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.