Fergus Heron

"Fergus Heron's photography makes visible connections, discontinuities and tensions between architecture and landscape, artifice and nature, the modern and traditional. His subjects are commonly experienced places that embody real and imagined histories. Heron's working process is highly researched and involves long - term engagement with his subjects, rather than successively working from one project to the next. In his work, the photograph itself is considered as a complex image, between document and picture.

Working always with available light, Heron's photographs are absent of human activity, emphasising stillness and a sense of extended present time. Often a single photograph of each subject is made. Otherwise, where similar views are possible, photographs are made in pairs or sequences. This technique complicates the subject, and, more importantly, the process of seeing, posing questions about how elements between and within the photographs are related. Working with a view camera, Heron's work aims to decelerate and distil the process of photography, through slow picture making, and concentration upon some of its most basic principles." From http://www.fergusheron.com/

Fergus Heron is quite an obvious link to my work, mainly because he takes photographs in Horsell Common too. I have sent him an email asking whether I could send him a quick interview about this project so I have a better understanding about why he has done the project the way he has.

All of Heron’s work makes use of deadpan photography. He has 7 categories: Charles Church Houses, Forest, Shopping Centre Interiors, Motorways, Coasts, Common and Pond. For this project I will mainly research and analyse Forest and Common. Forest has photographs of Horsell Common – only the woodland – and Common is another location quite close to Horsell Common. Although it isn’t the same area or has anything to do with succession, the style of photography and how he decided to capture it will be interesting to learn about.

The text above is from Heron’s About section on his website. I found it quite interesting how he writes about “connections, discontinuities and tensions between architecture and landscape artifice and nature the modern and the traditional”. Before I started University I was interested in tension and contrast within my photographs. Since being here I have been busy trying out so many different styles of photography, I sometimes forget to backtrack to what I was initially interested in.

When Fergus Heron came in to speak to us last year I remember him explaining to us that he always used an overcast or cloudy day for his photographs. I don’t quite remember why, so I am hoping he will reply to the interview! However, I do remember him explaining to us that some of his projects take years to finish. His common project would have taken at least a year as he came back every season to take photographs of the changes in the landscape. I would love to be able to do a project that takes me a couple of years – such as this succession project. It would be fantastic if I could come back to the same location every year for 10 years and see the change the same place has made. Obviously that would be impossible to do now, but I think that might be something to consider (If I stay in England that long!) It would be a lot stronger than the project I am doing now, although I think this project will be strong if I make sure each picture is almost identical.

Just like Fergus Heron, I will be working with available light. Although Heron likes his photographs to be overcast or cloudy, I much prefer the sunlight creating intricate patterns on the trees. From the photographs I have taken so far, I prefer the photos with blue sky and the purple heather. However, as the year goes on and autumn is coming I am sure I will have to reconsider whether I want to have blue skies or cloudy skies. Having a cloudy sky, on the other hand, will add to the deadpan style of photography - emotionless and clinical. 

When looking at his Forest photographs, on first glance they look very similar, however as you look at them more closely and for longer, you start to notice all the small but complex differences. Seeing all three photos of Bracknell 2000, it shows that Heron has made sure the horizon in each photo is the same. It almost looks like a panorama.

