Book Review: Georgia O’Keefe (1887-1986) – Flowers of the Desert

Publisher: Taschen GmbH (25 Aug 2000);

This was a brilliantly informative book and just the right length and with the right amount of

detail for a novice art appreciator like me.  I thought the colour reproduction of the pictures were excellent.  I also liked the style in which it was written, which was neither condescending nor high-flown.  Others in my photographic circle were very impressed with the book and agreed with me that it was excellent value for money.

O'Keeffe’s interest in photography led her to use the 'close up' in a photographic way to spectacular and sometimes sublime effects.  Her sense of composition was never less than powerful and her everyday subject matter was presented in new and remarkable ways.

A book that opens up new ideas and provides new directions for reading is especially exciting. I strongly recommended it.

Lightroom 5 Demonstration

I recently attended a meeting of the RPS DiG Southern Region group when they were hosting a Lightroom 5 session with Adobe software engineer David Mellows.  It was a packed session with approximately 100 people attending to learn the latest techniques from this image database.  Fortunately, there was enough light to make notes by.  I had been to one of David’s demonstration sessions with the South Western DiG and the hall was almost completely dark, totally unsuitable for making notes.

David was very quick in his demonstrations on using the Library area to import images, make smart collections and filter out unusable images.  He went on to show how to add keywords and copyright to images, adjusting RAW and JPG images and saving them in various collections.  He went through the different headings including preparing slideshows and adding music and creating photo books which are fairly easy to create using this software.

David was asked to demonstrate things a bit more slowly as many of the audience had never attended a Lightroom demonstration before.  Fortunately I had and had also looked up some aspects on YouTube and Adobe TV which was where David learnt all the new tricks of the trade when a new version was released.

David is a also well-known photographer who attends high profile events including red carpet occasions and had quite a few tips to get the best exposed images ready for immediate use on TV and in the newspapers.

I do find his attitude towards women and less experienced photographers to be rather patronizing and don’t think I would like to work with him.  On the plus side his knowledge of Lightroom and Photoshop is phenomenal and I have to respect that.

Museum of International and Contemporary Art in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife

An exhibition showcasing the work of the Canarian art critic Eduardo Westerdahl is on view at the Museum of International and Contemporary Art in Puerto de la Cruz in Tenerife.  As I was on holiday there last week (25th April – 2nd May) I called in to take a look.  

Museum of International and Contemporary Ar

Westerdahl was born in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1902 and is best known for the creation of the self-named gallery in Puerto del la Cruz, which features the works of many famous names of the Spanish modern art world.  Something of a revivalist man, his work included the world of letters, as he became the editor of the admired Gaceta del Arte magazine during the 1930’s.  

The exhibition has four rooms of permanent displays and visitors can wander through an eclectric mix

Textura by Lindell

of mixed media images and sculptures. One of my favourite pictures was called Textura by a Spanish artist called Lindell, created in 1982, which reminded me most strongly of the hardened blue-black lava which is found all over the Canary Islands due to them being of being formed from volcanic eruptions.  It also reminded me of a painting I saw at the Tate Modern many years ago of textured white paper and textiles (on view when the West End show ART featured a similar theme of a white painting).  Some of the work seemed strangely naive but the majority was interesting, thought provoking work.  I’m glad I stopped by.

Lord Lichfield at the National Trust, Mottisfort

Yesterday I went to see the Lord Lichfield exhibition at Mottisfort Abbey National Trust place in Romsey.  Here's the link to their exhibition site:  http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/mottisfont/things-to-see-and-do/events/exhibitions/ .

Talk about being mugged before you even got into the event.  It cost £11.25 to enter the house and gardens if you weren't an NT member and if you felt like gift aiding your entrance fee you had to pay over £12.  That's the first time I've ever had to pay more to gift aid.  It warrants further investigation I think.

Lichfield's pictures were up to his usual stunning standard although I had seen many before.  The images mainly centred on his working life in the 1960s/70s and around 2000+.  Sadly he died in 2005 so we'll never know how he would have fully embraced what the 'naughties' digital age can now offer.

(c) Lord Lichfield Studios

I have often wondered how he would have fared without his royal connections.  Would his natural brilliance at relaxing the subject and getting that one extraordinary picture or would he have had to stay in the ranks of the also rans?  I really liked this image of Cecil Beaton and discussed the set up with my colleague as to who would have had the last word in arranging the scenario.







It was interesting to read that no photography was allowed due to infringement of copyright.  Earlier this month I went on a study day with the OCA to the Saatchi Gallery where there are 12 galleries open to the public.  Photography went on there with people not only snatching pictures of the images with their smart phones but students were also opening using cameras to record the images.  No one stopped them even with gallery staff in the same room.

It was an interesting collection of his most famous images, ones that I would expect him to be proud of but it would have been much better if there had been some of his lesser known and even unseen pictures included in the overcrowded rooms.

Visit to the RPS Travelling Print Exhibition, Taunton

RPS 165^th International Print Exhibition

 Friday March 7^th 2014

The RPS 165^th Print Exhibition came to the end of its stay in Taunton yesterday so I visited it before it closed.  There are 100 prints from over 20 countries; hence its content is truly ‘International’.  Evidently this exhibition is the first to allow images to be submitted in digital format and over 80% were submitted in this way.  I was lucky when I arrived at the museum to view the exhibition, as there was no one else in the room.  Eventually several more people came in and caused a disturbance as they worked their way round discussing the images as they went.

Whilst I didn’t necessarily understand what all the photographers were trying to say with their pictures, I did appreciate approximately three quarters of the images themselves.  What I found more intriguing was those pictures that had an explanation beside them (and not all did) some of the wording was incomprehensible.  Why do people do that?  Is it to big themselves up or do they really believe their ‘hyperbole’?

(c) John Eaton, Watching and Waiting

In my opinion the majority of the exhibition is one of excellence and something to strive for.  For example I enjoyed John Eaton’s ‘Watching and Waiting’ with its areas of symmetry and non symmetry with one person just visible in the bottom right hand corner; this made your eye move around the picture again.

(c) Jane Donnelly 'War Horse'

I also found Jane Donnelly’s ‘War Horse’ extremely imaginative showing how such a large domesticated animal with such immense strength can be so gentle and amenable.   

There were one or two images that had no impact on me at all, there were some that I felt were mere record shots and I wondered why the selection committee included them.  Surely, a picture should be one where the photographer has added something of him or herself to it and not just taken what was in front of them.  The picture by Vinci Weng titled ‘A Wonderful Time’ was intriguing where it was obviously comprised of many images but why had the photographer cut off the majority of people's and animals’ feet?

 

I enjoy pictures that show symmetry and there were several in this classification.  My favourite was the image byMike Mills entitled ‘The Go-Between’.  The shades of grey and black add to the symmetry to me and the punctum is the person captured walking between the two buildings that gives the eye a focal point.

(c) Mike Mills, The Go-Between

All in all, I found this exhibition visually stimulating and it has given me some interesting ideas to move my photography forward into different areas.

RPS 165th Print Exhibition

I'm off to Taunton today to see the RPS 165th  exhibition at the Museum of Somerset.  Should be interesting to see what caught the judges' eyes.  Luckily I live near enough to Exeter, Taunton and Bristol so I can get to see some top rated exhibitions.

Report to follow.

Link to RPS print exhibition website

Itay_Benit_Untitled  Wawona

Book: The Story of Design by Charlotte and Peter Fiell

I've just read a review of this book in The Mail on Sunday which claims that this brilliantly researched history of design classics is perfect for dipping into.  Not being near a decent library to borrow it, I've ordered a good used copy from an Amazon dealer and hope to dip in in the near future.