Shot! Fifteen out of 15: Art
When you take as many photos as I do, the ones that tend to stand out are those that have something a little different about them, those that for some reason or another are out of the ordinary.
Usually, one sees a photo in isolation, left to judge it only by what information is contained within the frame. But photos are more than just a moment in time. In most cases the end result is governed by the circumstances presented to the photographer, meaning there’s often an untold story behind them, one that can make them even more interesting than just being another nice picture.
Choosing just fifteen from each of my key subject areas was never going to be easy and some personal favourites never made the cut.
So, how do I define an ‘art’ picture? Well, in simple terms there are two types. One is where I photograph an artwork or part thereof, the other is where I create one from something I’ve photographed.
These then are the stories behind fifteen of my favourite art images from 2015.
Fifth Cow: I chanced upon James Corbett’s work at the London Classic Car Show. Based in Brisbane, Australia, he creates whimsical sculptures fabricated from vintage car parts. Whilst many of his subjects are automotive, he also makes fabulous animal sculptures from bits of old cars. This is just one of several I photographed on the stand.
Curve: Anna Zeller photographed in front of a small section of Walead Beshty’s Curve installation at London’s Barbican. For his Curve commission, Los Angeles artist Beshty used over 12,000 prints, each made using a cyanotope process which produced the cyan blue background. Invented by the scientist Sir John Herschel in 1842, cyanotope was one of the earliest photographic processes. Like the title of the show itself, this image is all about the curve, half the picture is as busy as you like and half is entirely empty. Anna traverses both parts, the hem of her jacket perfectly following the line of the curve. That precision wasn’t planned, although I’d like to think it wasn’t just down to luck!
Chacma Baboon: Brighton’s Booth Museum is a weird place, a curious collection of stuffed animals, skulls and skeletons from Victorian times when accumulating such things was highly fashionable. William Booth’s collection was so large it outgrew his house and he had to build a permanent home for it. Today, it still looks pretty much the same as it did back then, with rows and rows of glass fronted wooden cabinets. I went there to shoot monkey skulls. The way they were displayed, with unsightly wires and labels didn’t make it easy. I came away with just two good shots, including this one of a Chacma Baboon. It would make a great cover for a horror novel!
Bong: Hawaiian tattoo artist Bong photographed working at the Brighton Tattoo Convention. I’ve shot Bong a few times, but as far as I can recall, this was the only time he’d ever looked up at the camera. As with all portraits, it’s about the expression and the eyes. Unlike most, this one’s also about the ink!
Brighton Street Art 1: Another painted face in Brighton, this time however it’s on a wall. Street art is everywhere in Brighton, with almost every empty wall decorated with spray paint. Not all of it is good, not all of it enhances its surroundings, but occasionally some of it can be exceptional and is well worth seeking out. A photograph not only records it for posterity, but like I’ve done here, can also highlight one particular section of the work. Sadly, this one no longer exists, like street art the world over, it’s been painted over and replaced.
Brighton Street Art 2: A completely different style of street art. It’s unusual in that it’s completely abstract and the colours are very muted. Again, this is just a small section of a larger piece. With so much street art on Brighton’s streets, twittens and catcreeps (Google them if you don’t know what they are) it’s all about seeking out the work that’s really special. If only that was quite as easy to search for!
We Are Not Amused! Statues are mute, but if this one of Queen Victoria could say anything, it would have to be those famous words. This marble figure by Carlo Nicoli was presented to Brighton at the time of the old Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897 to mark the opening of the Victoria Gardens. It’s not a great work of art. In fact, it’s quite terrible. Not surprising then that even when it was unveiled, critics were particularly scathing of its quality. Not many statues are improved by the addition of a traffic cone, but this one most definitely is. It gives it a certain quirkiness that makes it so appropriate for Brighton and also makes the picture so arresting. I had no idea about the cone, it would have been easy to miss, but having an eye for spotting things that are out of the ordinary is what any good photographer needs to possess.
The Reigning Queen: Another sculpture. This one is way better and contemporary. It’s by John O’Connor who was displaying some of his latest creations at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. A few minutes before I took this, the heavens opened and it poured. Instead of running for cover, something compelled me to stay and shoot. It was something I could do because the EM-1 is (almost) weather-resistant. The raindrops on the bronze are what make the shot interesting, like beads of sweat pouring down her face.
Passing Through Time: Another of John O’Connor’s sculptures at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. I’ve no interest in simply photographing someone elses’ work, anyone can do that. I want to add my own artistry to the image. And insodoing make it my own.
Meisterstuck 159: Pens can create art, they can also be art in themselves. Introduced by Montblanc in 1952 and still to this day the most iconic of all fountain pens. Purely a test shot while I was exploring the EM1’s in-camera HDR function. I had this exact image in mind. I wanted the pen’s hand-crafted 18K gold and rhodium-plated nib in sharp focus, and its black resin barrel disappearing into a blur. The pen is actually resting on a page from a magazine, a photo of the sea. This one did require a tripod. And a lot of patience!
Ephemera: A detail from a tiny bronze statue of a ballet dancer by contemporary British sculptor Simon Gudgeon. This was photographed on Simon’s stand at the Chelsea Flower Show. The way the image is treated makes it interesting, as does the way it’s cropped.
Serge Lifar: Remixes happen all the time in music, why not in photography! 2015 was the year I began experimenting with remixes. Most of them were based on photos taken by fashion and celebrity photographer George Hoyningen Huene. He took this portrait of Russian ballet dancer Serge Lifar in 1930. 85 years later, I’ve given it a fresh twist. And promoted a photographer that many might never have heard of before, even if they might struggle to pronounce his name.
The Doom: One of the most unusual pieces of street art I’ve seen in Brighton, or indeed anywhere else, this is just a detail from a 16m piece called ‘The Doom’ an artwork created for Red Bull’s ‘Watch This Space’ event by London-based illustrator Emily Evans. Apart from it being so different to the usual graffiti one sees, I liked it because it reminded me of Mondrian and the De Stijl movement. Sadly, it no longer exists.
Alchemy of the Heart: Another of John O’Connor’s sculptures, this time taken at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. Most of his pieces feature overly long limbs. None are this colour however.
Bertie: The same goes for this pooch. It’s another of James Corbett’s brilliant car part sculptures. It was taken at the London Classic Car Show, but given a colourful new look by me.
Behind the image: With the exception of the Meisterstuck, all these images were shot handheld with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 and either the 12–40 2.8 Pro or the 75 1.8 lens, using available light only.
Follow me on Twitter
See more of my images at 500px