Ways of Looking.

Today, group B and I went to Bradford, to visit the Ways of Looking photography exhibition.  One of the exhibitions halls we went to, was the Impressions Gallery, where I was told Martin Parr had his first exhibition, while the gallery was based in York, before the gallery moved to Bradford.

The first exhibition we went to was in the Pop Up space, next to Costa.  The work that caught my eye the most was that of Rob Ball.  His striking prints were of pacemakers that had been taken out of the bodies they powered before cremation.  This sounds grim I know but they had been cleaned up before they were photographed.

Ball created the series after working as a Forensic photographer, and it shows.  The meticulous attention to detail really comes through in the prints.  Each pacemaker is photographed on a white background, and in the centre of the frame.  The white helps to the visitor to focus on the pacemaker and in details.  Also, there is no meaningful text under each photograph, only the serial number of each pacemaker, which means that the viewer has to come to their own conclusion of the context of the photographs.  The prints do not have a frame which makes them seem to blend into the walls.  This makes the pacemakers look even smaller.


The next Gallery we went to was the Impression Gallery, where we were shown round by a fine art graduate called India.

This exhibition was created by Jeremy Deller.  He produced the exhibition from an archive of photos from a photography studio called The Belle Vue Studio in Bradford, and the photos are from the 50's to 70's.  The photos document the large number of immigrants arriving from Asia and the Caribbean at that time.  Deller used these photographs to explore the cultural and political heritage of Britain.  

All of the images are studio based, and the sitters are wearing smart suits that were provided by the studio, along with other props.  The sitters would then send the photo home, to show how good their new lives were.  The photos are framed with a creamy-white surround, with a black frame.  The photos looked dwarfed against the wall and frame, but this draws you in to look closely at the prints, and I like this idea.  

We were then shown around an exhibition of Red Saunders' work by India.  All of the photos are representations of historical events.  The photographs are subjective, trying to tell you something about the event that they are depicting.  The images have been shot in a way that makes them look like paintings, with the lighting highlighting different parts of the image that help to tell the story.  All of the images are staged, on sets and complicated lighting set ups.  

The photos have been printed very large, and are shown on a deep red background.  This is a reference to the great halls in old houses that had rooms to show the big paintings.  The walls were painted really rich, deep colours to set the paintings off.  

Overall, I enjoyed looking around all of the exhibitions, there were some interesting photos which gave me some ideas for my briefs.  

Also, here is a picture of Sam looking happy in the sunshine, in his sunglasses.