Saturday Comes Slow - a film by Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin

On the second floor of Cambridge University’s Department of Engineering, behind a vast array of home made speakers and Seventies-era hi-fi equipment, sits a rarely-used container-sized room called the Anechoic Chamber – a room designed to create total silence.

On visiting an Anechoic Chamber, John Cage entered expecting to hear silence, but he wrote later: “I heard two sounds, one high and one low. When I described them to the engineer in charge, he informed me that the high one was my nervous system in operation, the low one my blood in circulation.” True silence, he concluded, is impossible.

Ruhal Ahmed, a former detainee at Guantanamo Bay, has a special relationship to silence. For a period of two and a half years, he was repeatedly questioned by military staff at the Cuban base, where his interrogators would often play music to him repeatedly at high volume. This short film by Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin – one of a number made to accompany the new Massive Attack album Heligoland, and featuring the track Saturday Comes Slow – is a meditation on Ruhal Ahmed’s experience in Guantanemo. Produced in collaboration with Massive Attack.

One Week in Moscow

I was first introduced to Murray Ballard in Krakow, Poland during Photomonth back in May this year and I remember that he immediately struck me as being a very conscientious person. Therefore it gives me great pleasure then to let you know about a book he and his girlfriend, Gabriella Rizzello are self-publising to raise money for the charity Diabetes UK. The motivation for this project stems from the loss of Gabriella's mother earlier this year due to complications of diabetes.

At the moment they are still in the first stage of the project. They are asking 150 people to pre-order the book in advance to get things off the ground and help pay for production costs. Those that order before the 23 August will receive a signed copy with their name printed in the book with special thanks. Here is their story:

"On the 8 February this year we went to Russia with the intention of travelling around the Central Region for one month. We planned to make a photography project about our journey, but in the early hours of 15 February we had a phone call from home to say Gabriella's mother had been rushed to hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest. Within 8 hours we were by her bedside, but sadly she never regained consciousness.

Unsurprisingly, Gabriella has found the sudden and unexpected loss of her mother very difficult to come to terms with, but out of something so tragic comes a real and sincere motivation to do something positive.

Gabriella’s mother, Sarah-Jane, suffered from Type 1 diabetes* and it was complications of this condition that caused her untimely death. She was diagnosed with diabetes on her twenty-forth birthday, after returning from Damascus, where she had been Dj-ing with the London Town Disc Jockeys.

Our book, One Week In Moscow, is being sold to raise money for the charity Diabetes UK. Designed by Connie Dickson, it is a photographic diary of our week in Moscow prior to coming home. A combination of landscapes, interiors, still lifes and street scenes, the pictures are shot in a mixture of formats from black and white 35mm to large-format colour photographs.

The book will be released at the beginning of October to coincide with the Brighton Photo Fringe Festival. A book launch event and exhibition will be held at Marwood Studios – date and time to be confirmed.

* Type 1 diabetes is when no insulin is produced at all because the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas have been destroyed. Nobody knows for sure why these cells have been damaged but the most likely cause is the body having an abnormal reaction to the cells. There is nothing that you can do to prevent Type 1 diabetes. This type of diabetes is always treated with insulin injections."

Let´s just say that this subject is very close to my heart and Murray and Gabriella have the full support of 1000 Words in their excellent venture. Visit the website www.oneweekinmoscow.com and lend them a hand if you can.

Garret Suhrie

All images © Garret Suhrie

These intensely beautiful images shown here are by far the strongest from Garret Suhrie´s project Phantasmagoria which in all fairness is a bit of a mixed big. Still, writing eloquently on the work, Suhrie says:

"This series developed from my love of exploring the natural world. Often viewed as well-trodden territory lacking in original artistic opportunity, these images are effort to debunk that fallacy: hile the natural world has been well documented throughout generations of infinite talent, there are still amazing original sights hidden everywhere – the key to finding them is having the patience to look in a different light. My preferred scenes are cloaked in the night; beauty doesn’t fade with the sun, it just hides. Instead of a blank canvas, I start with a black canvas; instead of a paintbrush, a flashlight. The light transforms the subjects to be so strangely engaging that they seem surreal, a distorted aesthetic often bizarre and unbelievable: Lonely locations containing an eerie stillness and silence, despite their dynamic creation. These images are my effort to shine a new light on a way to see the world."

Garret Suhrie graduated from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, majoring in Art History and Studio Arts, with minors in Photography and Italian. After graduating, he took a job in Los Angeles as studio manager/producer for David LaChapelle, eventually moving into the post-production end. His work has appeared in various publications (Wall Street Journal, Luxuriant, Flaunt, etc) a few small exhibitions in Los Angeles and Philadelphia, and most recently at Smithsonian Museum in DC. Upcoming shows will take place in St. Moritz and Berlin showing in conjunction with David LaChapelle, made possible by a grant Suhrie received from the Maybach Foundation.

Larry Sultan on The Genius of Photography

This man needs no introduction. Here is the late great Larry Sultan speaking about family, domestic life and the role photography has played in its construction and mythology.

Klaus Pichler

All images © Klaus Pichler

The very gracious Klaus Pichler wrote to 1000 Words to introduce a series he is working on at the moment called Skeletons in the Closet. It deals with the backstage environments and storage sites of the Museum of Natural History in Vienna.

Yes, there are a handful of photographers who have turned their lens´ on these sorts of spaces but, needless to say, Pichler has given form to these ideas better than most. The project is still in its infancy but already several strong images have come forth so if he can pull the rest of the pictures in the series up to this standard then something will happen for him, no doubt about it.

