Above: view on Flickr

Here is an overly long write-up of my workshops, which I launched last weekend (Sep 4th and 5th) in London. On both workshops we had a levitation-themed concept with a model adorned in various gowns and dresses in a white bedroom scene…

The workshops had eight students on each day, plus Matthew assisting, Mette Tønnessen as model, and Rachel Holland as stylist. Below are group shots from both days!

Above: Saturday’s students

Above: Sunday’s students.

The classes took place at Tribe7 Studios in Tottenham. I was nervous about the weekend – although I have done numerous presentations including a couple of spoken classroom sessions on compositing, the closest I’ve come to doing a workshop was a live photoshoot in Seattle for Microsoft in 2008, where I did a combined multiplicity-levitation shoot with a model in a studio, with a live audience – daunting, but it was brief and not so personal. This time, I had eight students under my wing for the whole day, in my own independently-organised set-up, in a studio for only the second time since the Seattle one.

Teaching workshops, for me, is a win-win-win-WIN situation. There is a part of me that enjoys teaching, showing people things, helping where I can – and that part of me has a chance to come forward in these sessions. Also, it’s wonderfully inspiring for myself, having the opportunity and context to shoot something/someone new – on these workshops, I felt very stimulated by the whole set-up and model, and didn’t have that familiar annoying frustrated feeling of ‘what to do next’ – because the workshop had its specific goals and there were plenty objects around in this new space to incorporate into the photos. Seeing other students shoot – not only in taking my guidance and direction but thinking creatively for themselves, made me in turn feel inspired for my next shot.

So, the workshops are a learning curve for me as well as the students, and I am very happy with the feedback from the people on the first ones. The workshops are also a great way to network – with everyone from your students themselves, through to models, stylists, etc, but also with potential companies in the photography industry as one develops and refines their workshop ‘product’. Expanding one’s brand is a big part of this workshop concept, and all that is before you even count the simple benefit of being able to make money from the workshops – which in turn helps one’s photography livelihood all round!

Above: Mette sporting a very long lace wedding dress which we found just the day before in a vintage second hand shop in Brighton…perfect levitation material!

Above: Mette volunteered to throw herself around for some action shots.

I stressed that although it’s largely a redundant notion to try and ‘teach creativity’, that I had engineered my workshop idea around the thoughts of what I would want to see from my own favourite fine-art photographers. The thought of watching them work would excite me – so placing myself into that perspective, I wondered how could I practically offer the same to my students, during a session that expressed the more whimsical and unscientific side of photography but which also had some solid content and structure. I devised a situation where I have all the tools to create a potentially great image that is also true to the style of my current work: a person (in this case, a woman); props suggesting a naturalistic environment; improvised or continuous lighting, and Photoshop compositing concepts. I wanted to offer both an intangible source of inspiration, but also some actual skills (in this case, mainly with shooting and processing levitation) to make others experience something different.

Pak, a student on the Sunday workshop, had an interesting take on the day. He told me he had attended various courses on studio photography, which had been very technically-led and correct to the point of, what I personally considered, banality. Having me come over and check his LCD screen with a quick ‘yep’ was a far cry from the hours of clicking with a lightmeter to which he had previously become accustomed. Although I stressed to him that my approach is by no means ‘correct’, and that although lightmeters bore me to salty tears, I didn’t necessarily endorse my own current ignorance as a path to follow – I wanted him to see that there is not necessarily any one path you ’should’ follow. The day made him think about photography from a purely creative angle – and he said that this context had cleared the way for him to concentrate on thinking of an idea – rather than be preoccupied with measuring light. His idea, which was basic in levitation concept – was very creative in terms of putting one image with another and thinking outside the box. I really hope that Pak goes on to feel creative in his photography shoots, to combine something he felt from my shoot, with his own obvious interest in the technical.

There was enough time for all students to shoot their own images, and for us all to edit together after lunch. On the first day I allowed everyone to edit their own images, which went well enough. On the second day I gave everyone the same images to edit, which meant that we could go through step-by-step and make sure everyone had experience of using the same tools as me, step by step. It did awaken me to some things I need to learn in Photoshop though: namely, masks!

