programmeto edit your images and streamline your computer workflow. Students need goodcomputer skills.

Course Starts: 11th Jan 2012

HOW TO PRODUCE AND PUBLISH YOUR OWN PHOTO BOOK

Ever wanted to produce a professional photo book of yourimages for a portfolio of your work? Or maybe images from a special event, suchas a wedding or holiday, for a gift? Learn about computer techniques forresizing images, how to upload to an online book publisher, and design skillsto produce a professional photo book to be proud of! Students should have basiccomputer skills.

Course Starts: 12th Jan 2012

INTERMEDIATE DIGITAL SLR PHOTOGRAPHY

This intermediate course guides students through mastering their camera functions. Beyond the introduction to exposure, white balance and composition, we take on flash, post-production (using Adobe Lightroom), lighting styles, direction and quality. With weekly assignments set to push you creatively. Students are asked to bring their cameras.

Course Starts: 11th Jan 2012

Morley College

Morley Courses with Keyword Search Photography

Walnut Tree Walk

2011-11-30T01:15:00.001-08:00

Walnut Tree Walk, London, SE11

Lamlash Street

2011-11-29T00:53:00.001-08:00

Lamlash Street, London, SE11

Lambeth Walk

2011-11-28T06:00:00.001-08:00

Lambeth Walk, London, SE11

New Images

2011-11-14T09:28:00.001-08:00

Two images taken last week in a garden area in London. I am looking at working on an extended project over the next year, London as a location is set and working in black and white the rest we will have to see how it develops!

Manics poster

2011-11-02T14:56:00.001-07:00

Another great advertising image using the formal portrait pose. This one for the new Manic Street Preachers album. A classic way of setting up a portrait that when done well that i am never really tired of seeing.

Studio Photography Course Starting Tomorrow

2011-11-01T05:40:00.001-07:00

I am starting a six week Studio Photography course at Morley College tomorrow, a course i do enjoy teaching. Its content being pretty much all practical hands on teaching and learning can be busy, chaotic and fun!. Quickly going from studio technique to composition and camera skills and seeing some interesting images during the practical sessions.

With good quality Elinchrom lights to use and white and black fabric backgrounds as well as a lastolite Hilite Background we can produce quite a few different setups mostly practicing portraiture and some still life during the class.

Thinking about Studio use here are a couple Photographs by others that are really great example to work towards!

Anthony Keidis from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers By Scarlet Page

Bjork by Richard Avedon

Nearly Forgot!

A few places left possible on the course

At Morley College

Images From a Walk in Stanmer Park

2011-10-28T08:09:00.001-07:00

I went to Stanmer Park a couple of months ago for a nice walk and a chance to use my large format camera. Over the summer i have been enjoying using a Holga camera taking images around where I live, it was great though to get back to using my field camera it is a great way of working, a much more considered slower approach which i do enjoy. I am looking towards taking a lot more images with it in the coming months.

Photo Writings

2011-10-27T14:11:00.001-07:00

Many times i have had students of differing levels ask me to reccomend what books texts etc to read. This is an interesting task and also one that needs some resources on which book etc.

First off i think of James Pomerantz's list of Photo Readings on his site A Photo Student, a good list that takes you to some PDF documents of the texts. This list would be for me a great start for someone who is off to university to study Photography at Degree level.
As well as the texts there are many very good books to help with your photographic education, below are links to two amazon (other local bookshops will be able to get them too!) wish lists i have compiled, they are dynamic lists and subject to change

Photography Theory

Photography Technique

If i have missed out a book that to you seems like a glarring omission on my part please let me know!

Model Boaters at the Lagoon

2011-10-27T00:58:00.001-07:00

New Images of Portslade and its surrounds

2011-10-26T06:37:00.001-07:00

Moo Moo's Hairshop

2011-10-06T06:04:00.001-07:00

Out on a shoot

2011-08-30T13:48:00.001-07:00

It was great today to get out and take some photographs with my large format camera. Eight black & white images taken during a three hour walk, I will dev and scan in a few days, I have though three rolls of holga images to scan first and i am looking forward to seeing the results.

