Ilovethatphoto is an on-line magazine blog that looks at independent photographers, much of the on line magazine is interview's with artist that have been featured in the magazine. The idea of the magazine is a resource of photographers. The magazine also has a Tumblr blog - The Photographic Image.   
The blog looks at works by Jeff Wall, Robert Adams, Eugene Atget, Nan Goldin, August Sander, Gregory Crewdson, Ed Ruscha and William Eggleston. 

The first interview that interested me was Wouter Van de Voorde, an Austelian photographer that looks at the way that humans change the world.  Much of this series looks at homes that have been left abandoned and have the absence of humans but the traces that they were once there. The images a beautiful hunting, with fantastic use of natural lighting. 

The work does give the feeling of how the land has be changed by us and how we have chosen to settle in many corners of the world. Many of the images are dull in  colour, this is an effect that, in some way's and in relation to this work makes you feel as though you are walking through a memorise from some one else's mind. 

The images also evokes the idea that every thing comes to an end, that we all move on from place to place and leave the physical bricks and mortar behind but keep the memories with us. 
Over all this is a very interesting body of work that captures that emotions of the changes that we make to this world and the changes that the world makes to us as people. 

Exhibition Review

David Cotterrell - Monsters of the Id

War, has happened for generations, throughout cultures. It scares landscapes, tares’ countries apart and changes lives. 

David Cotterrel's Monsters of the Id is a body of work that spans a two year period. Cotterrell worked in Afghanistan in the Helmand Province. The images that were taken over the first year were taken from the confines of the military bases and armoured Jeeps, however he was unable to see how the landscape was being changed by man, and only seeing the land through the eyes of the soldiers. On revising Cotterrell was able to leave some of the compounds and photographed the landscape and how such actions of man were changing the land.   

Monsters of the Id. The title for this body of work. The idea of a monster is something that you would expect to come from the imagination of a child, a dark creature with an ominous face. However the Id is something much deeper. The idea of the Id is the part of your subconscious that stimulates cravings, these cravings being the impulses to survive. The id controls our needs; if we become hungry we eat.

What is interesting about this work is that in some ways you could see this idea of war as the dark side of man's mind, man controlling his primal needs to kill, this being where the monster of the Id comes from. 

Image two is a shot from the second room of the exhibition, the sculpture in the centre of the room is made to represent a section of the landscape that you see in the main entrance of the building (Room 1). This section of the landscape has live images of the viewers in room 1 projected onto the sculpture in room 2, from this you could say that we are tiny in existence, that   really we are like ants. Moreover you could see this as how we as people change the landscape, while viewing the projections of people onto the sculpture it became apparent that some of the people travelled in groups while others were alone. In a sense this indicated that we travel the land and make changes to it as individuals or as social groups. 

In conclusion to this the exhibition looks at a number of different aspects of how people and events change and shape the landscape that we live in, as well as the idea that even though we might not witness war on a daily basis we cannot say that it does not affect us in some way, even if it is not direct.

http://www.cotterrell.com/
http://www.hansardgallery.org.uk/exhibition/current.html

Rita Soromenho

Source Magazine 

Issue 62 

Page 25

Peripatetic (2007) - Rita Soromenho 

The series of images by Soromenho titled Peripatetic is a series of images that looks at collections and bouquets of flowers. Flowers were used through out history, in the west they were used purely for their decorative appearance. In the 17th century flowers were soon painted, this soon became a genre. During the  Victorian  era botanical life grew and the Victorians almost became the known 'Cult of flowers' Flowers were soon used as a way to brighten up the home, the home being a place of the feminine touches. Flowers began to appear on pillows, furniture, walls, carpets and clothes. At this very same time photography was being developed by Henry Fox-Talbot in the form of photogrmas, this then changed the way that flowers were represented.  

Anna Atkin was another at this time that was making images of flowers with out the use of a camera, her work was based around cyanotypes. This again gave the flowers a new face.  

Soromenho is tiring to understand the complex meaning behind flowers through out culture. Her series is about a journey as well as being inspired by early photographic works on flowers. Each of her images in a way, encapsulates the idea of revelations of the urban space. The idea that with in a concreter jungle there can be natural life. This is reflected in the plants that Soromenho collects for her images. These 'flowers' are more often then not classed as weeds. Her work posses no orchids, lilies or roses, the kinds that you would expect to find in a painting. 

http://www.ritasoromenho.co.uk/

http://www.source.ie/index.php      

Source Magazine

Source Magazine 
Issue 62 
Page 13 

Robin Friend - Belly of the Whale 

Intaview by Jesse Alexander

Belly of the Whale - was a photography project that was inspired by the idea of getting lost. Friend lived in London original, a concrete jungle. However he had a love and a place in Exeter, in Dartmoor. A place of rugged landscape.  

