Collaborating with an angel Part 1

So it has been a while since I wrote about life in the world of photography... what have I been up to? Well, I have entered into the unknown with a collaboration on a portrait of yours truly with Neeta Madahar for her 'Flora' series. Yes little ol' me with irises!
The process has been fantastic so far and the shared control of the image has been a real eye opener as the sitter. As a writer, reviewer and the like I am asked to pass comment on others work. But to be part of the work brings all my creative juices to the surface and sleeping is becoming problematic as ideas come thick and fast. Firstly we had to decide on the flower that would be part of my picture. The only rule was that the flower chosen must also be a woman's name. I chose Iris as it reminds me of my nana who loves blue flowers and the colour os so striking. I have a coat which is pretty much identical to the colour. A rich, vibrant, yet classy tone that stands out without shouting out. We then had the base colour which will be used with a bright orange (one of my other favorites, see the film 'Tall Guy' and you will understand) and a pale yellow. There is a slight Japanese element (another favorite aesthetic) and butterflies. The symbolism is as abundant as I am. Metamorphosis, flight and growth all important to me on both a personal and emotional level.

Inspirational images were chosen to express my goal to become a goddess within the plethora of goddesses Neeta has already photographed. The Hollywood greats were in vast supply, my ultimate heroines being Liz Taylor, Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich, Ava Gardener, Louise Brooks, Greta Garbo and Anna May Wong. Then the pose practice! Surely the hardest part of all so far. I am not a natural in front of the camera. An amusing Saturday night was spent with my long-suffering boyfriend doing his best to be the next David Bailey. When the camera was in focus (not often) he managed a few shot where I at least look human. See image to see what I mean. There is much more to tell, so wait till the next installment, I'm off to pose (not really)

Ponder Rosa

It's been an exiting couple of weeks, with good news on 2 fronts.
The first was being invited to pose for Neeta Madahars ongoing 'Flora' series, which is partly on display at theBradford Media Museum - but more about that in a later blog.

In the more immediate future, tomorrow in fact, I have the next opening at Diemar/Noble Photography to contend with.
What is it, you hopefully ask? It is 'Crazy God' by the inimitable Yvonne De Rosa. I know this work very well, as I wrote the text for the book. However, working with the prints and promoting it to the press has allowed me fall in love with it all over again - which has led me to consider why I was so taken with the project from the very beginning...

It isn't just that the work is beautiful. Yvonne has managed to capture something deeply personal to me. My thoughts about the work have been on my mind and I have had my eureka moment in realising why I connect to her images so profoundly: since the age of 16 I have been fascinated by architecture. Going on holidays with the family I would take my first camera and snap away. The great thing about film is that no-one sees your pictures before you do and there are always surprises. Anyway, I digress. Something which my family did not understand at the time was why I would invariably come home with films full of pictures of buildings and no people. What I was trying to capture was the 'feeling' and the emotions I myself had when I was near or inside those buildings, (which at that young age were quite exotic to me).

The presence that is felt within a building - or even just through looking at a building - can be so immense it is almost audible. Thanks to my mum & dad, we always visited interesting places; churches, museums and stately homes, both at home and abroad. The power of architecture is well documented, but the way in which the building resonates the people who have been inside it, is not. By that, I mean it may just be the wear and tear, objects or how clean, tidy or messy it is. What I love about old churches in particular is the stone floors and steps worn smooth by a million footprints. The feeling or treading where so may have trodden before feels like stepping into history. It somehow connects you to those you have never seen or will ever meet, but it's there, you can feel it.

Yvonne's photographs do exactly that. They give you the 'feeling' of being there and, with it, the feelings of those who were once inside that building. The building is not named, nor should it need to be. Just like all the anonymous structures I photographed when I was younger - the emotional urge to capture - and in doing so reexperience - the phenomenon of being there and feeling something from the very bricks and mortar is precisely why her work affected me so much. Yvonne has transported me to that asylum and tangibly given me her own emotional and visceral response in the process.

Crazy God Opens Wed 20th Jan @ Diemar/Noble, Photography, 18:30-20:00

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