Photography at Morley College 2011-12

2011-08-17T09:38:00.001-07:00

Its that time of year again, looking towards the start of the next years teaching. There are certainly more courses running at the college next year, new courses i am running and the two new photography tutors the college now has. I am certainly looking forward to the Landscape Photography weekend courses which are new this year and and the studio courses using the new kit the college now has.

I am also looking forward to a new intake of City & Guilds students next September, this years students did very well and gained some notice winning some prizes in the yearly C&G Competition, i am looking forward to an equally good year to come.

For info on the courses go to the colleges website

I prefer to be behind the camera but...

2011-08-04T12:05:00.001-07:00

Last weekend was rather busy as i was teaching two courses on Saturday and Sunday at Morley college. The image above taken during a one day studio photography course which was busy for me but rather fun. The image taken by a student Melanie Ring (originally on her blog) during the day, we had a white background set up with two front lights giving an even light and a black background, with one strong light. Running between the two set ups helping students with the lighting and use of lightmeter and camera skills needed i saw some very good images coming from a group of students who had not used studio flash equipment before, it was a good day.

Images From End of year Photography Show

2011-07-11T08:01:00.001-07:00

Here are some images by the students

Image by: Carys Lavin

Image by: Alexa Wilding

Image by: Karina Immanuel

Image by: Tom Kellett

Image by: Vicky Wilford

End of year Photography Show

2011-07-09T10:06:00.001-07:00

My students have work up at the college for a few weeks, a good year and a high standard of work and a great mix of styles and subjects.

Made@Morley Exhibition

2011-06-15T01:33:00.001-07:00

An exhibition of work by my students is on at the moment, go and have a look.

Out with My Camera

2011-06-14T02:42:00.001-07:00

SOMEWHERE TO DISAPPEAR

2011-04-30T09:52:00.000-07:00

A trailer for SOMEWHERE TO DISAPPEAR, a film about the photographer Alec Soth.

I am going to be looking out for this!

Blogs I am Reading

2011-04-18T01:21:00.001-07:00

Just flicking through the blogs i subscribe to this morning two standout, one a post from Visual Culture Blog titled Photography, Memory and a Wave of Destruction looking a the power of photographs as a memorial to those who have been lost. The second a blog, Postcards from America, the latest Magnum project featuring five Magnum photographers and one writer travelling from San Antonio to Oakland from May 12-26, 2011.

http://visualcultureblog.com/2011/04/photography-memory-and-a-wave-of-destruction/

http://postcardsfromamerica.tumblr.com

On Being a Street Photographer

2011-04-08T02:40:00.001-07:00

With many days commuting to London for teaching I am surrounded by the city, with some time to spare I decided yesterday to wander the tourist areas with my camera, here are some images.

Flowers

2011-03-03T03:44:00.001-08:00

Flowers photographed last week. I am missing the Universities Imacon scanner and trying to get the most out of my own flatbed!

I would normally spend longer on an image before putting it online, maybe i will spend time getting it perfect and then post that too, a kind of before and after!

Half Term

2011-02-25T10:21:00.001-08:00

Half term, at home, bad weather, i dig out my recently returned 5X4 and start photographing flowers, i will post the results at some point.

Private View

2011-01-13T02:24:00.001-08:00

Exhibition

2011-01-13T02:23:00.001-08:00

One of the courses that i teach has just finished and they have an exhibition at the college, take a look at some of the images from it

City & Guilds Level 2 in Photo Imaging

Luke Plummer

Alan Tonge

Catherine More

Marie Pelouchova

Rupert Tebb

A Belated Happy New Year

2011-01-06T09:48:00.001-08:00

It Being the 6th of January it is a bit late, but anyway, Happy New Year

Decorations in Angel

Image of the day: André Kertész

2010-11-12T12:30:00.001-08:00

Broken Bench, 1962

Daylight Mulitmedia - Alec Soth + Martin Parr Podcast

2010-10-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

As part of the Brighton Photo Biennial 2010 Martin Parr interviews photographer Alec Soth. Alec Soth discusses with Martin Parr how soth's daughter became involved in the comission for this years Brighton Photo Biennial 2010, together they produced a project titled "Brighton Picture Hunt".

