Stephen Gill Analysis &Research

My view on Stephen Gill

               Stephen Gill, whom The British Journal of Photography described as ‘’One of the most quietly inventive, unusually original photographers on the international scene’’, has created a breadth of multi-disciplinary work that spans many subjects and approaches. He is technically experimental, imaginative and eager to creatively explore the wider discipline of photography (I must confess to be a bit of a fan).

                But despite this outward reaching, experimental growth, there is almost always one very distinct constant: The Borough of Hackney.

                He frequently admits his obsession with the area he lives and works in and most of his projects feature it heavily. Hackney Wick, is a documentary project centred around a market situated in an area due to be demolished in preparation for the 2012 Olympic games, and it grasps at an area in the process of disappearance, as does Archaeology in Reverse, which provides a record of the subtle indications that change was imminent– workmen, scaffolding and demolition notices.

Photographs from Hackney Wick

Photographs from Archaeology in Reverse

                But Gill does not simply take photographs of a place, he allows the location to be the creator. His work has been inextricably impregnated by the space and all it entails. They breathe the space and it feels intuitive and natural. As a viewer I get the impression that he hasn’t imposed himself onto an unfamiliar community, the shots are comfortable, relaxed and show that the photographer has truly engaged with the subjects, we can feel the personal connection he has forged and understand that he feels at home. In this instance, it is the viewer displaying a voyeuristic prying eye, not the photographer. Something he is aware of and consciously savours by “scooping up a bit of East London and dropping it in Central London”.

                As an example of work in which the ‘where’ is important, I struggle to find a more genuine comparator, his integrity is undoubted, having spent his entire career photographing various aspects of Hackney.
               The subjects in his work vary greatly and project to project his methods change. Projects such as Off Ground, Anonymous Origami and A Series of Disappointments are topographical explorations that involve collecting artefacts and meticulously cataloguing and recording them. The latter features a collection of discarded betting slips, that manages to convey such a strong human element despite the unwavering unity of their appearance. There is something very tactile and relate-able about the manipulation they have undergone.

Photographs from A Series of Disappointments

Other works such as Trolley Portraits show similarly predetermined composition and controlled style, but on location.

Photographs from Trolley Portraits

In fact most of his work provides a study of either an object, a person, place, or activity of some sort. He works in quite a fluid way, keeping several projects afloat at any one time, constantly on the lookout for subjects that fit several themes. Another example that I love is Covered or Removed. 

Photographs from Covered or Removed

Alex Prager Research

Barbara                                                                                                       Helen

          

           As I have been researching Alex Prager's photography it has become apparent that her work is viewed as part of the show and rarely are any individual photographs written about, so it may be difficult to find some contrasting opinions and analysis of an image. However I'm intrigued by her style and would like to write about some of her work. One alternative is to look at her films. In 2010 she directed her first short film Sunday and later in 2010 came Despair featuring Bryce Dallas Howard.

            Despair, "According to the artist, it is a “full-sensory version” of her photographs, an attempt “to show the before, now and after of one of my images.” The four-minute film, with a score by composer Ali Helnwein, is set in Los Angeles. It was inspired by The Red Shoes, a 1948 film about a prima ballerina whose obsession with dance conflicts with her need for love, ultimately leading to her suicide. Focusing on the actress’s face to capture one intense emotion, Prager engages in the construction of images that are intentionally loaded, reflecting her fascination with and understanding of cinematic melodrama." It won Best Artistic Direction on the third edition of Diane Pernet’s Fashion Film Festival 'A Shaded View On Fashion Film' and feels very familiar to anyone accustomed to Prager's photography.

Stills from Despair

This would make an interesting piece to write about as she draws from many influences and whilst retaining an inherent simplicity. The storyline itself is short and basic: a woman receives a phone call, then jumps off a building. But the direction and purpose written score elevate the story to something beautiful. Inspired by  the opening to Charles Laughton's Night of the Hunter in 1955, and the 1948 film The Red Shoes, directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, (which was itself partly inspired by the Hans Christian-Anderson tale). Projecting Hitchcock inspired tension and the age old theme of females in peril. Interpreted through crisp, bold, highly saturated colours and displaying vintage fashion direct from a fashion editorial. Yet she produces picture perfection, influences beautifully and seamlessly bound together.

