It's 31 December and an apt time to mentally wander back though 2012. Reflecting on our programme and its impact, it seems we've finished the year as we begun - working intensively and passionately and with no shortage of inspiring projects on the horizon. To everyone who has contributed to and supported this little adventure in contemporary photography, our sincerest thanks.
What follows (in no specific order) is our list of the best of the past 12 months here at 1000 Words:
-the appointment of an Associate Editor, Brad Feuerhelm, and Editor at Large, Louise Clements, whose roving eyes and busy travel itineries have allowed us to see and report on even more fine photography
-two issues of 1000 Words Photography Magazine, based around themes of Uncertainty and Murmur, released in March and September respectively
-staging an 'in conversation' at Daniel Blau Gallery, London, between Tate's Curator of Photography, Simon Baker, and Chris Shaw to a sell out audience
-1000 Words Deputy Editor, Michael Grieve, conducting portfolio reviews across four days in March at Fotofest in Houston, Texas, USA, and Brad Feuerhelm attending Vienna International Portfolio Review, Austria, as a reviewer during late November
-launching the inaugural 1000 Words Award; a professional development opportunity that allows four photographic artists to realise a new body of work whilst receiving a £1,000 cash prize, 18 months mentorship, three workshops with Jeffrey Silverthorne, Antoine d'Agata and Patrick Zachmann in London, Marseille and Seville respectively, a travelling exhibition through the UK, France, Spain and Italy, a catalogue and DVD plus a feature in 1000 Words Photography Magazine
-one 1000 Words Workshop with Roger Ballen that took place in the wonderfully evocative old town of Fez, Morocco
-attracting positive press coverage in The Telegraph, The Guardian and Source Magazine
-securing funding from EACEA - The Education, Audiovisual and Culture Exchange Agency
-Tim Clark, Editor in Chief at 1000 Words Photography Magazine serving on a panel of judges for the Google Photography Prize in association with the Saatchi Gallery, London.
So roll on 2013! Here's to yet more questioning, listening, collaborating, adding value, aiming higher, innovating and doing more with less.
Monday, 31 December 2012
Monday, 17 December 2012
1000 WORDS WORKSHOPS WITH JH ENGSTROM AND TODD HIDO IN ATHENS, GREECE, APRIL 2013
After ambitious workshops in Fez, Morocco, 1000 Words is very pleased to announce a new series taking place in Greece next year, starting with two in Athens conducted by internationally renowned photographers, Todd Hido (15-19 April 2013) and JH Engström (22-26 April 2013). The theme for these workshops is concerned with ‘Uncertainty’ - of the mind, emotions, the creative process and social issues.
Athens is one of the oldest cities and the ominous presence of the Acropolis serves as a constant reminder that modern Western thinking in the arts, philosophy and politics originated here. Today, Athens is a wonderfully exciting and vibrant metropolis, bursting with culture, nightlife and the optimistic energy of every day Mediterranean verve. An extremely visual city, it is layered with complex meaning and is the perfect setting for creative exploration.
Contemporary Greece is also of course enduring economic and social upheaval on a massive scale. The regularity of demonstrations in Syntagma Square is testimony to its citizens’ discontent in the face of an unstable present and an uncertain future and yet the vibrancy of the cultural and social scene is ripe with adventure and new possibilities.
TODD HIDO:
Todd Hido is an American photographer based in San Francisco. Hido’s photographs are often described as “revealing isolation and anonymity in contemporary suburbia.” Whether shooting houses at night, landscapes, interiors, nudes or portraits, his work exudes a poetic and often eerie aura that is singularly his own.
Hido’s monographs have been published to critical acclaim and include House Hunting, Outskirts and Between the Two. His work has been exhibited widely and is found in collections at the Guggenheim Museum, George Eastman House and San Francisco MoMA amongst numerous others.
JH ENGSTROM:
JH Engström is a leading Swedish photographer who lives between Värmland and Paris. He is best known for his influential photobooks, most notably the highly collectable monograph Trying to Dance, published in 2003, as well as From Back Home, a collaboration with Anders Petersen for which he won the Author Book Award at Rencontres d’Arles 2009. Engström is represented by Galerie VU in Paris and Gun Gallery in Stockholm. He was shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize in 2005.
His photography is marked by a distinctly subjective approach to documenting his surroundings. Born out of emotional encounters, at the heart of his work lies both an intimate connection with his subjects and expression of his own self. Critic Martin Jaeggi has spoken speaking of Engström’s pictures as having "the impression of looking at memories".
ABOUT THE WORKSHOPS:
1000 Words Workshops will take place in the studio of the New School Athens situated downtown in the district of Metaxourgeio, Athens. The workshops will be an intense and productive experience lasting five days and will consist of 14 participants. Two of the participants will be young Greek photographers who will be awarded a bursary via the New School Athens.
© Yorgis Yerolymbos
PRACTICAL INFORMATION:
The cost of each workshop is £800 for five days. Once participants have been selected they will be expected to pay a non-refundable deposit of £400 within one week. Participants can then pay the remaining amount as per the deadlines listed below. Participants are encouraged to arrive the day before the workshop begins for a welcome dinner. The price includes:
-tuition from Todd Hido/JH Engström (including defining each participant’s project; shooting; editing sessions; creating a coherent body of work; creation of a slide show; projection of the images of the participants.)
-a welcome dinner
-24 hour help from the 1000 Words team and an assistant/translator with local knowledge.
Participants will be expected to make their own travel arrangements and find accommodation, which in Athens can be very cheap for the week. We can advise on finding the accommodation that best suits you. We can also help you find accommodation at a discount. For photographers using colour film we will provide the means for processing and a scanner. Photographers shooting digital will be expected to bring all necessary equipment. Please note that for the purposes and practicalities of a workshop, digital really is advisable. All participants should also bring a laptop if they have one. Every effort will be made to accommodate individual technical needs.
HOW TO SUBMIT:
We require that you send 10 images as low res jpegs and/or a link to your website, as well as a short biography and statement about why you think it will be relevant for you to work with Todd Hido or JH Engström (approx. 200 words total). Submissions are to be sent to workshops@1000wordsmag.com with the following subject header: SUBMISSION FOR 1000 WORDS WORKSHOP WITH TODD HIDO/JH ENGSTROM.
18 February 2013: Deadline for applications
20 February 2013: Successful candidates contacted
27 February 2013: Deposit due (£400)
18 March 2013: Balance due (£400)
14 April 2013: Arrive in Athens for welcome dinner (Todd Hido)
21 April 2013: Arrive in Athens for welcome dinner (JH Engström)
15 or 22 April 2013: Workshop begins
19 or 26 April 2013: Workshop ends
IN ASSOCIATION WITH:
Athens is one of the oldest cities and the ominous presence of the Acropolis serves as a constant reminder that modern Western thinking in the arts, philosophy and politics originated here. Today, Athens is a wonderfully exciting and vibrant metropolis, bursting with culture, nightlife and the optimistic energy of every day Mediterranean verve. An extremely visual city, it is layered with complex meaning and is the perfect setting for creative exploration.
Contemporary Greece is also of course enduring economic and social upheaval on a massive scale. The regularity of demonstrations in Syntagma Square is testimony to its citizens’ discontent in the face of an unstable present and an uncertain future and yet the vibrancy of the cultural and social scene is ripe with adventure and new possibilities.
TODD HIDO:
Todd Hido is an American photographer based in San Francisco. Hido’s photographs are often described as “revealing isolation and anonymity in contemporary suburbia.” Whether shooting houses at night, landscapes, interiors, nudes or portraits, his work exudes a poetic and often eerie aura that is singularly his own.