Brighton Photo Biennial: Strange & Familiar: Three Views of Brighton

2010-10-03T13:35:00.001-07:00

Yesterday i walked round Brighton looking at the shows that have been presented as part of the Brighton Photo Biennial, it is so good to see so much photography within walking distance. I enjoyed the Keynote exhibition at the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery featuring the artists Alec Soth, Rinko Kawauchi and Stephen Gill.

There is information on the BPB website and the guardian and BJP websites:

http://www.bpb.org.uk/

http://www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/profile/1736785/martin-parrs-new-documents

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/sep/27/martin-parr-brighton-photo-biennial

http://www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/interview/1736687/brighton-photo-biennial-alejandro-chaskielberg

Here is an interesting article from the guardian about Alec Soth's project

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/sep/19/alec-carmen-soth-brighton-biennial

I will be looking round more of the show in the coming weeks as there is plenty to see, do come and look yourself

Rinko Kawauchi

Alec & Carmen Soth

Stephen Gill

Lewis Baltz Works

2010-09-29T03:03:00.001-07:00

A box that contains the entire works of Lewis Baltz, out of reach of my budget possibly, Works celebrates Lewis Baltz incredible contribution to photography.

http://www.steidlville.com/books/1104-Lewis-Baltz-WORKS.html

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lewis-Baltz-Works/dp/3869301147/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1285753840&sr=1-1

Eadweard Muybridge Show at Tate Britain

2010-09-09T09:12:00.001-07:00

A major Eadweard Muybridge retrospective will opened yesterday on 8 September at Tate Britain. Bringing together over 150 works, this exhibition will demonstrate how Muybridge broke new ground in the emerging art form of photography. From his iconic images of motion to depictions of the sublime landscapes of America, the exhibition will present the full range of Muybridge’s work. I am certainly looking forward to seeing the show, it runs until 16 January 2011.

Information at Tate Britain

https://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/eadweardmuybridge/default.shtm

Guardian Article on the show

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/sep/06/eadweard-muybridge-tate-britain-exhibition

A New Year Teaching

2010-09-06T13:20:00.001-07:00

My teaching at Morley College will commence again in a few weeks, with more courses this year it looks like it will be an eventful one.

http://www.morleycollege.ac.uk/

Some Walks

2010-08-31T13:51:00.001-07:00

Some photographs from summer walks

The Pond by John Gossage

2010-08-26T08:40:00.001-07:00

I am being increasingly drawn to black and white imagery at the moment and one such case is John Gossage's work 'The Pond'.

John Gossage photographed a small, unnamed pond between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland, between 1981 and 1985. The title was intended to recall Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, but Gossage advocated a more all-embracing view of the landscape, exploring the less idealised spaces that border America's cities and suburbs. Although many of the images in The Pond appear unruly or uncared for, Gossage found moments of grace and elegance in even the most mundane of places.(1)

The book is going to be reissued in September and will be on my shopping list, see the Amazon listing

http://www.amazon.co.uk/John-Gossage-Pond/dp/1597111325

(1 http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2010/gossage/)

Robert Adams image

2010-08-23T04:09:00.001-07:00

Colorado Springs, ca. 1968. Robert Adams.

"I took a picture once of a woman silhouetted in a tract house window. And in one sense that’s a picture of the saddest kind of isolation and most inhumane sort of building. But also raining down over this picture onto the roof and the lawn is glorious high-altitude light. Nabokov said there’s no light like Colorado’s, except in central Russia. And you can see it in this picture. It’s absolutely sublime."

http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/adams/

Exhibition to see

2010-06-22T13:51:00.001-07:00

There is an exhibition of my students work at the College i teach from Friday 2nd until 17th July, at Morley College, London.

