A visit to Parliament

I had never thought of visiting parliament before, in fact I wasn’t aware that it was open to the public so when I was invited to take a tour I was quite intrigued.

I’m not really much of a fan of politics and was a bit worried that I would find it boring if I didn’t know what they were talking about but there was actually so much more to it than just politics. For a start the actual building is amazing, from floor to ceiling it is full of intricate details, ornate decoration and historical paintings.

I never normally opt to join in with tours as I like to just explore by myself but our tour guide Daniella was full of information, facts and amusing anecdotes. She really brought the subjects to life so as you are walking through you could imagine the queen in her robing room sitting on a sofa by the window rather than on the throne that has been sun damaged over many years.

The Royal family play a big role in Parliament and since watching The Crown and Victoria on Netflix I have become much more interested in the history so found it all really interesting.

It felt very strange going into the house of commons after seeing it on TV for so long, it looks so much smaller in real life! I was really impressed with how much you get to see on the tour – not so impressed that I wasn’t able to photograph it all though! (you can only use a camera in the main hall and St Stephens hall) I mean have you even visited somewhere if you don’t have photographic evidence? I was going to request images of parts of the building that I wasn’t allowed to photograph but I think it is nice to leave it to you all to visit yourself as it is so much better in real life!

Westminster hall is the oldest of the parliamentary estate and has played a central role in British history. There seems to be a lot of work going on so we couldn’t really appreciate its magnificence and many smaller details were covered up.

I would definitely recommend a visit to anyone interested in architecture, art, history or politics and you can finish off the tour with a trip to Voice and Vote: Women’s place in Parliament exhibition which features unseen historic objects, pictures and archives from the parliamentary collections, this will be on until 6th October.

For quite a small exhibition tucked away in the corner of Westminster hall, there is loads to see about such an important subject. Although the tour of Parliament has a fee, this exhibition is free entry so great to take the kids over summer, especially all those budding politicians!

Have you ever visited Parliament before?

 

A4 Latte Print

Latte print – Perfect for all those coffee lovers! A4 print on semi gloss paper suitable for any standard A4 frame. Frame not included.

A4 Blogging print

Not now I’m blogging – Perfect for those busy bloggers that are always being interrupted! A4 size print to fit any standard frame, printed on 350gsm semi gloss paper. Frame not included. 

Free Range 2018 – The Old Truman Brewery

If you follow me on social media, you may have seen me share lots of info about Free Range. If you don’t follow me and have never heard of it then let me explain…

It has nothing to do with chickens or eggs!

Free Range is an annual show held at The Old Truman Brewery on Brick lane in East London to celebrate the graduate work of creatives across the country. A culmination of fashion, illustration, graphic design, photography, fine art, interior design and architecture are all exhibited in the season of art.

I am happy to share my thoughts and opinions on all the places I visit but I am a bit biased about Free Range as the work of myself and my fellow class mates is currently on show.

Shows are split up across the month as follows:

• Design Week 15 – 18 June
• Photography Week One 22 – 25 June
• Photography Week Two 29 June – 02 July
• Art Week 06 – 09 July
• Interior Design & Architecture Week 13 – 16 July

If you want to catch my work along with 13 other universities it is showing until Monday 25th. For my final work, I created two images that I took in Amsterdam, one at Keukenhof gardens and the other at Royal Holland flower auction I also added a book entitled A Floral Perspective. These were used for grading at our university gallery but right before the Free Range show I decided to print out a set of photos from the book, at the last minute the curation team thought it would be better to just use these in the exhibition.

Work from a few other students at London South Bank

As you can see not all the work is just photographs on the wall, there are installations, video, projections and wall hangings. Throughout all the university shows there were lots of innovative ways of shooting and displaying work. I didn’t actually get to see all the shows but I will be going back before it closes so may get to see some more.

Work from students at other universities

A few of the shows I saw included Middlesex university, Blackpool and the Flyde College, Birmingham City University, University of Westminster and Canterbury Christ University.

The Truman Brewery is spacious, bright and airy so even when it was really busy on the opening evening, it didn’t feel too overcrowded. It is a large space spread over 3 floors so you may not get to see everything during one visit but there is a free programme you can pick up to see all the exhibitors at a glance and choose who you want to visit.