Hido’s monographs have been published to critical acclaim and include House Hunting, Outskirts and Between the Two. His work has been exhibited widely and is found in collections at the Guggenheim Museum, George Eastman House and San Francisco MoMA amongst numerous others.
JH ENGSTROM:
JH Engström is a leading Swedish photographer who lives between Värmland and Paris. He is best known for his influential photobooks, most notably the highly collectable monograph Trying to Dance, published in 2003, as well as From Back Home, a collaboration with Anders Petersen for which he won the Author Book Award at Rencontres d’Arles 2009. Engström is represented by Galerie VU in Paris and Gun Gallery in Stockholm. He was shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize in 2005.
His photography is marked by a distinctly subjective approach to documenting his surroundings. Born out of emotional encounters, at the heart of his work lies both an intimate connection with his subjects and expression of his own self. Critic Martin Jaeggi has spoken speaking of Engström’s pictures as having "the impression of looking at memories".
ABOUT THE WORKSHOPS:
1000 Words Workshops will take place in the studio of the New School Athens situated downtown in the district of Metaxourgeio, Athens. The workshops will be an intense and productive experience lasting five days and will consist of 14 participants. Two of the participants will be young Greek photographers who will be awarded a bursary via the New School Athens.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION:
The cost of each workshop is £800 for five days. Once participants have been selected they will be expected to pay a non-refundable deposit of £400 within one week. Participants can then pay the remaining amount as per the deadlines listed below. Participants are encouraged to arrive the day before the workshop begins for a welcome dinner. The price includes:
-tuition from Todd Hido/JH Engström (including defining each participant’s project; shooting; editing sessions; creating a coherent body of work; creation of a slide show; projection of the images of the participants.)
-a welcome dinner
-24 hour help from the 1000 Words team and an assistant/translator with local knowledge.
Participants will be expected to make their own travel arrangements and find accommodation, which in Athens can be very cheap for the week. We can advise on finding the accommodation that best suits you. We can also help you find accommodation at a discount. For photographers using colour film we will provide the means for processing and a scanner. Photographers shooting digital will be expected to bring all necessary equipment. Please note that for the purposes and practicalities of a workshop, digital really is advisable. All participants should also bring a laptop if they have one. Every effort will be made to accommodate individual technical needs.
HOW TO SUBMIT:
We require that you send 10 images as low res jpegs and/or a link to your website, as well as a short biography and statement about why you think it will be relevant for you to work with Todd Hido or JH Engström (approx. 200 words total). Submissions are to be sent to workshops@1000wordsmag.com with the following subject header: SUBMISSION FOR 1000 WORDS WORKSHOP WITH TODD HIDO/JH ENGSTROM.
18 February 2013: Deadline for applications
20 February 2013: Successful candidates contacted
27 February 2013: Deposit due (£400)
18 March 2013: Balance due (£400)
14 April 2013: Arrive in Athens for welcome dinner (Todd Hido)
21 April 2013: Arrive in Athens for welcome dinner (JH Engström)
15 or 22 April 2013: Workshop begins
19 or 26 April 2013: Workshop ends
IN ASSOCIATION WITH:
Wednesday, 5 December 2012
London Art Fair 2 for 1 ticket offer
Alongside the main fair, two curated sections focus on younger galleries, new work and contemporary photography; Art Projects and Photo50. Photo50 is an exhibition of contemporary photography featuring fifty works, curated this year by Nick Hackworth, Director of the excellent Paradise Row gallery. Entitled, A Cyclical Poem, it will bring together the work of a number of British photojournalists and documentary photographers from the 1970s to the present day including Brian Griffin, Paul Hill, Sirrka-Lisa Kontinen, Dorothy Bohm, Marketa Luscakova and Chris Steele-Perkins. The exhibition is an elliptical meditation on the idea of historical change, instances separated by eras, of congruence and difference; it considers what has changed and what has stayed the same.