Key Words

Key words that identify reoccuring themes in the things that inspire me and may be useful towards the development of my own practice:

• Cinematic
• Intimate
• Narrative
• Transient
• Delicate
• Elusive
• Analogue

Notes on my 30 practitioners

When I reflect collectively over my list of 30 contemporary practitioners I see that there isn't actually that strong of a style. I did not select my favourites or photographers I personally am inspired by (although obviously many of them do) but rather to me I took it as an exercise to push the boundaries of what I believe to be 'photography'. The styles, mediums and concepts are all quite varied and do not form a cohesive viewpoint. 

However I looked back through them and have created a list of words that describe the work and that can be used to group the practitioners together in similar themes and feels.

• Film
• Light
• Glow
• Luminosity
• Documentary
• Cinematic
• Depth
• Quiet
• Moments
• Observant
• Intimate
• Honest
• Witness
• Narrative
• Story
• Personal
• Sensual
• Transient
• Fragile
• Overlooked
• Delicate
• Multi-disciplinary
• Atmosphere
• Candid
• Experience
• Elusive
• Glare
• Fleeting
• Colour
• Texture
• Search
• Appreciate
• Elegance
• Fun
• Warmth
• Perspective
• Colloquial
• Unplanned

Ethnographic Study of The Birdcage

            The Birdcage is a café, music venue and vintage clothing shop combined. Boasting the mantra ‘yesterday’s clothing, today’s coffee and tomorrow’s music’, it describes itself as a boutique or ‘innovative new venue’ without placing emphasis on any particular aspect of the business, however physically the café element is the dominant space. The room is quite large, particularly for a coffee shop. Large leather sofas, wing-back chairs and low commandeering coffee tables fill the area whilst leaving plenty of standing room and walkways, and retaining quite a spread out spacious feel. It can accommodate around 36 people seated if they are sharing two people per sofa. However for performances it would hold much more standing and there’s definitely the option of more seated once the place gets busy by sharing sofas- which is a good job considering its popularity. I have previously visited the establishment on a Tuesday morning and a Sunday afternoon, both times were busy with most or all tables and seats occupied, and whenever I pass it is always consistently busy.
The lighting is alluring; by day it is bright- white walls and lots of large windows project sunlight into the room (even when there isn't much outside) and there is lots of interesting lighting. By night it looks softer, more comforting and relaxed but is still bright, it always looks very inviting from outside.
           The café sells hot and cold drinks including a baffling selection of teas, 100% Arabica bean coffee, smoothies, detox drinks, wine, spirits, home made cakes (which are truly delicious), sandwiches and nibbles. All at very reasonable prices, a large pot of tea for two costs £2.50 and bottles of wine vary from between £10 and £16, all of which is ordered at the till and served at the table.
           The stage sits at in the café area and is visible from the doorway and all windows to attract passers by  whilst being visible from most seats in the house. Even the sofas gathered around each table are either facing the stage or positioned side on, proving the entertainment to be popular and a big consideration in the design of the floor. The Birdcage hosts a multitude of events, bands and musicians, vintage movie nights, film screenings and festivals, open mic nights, quizzes, pop-up art exhibitions, and more. Most of which is free entry, only some of the band night have a cover charge, but this is usually no more than £2.
           The vintage clothing shop is a room in the back corner of the space, but being open plan with no door and visible throughout the venue it is more of a nook than a separate room, however there is a separate till. Prices are comparatively a little more expensive, but quite average for a vintage boutique. Leather shorts and Levi’s were £30, chunky knit jumpers £25, shirts £20 and jewellery ranging from £10 to £30.
The Birdcage sits on the corner of Clare Street and St. Stephen Street and the centre of town. Slightly out of the bustle of Cabot Circus it is located just along from St. Nicholas Market which coincides with the arty, home grown feel of the kitsch venue. Similarly a few doors along is Start the Bus, a bar with a very similar aesthetic and their Start Gallery next door showcasing artwork and selling EP’s from local unsigned bands and musicians. Directly opposite is Photographique, a photography shop housing its own mini gallery and a studio on the first floor, specialising in analogue products and services and selling lots of cameras and accessories from Lomography- Which again chimes with the vintage arts feel of The Birdcage, there were plenty of leaflets on the tables, many showcasing galleries and photography classes.