Talking about how the project´s origins he says, "It all started when I happened to catch a glimpse through a basement window of the museum of natural history one night: an office with a desk, a computer, shelves and a stuffed antelope. This experience left me wondering: what does a museum look like behind the scenes?" He adds: "Therefore, the focus of this study is not on the exhibition spaces of the museum of natural history, but on the space behind the scenes, particularly depots, cellars, and storage rooms assigned to individual departments which are generally not accessible to the public. These spaces are used for the storage of countless exhibits belonging to various collections, sorted following a rigidly scientific classification system, but also taking into account the limited storage space available."

"As a photographer with limited knowledge of scientific research methods, the museum’s back rooms presented to me a huge array of still lives. Their creation is determined by the need to find space saving storage solutions for the preservation of objects but also the fact that work on and with the exhibits is an ongoing process. Full of life, but dead nonetheless. Surprises included!"

Klaus Pichler was born 1977 in the province of Styria/Austria and moved to Vienna 14years ago. His original profession was landscape architecture, but while studying he says he became "more fond of photography", which he taught himself over the years. "I don't have any photographical education," he says. "After I graduated in 2005 I quit my profession and now work as a freelance photographer and photo artist. The topics that interest me in my photographic work are both everyday life in its varying forms as well as social groups with their own codes and rules. I like to catch a glimpse behind the scenes and to document it with a conceptual approach."

Anna Strand

All images © Anna Strand

"I work with staged photography and text to examine the elusive parts of existence, the unreal aspects of reality," says Anna Strand by way of introduction to her brilliant project Never complain, never explain. Elaborating a little, she says that her photography "deals with our way of seeing by routine and our habit of using words and concepts by routine. In that way I want to come closer to what’s beyond the describable."

I must admit, hers is not the best artist statement I´ve ever read but Swedish photographer Anna Strand is definitely onto something here. I like the irreverent sense of humour present in the work which coupled with the enigmatic quality and clean aesthetic assures its success as both individual images and a methodically built up collection of pictures.

Strand works around the subject rather than addressing it directly; her method of enquiry is not aimed at solving problems, but at undermining uncertainties: "Lately I more specifically have been focused on the contradiction concerning the desire to disappear and at the same time wanting to be somebody. To be somebody is necessary in our world but at the same time it confines us in a frustrating way. The persons and objects in my images can be understood as performers, examining the world in and how to be a part of it in their own way."

To see more examples of her work, and to read her biography go to www.annastrand.se

Payback 2010

Every photographers deserves Payback

DACS has now launched Payback 2010 and this year we have a share of over £3 million of royalties to pay to photographers whose work has been reproduced in UK books or magazines or on certain television channels. Photographers have until 17 September 2010 to make their claim.

DACS negotiates these royalties on behalf of photographers and other visual artists. In 2009, DACS paid out a share of £3 million to 11,628 visual artists.

Did you know?

-In 2009, the average Payback claim was £300
-Last year the highest payment of £5600 was made to a photographer
-Every photographer who makes a successful Payback claim is guaranteed a minimum of £25

Where does the money come from?

Payback royalties come from revenue generated through collective licensing schemes. Collective licensing is used in situations where it would be difficult or near impossible for photographers to licence their rights on an individual basis, for example, when an individual wishes to photocopy a page of a book or magazine which features their work.

"It’s a win-win situation. All they need to do is fill in a Payback claim form telling DACS which books, magazines and television programmes their work has featured in. Once they’ve had a successful Payback claim, they can claim for the same published work every year, so the size of their claim could increase if they have new work." says Nicolas Watkins-Wright, DACS Payback Manager.

Photographer Betsie van de Meer also has some advice for photographers claiming for the first time:

"I hadn’t heard of Payback before last year. A photographer friend told me about it and so I contacted DACS. Initially I had a lot of questions about what work I could claim for. DACS were really helpful, they explained what I needed to do and it became very simple after that. Getting the first royalty felt great. It came just before Christmas and I was really surprised by the amount."

In order to make a claim photographers need to provide up to three examples of both books and magazines where their work has featured. We just need to know the publication title, ISBN/ISSN or barcode number, plus the cover date, issue number or year of publication. Photographers can also claim for all work which has featured on any of the following TV channels in 2009 only - BBC 1, 2, 3, 4, BBC News 24/ Parliament, CBBC, CBeebies, ITV1, Channel 4, SC4 and Channel 5.

The easiest way to claim is to fill in the form online at www.dacs.org.uk. Alternatively they can request a claim form to be sent to them by post or email. For further information about Payback or to request a claim form contact the Payback team on 020 7553 9062 or email payback(at)dacs(dot)org(dot)uk

Established by artists for artists, DACS (the Design and Artists Copyright Society) is the UK’s leading visual arts rights management organisation. As a not-for-profit organisation, DACS translates rights into revenues and recognition for a wide spectrum of visual artists. DACS exists to generate and distribute money to artists, which in turn, helps to sustain their practice and livelihood.

DACS offers three rights management services – copyright licensing, Artist’s Resale Right and collective licensing – in addition to lobbying, advocacy and legal advice for visual artists. In 2009, DACS distributed over £6.1 million of royalties to artists and their beneficiaries. DACS takes a small administration charge on the Payback royalties collected on behalf of artists in order to cover the costs of running the service. Since 2008 this charge has been reduced from 25% to 22% in a continued effort to pay out even more to visual artists.