The day before, I had also discovered Photoshop CS5’s new tool – ‘content aware fill’ which intelligently deletes parts of a picture and clones back in details based on the content of the rest of the image. This tool seems pretty useful for times where you have clutter in an image you want to get rid of – in this case, we had bits and pieces in the studio background of our images which we could not remove at the time of shooting. If only I could have got the thing to work properly: the first time it cloned a load of hair into the wall, the second time, it said there wasn’t enough RAM. Pah.

All in all, I was surprised at:

- how much more confident I felt after the end of the first one, and how I look forward to the next ones;

- how much work there was to do on the days: after all, you are running a photoshoot and a class at the same time, with everyone’s baggage laying around, plus an independent filmmaker was filming the day on Sunday, and the studio was hired strictly from 9am to 5pm, and I had to make sure I had lunch and make sure there was time before 3pm for the pH of my mouth to neutralise before performing the 8-minute ritual of brushing and flossing to re-insert my Invisalign braces, and so on… So basically, Matthew’s assistance was indispensable, mostly to get everything plugged and screwed in,  arrange the furniture, hoist the model, and everything else – and thanks also to Rachel Holland and indeed all the students for mucking in with furniture-shifting and dress-waving. Mette Tønnessen was the best model I could possibly have had for this shoot, and radiated with a sense of willing and adventure that surpasses what I am used to from a model. Massive thanks to Mette.

More finished images:

These levitation techniques will also be covered in my collaborative workshops with Brooke Shaden in November in LA. If you fancy a place, just see this blog post!

Three updates on the course planning:

1. Stylist Rachel Holland (above) is on board for both workshops. This means that both model and set will look twice as good and so will the images! That said, I’m maintaining my pursuit of naturally-lit images reflective of my self-portraits to date. It just leaves me with more time to talk to the students and and you can also benefit from the expertise of Rachel with any questions you have on finding models and stylists.

2. The model in line for both workshops is the stunning Mette Tonnesson (click through to view her Model Mayhem profile page) who has agreed to be our levitating bedroom girl in the set-up.

3. Also: Matthew, aka Mr Wolfy who is my model-propelling technical assistant on the workshops, has agreed that if there is time, he can demonstrate how to use studio flash as an alternative to the way I will be lighting the scene with natural light, reflectors, lamps and continuous light. We could then put the differently-lit images side by side for a comparison – not something usually offered by studio courses! I’d probably learn a thing or two myself.

If that has tantalised you, there’s 2 places left on the Saturday 4th Sep workshop, and 1 place left on the Sunday 5th Sep workshop… drop me an email if you’re interested: contact@missaniela.com

I will of course be doing more UK workshops, hopefully before the end of the year.

If you’re in the US, check out my workshops with Brooke Shaden scheduled for November, as they’re filling up…

Above: practising levitation methods for my upcoming workshops. I definitely need to brush up on my techniques…

And some more general pics of the show:

Above: setting up the exhibition. Thanks to WCB who did all the work.

Above: details of the prints.

Here are some panoramas of the whole thing, click them view larger…

The above panorama features Paul Williams who helped me one Saturday. Cheers Paul…

Above: outside the gallery, which is a temporary space in Limehouse, East London.

Above: the lovely Vicky Penrose who helped out at the gallery on two days. Here she brandishes my new huge Blurb book…

My exhibition is on till the end of the week (dissembling it Saturday eve) so you’ve still got a chance to pop along.

‘Self-Gazing’ at Photo-Space, 530 Commercial Rd, Limehouse, London, E1 0HY (just round corner from Limehouse DLR). Open Tues – Sat, 11-6.

MASTERCLASS: Bringing art into photography

This course is for photographers/aspiring artists who want inspiration to do something dynamic and conceptual with models and props. This is for bringing art into your photography. The one-day class, set on location in a warehouse and then in an editing room, will take you from planning through to processing as we shoot a model to combine an image from Brooke Shaden’s portfolio and mine.

Brooke Shaden (whose work can be seen on Flickr at: www.flickr.com/brookeshaden) is a photographic artist based in LA whose work has similarly utilised the self-portrait, use of compositing and creative editing, as well as quirky locations and painterly-like allusions. We draw on those parallels between our work to host a masterclass that shows you how you can introduce these elements into your own work.

There are also interesting differences between Brooke’s work and mine, which are illustrated in the workshops. You will learn about shooting with a specific and efficient planning structure (like Brooke’s) as well as how to seize spontaneous moments and to let the direction of a shoot grow organically, as in my work. In this sense, the course will highlight two different approaches, and aim to set you free to think for yourself, rather than be stiffly ‘taught’ photography in a scientific sense.

The workshop is delivered to a small group size, min. 6 and max. 10 students. It starts in a warehouse, a location which has been used in Brooke’s previous work, such as Exploring sleep below.

As in the image above also, we will be shooting levitation images.

On the left is Brooke’s work, see her Weightless set; on the right is my image: see my Tricks set.

On arrival, we provide you with breakfast and then begin an introductory talk to welcome everyone to the class, and to go over the key elements to both our work. We aim to work on the shoot as we would in reality: showing you how we get from idea conception through to a final result that is exclusive to that workshop. We then go straight into the practical hands-on shooting with a model.

We then break for lunch (there are many eateries in the immediate area of Van Nuys). The second half of the day is spent editing the images in a room just a few doors down. You will first watch our screen on the projector, whilst Brooke and I demonstrate our own editing process. You bring along your own laptop loaded with Photoshop, and proceed to edit the same images, with Brooke and I offering individual help to each student.

We spend time at the end reviewing everyone’s images and recapping the day. You will be able to post your images into a dedicated Flickr group where Brooke and I can comment further on images you edit later at home. We’re also working on getting a goodie bag of promo codes/discounts for each student

MASTERCLASS WITH MISS ANIELA & BROOKE SHADEN

The cost of the workshop is $350.

WHEN’S THE FIRST ONE? The first is on Monday 1st November, from 8am – 4pm. We are also lining one up for Saturday 6th November, and can build more workshops within the week depending on demand.

WHAT IS THE LEVEL? This is important, as courses vary by level. Due to feedback, the first course is aimed at people with intermediate knowledge: you must be comfortable using a DSLR, and ideally have some knowledge of Photoshop. Email us if you are unsure about levels.

WHERE? A warehouse and editing room in Van Nuys, Los Angeles. You will get full details in the application pack, along with a more detailed itinerary.

HOW MANY PLACES? 10 places (min. 6 to run a course)

WHO WILL BE THERE? Brooke Shaden, Miss Aniela (myself), and a model. There will also be someone photographing and filming the workshops.

WHAT EQUIPMENT DO I NEED? You will need your DSLR camera if you want to shoot the model (charged and with sufficient CF cards!) Bring a card reader too. You will also need to bring a laptop loaded with Photoshop, to be able to do your own editing on the day. The tools we are using are not confined to the latest Photoshop CS4/5, so it does not matter too much which version you have. If you do not have Photoshop, you can either purchase Photoshop Elements (which is quite cheap) and has most of the tools we’ll need, or, you can download a free 30-day trial of Photoshop CS5 from Adobe here, and make sure it doesn’t expire before the course date!

HOW DO I SIGN UP? Email info@brookeshaden.com with your requested date. You can pay by Paypal or wire.

CANCELLATION POLICY: Cancellations at least 7 days before the course date will be refunded in full, minus any Paypal/bank fees. Or you can change to another course date for no extra charge. Cancellations made less than 7 days before the course date, or no-shows, are non-refundable.

I’VE PAID. WHAT NOW? You will get an application pack confirming the locations and what to bring. We will also ask you to send us some information about yourself, your current photography and your experience, links to your work if you have some online, and what you hope to get out of the course. This is an optional step but allows us to learn a bit about our students before the workshop!

