Jennifer Cox

All images © Jennifer Cox

There are some nice images from Jennifer Cox´s portfolio I wish I knew how it would feel to be free that she recently submitted to the magazine. Some of the strongest work for me are those shots that use less props or none at all. In my mind, the more minimalist compositions are more compelling and operate on a different level; one that is disconcerting, unfamiliar and far less easily explained. Have a read of her artist statement posted below to get a full flavour of her project:

"I wish I knew how it would feel to be free is a series of photographs that tries to analyse our relationship with Nature. I believe our bodies are an extension of Nature: it is a perfect creation, despite whatever its shape might be, and therefore it is no different from everything that surrounds me. I believe that modern cities have somehow managed to alienate our bodies, as they have become an accessory instead of a tool, it is out of place, it has no function save to decorate and charm.

For me Nature is an untamed force that instils the same amount of fear and awe in me whenever I have the pleasure of being in it and it is only in those moments that I feel truly free. It is as if some kind of primitive instinct that has lain dormant in me for years awakens and I suddenly turn feral: I climb trees, swim in rivers, dig holes, jump from rocks and run wild. I become empowered and my body takes the place that was originally meant for it.

My "Free" photographs are composed mainly of self-portraits that I have taken during my repeated visits to different natural environments. These visits have become some sort of pilgrimage in which I look for the perfect place to photograph: I set my camera and through staged performances I go back to being wild and, at the same time, I try to capture on film my longing to become part of nature, untamed, free and wild."

Jennifer Cox was born in Malaga, Spain, where she began her studies and practise as a fine art student. Later on she moved to the U.K. where she studied a BA (Hons) in Documentary and Film in the University of Wales, Newport and from which she graduated with Honours. Although her creative work requires her to travel much of the time, she now lives in Madrid, the city in which where she works as a photographer and a film maker.

Amongst her better known work are her two short films Little girls know all the secrets (2005), Hush-Sh (2006) and a 40 minute documentary entitled A film about Home (2008). She has also made music videos for artists such as Marissa Nadler and Aroah. Her photographs have been shown in many galleries such as the Baltic in the UK, the Castiello de San Jorge gallery in Lisbon and the Galeria Central in Malaga. She has received grants from Foc Films, has produced photographs for advertising campaigns for Calle 13, cd sleeves for groups like Earthphish and Aroah and has had her work published in magazines such as Camino, Rockdelux, Glamour and Psychologies.

She is now working on new photographs for her first solo exhibition.

Mike Whelan

All images © Mike Whelan

"The catalyst for my Ad-Site project was the increase in new construction works taking place in London. Walk past one of these building sites and you'll be greeted with 'artists impressions' of modern utopias, which promise an elevated social existence by living, working, or even just visiting one of these locations. But there is a radical distinction between utopian vision and the social reality which attends the upheavals of regeneration - and which remains out of public view. I wanted to deconstruct these projections of pristine living and suggest towards the unseen on the social infrastructure that 'gentrification' entails."

Since graduating a few years ago with a BA photography Whelan has been assisting, won the Fine Art Single category at the 2009 NYPH awards, highly recommended at the 2009 IPA’s, voted AOP’s 2009 Assistant Photographer of the year, a finalist in the Photographers Forum Best of Photography 2009 show and 2008 BJP Project Assistance Award nominee. Recent exhibitions include the Photographers Gallery, AOP Gallery, Brighton Photo Fringe and upcoming exhibitions in New York. He is currently working on two books and seeking gallery representation for his personal work.

Workshop: a week with Denis Darzacq from February 14 until February 21 2010

© Denis Darzacq / Galerie Vu

Atelier de visu is organising a workshop directed by Denis Darzacq
The workshop will take place in Marseille.

Content of the workshop:

> defining each participant’s photographic project.
> shooting sessions.
> editing sessions, each participant will create a coherent series
of images.
> creation of a slide show.
> opening night at Atelier de visu’s gallery and projection of the images of the participants.

L’Atelier de visu will also be doing portfolio reviews.

