Seeing through another’s eyes is one of the perennial wonders of photography. Between the frames of an image, we are invited to consider a constructed reality offered by the photographer; what they chose to include, exclude and deem worthy of record or consideration. For those very same reasons, the art of curation often shares the same point of interest: the chance to explore someone else’s vision.

When Martin Parr curated the Brighton Photo Biennial in 2010, his presence throughout the festival was recognised as being aesthetically and thematically evident through the curation of each exhibit and as a collective – drawing thousands of visitors who were admirers of Parr’s own photographic practice. Therefore, it is understandable that Paris Photo should open their festival to the curation of a renown personality through the new ‘Paris Photo vu par…’ where a guest curator is invited to select a series of images from across the festival to be published in its own context by Steidl.

What is fascinating about this opportunity, aside from creating a new access point to exploring this vast celebration of photography, is the choice of curator. How do you select a curator who will understand the nuances of each exhibition yet be able to construct their own narrative thread from seemingly disparate images? How do you find someone who is relevant to a contemporary audience, the seasoned and industry articulate, but can also attract new visitors?

However the method of choice, acclaimed film director and visual artist David Lynch is certainly a great way to introduce the vu par platform, particularly in Paris where Lynch draws so much of his own inspiration.

“[Paris Photo vu par... is] an original way for the public to contemplate the works whilst at the same time discovering David Lynch’s aesthetic universe.” - ParisPhoto

A cult creator, renown for such films as Mulholland Drive and Blue Velvet in addition to the seminal television series Twin Peaks, Lynch is best known for his characteristic surrealist style and dream-like imagery. Having been educated in painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts before transitioning to moving image, Lynch’s understanding of semiology and colour theory has underpinned his ability to create captivating aesthetic and sonic worlds – often cited as surrealist and neo-noir. In asking Lynch to select 99 images from the Paris Photo collection, the organisers have created a door into the mind of a popular surrealist – a potential cabinet of curiosities.

Born from the Dadaist movement in Paris post-WW1, surrealism, much like its predecessor, was a philosophical movement – an antidote to the war and Bourgeois values of the time. Interestingly, 2012 has seen it’s own fair share of intense fiscal and political conflict, particularly as we see economic practices in the East and West collide and social values – conservative and progressive – challenged. Perhaps our socio-economic divisions have spurred a need for a counter-culture of questioned reality – who makes it, how is it defined, how is our contemporary history contextualised…

The only physical experience of Lynch’s curation at Paris Photo was to be found within the Steidl book itself. Throughout the festival, the images he selected were simply indicated next to the artefact – but in this manner, created no contextualisation of the overall curation. Without the book (or the app) the images remained in tenuous disparity – much like Alice finding the door to Wonderland that is far too small for her to go through.

Interestingly, one of the most popular exhibits at Paris Photo was from the Archive of Modern Conflict – a physical Wunderkammer of curiosities.

Paris Photo will return from 25 – 28th April 2013 in Los Angeles.

Article originally published on Photoworks

Over twelve years ago, chatter across the developed world hummed with the nervous idea that all computers were so intrinsically dependent on the ascending value of dates that Y2K would bring with it a crisis that could shake the whole global economy. Yet now, over a decade later, viruses so powerful that they can begin nuclear warfare metastasize through the synapses of each weak-link computer and yet receive less press than the latest celebrity haircut.

Having survived Y2K it seems as if the world, as it exists now, will not experience the same sense of collective anticipation for the future ever again. Instead, we inhabit a comfortable, collective, disbelief and cynicism which displays itself no more clearly than in the lack of commentary – or in fact bulk buying - in the lead up to our prophesied Mayan demise. Moreover, we are breeding a culture of narcissism, spectacle and consumerist values that deter the vast majority of the developed world from accepting or even acknowledging a shared axiom such as the imminent end of an ancient calendar or the longer term global warming. Instead, we walk through phases of interest as news and investigative journalism are forced to entwine themselves with pop culture in order to meet ratings and survive in a slowly dissipating industry.

