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Extravaganzza is a photo exhibition in Toulouse from the 8th of September until the 5th of November – it’s basically a collection of 60 iconic ‘rock’ photographs and takes place at the FabLab in Toulouse – where last year we saw the photographs of David Bowie by Mick Rock.

This is an ‘expo-vente’ which means you can actually purchase copies of the photographs exposed.

Halle du FabLab
27bis allée Maurice Sarrault
31300 Toulouse

Open: Tuesday to Sunday, 10h – 19h

Entry: 7€

And then, of course, there’s Arles…

141 exhibitions around the city…this is going to be fun! (Exhausting, but fun…)

Visa Pour l’Image started on Monday in Perpignan – we’ll be there on Saturday, and I’ve been checking out some of the exhibitions, and exhibiters, before we arrive.

One we’ll certainly not miss is Stanley Green, who sadly died in May this year.

Portrait de Zelina, de Stanley Greene © Stanley Green

From the book ‘Open Wound’ photographed in Chechnya

Green had a long association with Visa, and even launched the agency NOOR with Kadir van Lohuizen at the 19th edition of Visa in September 2007. I’m looking forward to seeing this retrospective of his work.

This year there are exhibits from Michael Nichols, National Geographic ‘A Wild Life’, the World Press Photo winner and runners up, Angela Ponce Romero ‘Ayacoucho’ photographed in Peru, and many more – this is going to take a while!

 

We are due for a little break – some would even call this a holiday – however, quite a lot of our time will be concerned with photographic exhibitions over the next two or three weeks.

Here’s the run down:

Firstly there’s Visa pour l’Image in Perpignan

This is a regular trip for us – practically the entire city is devoted to this event, and it’s really worth a visit. All the exhibitions are free (Yes, unlike at Arles, you don’t pay...) and of very high quality. Sadly due to the fact that this is devoted to journalism, there is a lot of repetition – but in some ways this is very creative as it shows different points of view on the same subject.

Then there’s Arles…

I’m still in two minds about this event as I don’t consider the admission fees particularly ‘friendly’, and also the choice of a lot of the ‘avant garde’ work seems a bit of a piss-take – I remember visiting the exhibition of the work presented for the final diploma at photography school – and came away wondering where photography is going…

This said, I’m ready to accept that I have a very particular taste, and fully prepared to keep my mind as open as possible – instead of buying a ticket for all the exhibitions, this year we’ll choose a few at random – Annie Leibowitz has an expo there and I’m looking forward to at least that one!

Last but not least, there’s the current exhibition at the Pavillion Populaire in Montpellier. This finishes on the 17th of September, so we’d better get there quickly…

I’m not really familiar with the work of this photographer, but the little I’ve seen leads me to think it would be worth a visit…and as we’ll be in the general area for our ‘holiday’, why not!

Update: This exhibition will be followed by Ralph Gibson « The Black Trilogy 1970-74 » from the 18.10.17 – 08.01.18 another ‘must visit’ on my list…

This is Michael Leary, the boss of RyanAir – dreadful man in general, but this week he actually managed to say something I completely agree with.

Well, in truth, two things – these comments were directed at Theresa May the English Prime Minister “There is going to be a cessation of flights from March 2019 if she doesn’t get her finger out and get a deal done in the next 12 months.”

This was prompted by Theresa May jetting off to Japan for three days. Michael Leary thinks she would be better employed in Europe sorting out the ‘Brexit’ headache with the European Union.

The second thing was “Brexit is going to be a disaster for the UK economy, and she needs to be over there negotiating or at least removing these road blocks, not swanning around Japan drinking tea and sake. »

And for once, I’m at a complete loss – I just have to agree!

 

Yes – she’s managed to piss people off again – and this time with such ‘style’ – here she is pretending to be someone with a million percent more class than ‘Kim’ will ever have…

Interestingly, the original caption says it all

« Not buying it: Others were upset and insulted that the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star who found fame thanks to a sex tape was dubbed ‘America’s New First Lady’ by the magazine »

Nice dogs…

Some people over on Facebook have been complaining that I’m not posting photographs recently – this is true, but I have some very good excuses !

I’m busy.

