great people, great party!

lessons with kate - julia margaret cameron

 

what the (male) critics said in 1865...

'Mrs. Cameron exhibits her series of out-of-focus portraits of celebrities. We must give this lady credit for daring originality, but at the expense of all other photographic qualities.

A true artist would employ all the resources at his disposal, in whatever branch of art he might practise. In these pictures, all that is good in photography has been neglected and the shortcomings of the art are prominently exhibited.

We are sorry to have to speak thus severely on the works of a lady, but we feel compelled to do so in the interest of the art.'

from Malcolm Daniel's treatise - The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

'What in the name of all the nitrate of silver that ever turned white into black have these pictures in common with good photography? Smudged, torn, dirty, undefined, and in some cases almost unreadable, there is hardly one of them that ought not to have been washed off the plate as soon as it appeared.

We cannot but think that this lady's highly imaginative and artistic efforts might be supplemented by the judicious employment of a small boy with a wash leather, and a lens screwed a trifle less out of accurate definition.'

from 'The Photographic News'

what the (male) critic said in 2024...

Writing in the Sunday Times on the Julia Margaret Cameron - Francesca Woodman paired exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, critic Waldemar Januszczack said this...

'Cameron was one of the most important contributors to the early days of photography. Coming late to the art - she was 49 when her daughter gave her a camera as a gift - she brought experience, confidence and an enviable address book to the task.

Her portraits of eminent Victorians still adorn our school textbooks. Her softly focused visions of angelic children and dreamy Guineveres introduced a new set of feminine values into photography. She was an inventor, a shapeshifter, a pioneer.'

Regrettably, he also went on to say this about the young female photographer Francesca Woodman...

'Woodman (1958-81) was none of these things. Born in Denver, Colorado, to parents who were artists she was nervy, narcissistic and neurotic, and what little time she gave herself in her short career was spent acting out floaty photographic situations that usually involved taking off her clothes.

plus sa çhange ...

As a man I am both disgusted and ashamed. Francesca Woodman was a brilliant photographer, as was Julia Cameron.

They both deserved better than this.

my photographs

lessons with kate - eugenia maximova

do we see things differently?

Here's a really interesting article on how female and male photographers see things differently. Click here to read.

Viva la difference! It's great to celebrate diversity in all its many forms.

this week's photographer

Eugenia Maximova is not a photographer I had come across before and I very much like her work. 

I love this quote from an interview she gave with Kai Behrmann, the founder of 'The Art of Creative Photography'...

'Life is a patchwork, assembled of numerous unique, irregular and often controversial pieces of circumstances and choices. You can arrange what appears to be unpleasant at first glance into a beautiful composition.'

You can read the full interview here.

the challenge

This week's challenge was to take some shots on the theme of, 'say yes to life with a passion'!'

what did I do?

I returned to Villa Park, but this time choosing the start of the story not within the ground itself but on the walk to it.

Witton Road is the bustling, colourful heart of this predominantly Asian area. It's crammed full with groceries, shops selling Asian clothing and sweets and all manner of take-aways.

At first sight it may look ugly, but look again and you will find its vibrant beauty.

The story ends within Villa Park and I wanted to capture that glorious moment when a goal is scored and the crowd erupts. It's like being buoyed on a euphoric wave of emotion as everyone rises to their feet in unison to celebrate.

On the technical side I wanted the photographs to look as if they were shot as a series of Polaroids. I therefore chose a desaturated colour setting on my camera.

what did I learn?

So often the best photographs are to be found right in front of us.

lessons with kate - berenice abbott

 

face-off

"The world doesn't like independent women, why, I don't know, but I don't care."

Berenice Abbott ©

the photographer

Berenice was a polymath.

polymath

/ˈpɒlɪmaθ/

noun

a person of wide knowledge or learning.

"a Renaissance polymath"

Berenice shot fantastic photographs of famous artists associated with the surrealistic artist, Man Ray.

Berenice shot brilliant photographs of the developing skyline of New York in the 1930s.

Berenice shot fascinating photographs of abstract scientific principles.

Berenice was a woman.

Berenice was lesbian.

Get over it. She was genius.

the challenge

Shoot some photographs taking 'delight in simple things'.

I chose a chess set designed by Man Ray. Berenice worked for a time as an assistant at the Man Ray studio in Paris. He designed a fantastic chess set of which this is a copy.

what did I do?

I used a light-box and explored different exposures.

what did I learn?

Look beneath the surface.

lessons with kate - tish murtha

 

a daughter speaks

In an interview on 'Wombat', a French arts web-site, Emma Murtha sums up perfectly the life of a fantastic but largely unrecognised female photographer. Click here to read it. 

Tish, Emma's mother died in poverty. During the 1970s she took  pictures in Elswick, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, right next door to where my future wife was growing up.

A few weeks ago we watched 'Tish', the film Emma made about her mother. We remembered so much of that time and place and yet sadly we knew nothing of Tish's existence. It was almost as if her life had been air-brushed out of the history of photography.

the mother's work

Tish's style was unapologetic. She shot what she wanted and refused to compromise. In a man, those single-minded qualities would be applauded, but not for a woman. Once more implicit discrimination rules.

Tish's photos are magic. Shot in the back streets of a bombed-out, yet vibrant, area of Newcastle they are jam-packed with mucky kids enjoying freedom in the open air. It could never happen these days.

Tish captured the moment. Her black and white pictures were shot in the environment and bursting with energy. These were her people and this was her tribe.

the challenge

This week's challenge was to take photographs on the theme of 'trust your intuition' in the style of Tish Murtha.

what did I do?

I focused on identifying the right 'tribe' to photograph. After a couple of 'trial and errors' I took my camera to Villa Park.

My son and I are long-time season-ticket holders. We're well known to everyone around us and our fellow supporters are used to me taking action pictures when Villa score. This is, I'm delighted to say, an increasingly regular occurrence under the stewardship of Head Coach, Unai Emery.

I chose to take black and white photographs in camera. I find this much better than shooting in colour then converting the pictures once I'm back home. It helps me avoid distractions and concentrate instead on spotting different tones in the image.

The photographs were taken without flash using a high ISO setting and a relatively wide aperture.

These are the two photos I chose to show to the group. I titled them 'the agony and the ecstasy', which is pretty much the lot of the average football supporter.

Here's some more photos I took that afternoon...

what did I learn?

Be brave. Never look away...