Utopian ideals would pursue the thought that our connected age should bring with it the propagation of shared values on a global scale. Yet, much over a decade in, it seems as if we are at a turning point. Not yet facing an idyllic scenario of world peace and global citizenship, the internet age has created a forum for minority communities to flourish – closing the communication gap on people across the world with shared ideas. It is entirely possible that within one of these global-local communities, a collective of zealous Mayan followers across the world are reminiscing about their lives in anticipation of the end.

What develops now, in the place of a singular global unity, are multitudes of smaller, networked connections; brought together through social, economic, political or personal interests. From online philanthropic and learning communities such as Nerdfighters and Kiva, to sharing economy networks such as CouchSurfing, the connected world has provided the opportunity for people to define their social grouping outside of their race or nationality. In the UK, where we are experiencing what Colin Grant eloquently described as reverse colonisation at a rapid pace. More inhabitants than ever hold dual-country patronage or affiliation, whether through inheritance, lineage or personal ties – placing their interests not only at home, but overseas.

Whilst our global communities form and grow through ease of access to the internet – particularly as more less economically developed countries plug-in – the foreseeable difficulty comes in striking the balance of interest groups; something which we are perhaps seeing already in the Arab world. If we exist in a world where we may never hold the same values as our neighbours – in matters of religion or state – we must learn to coexist; to foster liberal tolerance and place vast importance on community elected, truly democratic governing bodies: irrespective of finance.

Two spectacular examples of the individuals driving democratic, inclusive and diverse sociopolitical communities in environments and cultures of extremism are Aung San Suu Kyi and Maajid Nawaz; watch their stories below.

“Pass the parcel. That’s sometimes all you can do. Take it, feel it, and pass it on. Not for me, not for you, but for someone, somewhere, one day. Pass it on, boys. That’s the game I want you to learn. Pass it on.”

 Hector, The History Boys

One of the struggles that face arts organisations is around the question of accessibility – not necessarily physically, but perceptual. The forum for engaging with art has traditionally been in the gallery space, yet often the art it contains was conceived for a wider audience (or even no audience at all). By occupying this environment, artworks are deemed to be worthy of consideration beyond their form – the gallery invites the viewer to see its contents conceptually, to revisit its deeper meaning and place it in the context of an artistic paradigm. In parallel, when we encounter imagery in magazines or newspapers there is an awareness of a third-party intention; the image as a tool to sell or to educate.

Disassociating image from a loaded context, to enable it to be read as the artist intended, is a challenge that may never fully be resolved. However, through Harry Watts‘ latest project a newsprint – FINDS 2, the public are offered to engage with photography in a new dimension: through finding the work on the street, as you would the Metro or Evening Standard.

Watts’ FINDS capture subtle street tableaux of the abandoned, disregarded and discarded and, in turning the camera to them for consideration, transforms them into living sculptures. One iconic image from the series depicts a plastic straw, creating a hypotenuse between the curb of the pavement and road – its shadow traces a ‘Z’ across the contours of the scene. The image is a memento mori, where the straw exists silently against the two surfaces before it is blown or cleared away.

This serendipitous stillness throughout FINDS provokes reflection, enduring the question of why these straws, cups and dust are worth photographing. They invoke meditation, asking of the viewer to consider their own FINDS, to search for their own moments of stillness. To capture and consider. This participatory engagement in the work is invited to be realised as Watts publishes contributors’ FINDS on his crowd-funding platform, IndieGoGo, in the lead up to the distribution of the FINDS newsprint.

Once published, the newsprint will be distributed across over 100 locations in London and an additional 100 in Brighton – with some distribution points mapped and others random. In finding an issue of FINDS, members of the public can choose whether or not to engage with the work – they can opt to consider it critically, to own art for free, or to pass it along; leave it on the bus seat for the next person to find.

To find out more about the work, or support the printing and distribution of the project, please visit the campaign: Harry Watts – FINDS 2 and submit your own images via Twitter #FINDS.

