Sunday, May 31, 2009

News






Be more positive!!!

1) I have a group exhibition at the Queens Park Arts Centre in Aylesbury Bucks from the 29th of June until the 6th of July.
It will be an display of my two students on the basic photojournalism and documentary photography course i ran in March 2009.

2) I will have my work "all about her" published in a book with criticial essays on the them the : Pursuit of Happiness.
There will also be an exhibition in London this Autumn, location to be confirmed

3) Ive applied for a group funded project for a Belarus Youth Magazine, i will hear the results by the end of June.

4) I have applied for the Royal Photographic Societies MA Bursary and forwarded the Teacher accreditation from John or Paul to be returned

I will post more news on these subjects when i have them.


End of May




Well its the end of May and i am still floating around in a state of flux. I havnt taken many photographs for my projects in the last few weeks apart from a trip to St Ives with my girlfriend.
I am starting to lose a conecction with the other people on my course, my ideas, style and perspective on photojournalism etc seems different to many of the people on the course.
This is mostly my fault as i havnt attended many base camps, but although there are 30 people on the course i still havnt seen many peoples work or blogs and only a few projects have inspired me, (i hope that doesnt sound arrogant)....
The best components for me on the course have been a few lectures and the tutorials with John, although i belive that i should show my work to Homer as well to get 2nd opinions and a different perspective on my ideas and styles.
Its a pity there arent more Teachers to show work to and bounce ideas off, as the other students on the course dont have that much time to comment on work/ feedback etc, myself included.
I am still confused with the hand in dates for the essay?..will it be July the 24th the same as the extended story deadline.

I will travel again to Warsaw to work on my Chechen Refugee/Migrant project from the 1st of July-14th..so this work will probobly be too late for my extended story hand in. So i haver to make a choice between the Excelsior Days project or Polish Away...both OK work but for me a hand in for July is too soon to produce a strong enough work from these images, for a July deadline, but does this matter?.....as for presentation im still not sure, i would like to show the work in a new imaginative way, but im not that techinicial...but even so i dont wont to get hung up on all the techinicial issues..final cut, multimedia concepts, flash like some people on the course... Blah..balah blah....if the images are strong maybe they will stand up on their own?.......
when i look on media storm i see great projects..but it looks like you have to add a lot of dross images to a slideshow to make it work.....to fill in the gaps, for time etc with a lot of repetition to make the story work as a per a moving image presentation/film....dumbing down from good photographers..because 15 amazing images isnt enough to make a slideshow..there are expections such a sthe story on Rwandian wome and their children; the legacy of rape. Id much rather see text, sound, music maps etc and dialouge interview fill the spaces rather than generaic transistion images.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Wiki Essay/Blog feedback/ Magnum Award

1) Wiki, essays
Whats the point in the wiki?...will anyone read it apart from the teachers and a few studentslike these blogs maybe the teachers should add comments as i hope we do get marked for these as i noticed that not many people have added posts...(maybe not my opinion,but a statement)
The subjects are good if not broad....and im glad its only 2,500 words...as i have a nerve injury that cause me to make many typing mistakes and take me ages to write much..so when i write i really try, but excuse the spelling mistakes.

2) Blog feedback
Not much really, i would like to add more but i seem to have aproblem adding comments to other peoples blogs; also now people havnt replied to my feedback (even though they have been small) and advice etc..but i belive many people are working on stories and working...shame though as i think peer feedback and positive critic should be more prevalent...People are too nice! of course our peers and teachers dont wont to dishearten us but we/i need criticism ..however hard..harder the better!..to move on grow and get better...no?....

3)Magnum Expression Award
I was dissopointed with the amount of dialouge concerning the idea to have a critic of work to a view of producing a group submission for the Magnum expression award..only Grey Layachek replied..maybe our two works wouldnt be compatable?..but i thought it could be a relavent idea and a way of making some more connections that may last until further projects and collabarations, group agency projects?....
It could be wrong or it could be right; but the first impression i could draw from this, is that people dont really like my photos or belive that my work is compatable in a project like this side by side with their own images?....in a way i would prefer to read this criticism, than presume it!

Magnum Expression Award, intended submission.."Remember Us" Chechen Migration
Copyright Kirk Ellingham

Monday, May 4, 2009

Extended Project ( Collabrative project ideas)

COLLABRATIVE IDEAS FOR THE FUTURE
JUMPING THE GUN
(Online magazine for the MAPJD09 GROUP)

1) URBAN & RURAL ISSUES
2) THE MOVEMENTS OF PEOPLE
3) MODERN JOURNEYS (The Photographic Journey/ its history and relavance as a document in todays instant spot-news saturated world?)
4) One Week in my World (multimedia online document on one week in the life of a subject in a country such as another photojournalist or reporter in a foreign country such as a doppledonger of ourselves?, area, job or establishemnt that has lacked media attention over the years)....
It should be set as a commission based idea as if set by an agency or paper and proposed and guided by on eof out tutors, such as John, Paul, Ed,Homer or Adam Broomberg etc
5)
Natural Resources & Envoirement (cliched but relavant)


Extended Project:Part One


1)I have some ideas for my extended project:
I am going to return to Warsaw in July to continue work on the Chechen Refugees, also travelling to the border with Belarus to document the border and the train from Belarus to Warsaw.