Timetable

August

·         First week

o   Research the succession

§  What is it

§  How does it happen

·         Second week

o   Practice shoot

§  Check out the area

§  Try a few different things to see what works

·         Third week

o   Photoshoots

§  Find what stages of succession I want to photograph

§  Try a few different things to see what works

·         Fourth week

o   Photoshoots

§  Find what stages of succession I want to photograph

§  Look for specific areas of succession

§  Try a few different things to see what works

September

·         First week

o   Photoshoots

§  Get a better idea of the 4 stages

§  Try a few different things to see what works

·         Second week

o   Photoshoots

§  Specifically look for the 4 stages

§  Make sure to have a wide variety of all the stages

·         Third week

o   Analyse the photographs

·         Fourth week

o   Analyse the photographs

October

·         First week

o   Research

§  Find related photographers

§  Contact related photographers

·         Fergus Heron, Guy Moreton

·         Second week

o   Research

§  More information about succession

§  More artists research

§  Research on large format cameras

·         Third week

o   Photoshoots

§  Large format

§  Digital

§  Timelapse

·         Fourth week

o   Analysis

§  Scan large format photos and analyse

§  Timelapse work

§  Digital work

o   Meet contacted photographers

November

·         First week

o   Analyse

§  Pair images together

§  Find sequences

§  Think of how to display work

·         Second week

o   Test

§  Print test prints

·         Acrylic, Aluminium, Canvas

§  Sequences

·         Third week

o   Decide on the final presentation

o   Research galleries for presentation

·         Fourth week

o   Print the final photographs

§  Leave enough time for delayed shipping or reprinting

December

·         First week

o   Finalise

§  Presentation

§  Text

§  Order of photos

·         Second week

o   Finalise

o   Final exhibition

·         Third week

o   Make any changes if possible

o   deadline

Large Format Camera (5x4)

Today I had my large format workshop. Every lecturer I’ve spoken to about my project insisted I use a large format camera and the majority of the photographers I have looked at use it too. I guess I didn’t really have much of a choice. I was really unsure about the 5x4 camera and really wasn’t looking forward to the workshop. However, Daniel went over everything very slowly and let me try everything out so I understand how to use it. It was incredibly useful and I feel a lot better and more confident about using the large format.

Notes:

·         The first step is to take the camera out of the bag

·         Before unfolding it, put it securely on the tripod

·         There is a clip on the front of the camera, open that

·         Loosen the 3 main screws on the back

·         Raise the back of the camera up at a right angle

·         Make sure all the clips fit in the hinges (where it dips)

·         Once they are in the dips, tighten them firmly but not too tight

·         Lift the front bit up and slide the bottom towards front of the camera (to the tip)

·         Lock the front – slide the two outside bits out

·         Slot the clips in the dips again and tighten

·         Loosen the clips on the front to adjust it up so that it’s at a right angle and parallel to the back

·         When the front and the back are parallel, the image will be straight

·         You can move both the front and the back up and down, back and forth and side to side

·         When putting the lens on the camera, take the back cap off first

·         Make sure all the controls are on top

·         Slot the bottom in and then clip the top

·         Normal lens is 50mm and wide-angle lens is 90mm

·         When changing lenses you have to change the bellows

·         Put the aperture on the lowest setting so that the most light comes in

·         Open the lens using the black trigger on the left side of the lens – put it up

·         The view will be upside down

Order:

·         Shut down the lens (move trigger down)

·         Set the correct aperture

·         Set the correct shutter speed

·         Cock the trigger (this means it’s ready to shoot)

·         Double check if the lens is closed

·         Enter the card (with the negative inside)

·         Take the slide out

·         Take the photo

·         Put the slide back in the other way

·         White side up means unexposed

·         Black side up means exposed 

Loading the Film:

Film needs to be put in the card in a darkroom. The top right corner of the film has some cut outs in it and this is how you know which way to put it in the card. Make sure that the film is laid out so that the top right hand corner has the cut outs. Put the holder next to it with the slides partially out on the bottom.

In the dark, move the top bit up and carefully slide the film in. Make sure it’s in the lowest slot. When the film is in, close the slide. Do the same thing on the other side.

Also, remember that when the film is unexposed and loaded, that the white side is sticking up. If the film has been exposed, the black side should be up. 

It sounds like a lot and a bit confusing (especially when you don’t have the camera in front of you) but I think I’ll be ok.

The Project

As you know by now, my project is about succession. I want to take a close look at how a heathland turns into a woodland over time. Over the past couple of year, volunteers in Horsell Common have chopped down areas of the woodland in order for the heathland to start growing. This is where I'll be taking my photographs. 