The location seems aimed at an audience of people in their 20’s and 30’s in the creative industries, musicians, artists and illustrators etc. or those interested in art, fashion and music. It looks like quite a young hang out, and the heavy styling of the place could verge on being pretentious, however the relaxed comfortable atmosphere produces a more understated vibe than the eccentric decor suggests possible, it is wonderfully homey cafe whilst still being a fun place to be, and this attracts an older audience than would be expected.
Similarly the staff mirrored my expectations of their target audience, they all look to be in their early to mid 20’s, dressed smartly with a vintage twist and all had a very nice demeanour. The service there is excellent- friendly and efficient.
In terms of the artwork (excluding pop up art exhibitions) the main bulk of it is present for decorative purposes rather than to showcase the art or artist. There is a feeling of being surrounded by artwork but in actuality it’s more of a creative arty aesthetic than individual pieces. There is no artwork for sale, no information about its creator and nothing is specifically lit. There are murals on the wall designed by illustrator Alex Lucas whose work is also featured on the flyers, posters and billboards. There is even a Birdcage sweatshirt featuring an Alex Lucas illustration but she is not noticeably accredited anywhere. There are a few other paintings dotted around too, such as a painting of a rabbit wearing boxing gloves on a canvas propped against a dressing table.
But image is clearly something those behind The Birdcage prioritise. Old lampshades are bundled together to form quirky, covetable chandeliers cascading from the high bright ceiling. The building it occupies is stunning in architecture. Details in the coving by the ceilings and the exquisite wooden doorway contribute to its beauty. You can see the eye for design in details like lovely fonts used on the chalkboards behind the counter, clear mannequin heads filled with sweets and adorned in adhesive facial hair and vintage headwear, and the till desk in the vintage area propped onto piles of old leather suitcases. There are cameras in frames, old typewriters on display and bicycles attached to the wall and embellished with flowers.
There is some photography in the vintage boutique area. There are six photographs, unframed in a poster format, glossy and varying between around A1 to A4 in size. Most are hung above the rails so they’re quite high up. Like the rest of the artwork, the viewer is not encouraged to look at the work as an art piece, but rather it is hoped they will absorb it as part of the general aesthetic. Although the photography is slightly different in that it serves a more promotional purpose than the murals, they are adverts and are there to accompany and showcase the clothes. Some of the clothing worn for the shoots is hung next to the posters and marked as a promotional piece not for sale. 
Five of the six photographs feature the same model, and they are all shot in a very similar way so I assume they are all from the same photographer and as they are again not credited would also assume not an established photographer.
They look to be digital images, (or at least a digital print of a scanned negative if shot using analogue) but it is always difficult to be certain. They are quite traditional in appearance, no unusual effects. They are clear crisp and sharp, with fairly bright saturation and quite strong contrast with one black and white exception. They are typically attractive fashion images, showing bright glowing skin tones, rich colours and a beautiful model donned in vintage clothes. 
Overall it is a lovely space to be in, exciting but comfortable and welcoming, somewhere lots of people can (and do) enjoy. From curling up on the sofa and reading a book or getting on with some work in a different environment, to a night out of live music, it is an inspiring creative local space.
Their website is http://www.birdcagebristol.com/ which is quite extensive and features a blog and gallery as well as gig listings and a sample menu.

Here are a few photographs from my visit focusing on the photographic element.

