The Museum of Everything
This new exhibition gives visitors a view outside an art world closely linked to educational institutions, awards, money and fashion.
Those on show, collectively outsiders — but individually unique, are from all over the world. They share little, only the compulsion to be creative and the will to produce their work. Among them are obsessives, loners, those with mental illnesses, the secretive and the persecuted.
Founder James Brett describes the venue as a 'public museum showing extraordinary works of privacy' – you certainly get the sense of being a voyeur. Ironically, the venue is in London's affluent Primrose Hill. Perhaps more fittingly, its laid out in a confusing labyrinth of small corridors, niches and rooms in a building that was once a dairy and more recently a recording studio.
For once, the captions (provided by David Byrne, Ed Ruscha, Peter Blake, Jarvis Cocker and others), inform rather than confuse.
The Museum of Everything is sad, delightful, uncomfortable, scary and over quite soon, so you'll need to visit quickly.
Posted: 26.02.2010 | Comments: 0 | Add a comment
The value of Flickr feedback
One of the most useful features of a Pro account on Flickr is the statistics it offers. These cover view counts, most viewed photos, referrers and a breakdown of your images (geotagged and not geotagged etc).
I don't take pictures for any other reasons than a desire to improve and for my own enjoyment. However, its very interesting to keep an eye on the statistics, especially which of your images people view (like) the most.
It's always a struggle to produce work that people like (or predict what they'll like in the first place). Fortunately, I don't need to to worry about this within my photographic work, but in my day job as a art director you do have to consider it. You'll always try and rationalise why your response to any brief is appropriate (and why it'll be effective), but in the end the paying client will always want something they like. Its very usual for them to fully put logic before liking.
I tried an experiment. The Telegraph newspaper (UK) run a weekly travel photo competition. Rather than enter an image I thought was good, I entered my most viewed image on Flickr.
I won that week's competition (and a Nikon camera).
Posted: 10.02.2010 | Comments: 0 | Add a comment
Hands up who has climbed Everest
I spent last night at A Night of Adventure, a Pecha Kucha* event where 15 extraordinary people took turns to present a short sideshow against the clock. Organiser and master of ceremonies Alastair Humphreys put together an amazing line-up — all in aid of Hope and Homes for Children. There can't be many evenings out where someone can ask "Hands up who has climbed Everest?" and expect a decent show of hands in response. Nor an evening so likely to make you feel like a complete wimp!
There were many highlights; Alastair's A-Z of adventure, Andy Ward's tale of walking from London to Istanbul, Martin Hartley's amazing images from the poles and James Hooper's talk on the beauty of risk.
The night ended with a really nice surprise — Sarah Outen, who I recently photographed, received two Guinness World Records for her solo rowing trip across the Indian Ocean.
A bigger event is being planned soon — if you are interested get your tickets well in advance as this one sold out very quickly.
* Japanese for chit-chat.
Posted: 03.02.2010 | Comments: 0 | Add a comment
The Legacy of Lawrence of Arabia by Rory Stewart
I was very interested to hear about this film, written and presented by Rory Stewart. I've admired Stewart since I read The Places in Between, and have been always been fascinated by T.E. Lawrence.
Stewart's film examines the history of western intervention in the Middle East and the relevance of lessons learnt by Lawrence in Iraq and Afghanistan today.
Stewart is perfectly qualified to lead the investigation. He's a Harvard professor, adventurer and acclaimed author as well as a former soldier, diplomat and governor of two Iraqi provinces. He draws a balanced picture of Lawrence, avoiding the myths created by the media and the man himself.
Importantly, Stewart reminds us of the events were to haunt Lawrence and tarnish British–Arab relations ever after. The United Kingdom agreed in the Hussein-McMahon Correspondence that it would support Arab independence if they revolted against the Ottoman Empire. The British Government didn't honour their promise. They betrayed the Arabs and arbitrary divided up the land with the French under the Sykes–Picot Agreement.
Stewart sums up, 'Looking at Iraq and Afghanistan today, I believe very strongly that Lawrence's message would not have been do it better, do it more sensitively, but don't do it at all.'
The film is well worth watching — I feel Stewart can add 'great filmmaker' to his enviably long list of achievements. Those in the UK can watch it for a limited period on the BBC's iPlayer.
Posted: 19.01.2010 | Comments: 0 | Add a comment
Top ten tips for travel photography
- Photograph alone. It's a lot easier to interact with people and you won't worry about frustrating your travel companions
- Do your research. You'll be a lot more productive if you turn up during a big festival or similar event
- Have a back-up plan. If your wallet gets stolen, you should have some emergency cash elsewhere. If a camera breaks, you should know where you can get it repaired or replaced
- Eliminate all unnecessary gear. Carry your extra stuff in a small bag. Bashing into everything with a large, heavy bag won't help things
- Take your camera out at the beginning of the day and don't put it away until the end. If you put it in a bag, you'll end up missing something
- Walk as much as possible. Don't worry about getting lost. At the end of the day, just ask people for directions back to your base, then walk home or hitch a ride
- Talk to people. Express an interest in what they are doing
- Ask permission to photograph whenever possible
- Never give in. Never give in. Thank you Mr Churchill. The longer you persevere, the harder you think about trying to do things your way, the more streets you walk down, the better you'll get
- Respect everyone and be nice! This is a huge privilege.
Posted: 18.01.2010 | Comments: 0 | Add a comment
Rena Effendi at the HOST gallery
Rena Effendi gave a fascinating talk at London's HOST gallery last night. I first became aware of her work when she allowed Toby Deveson and I to exhibit some of her images our website, Odyssey Photography. I've followed her career ever since, so was very pleased to hear about the evening.
Born in Baku, Azerbaijan, Effendi first worked as a translator for the Azerbaijan International Oil Company, a consortium of some of the world's largest oil producers. The job gave the financial independence that eventually allowed the former painter to pursue photography fulltime.
She talked through two projects: Pipe Dreams (exploring the lives of people living along the pipeline through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey) and House of Happiness (work covering women at risk in the Ferghana Valley a region of Central Asia). Both works were respectful to their subjects, showed great compassion and were beautifully captured.
I was particularly struck by a number of things. Effendi is very wise and has a enviable clarity of purpose. She has a detailed knowledge of the forces shaping her subjects. She's also very successful in photographing her own country, something I think many people find really challenging.
A show of Effendi's work continues at the HOST gallery until 16 January 2010.
Buy Pipe Dreams or find out more about Rena Effendi and the HOST gallery.
Posted: 13.01.2010 | Comments: 0 | Add a comment