The fair keeps its doors open late on Thursday 17 January, providing you with the opportunity to look at the work by over 1,000 artists whilst enjoying complimentary drinks, talks and performances.
1000 Words readers can purchase 2 for 1 advanced tickets for this evening; just enter code LAF467 when booking to activate your discount. Offer valid until midnight 31 December 2012. Book here!
Monday, 3 December 2012
Wednesday, 28 November 2012
Archive of Modern Conflict @Paris Photo 2012
A Cyanotype plant study. The world record parachute jump from 1932. Rooftops in St. Petersberg, Scott’s Terra Nova expedition. A West African king. Cumulus humiliis. An abstract composition. A Kominka dancer. An observatory. Another plant study. These are just a handful of the prints that were showcased in ‘Collected Shadows’ – a stunning exhibition from the Archive of Modern Conflict at this year’s Paris Photo.
Deftly assembled by curator Timothy Prus, the show was a gloriously eclectic jamboree that displayed all manner of photography's styles, periods and ends. Spanning works from 1850 to the present day by both anonymous and name photographers including Gustave Le Gray, Robert Frank, Bertha Jaques, Josef Sudek and Willi Ruge, and arranged in sections according to themes of earth, fire, air, water and ether, 'Collected Shadows' was richly satisfying and undoubtedly the most talked about booth at the fair.
The jewel in the crown of the exhibition was the new Bruce Gilden portraits, odd-looking sitters shot mostly on Brick Lane in London, that were hung on the outer wall of the booth. Each photograph was ingeniously paired alongside a historical work such as a wax-paper negative from 1858 showing the garden of a private house in Tehran, for example. Both images on their own were extraordinary, but their combination proved an intoxicating mix.
For those wishing to discover more, the Archive of Modern Conflict has an online shop for its books where you can browse titles from the likes of Stephen Gill and Larry Towell as well as their own fabulous journals. The latest, issue 4, comprises photographs from 'Collected Shadows'. Check out the slideshow of sample images here.
Deftly assembled by curator Timothy Prus, the show was a gloriously eclectic jamboree that displayed all manner of photography's styles, periods and ends. Spanning works from 1850 to the present day by both anonymous and name photographers including Gustave Le Gray, Robert Frank, Bertha Jaques, Josef Sudek and Willi Ruge, and arranged in sections according to themes of earth, fire, air, water and ether, 'Collected Shadows' was richly satisfying and undoubtedly the most talked about booth at the fair.
Below is a video interview (produced by The Art Newspaper), the first half of which features Prus discussing how the archive has grown and the ideas behind the installation. It's a revealing, albeit brief, insight into the quirky mind of the collector known for his penchant for photographic oddities of the past. He is clearly as fascinated by the magic of photography as he is by the mysteries of life. After all, the collecting style is freighted with an acute awareness of the tendency for people to crow over the misery of others and the role images play within that.
Paris Photo 2012 Private Collection - ARCHIVE OF MODERN CONFLICT - JPMORGAN CHASE ART COLLECTION from Paris Photo on Vimeo.
The jewel in the crown of the exhibition was the new Bruce Gilden portraits, odd-looking sitters shot mostly on Brick Lane in London, that were hung on the outer wall of the booth. Each photograph was ingeniously paired alongside a historical work such as a wax-paper negative from 1858 showing the garden of a private house in Tehran, for example. Both images on their own were extraordinary, but their combination proved an intoxicating mix.
For those wishing to discover more, the Archive of Modern Conflict has an online shop for its books where you can browse titles from the likes of Stephen Gill and Larry Towell as well as their own fabulous journals. The latest, issue 4, comprises photographs from 'Collected Shadows'. Check out the slideshow of sample images here.
Thursday, 8 November 2012
MacdonaldStrand
All images © MacdonaldStrand
Brad Feuerhelm considers the participatory aspects and iconic violence in Most Popular of All Time, a new book by MacdonaldStrand.
