Month: March 2011

Personal Photography Assignment : Cuba Libre!

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During our forthcoming Cuba workshop in June, we are raising the bar for our participants and asking each photographer to identify a project to complete while on tour. A theme that reflects a specific interest that you may have identified and researched.  Allowing ample opportunity and time to do so, would greatly help in your approach, planning and execution.

Our suggested guidelines and instructions for the projects are as follows:

–     Pre-research a theme or idea that you can then carry out in a photographic environment while in Cuba

–     Your project can include all locations we visit, or be limited to one location (Havana) or one theme (portraits, architecture, colour, motifs etc)

–     We encourage you to contact people or places before arriving in Cuba so you can focus on getting the story or series of images you want, possibly meeting local business owners or artisans to make real contact. Make use of the internet, contacts etc to research your ideas.

–     You will have structured time to work on your project: Day 4 in Havana is left free for personal projects and Days 9,10,11 are free for compiling and presenting projects as well as camera clinics

–     We encourage you to create a photo reportage with music, narrative and some dynamic elements (props, interviews) if possible, using whatever applications you have.

–     We can assist with the technology for this – please call Steven or Andy about any questions

–     The more effort one puts into this, the more you will get out of it in terms of the process of using photography to tell a story, and you will hone your skills in the art.
At the end of the trip the final few days (Days 9, 10, 11) will be allocated for compiling your presentation to the group.  We will also have daily camera clinics – both Nikon, Canon and Leica formats – over the last few days to answer any questions on settings and camera handling.

Please do contact us over this period, to discuss any ideas you may have.

‘Tribute to HC-B’ exhibition

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In 2004, Andy and myself jointly held an exhibition of black and white prints photographed in Paris over several years at the Light Gallery in London. It so happened that Henri Cartier-Bresson, who had inspired so many photographers by his amazing body of work, had died not too long ago, and both of us, having been greatly influenced by his works, had an archive of Parisian photos, shot independently before we both met.

Fast forward to 2011, and once again, I managed to dig out our prints from the 2004 exhibition and selected 10 images to grace the newly redecorated waiting lounge of the trendy West End dental surgery of Dr Gill Millman, the Cavendish Dental Clinic on Cavendish Square.

The display will be in place at the Clinic for a few months, and we hope to replace them with some of our alumni photographs from recent trips. So if you fancy visiting a dentist, why not pop by the Cavendish, an have a browse!

A visit to Format11 Festival

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Myself, Yumi Goto and Andy

Andy, myself and Jayna, a photographer friend made a day visit up to Derby for the Format International Photography Festival 2011 last weekend. It was a cold and damp day but the train ride was only a short one, and in no time we left St Pancras, we were in Derby station. (Note : Central Midlands train services, even on First Class, do not serve cooked breakfast on weekends, much to our disappointment.) Having arrived and lacking sustenance, we found a greasy-spoon aptly called Acropolis in Central Square, next to The Quad arts centre where Format is mainly happening.

I was there also to meet up with Yumi Goto, who has been invited over from Bangkok to speak at the Festival. Yumi is also one of the judges for KL International Photoawards 2011 and it was certainly a great opportunity to make my first contact with her here in the UK. Our first event at The Quad was to listen to Chris Steele-Perkins speak on his work and approach as a photojournalists for over 30 years. Chris Steele-Perkins is a renown Magnum member whose inspired works covered most of the UK in the 60s and 70s, documenting the British youth in the form of the teddy boys, and also suburban life, Northern Ireland, and later, overseas conflicts in Afghanistan, Lebanon and Africa. He also showed some of his later works from Japan, particularly his Mount Fuji series and Hello, Tokyo, Love series.


There are also other exhibitions going on throughout the town of Derby, in museums and vacant retail units, at the University also. It was certainly a busy day for the organisers, with Portfolio reviews going on throughout the day, talks and seminars, and the odd ‘celebrity’ photographer wafting in and out of the centre. Personally, I thought it was a well funded and run event, with many decent exhibitions, but a few were rather mixed. The theme this year focuses on Street Photography, and for want of a better word, this genre covers so many styles and methodology, including barren landscapes and photojournalism, that I think, it may be better to drop the ‘street’, and called it Urban photography. I thought Bruce Gilden‘s commissioned images of candid Derby townsfolk Head On, shot at close range with a fill-flash, specially for the festival was too simplistic and pointless. The video of him shooting in the street was more informative, but his shots weren’t. I was also excited to see some of Vivian Maier‘s photographs but sadly, only a homemade video was playing, and that did not interest me.

I was happy to see Katrin Koenning and Virgilio Ferreria‘s works displayed at Format11 also. Katrin and Virgilio were both finalists at KL Photoawards 2010. Some works that stood out for me were Jun Abe‘s Citizens, George Georgiou‘s Fault Lines, Turkey East and West, and David Gibson‘s humorous street grabs. It ‘s always great to see notable Magnum photographers works like Alex Webb, Raymond Depardon, and Bruno Barbey up close. I was surprised some of the big names in so -called Street photography weren’t represented, notable the father of the genre, Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank and Winogrand.