HumanCentricity...

In one of my recent posts I talked about a few projects that I am currently working on. Here's an update on one...

The working title is HumanCentricity and so far it's very loose. I have been shooting parts of it for a couple of years; which, by the way, makes it a ballache of biblical proportions to find the negs for it. I have decided the concept will be best served in a book, possibly with exhibition prints but that's a way away. The project aims to show how even though humans account for a relatively small percentage of the world's biological population we have had such a huge impact on it. This will be a multi-faceted piece as it's a fairly complex issue to explore, being quite obtuse. I am far more sure of one element of the work than any of the others at the moment so that's what I shall be sharing with you.

A Car Crash and A Road

The above image and title is an early idea of what I want to do with this part of the project; a juxtaposition between expectation and representation. The most obvious expectation of human interference in this frame would be that the road sign has obviously been damaged, most likely by a car crash. However, there is human interference in every square millimetre of this image which we are so used to we don't even see any more. The most overlooked yet incredibly obvious is the presence of a road. This training to not see is what I want to challenge the viewer on in this part of HC. 

The text size is also something I thought about (mainly due to working alongside a wonderful photographer, craftswoman and all-around person, Simona last year.) The small reference to the car crash in relation to the large road I think is key as it highlights that while the car crash is there, and the expectation is for the photograph to be about this, more weight is applied to the notion of the road being the real subject of the image.

I have some more images for this project which need collating (yawn) and at least a day of going through my lovely negative bag which is now overflowing, but for now that's all you're getting!

Locked Out...

This blog is called Photography etc. With this in mind this post will most definitely be filed under etc. so those of you who read this blog (the delightful few that you are) purely for Photography may not want to indulge in this particular rant (therefore cutting the market for this post to virtually zero.)

I LOVE ice hockey; I cannot get enough of it. It's one of my only regrets that I didn't pull my finger out while I was at uni and strap on some skates for a team, however financial limitations didn't really give me an option. One day, I hope to move to Canada and play in a decent recreational league once I get good enough. But I digress...

The NHL is locked out. What might you ask does that mean? Basically, on the 16th of September of this year the owners of the 30 teams that make up the NHL said 'We're not going to play' because the league and players association have yet to agree to a new CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement: this covers player safety, contracts, salary, to name but a few.) This, to me, is all my nightmares come at once. Not least because I wanted to see how the Detroit Red Wings got on without their future hall-of-famer captain Nicklas Lidstrom, aptly nicknamed 'The Perfect Human' (the guy played until he was 42 years young for christ sake and he was still on top of his game!) but also because I enjoy the sport in general and this lock out will undoubtedly damage it.

This is the point at which I come to Commissioner Gary Bettman, the man representing the league. This guy is a douchebag of the highest order. In my eyes, he completely denies the facts. For example, he maintains the viewpoint that the PA has not moved in their direction during negotiations. But I was under the impression they had partially accepted a proposal from the league on the condition they honour player contracts which have already been signed... that's not too much to ask surely? But the owners of course aren't happy with that (I'd imagine Minnesota Wild GM, Check Fletcher, least of all after throwing 13-year $98 million contracts at both Zach Parise and Ryan Suter in free agency) but isn't this what contracts are for? I was actually taken aback when I realised the contracts already signed wouldn't be honoured. 

Many different solutions to this problem have been suggested by various people. Players have said why not play a season under the old CBA while negotiating a new one which seems to me a decent option seeing as the entire season is now in jeopardy with games through the middle of December and the All-Star game called off yesterday, as well as the Winter Classic outdoor game already having gone down the river (in which, the Toronto Maple Leafs would have played the Detroit Red Wings in Detroit WHICH I PLANNED TO GO TO! CHEERS BETTMAN!) A mediator is now being called for, with Bill Clinton's name being thrown into the mix, you know it's serious. 

All in all I think the league needs to realise where the fans heart lie, with the players. I support a team, but I also support players. I went and saw Drew Miller #20 of the Wings playing for the Braehead Clan of the UK Elite League but equally I will soon be going to see Anthony Stewart of the Carolina Hurricanes and Paul Bisonette of the Phoenix Coyotes. The teams are a logo that players play under but the main attraction is the players.

The notion of legacy was brought to my attention by Adam Proteau writing for The Hockey News. In an open letter to owners he says: "What are you guys risking these potentially massive legacy hits for? A few more stringent rules on player contracts? Doesn't seem worth it to me" Me either, Adam. 

