July. Not this year...

So, last July I was running a 24/7 photo challenge that end up as a strange set of documents that included two short film shoots, a break-up, moving house three times, an island trip, and some very important social events. This set of images can be found here.

Having just finished 100 consecutive days of portraits I am ready to retreat back into theory mode, and explore the realms of 'terminal identity' more so that I can tackle it via the lens. Also, I need to find a way of exhibiting the 100 Portraits in 100 Days project, and construct it into a book.

However, photography still continues. It continues in the galleries with Allan Sekula's show at Belfast Exposed. And it continues in my world too. Most recently I have been working on new landscapes in rural Ireland that investigate and document how changes in subsidy legislation are affecting farmers and their land. This is only a fledgeling idea, much like the changes in law, but I shall post images soon.

-PM

Half the year is gone, but...

An update as such, now that 2011 is half over:

1. The 100 Portraits project is complete and talks surrounding an exhibition are ongoing. More on this as it and when it occurs. Ideally this will be sooner rather than later.

2. The new half of the year means being able to pour more energy into the next project. This will stem from the writing on 'terminal identity'.

3. With more film work being produced in Northern Ireland the remainder of the year is looking economically brighter than the previous half. Roll on Game of Thrones season two and Good Vibrations [2012]!

4. The London Street Photography Festival starts today! Their website and timetable are full of interesting photographers, exhibitions, and workshops, so don't neglect it. Especially the astounding and only recently discovered work of Vivian Maier, shown as Vivian Maier: A Life Uncovered.

-PM

Terminal Identity, and Contemporary Portraiture [2]

So, to delve a little deeper...

What is terminal identity?

The notion of a 'terminal identity' comes from science-fiction, contemporary cultural studies and post-modern theories that investigate how advanced electronic technologies are impacting upon the cultures of the developed. Theorists including Donna Haraway, Scott Bukatman, and Jean Baudrillard are integral to this area of study.

The 'terminal identity' I am curious about relates to what Bukatman calls the "armchair universe", where the rise of global communication networks has digitised popular ideas relating to social interaction, leisure, work, commerce, and government. From home, or their private terminal in a library or Internet cafe.

I will add more later. And bring the focus back to photography.

-PM

Terminal Identity, and Contemporary Portraiture [1]

Since my 100 Portraits project involves continued social interaction, I have had time to think on how we can communicate and interact using modern media and 'social networking'. With email, phone calls, texting, instant message services (such as MSN, BBM, iChat, Facebook Chat), Skype and so many other services we can connect with people around the world to talk, flirt, catch-up, share ideas and interests, exchange information, and creatively collaborate - all from the luxury of our bedrooms, houses, or cafes. We interact through the fibre-optic skeins of technology.

As of today, 25/5/2011, there are 669,730,880 Facebook members1, and the only site that sees more digital traffic is Google2. We are living more and more online. Aside from the social interaction aspects we can use the Internet to order food, buy new clothes and goods, learn from prerecorded lectures and podcasts, listen to music, stream television programmes and films, access pornography, find jobs, etc... everything we could want is only a few clicks away.

All of this is mentioned in E.M. Forester's When the Machine Stops (1909). Yes, in 1909 science-fiction literature was musing on how humanity could become more dependent on technology. In Forester's short story the people live their lives through the Machine, in much the same way as we use digital technology. And this is how each of us has developed ourterminal identity. More on this later.

Back to the 100 Portraits project and When the Machine Stops. In Forester's novella there is a means of communicating through the Machine which allows a user, sitting in their personal room, to talk to and see another person - using "the blue plate". This is not unlike Skype, or iChat, where we can talk to, and see, people from all corners of the globe.

Using Skype I was able to take portraits of a friend with neither of us leaving our bedrooms. When I attempt this again, I may use a camera rather than screen-grabbing, so that my action is recorded and the image quality is better; however, I really wanted to explore the notion of photographing someone without pressing the shutter-button.

(48/100, 100 Portraits in 100 Days, 2011)

Again, this is something I will come back to.

-PM