During the module ‘Strategies and Surfaces’ I completed a micro-project ‘Last person to leave turn of the tap’ the work produced has many parallels to the work of Philip Singleton who is in the same cohort as me we have both created images that record building in state of suspension. The Filter House is waiting while its current owners Chelmsford Council and the Chelmsford Museum decide its future. The building has sat idle since the mid 1980s when it ceased creating drinking water for the inhabitants of Chelmsford. During the period of suspension the forces of nature and vandalism have not been idle and the building continues to decay during this extended pause.
Starting this module ‘Sustainable Prospects’ means there is a new cohort of photographers to interact with who might have projects that can be viewed as contemporary work of my main project ‘Tilbury to Harwich’ using the literal definition of the project (a story of the Essex coastline.) Week 1 of ‘Sustainable Prospects’ has provided that opportunity and I have identified 3 new MA students who can be considered as contemporary photographers these are Sarah Newton, Vaughan Pickhaver and Daniel Simon.
Newton’s project ‘Beauty and the Beach…’ is a coastal project but exploring the coastal line of Devon, Cornwall and London though in addition to waterside locations she is interested in the debris that gets washed up on to the beach from the sea. Marine pollution is a subject that has been explored by Mandy Barker but she collects the debris and creates images in a studio based on the items collected from the sea. A case study on Barker’s work is discussed (Read and Simmons, 2017 p.128) and how she has used marine debris to create images that look like the marine life being impacted by the debris.
Simon’s project looks at the impact that different cultures have on the landscape of Dubai and it will be interesting to see how his recording of the city might be different from someone who was born in Dubai. I believe my own gaze on the county of Essex contains a bias as a result of growing up in the county and spending a significant amount of my life within the county even though there have been two periods where I lived outside of the county for multiple years though on both occasions I continued to return back to Essex on a regular basis.
Pickhaver’s project is on Cornwall and the decline of tin mining in the county. There are parallels to the transformation story in Essex which has gone through a period of transform. At the start of the 20th century the county transformed from an agricultural bias to light industry such as telecommunications and this reduction the level of reliance on agriculture. Now with improved transport links, its proximity to London and a decline in light industry it has become a commuter satellite city with a significant percentage of the county working in London in the finance and services sectors.
It will be interesting to see how these projects develop during this module and to compare their work to the work that I create for my project.
During this week I have been focused on a non-shooting aspect of a photographic practice and that is the role of Logistics and Production Manager during the summer I committed to exhibiting work at the London Photo Show in October and therefore I have been busy working with Genesis Imaging to get the images printed for the exhibition. Even though the exhibition hanging date is not until the 17th October there is much to arrange to get the images to the gallery. I have decided to print the images using Chromaluxe on Aluminium the white wall of the gallery will act as the border for each image. Last year as part of another exhibition we ran some test prints so I already have good idea of the likely outcome of the final prints. I decided to get the prints delivered ahead of the show to allow me to perform a final review before delivering for hanging. Over the next week I will need to complete the artist statement for the show, press release and exhibit signage.
References:
- Read, S. and Simmons, M. (2017). Photographers and research. New York, NY: Routledge, p.128.