Succession is an incredibly long process, and unfortunately I only have 3 months to finish this project. Therefore, I'm shooting 4 stages in different location in the common. The first stage will be the clearing, so where the trees have just been chopped down. The second stage is the heathland, the third is where the trees are starting to overtake the heathland and the final stage is the woodland. 

I am photographing every stage in exactly the same style, with the horizon at the same height, same natural lighting and the same vantage point. By shooting all the photos in the same way, I'll hopefully achieve enough repetition so that it appears as though the photographs are taken in the same place over a very long space of time. 

Succession

"Bare land almost never anywhere on the planet does not stay bare for very long. Plants very quickly start to colonize the bare land and over time an entire plant community develops.

This change is directional as one community is replaced by another. Ecologists call this process succession. Succession is a natural increase in the complexity of the structure and species composition of a community over time." Environmental Systems and Societies Course Companion by Jill Rutherford. 

 I'm currently doing a project about succession - how a landscape changes of time in a natural way - and I'm specifically looking at the process of how a heathland forms into a woodland area in Horsell Common. The majority of England used to be covered with heathland, however, over time birch and pine trees started to take over. Their growth created shade which ultimately resulted in the heather dying due to lack of sunlight. 

Heathland is incredibly important for invertebrates. A lot of uncommon species live in the heather, such as the bog bush cricket, large heath butterfly, black darter dragonfly. The heath also supports rare birds such as the nightjar, and reptiles such as adder and slowworm. Without the heathland, all these species will eventually die. A large percentage of remaining European heathland is located in Britain, however since 1949, 40% of British heath has been lost by conversion to arable, or intensive grazing, afforestation, building or succession to scrub due to lack of proper management. Therefore, all over the country people are working on restoring the heathland.

The Horsell Common Preservation Society has a wide variety of volunteers who manage the common "out of respect for the wildlife living there and the general environment" (www.horsellcommon.org.uk). Horsell Common has a wonderful habitat for wildlife, and is home to Bronze Age Barrows and to a former Muslim Burial Ground. It's also the place where HG Wells' Martians landed. It has about 830 acres of green space, "maintained for the benefit of all and for the conservation of the animals and plants that live there" (www.horsellcommon.org.uk). 

The volunteers of the Preservation Society meet up one Sunday a month to help restore the heathland. They have started a 10 year project, which is funded by Natural England through conservation grants. "Heathland restoration involves the remocal of pine, oak and birch trees; the trees will be chipped and used to generate electricity at Slough Power Station ... All this work produces an environment with favourable conditions for heathland regeneration from dormant seeds." (www.horsellcommon.org.uk)

Basically, what they're doing is chopping down specific areas of the woodland. This will create an open clearing for heather seeds that have been left in the soil to start growing again. It takes about 5-6 years for the heathland to fully be formed so it's a very long process. While the heather is attempting to grow, the surrounding trees will be dropping their seeds in the cleared area too. Over time, the trees will start to take over the heathland, and the cycle will start all over again. This is what I'll be photographing over the next 3 months. 

Portfolio Workshop One

During this workshop we had to work in groups and question everyone about what kind of photographer they want to be. This sessions is to start the process of identifying the area of professional practice you are interested in. We had to start to think about how we present ourselves and our work in relation to this identified area. Prior to the lecture we had to find two photographers we are interested in. I choose Peter Lik and Fergus Heron.

1. Describe the 2 photographers that you have brought in as examples. What is it about their work that interest you and how do they represent themselves. 

