Cold War

A film so beautiful I can’t stop playing it over in my head. A Polish drama directed by Paweł Pawlikowski telling the story of a love affair spanning the lives of two quite unfortunate beings. The pianist and composer, Wiktor Warski, casts a young mysterious  Zuzanna “Zula” Lichoń, in the folk performance he has written along with his partner. Their lives change dramatically and the lovely ebb and flow of watching it all is hypnotic. Several scenes stick out; Zula floating along on her back in a river singing – haunting and beautiful. The scene pictured above, a large mirror reflecting the room back to us whilst three characters stand watching the celebrations unfurl. Both of our protagonists embracing on a boat sailing down the Seine at night – the camera looks up at trees and Notre Dame, passes couples on benches and carries you the viewer. Perfectly depicting heady, euphoric nights. Really, very good acting and beautiful cinematography. Watch it, watch it now.

 

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Winners

An accidental 3 month hiatus from here. Hard to stay.

LensCulture award winners, good, great, interesting. Look.

Yorgos Yatromanolakis

Juror’s pick: Yorgos Yatromanolakis (Greece) – The Splitting of the Chrysalis & the Slow Unfolding of the Wings
Photograph: Yorgos Yatromanolakis/LensCulture Art Photography Awards 2018

 

Edgar Martins

3rd place series winner: Edgar Martins (UK) – Untitled, from the series What Photography has in Common with an Empty Vase
Photograph: Edgar Martins/LensCulture Art Photography Awards 2018

Birds

Henri Matisse, Vence, France, 1944, Henri Cartier-Bresson

Researching all over the place and found this photograph by Henri Cartier-Bresson. It is beautiful. The composition of the doves at the forefront and another in his hand. Lovely sunlight casting down into the room creating those pockets of bright white. It feels peaceful and calm.

 

Factory Film

I went for a ride along with Factory 35, an image library who specialise in backplates and HDR domes shot for automotive advertising. I learnt a lot about camera shake and the importance of tripods, I will definitely be taking one along next time. Also, all licence free music for films is very dramatic. I couldn’t find anything to fit so unfortunately another silent film.

A Peach

Morning Mist – Henry Peach Robinson, 1893

Whilst researching an essay on the use of photography in psychiatry I came across Henry Peach Robinson. One of his mentors was a Hugh W Diamond, the main subject of my essay. With a background in painting, Robinson adopted a clear style. He used a photomontage technique. Splicing together a couple of negatives in order to create the finished product. This allowed background and foreground to both be perfectly exposed. A lot of his images feature a figure by a window with a dramatic sky or sea scene.

His methods weren’t well received and he left the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain and formed a splinter group with others in 1892, Brotherhood of the Linked Ring. Promoting the idea of photography as fine art.

 

Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. 2018. Linked Ring ENGLISH ASSOCIATION OF PHOTOGRAPHERS. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/. [Accessed 27 February 2018].

Granville

A very rough draft of a short compilation of shots. I plan on continuing this project.

Femme Fatale

I dug into the depths of an old hard drive and found this. I made this contact sheet when I was studying at university. We had to do two contrasting portraits using the same model and shoot it on a Bronica medium format film camera. I decided to portray a femme fatale. Initially, very sweet and innocent and then revealing herself to be manipulative and self-serving. We processed the film ourselves and printed the final images to A4. I only used one light for this and crafted the blinds out of cardboard and string. This was the only module I really enjoyed.

Jewels

I came across this editorial jewellery shoot referencing Frida Kahlo and Klimt. Our most recent project was to recreate a painted portrait. The hand in was today otherwise I would have included this in my research. I am not sure on the photographer, it is just said to be produced by Candyfornia Studio.

To The Sea

Quite early this morning I bundled into my dad’s car and we set off in convoy behind my mum. Heading off to the unlikely Royal Quays to photograph a burial at sea. The light was beautiful and dreamy. The water was so still, it was clear why today was chosen to make the journey out.

We didn’t board the boat, we stood with some others at the shore. It seems like a peaceful way to go. It would be nice if all the people who join you on the boat could come too. I worry about it being lonely and cold for the person being buried, although I guess you wouldn’t mind.

 

 

“Why did they make birds so delicate and fine as those sea swallows when the ocean can be so cruel?” ― Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

 

Street

I have little to no interest in street photography when the subject has simply been observed. The photographer has snapped a sneaky shot and scuttled away. There is a rude, self serving element to it. I enjoy it when there has been an obvious back and forth. A conversation between the two. Chinatown Pretty is a blog created by Valerie Luu and Andria Lo. It celebrates the street style of seniors living in San Francisco’s Chinatown and is a great example of street photography I enjoy.

This is a photograph of a gentleman called Kuochiang Fung. The blog post gives some information towards their interaction and gives hint to his interesting backstory.

Maybe my feelings towards this style of photography will change but for now I remain stubborn.