All the work on show is years in the making. If you do manage to see the show and admire a particular piece then be sure to let the artist know, follow them on social media or share it with your friends, it is not easy trying to make it in the creative industry and every bit of encouragement is welcome!

 

 

 

Imperial War Museum North

While in Manchester we noticed that the Imperial War Museum was not too far from our hotel so decided to take a trip down by the river and pay it a visit while also getting a chance to explore the quays.

The imperial war museum north is the newest of five branches and was open in 2002. It has very impressive, modern architecture but doesn’t have the stunning entrance of it’s London Counterpart.

As you enter the museum there is a large seating area, shop and café where you can get a bite to eat or just relax after walking around.

The main exhibition space is upstairs and although everything is in one large space, it is split into mini exhibitions and goes through a timeline of conflicts in Britain and the commonwealth.

As well as life sized vehicles on the floor and hanging from the ceiling, the space is filled with memorabilia from the time, including posters, letters, clothes and weapons. There are also hands on activities designed specifically for kids. I really liked the idea of the trench stenches, although I wasn’t quite daring enough to have a sniff myself!

Although there are little videos you can watch in different rooms, every hour there is an audio-visual cinematic display that takes over the whole space. It is a real immersive experience and you can either sit and watch it on the benches around the middle of the space or continue walking around while taking it in.

I find these performances really interesting as they are like watching documentaries and include recounts and stories of people that were around during that time in history. Each show is different so you don’t have to worry that you are listening to the same thing if you are still around when the next film starts.

I really liked the Imperial War Museum North, although it is nowhere near as big as the London Imperial War Museum, I actually like that I was able to take it all in within a couple of hours rather than choosing certain sections to visit. There was also a really good exhibition in an adjacent room about the conflict in Syria but I think this is now finished and will be replaced in July with a different show.

The Imperial War Museum North is free to visit and it is situated in a lovely space around Salford Quays, about a 15 minute walk from Old Trafford football stadium.

A floral perspective – Photography book

I am just getting my head around the fact that I am no longer a photography student and thinking about what my next steps in life are, does it mean I am now a professional photographer?

Well I am the owner of a new photography book! When I say photography book I don’t mean that it is available to buy in a store near you…not yet anyway. This is a book that I created for my final degree show to display alongside a couple of prints that I took on my recent trip to Holland’s Keukenhof gardens and Aalsmeer auction market.

The book is a collection of still life images, some of which I shared on a previous post and are of one of my favourite subjects…flowers!

The photos are accompanied by simple definitions of parts of a flower to get the viewer thinking about the flower as a whole and seeing them in a different perspective.

I have only included a few of the pages so if you want to see the full thing you will just have to visit our degree show which will be shown at the Free Range festival, at the Truman Brewery, in Bethnal green between 22nd and 25th of June. There will be loads of work on show from graduates across the country and it is a free event so you don’t want to miss out!

 

World Press Photo – Dam Square

I am a bit of a sucker for a photography exhibition so while recently in Holland working on my own photography project, I had to take the opportunity to visit the World Press Photo exhibition in the stunning setting of De Nieuwe Kerk in Dam Square.

World Press Photo is an international press photo contest featuring over 160 photos by 42 press photographers, many of which were taken at events that shook the world and featured heavily on the news but also some that documented incidents that I hadn’t previously read about.

As the walls were not suitable for displaying the large scale images, they were mostly hung from wires attached to the ceiling or on wooden display units on the floor.

One of the images that stood out to me was Earth Kiln (below) by Li Huaifeng. It is of two brothers that live in a cave that has been cut out of a hillside in central China. As well as the interesting story, the photograph has an artistic effect and I actually thought it was a painting.

As well as photos there was  also a digital storytelling contest with some really interesting documentary films on show. One of the films I found captivating was 30 videos all edited together to create a 10 minute timeline mapping the Las Vegas massacre.

I was really impressed with the work on show and glad I made the effort to travel into Amsterdam city centre to pay it a visit. If you happen to be in the area up to 22nd of July and you are a fan of photography then you may want to check it out! Tickets cost €11.00 and entry is free for under 11s. There are also concessions available.

