Another London Visit

Just back from another magical yet hectic exhibition filled trip to London...

• On the top of my list was the Design Museum. Quite happily flashed my student card to gain discount to the two exhibitions - top floor was the Plain Space exhibition - the work of 'The father of modern architectural minimalism' John Pawson and the middle floor was fashion illustration from over the centuries with Drawing Fasion. There were interviews and film clips but nothing took the attention away from the original illustrations. The collection displays some of the most 'remarkable fashion illustrations from the 20th and 21st centuries', so I spent a good while with my sketch book open sketching and scribbling down work by Karl Lagerfeld, Antonio Lopez and more recently Mats Gustafson (illustrated for Alexander McQueen in Vogue China, 2010).
• My second port of call was the V&A. After standing outside in the cold for what seemed like forever - was dissapointed to find the fashion collection, that always deserves a walk through was closed. Also the photography room was only showing about 8 new images! It was still inspiring as it displays examples of different photographic techniques and saw work by British photographer Nick Veasy, who uses a camera less x-ray as an alternative form of fashion photography.
• Last on my list was the The Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park. It was showing the first exhibition in the UK of Philippe Parreno. Guiding you through the gallery space, it was a small collection of shorts films. One film titled June 8, 1968, (2009) recalled the transportation of assassinated senator Robert Kennedy's corpse from NYC to Washington D.C. It was so interesting I had to see it twice!

Heading to the smoke.

On my search for inspiration and a possible masters, I am heading to a number of University grad shows next week, on a trip to the big smoke (London). Swansea Met' Advertising graduates work is up in the Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane, and a friend has her photography work up in an exhibition (which I scouted the location for) in the Candid Arts Centre. Hoping to see the Central St Martins fashion and graphic design shows along with other exhibitions from the University of the Arts London. Some related news: The LCF BA Photography graduates have been featured on Vogue.com Also stopping by the Sketchbook magazine studio in Notting Hill for a quick talk about some possible design projects. They're a magazine featuring fashion, illustration, and in-depth interviews that's all curated and designed in London - so should be fun! Also swinging by the Go Viral office for a talk about future opportunities ... excited! They seem like a pretty switched on bunch of people, take a look at their recent Top 10 Virals.

some shots for the weekend...

Not too happy this weekend, missing the rugby, staying indoors trying to finishing a CIM assignment. However procrastination has lead me to read that Brian Duffy, 'the man who shot the sixites' has died at 76 after a battle with lung disease [news article]. As a portrait & fashion photographer, his best work (in my opinion) was his traditional b/w photography. These inspiring fashion shots taken in Florence for Vogue just show what you can get into one shot, which is what I like about a photo and taking photographs.

Duffy snapped portraits of David Bowie, Michael Caine, John Lennon and did some work for the Telegraph, The Times along with doing a lot of fashion work for Elle, Vogue + Glamour. Along with David Bailey & Terence Donovan they made up the 'terrible trio', whose work helped create 'Swinging London'.

There is something about 'the smoke' that is slowly drawing me there and I know I will live there eventually! Next time I'm in London, I'm planning to try my hand at 'bokeh' photography. It's the Japanese word for blurred/out of focused. Just to educate you, here is a link to 30 different shots, enjoy!

Fashion Photography

People of all abilities are able to describe a scene or an image however no words could bring to life the work of Irving Penn at the National Portrait Gallery. I won a competition with the Daily Telegraph to go and review it, and for someone who loves colour, his work still inspired me to get back into b/w photography. Penn worked doing fashion photography for Vogue magazine in the 1950's and his portraits in the gallery along with the original covers shot for Vogue are worth seeing. One of his famous quotes was this: "Photographing a cake can be art", which I feel could inspire anyone to pick up a camera and start snapping away!

I came across this fashion shoot, with a difference. It's an IKEA advert from the agency DDB Oslo. If you appreciate the photo, see more from Massimo Leardini.

I worked an event in the ICC in Birmingham a few weeks ago. Got talking to the photographers who encouraged me to develop what photography skills I have (below). There is something interesting about being able to capture poses and expressions on a catwalk on in a studio would be a great thing to master.

Jason Christopher's work recently caught my eye. A US fashion advertising photographer whose uses small intense lighting to make a photo. Also this isn't fashion related but it's some excellent alternative images photos of NYC. Can't think of a more perfect job - New York City Snaps just going around capturing all the small details of NYC, that non-one notices.