i have now added my edinburgh photos from a day i spent there last weekend and created an edinburgh set
if anyone recognises this bride let me know - it was a wedding i was passing on the royal mile but think it's rather a nice photo and she might like it...
i had an easy day today recovering from a busy bank hoilday weekend. i was in london for a meeting but then visited a couple of photography exhibitions which are both brilliant...
gilbert garcin started taking photos aged 65 which in itself is pretty cool and is now exhibiting aged 80! he creates these wacky surreal collage photos. apparently he makes them blue peter style by cutting figures out and pasting them on backgrounds and projecting slides. and you can tell in some of the photos but it really adds to the charm! they are quirky and funny, visual gags really. well worth a visit at hoopers gallery. there are a few examples here. i only found out about it via friends at LIP - for some reason it's not listed in timeout
then at mason's yard white cube gregory crewdson has an exhibition. he was featured on the photography series a while back on tv which i've forgotten the name of. he bascially constructs elaborate expensive scenes that are more like a film set with lighting and actors and so on. and then the prints are printed on a large scale (1.5 by 2m or something like that). the exhibition must have about 20 of these photos and they are pretty compelling. a lot are of small town america, and somehow have a bleakness about them.
both of these artists are not just taking photographs - lots of manipulation involved. one makes you feel i might try that, and the other is on a scale out of my league!
i have jotted down below a few quotes from the annual LIP lecture the night before last given by paul hill. he was one of the people who inspired LIP with what he calls a personal approach to photography. this is probably a lot more commonplace now but i got the impression that it was pretty innovative at the time. he showed some of his current work, the corridor of uncertainty, which was a pretty raw exploration of grief in response to the death of his wife from cancer two years ago.
i like the term corridor of uncertainty which comes from sport - the area a ball is crossed into just out of reach of the goalkeeper, or the area in cricket which makes a batsmen unsure whether to leave or play the ball. it's a great metaphor for lots of things - i wonder what the corridor of uncertainty might be in relation to mission?... but maybe that's a thought for another post sometime. anyway a few of my jottings are below
it's extraordinary what you find in the most ordinary places if you are interested
learn how to see
being in the everyday - it's a series of small adventures, a quest that never ceases to excite and interest me
we don't spend enough time looking thinking and responding to the visual world around us
always move on
learn by doing
when you are local you pick up on things that are transitory
our photos hold a mirror up to ourselves
your photographs are your greatest teachers
objects can become something other than what they are - which is a metaphor for all photography
i guess everyone has their favourite places in a city. scooterworks is definitely one of mine in london. was great to have an excuse to meet people there last week...
i was also pleased to see that a photo i took of the coffee machine a while back is the one that scooterworks have used for their business cards (they did ask permission)...
Technorati Tags: scooterworks
a week or so back we had an overnight team meeting in clanfield near oxford. it was an incredibly foggy morning (yes more fog i'm afraid) so of course i had to get up and take some photos. the set is here - clanfield morning. i don't know what it is about this photo but is definitely my favourite - the simplicity maybe...
some of my snow pics have been added to april in the ealing LIP photo blog
well i have finally uploaded all my NY photos to the set on flickr... and yes there is even evidence of an ipod dispensing machine.
this one was at MOMA where there is an exhibition on colour.
well flickr have added video sharing which seems like a good idea. the videos can be up to 90 seconds and under 150mb - i suspect it won't be long before that gets lengthened. it will be interesting to see if this takes off...
on the subject of photos has anyone tried blurb yet? it's another web 2 self publishing company that enables you to create your own books with photos included. it looks good, like it gives you plenty of creative control...
i have done books with lulu and myphotobook and qoop, all of which came out pretty well...
back from new york... i will be adding some photos over the next few days no doubt. i basically had one day at the end of the trip to do some sightseeing. i got to go up the rockerfeller building and see the view from top of the rock. it is stunning. i have added some photos to a new york set i have started. this one is inside (obviously) rather than from the obsevation decks and is my favourite i think. i actually thought top of the rock is even better than the visit to the top of the empire state building which i did a few years back on my first visit (though that was amazing too). the rock is less crowded so much less time to queue and has several viewing decks, the top one of which isn't fenced or protected by glass which makes for much better photos. sadly it was mid day - i didn't have the luxury of an evening view as i was going to be heading to the airport. the rockerfeller centre and the buildings around it are fantastic too - the art deco gold, marble and so on is amazing. i didn't get to take many photos inside but this is one that gives a flavour.
i teach youth ministry for cym (one module) and as part of that am a member of the iasym. it's a professional body with an international conference every two years and publishes a journal of applied theology and youth ministry [if you teach youth ministry you should join...]
anyway that's all by way of saying that i am currently at the first european iasym conference in josefstal, germany. i really had no idea where i was coming to other than flying to munich - i hadn't got round to looking it up. so it has been a wonderful surprise to be in an amazing location in the alps in bavaria. the day before we arrived there was a big snowfall which has made it look magical.
the conference is a chance for people in the association to present research or thinking that they have been working on and then we talk about it. we had a sneak preview of pete ward's next book which looks like it will be really interesting (out in october) on 'a practical theology for the liquid church'. richard passmore and i presented some thoughts on church on the edge. there are people here from holland, norway, denmark, sweden, scotland, holland, belgium, slovenia, germany and probably a few other places i've forgotten.
anyway, that's why the blog is a bit quiet...
have added a few snowy pics to flickr
Roger Von Oech: A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative
Tom Sine: The New Conspirators: Creating the Future One Mustard Seed at a Time
Andrew Mawson: The Social Entrepreneur: Making Communities Work
Michael Freeman: The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos
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