Price of the workshop: 500 euros
Maximum number of participants: 12
Accomodation can be provided at Atelier de visu. (depending on availability)

For further information, please contact Atelier de visu
19 rue des Trois Rois 13006 Marseille
téléphone: 04 91 47 60 07
contact(at)atelierdevisu(dot)fr
www.atelierdevisu.fr

Here is a documentary film that shows the photographer working with street dancers in the suburbs of Paris to create his trademark images:

Vision 09 | British Journal Of Photography

© Martin Parr/Magnum Photos

BJP´s essential event for professional photographers - Friday 27 November @ The Business Design Centre, London

Come and learn from the world’s leading experts at Europe’s only event dedicated to aspiring pro and early career photographers.

Vision returns for its 11th year with a packed programme of talks, seminars and folio reviews at the Business Design Centre in London, providing inspiration, information and essential ideas to get your career moving.

Many of the industry’s leading manufacturers will also be there to showcase their latest products and services, giving you a unique opportunity to meet key innovators all under one roof.

Confirmed speakers include:

Steve Bloom

Best known for his wildlife photography, Steve Bloom will be discussing what inspired him to write and photograph his new book Trading Places: The Merchants of Nairobi (Thames and Hudson). This photographic portrait of the merchants of Nairobi offers an encounter with a community rarely glimpsed by outsiders. The results are often delightfully quirky – presenting an authentic form of popular street graphics. After his talk, Steve will be available to answer questions and sign his book.

Martin Parr

Magnum member and the UK's most renowned photographer and chronicler of our age, Martin Parr will be discussing his most recent project, Luxury - his epitaph to the age of conspicuous consumption, with candid images of the fabulously wealthy on the international party circuit. He will also be available for book signings.

Eugene Richards

One of the best living documentary photographers, Eugene Richards will be presenting his latest work, War is Personal, which focuses on Americans whose lives have been irrevocably impacted by the ongoing war in Iraq. The project highlights the consequences a war can have on people once they come home from the frontlines.

Here is the timetable:











I am excited to announce that I will be doing portfolio reviews from 2-4.30 pm. Reserve a one-on-one session with me or any one of the reviewers at the ever-popular folio clinic and get real world feedback and advice from leading imaging professionals. The expert panel includes top image buyers, picture editors and gallerists, so prior booking is essential as these sessions sell out in advance. Each 15-minute session costs £5 in addition to the £10 registration fee to enter Vision 2009. Book a session here.

I am interested in finding new work to showcase in the magazine as well offering up good solid critique. Career guidance and use of the internet as a marketing tool are amongst my other areas of expertise. I am a keen advocate of photography as fine art and am less interested in looking at fashion, editorial and commercial work. I would like to see a series of images that is underpinned by strong aesthetic and conceptual goals, preferably forming part of a project.

Paris Visone

All images © Paris Visone

Don´t ask me where or when but not so long ago I remember overhearing somebody say:

"Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?"

Profound, I thought. Well, this morning, after a bit of googling, I stumbled upon that same quote again and can reveal that these were actually the words of none other than Winnie the Pooh!

Which brings me to the topic of today´s post-thinking. The images you see here are taken from a project called Thought and were kindly offered up for submission from Paris Visone. Explaining the work, the photographer writes:

"When you think, your mind takes over your eyes.

These photographs not only explore and illustrate the main idea of thought, but raise more questions. How much of our daily lives is spent thinking? How much time do we spend thinking about the past, the present, the future. If a person is a product of their environment, then are their thoughts also? None of the photos are set up or preconceived. They are all documents of actual thought.

These photographs are also about thought; but not only thought. They are about what the people in the photograph are thinking. And what the person looking at the photograph thinks they are thinking. Or what the photographer thinks about what the viewers are thinking that they are thinking. Think about that."

Currently residing in Boston Massachusetts, Paris Visone is a graduate from The Art Institute of Boston. She recently had a solo exhibition, Gender Roles and Appearance at TSP Gallery in Boston, MA. Her work was recently published in F-stop Magazine, Performer Magazine, Wassenaar Magazine, and Doll Magazine (Japan). She has been in various juried exhibitions, the latest being The Salem Arts Associations Photography Exhibition, curated by Phillip Prodger. More of her work can be seen at www.parisvisone.com I´ll leave you with my personal favourite. Simply stunning!