It Lives!

This site has been a little quiet of late, but not without good reason. Away from the worlds of photographic discourse and reticence, I am pleased to announce that, along with Marc Koska and a fantastic team, I will be producing TEDxBrighton 2012 in October.

With considerable thanks to Digby Killick, Content & Motion and David Lockie of Pragmatic Web, our website is now live and can be found on www.tedxbrighton.com. To stay up to date with the latest news on the event please check out our blog, subscribe to the blog RSS feed, follow us on Twitter, or become a fan on our Facebook page.

{This Review Contains Spoilers}

Drowning in reference to the films of the forties and fifties, particularly David Lean’s Brief Encounter, Terence Davies adaptation of the Terrance Rattigan’s 1952 play The Deep Blue Sea is a distinctly introverted portrayal of the conflicts of a woman’s passion in post-war England. Released in 2011, where the audience is absolved of all direct connections to the mindset and cinema from this past decade, Davies must force the viewer to rediscover the subtle illusions of propriety on which the context and nuances of the film depends.

In the wake of the war, the protagonist, Hester Collier (Rachel Weisz) has fallen into an illicit affair with ex-RAF pilot Freddie Page (Tom Hiddleston) as she discovers passionate and erotic love in her forties. A married woman, the her actions throughout the film are tentative, heart-felt and often scandalous of the time; a sentiment which requires the scrutinous attention of the viewer throughout the film. Upon my own initial viewing – and a child of the 80s – I had entirely overlooked Hester’s action of asking Freddie to leave the pub after a row. During the fifties however, a woman simply would not be in the position to call out her man from the pub. It is in these subtle and microscopic details which both make The Deep Blue Sea a masterpiece and a failure. To fully appreciate the beauty of this film, the viewer is required to ascertain a minimum level of understanding as to the social landscape of post-war Britain that I feel renders some great spectrum of the contemporary audience lost. It is almost best viewed as a critical piece where you are encouraged to fully deconstruct and indulge in Davies’ meticulous complexities, or at best the understanding of an era.

Whilst the social nuances dictate a large proportion of the films dramatic presence, it is also through visual and thematic reference to period cinema that captivate and engage the audience. Upon a scene where Collier rushes down to the London Underground, tears streaming down her cheeks; the camera grasps her, focused close to her face as if to suggest a proximity between her and the tracks – the delicate balance and importance of space, her vulnerability and intensity. In a direct parallel to Brief Encounter, Collier stands on the platform as the lights of the train rush across her face, the stark difference is Davies leaves us to read her thoughts upon Weisz’s face, whereas Lean’s lead, Laura, narrates the viewer, “I stood there trembling right on the edge. But I couldn’t, I wasn’t brave enough.”

Having known of Laura’s thoughts and the similarities in character to Hester, Davies leaves the questions of Hester’s strength and fragility hanging in the rushing air. A poetic reflection on the character’s emotions, the restraints she is lumbered with as a result of the time and cinematically in the interpretation of Lean’s final scene.

Poetic is most likely the best way to describe this film. It flows, unfolding slowly and resonating heavily, through its non-linear narrative between the devil and the deep blue sea.

Wednesday afternoon whilst I was speaking with music photographer, Tom Oldham at Developing Nicely YPCC, he made an interesting case regarding the transition of the photographer’s role into incorporating moving image. Tom – who has been producing short films alongside his photographic work since the inception of his career – commented that photographers have been able to access video recording devices like a HD camcorder for many years now; so he doesn’t understand why the sudden pressure on photographers to take up this second discipline. To some extent, Oldham is right. Good quality video cameras have been available en mass for quite some time now, yet it’s only really been in the past few years that there has been a marked move in the business of photography towards moving image – so why the sudden change?