Ethnographic Research Notes

An ethnographic study must be first hand engagement. It is a study of people in naturally occurring settings- a living space that hasn't been set up by you.
People use participant observation as a means of observation and data collection and it combines quantative and qualitative data.
The researcher becomes a variable as they become embedded in the culture so the key is to recognise that you have an impact on your surroundings, for example documenting people's behaviour in location may be difficult to witness accurately as your very presence there will change how they behave.
Auto-ethnographic research takes place somewhere you feel at home, you are researching a culture that you are part of and it combines autobiographical and ethnographic writing practices.
It recognises the inherent subjectivity of the researcher and seeks to describe, and systematically analyse personal experience in order to understand cultural experience by embracing subjective understandings of reality. It uses them as a basis for thinking more critically about the impact of our assumptions and values.

I am going to conduct an ethnographic study of a location where photography could be seen.

Potential questions for an ethnographic study of a location where photography can be seen

·         Size of the space

·         If it’s in a room, size of the entire location

·         How many people can it accommodate

·         Who is the audience

·         Why are they viewing the work

·         Is the viewer encouraged to view the work in a particular way

·         Aesthetics of the place/room

·         Geographical position, where in the city

·         What is that area like

·         Does the location fit into its surroundings

·         Lighting in the space

·         Lighting of the image

·         The images present and their relationship to the space

·         Scale and amount of images

·         How are they mounted

·         People’s physical relationship to the work

·         How is it viewed

·         What else happens in the space

·         Is the work for sale

·         If it’s for sale, how much does it cost

·         Price of other saleable goods in the space

·         Are there any staff around

·         What are the staff like

·         My personal opinion of the work

·         Are the artists established or unknown

·         Does the ‘gallery’ have a website

·         Do you pay for entry

·         Is it a large company or independent

·         Are security present

Locations around Bristol where photography could be consumed

·         The Paintworks

·         Photographique gallery

·         Spike Isand

·         Photography department UWE

·         Here Gallery

·         See No Evil shop

·         See No Evil street gallery (Nelson Street)

·         Arnolfini

·         On a T-shirt

·         The Docks Market

·         Cabot Circus gallery

·         Start the Bus pop-up market

·         Start Gallery

·         M Shed

·         Vignette (publication)

·         Park Street Boutiques

·         The Birdcage

·         Bristol Museum & Art Gallery

·         Hospital waiting rooms

·         Airport

·         Dentists surgery

·         Don’t panic

·         Leaflet packs

·         Shop window

Seminar Task: Speed Dating

I was instructed to prepare a series of questions that may help me to identify people I would want to or be able to work with on future projects as an exercise to get to know the group and to assess what qualities I value in a work partner. Although it is just a bit of fun I should be aware of what my choice of questions will say about me to the interviewee as the subject will form an opinion as they are questioned. And I tried not to give leaning questions (even if I am hoping for very specific answers) to get a more accurate assessment of the individual.

·         How do you feel about Cinema?

·         What is your preferred type of humour?

·         Do you believe in horoscopes?

·         Are you an open worker or do you like privacy?

·         Would you consider yourself to be a patient person?

·         How do you feel about working in a darkroom?

·         Do you ever bring bad moods into the workplace?

·         Do you have much experience working with studio equipment?

·         Do you tend to form very black and white opinions?

·         Do you visit galleries often?

·         What is your opinion on commercial photography?

·         Do you get offended easily?

·         Is photography art?

·         Do you like images to be very polished?

·         Do you know what sort of photographer you’d like to be?

·         What is more important, the image or the process?

·         What is your opinion on Photoshop?

·         Digital or analogue photography?

·         Do you prefer black and white or colour?

·         Can you make a decent cup of tea?

30 Contemporary Practitioners Working in Photography

This list is comprised of 30 contemporary practitioners of varied mediums whose work spans the field of photography. The purpose of this is to illustrate how photography can be tackled from many approaches- film-makers, visual artists, even instillation artists and more can all consider themselves photographers. The discipline sounds at first definable and finite, but understanding its connection with other mediums brings creativity and crucial context. I have listed the practitioner, their main discipline, the medium/s in which they work and the themes they use, along with where I first discovered them.