Visit during opening hours.

Morley College, 61 Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7HT.

No, you're not a photographer, you just own a camera

2010-06-22T13:29:00.000-07:00

I found this on a blog I thought I would re-publish, to see where the original is from click here

Exhibition: Exposed Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera

2010-06-03T12:26:00.000-07:00

I am looking forward seeing the new photography exhibition at the Tate Modern in London which is on until 3 October 2010. The last big photography show at the Tate (and i believe the first big photography show there) since Cruel and Tender, which was fantastic. Going by what i have seen online it seems to be a mix of genres and imagery, from photos documenting the cult of the celebrity, to images of police watchtowers, and from what i have seen on a Guardian image gallery images by Walker Evans, Shizuka Yokomizo, and Garry Winogrand.

Here is text from the Tate press release:

Exposed offers a fascinating look at pictures made on the sly, without the explicit permission of the people depicted. With photographs from the late nineteenth century to present day, the pictures present a shocking, illuminating and witty perspective on iconic and taboo subjects.

Beginning with the idea of the 'unseen photographer', Exposed presents 250 works by celebrated artists and photographers including Brassaï's erotic Secret Paris of the 1930s images; Weegee's iconic photograph of Marilyn Monroe; and Nick Ut's reportage image of children escaping napalm attacks in the Vietnam War. Sex and celebrity is an important part of the exhibition, presenting photographs of Liz Taylor and Richard Burton, Paris Hilton on her way to prison and the assassination of JFK. Other renowned photographers represented in the show include Guy Bourdin, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Philip Lorca DiCorcia, Walker Evans, Robert Frank, Nan Goldin, Lee Miller, Helmut Newton and Man Ray.

The UK is now the most surveyed country in the world. We have an obsession with voyeurism, privacy laws, freedom of media, and surveillance – images captured and relayed on camera phones, YouTube or reality TV.

Much of Exposed focuses on surveillance, including works by both amateur and press photographers, and images produced using automatic technology such as CCTV. The issues raised are particularly relevant in the current climate, with topical debates raging around the rights and desires of individuals, terrorism and the increasing availability and use of surveillance. Exposed confronts these issues and their implications head-on.

(Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA from guardian article, which can be seen here)

Robert Frank's 'The Americans'

2010-05-27T03:57:00.000-07:00

After many years of going to bookshops and buying a photography book or two i recently purchased Robert Franks 'The Americans'. Before now i would browse a copy of Franks famous book occasionally, look through its pages but i would put it back on the shelve and would seek out a book by a recently established photographer.

I recently succumbed, i was in one of those big book chains and saw 'The Americans' at a good price, so i rather than looking for something strange and new i took home this classic.

It's a great book, i can flick through it for ages, this images are beautifully presented snapshots of everyday life. The sequencing of the book is also sheer genius, as you flick through the book it takes upon a cinematic quality and you feel like you are travelling with Frank through sixties america.

BrightClick Talk

2010-04-15T02:22:00.001-07:00

BrightClick Poster, originally uploaded by clickflickjim.

I do enjoy talks, I am going to this talk next wednesday 21st April, at the Sallis Benney theatre (Grand Parade). The talk is organised by a friend Jim Stephenson, he has pulled together a varied group of photographers talking about their work and Helen Cadwallader, the Brighton Photo Biennial executive director talking about this years Biennial.

Here is his text about it:

Emma Critchley will be discussing the inspiration and unique way she works with her underwater portraits, which focus on the human relationship with water and it’s diverse nature (well worth checking out her website to see some of the amazing work she does www.emmacritchley.com).

Mr. Kevin Meredith (aka Lomokev, to you and I), will be speaking about the place that film photography has in today’s digital age and what he thinks it’s future may be (hit up www.lomokev.com).

