Smaller?

Thinking about layout, the above being rather influenced by the layout of Tony Evan's photos in English Sunrise as designed by David Hillman. The book is curiously modern in concept and presented with the attention to detail that makes viewing the book a great experience. Little things like how the pages open and the size of it in your hand. Simultaneously the book is really dated by the circular corners of the pictures, and the colour of the prints- I don't know whether the nostalgia trip was attended but it is a great lesson in design. In particular I like how the photographs are presented small, demanding an intimate viewing experience. I am working with a small format and creating book photographs as Alec Soth would have it. I want my photographs to be like icons, small and richly coloured prayers.

PhotoMNE, Lourdes

Looking greatly forward to this, especially to see Guillaume Riviere's work. It'll be interesting to return to Lourdes which has become a bit of dream-like condition in my mind. More info at the official website about the other photographers.

transparency

I love it when photographers are properly open with technique stuff like this, and don't give it all the coca- cola secret recipe tale; although truth be told i struggle to be open about process:

'AFH: What about this next photograph [Untitled, Morrissey 23]?

RM: Our nickname for this one is "the hulk" because he's all green.

AFH: How are you getting these colors?

RM: The colors are the result of film experimentation. Before I go to the concerts, I expose the film to different lights - Daylight, television light, tungsten light, sunsets, colored lights, morning light, basically all kinds of light. I expose the roll and then shoot it again at the shows. Between exposing the film and utilizing the intense stage lighting, i've got a process down to achieve new color palates.'

(from an interview with ryan mcginley on the saatchi blog)

'Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae'

Oh God and these, so bizarre and beautiful: "Angels form an arc under the central light, which is YHWH, the Hebrew letters for God. Daylight is the source of direct light, refracted light, and light reflected by night (on right). Divine authority, a hand writing a book that absorbs light directly from the source of all light, oversees the daylight, and it is a little higher than Reason, the hand writing a book above the night, which receives a more modest eye's light. Below daylight is Profane Authority, which receives only a lantern's light; below Reason is Sense, which points to an image produced by a telescope. Emperor Ferdinand enters the picture as one of Kircher's patrons."

Kircher's Magnetism

Images from Kircher's Magnetism via the amazing Bibliodyssey, the last being a remarkable machine, a sunflower clock: '"To illustrate his belief in the magnetic relationship between the sun and the vegetable kingdom, Kircher designed this heliotropic sunflower clock by attaching a sunflower to a cork and floating it in a reservoir of water. As the blossom rotated to face the sun, a pointer through its center indicated the time on the inner side of a suspended ring. Kircher claimed that it didn't work well because enclosing it in a glass case would block the sun's attractive force, and that it was 'therefore susceptible to inaccuracies due to the wind'."

I especially like the ideas, and the esotericism of the imagery: I love the pattern of the magnetic fields, and the hint of magic.... But I still can't get my head round how to bring these things into my book without distracting from the photography.

The English Sunrise

Very potentially excited about this book, hopefully winging its way to me. 'The English Sunrise' won a Gold D&AD Award for graphic design in 1973. Photos by Tony Evans, written by Brian Rice, design David Hillman. The book seems to be a document of the sunrise motif in English vernacular design, and from what I can gather is quite minimal in its layout. It is still such a modern idea- I've mulled around on some variations of it myself-and I think that the execution of both the design and photography might reflect that.... the second image is taken from some one's site who has cut the book up and is selling it with some nice quote about sunrises stuck on the back of it, apparently you're meant to string these cards up 'like gems' as a form of home decoration- travesty!!! Well I suppose it's enjoying a book in a way...

Forests and Light

The aestheticization (is this actually a word yet?) of disaster, as my course would describe it? Christopher LaMarca's exquisite photographs from the book 'Forest Defenders' document non-violent protest against the logging of ancient forests. These photographs are a touch misrepresentative of a selection, concentrating on his subtle treatment of light in illustrating the atmosphere of the land. I think they are very beautiful, I hope this beauty is compelling in promoting awareness, I would buy the book if I could. I've been hunting rainbows for some time now...(His website and Redux dealing with representation.)

Eric Carroll's Sunburn

'Sunburn is a meditation on landscape, particularly the photographic cliché of the sunset. Eric William Carroll asks, "Why do we feel the need to repeatedly photograph something that happens every day? Is it beauty? Is it time?" Using photographs of landscapes and sunsets found in the dumpsters of one-hour-photo stores, Carroll pushes the images into sublime fields of color through bleaching and silk-screening. In the end, the artist hopes not to describe the beauty of a sunset, but rather re-imagine it.' quoted from here- Eric's website here and blog here

What Sun Gazers do with their powers

Now drowning in esotericism... '49-years old Zaporozhye` townsman Nikolay Dolgorukiy refused food and eats the Sunlight by eyes since the 25th of August, 2003' (source) . Maybe I'll get to visit him- struggling to uncover British sun gazers: not that there's any sun to gaze at here any how- report.