Amazon

Photography, my new obsession is all about the emotion it brings out in me. Seeing the world in more detail, feeling the light or seeing faces rather than just a mass of people resonates in the membrane.  It’s great to be naive... not understanding composition, just liking the vibe an image gives me rather than being critical for the sake of it, my default mindset. Still, if I want consistency, then it will have to become more than looking and then pressing a button.

This weekend I was in Dublin for work and had an afternoon to myself. Wow, time to play with the new camera....but, it just didn’t happen. There was too much to take in to be able to concentrate about getting a good image or ten. Then, I turned a corner and it was there, The Gallery of Photography.  Well worth a look.

Richard Mosse 'vintage violence', North Kivu, Eastern Congo, 

The ground floor was a book shop, an amazing one at that. The first book I picked up was Richard Mosse's “Infra” ...a stunning story of The People's Republic of Congo. He had used Kodak Aerochrome which renders leaves n stuff in bright pinks, oranges and reds but skin-tones normal. If it had been half the price I may have bought it but at 60 euro it was a bit much.

I had no expectations of the exhibition up in the galleries upstairs. An exhibition called Amazon was showing by Sebastiao Saigado and Per-Anders Pettersson.  Stunning..... funny, sad and very human.  The exhibition told the story of the beauty of the State of Acre in Brazil.....and the tragedy of its deforestation.  Saigodo's stunningly "lit" black and white images of two indigenous tribes, the Alto Xingu and Zo'e showed humanity as it was designed to be before it was corrupted by want.

Two images stood out....one a baby breastfeeding and another of a hunter jumping from tree to tree chasing his prey. Saigodo caught the movement, human legs swinging like a gibbon's in the way only a great artist could. Light, motion, life itself but captured in a still. Every creationist should look at this image! Evolution captured in 1/1000th of a second. In a talk by Misha Henner, a few months ago at The Whitworth, I was saddened. He discussed being  disillusioned by documentary photography. Maybe he should have this picture on his wall.

Pettersson’s images didn’t have the same impact. They were in colour. He showed the macro of the deforestation in the region. Trees with empty spaces, people in small villages with western type clothing on. It was somehow more familiar, nothing exceptional but far more easy to overlook. Without Saigodo’s work the floor below, the pictures wouldn’t have meant much to me. But, they were essential to complete the story.....evolution doesn’t necessarily mean progress. Maybe it demonstrates that evolution is a circular process!

Is Art Emotive?

Is art an emotive subject? Now there is a philosophical question! Labels in an art gallery aren't important to me. I either feel or I don't. I didn't quite understand that fact until I went back to reflect on this picture I took a while back. It answered the question for me. 


If a painting, or indeed a rock results in an emotional response then it is emotive....if not, then it's not. 

The painting in the background is a Lucien Freud of Leigh Bowery. I stood looking at it for a considerable time. There was something about it that spoke to me. I felt something resonate. I was somehow transported into the subject's head. I felt the emotion of being him, in my eyes anyway. 

The rock in the foreground is, well, just a rock, to me. Indifference.  

Over the last few days I watched the BBC2 programme on Lucien Freud. Previously, I didn't know much about him apart from he painted a rather unflattering picture of the Queen. The programme talked of his genius in capturing every detail and connecting with his subjects. I'm glad I saw the programme after viewing the painting otherwise my interpretation may have been quite different. Being naive and having a fresh perspective gave me a true appreciation of the artist's skill, rather than being influenced by others. As for the rock, I think I may need help to appreciate it. 

Our World

A map of reality.....? What is it? The world, the mind,  a state of impermanence! The same view as before, but a different perspective.....a bigger world, more communication but less communicating.

The rugby club....a point of bonding, unity, friendship, fighting, fear, love, ciggies, cider, gobbing, laughing, breaking the law, loving each other more than would be possible in the future....what does the future hold? Who cares? Not worth thinking about! Thatcher children? Just Scots kids....salt of the earth parents, too many fags, too much drink, mince n tatties!  A gang congregation point....1985,  one of a few hang-outs, acting like chavs, our world!  A world for a bunch of scary but intrinsically ok teenagers. Intimidating to some, intimidating to me now, if I was me now, then!

The wall...Mr Tree, the Haw Haw's, less popular than the Rugby Club. Scarier for passers bye.....simply more passers bye! Less cider, more visible, less fun!

The Green Box......very visible, different friends, slightly less intimidating friends. Even less cider, just as many ciggies!

The Slab......gone forever. No more chips....it's a chinese now anyway. It's less of a happy house, less community, it's called Happy House! Vita in the chippy looking out for us, caring about us, telling our parents if we got too bad, Easy to launch missiles at Big T, easy to escape home...but it was home.

The World.....it's bigger now but just the same size. Less immediate threat, but more fear. More friends....facebook tells me I have 203. Less close friendship, less bonding, less cider, no ciggies, no intimidating others, no fighting. Dr rather than Mr Most of us turned out ok. Everyone has potential. That's the hardest bit to remember!

Thanks to Mishka Henner for setting this project.

The project was simply to use images from Google Maps or Google Earth....to maybe tell a story or get a message across. This week at work I've written stuff about learning through reflection. I've used the project to revisit hangout points from my teenage years. They don't look much different but my perspective of the world has changed hugely. It's a reminder to me that no matter how bad kids may seem, they all have huge potential.    
We were lucky.....nothing too bad came of our actions but they could have and life would have been quite different.

Protest

Images say far more than words This was taken on a day of protest but there is no anger. The protest didn't work and no one took a blind bit of notice......maybe anger would have been heard....but does it ever work?