Richard Rowland will be presenting Urban Fictions, a photographic and video project examining the representation of simulated urban developments emerging in Eastern China (see his site for some beautiful images - he also has a special surprise planned for us on the evening... www.richardrowland.co.uk).

Helen Cadwallader, the Brighton Photo Biennial executive director, will discuss the background to the Biennial and present plans for the curatorial concept of BPB 2010, as guest curated by Martin Parr (www.bpb.org.uk).

Finally, the boys from Garage Studios are discussing the workings of a professional studio, how and why they set it up. They’ll also be taking a good look at how one of their typically inventive shoots work and reflecting on some of their personal photography as well (www.garage-studios.co.uk).

Exhibition opening

2010-03-11T03:40:00.000-08:00

I was invited to a private view last night of the MA Photojournalism and Documentary Photography (ONLINE MODE) end of course show entitled Beyond Borders.

The Exhibition is on from 10^th March – 1^st April 2010, Monday to Friday 9am-7pm.

At THE PRINTSPACE GALLERY

74 Kingsland road, E2 8DL London

www.theprintspace.co.uk/

This is the about the show text from their website:

A Swedish photographer based in England and working in Kaliningrad, Lukashenka’s Belarus seen through the eyes of an American photographer living in Sweden, a disparate collection of Londoners photographing their own visions of London and an insider’s view of the divided communities living in the coal mining region of West Virginia. These are just some of the stories in Beyond Borders, an exhibition featuring the work of 15 very different photographers from eight countries on show in London’s Printspace gallery from March 11 until March 31.

Shot on everything from medium format cameras to mobile phones, and with genres including experimental street photography, portraiture and traditional in-your-face photojournalism, Beyond Borders represents the collective results of the first ever online master’s degree course in photojournalism and documentary photography at the London College of Communication, a bold and groundbreaking experiment reflecting the current monumental changes within the industry.

www.16photographers.com/

I was their to support two of the participants whom I now socially, Anna Johansson and Kate Hooper. It was a good show, photojournalism is not my field and maybe not up on current trends etc but the images were interesting, the images fitted the space well and produced to a high standard. It was also a very busy evening as you can see from the images, it was hard to capture the work well at all, so you will have to go to the show rather than rely on my images!.

Anna Johansson

http://ajfoto.co.uk/

Kate Hooper

http://www.katehooper.co.uk/

Exhibition to see

2010-01-20T04:07:00.000-08:00

I am very much looking forward to seeing the William Eggleston exhibition It is on from the 15th January to the 27th February at the Victoria Miro Gallery in London. William Eggleston is one of the most influential photographers of the last half-century. Producing images in his home town of Memphis, Tennessee, of places, and scenes most people commonly would not look twice at. He inspired a generation of photographers and made colour photography art.

Pecha Kucha

2009-11-22T11:32:00.000-08:00

Last week I presented my Common Places at Brighton's Pecha Kucha night at the Lighthouse Arts Centre. It was a interesting night and enjoyable one too. I had not presented my work in public before and was a little nervous, but I do have to say the format of the night helped somewhat. The night, held in somewhere that serves drinks, with sofas etc and the lights dimmed brings about a relaxed atmosphere. The people attending are there to support the presenters, and with no time for questions etc there is as a quick turnaround between the presenters. The presentations themselves are relatively quick too, the format is that each person shows twenty slides, with each slide shown for twenty seconds the speech last just 6 minutes, 40 seconds. This then produces a concise presentation that cuts right to the heart of the topic that is being shown. I was fourth in line and then had the rest of the evening to watch and enjoy myself, a very interesting evening.

Exhibitions to see

2009-11-05T09:40:00.000-08:00

A friend and colleague from my Masters at the University of Brighton has two shows opening at the moment.

One a video piece for the Leeds Art Gallery, Wandering Abroad documents a Nigerian David Oluwale who came to England with dreams of studying and a better life, but twenty years later he was found drowned in the River Aire. The film traces his journey and the wider experience of migration to England and in specific Leeds one of the most multicultural cities in the UK.