Peter Lik is my all time favourite photographer. I had never heard of him until my trip to Miami last September. My boyfriend and I went shopping on Lincoln Road Mall - and it was so incredibly hot we had to go inside somewhere and we ended up entering Peter Lik's gallery. Both of us were amazed. Lik is a landscape photographer and conducted a 5 year project travelling through America capturing all it's beauty. All of his photographs are large panoramas and incredibly colourful and dramatic. The photo to the right is a snapshot of his website. You can see the the bright colours without even having to enlarge them. The style of photography is not the only think I like about him. I want to be a travel/landscape photographer myself and that's why Peter Lik is such a massive inspiration. Peter Lik's website is quite commercial, it has a lot of his work on there, but has a shop where you can buy his work and his books. It seems like his photography isn't necessaries about the meaning behind the photographs, but more about how aesthetically pleasing it is.  

Fergus Heron is the completely opposite of Peter Lik. Heron's website shows a limited amount of work and doesn't have much information. It is a very simplistic website and not commercial whatsoever. I like Heron's work because of his deadpan style. A lot of my work has contained deadpan photography and I always end up returning to Heron's work for inspiration. Fergus Heron also has quite a bit of landscape photography, which is my favourite genre. 

2. What sort of photographer do you think you are at the moment? What do you most enjoy photographing? What do you think you're good at?

As mentioned before, I want to be a landscape/travel photographer. Since being at Uni, I've been trying out a lot of different types and styles of photography, including fine art, band photography, portraiture, architecture etc, but I still am most enthusiastic about landscape and travel photography. I'd love to travel all over the world to build up a strong portfolio, but unfortunately I don' t have enough money for that. Another type of photography I really enjoy is nature: macro photography of insects and flowers. 

3. Where would you like to see your work the future? For example, galleries, magazines, bill boards books etc.

I would love to one day have my own gallery. But before I get there I could see my work in travel related magazines or maybe the travel section of newspapers. I would also love to make my own book in the future containing a project that I have been working on for several years. 

4. How does your current portfolio relate to the answers above?

My portfolio has been through a lot of changes in the past months. I'm trying to cut down the amount of photos I'm using and make it specifically on travel and nature seeing as those are my two main interests. 

5. How does your set brief project relate to the answers above and your current portfolio?

For my set brief project I'm looking at succession in Horsell Common, so how the landscape changes over time in a natural way. Although it doesn't have anything to do with travel, it relates to landscape photography. I'm taking the photographs in a deadpan style of photography so that relates back to Fergus Heron's work. 

Lecture 1

We started our first lecture looking at a few different photography websites. Daniel, my lecturer, mentioned that a lot of the photography websites nowadays are very simplistic and easy to navigate. We first looked at Edward Burtynsky (snapshot of the website to the right) . The website makes use of a very simple format. It contains all the relevant information eg a statement, his CV, how to contact him, a film he's made, books etc. The bottom section of his website shows all of his projects. When you click on one of the links under his 'work' section it opens a page with the first photo of the series and to the right a list of all the other photos. You can click on the photo and it opens in a new window to the size of your browser. This way you can look at all the detail within the photograph.

Next we looked at a website called Webber Represents. This website contains a whole range of photographers. Again, it's very simple and easy to navigate. The photo above shows the 'artist' section where you can see all the photographers on Webber Represents, and a small thumbnail showing you what type of work they do.

We specifically looked at Steve Harris. The photo to the right is the page that opens when you click on an artists' name. Again, it is incredibly simple to use. The text to the side is a little 'about' and below that are all of his projects. Daniel decided to show us Steve Harris because he has a unique way of showing his work. Instead of just having a photographic portfolio, he has also made a film, called 'gymnast' where he combines photography and film. Alongside that he also has a film about the film, showing how it was made. 

Following this, Daniel talked to us a bit more about portfolios. He explained that your portfolio shows a lot of things about the photography you enjoy doing, however, you blog shows more development of your work as well as work experience. Having the blog alongside your portfolio gives you more value as a photographer. It almost sounds like the blog is more of a CV. A lot of photographers have blogs now, and you will usually find a link on their website that redirects you to their blog. 

