A Few More Images

from the show... the opening party, the work of David Manley and Kate Luck.

Exhibition Postscript

Our exhibition went extremely well...both PV's were well attended and the work looked sharp and professional. Everyone had taken care to present enough work without overcrowding the (relatively) small space. The rooms evened out nicely with conventionally framed work mixed with other styles of presentation. All in all an excellent show that attracted good comment. Shown here is (from top to bottom) Ian Fletcher, Adela Miencelova, David Singh and David Atterbury/Daisy Fawcett.

Huzza! the Show opens!

This coming Sunday @ 2pm our MA show finally opens...it runs for a week at Pedestrian Arts, on Rutland Street in Leicester. It's opposite the LCB Depot (a well known local Managed Art workspace organisation) and just up and around the corner from The Curve (the new Arts Centre) - so in the heart of Leicester's Cultural Quarter. There's another View on Thursday the 15th at 6pm. Everybody is welcome to either of these - and if you can't make either drop in from 9 till 5 weekdays and 11 till 4 on Saturday 17th or 1 till 4 Sunday 18th.

It's been a slog getting it to this point but - hopefully - it will turn out well and attract a deal of attention!

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