I’m preparing three new exhibitions which will be showing in September and October. (In addition to the contents of a book…etc. etc.)

I’m busy.

I’ve been working on the redecoration of the entrance hall of our offices (Why oh why did I suggest we repaint this??!!)

I’m busy.

I’ve been designing, and redesigning (we’re on version 6.0 now…) the kitchen in my daughters new flat – which I will then have to go an install at the end of September.

I’m busy.

And last, but by no means least, the period between consecutive weekends is regularly filled up with something called ‘work’ (the bit that allows me to pay some of the bills, eat etc.)

So, it’s not because I don’t want to post any images, but just recently I have to admit I’ve been quite busy…

Since coming back to Facebook a couple of years ago, I have followed See in Mono – this is a page dedicated to monochromatic (B&W !) images and there are sometimes some stunning examples of the art of photography.

One recent image which made me sit up and look is this one, by Dean Nixon.

« After the Storm » © Dean Nixon – used with permission

The photographer suggests that this is an « interpretation connected with concepts of birth, death, rebirth, as well as the mythology of Aphrodite and the sea ». I’m not sure I would have got all of that on my own, but the general balance and strength of the image, the power station, the nude, the moving clouds, all combine to make an image I appreciate a lot. (And gets me thinking of future projects…)

Based on my short experience with the photography of star trails, I visited a local church the other evening – it is unique as it has a ‘twisted’ spire (which can be seen below) Not unhappy with the results – for the technically inquisitive 60 exp 20s at f/4 ISO 1600

We’re in the middle of the period where the Perseid meteor showers are visible (in fact the 12th of August is supposed to be the best night) so I may have to go out tonight…

My NPS (Nikon Professional Services) card has just come up for renewal and when I was filling in the online form and uploading the proof that I am (at least in the eyes of the tax man) a professional, I got to thinking.

Everywhere you look nowadays, people are publishing their personal photos. I’m actually all for this – when an image is worthwhile, I’m all for showing it off, and a large part of the reason we continue with our ‘Déclic’ photo contest, is to try to valorise the efforts of our participants.

The thing is…now how can I put this gently….most of what we see on Facebook is utter rubbish. Sorry guys, but it’s true. I can fully understand people who have no real interest in photography as an art-form publishing whatever passes infront of their smartphones – this is fine, and I have to admit I’ve seen some stunning results from smartphone cameras.

I also recently ‘joined’ an online forum for the photographic magazine « Amateur Photographer » – this was a staple read before the Internet, and it’s nice to see it still exists in both print and online. I posted a couple of comments, received replies, and took the time to check out the authors Flikr profiles – there was a very interesting correlation between the message count of the ‘forum huggers’ (who squat the fora, have an opinion about everything, and are only really interested in increasing their message count) and the quality of their images. The same can be said of the people who I would probably actually listen to – not a huge message count, but pertinent comments, from time to time – their images were frankly streets ahead, in my opinion.

What I can’t quite get used to are the people who publish images, on fora or social media, simply for the sake of publishing something. One of these ‘photographers’ posted a message on social media a few days back, asking people to suggest subjects for him to photograph over the coming weekend…I think things are getting pretty bad when you can’t even have ideas of your own. Another ‘stunning’ idea from the same ‘photographer’ (and I use the term with considerable reserve) was to ask if anyone would consider putting him up for a few days (preferably near the coast) in exchange for a portrait or two… I’ve seen what he calls ‘portraits’ – he’d probably get a free glass of water, I have serious doubts about accommodation.

Er…a landscape? What exact is interesting about this image?

I’m not a snob – I rely on my images to speak for themselves – if you don’t like them, I personally have no particular problem with this (although you obviously have no perceptible taste :-p ) but I do think that people who are so easily convinced of their own creativity (« Oh that’s a wonderful shot. You must have a super camera. ») should at least show some creativity, imagination, call it what you will – sorry, but a photo of a rather average sunset over Auch just doesn’t make it in my book. Sadly, these appear with monotonous regularity…

I as reminded of the « Oh you must have a super camera » phrase the other day while perusing the web…the person who mentioned the phrase heard it during dinner with a friend who had cooked the meal – apparently his reply was « That was a really nice dinner – you must have really good pots and pans »….