Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize...

For the last leg of my journey in London, I thought it would be a respectable place to go to the National Portrait Gallery. From looking online at galleries a week or so ago, I found out that the best selected and winners for the Taylor Wessing Prize were exhibited here over the winter. I was drawn towards this exhibition because it offered me the chance to see sixty unique images by some of the most exiting contemporary portrait photographers from around the world. Many styles had been approached throughout the gallery, from people exploring editorial, advertising and fine art compositions. This year over 6,000 submissions were sent to be judged. When I was there I have also signed up for the mailing list for when photographs can be submitted for this year, as It would be good to say I had entered competitions.

The above scan shows the ticket for which I went to see the gallery.

Family Portrait van der Borch van Verwolde taken in February 2011.

This photograph was taken by Ilya Van Marle and comes from a series of family portraits of the Van Der Borch household. It was inspired by stories from the family's past and whose connections to their history are slight but present. The photographer studied at the Royal Academy of Art and has had many exhibitions in London and the Netherlands. I believe the image tells its own story; a posh family in the day who lived in peace.  The only problem I have is that I don't think the image is over appealing, I have the feeling that the judges would have looked at and also based their opinion on the artists background as well as the photograph itself.

"Johnny" captured by Ziv Katz in May 2011.

The portrait above is part of a documentary project that focuses on the Wadi Nisnas area of Haifa in Israel. Haifa is a mixed race but mainly consists of inhabited Arabs. Ziv Katz mentioned in the statement below the picture that photographing the Arabic community was challenging but very intriguing. She was particularly interested in capturing the lives and culture of the young children. I really like the image above and I think the structure has been composed well. It tells the story of a boy still caring for his dog in a run down town.

A photograph of Cerith Wyn Evans in October 2011.

British photographer Mark Blower was born in 1974 and studied fine art at Bath School of Art and Design. Afterwards he worked as a photographic assistant before setting up his own studio space. The portrait shows the Cerith Wyn, an artist whose practices include instillation, sculpture, film and text. He made a big name for himself by representing Wales in the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003 and this photograph was taken after he had performed at the Serpentine Map Marathon. In my opinion this photograph does not seem to be anything special. As well as this there were some other famous faces in the gallery of which one included Peter Crouch. 

I felt that the gallery was good, nevertheless I was slightly disappointed because I had not seen anything that had taken my breathe away or given me huge inspiration. All of the photographed seemed to be everyday postures in usual places, I suppose I was expecting something different. I thought that anyone could have taken some of those pictures, and perhaps the judging was slightly biased because they seemed to have judged the photographers background as much as the photograph itself. All in All, I had seen two very inspirational galleries throughout today and I didn't this one to bring my mood down.

David Hockney: A Bigger Picture..

After seeing the gallery of photographs at the Natural History Museum, I then moved onto the Royal Academy of Arts. Here was the brand new exhibition to the public eye of David Hockney's most recent work which also included some of his old popular studies. I thought it would be a good idea to look out of my medium for a change, I had heard and researched David Hockney previously in my last year of A-Level art but didn't know too much about him. I knew the majority of people either loved or hated his work style. It was a brand new exhibition that only opened its doors the day before I went to look, no wonder why it was so busy. I was very lucky to have even seen the exhibition because many of the insurance groups did not want to cover the cost of so many of his works. I found out near the end it was funded by the government and there was huge security inside. Luckily I managed to sneakily get some photographs on my phone without them knowing.

One of the many postcards I picked up at the David Hockney Exhibition.

I bought a set of postcards at the end of the visit in the shop. I felt I wanted to take a bit of something away to remind me of what a brilliant time I had looking at the gallery. The postcard I scanned in above was by far my most favorite pieces of oil on canvas I saw at his gallery. Much of his work like this was on a vast scale and consisted of 8 canvases. They had been all placed together and the lines between them acted as a structure. This went and fitted along side with the many lines used upon his paintings to draw the viewers eye around the composition. Each canvas was 91.4 x 121.9 cm. This particular piece was created in 2007 and entitled "Three Trees near Thixendale". It was hanging in the first room as part of a series of seasons. I thought this nevertheless resembled my favorite time of the year when the trees are bare. Much of my A-Level and this years work had focused on bare lonely trees. It was incredible to be able to stand half a meter away from the paintings, you could even witness his brushstrokes.

The second set of imagery that I managed to capture on my phone was in room 4. This consisted of wstercolours and first oil paintings from observation. This was in contrast to much of his old work when using photography as a medium and then painting from that. His study of the historical use of lenses and mirrors led him to argue that the camera has influenced the composition of paintings for the past six centuries, an insight that is important to understanding these first Yorkshire works painted from observation. This is interesting because I agree with him. A photograph whether it is digital or film would never look the same as real life. It is similar to viewing a painting from a book or online, it doesn't compare to anything as seeing it for real; hence this was why I was blown away with his exhibition. I think it really worked well with having two types of series' next to each other because one set was very subtle and this set that I photographed was very bold and vibrant. I could see myself being really influenced by this guy, I had previously done art from photographs in the landscape and a huge interest in trees and other parts of the countryside had inspired me upon my photography.

"The Arrival of Spring" theme consisted of a wide range of work from oil to iPads.

The next room was all about "The Arrival of Spring" in East Yorkshire in 2011. This consisted of 51 large scale paintings done in oil. This also consisted of some iPad drawings done each day of one of the months. I was particularly interested in this very large painting which was placed on centre stage. The canvases just show how big they are when placed next to the people. I believe this painting was called "Tunnel" because he was fascinated by the dense growth of the trees enclosing the track to create a covered walkway. Many of Hockney's paintings are bold and vibrant and consist of a path or lines that take your eye throughout the composition.