The work that Friend makes in this series is based on may different books and authors such as The Odyssey, Mobby Dick - The Whale and The Golden Bough. All of these have religious quality's to them as does the the title of this selection of work Belly of the Whale. The clear inspiration for this work was the biblical story of Jonah and the Whale. from the reading Friend tells us that the idea of the title was to think of the belly as being some where that is dark and alien to us, however the whale is something more positive, being that it is alive it is a vessel that get us to where we need to be in the sense that we view this work as we move along it and discover Dartmoor through the work.  

"In out minds eye we always have an idea of what something might look like but this is trivial or at the very least just speculation" Robin Friend.

While on a trip to Iceland Friend was told much about the landscape and had seen many photos and films of the land, although all of this was still not enough to prepare one for what he saw as they were some one else views of Iceland and not seen though his own eyes till he arrived. In this way it teaches us that we have to experience things for our self no matter what or where we go, this is the same for photographic works every ones eyes are different and people will always see collections of work different from one another. 

http://www.robinfriend.co.uk/wp/
http://www.source.ie/index.php

Architecture of Absence

Candida Hofer, 
James Casbere and Thomas Demand 

Hofer uses empty room's in her work photographing the whole space with out a soul in sight. The work is eerie but at the same time interesting with a strong use of symmetry to encapsulating the rooms that she looks at, many of them happen to be places of work or leaning such as libraries and offices.

Candida Höfer - Johnen Galerie Berlin

    

However she does all so look at the more public buildings such as palaces and theatres all over the world. These   buildings are grand and Hofer really captures the size and scale of these buildings, with the beauty of them through the emptiness and the lighting. 

                                                                                    
While reading through chapter two of Charrlote Cottons The Photograph as Contemporary art, James Casbere jumped out as being very similar to that of Candida Hofer. Due to the absence of people in both their work and the use of architectural spaces. 


He investigates the idea of large spaces with all the traces of people beaning removed. (wirrtier / date) 
In this seance their works are ver similar.     
However Casbere's work is different in a vital way to that of Hofer. His spaces as replicas of the real spaces that he had been to. Instead of creating the idea of space Casbere floods many of them to give the feeling of disorientation and claustrophobia. 

  

James Casebere - Monticello #3 2001

Thomas Demand also makes models of places and buildings, however his approach is not to flood them and remove the humanity form the spaces but to create a scene that is made of paper, Styrofoam and card. Demand then photographs the spaces and leaves in any imperfections that might have occurred in the construction of the spaces. The reason for this is to allow the viewer to question his images on their authenticity, therefore this then in turn causes the viewer to question other works by other artist that they might see.

Thomas Demand - Drafting Room 1996

Tableau photography, the art of staging an image with the intention to make it appear really and have a strong level of believability. what these images have in common is there subject matter, however Casbere and Demand both stage their work  while Hofer (not a tableau photographer)  takes her images of the space and surroundings that she is in. 
Take this for example if you were to see a Demamd image and a Hofer would you believe that one of really while the other is staged, or would you believe that both were the real authentic setting? What makes you beilive Hofers images more then Demand for example, the scale of Hofers images is a very big give away that they are taken on location. However with Casbere this is not the case, his images are very convincing, if it was not for the water and finaly Demand his images are convincing to the eye even though they are constructed from cardboard and paper, but the use of imperfections allows us not to be fooled by his images and many other artists work. 


  

Introduction to blog

Introduction to my Blog - About:

This is my weekly Visual Exploration blog. Here I will add a page every week on the work that we have created every week on texts that we have read and exhibition write ups as well as any photographic works that we make in those weeks.
The posts will consist of images, artist, books, blogs and any other photographic items that I find while studying that I wish to share on my blog.  

Umter Mag - http://www.umter.com/ 
This Magazine is new and special, so new it has only got four editions (As of yet). However that does not make it irrelevant, this magazine is some where, were young photographers or up and coming photographs can send their work weather at university or on an MA course to be published in one of their issues. Not only are there emerging photographers but there are some well know as well. 
Umter is well worth a look its fresh and exciting with many possibilities to go far. Opening a door for photographers that really want to start some where in getting their own work out there.   

Charlotte Hopkins - Six Feet Above  

Six Feet Above, a collection on work made by Charlotte Hopkins looking at the death of the Telephone Box. In today's modern climate the work is ever growing with the use of mobile devices such as the phone. This has lead to the ever beautiful red phone box slowly evolving over time only to now be a relic on street corners. 
This work is of interest as it feels as though Hopkins has photographed these boxes as if they were portraits, taking the images as night so they appear isolated and alone in the dark, but in the same way they light up as if they are beaming that some one has shown as interest in them. 

Charlotte Hopkins - Six Feet Above