This Saturday I’m off to the Flash Swap Exhibition

An initiative that has my full support is Birmingham Photospace I started to write about it and then I thought the organizers have already produced an excellent explanation and posted it on the Facebook group page.

The group is seeking to galvanise interested individuals and organisations in Birmingham towards the ultimate aim of creating a world class venue for photography in Birmingham. This could be in a reclaimed industrial building close to the city centre. This could build on and support the interest in photography in the city, showcase our magnificent photography collections and fill a gap in Birmingham's visual arts facilities

You can also read the Vision For Birmingham and then visit the informative blog

The Flash Swap Exhibition organized by Birmingham Photospace takes place this Saturday 21st March at the Custard Factory’s Vaad Gallery this is an opportunity for photographers of all levels to showcase their work for free.

Basically you take along at least one photograph and you are then entitled to choose a picture.

Comprehensive information at the Birmingham Photospace Press Release

I decided to take one of my earlier photographs in fact it was taken at the first burnt out car I ever photographed. You will notice that my work today is very different than this first photograph as now I look to disguise any notation that of the origins of the photograph. The only problem now is I have to find it in my spare bedroom.

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A Real Friday the 13th for the owner of this car

When I first started blogging last year I had some notes jotted down in case I had writer’s bloke, one of those stories to fall back on was “Shortage of Burnt Out Cars” because at the time this was a concern to me – my livelihood was at stake. But looking back over the blog it seems that they are in regular supply and I am just refining my means of sourcing them. This involves developing a 6 sense to anticipate where they will be and having the right people in the right places looking out for them.

Yesterday I got the wake up call from John the park cleaner about a burnt out car dumped at Fox Hollies Park in Acocks Green, Birmingham. This was the same location that I went to photograph another car a few weeks back but when I arrived it had been towed away. So off I went half asleep as soon as I could to investigate.

I don’t think this car, a Fiat I believe will be moving so quickly because it was sunk in a bog, there’s a small fishing lake on a higher level not far away and with the melting snow it was overflowing down to the small river, the car was in the way. I had to go home and get my Wellington boots.

You can see how I suffered for may art, the smell wasn’t too bad it was just hard trying to move around the car and concentrate on the shot when your feet are sinking, Also I didn’t want to fall over (nearly did) or drop any of my equipment I made sure there wasn’t even a nearly there, I remembered the date Friday the 13^th, now I would consider myself not superstitious but it really made me focus my attention

Sally will generally go searching nose down and then comes back to me and wants to be quite close, but I wouldn’t let her come near. Because she is now deaf I don’t like it when she goes off on her own because she wouldn’t hear me when I call out for her but how do you tell an animal you want them close but not too close in the end she was quite happy paddling in this part of the water, which is nice and clean.

Although the markings on the car look quite colourful it wasn’t a particularly good specimen, I was so disappointed because the sun light and weather conditions were perfect, the position of the car relevant to the sunlight was perfect and it was so small and low the access around the car was brilliant. I didn’t have to climb to get on the roof it was just the right height for me to work standing by the side of the car but there wasn’t one single shot worth taking.

With these perfect conditions I spent more time than normal examining details to try and get some pictures. Then looking through the lens I noticed the marks on the wings were quite good in fact with a small amount of water splashed on them they were very good and in the end I took over 400 pictures from different angles of these areas.

 

An area of the car that I don’t normal bother shooting is the wheel arches from the inside of the of the boot, because they are generally in shadow and also have too much rust and a metallic look about them (which I aim to take away from my final edits). But these are quite good. We shall see, it’s a busy weekend taxing grandchildren to various activities oh yes Valentines too but I will try and do some quick edits of the pictures from this car for tomorrows post on “You Will Never Look at Them in the Same Way Again”.

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Exhibition at the Solihull Arts Complex

Exhibition Title: You Will Never Look at Them in the Same Way Again.

Venue: Solihull Arts Complex

Address:	Library Square
	Touchwood
	Homer Road
	Solihull
	West Midlands

Dates: open up to 7th March

There is an Artist Talk event on Thursday 26^th February at 6pm

Got my PC back today, when they put it on the bench it behaved impeccably and made me look a right idiot, so I took it home and guess what so far in about 3 hours its crashed and re booted 3 times, and a load of other program associated issues that I shall not bore you with here. Anyway one way and another I have managed to prepare the pictures from the show

This couple I meet during a meeting at Sainsburys café with Steph Adams and Jackie Mackay the three of us were selecting the pictures for the show ( or rather Steph and Jackie did) and of course we had all the pictures spread out over 2 tables. Everybody passing couldn’t miss the work. This couple were one of those customers who passed by and staid to talk.

This is Rita Ryan who is responsible for me working as an artist today, I was producing nice “chocolate box” drawing and paintings when I turned up at Ritas Monday art class in Kings Heath, Birmingham. Somehow Rita has the ability to push you that little bit further but in comfortable way. Quite a talent.. Every time I’ve a Private View Rita has been invited but there has always been some reason why she couldn’t make it.

