Again, I'm typing up these updates to keep myself right. The formality of the Street Photography Now weekly challenges, combined with the monotony of cinema work, has given my weeks a sense of structure (incidentally both of those commence on Fridays, strange eh?). Outside of those parameters life is very much sitting on hold until I find out if I will be sent to Japan or not, as part of the 2011 JET programme - but this will not be until early April. So, all I can do is stay busy and keep attending my Japanese classes!
Shelf Sample 6/3/11
What else has been going on? I live in the cinema if and when I can, or I continue my research work on the camera obscura (more on this later!). Sadly, my Flickr page has been taken over with SPN posts but I do still continue to photograph and live outside of the weekly briefs. Of course I do! Well, this is some of it:
Print Swapping - At long last it has started... Rakel (see her photography here!) sent me a print in the post, and it is beautiful! I intend to have a return print sent off as soon as possible - as soon as I choose one. This is something I would love to do more of! The fact that we can exchange photographs, thoughts, opinions and ideas via the Internet (and namely Flickr) is great, but receiving physical copies of images is beyond compare. No longer is the photograph a collection of high definition pixels on a screen but a tenderly hand-printed, and carefully sealed present.
Rakel Erna Skarphéðinsdóttir - Untitled
Darkest Era - At long last Darkest Era have launched their first album, entitled The Last Caress of Light. I have already posted about how it has been a such a great journey to photograph this band as we all developed and progressed as artists. I think that is why seeing my photos in the inlay (see below) and booklet struck such a chord, this was a collective culmination of our progress in some way. Also, the album is sublime (to echo all of the reviews) so please go buy a copy! ;]
Darkest Era - The Last Caress of Light
All Ears: Another project that I am lending a somewhat creative/helping hand to is a music documentary, All Ears (dir. Gus Sutherland, 2011). I am helping out by designing the credits and inter-titles, which is really fun as I have been looking for an excuse to relearn aspects of Final Cut Pro. Also, it provides time to hang out with Gus and learn about a bustling realm of music that I had only the faintest inkling about. All Ears: A Glimpse into the Los Angeles Beat Community will be screened (or premiered, if you prefer) at the Beat Generation Festival held in the QFT, on Sunday 20th March at 4pm. See here!
Ongoing: I think I will start a 100 Portraits in 100 Days challenge soon, I miss being involved and interacting with people. The portraiture of Albrecht Tübke and Alec Soth has played a major role in the formation of this novel notion. I am aiming for something more than passing snapshots and mugshots. Through the location, the clothes, or the other elements of the portrait I want to be able to tell something of that person to an audience or viewer, I suppose that is where the documentary aspect of 'documentary portraiture' comes in. 100 Days should be enough, I hope.
Enough for now,
-PM