The second is a joint show at the Architectural Association, Projected Landscapes which brings together photographers who all play with the idea of contemporary myth-making, Corinne's work from Almeria Spain feature alongside other work which has been curated by Foto8

To see see more of Corinne's work click here

Exhibition

2009-10-29T21:24:00.000-07:00

I was in London again today and went to the The Photographers Gallery to see Jim Goldberg Open See.

Here is the text about the show: Open See documents the experiences of people who travel from war torn, socially and economically devastated countries, to make new lives in Europe. They have left often violent, oppressive, poverty-stricken or AIDS ravaged communities, in search of stability and the promise of a better future. Originating from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East, these ‘new Europeans’ have met violence and brutality as well as hope and liberation in their new homes.

The show left quite an effect on me, the portraits of the migrants and their stories, but most of all how the Polaroid images had been written on and damaged. Unlike documentary stories and traditional photo essays where it feels like the photographer is parachuted in to capture or more likely just glimpse part of a story, and then leave. Goldberg's subjects participate in the image making process through writing on the images produced, a dialogue with the subject and photographer and then subsequently the subject and viewer. It was moving to read the stories that form part of Open See, from dreams of living in Europe, to documenting how the subject had been duped into prostitution.

The exhibition with its images at varying levels on the wall, exhibits in glass cabinets and video piece, gave a fresh feel to how to show photographic work.

London Exhibitions

2009-10-01T22:53:00.000-07:00

Inspiration from going to some galleries today.

Tate Britain

Eva Rothschild Cold Corners, in the Duveen Galleries was magnificent to see, an amazing space and a site specific sculpture working together perfectly.

Here an image from the Guardian

I also looked round the main free exhibition space, drawn to the most photographic of paintings that were there, with depth and perspective. Including Millias: Flowing to the river 1871 (pictured below).

Photography there at the moment, I found images by Paul Graham and Willie Dotherty depicting the Troubles in Northern Ireland and some images by Thomas Joshua Cooper.

I also went to Foyles bookshop and purchased 'The Everyday' part of the Documents of Contemporary Art series. A page-turning selection of some of the essays that examine the aesthetics of the everyday.

A Start

2009-09-21T13:44:00.000-07:00

I am just finishing my Masters at the University of Brighton, a two year course I have fully engaged in and enjoyed. I does however feel like a start rather than a finish.

A point of departure from the safe University experience, back out into the real world.

The Show

2009-09-19T06:27:00.000-07:00

Some images of my work from the Masters show.

Masters Show

2009-09-17T06:18:00.000-07:00

Our show is on from Friday 18th September - Monday 28th September at the University of Brighton foyer.

This is the press release:

MA09 showcases diverse new work by students graduating from the University of Brighton MA Photography course. This year’s graduates will be exhibiting a wide variety of work that aims to push the boundaries of documentary, editorial, landscape and still life photography. Using a range of different media – photography, video, holography, and modes of exhibition that range from the formal framed print to the installation, from photobook to plasma screen, their work demonstrates the wide variety of individual research projects undertaken on the course.

Work featured in the exhibition ranges from the political analysis of space and place, as in Ignacio Acosta’s spectacular high definition photographs of Canary Wharf office blocks and Corrine Silva’s trenchant analysis of the postmodern landscapes of modern Almeria, to more personal and psychologically inflected representations of the English landscape: Paul Kemp’s melancholic suburban parklands and Will Woods’ explorations of landscapes that are tinged by unexpected intimations of the marvellous and unexpected. The structures of the unconscious, the dream and the filmic determine the photo-narratives of Eva Voutsaki, and the unconscious as the site of trauma is the starting point for Will Sadowski’s explorations of war imagery, artefacts, and stories. Andrew Moran presents a series of video pieces that explore the relationship of the still to the moving image through a reflective practice. This meditation upon a kind of photographic death is paralleled by Lisa Creagh’s huge flower pictures that interrogate the relationship between the 17th century flower painting and the airless fractal space of the digital print.