In part, this shift may have come about as the technology itself began to merge – many of the top end digital cameras now have HD video capabilities, so professional photographers now find themselves with the functionality at their fingertips, perhaps creating a greater inclination to experiment and exploit the full capabilities of the cameras. As with the move from black and white to colour and then again from analogue to digital, improvements in our technologies create new demands for content which map our developments. The majority of commercially commissioned work will often tend to reflect the most cutting edge of our capacity – how many of today’s published advertising campaigns are untouched by the retoucher? – and with the recent surge in motion and 3D, it is unsurprising that this trend has arisen.

As the boundaries of photography itself begin to blur in the wake of our image saturated culture, the role of the photographer must also become more fluid, adaptive to pervasive changes. Perhaps, much like Chris Floyd, other photographers too will notice a transition – perhaps choosing to present themselves as much Director of Photography as Photographer. However, it is not just the advancements of the camera propelling this change, but the dissemination and diminishing of funding. Clients who once were able to hire both a photographer and videographer are finding budgets strapped, calling for a viable solution to take its place – a practitioner who can deliver both mediums.  For advertisers this solution can not only be cheaper, but presents the viewer with a more rounded experience of a campaign. The video and photography merge together through the eye of a singular visual directive creating a more cohesive experience. For magazines who have transitioned to the tablet format, their print images can come alive through moving image covers. The first purported case of this was from Esquire magazine in their June 2009 issue where Director/Photographer Greg Williams captured actress, Megan Fox with the Red One camera. Williams shot a 3 minute video for showcasing on Esquire’s website, a motion cover for the iPad magazine and then from these media, pulled stills for use in the print magazine. The result; an in-depth, cross-platform relationship. The print magazine encouraged readers to continue engaging with the story online and, respectively, the online content reflected back.

This is not to suggest that all photographers must make the transition to video to stay contemporary – images created in the ‘now’ will always be, by definition, contemporary – though in aesthetics they may resonate to different contexts. However, photographers now entering the industry should perhaps consider that having the skill of capturing video can do no more harm than open doors to potential new revenue streams.

To see more work by Amy Maidment, please visit http://www.amymaidment.com/ and Montana Lowery on http://www.montanalowery.com/

WIN-Initiative from WIN Initiative on Vimeo.

[San Francisco by Bob Carey, from the series Ballerina]

Yesterday afternoon I got an email from a friend of mine. It began with, “I hope that this letter finds you and yours happy and especially healthy.”

Too often, we resign ourselves to the monotony of small talk – we recite these gestural introductions with very little meaning behind them and expect the same in return, but when I read this line from Bob I could already sense that this wasn’t going to be a flippant email. I met Bob Carey in the autumn of 2010 as a friend and a client of my boss; we were helping him update his website and as the digital native, I was the one tinkering around on the CMS – uploading content and logos. Far from the typical photographer-consultant relationship, I was introduced to Bob and his wife, Linda, as close friends of my boss and found myself warmly invited into their friendship. About a month in, Bob got in touch with me to see if I could assist him on a shoot for Ballerina, an ongoing series of environmental portraits of Bob in a pink tutu.

As gimmicky as the idea sounded to me initially, it didn’t take me long to realise the scope of the series, especially in viewing some of the images. Bob is not an exhibitionist by nature. He is, in fact, an astute photographer with a tremendous sense of empathy and, like many of us, is often battling his emotional inhibitions – those exact inhibitions that he sheds physically and mentally when undertaking work for Ballerina. The image making process in this series is a cathartic one, an experience that Carey searches for like a moth to a flame. A moment where he proves to himself his own confidence, strength, joy and self-worth. Moreover, the work created offers us the chance to do the same. To shed our pretences of what we should gain from viewing a photographic corpus, to revel in the satisfaction of aesthetic, joy of humour and beauty of the human condition.

In 2003, Bob’s wife, Linda, was diagnosed with breast cancer. A strong woman, she beat it, only to have it recur in 2006. For Bob, the Ballerina is a physical expression of the complex feelings that have shadowed the past decade in the wake of cancer. Now, with the our help, Carey is turning this series into an extensive project to raise money for those women affected by breast cancer, and the people who support them.