Brad Feuerhelm considers the participatory aspects and iconic violence in Most Popular of All Time, a new book by MacdonaldStrand.
Having picked up
the latest self-published title from husband and wife team MacdonaldStrand
(Clare Strand and Gordon Macdonald), I have come away with a greater sense of
what photographic practice can bring about when disseminated through the line of
the pencil, darkly. As photography becomes more and more synonymous with that
of conceptual art practice, the
mantra of the iconic within the medium begins to permeate a greater need for understanding
for our own associations with images that take on a totemic value. A photograph with 'iconic status' is an instantly recognised yet sometimes little
understood visual cadence that explodes across the world in daily consummation
of news and media alike. How do we recognise, process, receive, and finally retransmit
its symbolic value over time? How do we train our minds to adhere to a group
formula for understanding these visual markers of progress and detriment? And
finally, how to we reinterpret this material and send it back out into the
world to promote its niche capacity for several understandings within the
visual language of the time - past, present, and future?
The works contained
within the superb Most Popular of All Time invoke such questions. The project results from an online survey conducted by the artist/curator duo, whereby
users were asked to name their most iconic images. These photographs have become so ubiquitous that it is hard to see their content and they have become detached from their context.From the information gathered, MacdonaldStrand took the resulting
images and reduced them to line drawings with 'connect-the-dot' numbered points. Left half-finished, the image is then to be completed by the further drawing on
the part of the viewer.
All colour is
drained, all traces of photographic grey scale removed. It is a simple yet
effective conceit to reduce photography to that of line, but also embedded
within the work is the ability to promote the ‘punctum’ of its iconic status with
a participatory function - it brings the viewer into a complicit rendering of
line and photographic management of iconic status.
Within the works
selected for re-purposing are Eddie Adams famous ‘execution’ image and Richard
Drew’s Falling Man. These pictures in
and of themselves capture very difficult conditions of humanity and the role of
observer within. The majority of the images displayed are of a
horrific base and coalesce our need to exult difficult imagery into that of
lore and legend, that of description and representation which is often fraught
with a tension not found in other mediums. In short, they are epic tales of
pleasure and pain, ecstasy and absence.
Yet representation
is not the exclusive aim within the book nor the works themselves, but rather they evoke a need to
understand how we as a collective society enable these icons caught on
film (or file) and how we redistribute their meaning and function as the
photograph itself. The structures of violence, the poignantly horrific, and the
sometimes misunderstood signifiers of our collective photographic imagination
delineated by the direct act of hand on paper.
The works are
also available for an incredibly economic rate, which is also clever given the
material. I have purchased all images within the show for less than £100. But in
doing so I understand what exactly it is I am enabling. MacdonaldStrand have
chosen a crafty and intelligent way to examine and exclude some of the
icons of photography through something as commonplace as a pencil. Time and the
flow of chaos have been reduced to the materially manageable.
Brad Feuerhelm
Wednesday, 24 October 2012
The future of photography
It's been at least six months since an institution posed the modest question, what is the future of photography? so here is the latest manifestation of that discourse. During Unseen 2012, the Friday afternoon panel discussion 'Future of Photography' examined 'what's next' in the contemporary photography landscape. Panel discussions members included Marc Feustel (Eyecurious blog), Simon Baker (Curator of Photography and International Art, Tate), James Reid (Director of Photography at Wallpaper), Christine Ollier (Artistic Director of Galerie les Filles du Calvaire), Francois Hébel (Director of Les Rencontres d'Arles Festival). The discussion was moderated by Marcel Feil, Artistic Director of FOAM.
In all seriousness, it's a highly engaging and enjoyable video, particularly the section that flags up work from the new generation of photographic artists who are making waves (think Dru Donovan, Asger Carlsen, Letha Wilson, Akiko Takizawa to name but a few) and serves to highlight the many and various directions in which the medium is headed. If you want to read a summary of the issues that came to the fore before watching click here.
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