National Gallery – Trafalgar Square

The National Gallery is hard to miss as it takes pride of place at the top of the steps at Trafalgar square, with free entry and a vast amount of artwork on show it is no surprise that it is listed as the number one thing to do in London on Trip advisor!

I have visited the National Gallery once before but I was photographing an evening event so didn’t get much time to peruse the rooms. So as I was recently killing some time around the area I thought I would pop in and see what all the fuss was about.

There are some really beautiful pieces in the collection and the gallery is huge, I didn’t actually get a chance to make it the whole way round so will need to make another visit in the future! As you enter on the ground floor there is a map to help you find your way around, these are also dotted around the gallery and as it is a bit of a maze they are quite useful.

The architecture of the gallery itself is also like a piece of artwork with high ceilings and beautiful ornate windows, it seems like the perfect home for some of the great masterpieces!

I arrived at the museum as it was opening and there was already a queue outside but as it is so big inside and you can wander as you wish, rather than following a path, you may find yourself as the only person in the room. I imagine later in the day it gets really busy but the rooms are spacious and the seating is pretty fancy compared to the plain benches you normally see in gallery spaces.

The National gallery is home to over 2300 pieces of art and they date from the mid 13th century to 1900 so more for the lover of classical art rather than the modern stuff. They do however play host to temporary exhibitions if you prefer something more modern. At the moment they are showing Tacita Dean: Still life which is a collection of mixed media including paintings, video and sound, displayed between two rooms. Unfortunately you cannot photograph this collection but you are free to photograph the rest of the gallery provided you don’t use flash.

I would say whether you are a tourist or a Londoner you should definitely take advantage of the amazing collection of art from some of the most iconic artists of all time. Although I am a fan of modern art I can’t help but marvel at the talent of these artist for what they created during their period.

Which is your go to gallery to see great artwork?

Still life floral photography

I am currently working on my major project at university and the theme I have chosen is the importation of flowers. I am going to travel to Holland later in the month to visit the flower gardens and look more into the floral industry. In the meantime I have been researching lots of other photography projects and the way people photograph flowers.

Although I have come across some really amazing pieces of work by talented artists, I have found that in general flower photography is very generic. Flowers are normally displayed in vases to look their best so I have decided to try and create some images that break the rules and focus on the flower as a whole not just the pretty part at the top, and displaying them in an unconventional way.

 

 

 

Gursky – Hayward Gallery

The Hayward is a newly refurbished, world renowned contemporary art gallery along the Southbank in London that has just reopened in all its brutalist glory after two years.

This was my first visit to the Hayward and I was quite excited to see the work of Andreas Gursky after seeing his work in books and online over the past few years, you really don’t get to appreciate the scale of his work until you are standing next to it looming over you.

You may be aware of Gursky as he previously held the title for taking the most expensive photograph ever when his photo Rhine II (above) sold for $4.3 million in 2011. It was nice to see the photo up close although I must say it is not one of my favourite pieces and I wasn’t that impressed by it!

There were a few smaller photos but it was his very large scale images that really got my attention, I loved to look at them from afar and then go up close to see all the detail. Particularly the one at the airport and the block of flats where you could actually see into the windows. (maybe I’m just nosey)

You may notice a lot of people in my photos, the exhibition was quite busy but I could have probably photographed the pictures without onlookers, I do however enjoy seeing the way people interact with the work as much as looking at the work itself.

Gursky is known for his spectacular large scale architecture, landscape photos that often feature crowds and global economy or contemporary life. A statement from the Southbank centre website states:

Gursky makes photographs that are not just depictions of places or situations, but reflections on the nature of image-making and the limits of human perception. Often taken from a high vantage point, these images make use of a ‘democratic’ perspective that gives equal importance to all elements of his highly detailed scenes.

You may think from seeing this post that you don’t need to see the exhibition because I have shown it all to you but I don’t think I even photographed half of the pictures in this show, the gallery is huge and just when you think you have seen it all you turn a corner and there are more photos. The work goes right back to the 70s so it is a large collection and probably one of my favourite photography exhibitions I have seen (and I have seen a fair few)

Are you a fan of the work of Gursky or visited the exhibition?

Gursky at the Hayward runs until 22 April so there is still plenty of time to get down there. A gift aided standard ticket costs £16 with various concessions available with kids under 12 going free. Check out the website for further details.