2) Also hopefully i will travel into Belarus to find the Chechen Refugees that are travelling to Poland.
With the hope of selling the work, i will visit some friends of friends in Minsk to document the Kupalla Pagan Festival and also document some daily life/travel in Belarus with aview to returning in the Winter.
Possibly i can supply some images of Summer in Belarus through Demotix etc..any advice and outlets that may publish the work and any links to photographers who have made work in Belarus appreciated.

3) Continue with Excelsior Days and Polish Away for my own personal use and maybe i will be able to use it for projects on next years terms.

Extended Project Part Two/Presentation Ideas:

If anyone is interested and Paul says its possible?.....
i am thinking of a collabrative presentation for the extended project hand in...maybe im jumping the gun?......
But if 2-3 people have inter-related projects as mine....can we or could we produce a group hand in, in the form of a web page or a book through on of the book producing websites and share the costs?...
Possible i can bring this up on the Next Base Camp session....


Last Point:


I will raise this as a discussion on Ning, but all these extra web based applications such as Diigo and Twitter etc.....what exactly is the purpose and implementation of these applications for our MA course etc?....
Honestly i still havnt got around understanding the use and relevance of these applications in relation to our studies yet!...call me a fool or just a ageing luddite, but could someone explain it to me please!......
If any of them will for go the need to write a horrendously boring and tediouse dissertation for this course, im happy?......

New Term: April onwards






OTHER FIVE PICTURE STORIES & ONGOING PROJECTS

What to drop and what to continue with?

Chechen Refugess in Warsaw




The Polish Away:

Polish migrants living in the UK : Will be better as a Portrait project i feel













FAR EAST UK (Lowestoft,Suffolk)

Lowestoft, the most easterly town in the United Kingdom, was established as a fishing village in the early 14th century but the decline in the fishing area has seen a substantial decrease in the number of vessels fishing from our town.
Lowestoft has had a tough time in recent years. Growing population and the growing shortage of jobs has put a strain on the local economy. Numerous regeneration projects have seemingly had little affect on a town with growing apathy from it's residents.




Five Picture Stories: Excelsior Days

I had a very rewarding tutorial with John on Tuesday; the work that i started on my first ' Person at Work' project has developed into a project that i would like to continue in the UK.
As John said there are some good pictures,but i need to start approaching the customers for portraits, dialog etc to gain a more intimate insight and produce a stronger project.
Even though the owners gave me permission intialy, they have been hestitaint about photographing
their customers, one of the long term waiters 'Kosta' is very interested in my project.
John said i should approach them with some pictures of my work and put the idea of making a project on them (the owners) and the cafe. I need more access and less secret type images.
I wanted to ask the other teachers and students about the ethics involving paying for subjects in these projects?
Any advice feedback appreciated.............
I know many photographers do; Pieter Hugo,Ed Kashi (even though he expressed a dislike for this approach)
the problem is, how to approach the subjects in a paid manner, an advert in the window or through the owners?
as many of the customers are people with drug and alcohol addiction problems as well as sufferers of mental and addiction related illnesses.....where will the money go?...what image, idea willl that project to them about photographers,students etc?......plus many of these people have been tolerated,if not liked by the owners over the years and it is one of the few places on the Cowley Rd that will even let them in....so the advantage of being paid by me, may lead to trouble with the owners?.....but i know many of these customers struggle to buy a coffee, so maybe i can buy them a meal or a coffee...but without patronising them?......a dilema.
I have taken portraits of homeless in the past, but only a few particpated, but they didnt want money,they belived i was genuine and trusted me...even though this often left me feeling guilty when i walked home to my comfortable flat in Cardiff,while they smoked crack and slept under the railway bridge!
This project alowys me to be much more removed than that.....
AGAIN AND ADVICE AND FEEDBACK ON THE WORK AND ADVICE ON HOW TO PURSUE THE WORK AND INFORMATION AND ADVICE ON THE ETHICS OF PAYMENT FOR SUBJECTS PLEASE

The Excelsior Cafe

Andeas and Georges Koumy
emigrated from Cyprus to the UK in 1954.
They opened the 'Excelsior' in 1961.
It hasnt changed much since the 60's but now its dark confines seem to attract clientale who live on the fringes of modern society.
I wanted to record the ambience of the cafe, its age and the characters that sought a brief shelter within its melancholy confines.