Name: Mickey Smith
Discipline: Photographer/ Film Maker/ Surfer/ Musician
Medium: Motion picture film cameras/ Digital video cameras/ Black and white and colour film photography/ Digital cameras
Themes: Sea, stone, water and ocean elements; Energy, power and beauty. But most importantly, doing things for love alone over a living, ‘If I can only scrape a living, at least it will be a living worth scraping’.
First discovered: Can’t remember, I stumbled across the beautiful and inspiring ‘Dark Side of The Lens’, a short film created in conjunction with Astray films. And was directed to his photography on http://www.clubofthewaves.com/surf-photographer/mickey-smith.php

Name: Richard Mosse
Discipline: Photographer
Medium: Aerochrome, a discontinued range of Kodak film that picks up previously invisible infra-red light.
Themes: War and soldiers in war-torn areas, he toes the line of photojournalism, but remains quiet and veers away from distinctive, decisive moments to become more subjective. He shoots from a calm, measured and un-sensationalist viewpoint.
First discovered: Hotshoe magazine, Issue 177 April-May

Name: Alex Prager
Discipline: Photographer/ Film maker
Medium: Kodak Portra colour negative film with a Contax or Mamiya 645
Themes: ‘Hitchcock’s undercurrent of fear. Cindy Sherman’s themes of female identity. Gregory Crewdson’s nightmarish suburbs. The cartoonish drama of Roy Lichtenstein’s women. She takes all this visual language and creates something entirely her own.’ Her work is very cinematic and she produces fabricated film stills.
First discovered: British Journal of Photography, September 2010

Name: Gabriel Dawe
Discipline: Site specific instillation artist
Medium: Mixed media
Themes: He explores textiles and the connection between fashion and architecture, and how they relate to the human need for shelter. He examines the complicated construction of gender and identity in his native and attempts to subvert the notions of masculinity and machismo prevalent in the present day.
First discovered: http://www.dontpaniconline.com/magazine/style/gabriel-dawe

Name: Kubiat Nnamdie
Discipline: Multidisciplinary artist
Medium: He works in a variety of media including video, photography, sculpture, and painting.
Themes: Addresses issues related to spiritual and psychological events in contemporary society. He is interested in occult systems, the real time interconnectivity and effect of these systems on individuals.
First discovered: Dossier Journal http://dossierjournal.com/look/

Name: Demi Vera
Discipline: Documentary Photographer
Medium: 35mm colour film cameras
Themes: Demi shoots intimate moments, connecting with her subject while simultaneously constructing a self-portrait. When asked about the series she says, “Right now it’s all about the youth, and our secret night life of madness. Entering the age where we’re finding our own path, making mistakes and simply wild’n out.”
First discovered: Dossier Journal  http://dossierjournal.com/look/

Name: Kelli Pennington
Discipline: Photographer
Medium: Film cameras
Themes: Her approach to photography is natural and showcases poetic moments in life. ‘I search for small instances where I feel like I’m the only witness, moments that I think other people miss. I find inspiration in my connections with others; my relationships propel and perplex me.’
First discovered: http://nymphoto.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/conversation-with-kelli-pennington.html

Name: Michael Cappabianca
Discipline: Photographer
Medium: Film cameras, with a multi-disciplinary aspect, ‘I put my photography knowledge in perspective and see that the multidisciplinary approach to making art can still leave room for straight photography.’
Themes: His work imaginatively interprets the physicality and structure of the book.
First discovered: http://www.heyhotshot.com

Name: Jacqueline Butler
Discipline: Photographer
Medium: Photographing glass negatives
Themes: She has photographed a series of glass negatives in close up and presented some of them as landscapes. Part of the context for this work is the ascendance of digital culture and the concomitant presence of a growing body of practitioners concerned with the materiality of photographers.
First discovered: Source Magazine, Issue 70, Spring 2012

