Graduation and beyond

The reason behind this blog is now well in the past - the course finished back in May - our results were posted in June (I passed with a fair mark) and we graduated in July. I have no intention of posting any of the very twee graduation pictures here. What next - well I have been actively involved in the establishment of a Royal Photographic Society Contemporary Group in the East Midlands and have entered a number of competitions (to date unsuccessfully...) and there is still our graduation exhibition to come. This opens on the 10th October - yes 10/10/10 (though at 2pm rather than 10 am!) at Pedestrian Arts in the centre of Leicester (just around the corner from The Curve and opposite the LCB Depot in what is known as the 'Cultural Quarter'. We hope to be a significant contribution to cultural life in the city over that period!

After a fair gap I have been taking pictures again. At the moment there is no substantive theme at work...other than one or two ongoing obsessions that I have had for some time. One of these is a long term study of the Ligurian Apennines shot from a friend's terrace and inspired by a quote from Lina Waterfield's book Castle In Italy - “a superb view of the Apennines on every side while to the east were the serrated marble mountains of Carrara. There is a local legend that Dante conceived the idea of the circles of Hell and Pergatory while wandering as an exile in the Lunigiana for wheresoever he stood he saw ranges of mountains around him.”

Post Hoc Rations and relations

So it's well past the event now - indeed we have been marked - are indeed marked men and women now. I have debated whether I should have now left this behind me. There's a strong case for doing so. But the trouble is that one becomes addicted to the steady flow of useless (and even occasionally useful) information that comes through the electronic pipes. For example the last time I read Greg Lucas's blog he was on the lookout for corduroyed gentlemen on old record sleeves. Now for reasons too foolish to recount I have a huge collection of dodgy vinyl. So I rooted through it to see what cheesy geezers I could find...but like Greg I simply couldn't find much (despite imagining that I'd have quite a few). But I did find a few (see above) that I considered he'd find of interest...so imagine my surprise when one of mine turned out to be one of his. Now though there are mitigating circumstances (after all we were on the look out for Corduroy or as it turned out Corduroy sub) but the chances of the same two albums coming out of the cloud given the many many millions in the world - slim I'd say.

Last Rites

Well…that’s it then! We handed in our work at around two pm today…hung around for a few minutes, said goodbyes to the guys…and headed off to the restaurant for a long lunch.

It will be a little sad not to be gearing up for another session in the months ahead – I have really enjoyed the course and especially the people. I always used to kick off my ‘Dean’s intro’ at Derby by saying to the audience of freshers – turn to the people either side of you and take a good hard look…because they are the people from whom you will learn most, if not nearly everything, over the years of your study. And thus it was with the course at DMU, which is not to undervalue the terrific support, encouragement and insight of the staff team who also gave marvellous value for money.

What exactly I have got out of the course I'm still too close to say. I've learnt a lot...about Photography I now know what I don't know and have a glimpse of what is still there to learn. About life - well - I understand so much more about how tricky and complex it is for all of us and how much tough stuff we all go through and how marvellously resilient and creative some people can be even under real duress and stress. More than anything I feel as if the enormity of just being here is something we all share - or at least those of us who attempt something of this kind...whether we complete (and how meaningless is that when you are undertaking this kind of endeavour) or not.

I have been humbled more times than I care to admit by my lack of knowledge and immensely glad and honoured by the hugely interesting material that my peers and the staff have either achieved and/or created. There has been some terrific stuff and I am richer by far for knowing about a lot of it. The work of artists such as Claude Cahun and Alex Soth and of writers such Michel Tournier and - more than anyone - WG Sebald have all been of value to me. Without the course who knows when I may have come across them?

So I shall be very sad on the 9th June when I shan't be on my way down the M1 to Leicester to meet up with the guys...but I'm still feeling good about knowing them and for having the opportunity to study at DMU. Thank you to you all - and to Paul, Mike & Greg. It's been a fabulously enriching experience.

The Final Part

Part Three

Part Two

The full set and the introductory text

Well, for better or worse, here's the final full submission of images (In four sets of four as they appear in the portfolio)! Printed both as A2 on Innova Smooth Cotton High White 100% Cotton 315 gsm and as A3 on German Etching 310 gsm - not yet sure which of these two will be submitted this coming Wednesday. Will sleep on it. Just relieved it is all over...as I had already put the essay to print last week. It doesn't seem much now it's all together - but for me it has been a real voyage of discovery and something of a trial too.

The text that accompanies the prints runs as follows:

The lights gleams an instant then it's night once more

Pozzo, Waiting For Godot, Samuel Beckett

Out Of The Woods - A Painter's View explores the subtleties of the natural world through the prism of the artist's body. The landscape is viewed through the artist's X ray of his diaphragm and the mechanics of the body suggest contrasts between inhaling and exhaling, light and dark, between what comes to life and what passes away.

The images capture the fleeting moments of light; that 'sweet light' around the rising and setting of the sun, when the light is warm. They invite the viewer to look a little slower, wait a little longer, and discover subtle nuances of colour, line, form and texture.

The portfolio encourages a reading of the land that is a form of the contemporary sublime and a meditation on the purpose and meaning of our lives measured against the enormity of our natural world.

To experience a thing as beautiful means to experience it wrongly

Friedrich Nietzsche