Stephen Gill: Assignment part two.

Hello and welcome to part two of my Stephen Gill assignment. For this I had to prepare another five minute presentation, this time focusing on a monograph published by Gill.

In my research for this I had to look into:

What is the significance or meaning to the overall title of the work?


What was the social context at the time of the works production? (Consider the year, location, political or economic climate, photographers own personal circumstances, etc.)


Is there an interesting story to tell about the way the work was made? (Consider the technical, psychological or social challenges the photographer faced in making the work)


Is the work considered to be important or significant in any way? If so, why and by whom?


What are the recurring themes or ideas contained in this body of work? 


Consider the book design- Orientation, scale, paper texture and weight, the materiality of the cover or binding. Think about the layout (Are images presented full-bleed on a page or are they framed? How prominent is any text accompanying each image?)


Consider the information accompanying each image (Include text, graphics, drawings, captions, titles, etc.)


Today's presentation went really well I think, a big improvement on last weeks anyway, I feel I was a lot stronger in my work and my research....

My presentation was based around a book named Off Ground.

An Introduction:

Off Ground is short piece of text put together by Stephen Gill and Iain Sinclair. The text is accompanied by a set of photographs taken by Gill following the aftermath of the recent riots in Hackney. The subjects in the photographs are bricks and rocks that had been thrown in the riots which Gill then collected and took back to his studio and photographed individually.

The title's meaning is pretty self explanatory in being that all the subjects are off the ground. 

This series of work is on a personal level to Gill as he lives in Hackney, but also I think this series can reach out to a lot of people around the UK who live in areas affected by the riots, Manchester and Salford being two of those places.

The political talking points around the riots are based majorly on the policing of said riots but that's for another course to be discussing.

I personally was disgusted to see what was happening in my city. I know a lot of it was just copycat violence as the shooting in Tottenham had nothing to do with anyone else in any other city, people just used London as an excuse to go out and bag themselves some free stuff, and a nice, lengthy jail sentence to suit.

The story behind this series is interesting because as I mentioned earlier, everyone can relate to what went on and have a real connection to the story and also have their own tales of what went on over that week or so back in August 2011. I know I personally watched the news for hours on end in complete shock of how this proud nation lost it's dignity and self respect over something what could, and should, of been avoided.

I think Gill must of had to wait for the riots to have died out before going collecting his subjects as I think it would of have been to risky being around during the height of it all, risking possible arrest, injury and even robbery.

I like the idea behind what Gill has created here as it was something that struck me on a personal level.

The significance of this work is that the subject of each image was used in someway to cause the major devastation in Hackney, as seen throughout the nation. Did that brick cause physical damage to someone? How much damage has it caused?

All these questions could never possibly be answered but just to take a moment and think about the possibilities and affects each one could of had leads you someway to an understanding of the work.

Having finished this presentation today we've been given part three to prepare for next Monday so that post will be up Monday evening, as always thanks for stopping by, keep your eyes open for the next post....

Until then, adios

Stephen Gill: Assignment part one.

So here's a bit of my research into Stephen Gill... You're welcome.

Gill was born in 1971 in Bristol.  He had an interest in photography from a very early age. He started his first photography related job whilst still at school in 1985, copying and restoring old photographs for a local company. 

Gills approach is a way of giving up some of the control you have when taking the picture… ‘I have slightly less control and have to grapple with the point where intention meets chance. I buried prints in the ground, leaving them for a while and then digging them up. It is exciting, knowing you are working half-blind; you have no idea what the pictures will look like.

This series is in the same vein; until you process the film, you have no idea where the objects will fall.’ http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/mar/03/photography-stephen-gill-best-shot

I’d have to say his style is documentary with a somewhat artistic side thrown into the mix... 

Gill used a specially adapted, medium format film camera to create this series of work. He creates the layered images by putting objects in the film chamber, leaves, bits of plants, glass, even using insects on a couple of occasions, all found around Brighton where the images were taken for the 2010 Brighton Biennial Photo exhibition, curated by Martin Parr. When the image is taken the ‘objects’ are exposed onto the film and thus you have a layered image…. Who needs Photoshop eh! 

Presentation...

Evening all, how'ya doing? As mentioned in my last post, I had to create a presentation on Stephen Gill for uni and today was the dreaded day! After screwing over not liking what I had to work with, I managed to get it all done. 

Going into the presentation I had the usual nerves of knowing I had to speak infront of people, not one of my strongest points by a long shot but hey ho, needs must! To be honest it wasn't all that bad in the end, although my presentation wasn't as strong as others but that's something I can come away with and put into practice in my next one. I said last time that I wasn't happy with my chosen subject, I can now say I'm still totally in the same place! The work just doesn't appeal to me but after having our feedback on the presentation, I have came away with an idea for a series of work what I think could be an amazing set! Feedback is always good to have as it helps me see where I went wrong, where I can go to improve and as with today, inspire ideas for my work. 

With the research we're doing into our chosen subjects we have to create our own series of work inspired by said person, not copy their work, just take some inspiration and use it to our own advantage. Now, being that Stephen Gill used film cameras for his series and I'm going to be using my digital camera for mine, the obvious boundaries are there but as I said, I'm not here to copy him so modern techniques will come into play for me i.e Photoshop, when I learn how to use it! 

'So what is this big idea you keep banging on about Mikey' I hear you say, ah well now that would be telling, you'll just have to wait for the big reveal, which I'll try and do soon as I possibly can for you, in the mean time you'll just have to go about your everyday lives in the knowledge that something is on the horizon! 

Byeeeeee.....

An introduction...

Now then, welcome to another blog from yours truly. This new brief consists of three assignments, for the first one we had to randomly pick a photographers name, go away and research into their work a little to create a 5 minute presentation to find the oeuvre of the chosen one. 

To do so we have to research the following:

What is their approach/What tradition does their work belong to?

What is their work about? 

How is their work made? What equipment/techniques do they use?

Where have they published their work (books, galleries, magazines etc)?

The photographer I chose is Stephen Gill. On researching his work I can say I'm not really over the moon about having his work but ah well, needs must and all that. I have found one series of work that I think I can work pretty well with though, it's called 'Covered or Removed' and it documents walls, fences and any other surfaces that have been graffiti damaged and painted over in order to look 'presentable'.

Living in an area what has certain hotspots for graffiti I think I can relate to and cover this work quite easily. Just have to see how the next assignment pans out, and on that note I shall leave it there....