Lastly, we discussed the different types of portfolios: a website, a digital portfolio and a physical portfolio. When you have a website it's very easy to add new photos and make little changes. With a digital portfolio (usually saved as a PDF), it's still quite easy to change the layout or the order of your photographs, although it's more work. With a digital portfolio you can view the photos full size and you can make it interactive by adding website links. A negative about having a digital portfolio is the size of the file, you will probably not be able to email it to anyone so you'd have to use a different program such as dropbox or put it on a cd. Finally, the physical portfolio is great because you can see the quality of the photos when they are printed. However, you would have to put the photographs in sleeves so the prints don't get damaged. It's also a lot more expensive. 

http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/

http://www.webberrepresents.com

http://www.nowness.com/day/2012/5/30/1908/gymnast--in-motion

Professional Practice

I'm currently in my third year at the University of Portsmouth, studying photography. I set up this blog last year as part of a module called "Project Management". For this unit a group of students and myself had to create and organise our own exhibition. Together we had to find a venue, design a logo, advertise our exhibition and much more. This blog looked closely at all the steps we had to take in order to have a successful exhibition.

This year we have to continue our blogs in a unit called "Professional Practice". This unit is all about preparing us for a range of post graduate options - whether we want to be a freelance photographer, a photographers' assistant, work for a company, be a curator etc. It will consist of lectures, workshops and visiting speakers, all of which need to be documented on our blogs. By the end of this academic year we will have to have set up our own final year exhibition as well as have an online and/or physical portfolio, and lastly have a professional practice plan of 750 words basically explaining what we want to do when we're finished with our course.

This blog will both document my journey of deciding what direction of photography I want to go into, as well as academic research into other photographers and what I've learnt in the lectures. Next week Thursday we have an alumni day where past students will come in and explain what they have been up to since graduating. Our lecturers tell us these sorts of things are incredibly important as you can establish contacts and many students go on to assist various visiting speakers. We also have a couple days for visiting speakers, although not all of them have been confirmed yet.

The Result...

Sorry for not posting for a while, I hope everyone has had a lovely holiday and a great new year. When the exhibition finished we had to do a few finishing touches such as cover up the holes and repaint the walls. Joe, the owner, luckily had some paint left over so we were able to use his paint to cover the walls. We also split up all the money between us, including the £60 deposit we had £121.06 remaining which means £13.45 each. 

We also had enough time to look through the guest book and read all the messages people left behind. Here are a few: 

"The layout and use of the space is good. Beautiful pictures. Well done."

"Excellent Exhibition guys! We can see you've worked hard, your work is amazing. Hope it goes well."

"Congratulations to you all, we enjoyed your different interpretations. Best of luck for the future."

"Very interesting to see the different takes on the same subject."

"You have certainly made the most of the limited space. Some really interesting and well presented work. Very impressed with the professional looking concept poster. Well done everybody, you can be very proud of the achievement."

"Superb quality of work with great thought provoking images. All of the subjects are so different but they go very well together. Highly impressive selection of work. Well done."

"I really liked the exhibition. It is a nice cosy place which creates an intimate atmosphere. The nine mini exhibitions all have their own style, which keeps it interesting. I like that some pictures are small and others quite big. My favourite is Elaine's work, closely followed by Adam's and Hannah's. Looking forward to seeing more of your work!" 

Joe also left a message for us saying "Superb display of impressive works. All students work presents really well in the compact space available. The content of work is fascinating. drawing the viewer into a haze of visual indulgence. Soothing the soul and eviscerating the senses. Bloody nice people too! Don't be strangers!"  

