The answers #1
I really do love the work of photographer Francesca Woodman. She took the sort of thoughtful photographs I wished I could have taken at her age – sadly, she committed suicide a few months before her 23rd birthday. At 23 I had just left art college and was still wrapped up in self portraiture and self reflection, and I remember stumbling upon an exhibition of her work at the Photographer’s Gallery in London and being blown away by every single image. Yes! This was work I could relate to! I especially love the image above, with her wings and ethereal form, and the light glowing through the window. Her images make me wish I was back in the college darkroom, making my black & white prints and exploring my artsy ideas.
Angie asked: You've got the last ever pack of Polaroid film and there's one shot left in that pack… what to you take your last Polaroid of?
That’s easy. It would either be a portrait of my sister or a still life of a cupcake, so if it was my last shot in my last pack, I would photograph my sister holding two cupcakes, and while the Polaroid developed we would feast on the cupcakes and toast Polaroid with a perfectly-chilled glass of Champagne.
blue bicicletta asked: What is the first photograph you ever remember taking?
I honestly can’t remember, but I remember having a picture of Debbie Harry that I’d torn from a magazine and taped to the mirror in my bedroom. I spent a whole Sunday afternoon attempting to take a self portrait that looked like her. It didn’t work; I was 13. I continued taking self portraits for another 10 years.
Dhon asked: where do you get your Polaroid films posted on your pages?
I buy all my Polaroid film from www.polapremium.com
My favourite photograph changes weekly – daily even! At the moment I am loving the Polaroid I took of my breakfast on Christmas Day (above); there’s nothing special about the picture, but all those circles are making me happy.
One of my favourite Flickr features is the ability to ‘favourite’ images from your contacts; I often spend time meandering through my faves, soaking in the light and colour and inspiration. This week I love this shot, and this one, and this one.
R. asked: How many of the things you photograph do you truly experience? (For example, did you try any ravioli from Lucca's after taking that bottom photo?) Or are the majority of your photos things that interest/appeal to you on a merely visual level?
No, I didn’t even go inside Lucca, and now I look at the Polaroid and wish I had (I stood in the middle of the road to take the shot, so at the time I just wanted to record the wonderful colours before any cars ran me over). Half the photographs I take were shot on the hoof, like capturing butterflies in a net. Something catches my eye and I want to record it – maybe it’s the colour and shape of a building, or the juxtaposition of a group of objects. The rest of my shots record the things I do; I love to photograph meals and moments, friends and gatherings.
Cindy asked: which is best: sunshine or shadow?
For my state of mind: sunshine. For picture-taking: some shadow.
Nan asked: If you were sent back in time (for 100 days) to the 1880s, and got one of those first family (b&W, Kodak) '100 picture' cameras… Where would you go, and what what would you take pictures of, so you could bring them back and show them to us in 2010?
Presumably I would still in be in the UK after walking through the time travel door, so I would make my way to old London town. There I would take pictures of some of my favourite areas to see how they looked back then: Brick Lane, Soho, Bloomsbury, Portobello Road, Hampstead Heath. I’d also photograph the areas I like less, as maybe they looked fabulous in 1880: Tottenham Court Road, Leicester Square, Covent Garden. I’d love to see Battersea Power Station but unfortunately that wasn’t built until 1930. Shame. I’d also take many photos of the people, observing what they wore, how they talked to each other, how they got around town. And I’d spend some time in pubs, chatting up the locals and sampling the beer.
Christine asked: I would love to know how you change the colours in your Polaroids? What do you do in Photoshop?
First of all I scan the Polaroids with my Epson 4490 scanner. Polaroid film generally has a yellowish cast to it, which the scanner tends to overemphasise, so everything i do in Photoshop is simply to correct the colour of the scan. I use images > adjustments > selective colour to take out the yellow and get the image as close to the original as i can. I then adjust the curves a fraction if the image need lightening, and remove any dust specks that the scanning might have picked up using the clone and spot healing brush tools… and that's it.
One year of Unravelling
Glad asked: How did you take your Unravelling project (love it love it love it) from a seedling of an idea in your head into an amazing program in full-bloom?
I think it was a mixture of serendipity, good timing and a pinch of faith.
When i decided to make the move to Bath in 2008 I opened myself up to new possibilities, one of which was the chance to teach at an adult education centre in Bristol. My sister was working as the programme manager there, and as soon as she suggested I put together a photography workshop my head started spinning with ideas; from the word go I knew i wanted my class to be about photography and finding the self. I also knew it would be called Unravelling as that was the name i already used on my photo blog; unravelling was such a perfect description of the healing work i’d done after losing my partner, but it also described the way i took photographs, always looking deeper and further, trying to unravel the things i saw and the thoughts i had.