Alex Leme

All images © Alex Leme

This work is titled Literary Ghosts and was sent in from Alex Leme. He tells me that he discovered his love of photography at an early age through his many family trips around Brazil where he was born and raised. From these roots sprang a desire to explore the world and its innumerable facets through the lens of a camera. He attended the University of Westminster in London, England then completed his formal education in 2002 at Cambury College in Goiana, Brazil. After teaching English, producing theatre, and working as a marketing director, he moved to San Francisco, California. 2004 marked the beginning of a successful career in corporate finance as a consultant for a major investment firm.

Thankfully, in 2009, he answered his heart’s calling by abandoning his financial career in order to pursue his lifelong dream as a photographer. Since then, he has been part of many group exhibitions in the US and also won several awards. His pieces can already be found as part of the permanent collections for the Museum Of Contemporary Art and Theo Brandao Museum in Brazil as well as private collections in the US, Brazil and Europe.

Talking about this particular project, he says:

"Initially I started this essay motivated only by personal reasons since libraries were such an important part of my upbringing. However, once I started the project I began to notice the changes those institutions have undergone and continue to experience through the years. Some of them were influenced by the technological evolution, others by sociological transformations. In light of those facts, I realized the need to expand the scope of my essay and start to explore those changes such as the contrasts among smaller and larger libraries, older and newer ones, from small and larger cities, from different countries, with different budgets and so forth. With that in mind, those photographs represent only the beginning of this project, which I like to reference as the more personal depiction of the content and the geometry of those spaces."

Katinka Goldberg

All images © Katinka Goldberg

Upon seeing these images I felt a pang in my heart. Still Movement belongs to Katinka Goldberg and consists of series of self portraits, alone and together. "For me" says Goldberg, "this project was a way of illustrating an introvert state of mind where it feels like you are almost disappearing. I wanted to create a feeling of a closed zone or a closed space. Although this space is still exposed since we, the viewers can look within and observe.

It is important that this project isn’t a narrative because the nature of the emotions portrayed is constant, still and strangely undramatic. The sheets becomes almost like a fluid landscape that surrounds you and overtake you.

I have a background in painting, and I am inspired by Nordic painters from the turn of the last century, like Helene Schjerfbeck. My images are often closer to paintings, and in this body of work I have tried to connect the two expressions. In doing that I am able to combine the expressivity of painting, with the energy and ability to capture the moment that lies within the photographic media."

Katinka Goldberg is a Swedish photographer educated in Sweden and France with a BA (Hons) in Photography from Edinburgh College of Art. She is represented by a Norwegian gallery called Melk Galleri that focuses on young Scandinavian photography and has her next exhibition there in April 2010. Her latest exhibition was at Krane Calman Gallery in Brighton in April 2009. She has also exhibited at the Photography Festival in Arles, Voies Off. Now based in Norway, she is completing her first photography book called SEE YOU that will be published in 2010.

David Walker

All images © David Walker

David Walker got in touch the other day to share some images from his recent work Under the shadow of mad Richard’s folly. Introducing the project, he writes:

"In this dense wooded land dating back to the early 17th century there is a rich, and somewhat unsettling history. It includes a wealthy, and morally questionable young aristocrat Richard Atherton who in 1723 commissioned architect William Wakefield to build Atherton Hall, only to die three years later at the age of 26, not before making himself very unpopular locally by expelling the congregation of the now famous Chowbent Chapel in 1721. It’s also rumoured he harboured the invading Scots at the Hall. Also, a now disused railway line that encountered the first trials of Stevensons Lancashire Witch, A dubious Children's home, Bear bating, ghost sightings, various suicides, and the Chowbent Races all happened within it’s boundaries."

He goes on to explain:

"In this project I’ve used some of those various researched historical allegories and references to inspire me to create some disquieting stories of my own."

On leaving secondary school at the age of 15 David joined his first advertising agency. He had a very successful career as a Senior Art Director for over 30 years. In 1983 he began seeking creative fulfilment outside the world of advertising with a parallel career in photographic art. He has completed six major projects since that time, with exhibitions at the Lowry Salford, Cornerhouse Manchester, Gallery Oldham, Static Liverpool, Touchstones Rochdale and the Turnpike Leigh. In 2006, he also curated the show Between today and yesterday at the Turnpike featuring the work of Idris Khan, Hannah Starkey, Martin Parr, Richard Billingham,Tony Ray Jones, Peter Kennard, Paul Hill, and Brian Griffin.