This course is predominantly aimed at people who are familiar with my work and the work of Brooke Shaden. If you are not familiar with our work, please view www.missaniela.com and www.brookeshaden.com

This workshop is intentionally different from other conventional courses, because we are demonstrating our own combined and individual approaches as fine-art photographers. Our masterclasses aim to show how simplicity and improvisation can contribute to the production of top quality fine-art photographs, even when on a low budget. However, we will also be talking about numerous technical issues to get optimum quality images, and also giving all the advice we can offer regarding making money from photography in various forms. We can also answer any questions on techniques for self-portraiture, depending on whether this interests you. There will be plenty of allocated time to ask all the questions you wish, and we can always drift into a local cafe afterwards.

—–

You can keep updated with news on the workshops by joining my dedicated Masterclasses group on Facebook, which will help me to see how much interest there is in workshops and also allow me to shape future masterclasses the way you want!

Also see updates on our Facebook pages:

Miss Aniela page

Brooke Shaden page

I am pleased to finally confirm dates for my first UK photography workshop!

The class is a ONE-DAY workshop to be held in a studio in London, taking you from conception of ideas through to final images.

The first workshops’ dates are Sat 4th & Sun 5th September 2010. Read more below.

My class is for people who want to bring ‘art’ to their photography: to do something dynamic, conceptual and interesting with models and props. It is also aimed at people who are interested in how I achieve certain effects with creative compositing.

Classes will be delivered to a small group size of eight people. We meet in a studio in London, and start with a light breakfast (with organic Fairtrade tea/coffee and Innocent Smoothie…) and a welcome talk. I speak about key elements to my own work, and how far I go to prepare a shot, as well as how to seize spontaneous moments and to let the direction of a shoot grow organically. We then proceed onto how those elements will be used hands-on in the shoot.

The aims of the day will be to demonstrate:

- How far I plan a shot and get inspiration: finding starting points

- Using natural & improvised lighting

- Using movement in images to make dynamic results

- How to use Photoshop to subtle degrees to improve your images, from basic adjustments to minor compositing

- How to use Photoshop to create full-blown composite images (the focus of these first two workshops will be on levitation images as seen in my Tricks series, such as Sprung and The smothering which were created with the shots below)

On my first workshop the scene will be set-up for a new, bedroom-themed levitation image!

In my workshops, props and furniture will be used suggest a non-studio location and I will concentrate on natural lighting to show realistically how most of my own images have been created. Each workshop is intended to produce a unique result and to recreate my own process closely: one that is often open to improvisation and spontaneity. All students get a one-on-one chance to shoot the model.

After lunch, we proceed to the editing stage, working through my editing process live on the projector/large screen to show you a host of basic, moderate and advanced Photoshop techniques. If you have brought you own laptop loaded with Photoshop, you can then proceed to open up your own images and I spend time going round individually to help you edit your work.

Through my workshops I want to show how simplicity and improvisation can contribute to the production of top quality fine-art photographs, even when on a low budget. However, I will also be talking about numerous technical issues to get optimal quality images, and also giving all the advice I can offer regarding making money from photography in various forms. There will be plenty of allocated time to ask all the questions you wish, and we can always drift into a local cafe afterwards.

After the processing, we review everyone’s images and recap the day. You will leave with course notes and you will be able to post your images into a dedicated Flickr group where I can comment further on images you edit later at home.

The first workshops have a special introductory price of £99

MISS ANIELA MASTERCLASS

WHEN’S THE NEXT ONE? Both are separate, one-day workshops:

Saturday 4th September 9.30am – 5pm, 1hr lunch. 5/8 places left

AND:

Sunday 5th September 9.30am – 5pm, 1hr lunch. 2/8 places left

To sign up for either, email contact@missaniela.com letting me know which day you wish to attend.

You can keep updated with news on the workshops by joining my dedicated Masterclasses group on Facebook, which will help me to see how much interest there is in workshops and also allow me to shape future masterclasses the way you want! (but I’ll also be posting updates on my main Miss Aniela Facebook page.)

WHAT IS THE LEVEL? This is important, as I am aiming to make my courses vary by level. Due to feedback, the first course is aimed at people with intermediate knowledge: you should have some experience using a DSLR camera, and, ideally, some knowledge of Photoshop. Email me if you are unsure about levels.