MA Publication Text

2009-09-16T23:39:00.000-07:00

Text about my work in the MA Publication:

Paul Kemp’s photographs of Green Belt Surrey gardens and parks present us with a landscape permeated with melancholy and a sense of entropy and inertia. An impoverished nature is framed for us by garden walls and park railings; benches are positioned to look out onto scrubby lines of trees and waste paper bins; roads are lined by dishevelled hedges and unkempt verges. This is the world we live in that we so often fail to see.

Joanna Lowry

MA Publication

2009-09-16T05:56:00.000-07:00

As part of the Masters course and resulting exhibition we have produced a book which has been sent out to artists curators and galleries. Here are the two double pages that represent my work.

Common Places

2009-09-10T13:54:00.000-07:00

An exploration

It started with a question mark, a second look at the landscape, then a personal dialogue with a landscape I am familiar with and a conversation with the language of landscape and how we perceive the world around us. The landscape around us, it is a fantasy, a fiction, the suburban green belt dream.

The romantic style of landscape still aspired to, harking back to a time before, taught us how to design magnificent outdoor spaces as well as the smallest family garden. It taught us how to achieve beauty with the simplest and commonest of means: the landforms and vegetation everywhere surrounding us; but has it brought us closer to nature?

Common Places is an exploration of everyday spaces, car parks, roads, recreation grounds, gardens, areas we inhabit. Here are the lamp standards, park benches, dog waste bins, fences, radio masts, bollards, signs and other street furniture. A tour unfolds of modern monuments to our present culture that amount to a pattern of tokens and traces.

Into The Woods

2009-08-13T10:51:00.000-07:00

An area of fantasy and warfare, a paintball site. Into the woods adults go and play, enacting an exhilarating fantasy of violence, tactics and strategies. Deep in the woods, an area associated in childhood fairy tales as a site of change, outside of normal rules and everyday life, men and women play at war. I am documenting the theatrical arenas, where teams battle in a survival of the fittest.

The paintball company manages the land, creates the combat zones and leads the games; For one day, with a real natural environment, not a video game, the players have a first hand experience of their own basic instincts for hunting, warfare and survival instincts, usually suppressed or reshaped in their daily life within a rigid societal structure.

Night

2002-09-23T02:43:00.000-07:00

These images are all taken at night or dusk looking at places people walk past on the way home from work. People hurry through the streets past these dark corners of the city which some may find intimidating, rushing home to the warmth of their houses where they spend the night in safety.

I stop and look at spaces, which are quiet, and of no real importance. Spot lit by street lamps shrouded in darkness. I look at the beauty in the everyday environment, pausing to contemplate the corners of the world, which despite their beauty remain unnoticed.

I feel like I am collecting these places. Areas people do not often look at day to day. They do not seem to have much significance during the day, but at night they take on a different feeling, it is like time stands still, it is silent and deserted.

A contemplative mood takes over these places, the same night after night, something predictable about it. Clues are found to tell us about the people who inhabit the areas, but not in straightforward ways. Traces of our past kept secret from us, retained in dark hidden places waiting to be discovered.

Lewes Chalk Pit

2002-09-18T02:31:00.000-07:00

Ruins signal simultaneously an absence and a presence; they show, they are, an intersection of the visible and the invisible. Fragmented, decayed structures, which no longer serve their original purpose, point to an absence a lost invisible whole. But their visible presence also points to durability, even if that which is no longer what it once was.

Ruins speak to us in ways that things made by nature cannot. In their persistent presence, ruins speak to us of the structures they once were, of the people who made them, of those who commanded them to be made, and of those who for a time made use of them. In their evocation of absence, they speak of those who destroyed them or those who have tried to make sense of them, or have been drawn to represent them, or have used them as objects of memorialisation.

(Extract from "Irresistible Decay" by Micheal S Roth with Claire Lyons by the Getty Research Institute 1997)