The skills I learned from curating this exhibition has given me the confidence to approach the manager of the Fawcett Inn and ask whether I could hang up some work in the pub. The pub has been completely refurbished and they are trying to turn it into a student pub. This is the same pub where we had our pub quiz so I thought it would be a great opportunity for both me and them to hang up some work. After they looked at my portfolio they were very optimistic and offered me some space in the pub. I have been in contact with the pub as to how I should display my work and the pricing of the images. Hopefully it will all be set up by the end of January. Because I took that step forward and asked if I could display my photos, the manager started telling me she had photos taken of her daughter and her dog every year, but her usual photographer couldn't do it any more. She asked me whether I wanted to take some photographs of her child and asked me for a price! Before this unit, I never really thought about having my own gallery or a space to display my work, but I have changed my mind and in the future I am hoping to have my own gallery. 

Final day...

The third and final was another big success. Since we were open for longer and it was weekend, a lot more people were able to come to the exhibition. My family came and had a look through all of the work and wrote lovely messages in the guest book. Everyone got lots of compliments but the main thing that everyone wrote and spoke about was the variety of work - although everyone was given the same brief with the same theme, the work showed great diversity. 

The exhibition has come to an end now but it's been a lot of fun. We all had our ups and downs and worries but everything came together brilliantly. It was a very successful couple of days and only got compliments. I think the project has been a great learning experience, it has given me the confidence to one day have my own gallery. It taught us how to all collaborate together in order to create a fantastic exhibition and I wouldn't have been able to do it without my lovely Artea photography team. We also wouldn't have had been able to have such a successful exhibition without the tea ladies at "Mad About the Cake" so a big thanks goes out to them. 

Also a big thanks for all the people that showed up at our exhibition and to anyone else that has helped us along the way! 

Second day...

The second day was even better than the first. We were open from 1pm until 6pm, similar to the first day, and people already started to show up before we opened! It was lovely to see how many people came to the exhibition to admire our work. Most of the people that came were friends and family, although there were quite a few strangers that had come in to the exhibition (meaning the leaflets did pay off!). It turned out to be a fantastic day as I managed to sell one of my photos! Someone had come in and looked through my portfolio and decided he wanted to get one of my photos printed A4 and mounted. Someone also came up to me and asked my where I had gotten my portfolio from as she loved the professional finish of it. Later that day the people who let me take photos of their house came to the exhibition. It was wonderful to see them again and they loved the work. They noticed some details about their house that they had never seen before (the repetition of arches - even in the wine cellar) and they joked how their house "was actually very nice"! They told me some more history of the Nunnery and took some photographs of me beside my work. Overall it was another very successful day and I hope that the last day will be just as good. We will be open a couple hours longer to get some more people to come. 

Opening day...

The opening day was a great success. People started coming to the exhibition before we even opened! Quite a few people from the course came to see the gallery and a few parents. Joe (the owner of Ultraviolet) also came to view the gallery and brought along a friend who wants to study photography. One of the tea lady's friends also came to the gallery (mainly for the discounted tea and cake price) but she also admired our gallery. A few of my friends came to view the work as well so it was really enjoyable. Everyone stayed in the gallery most of the day, although we did leave in turns to go get some lunch. In the afternoon Joe came back with two bottles of wine which we could share among ourselves. 

To the right is a photo of some of the people in the group. Unfortunately not everyone was there for the picture both the Isle of Wight girls had work commitments so they had to leave. We had a guestbook which people could sign to tell us what they thought of our exhibition. Everyone wrote really nice and positive comments. Some people that came to the exhibition even showed interested in buying some of my photos - not only the ones on the wall but also some in my portfolio! They will come back tomorrow to have another look.

Overall the first day was a great success. The second day will hopefully be just as successful. I know that quite a few peoples parents are coming and some more of my friends are coming so I hope it will be a good turnout. 

Time Lapse 2...

Time Lapse...