WHERE? In a studio in Tottenham, East London. You’ll be sent the full details, location directions, & itinerary as part of your application pack.

WHO WILL BE THERE? Myself and an assistant, and in the afternoon, the model, and stylist/make-up artist if required.

WHAT EQUIPMENT DO I NEED? You will need your DSLR camera (charged and with sufficient CF cards!) You will also need to bring a laptop loaded with Photoshop, to be able to do your own editing on the day. The tools we are using are not confined to the latest Photoshop CS4/5, so it does not matter too much which version you have. If you do not have Photoshop, you can either purchase Photoshop Elements (which is quite cheap) and has most of the tools we’ll need, or, you can download a free 30-day trial of Photoshop from Adobe here, and make sure it doesn’t expire before the course date!

HOW DO I PAY? Contact me to check availability, and I will send you an invoice to pay the full amount either by bank transfer or Paypal. If you pay by bank transfer you will receive a receipt from me.

CANCELLATION POLICY: If, after paying, you are unable to attend the course, let me know 7 days before the course date, and you can transfer your attendance to another future course date for no extra charge. Cancellations later than 7 days, or no-shows, are non-refundable.

I’VE PAID. WHAT NOW? I’ll send you a receipt and an application pack confirming the locations and what to bring. I will also ask you to send me some information about yourself, your current photography work and your experience, links to your work if you have some online, and what you hope to get out of the course. This is an optional step but allows me to learn a bit about my students before the weekend begins! Then, I’ll see you on the day!

If you are on the US west coast, you may be interested to know that I will be co-hosting a series of workshops with fellow art photographer Brooke Shaden in LA round about Hallowe-en time (more information to come!)

I have a NEW BOOK available on BLURB!

Read more, sample a preview, and buy the book, on Blurb HERE.

Miss Aniela: Abandoned is a large-format book at 13 x 11″, with 68 pages of images from my Abandoned series as seen here on Flickr, and also featuring images previously unpublished to the web. It also includes non-self-portraits and a how-to on HDR photography and artistic process, showing how I have produced auto-bracketed and multiplicity images in abandoned locations.

In my art, shooting in abandoned places is not just a technical element of a shoot. Shooting in abandoned places is a world, a culture, a niche, and a series, all on its own.

Abandoned is a fusion of art, textual matter, and technical ‘how-to’, under the encompassing theme of the abandoned building. At its simplest level it shows the beauty and grandeur to different buildings I have visited during my random adventures, and to bring them together under one umbrella term as a celebration of colour, decay, and juxtapositions. It also explains some of the history of the buildings I have visited: namely the British mental asylum, which I became interested in shortly after my first visit to a derelict asylum, Hellingly Mental Hospital in East Sussex.

I also talk about various facets as to why I enjoy the opportunities in these places: light and dark, the unique conditions, and the element of the unexpected. For those who are interested in learning a tip or two, I also describe how the use of HDR (high dynamic range) can significantly aid the capturing of the high contrast lighting situations in abandoned places, which is often tricky. Using animate subjects in auto-bracketed images is not generally advisable, but I show you how it can be done. I also give a tutorial spread on artistic process of making three images.

The luxury large format (13 x 11″) is only fitting for these images, most of which are shot with a full-frame DSLR and are intended to be seen as large-scale edition prints. For the first time in one of my Blurb books, I give the details of the limited edition sizes and numbers for each image. Another first: I have also published non-self-portrait images including my images of Tim Andrews, a former lawyer who engaged in a project to be shot by over a hundred photographers after retiring due to Parkinson’s disease.

Sold with Premium Paper.

Special promotion!

Buy the book between now and 30th September and be in with one of TWO chances to win a limited edition print of your choice from my Abandoned series.

The prints (each worth £350) will be the size 33 x 50cm (or thereabouts for different images). They are limited edition, meaning there will only ever be 10 of the image at this size. Each winner will choose a print from the whole of the Abandoned series as seen in the book.

The first winner will be drawn on 30th August, and the second on the 30th September. So if you buy early, you have double the chance of winning a print (Thanks Lewis LaRue for this idea!)

