UNSEEN OPENING NIGHT & beyond..

Here is our stand in all its panoramic glory, taken by my glamorous assistant Gabrielle. 

Well, we survived opening night, & what a night it was. The champagne was flowing, the guests were many & there was so much to see including contemporary dance no less that it was hard to know where to look. And look they did. 

Here I am with Emily Allchurch (left) & Lisa Holden (right) at our stand. 

We have work from 3 different series on display by Lisa Holden. The Geisha series consists of self portraits which are bold & graphic, yet with all the subtle paintilly notions she encorporates into her multi-layered work. Her 2 works from the  'Trees' series have caused quite the stir with the varnish layer on top of the photograph markedly visible in pools on the surface. Having such a sculptural & textured finish encourages multiple views & visitors are fascinated by them.

Again here, we have Emily & Lisa enjoying the atmosphere of opening night.

At 8.30pm all the exhibitors gathered high up on the central platform to listen to the opening speeches. Here is the view from above.

Marloes Krijen, the co-director of FOAM gave a wonderful speech before the gong was struck (just like the Dutch stock exchange does each day at the start of trading) as visitors watched from below.

Can you spot Emily Allchurch here? She is standing with the amazing printer Mark Foxwell from Genesis Imaging, where several of my artists have their work printed. 

      Marloes Krijen here, looking elegant -as always- in white beneath the purple lights. 

 After the excitement of opening night came the first full day of the fair, with huge crowds in attendance. The day began with a slow walk along the canal towards the Unseen site...

On the way to the fair we passed the Unseen Collection display, housed in a huge glass building. This was our first glimpse of the exhibit just before it opened. 

People were already peering in to try & see the huge range of works valued at €1,000 euros or less. This is a wonderful opportunity for first time buyers of photographs to sample a wide selection of works with affordable price tags.

Then as we arrived at the stand to our surprise we were greeted by a bowl of fruit courtesy of our kind hosts.

After a very successful day, busy with sales, familiar faces & new ones too, we left happy & expectant to see yet more great photography - this time in book form...

(I strongly advise that you can purchase one from studio.melindajgibson@gmail.com)

This is a book like no other that I know of & watching one being made at a launch was fascinating as each takes 3 hours to make.

Melinda Gibson painstakingly sticking her collaged works into the book. 

 With absolute precision...

Her project is truly wonderful & deserves to be given more exposure. 

I have left you here with a tease. To find out more do see this feature explaining it. 

And so to bed my dear readers, it's late & another big day ahead tomorrow. Till then...zzzzzzz

USEEN pre-fair preview...

This is how our day began, with grey rain clouds, but with hope on the horizon...

Well the UNSEEN photography fair is just a matter of hours away & lots of preparation has been keeping yours truly very busy. The site has been a hive of activity all day with miles of walls, cables, pictures & the like to assemble into the wonderful display that is the best fair in town.

We arrived at Transformatorhuis ready to work.

Excited to see our first glimpse of the stand we will call home for the next 5 days. White walls of possibility beckoning us to work some magic upon them.

Our stand is looking wonderful if I do say so myself, with works by 4 artists : Emily Allchurch, Lisa Holden, Kate Owens & Herb Schmitz. Lisa Creagh's work is in the Unseen Collection exhibition also.  

Gabrielle (pictured above) has been amazing throughout, as my assistant, co-curator & organiser-in-chief. We are both thrilled with the way our stand looks (number 9) & the end result is worth all the effort - as Patrick Stuart says, to 'make it so'. 

I thought a sneaky peek at the preparation for the fair the 'before' would be of interest, if only to show the mammoth undertaking by our fabulous hosts. 

Who knows what is being observed here, but I liked the shot.

These worked magic on what is now a huge 'Unseen' banner extravaganza with neon!

As far as I'm aware, no one has been decapitated during the installation process.

A blurry teaser of the fully hung L A Noble Gallery stand

Now in focus minus white balance issues, I must keep you guessing & waiting with baited breath for more to come.....

Till then.....

Open letter & news...

I have recently sent this personal open letter via email. As committed followers of my blog - which I apologise has lapsed recently - I wanted to make sure that you were also informed in case you were not on my email list:

Dear Friends,

It is with great sadness I write to tell you that, after three amazing years, Diemar/Noble Photography has closed its shutters for the last time. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you personally for your support. Without the patronage of clients and visitors, the enthusiasm of the press and the ambition and talent of our artists, we would not have achieved so much in such a short time.  

Diemar/Noble was always more to me than a gallery, it was - and remains - a community. If the legacy of the gallery is to leave even a little more passion and excitement for photography in this City, then it is an achievement I will be very proud of. 

Without you sharing in the vision, the gallery could never have hoped to become “one of the capital's top spots for photography” (Time Out) over such a modest time.  I hope you can share my pride in all that the gallery has achieved.

My time as Co-Director at Diemar/Noble has been a life affirming one and deepened my love for all things photographic. The opportunity to explore different avenues in the future may have drawn this venture to a close but my commitment to photography remains and the next chapter promises to build on that. My involvement with photography is an on-going and passionate one. I will continue to carry out portfolio reviews and consultations, lectures for photographers and collectors as well as my other writing and curating projects. Most exciting of all, I have now established the L A Noble Gallery, which I shall be launching at the Unseen art fair in Amsterdam on the 19th of September. The lauraannnoble.com website will also be launched on the same day.

Now looking forward to my next challenge, I am excited to see what the future will hold for myself, the photographers with whom I work and those exciting new talents we have yet to discover. I do hope that you will stay in touch and join me for future endeavours.

Yours faithfully in gratitude,

Laura Noble

So back to the blog....

I have had a very busy time of it getting everything ready for the trip & even managed to slip in a brief visit to FOAM for 2 evening events of lectures, dinner & song..well dinner anyway. 

The workshops were very well received by all & I found the other speakers fascinating as well. (The photo rug in the foreground is a must have)

Clara von Waldthausen (photo restorer and owner Fotorestauratie Atelier) dazzled everyone with her extensive knowledge on the photographic print, with wonderful tips & advice on keeping your prints on perfect shape.

Then Kai van Hasselt (collector and urban strategy consultant at Shinsekai Analysis) had us all engrossed in his tales of collecting. THe audience was charming, the dinner delightful & the setting magical in what seemed like the inside of Erik Kessels mind. See my photo.

All the exhibits at Foam are fascinating & so well curated I was so glad to have had the opportunity to see them. I would also like to thank all the participants & staff for making me feel so at home. 

Now I must end here, with so much more to do before I venture out to the land of windmills again. Needless to say, my blogs will continue with much more news along the way, as always....