Name: D Yee
Discipline: Editorial and fine art photographer, also draws and paints
Medium: Digital cameras
Themes: He’s very influenced by cinematography, studying visual work involving human figures and stories. ‘For my street work, it’s just a lot of aimless wandering and patience while framing each moment as if I’m shooting a film that I see before me.’
First discovered: http://www.fuelyourphotography.com

Name: Stephen Gill
Discipline: Conceptual documentary photographer and mixed media artist, bookmaker and technician
Medium: Mixed media and a 1960’s plastic camera.
Themes: He captures the transience, and sometimes, fragile beauty, of this once dilapidated area of London now undergoing huge change under the shadow of the Olympics. His documentary photographs record almost a decade of his life in Hackney and he confesses his obsession with the area.
First discovered: British Journal of Photography, July 2012

Name: Paul Hayes (aka DJ Hazy)
Discipline: Photographer
Medium: Canon 500d (Rebel Xti) with two lenses: a Canon L series 24-105 f4 and the EF-S 10-22
Themes: Paul’s workflow varies from picture to picture, depending upon the result he is aiming towards. He tends to work at a bit of a frantic pace and does things on instinct. Quite often, he will get to the end result and think it is nice, but then he cannot even remember how he reached it.
First discovered: http://www.fuelyourphotography.com

Name: Chloe Sells
Discipline: Visual artist
Medium: Large format cameras (Contax 645 and Linhof 4x5 cameras) and darkroom techniques
Themes: She intends to discuss experience, and how it is informed both consciously and unconsciously in response to environment.
First discovered: Hotshoe, Issue 176, March 2012

Name: Richard Ayoade
Discipline: Director
Medium: Cinema
Themes: His purpose was to capture that delicate moment in some adolescent lives when idealism and trust lead to tentative experiments.
First discovered: Submarine, 2010

Name: Zarina Bhimji
Discipline: Photographer, film maker and installation artist
Medium: 16mm film, Polaroid and other cameras
Themes: An incredible sense of poetry and how this relates to her process, the relationship between her land and her work, established through revisiting sites and absorbing them. Whilst her landscapes are deathly still, it’s secrets hidden- photography rendered fundamentally unable to articulate the full extent of the violence, fear and trauma of the country.
First discovered: Hotshoe, Issue 176, March 2012

Name: Gary McParland
Discipline: Landscape photographer
Medium: Canon EOS 5D
Themes: ‘With my images I try to convey the drama and the mood in that moment and hopefully capture these beautiful locations in the best light possible.’
First discovered: 500px

Name: Bas Princen
Discipline: Photographer of architecture
Medium: Digital camera
Themes: He photographs architecture, earning a reputation for documenting the vast structures and spaces he might once have helped create. (originally trained as an architect) His images blur the artificial and natural, where the real and imagined are hard to separate.
First discovered: http://butdoesitfloat.com

Name: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan
Discipline: Freelance/ portrait photographer
Medium: Digital Camera (Canon EOS 400D)
Themes: His priority on photography is suggesting or questioning what lies beneath the surface. With an academic background in literature, his interest is in stories and the texture of lived experience. Often working in portraiture.
First discovered: Digital Camera Photographer of the Year 2008

Name: Agatha Nitecka
Discipline: Photographer/ Sculpture
Medium: Digital Cameras
Themes: She incorporates poetry and film in her projects and collects love letters. Her work is playful and interactive, the viewer has to narrate the story as if it’s their own. She intends to sculpt with light, and with her fashion photography it is more about the story that she can evoke with the clothes. When she photographs it’s as if she’s writing a short story or poem.
First discovered: Oh Comely, Issue 1, June/ July 2010

Name: Atomic Attack
Discipline: Graphic design/ media company/ Typographers/ Art directors
Medium: Heavily digitally manipulated photographs, sometimes with additional hand-drawn elements.
Themes: They use colour and line in an explosive manner, overwhelming detail and geometry that together forms a cohesive unit. Their images usually feature nature quite heavily within them but in a very abstract way.
First discovered: Romantik (book) published by Die Gestalten Verlag, 2006