To be in with a chance of winning, this is all you have to do:

Buy Miss Aniela: Abandoned through Blurb, or a signed copy from me directly (by paying the cost of the book plus UK/international postage through Paypal or bank transfer, email me to find out how). If you buy the book through Blurb, BE SURE to forward me your Order Confirmation with your name and address otherwise I will NOT be able to add you into the competition. Forward it to: contact@missaniela.com

I will pick a name at random on 30th August and 30th September. Each stage will gather all the people who have bought the book to that date, so those who didn’t win on one round will still get the chance on the next. I will then get in touch with the winner to ask them to choose their limited edition print.

The print will be shipped to you, wherever you live, for free.

Terms and conditions
By entering the competition, participants agree to the following:
Winner will be drawn randomly from all purchases, made either through Blurb or directly through me, at the closing time of midnight (London GMT) on 30th August 2010 and 30th September 2010 from all those whose details have been sent to contact@missaniela.com. One entry per book purchase – so it is possible to have more than one entry per person. Only those who have made payment for the book will be eligible in the competition. Each winner will be announced on this blog and contacted by email. Each winner will have choice from all the images featured in the ‘Abandoned’ book, only those which are available as prints. Each winner will take the next limited edition print available for that image. Prize is print only, sent in tube. No cash alternative is given. Shipping (UK or international) is free and will include insurance. If print is found to be defective or damaged, the winners must notify the artist within 14 days with photos of the issue in question.

These pics are all taken by Juliet Greig, so thanks very much Juliet for allowing me to post here.

Sorry for the random rushed captions but I’ve got to work on getting my new Blurb book going! It will be the next blog post…

My exhibition is on throughout this month, already have had some interesting visitors so make it down here if you can!

Photo-Space, 530 Commercial Road, Limehouse, London, E1 0HY.

Above: Juliet Greig & Rachel Holland of La Luminata

Above: Rachel again

Above: Familiar family guest hanging out with Dougal Porteous

Above: My food and wine spread being demolished.. above: thanks very much Scott for the birthday card!

Above: Best thing about these openings is seeing lovely familiar faces like these… Ann and Geoff whose country house I lived in in my first year of university.

Above: Two lovely ladies… Ania Gastol and Rachel Holland

Above: Raphael Franco, the artist whose exhibition ‘Urban Surgery’ showed in Photo-Space the previous month.

I’ll also show some better pictures of the gallery show soon. There are 28 prints in there including 13 brand new prints I had done, so tis worth some snapping…

I had a meeting with Katy Barron, an independent art curator. Following my blog post that detailed my meeting with Michael Hoppen, I thought I would also write up my meeting with Katy, and with her kind permission publish to this blog…

The meeting with Katy was again arranged through Juan Curto at Camara Oscura. We met in the café of the Camden Arts Centre (above). I came with a portfolio of prints and my laptop.

The meeting was very in-depth, with Katy spending time to first read my CV and then look over my portfolio and feed back on each image. Her first remark upon looking at my CV was that I did not have a photography/art degree, which she found unusual (in her experience) but refreshing.

She had initially thought, before meeting me, that my self-portraits were ‘of an alter ego’, but was more interested to see that they were actually of ‘me’, ie. more personal. I am a bit unclear myself, on whether my images are of ‘me’ or of an alter ego. I’d agree with her that my work is different from the self-portraits of, for example, Cindy Sherman, whose use of ‘characters’ was explicit in her imitation of film stills and use of costume and make-up.

I made references to my meeting with Michael Hoppen, and she was interested to know what his opinion was on my work. She agreed that my work was ‘commercial’ looking, but she wasn’t so much inclined to suggest how to change it, necessarily. She suggested early on in the meeting that I might be good in advertising, on supplementing my career with doing advertising work. Not being in that field, she didn’t want to specifically advise on a direction, but she did say that many esteemed photographers go into advertising as a side portfolio kept separate from their fine art.