The Lord Mayor was very relieved that only one of the photographs had originated from a car that was burnt out in Solihull. I asked him when he is back in the council meetings if could persuade the parks department to take down the barriers that block the joy riders driving on the parkland and in fact steps to encourage them so that it’s a lot easier for me to find the burn outs. After all he could see the benefits to the local arts industry and there is the additional service to the community of keeping the kids off the street and giving them something to do.

Also there was Pete from the famous “Pete's 'Today In History' Quiz “ blog the timing worked just right as he was able to pop along before going to the Colebrook pub the Thursday night pub quiz.

At the end we all went off to the Slug and Lettuce pub and here I am surrounded by the girls and some very good artists no less Rita Fletcher, Eva Bennett, Marie Prestleton and Judy Reece.

And finally I was so busy spreading myself about and talking to everybody I had very little time to take any pictures myself my thanks go to fellow artist John Bishop (on the left) seen here with another artist John Thomas.

And Chris Mould my other intrepid snapper seen here with Marie who flew in from the Czech Republic and made it an international event.

Another Session Of Photography In The Cold At Maypole

I got a call from John the park cleaner who is one of my look outs to say he had found a burnt out car, of course I knew all about it yesterday but he confirmed that it was still there and worth a visit. Sometimes a car can be towed away within a few hours but I have known them to be in position for a week, I treat every photograph as if its my last with the vehicle concentrating on the most likely areas first. Unlike yesterday when everybody seemed very suspicious of me today everyone wanted to stop and have a chat including this man.


I told him what I did with my photos and invited him to look at my show at the Solihull Arts Complex and he said “Oh my daughters exhibited there”. His daughter is none other than the very talented photographer Michelle Lord. We are both involved in the Art and Business project “Visual” and we both exhibited in the group exhibition at Baskerville House last year.

The surface of the car hadn’t change at all which is unusual, I decided that after today there was no point in returning because the changes to the surface from now on will produce a quality of rust that doesn’t transform well in the photographs. Indeed I decided to pour water over the surface and while this will drastically transform the surface it will accelerate the decline in the quality for my purposes. Yesterday I took the bonnet home to work on that over the next few months.

I would like to work on one of these photographs now to illustrate my point but working with my old pc is ridiculously slow. I upgraded my PC last year so that it could handle large digital files and very large 45 megapixel files that have from scanning the 35mm film negatives, the upgrade was designed specifically for editing with Photoshop and to enable the viewing and selection of the hundreds of files. The PC is still on the bench being diagnosed.


I found out from this chap walking his dog that although the car appeared to me yesterday to have been joy ridden across the grass verge before being set alight it had in fact been in that position for 2 weeks with large For Sale signs advertising to those on the busy road.

A sleepless night wondering if everything will be ok

Yesterday we set the artwork out on the gallery floor so that we could see how each piece looked in the space and how each one harmonised with the other work. I was a little worried because it doesn’t matter how good a picture looks on a monitor or hard copy its still hit or miss if it works printed on glass and at at that stage you can’t see detail in the pictures and therefore they look disappointing. I was very relieved when all the pictures where hung on white wall with the lighting in the right position.

Once again thanks to the staff at the arts complex who did all the installation for me, luxury.

Burntout Car in Tysley, Birmingham

I have often dreaded the thought of getting a telephone reporting a found burnt out car and for some reason not being able to go and photograph it. Well this morning it happened for real. About 9:30am I received a call from John the park cleaner about a car found off Cowley Road in Tysley, but I had to take my dog to the vet at 10am I had also arranged to take my dad for an appointment at 11 which meant the earliest I would be there would be 12:30 and by then the car could be towed away. A few years ago you would see burnt out cars left in the position were they were torched but nowadays they are carried away within hours so I was not confident this car would be there when I drove to the park.

The moment when I first see a car is full of anticipation, what condition will it be in is generally the most important concern but for this car I was just relieved to see it still there.

Sadly the arsonists had driven across and ploughed up the ground of the small football pitch. 

The car, a Ford Escort the make and model which traditionally produces some great scorch marks was in perfect condition and in an ideal position in the field which in the limited winter daylight is very helpful because it means there is a better chance of getting good quality sharp pictures.  I had plenty of room to move around the car and point my camera at the best angles, bear in mind that when I’m looking through the lens I aim to capture an image that resembles a landscape (either from outer space or the window of an airplane over a forest or sea or even a seascape below water) and during the manipulation of the image later on my PC I try to dissolve the picture of metal, plastic and glass. There is nothing more frustrating than seeing great markings on a car but that side of the vehicle is in shadow or to too close to a wall/fence and therefore I cant get access. The only problem I encountered here was the choking from the smoke of the still burning tyre.

I had been warned by John to lock my own car and watch my equipment and just be aware of what was going on around me while I worked (the inner city area of Tysley isn’t the best) but the burnout was on the edge of the park far away from the walking paths and Sally was on guard, nobody knows that she is so viscous she would lick them to death.