Tom decided it would be a great idea to create a time lapse of the exhibition to show the progression of the set up. He will create two time lapses for the two days we will be setting up. The first one is below - it looks at the first day of setting up. As you can see I put up my work! There was a lot of standing around and discussing what should go where. We want each piece to have its own space and to stand out just as much as the next piece, so coming up with the idea of who is going to hang their work up where was quite a difficult task. A couple weeks ago some people from the group had already created a rough layout of the exhibition, but having the photographs in the exhibition itself, rather than pieces of blank paper roughly the same size, is obviously a massive difference. We had to change a few pieces around as the measurements given weeks ago weren't the same as the ones now. In the end we managed to sort out where everyone would hang their work and how much space they had to spare.

Venue...

I visited the venue today to help prepare for the opening day. The work is slowly starting to be put on the walls and the gallery space is gradually filling up. There are two large tables at the front which the tea ladies will be using and there is one small coffee table. Tomorrow two chairs will be brought to the gallery for the tea ladies, as well as two more coffee tables. Everyone's books and portfolios will be displayed on the small tables so people can look at the work on the wall while also looking at the bigger picture. 

I managed to get the wall space I wanted! I really wanted to have the wall on the right of the gallery and have my prints close to the middle, and that's where I ended up hanging my work! The other photographs that will be displayed are quite a bit larger than my photos. Originally I wanted to have A3 sized prints but since the gallery was so small I had to make some changes in how I wanted to display the work. My photographs have now ended up being the smallest photos in the gallery! I am a bit worried about this as I don't want my images to get lost between all the other photos. In order to prevent this I have made the colours quite bold and have made a square format which should stand out against the rest. I also added the piece of text I posted a while ago to have a bit more space on the wall.

I also met the tea ladies today! They came round to the exhibition to have a look at where they will be serving the tea for three days. They were very enthusiastic about helping us and will be bringing some covers for the tables as well as some cooler bags and a supply of water. Tomorrow the tea ladies will be coming by again to drop off some of the supplies. Only two more days until our opening day!!

Social Networking...

Because the exhibition is only 3 days away, it is very important that our social networking sites are constantly updated and our website is complete. I am still in charge of updating facebook and twitter and have been posting little updates every now and then to keep people interested. I have been promoting everyone's blogs as well as the pub quiz and the bake sales. Other than that I add the website to the posts and have little count downs to the opening night. I try and post/tweet a variety of different things so I don't keep repeating myself. Along with that I am also trying to promote the group as much as I can by posting about it in my status or posting my blog on facebook. 

On twitter I have managed to get 41 followers! Quite impressive since I had never even been on a twitter page before this project started. Again on there I am posting everyone's blog and adding little tweets promoting all the other pages we have. 

Tom is in charge of the website but it has been a bit of a mission to get everything on there. The only things we are missing at the moment ar Tom's gallery, most of Kate information, Naomi's about me, and Adam's profile photo. It is a bit of a shame the website isn't finished because we have been promoting it on our leaflets and social networking sites. Hopefully we'll be able to have the website completed by Thursday.

Here are the links:

Website: http://www.arteaphotography.net

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Artea-Photography-Exhibition/180153982067439

Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/events/227905713937897/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/arteaexhibition

Portfolio...

I think the presentation of the portfolio is just as important as the photographs that you put in there so I wanted to get a cover that could protect my work, but also looked professional. I bought the cover in the photo to the right from Staples for about £16. It has a hard cover but has a layer of softer material around it so it feels nice and does the job of protecting my work. Inside are 24 see though wallets where I will put my photographs in. I only have 40 pages so somehow I will have to add some more photographs or pieces of writing. I want to fill up the whole folder otherwise it will look like it isn't finished. On the inside of the front cover is a little pocket where I have put some business cards to promote myself. The first page starts off with an "about me" and from then on every page has photographs. The book finishes with a photograph of me and my contact details. 

I ordered the photographs from a company called photobox because I love the quality of the prints and at the time they had a 50% discount on all 8x10 photos. I received the photos the day after I ordered them but it appeared that the text was slightly cut off. This was quite worrying as it was getting so close to the exhibition date. I spoke to photobox about it and they let me print the photographs again with free delivery! The second time round they look much better. The portfolio shows off a lot of different themes of photography that I have tested while being at Uni, but it does explain the type of photography I want to do. My portfolio will be at the exhibition alongside the smaller books so when you're there feel free to browse though it!