As in my meeting with Hoppen, I wanted to express how my work has evolved and tastes changed, more to the favour of the subtle, natural and less commercial. Learning from my last meeting however, I wanted to make it clearer which of my work was ‘earlier’ work and which was later: so that the person’s comments would not be unnecessary or outdated, and more in tune with what I might be thinking myself already. She agreed, therefore, that my Growing Pains images were different from my earlier stuff, but still had an air of weirdness in having a woman half naked in a derelict room.

Growing (view on Flickr)

She commented that my portfolio seemed very disparate, but I made sure she was aware that I had intentionally put together a wide span of work to show forays into different ‘series’ and what could be seen as different styles. She was positive, however, about what I’ve achieved so far for my age, especially not having a degree. She said she thinks that it’s just the beginning for me and that I’m ‘not quite there yet’ – not quite got my own style where one can recognise an image as mine (I don’t necessary expect to have that, so that comment is ok by me!)

She approved Hoppen’s advice to put myself into an intellectual context by looking at the work of the earliest ‘Photoshopping’ in the work of Henry Peach-Robinson and Lady Clementina Haywarden.

We turned to my image The smothering. She remarked on the similarity to Julia Fullerton-Batten’s images, which was one of my actual inspirations for the piece, I replied. However, I had other inspirations for the piece too, part of which was the symptoms of anxiety. I told her that the image had been selected by curator Natasha Egan for the Art of Photography Show 2010 in San Diego. Regardless, Katy’s opinion was that the use of levitation was somewhat clichéd and too commercial and didn’t find it very interesting. To her, it was just a ‘copy’ of Fullerton-Batten.

The smothering (view on Flickr)

I did remark to her that although I created The smothering with my own artistic intention, the main thing that people are curious about is the technical method to its production, and that question has become quite tedious. It almost makes me feel like I am a magician rather than an artist, and once the question is answered, it is not that my ‘secret’ has been given away (that is not the problem), but the discourse between artist and viewer is then abruptly closed.

Katy is used to doing lots of portfolio reviews in the manner in which she was critiquing my work. She recommended getting out as much as possible to further portfolio reviews: such as the ones in Arles, Houston, and Paris (ParisPhoto). When I got home I looked into how to get into portfolio reviews. It seems that artists pay hundreds of pounds/dollars to go to events where curators/dealers/people in the know spend as little as 15 minutes looking at your work and advising on it.

In all honesty, I really don’t like the sound of that. Just what can someone make of one’s work in that short a time? My meeting with Katy, which was about an hour and a half, was very useful and I feel that the duration of time we spent together was the minimum time to get real and meaningful feedback on one’s work. The person surely needs time to first immerse themselves into your work, look over it properly, read your CV, and crucially, appreciate that the hypothetical person in front of them may well be a successful or at least functioning artist already. Although the artist is putting themselves into the hotseat for critique, and indeed – the whole purpose is to give critique (no real consequence is made of ‘I like your work’), a meeting as short as 15 minutes would surely only draw attention to the contrived and forced nature of trying to say something of use within minutes of seeing someone’s work for the first time. I think for true meaningful commentary, the artist needs to talk back – to engage in a discussion with the portfolio reviewer rather than hear a one-sided commentary. Anyone had experience with portfolio reviews you’d like to share?

I was definitely surprised that The smothering made it through into the AOP Show, especially as I had submitted several other images that I guessed might fit the judge’s taste, and the ‘house style’ more (looking at entries/winners of previous years) and this was one of the most composited and ‘Photoshopped’. I felt that my work would not necessarily fit into the ‘look’ of contemporary art photography especially that of the more photojournalistic ilk. Considering that this image has been accepted, I’m starting to doubt whether I was actually doing anything wrong – whether indeed, it’s possible to do anything wrong in your work. To some extent, I don’t think it is. This is what I think it boils down to:

-       what you do with your work (getting it out there)

-       chance and circumstance (whether a certain judge or gallery etc likes your work, and decides to select it)

-       luck (other factors that determine whether someone picks your work: being in the right place at the right time).

