Middlesex University Degree Show - The Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London.
Here we saw various projects of all kinds, art, design and fashion, but obviously I was mainly looking at the photographers. Their varied choice of subject was very interesting. Its great to see how other peoples minds work, and you always get those who want to shock and challenge - others just see what is beautiful - It was all set out in a warehouse and I enjoyed all the other subjects too. People are so talented.
STEVE McCURRY - Tues 12th October 2010
I went to visit the Steve McCurry, Retrospective Exhibition, in Birmingham. What beautiful photographs. Very moving images, the colours so warm and rich. I felt I wanted to run my hand over the pictures to feel the texture of the fabrics.. they looked so real and luscious.
The faces were etched with hardship, their skin dirty and hardened, telling the tale of their lives. I can never imagine taking such a photograph or even visiting such a place.
Steve McCurry has a knack of making these poor areas and people look beautiful, every picture has so much to tell.
My two favourite pictures from the exhibition were firstly, one of four women, each in a differnent coloured burkas, all gathered at a stall with their backs to the camera. Secondly and I think my favourite, was one of a man, to his neck in water, holding his Singer sewing machine on his shoulder. Singer sewing machines always remind me of my grandmother, she treasured her machine and this man did too.
I purchased the catalogue 'The Unguarded Moment' but sadly they were not in the book.
I was glad I made the effort to go...
EADWEARD MUYBRIDGE - 11th January 2011
The Eadweard Muybridge exhibition was showing at the Tate Britain in London. It was very busy even though the show was drawing to an end the following weekend.
I really enjoyed the exhibition - the prints were amazing, such good quality and so many images to look at.
You could sense the isolation and vastness of the Yosemite. You could imagine the extremes he would go to to get the shot that he required. His determination was immeasurable. Early on photographers would have to carry so much with them. They would need to take the dark room with them, to develop on site. He said that every photographer was his own chemist. It must have been so difficult.
There were fantastic panoramic shots taken of San Francisco.. he saw this area develop. It was amazing that he had the determination to carry on trying to get a certain shot with everything going against him, the equipment being so cumbersome.. when you compare what he had to go through compared to our digital cameras. His drive was amazing.
There was many of his pictures showing body movement, and that of animal movement, and also his investigation into whether or not the horse has all four feet off the floor during a gallop.. also there was a zoopraxiscope projecting images onto the wall.
On leaving the exhibition you had to walk past a mirrored wall with a graph opposite, so you could see your body movements against the graph, as Muybridge would have done.. fun.
Before I went I watched the BBC programme, Imagine, which was all about Muybridge, I have written about him under my heading, Photographers.