Portfolio...

I want to have an A4 sized portfolio that features all of my photography and includes lots of different themes, but I also want to have something that shows off the photography that I want to do in the future. This is Travel/Landscape and Wildlife photography. I am not doing these kinds of photos for the University as it is a bit expensive to travel for every project we have to do and wildlife doesn't match any of our set themes. I printed off these two books from truprint. They were only £5.99 each but since I was able to get a 50% discount code from them, I got both of them for £5.99! Incredibly cheap - I wasn't really expecting too much from them, but to my surprise they came out amazingly well. The quality is beautiful and the book has very thick paper making the photos look even nicer. I am really happy with how they turned out and am going to make a book like this for a couple more themes (once I have enough photos to make a book). I will be displaying these at the exhibition as well as my A4 portfolio and if people are interested in buying these they would be £10 each (I have to make a bit of profit!)

Leaflets...

I have managed to collect all the different leaflets by the other groups on the course. All of them have turned out very different from one another - none of the look similar in the slightest! The only similarity between them is the size. Everyone has chosen A5 leaflets. The bottom right leaflet by 10 Degrees South is on very thick paper whereas the other 3 are on thin paper and are a lot more flimsy. Not only are all the leaflets different, all of the exhibitions will be completely different from one another. 14 metres squared are going to be exhibiting in Bonzo Studios on Albert Road. They will have free drinks and food and will have a green wall they have to work around. Some have framed photos and other are having installations. They will also have live music. The Big Picture are displaying their work in a cinema in Old Portsmouth. They will have the big screen (hence the name) and will also have visiting speakers and short clips of photographs explaining their work. The final group is called 10 Degrees South. I know the least about their exhibition. All I know is that they will be having their exhibition in the Round Tower in Old Portsmouth. 

For more information about any of these exhibition here are the links to their website:

14metres squared: http://www.wix.com/14meterssquared/territories

The Big Picture: http://thebigpicture2011.co.uk/

10 Degrees South: http://www.10degreessouthphoto.com/

Meeting...

There was a meeting on the 1st of December at the venue itself to discuss the last bits and pieces that still need to be sorted. Some of the people in the group hadn't seen the venue yet, so it was a good opportunity for them to have a look at the venue and get a feel of the place. The main decisions made were about when we wanted to hang up the work and when we were going to move in the furniture. Because we still have to attend lectures this week, we are having to work around that, this means that people will be putting up their work both on Tuesday and Wednesday. The furniture will be brought to the venue on Tuesday so by Thursday everything should be finished!

We finally managed to get the name of the tea ladies helping us, they are called "Mad About the Cake". They will be coming round to the exhibition sometime this week to have a look at the place. We are in the process of getting a small refrigeration for the tea ladies, but we haven't managed to get a hold of one. Worst case scenario we will put the milk outside. As there is an issue of running water in the venue - not having any - the tea ladies suggested that they could bring their own bottled water. They are being incredibly helpful and we owe them a big thanks. 

Dominic was responsible for getting an ad in the University magazine, Pugwash, unfortunately we didn't get an ad, however he managed to get something even better! Someone on the Pugwash team is going to write an article covering our exhibition in the next issue!

The risk assessment has also been finished. There are 6 pages in total with possible risks although most of them are very low risks such as wearing appropriate shoes (I am willing to risk this, but I think I will be wearing high heels), sweep the floor before opening, hang the photos at a level that is out of reach for young children etc.

Another subject that was discussed is a dress code. We all feel it is important to wear something smart casual as it is an exhibition, but we are trying to create an intimate feel to it.

I can't wait until the opening day. We have worked so hard to get to this point, it will be amazing to see the final result and to see what other people think of the gallery.