In this sense, contrary to what Michael Hoppen said, there isn’t so much you can do wrong in the world of photographic art. It’s just convincing people, or having people already convinced, that your work is ‘fine art’ and is worth paying for. Discussing the intricacies of whether one’s lighting is a tad too ‘commercial’ in certain spots of an image seems completely off the point in this context.

In my meeting with Katy Barron I gained a curatorial perspective on my work whereas Michael Hoppen’s was one of an art dealer. Barron was more interested in the concepts behind images whereas Hoppen was more concerned with how the images look. Barron’s advice was to keep doing what I’m doing.  Her comments were focused on what I could do with my existing work, how I can strength and tighten the conceptual framework. In a simplistic nutshell, Michael was suggesting ways to change how my images look, whereas Katy was advising on how to clarify what they mean. Both very interesting viewpoints. Of course, whether any artist has to do either is up for debate…

A few days after my meeting I was informed that I’d been chosen to solo-exhibit at Photo-Space in London…

The launch is on Thurs 5th August and it runs throughout the month. Check out my blog post here and RSVP on Facebook here. I’m also looking for people to help out through the month so please email if you would like to know more.

I welcome your thoughts on this blog post…

Credits: Image of Camden Arts Centre at the top of this post is from this web source

It is also definitely a cause for celebration in itself, however…

I used to be disinclined to enter competitions, or I’ve tried to make more of an effort with entering my work here and there for competitions/calls for entries etc.

And my efforts paid off this year, I’m pleased to announce that my image The smothering has been chosen to be part of the Art of Photography Show 2010 in San Diego, judged by curator Natasha Egan:

There were 13,692 entries from 67 countries, and 113 pieces were picked by Natasha Egan to be exhibited in the show. So I felt it was quite an honour to be chosen!

The smothering is being printed and framed over in the US as we speak (it costs a bomb… at least double what I’d pay here to print and mount, gah) and will be hanging at the Art of Photography Show at the Lyceum Theatre in San Diego from 28th August to 7th November. It’ll be available to purchase (one of limited edition of 5, and they’re nearly sold out…) On the opening on 28th August, prizes will be announced, so fingers crossed! Although I won’t be there for the opening, I hope to be in San Diego later in September or October to host an evening talk for the Art of Photography speaker series, and also have plans to run a workshop or two whilst I’m on the west coast…

I’m absolutely super stressed at the moment preparing for my East London exhibition, so I can’t even bear to think about those plans at the moment, but will keep you informed!

When submitting my work to competitions etc, I regularly assume my work won’t fit what the judges are looking for, especially the arty farty ‘contemporary photography’ calibre. I try to bypass that negativity and keep submitting, though I don’t expect results. So… getting a piece into this show, and also being chosen for the East London Photo-Space, has been surprising and made me feel quite happy. It shows you should keep plugging away at what you do, and have confidence in it. Surely blending in with norms defies the point of art? That’s an issue I’ll be debating in my next post when I discuss the value of the ‘portfolio review’…

My next blog post is a follow-up to my meeting with art dealer Michael Hoppen which I’m pleased that people found interesting. Next I’m going to be writing about my meeting with independent London-based art curator Katy Barron, and discussing The smothering in particular, because whilst Natasha Egan chose this image from nearly 14,000 photos, it’s an image from my portfolio that probably least impressed Katy Barron…

Stay tuned!

I’m really excited to announce that I have been chosen by Alternative Arts to solo-exhibit at Photo-Space in East London, all through August!

5th – 28th August 2010, open Tues – Sat, 11-6.

Private view/opening party is on Thursday 5th August, which is a ‘First Thursday’ (of the month) – when galleries in East London throw their doors open late. So there’s no excuse not to be there!

RSVP on Facebook here, or just turn up.

I’m going all out with efforts on this exhib, so don’t miss it! I’m printing some new stuff up, including some images from ‘Abandoned’.

Thanks to Spectrum in Hove for continued sponsorship support.

Press-type people, if you can promote the exhib, please do so! Press materials here.

So many things to organise for it! Extremely stressful…. but – hurray! Just shows you should believe in your work enough to submit applications here and there. To be bluntly honest I’m still so shocked to be chosen.