Wednesday 24 February 2010

❤ old photos

last week was my beautiful Nannie's 87th birthday:
I baked her an apple cake and we laughed and talked:
she gave me her vintage black coney jacket
and allowed me to borrow two of her photo albums:
I have been scanning in every photo so they can be saved
onto disc and given to all the children, grandchildren,
great grandchildren, cousins, aunts and anyone who wants a copy:
then I shall return the originals to Nan:
she told me this is her as a lavender girl:
my great grandmother made all their dresses, this
one included:
she always looks so stylish:
I love this one of her and sister Hetty, strolling down the road:
hair set in finger curls:
Hetty getting a march on:
now I know where I get my quick walking from!
my grandparents were a handsome couple:
a gorgeous photo of contentment:
and look at those billowing sheets!
a sight for sighs:
my Mama and aunts and uncle:
hats and bows:
sandals and no socks:
the light is magical, late summer days:
this is one of my favourites:
my great grandmother, family and a bear:
my Uncle talked about it for months it's been told:
'long time ago we see a teddy bear eh Dad?'
a book of memories:

Saturday 20 February 2010

「」one two three:

after Lazarides we strolled through Soho Square, nearly bumping into
the actress Caroline Quentin who was hurrying along with her children:
onward to the newly sited Photographers Gallery to see
the Deutsche Bӧrse Photography Prize 2010:
talk about celeb spotting .... 
clocked Miranda Sawyer, journo and Culture Show regular,
admiring the exhibition with her friend:
*shame it wasn't Andrew eh Suze?*
so the top pic(k)s for us?
*click on the pictures to view them larger*

 Anna Fox's documentary style photos really pushed my buttons:
I adore the inanimate:
her images of the inside of her Mother's cupboards
with her Father's words were both amusing and disturbing:
*apologies for crap quality photos ~ surreptitious+glass+no flash handheld ain't easy!*
there is something morbidly fascinating about Anna's work 
particularly in the concertina'd pieces 'Notes From Home 1996-2003'
gifts from the cats and making cakes:
*another tick in the box for cake reference*
 
her Parresque eye gives us the humour of everyday objects
as well as making us feel slightly uncomfortable:
Zoe Leonard is another nominee who appealed to my
interest in urban landscapes:
"Analogue Portfolio" a selection of images taken with her old 
Rolleiflex film camera:  
she observes her town, her streets and neighbourhood
as I do:  details and old shop fronts:
particularly the dying age of analogue:
her sharp Rolleiflex and dye-transfer prints remind us 
of what is about to be lost:

drawn to a collage of copies from the pages of a scrapbook of a fictitious
non sectarian by Donovan Wylie:
 this is not a real recipe as I first thought ....
reading on, the pages plainly show responses to the situation:
a curious document with links to the personal albums that
exist within families today:
Libbie loved Wylie's 'Destruction of the Maze Prison'
a series of photos of the perimeter:
of cells and corridors:
Maze witnessed hunger strikes, murders, mass breakouts and ceasefire negotiations:
Wylie spent over 100 days on site while it was being slowly decommissioned:
stark repetitious images and the feeling of absence :
monotony and the architecture of conflict:
*on until 18th April*

Friday 19 February 2010

〓 part deux

the faile bast deluxx flux arcade 2010
Faile, a duo from Brooklyn USA have collaborated again with Bast
to turn two floors of gallery into an explosion of colour and sound:
all their thematic signatures are there:
cut copy paste:
pop culture and flyposters:
I'll try to explain this sensory experience!
walk in and the room is full of 80's arcade machines
covered in paste-up flyposters and colour:
the screens with cut up animation:
you don't quite know what button to press or what will happen!
every machine is free to play but buy tokens that will
give you an extra experience:
shoot em ups or sit n drives:
monochrome or colour:
Libbie loved blowing up sheep:
downstairs ☟
and you're hit with fluoro lighting and illuminous images 
on every surface:
pulp fiction meets punk:
even the floor:
this must have taken some time to install!
there's two bar football tables to play: 
hidden around the corner, a decoupage figure:
we do enjoy some participation and interaction:
this is a very male space but the images are so feminine:
call girl, b movie, sexual:
go see:
till 19th march
*part trois tomorrow ....*

Thursday 18 February 2010

≑ real culture show *part one*

the sun was out all day yesterday:
so we took the train to London:
first stop Oxford Street:
a stroll to the beautiful Liberty shop:
up up up up the stairs to the 4th floor:
a collection of fashion photography exhibited curated by 
Spring Projects as part of London Fashion week:
we loved ↙ slurpee lady and perfect portraits
Libbie loved ↙ fluffy floating hedge girl
and man in the chair with a pig ↘:
I love ↘ anything with flamingoes and the beautiful Liberty
furniture in the space ↘:
downers = bad lighting for glazed photos:
*as you can see by my surreptitious shots*
no takeaway blurb of exhibits or artists:
*who were ~ Alice Hawkins, Daniel Jackson, Angelo Pennetta,
Josh Olins & Jacob Sutton*
in the gloriousness of our favourite London store
we forgot to take note of who shot what:
sorry dear readers:
but here's some more yummy Liberty luciousness that caught my eye ☟
zoo fruit bowl anyone?
lemon lovely doilies and paper cake cases:
swoonsome chair and a tap-tap-ding ♫:
newspaper bug collage chair wOw:
oh how I want to live in that store:
*sigh*
part two tomorrow ....


Tuesday 16 February 2010

⏅ strange days have tracked us down

it's a gloomy wet February Tuesday here in darkest Essex:
a zip to the supermarket to buy these ☟
and I could not resist a bargain at 49p ☟
but my trolley wheel got stuck on this ☟
which is my sign of the zodiac oddly:
then on my way home, in the gloom I spotted these ☟
 we made and ate these ☟
maple syrup or lemon and sugar?
Libbie loves lemon:
I prefer maple syrup:
happy shrove tuesday:

Sunday 14 February 2010

☐ eye of a needle

yesterday I assisted in a workshop called
the unpredictable guide to constructing a pinhole camera
for those not in the know ~ 
pinhole camera =
an optical device that projects an inverted image onto
photosensitive paper:
first we selected a box to become our camera:
any size container can be used as long as it is light tight:
to make it so
we painted the inside of our boxes in matt black paint:
then deciding which end of our box we would place our pinhole:
we cut a piece of tin and pierced it with a needle:
the size of pinhole can vary:
we cut a hole in the box and taped on our tin pinhole:
 then using gaffer tape we finished off our box cameras:
we headed to the darkroom to load them up:
in the almost dark but red light:
we 'tacked' a piece of photographic paper into the box:
*opposite end to the pinhole*
replaced the lid and sealed it all around with black tape:
remembering to also put a little piece over our pinhole
to act as a lenscap:
our cameras ready, we set out into the light to
take a picture and time the exposures:
by estimating camera length, diameter of pinhole
and lighting conditions:
you can experiment with the exposure times to
successfully get a paper negative image!
small but perfectly formed:
2 to 3 minute exposure, indoors:
Dawn used an old washing powder box and exposed
for 3 to 5 minutes outdoors:
she then made a contact print of the negative image:
*top left and bottom right*
really looking forward to creating cyanotypes on the 13th march: