ARRIVED, SAFE & SOUND!

Made it to France early yesterday morning on a glorius day after a beautiful crossing from cork on the Pont Aven.
All was fine when we made it to our destination, a tiny cottage in the middle of farmland just outside the village of Ploeuc sur Lie.
As stated in my last post I am hoping to Shoot some type 55 film whilst I am here.
I travelled light and just brought the linhof technika and standard 150mm lens,polaroid back,and a bucket for holding wet negs.
As an aid to composition,and as a tool in its own right,
I brought my H3d50 hasselblad,with waist level finder and sekonic meter.( I thought it might be interesting to compose and shoot the old fashioned way to see what i got.)
So yesterday Afternoon after a morning nap(disembarked boat at 5A.M.)I took the camera for a stroll and came back with the picture you see above.It says a lot about how I feel right now,full of hope and expectation for the weeks ahead!!
for some pics of the crossing click here i will add to this gallery as the weeks tick by.
as always click on the image above for a full size view

MORE FILM TALK!!

As discussed on an earlier postingI would like to, put together a group show of type 55 work.
So far i have put together 5 exposures all taken around the village of Ploeuc sur Lie in bretagne france.I hope to expand this to a series of 10 images as I will spend 5 weeks there between this and the end of august.
With this in mind I am now throwing my gaze outward to the world to see who would like to join me in putting an exhibition of type 55's together!!
The Idea would be to send some rough scans for consideration/evaluation,then if chosen the neg could be forwarded to me here in dublin for high res scanning and printing.
I would hope then to put together a small brochure (blurb softback)and try to secure a venue here in dublin for november or early december.
International participants could also try to get a venue to travel the resultant show in their own country
What do you think!!
There is no set brief for this expo project save that of the beauty of the object photographed,and of the photograph.
Above is shot of Ian which i photographed for a a cd case see his work here
for another view of my set so far click here
To join in this project just use the comments page,
please use the comments page to express interest in general in posting here at the lilliputian

HERE WE ARE NOW.ENTERTAIN US!

If You are looking for some engaging photo-entertainment Dublin is definitely this place to be this summer.
we have already had a visual treat with the Griffith college summer show,The Iadt dun laoighre show contained many a poignant piece,theD.I.T. show opening on tuesday next,And photoIreland festival is about to happen in july with exciting events and exhibitions happening all over the town.
One of these exhibitions is for me very important as it showcases the work of a very talented group of people who I worked with
during december and january last.
It happened at the national college of art and design,and it was their certificate in photography and digital imaging.For my part I presented and set a project on environmental portraiture.Enthusiasm was high,emails flew,the work was great.Some of the resulting work i had access to is included in the slideshow at the end of the page ,just hit the play triangle in the blogger box at the end of the post.I wish all the group success with this show, their site is online now hereyou can download a screen version of their poster here
As always comments are important so please do express your opinion on this posting,it really helps,and i promise to reply!!

GOING PLACES

Myself,Artur,brian,and Hugh, took to the streets of Dublin a week late after rain had stopped play the previous tuesday.
Our objective to shoot a glorious parting shot for the Flood_Kettunen family.

They are david flood,minna Kettunen,and 10 month old Matilde Flood.After working in the I.T. sector during the boom David spent the last 4 years in college as a student of photography. He made some money during this time teaching digital practise with the Gallery of photography and the V.E.C.
His Partner Minna worked till Matilde arrived as a media specialist with Microsoft.
They have decided to ride out the recession in Finland, Minna's home country.They reckon the cost of living,the prospects for work,and the level of social service,all make Finland a much better place to be right now.
no difference with technique from the previous shots.the quirky composition is designed to give parity of esteem to all,whilst trying to say there is always a part of you that does not want to leave no matter how much you need to!!
Again nice helpful dubliners where encountered! I have got to say a huge thankyou to the staff of the bistrot, castle market
( go visit!!)
who coffeed us up, and allowed use their outside area as a base!!



david floods graduation show launches next friday details here
its a show that i have not missed for the last 10 years and is always full of top class work,I am hoping this years will be as good as always!
Talking of good shows I've just been to the opening of griffith college's first photography degree show
A fantastic display of work of,showing the many facets of photography which synergise to praise the photographic act in all its diverse forms.
See it if you can over the next few days!!
Coming up also in july is Irelands first photo festival,it has a great line up of over 20 venues and 50 photographers showing all over Dublin details here
All in all i would say we are all in for a busy summer.


Lastly for thos of you interested in a good photographic course the gallery of photography is hosting Kim Haughton who is giving an introduction to documentary photography course over four thursdays from june 24th(places are limited to 6 and fill up fast!!) you can see some work from previous participants here

WOT THE CURTAINS!

On an assignment earlier this week i had to photograph a set of curtains for an upcoming historical book. I thought nothing of it arranged the shoot for monday morning and took my self out to Newbridge house in Donabate North county Dublin.I have been there several times as there is a nice park, farm, and playground, and of course the house. I was struck by the 150 year old curtains and all of their grandeur but when examined closer there wasone interesting fault.
The curtains appeared to be rotting in situ and the edges near the ground where missing.
Just like our country I thought!
From a safe distance all looks in tact but up close things are most definatly falling appart on a person to person bassis.Yes Although it would appear to our European partners that Ireland has taken steps to avoid the financial mayhem of an I.M.F./E.U. bale out, things will never be the same for countless thousands of peopleWho will never have the money to pay of their over inflated debts let alone afford to change the curtains!
FOR A GOOD SKETCH CLICK THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE
and please post a comment

IS IT A GOOD TIME FOR A RANT?

In Ireland over the last 10 years so many industries have closed down as investors shifted their favour from production to speculation.This was fueled by light financial regulation,reckless abandonment of credit standards,and the euros european controlled low interest rates.
These pillars were exploited to the full extent and beyond by those in a position to do so to the detrement of our society.
This is evident in the planned development for Moore street and the jury’s of ballsbridge plan which planned to close a viable hotel and several other buildings,demolish and build a new quarter just because the numbers looked good for profit generation!!.On the other side of the fence,countless people became long distance commuters forced into overpriced housing far from their places of work, and now are trapped in a negative equity box,some isolated from their previous social support structures.
The building business was swollen and propped up our labour market until it too burst.
the results of this flood is still now being felt.
Although this speculative phase has largely been removed from ireland by economic crash
we could still become victims of the International speculative system as countless well resourced number crunchers around the globe exploit the weak in the name of trading numbers.The EURO itself is under pressure and although it would appear unlikely at the moment a domino topple starting at Greece could bring the system into question.
Closer to home a lot of people are still Leaving Dublin.
Last wednesday Night I was joined by Keiko Furamoto a talented paper conservator from Japan. She loved living in Dublin and had planned to settle here but alas it was not to be
and she returned to Japan a year and a half ago.she has returned twice to be with her friends in Dublin who she misses dearly

here is what she had to say about herself“I was awarded 2007-8 Heritage Council Internship -the first conservation intern to be supported by the Heritage Council at the NLI. I worked at the NLI from Oct 2007 to the end of August 2008.
During my stay, I was offered a year extention at the NLI but my work permit wasn't renewed as it had been stated.
I applied for a maternity leave cover position at Trinity college and the job was offered but
my work permit didn't come through. So I left Dublin in the mid Nov 2008.
Since Dec 2008, I am working for the Handa Kyuseido Company Ltd, Oriental Painting Conservation Studio.”
The people of my leaving dublin project are represetitive of the human face of irelands problems.Keiko’s situation is a direct result of our countries attitude to non Europeans.Even when people have a lot to offer our society they are treated with hostility by the governments authorities. A sad reality which will hamper the the enricment of our society.
On the night Artur Sikora Carried the torch and shone it beautifully.
We also met some beautiful people who held back shifting gear from whelans venue until we had the shot Horrah for people!!!

Sorry for so many words but the photographs do need a little contextualisation.
please answer the question posed above in the comments section
IS IT A GOOD TIME FOR A RANT?
I f you like this article please hit the newly installed stumble upon button just below on the right to help increase my readership!!

TAKING DIRECTION

Firstly, Apologies to my international readers and subscribers. I am going to get all parochial for a minute.
Hopefully i can hold your interest.

As i mentioned before I am involved in presenting a workshop on portraiture at The Gallery of Photography,Temple Bar,Dublin.
I am returning now to that topic as there are 2 upcoming workshops that some of you in the greater Dublin area may be interested in.They happen on 4 consecutive thursday nights between 7and 9.30 in the galleries exhibition space.They start may 13th and july 8th.
The emphasis for the workshops is learning through doing and it is a completely hands on experience for all participants.
I find this appoach to be the best at yeilding results as seen in the above video.
the numbers are small(6 people per class)and tuition is therefor very tailored to the needs of the group from session to session.
for more details go to the gallery's site
for a closer look at the images in the slide show above click here
Please comment if this posting has been helpful for you!