I spent several months plotting and planning the workshop, creating a six-week course that I hoped would be enjoyable and helpful to the women who took the class. And, much to my amazement, it did work, and turned out to be so much better than i could ever have hoped. The class was small and intimate, and as each week passed i learnt from my ladies as they shared their photographs – and stories – with me. Looking back i now realise what an important time that was.
So when a friend suggested I teach the class online, it got me thinking; at that time i knew of only one other e-course in our corner of the blogosphere. I had to figure out how to share the assignments and resulting photographs with the class, and how I’d get the word out in the first place. So I made a small-but-functional website with the software on my Mac, expanded the original course to eight weeks with lots of extra writing exercises and photo assignments, and took a massive leap of faith. I had 20 brave souls signed up to my mailing list, so on January 29th 2009 I sent out the email… and wrote a blog post.
It actually made me feel quite vulnerable to be putting the course out into the world. Even though i had the proof that it worked thanks to my evening class, i was still scared. That afternoon i met my sister for coffee, and i said to her: ‘If i get just ten people signed up that would be amazing.’ By the time i went to bed that night I already had my ten; in just over a week there were 100.
And so from that very humble beginning the course has grown so much bigger than i ever thought it would. By sharing as much as i can with my Unravellers, i find I have also learned so much about myself, not least of which is my new ability to sit in front of a camera and not run away screaming!
I can’t wait to share Unravelling #2 with you soon…
[Today is the last day to cast your vote in the Poppies Favourite Photographer category - in the space of a week I have turned into a competitive nerd :) As of right now (7:52pm GMT) there's only 2 votes between first and second place...] Saturday update: I came second! My Polaroid sister Alicia beat me to first place, and I can’t think of a more deserving winner – congrats Alicia!
Some Words Wednesday
Do you see what I did there? Which is exactly why i didn't announce the making of No Words Wednesday last week – i never abide by my own rules (cue hysterical laughter).
Today's commenting experiment is this: ask me a question. Just one question. Any question – serious or silly. No other words are allowed other than your question – I'll post the answers in a blog post (or two) next week. I'll start…
What would you like to ask me?
ps. There's still time to vote – I'm currently in second place! You don't need to do any signing up to vote – simply click by my name *hint hint*. This is the week for owning the good things, i've decided. Besides, there's always next week for being small again. Or maybe not.
I've had the very great honour of being nominated for a Poppies award (thank you, Charlane!) over at Poppytalk! I'm in the running for Favorite Photographer and the voting is now open until Friday January 29th (one vote per computer). Winners will be announced on Friday February 5th, which also happens to be my 37th birthday and i can't think of a better present to wake up to!
I wasn't going to write about this as it felt a bit too me me me, but I woke up this morning and had to take a serious look at that thought while sipping my coffee. Why do we do that – try to make ourselves small and play down our achievements? I've never been nominated for anything in my life so this recent discovery made me smile… but my next inclination was to sweep it under the rug and not make a fuss. Aaaargh! My Inner Victorian Grandmother may shake her head in disapproval, but sod it, I thought – this is a fun thing. And photography is the love of my life – why not celebrate it?
So all of that was to say: I'd be thrilled to have your vote! And while you're there check out the other categories too – there is some amazing work!
Thank you so much x
~ Blogging 3.0 ~
Anyway, I'm digging No Words Wednesday very deeply and may have to do it again next week. And from now on, if you ever want to leave just a smiley face as a comment, please go right ahead – i'll know what you're saying. :)
~ No Words Wednesday ~
:)
~ Working it out ~
With almost one month of 2010 under my belt, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed. The year started well, with a word, and plans, and a hazy-yet-positive notion of where I wanted to be in 12 months’ time, but somewhere along the line I’ve become a little too mesmerised by the Voice. Knowing I was going to be hunkering down for some soul work with the girls last weekend I put together a worksheet for us to play with. I figured we’d all done the Christine and Leonie worksheets, but perhaps it was time to take the plans to the next level – Unravelling the Year Ahead.
As it turned out, getting eight women to sit down and map out their year is not easy when there is reiki, tarot cards and toasted crumpets to enjoy, so we’ve all vowed to work through the sheets on our own this week, with a lit candle and a heart full of dreams.
I thought you might like to join us: >> click here << to download the worksheet. It’s four pages… it’s free… it might help :)
And please do let me know how you get on!
