This month is for personal projects whether they be a germ of an idea, a work in progress or a completed body of images. Come along and give people some constructive criticism.
Everyone welcome.
Tag: November
The next Democratic Camera Club will take place on Thursday 3rd November at 7pm at Stills.
The theme is ‘Re-creation/Re-staging’, which will be introduced by R. Eric Swanepoel. Eric explains as follows:
“Re-staging/re-creating old photographs is extremely popular, to judge by social media. Typically adults re-create childhood photographs, posing as they appeared as infants or children. While many of these attempts are humorous, some are poignant commentaries on ageing and the way relationships change with time.
Another popular genre is the re-creation of well-known works of art (e.g. paintings, street art and album covers) in photographic form. Such photographs range from the merely humorous to the extremely creative and artistic, and several make political points, be these environmental or political. Tom Hunter’s work provides an excellent example of social commentary, while Bill Gekas uses a single child model to re-create/re-stage many famous paintings. Nick Stem has re-created/re-staged several of Banksy’s iconic works.
Of course, simply photographing particular scenes from the same viewpoints they were photographed from many years previously is also popular, though arguably not particularly interesting from an artistic point of view.
Arguably, the best examples of re-creation/re-staging tick several of the boxes mentioned above, while also being technically excellent.
We shall look at some examples of re-creation/re-staging, with an emphasis on the first two broad categories. The presentation will conclude with an imaginative music video illustrating one of the categories.
After the break, attendees are invited to present their own works on the theme, as usual.”
Please donate £3 directly to Stills to help them maintain their facilities for our use.
The RSA Open has a number of works by DCC members this year –
SPECIAL PRE-CHRISTMAS SALE
of Photographic Art Work
by Portobello-based blind photographer, Rosita McKenzie
Do come and join us at this unusual sale of original photography with a Portobello theme. Many items will make ideal Christmas gifts. Snacks and a free glass of wine will be available plus a raffle and if you are brave enough, purchase your own photographic portrait created by Rosita on the day.
When: Sunday, 15th November, 2015. Time: 1300 Hrs.
Where: Portobello Bowling Club, Lee Crescent, Portobello, Edinburgh EH15 1LW
Introduction
Consult the genius of the place in all;
That tells the waters or to rise, or fall;
Or helps th’ ambitious hill the heav’ns to scale,
Or scoops in circling theatres the vale;
Calls in the country, catches opening glades,
Joins willing woods, and varies shades from shades,
Now breaks, or now directs, th’ intending lines;
Paints as you plant, and, as you work, designs.Alexander Pope, Epistle IV, to Richard Boyle, Earl of Burlington
Originally referring to the presiding protective deity or spirit of the place, in contemporary usage, ‘genius loci‘, refers to a location’s distinctive place-ness, not just the topography but the culture and politics of the society that shaped it.
How do photographers show this identity embedded in a place? What pricks the viewers sense of spirit in one image while making them indifferent to another? Does local insider knowledge or a visitors outside perspective prove more successful? How do stereotypes effect our recognition of the real ‘spirit of a place’?
Genius Loci – Thomas Kellner
Please see the previous post.
Canada
Roluff Beny captured the epic, sublime, untouched and wild expanses. Owen Perry continues to use local knowledge to find the breathtaking in a harsh environment. Geoffrey James makes use of unusual formats to give a sense of Ottawa.
(Mentioned – ‘the spirit of other photographers’ Ansel Adams legacy and Takeshi Shikama’s experiences at Yosemite.)
China
Marc Riboud visited China from 1957 documenting the propaganda years of Mao through to the opening capitalism of the 1990’s. The difficulty in how an outsider finds the spirit of the country is touched upon in the introduction to his book by Jean Grenier –
A reality for more than a billion people who live there, China is a myth for the five and a half billion others, registering as such on the worlds imagination.
Victoria Alexander provides a recent look at the country.
Europe
Gabriel Amza – Genius Loci project looks at what happens when the spirit leaves the place – Jiu Valley, Romania.
Paris retains its sentiment d’appartenance through time. From 1865 through Charles Marville’s street scenes to the 1920’s when Eugene Atget documented its vanishing alleys.
Local
Before Victorian nostalgia defined the image of Edinburgh completely Hill and Adamson captured the spirit of the city at photography’s inception.
Genius Loci – Thomas Kellner
China – Marc Riboud
Landmark – William A. Ewing
Sense of Place. European Landscape Photography – Liz Wells
A Sense of Place – Joshua Chuang and Sandra S. Phillips
Most of these are available at the Art and Design Library.
If you have any other recommendations on the topic please leave a comment.
Thanks to everyone who made it along and for bringing in a fantastic selection of work – here are a couple of snaps of the wall. Apologies for the phone quality and for missing one end of the board entirely (But I am sure Dungeness is a place we all now want to visit).
If you would like to put your own work up on this site please email it in, or ask for a login to post it yourself. You can also add work to the flickr group.
The next meeting will take place at Stills on Thursday the 5th of November, start time 7pm.
Novembers theme is Genius Loci. From Latin – genius (“lar”) + locī (“of (a) place”), genitive singular form of locus (“place”, “location”) = “(guardian) spirit of a place”.
How is photography used to capture the spirit of a place? Is insider knowledge or outside perspective more sucessful?
Interpret the theme as you wish, considering the differences between: place and space, local and foreign, culture and identity.
A suggested donation of £3 will go directly to Stills on the night to help them continue to provide the DCC a home.
November’s theme was NARRATIVE TAKES for the DCC meeting. I was interested in artists/photographers who create tensions between reality and fiction in their work, challenging our conventional scripts. To introduce the theme I told two stories of my own inspired by the artist Thomas Demand. Here is the first story including a short intro on Thomas Demand. There were some inspired photographic responses to the theme from the group which would be great to see added to this post!
July: Threshold
August: North
September: Interaction
October: Anonymous
November: Narrative Takes
December: Open (no theme)