More Shadows

Stephen Gill 'Series of Disappointments'

New work from Stephen Gill, around the proliferation of betting shops in the Borough of Hackney. The discarded slips 'were shaped by loss or defeat, then cast aside. these new forms perhaps now possess a state of mind, shaped by nervous tension and grief. After these images were made, little autopsies were performed on the papers to reveal the failed bets held within.' (stephengill.org)

The idea of obsolete objects being rephotographed and transformed interests me. It fits well with the work around the documentation left over from my father, it seemingly insignificance and at the same time the importance of trace and the human touch in these objects.

http://georgemcmanus.blogspot.com/2008/04/so-what-exactly-is-good-photograph.html

Notes from the Editing Process.

The following Images represent the beginnings of a book documenting the process of representing the death of my father. The book is intended as an additional piece alongside the images of the landscape. The book will primarily focus on the objects surrounding the link between my father and myself, old family images, condolence cards, the negatives i have shot over the last 5 years and other ephemera।

i dont know..

I just found this, who knows what it was, but it makes for an interesting abstract.

The of leanings of lunacy are never lucid..

Its dark outside...

I suppose it's just one of those things you have to do, photograph at night.. lights, agian found these recently, like the double negative.. movement, narrative, cinematic seeing.. i don't know but it is interesting in its own right..

So what exactly is a good photograph?

Sitting here today, asking myself, what the hell is a good photograph. Is it purely an aesthetic consideration or is a more emotional relationship with an image? Is good even the right term for describing an image, is effective, emotive or challenging better qualities for an image, or are they all bound up in what we believe a good images to be.

I don't think i can really answer a question such as this, since i'm not sure if i would know a good photograph if one was to run me off the run and reverse over me. I suppose obviously its a subjective thing, people have different tastes, culture baggage etc. etc. but what is it about an image that produces a effect people describe it in terms of being good or bad.

Is an images good quality to be found in its theme, its subject matter? Can we assume that a certain subject is bound to produce a good photograph, or a certain style or effect will produce the desired effect. Can a good photograph be something that raises issues and opens up a hot subject ie. migrants, multi-nationalism or is it not confined to the object we place in front of the lens. Is it how a photographs makes us see rather than what we see that creates a sense of a good photograph. If we are shown a new way of seeing, or a new vision are we to assume that this is then a good photograph.

Of course the idea of what a good photograph isn't fenced into the notion of the arts, a good photograph can be of a loved one, or an event one attended and evokes memories. A good photograph can be an accident of shutter releasing and over exposing a negative. A good photograph can be constructed entirely from component parts of multiple images.

i may not have slept in about 36 hours, so then this could be the incoherent ramblings of a very tired student of photography. But i just think the idea of a good photograph is unnecessary in terms of a photograph, not merely because of subjectivity but because a good photograph is as interesting, provoking and important as a bad photograph. In another way i suppose i'm saying that imagery can't and shouldn't be judged in terms of good or bad, like or dislike, but the relationships it paints, the connections it makes, between people.

Some Early Images from Grave-yards.

These are some images from about four years ago, had a bit of a fascination with grave-yards for quite a while. Interesting spaces to photograph. What caught me was the attempt to shoot the site in a tight, shallow focus approach. Similar to something of what i was attempting to do in the bog. Not at all crazy about these images, but just thought that it was an interesting point of reference to what i have been working through with the bog.