Name: Kong Yun Lee (aka Ricor)
Discipline: Photographer
Medium: Uses film and natural light
Themes: Produces photographs of people that are surreal and timeless with a vintage mood. ‘I love to capture fragile moments, and try to figure out the sensitive, elegant and intrinsic quality from them with my camera’
First discovered: Oh Comely, Issue 6, June/July 2011. http://inverselive.com/

Name: Aya Brackett
Discipline: Photographer
Medium: Digital and Film cameras
Themes: Her love of food and design informs her photography and fuels a constant search for the unusual and inspiring. ‘My photography draws heavily on an appreciation of still life painting and often incorporates themes of food and the natural world. Deliberate arrangement of the subject matter is often essential to my photography process.’
First discovered: http://www.ayabrackett.com/

Name: Kevin Morosky
Discipline: Photographer
Medium: Disposable camera and Yashica T4
Themes: With an impeccable sense of fun, Morosky believes the idea of not documenting his adventures is a sin. His portraits are intimate, and due to his candid process, immediate. They are personal snapshots and the lack of formality in his approach allows the viewer to get close to the subject.
First discovered: Oh Comely, Issue 6, June/ July 2011. http://morosky.tumblr.com

Name: Richard Wentworth
Discipline: Sculptor/ Visual artist and photographer
Medium: Mixed media, film photography, instillation work
Themes: A kind of layering of the world: How things go into freefall, how connections are made, broken, remade, lost and found again. And most importantly, his city life.
First discovered: The Guardian, Visual Arts section 09/10/01

Name: Todd Selby (The Selby Is In Your Place)
Discipline: Portrait, interiors, journalist and fashion photographer and illustrator
Medium: Digital
Themes: Initially documenting friends within their homes, Selby photographs interesting people in creative spaces, offering an insider’s view of creative individuals in their personal spaces with an artist’s eye for detail. With a penchant for exploring real-life spaces and the personalities behind them, Selby chooses subjects whose domestic habitats are no less colourful than those of fantastic fiction. He revels in ‘maximalists’ and the overt.
First discovered: http://www.coolhunting.com

Name: Martin Newth
Discipline: Photographer, light artist
Medium: Long exposure film cameras, camera obscuras, projections and light impressions
Themes: He uses long exposure times in almost all of his work to form a narrative, stories pass through spaces as the shutter is open to create transient, telling work. He works heavily with the basic simplistic qualities of light and image, his technology is basic but elevated through a creative use and unusual methods.
First discovered: http://www.martinnewth.com/

Name: Pablo Gnecco
Discipline: Installation/ Visual Artist
Medium: Mixed media
Themes: Uses light and projection work to create large interactive instillations. He is very playful and is focused, on colour and aesthetics, and living foolishly.
First discovered: http://designmilk.com

Name: Joel Barhamand
Discipline: Photographer
Medium: Film
Themes: ‘My work is the mix of the real and the surreal. I photograph the bizarre and beautiful moments that occur in front of me and recreate remembered moments from my past.’
First discovered: I attended a public lecture that he conducted at Broadway Cinema in Nottingham.

Name: Alain Delorme
Discipline: Photographer and visual artist
Medium: Digital Camera, heavily manipulated images and exaggerated photographs. Photoshop.
Themes: He challenges the complexities in modern society, dealing with challenging issues of what is ethical, varying subject from project to project. ‘Manufactured Totems’ conside the social and economic paradoxes of modern Shanghai While the series ‘Litttle Dolls’ questions the identity of the little girls who are playing with their looks as contestants of beauty contests through a pixel surgery as Alain Delorme puts it.
First discovered: http://www.juxtapoz.com

Name: Jakob Nylund
Discipline: Photographer/ Art director/ Typographer
Medium: Digital and film
Themes: He looks at people and narrative. There is an element of documentary photography in his work as he records everyday activity spanning a wide range of people. But there is warmth and fondness in his work. His photojournalistic nature seems to be natural and personal as it feels he becomes part of the scene he is photographing.
First discovered: http://formconspiracy.se/