NHL owners have their team to consider which ultimately comes down to players. Competing in overseas leagues may keep players match fit but in my humble opinion will not develop them as far as playing opposite the best in the hockey world as they do every game night in the NHL. This may result in a 'Lockout Hangover' if the season is rescued/when next season starts. 

I feel like this rant may now have to reach it's end. It's been a far too long already but last of all I need to make one point to both Gary Bettman and Donald Fehr...


...pull your heads out of your arses, sort it out and get back on the ice. LETS GO RED WINGS!

New Work...

As a professional-crastinator, I have decided to write about work rather than actually doing it. That works right? In all honestly, it usually helps me to plan things out and put my thoughts down on paper so i guess that's what I'm doing here. The short and skinny of the situation is I have three projects that I need to be getting on with and another I need to keep at least at the back of my mind. With that in mind here are my thoughts on these projects:

All of these Things: This project is my first book. I fucking loved writing my dissertation; the only part I didn't like was that it had a deadline. All of these Things is going to be a series of short (~2Kwrd) essays on the inane babble I like to prattle on about to anyone and everyone who will listen. The only difference is I will finally be able to research each of the areas properly (possibly conducting my own studies where circumstance demands, which I'm looking forward to) and get my opinion on them backed up by some more facts than the same ones I find myself regurgitating more and more recently. Some of the chapters I have already thought about and will be things like 'In the Intrest of Fairness, Rather than Fairness Itself', 'Sanity in Numbers', 'Human Centricity' amongst others. The chapter I have started working on in the last week is something quite important to me and outlines the specificity of language. I am yet to work out the methodology yet, as if I continue writing undoubtedly other chapters will pop into my head as I get the creative juices flowing; I was thinking of stopping coming up with chapters in about 6 weeks to limit myself from writing a tome of drivel.

Human-Centricity: A photographic outing. Yes. As I'm sure you're aware I like photographs so it seems more than appropriate that I have a project in that area. This is a project I've been thinking about and photographing for maybe the past two years but not in any official capacity and now is the time to pick up the pace. It's aim is to examine and reveal the very self involved nature of humanity as a species. I don't want to give anything away but I'm hoping it will have elements of juxtaposition of expectation, a series that I've always wanted to do on crowds and maybe a third facet which I am yet to dream up. This is hopefully going to go into a book but all the ins and outs are, obviously, yet to be finalised. This endeavour will probably take me at very least a few months, possibly a year but that is nowhere near as long as my next project will take...

Catalogue: I have always loved typological photography. The work of August Sander, the Bechers and of course Ed Ruscha has always struck a chord with me. It aims to make sense of an increasingly disordered world in essence. Now, this is the point at which I should probably tell you this project will take me the rest of my life. When I say it will, I am one hundred percent certain of it for the pure and simple fact that I shall never release it while I draw breath. In fact, I won't be the one releasing it at all. The plan is to bequeath it to someone along with instructions for it. Writing this down (as I mentioned earlier, it helps me work things out) I now realise why I am doing this, and I hadn't before. Catalogue, may very well be my legacy; I've always wanted one of them, something which lives beyond me. However, that particularly old philosophical chestnut is a whole other story which I will come back to at some point. Moving on to the subject of the work, the more astute reader may now realise why this will take me the rest of my natural born days. The subject matter is everything. And. I. Mean. EVERYTHING. So far I have series' on keys, bins, benches, houses, kinder egg toys, people and, surprise surprise, petrol stations. 

Collaboration: The notion of collaboration has always excited me. The perspective differences and compromise that comes through reasoned debate which is inherent to work just floats my boat! In my opinion all artistic mediums need an element of reflection to progress (using myself as an example- look at the difference between 'Twenty Six Gasoline Stations (Around Sunset)' and 'TwentySix') I have had a chat with a fantastic young lady who has just graduated from Portsmouth University who seems keen on the idea of at least getting together and throwing some ideas around. She was on the same art foundation course as me at RSA@ESC and her work was incredible and has only got better so I am naturally very excited about it.

So there we have it. Putting my thoughts together like this has actually really helped and I feel like I'm a lot clearer about what I have to do because it's not in this cloudy, changeable, ethereal haze in my head any more...plus I've occupied myself for forty-five minutes. That's all folks!