Exhibition | alan frost photography

Posts tagged ‘Exhibition’

Exciting new challenges in the year ahead – including my first exhibition

There are many reasons why I am looking forward to this year. In early April I have been invited to present an evening talk to my local camera club; something which I have not done before. Later that same month I will be traveling to The RPS Headquarters in Bath with a panel of fifteen images for an assessment in the hope that I will be granted an Associate Distinction of the Royal Photographic Society. And finally towards the end of the year in November, I will be exhibiting my work for the first time.

All of these events come with their own set of challenges and as the year progresses I expect to share my thoughts as I plan and prepare for each one.

Perhaps the most exciting but also the most daunting of the three, is the exhibition, and fortunately I am not alone. There are a total of six photographers who have formed a group called The Image Circle. A WordPress site was published at the end of last year, so do visit that site to find our more about the group and to see the work of the other photographers.

The exhibition is to be held in the main gallery at The Oxmarket Centre of Arts in Chichester, West Sussex, starting on Tuesday 14th November and finishing on Sunday 19th November. The group will be getting together on a regular basis between now and then, as we all have to decide what work to exhibit, how it should be framed and presented, and what can be done to best promote the event as we naturally wish to attract as many visitors as possible.

Although the exhibition is still many months away, I know how quickly the time will pass, so early preparation is key. Perhaps the most important decision for me to make at this stage is what work do I wish to exhibit? Should they be images from my current portfolio or new work which has yet to be taken? Should there be a specific theme? How many pictures do I display and how should the work be framed and hung? Many questions and in my mind some of the answers are becoming a little clearer.

As I write, I have reached a decision to exhibit a new body of work which will be taken in and around Chichester Harbour. It will be my vision, a personal portrait of this rather special Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty which is close to where I live. All the photographs will be in monochrome and likely to be square format. The process of making images is already underway and a recent photograph accompanies this post.

Plenty more to consider and do in the weeks and months ahead, but 2017 is certainly a year I am looking forward to with great anticipation.

‘Shadows of the Wanderer’ in Chichester Cathedral

This is a truly wonderful and thought provoking exhibition by the artist Ana Maria Pacheco, which is currently on display in the North Transept of Chichester Cathedral in West Sussex, and runs until the 14th November.

There are ten figures all wearing dark robes, each one carved from a single lime tree, with eyes made of onyx. The two central figures, again carved from a single piece of wood, depict a man carrying an elderly person. Based on Virgil’s Aeneid from 29BC, Aeneas carries his lame father on his back to escape the burning ruins of Troy. The other figures in the shadows have very differing expressions and postures, which provoke a wide range of emotions in the viewer. As you take in the scene it is impossible to escape the synergy with todays issues of migration and people fleeing from their homes in a stricken country, all seeking refuge in another place.

I rarely photograph art installations or exhibitions, as they can turn out to be nothing more than record shots. However I felt this was different, as the sculptures gave themselves to a form of portraiture, which also allowed me to make a set of images which I hope does justice to the artist’s work.

I was very fortunate to find myself in the Cathedral at a time when a single shaft of light from a high window moved through the ‘shadows’ to illuminate just one figure in the scene, almost as if the light of God was showing them the way.

For further information and to read more about ‘Shadows of the Wanderer’ please click here.

Do click on any of the images to view a larger version which will open in a new window.

Saul Leiter – an Exhibition at The Photographers’ Gallery in London

In a break from my own black and white photography, I am looking forward to seeing a retrospective exhibition of the work by Saul Leiter (1923 to 2013) at the Photographers’ Gallery in London. It starts this coming Friday, January 22nd, and runs until April 3rd, so there is plenty of time to plan a visit.

©Saul Leiter and courtesy Howard Greenberg Gallery

Nowadays everyone likes to think they are a street photographer, as everyone takes photographs on the street, so by definition they are a street photographer. That might be true to an extent, but simply taking photographs on the street doesn’t mean they make great photographs. Far from it in fact.

Saul Leiter was a marvellous photographer but widespread fame really only emerged in the 1980’s. Born in Pittsburgh in 1923 he moved to New York to be an artist, but in the 1940’s he started taking black and white photographs of his surroundings. For me and for many others he has left a legacy of some wonderful work. Although my passion is for mono, I particularly enjoy his colour photographs. Some of his most famous photos were shot in the 1950’s and 60’s. Rarely can the faces be seen, much is left to the viewers imagination, but the compositions and the use of shapes and colours are superb. There is both a painterly and almost semi abstract quality to his work.

I rather like this quote by the photographer himself.

“When we do not know why the photographer has taken a picture and when we do not know why we are looking at it, all of a sudden we discover something that we start seeing. I like this confusion.” Saul Leiter

In the year before Saul Leiter passed away, Tomas Leach made a film documentary called – ‘In No Great Hurry’ – 13 lessons in life with Saul Leiter. It was filmed as Saul Leiter drank coffee and tried to sort through a lifetime of photographs piled high in his New York Apartment. For those who are interested there is a short trailer below. I have yet to watch the film but I will definitely do so before visiting the exhibition.

I’m no street photographer, nor do I take many colour photographs, but if like me you can appreciate and be inspired by the work of a great photographer or artist, then I would suggest you try and find the time to visit The Photographers’ Gallery. Saul Leiter was in no great hurry, but I for one can’t wait to visit this exhibition.