“During these past 10 years, I’ve been in awe of her [Linda's] power, her beauty, and her spirit. This project is for her, as well as for all of the other women with breast cancer, survivors, family members and the physicians we’ve met along Linda’s journey.” – Bob Carey

This autumn, Bob will self-publish Ballerina with the net proceeds going directly to breast cancer organisations, including CancerCare and The Beth Israel Department of Integrative Medicine Fund. His goal is to raise $75,000 through special edition Ballerina print sales, first editions of the book, t-shirts and donations, which will help make a real difference to the people who have walked along the same path and continue to find the strength to go on. However, in order to reach the publication date this autumn, Bob needs to secure the minimum funding – to cover the cost of self-publishing and distribution – by May 1, 2012.

As a highly cynical person (I am my Father’s daughter), it is not often that I connect so intensely with a project. Though through Bob’s work, I am forever reminded of the power of self-worth, gratitude and moreover, humour. He phrased this perfectly in his email;

“Oddly enough, cancer has taught us that life is good, living can be hard, and that sometimes the very best thing – no, the only thing – we can do to face another day is to laugh at ourselves, and share a laugh with others.” - Bob Carey

To sponsor of The Tutu Project and find out how you can contribute, please visit www.thetutuproject.com

More of Bob Carey’s work can be found on http://www.bobcarey.com/

[From the LA Series by Gabi Torres]

GLOBAL-LOCAL / COLLECTIVE POWER / REVOLUTION / DIGITAL CONVERGENCE / BIG DATA

Last year in my “The World in 2011” post, I wrote about the importance of knowing the context of your work – both in terms of its visual aesthetics and in the pragmatic doctrine of business development. As a creative, reading The Economist’s The World In might seem a little daunting and difficult to find which context it relates to your work, however between the lines of fiscal forecasts and political prowess, there’s a lot to be discovered.

In 2011, there was a lot of talk about decentralisation; seeing communities outside of our capitals flourishing as we learn to work and look to a more localised environment. This decentralisation also suggested a greater forging of working networks built upon digital communications rather than inside a hierarchical office space and for many people, this has become a reality in 2011. What’s interesting is how this will further snowball into 2012 where this localised, connected working brings Global, Local. Small communities or organisations can offer their services from anywhere in the world, to anywhere in the world. Although this has been the case since the dawn of the internet, the reality of slow dial-up and distrust in digital prevented it from being a structure of working adopted by the masses. Now, with the everyday integration of digital and faster internet speeds we can choose to work remotely. Global-local is about being part of a community and bringing that community to the global landscape – invigorating and innovating through social and political change; allowing the global population to converse with a small community and vice versa.

As any small business owner, this technological advancement and trend is something to pay huge attention to. What is your digital presence? Who are you speaking to and how? There is nothing stopping you using the internet as a resource to scout your next job or client, but likewise, it is ever-more becoming their go-to place to find you. In a survey by PhotoShelter, they found that 61% of all Art Buyers search the web for images, not photographers – therefore if your images aren’t key-worded properly… How are they going to find you?

Collective Power and Revolution are also key terms for 2012, riding off the back of 2011′s Arab Spring and Occupy movement. There seems no doubt that with the economic downturn and such fiercely strong examples of successful uprising, 2012 and the next coming years we will demand justice more than ever in all aspects of our lives; from our political systems to our working lives. Moreover, a Millennial workforce will find its own strength in numbers – each one looking for companies to be more ethically and morally viable than ever before. 2012, in this sense, is a year of the fierce and fresh-eyed entrepreneur – a strong and determined character who promotes evolution and growth. (Side note: By coincidence or otherwise, 2012 is also the year of The Dragon according to the Chinese calendar).

A re-ignited desire for change can be the key ingredient to inspire a tired, recession-minded workforce. However, as always with change, it is often hard to accept and will need tried and tested statistical, results-driven analysis in order to live up to its expectations. The emergence of complex new technologies throughout 2010 and 2011 led to the rebirth of the info-graphic - one of my recent favourites being ‘A History of Disruptive Innovations in B2B Marketing‘ by Jess3. Though these new mediums for visualising complex systems are barely the icing on the cake when it comes to the future of our data. Info-graphics can illustrate the paths of your online social networking – where you met Joe Bloggs and exactly how many interactions you’ve been having with him… and where – but 2012 is the year of Big Data. Looking beyond the micro-lens of online networking and expanding to entire populations – counties, communities, cities. If you could map the travel routes of everyone in a city, could you design a more efficient public transport system? For many, big data has been an inaccessible resource which has been hard to analyse and, therefore, utilise due to the ability to process its volume. Though, with the spread of cloud computing, open source and transparent online databases, data that would otherwise have been hard to navigate can become more resourceful than ever. Subsequently, this year also sees the launch of the UK’s first Open Data Cities Conference  in Brighton.

In the photographic community, the changes to our online landscape will directly affect how business is run and moreover, money is made. The faster the digital world progresses the easier it will become to access image makers, outsource the competition and lose track of how many times your photographs have been reblogged (especially on Tumblr). If you watermark your images straight through the centre, are people going to be putting them on their Pinterest pin boards? Is your work going to get noticed? But in the same take, if you don’t watermark are you going to find your images appropriated by other cyber-beings? How are you going to prove to agencies that it’s still worth the rates you want to charge? – Show them the data? Or are you going to be a part of your own revolution and find a new way to stay ahead?

If you have any questions, answers or queries to any of the topics raised in this post, I’d love to hear from you: hello@natalielloyd.co.uk.

During a recent YPA panel discussion, a board of photographers and picture editors preached a very stark message to their audience of university students: to be a professional photographer, you must do more than take pictures. You have to strive to present yourself and your work in the context of a business – targeting your images for that specific client you want to attain, ensuring your online social persona reflects highly on your work and above all, be a great communicator. It seems almost as if the demands of being a photographer in 2012 will chase the silent creative out of the proverbial studio before they truly embrace the term, ‘starving artist’.

Driven by pressure, caused partly by our current economic climate and partly by the digital revolution which produced huge waves across the photographic industry, next year will be dominated by photographers who fine tune their work in an ever more strategic and pragmatic sensibility. It will belong to the photographers who use social media wisely and with return of interest in mind and those who actively seek to make their work more sellable by putting their product in front of the right client.

A great example of a photographer who has embraced this motivation is Brett Beyer, who this year made a conscious marketing decision to divide his portfolio into two, very distinct, photographic brands: urban sports and lifestyle, and architecture and interior design.

[Urban Sports Photography by Brett Beyer]

Having worked as a professional photographer for the past eight years, primarily within urban sports and lifestyle – shooting for magazines like Huck (UK) and companies like Bustin Longboards – Beyer found his progression into architectural and interior work to be too visually conflicting with his previous portfolio.

“If I was marketing my work to top-level design and architecture firms, I didn’t want them to be greeted with images of skateboarders in Brooklyn when they went to my site”

By separating his work by genre, Beyer found he could better focus his marketing strategies to fit his client’s needs – sending out an email campaign of new skateboarding work to an interior client might not have looked so great! This transition was made even simpler by Beyer’s use of the online portfolio website, Dripbook, which allows photographers to export their own uniquely designed website from their Dripbook profile. Not only are the images separated for consistency, but each respective site has its own unique logo and linguistic branding. In the info on Beyer’s urban sports site it reads, “Recently I’ve been making music videos, documenting urban sports and hanging out at skate shops,” whereas on his alternative site, the language is far more professional than casual – writing solely in the third person about his fine art exhibitions and client base. With the new division of work Beyer has created two unique brands of his photographic artillery without having to compromise one for the other.

“To me its the same thing with restaurants.  I’d much rather go to the highly rated Japanese Sushi restaurant than the 24 hour buffet that has Mexican, American, Thai, Waffles, and a few gross looking California Rolls (I was actually forced to eat at one of those on a recent out-of-town assignment).   Mainly its a matter of being focused in what I offer in my photography business.”