I have been elsewhere, since being told I was redundant (unnecessary, not required, un-needed, uncalled for, surplus (to requirements), superfluous) - source Oxford Thesaurus, I've been quite busy. I am in the process of setting myself up for contract work - mainly writing - a 10,000 quite lucrative words piece completed last week which will hopefully lead to more has kept me away from the course. Consequently I have a few photographer books to look at - Duane Michals, Susan Burnstine and Thomas Struth who was mentioned to me by my tutor (this book was the most expensive, thanks teacher!). The Struth book is a "big" one with a lot of prints and some essays, whereas the Michals is a much smaller tome with even smaller images, Burnstine's is roughly in the middle. On initial "flick thoughs" I am drawn to the images inversely proportional to the size of the books. The Struth seems less immediately compelling and the Michals has me thinking a lot about identity and about the process (concept) of working. Whether I will feel this at the other side of studying these books is another matter - that's the beauty of study I suppose - not being able to predict the journey's end. Though my tutor's recommendations have thus far been very inspiring and very pertinent.
Talking of journey's ends. I have just received a new commission for portraits in a place; a local funeral directors are in need of some portraits and some "interview" shots which could also lead to some further work. I find the prospect quite amusing in an ironical way, here I am on People and Place and I get asked to take some pictures of people at a place where most people only go to once, and then don't get to see it in any case. The portraits I have been asked to take are of course the people who work there and it is for the business, though there are a lot of thoughts going through my mind about my next assignment - "A sense of a place" about whether it could fit in in some way. Things to think about.
The memorial stones are for Alice Marshall and her father the Rev.d Jenner Marshall. These pictures were taken at Westcote Parish Church of St Edwards the Confessor, the closest church to the Alice Marshall Hall and opposite to the old Rectory (now worth a couple of million at least and sold off a generation ago).
Life has all sorts of twists and turns and it sounds like for you, as one door shuts, many more are opening. Now I see the pertinence of your 'identity' question on the OCA forum. As a freelancer, the nice thing is you can run a number of skills alongside each other like writing, photography and whatever came before...keeps it varied and interesting. And then there is the extra flexibility too.
ReplyDeleteTo develop the sense of place, ambience, aura, call it what you will, at a funeral parlour I think would be fascinating. As you say, they are strange places, but probably working there is not nearly as morbid as when visiting as a client. There is such pomp and ceremony involved in their work, to see beyond that and see what keeps them optimistic and what makes them tick. In some ways it is a great honour to do their work, although it wouldn't be my preferred line of work.
Thanks Penny. Life is "opening-up" I think is the best way to describe it! After about a year of uncertainty (the bad kind) I am now looking forward to uncertainty (of the good kind). Hoping to do a recc' on the undertakers in the next day or so and I agree with all you say about them.
Delete10,000 - that's a lot of words to write John. Is there any way in which we're going to get to see what you've written? Yes - like Penny I was wondering about your identity questions. There do seem like so many avenues for you to explore, but there has to be a grieving and letting go of all those years of work.
ReplyDeletePortraits at the funeral directors. I'm sure "a sense of place" could fit in somewhere. I was reading a while ago that there is a growing trend for people to want photographs taken at funerals now. I felt a bit uncomfortable about it but I actually took some myself at my uncle's funeral a couple of years ago. It seems to be the only time when whole families get together now that so many of us are scattered to the four winds.
Thanks for the photographer links on my recent blog post. Duane Michals is definitely my kind of photographer. I can't find an actual website for him. I really can't get another book - my shelves are groaning!
Catherine
Thanks Catherine. The India piece was a portrait of a specific industrial landscape in India (sorry, couldn't help include the photo' allusions!) - I could take a photo of the stacked printed pages, but not the actual words as they are part of the contract!
DeleteAs for Michals, I have had a thought, when I have finished looking at the book I have, I could lend it, if you want? And then I had another thought about students in general lending their books to each other? My bookshelves are stacked with photo books, which most of the time occupy space and add to the strain on the shelves, like so many other students I suppose. If we loaned them around we could all benefit, unless there is a caveat in the copyright that prevents that sort of activity? Just looked at the Michals small print and can't see anything to prevent it. The borrower covers the cost of postage - does that sound fanciful?
That sounds a very generous offer John. Also it might encourage me to actually make a list of all the books I have, those I couldn't bear to let go of and those I'd be quite happy to lend on. I've also started to borrow books from the library - just a worry there though that I might forget to make a note of something important!
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