Further experiments

For a long time I have been interested in the look of a painting and the look of a photograph. What makes a scene depicted by a painting so interesting and the same scene using a camera so dull and mechanical. I have been testing testing testing trying to get some answers - for example - the photo below to me has a certain painterly look about it that you can see well before you peek at the detail - or lack of it. I find this kind of thing fascinating. 

Work and processes

The whole business of reviewing your own work can be quite a minefield. I am in the middle of organising and structuring my last 4 years work - accounting for my progress and trying to explain the moves and changes that I find are essential in keeping that spark and excitement alive. To write down gut feelings in a way that does not sound too saccharine or poetic is quite tricky - but it must be done - and hopefully at the end I will have in words an account of what I have done and am currently trying to do - and hopefully it will be understandable to anyone who reads it.

On a different tack - I was excited to find the website of my artist/painter friend and teacher, Chris Baker. His new work is wonderful and thrilling. Take a look - http://www.christopherwbaker.com/

Editing down the shots

After many shoots I sometimes go through the leftovers to see if any come to life for me a second time round. Making a living from photography often means for me that I have to think of what to sell and what would sell. Maybe this is not such a good way of thinking. Often shots get left behind which may deserve more. So I am now going through all my work to see if I can bring any older ones to life. This is going to take ages.

Two Capitals moves on...

I have been working full steam ahead with Two Capitals. More trips to Cardiff planned as well as London.

I have also been testing the waters as far as marketing the work and possible exhibition venues. It looks like things are tough out there (two of my galleries sadly closed recently) so I am working on new ideas to show my work. Producing the photo is the easy bit.

My workbench

For anyone who is interested - my messy workbench in the studio where I fiddle with things.

Website Spring Clean

The website has been cleaned up a fair bit. Lots of work with no home was distracting from what I am trying to head for at the moment so I have cut it down to the bare essentials.

In the past this has always helped with pushing forward on current projects. I feel that photos taken not only should stand on their own - but also move me onwards towards a goal. A lot of the work done in the last 5 months have helped me immensely to get to what I am doing now -which I feel will keep me going for a large part of the year - but the 'transitional' work needed to be moved away from the site.

I am now working on two projects only - the continuing 'Poppit' work which I will throw myself into after June - and the 'Two Capitals' project (was Three Capitals!) which I am spending all my time on at the moment. The look of the two projects are so different I am wondering what it will do to the look of my Poppit work when I return there.

The book is doing well - it would seem that the USA have a taste for Poppit.