 Despite the warnings I experienced no problems and I was there photographing until it got dark, its unusual to have so much time to work (because the car would normally be towed away by lunch time) and once I had taken as many photographs using my usual method of lenses and camera settings I utilised the time to experiment not only with other lenses but I changed to my film SLR (Canon AE-1 Program) and used a few roles of film. Under normal circumstances I need to work quick and because of the time constrains I don’t like to use a tripod however, I was able to spend more time setting up the shot. I have often wondered what it would be like having a car in a photography studio with the perfect lighting conditions and being able control the shoot, one day it might happen but this was the closest I have come so far.

Hot of the press is a finished picture

Rhubarb Photo Festival in Birmingham

Saturday I attended the internationally renowned Rhubarb Festival which this year took place at Aston Business School. Now if you’re a regular on my blog you know the Aston Business School have bought some of my work so its something of a lucky building for me, that’s taking superstition too far but you know what I mean.

In brief what it’s all about (move to next paragraph if you know):
the organisers of a festival get all the top buyers, movers and shakers of the photo industry in to one room, these reviewers are gallery owners, agents, magazine photo editors etc etc. from all over the World. We as photographers select who we want to see and book a time slot with them to show our portfolio of work, this selection process is achieved by looking at the reviewers profile which might state “I’m looking for documentary photographyusing film not digital” (therefore this reviewer would not be interested in my work). With further assistance of links to websites you can be extremely accurate in targeting who you want to sit down with and show them your portfolio to. Its important that you get this process correct because time is precious in this situation, and as you have to pay to enter the review you want to maximise your investment. Having done your research you have 20 minutes with each selected reviewer to show your portfolio and talk about it.

One of my reviewers Fred Baldwin Chairman of Fotofest, Houston, USA

The reviewers tell it like it is bad or good they are professionals in a hard business, suggesting anything from printing processes to taking the work forward with new approaches to the image making. In the main I had a very successful day and made some great contacts and in generally had a good response to my work.

I am extremely fortunate because living in Birmingham I didn’t have to c atch a plane or incur hotel costs; I spoke to several UK photographers whom had to start the day at 4am and others from the USA and Europe. Me, I rolled out of bed at 8am to arrive by 8:45 but that’s not to say I had a good nights sleep. No I was too nervous for that. Being a local was handy when it comes to sourcing free car parking although it wasn’t any advantage for finding somewhere for lunch because the facilities at the venue were reasonable, well done Aston Business School.

As well as the festival, Rhubarb provide mentoring to photographers, again I’m lucky living on their doorstep, because I have attended countless workshops that have prepared me for situations like the festival. Perhaps the biggest value of all was a two day workshop about assembling and packaging my portfolio, many of the reviewers complimented me on the presentation, it stands to reason if there’s nothing bad to distract then they are more focused on the images.

Rhonda Wilson MBE , Creative Director of Rhubarb popped over for a chat

In the evening we had a Portfolio Promenade were each artist sets out work for sale on a table 4ft square. So there you are lined up with loads of other photographers and invited guests file past looking at the work, it also gave us photographers a chance to network and discuss work, techniques and marketing experiences. Have a look at their sites: Richard Foot, John Maclean, Joe Ford, Michael Marten, Kelly Hill, Richard Fear, Kurt Tong and Jon Tonks.

This lady (sitting down) flew in from the USA that morning, her work was amazing really detailed close shots of wild animals, each time I tried to have a chat with her she was talking to someone and I never got around to finding out her name or get a business card.

Harry Palmer the driving force behind the The Worlds First Dedicated Eccentric Newspaper "The Eccentric City" cycled across Birmingham to have his photo taken by me.

About 9pm we finished and made our way across the courtyard for a few drinks I got home about 11:30pm I was so tired that I pulled up outside me house too exhausted to get out the car, and then I realised I still had to take my 3 dogs for a walk.

"Shared Earth" has been selected for this years Open West Midlands 08 Exhibition

Shared Earth

Open West Midlands is a biennial collaboration between Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and Wolverhampton Art Gallery (whom host this years show), the Open allows artists in the region to show their work at these prestigious venues. My photograph was selected from 750 entries by artists from the Birmingham, West Midlands, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire and Herefordshire areas

The exhibition covers exhibits in 2D, 3D, Time Based, and Digital work in any medium with the independent selection panel covering all art forms, the photograph applicants were chosen by the celebrated photographer Richard Billingham

New Photography On Screen Exhibition- Almost ready

My job to sweep the floor, it only took me 2 hours. We are almost ready for the big switch on, tidy a few wires, turn the laptops and screens on make sure everything is in sync and open the doors.

The show runs daily between June 10-20. 10am to 5pm

Venue
Custard Factory
GALLERYALLERY,
Gibb Street,
Digbeth,
Birmingham
B9 4AA