A series of short films created by David Hockney and his nine cameras.

In the final space of the 13 rooms was a a film based recording. Hockney drove slowly through areas of woodland in Yorkshire with nine cameras  attached to the bonnet of his jeep. He directed the film from the back seat using a grid on nine monitors to "draw" a scene. The screens here are shown paired together across eighteen screens. Every camera was very different and did not connect to the one surrounding it. It gave different points of perspective to the scenery to enhance the view. The film was very unusual, and took time to try and figure out how and what it was all about. He carried on with a similar theme of seasons as shown above but also took a modern take on things and did a film showing some people dancing. Very unusual and a great way to end the exhibition.

This was by far one of the best art exhibitions I had ever seen. Even though I did not know much about him before I now know a lot more about his ideas and why he creates his simple childlike paintings that people either love or hate. Is this just because Hockney has made a name for himself? Anyhow, the exhibition inspired me even though it is a varied medium to what I am doing at the moment. I was interested in the way in some rooms he was looking at the life of trees and then in the next he was painting trees that had been cut down. This is similar to some of my darkroom work that I did this year as in the same composition I am contrasting the life and death of two trees. In another image I am debating to myself whether the tree had naturally fallen over or man had cut it down.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2011...

From looking on the internet I found out about this huge competition and exhibition held in London over the winter. I wanted to be the one of the first to look at it, nevertheless I had not had the time over Christmas. The temporary gallery was set up at the Natural History Museum and was on until 11th March 2012. I went to see more that 100 prize winning photographs of 17 categories all captured last year. This is a worldwide competition and it is considered the most prestige of its kind, attracting all ages; because of this I was not surprised it was heaving with people.

The image above shows the student ticket I purchased for this event.

The exhibition involved photogenic plants, fascinating animals and dramatic landscapes. I noticed though that a key component to the show was the stories which accompanied the photographs. It did not just seem to be about the photograph but also the dedication that was submitted. For example in some of the images they were faced with life or death as huge mammals were charging towards them. It was a truly impressive photography exhibition and took my breathe away, just like many of the other visitors. Nevertheless the fact that it was called "Wildlife" Photographer of the Year put me off originally as I would have preferred to have gone to the Landscape Photographer of the Year which was next to Tate Modern although I did not have enough time and had to pay. On the other hand it did not contain just wildlife but all kinds of insects, birds, animals and traditional landscape sceneries.

Photograph taken by Eric Pierre of charging muskoxen in Canada.

I tried my best to capture some of the photographs from the exhibition even though I was told off later to display on my blog. The photograph above displayed on a digital display goes back to what I was talking about previously. The image was captured by Eric Pierre and entitled "The Charge." He had been tracking Arctic wolves in Canada when he spotted a herd of muskoxen approaching. He noticed the herd was nervous and this was probably because the wolves were on their trail. Eric mentioned in the statement below the image, "It was one of those situations where it really mattered that I made the right choice between technical accuracy, aesthetics - and security." It was shot using a Nikon D700 with a 500mm lens, 1/2000 second at f8 ISO 400. I think this image is incredible and in my opinion deserved to win the category, although it came runner up in "Behavior of Mammals"

The image was captured by Daniel Jara in the Patagonian woodscape.

Once again I was drawn to this runner up with an inspirational photograph of Patagonian woods. Daniel Jara had been trekking across the Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina  and became engaged with the colours and textures of the sub Antarctic woodland that surrounded the glacier. He was intrigued between the relationship between the skeleton trees and the autumn colours. I think the final touch is added by the windswept snowflakes as they lead your eye all around the image from right to left. A Nikon D300 with a 70-200mm lens was used with a shutter speed of 1/10 at f16. I expect he would have also used a polarizing filter because when I am shooting trees I like to get the contrast and bring the tree foreground forward, It makes the colours more vibrant as well. I was really inspired by this photograph and I had to stand for a while to take it in. A simple composition could have been taken by anyone but captured to perfection at the right time of day and with unusual weather.

A sad story but really shows "The Assassin" of the snipe by Steve Mills.

This photograph was taken in the severe freeze in the UK in December 2010. It caused major problems for british birds, and even secretive birds were forced to roam around. Steve located a tiny patch of exposed grass near where he lived in Whitby and waited. He knew that a bird would have to come sometime. He next saw a snipe emerge trying to feed frantically. I know from experience that a snipe would normally be more cautious. Within moments later a merlin pin pointed the snipe and swooped to collect it, taking a few rapid blows to the head, the attack was unexpected. Steve said, "I was overjoyed to find I had captured the moment, but I also felt great sympathy for the loser." I totally agree with him, a brilliant shot and deserved to be the winner for this category of behavior of birds.

Motion is shown from photographer Jan van der Greef.

This photograph was taken in the Netherlands. Jan was captivated by herring gulls and wanted to get a picture of them, he crouched down low in his boat and concentrated on a single bird. Once the gull started to fly off he panned his camera horizontally using a slow shutter speeds and captures the wing dynamics. The soft lighting and shimmering stream of water from its legs almost symbolizes the transition of freedom for the gull itself.  I thought this image would fit in with my theme about movement and long shutter speeds. This was because something is not what it seems when it is viewed in a varied perspective. The shot was captured with a Canon EOS 1D with a 70-200mm lens at 1/6 second, f14 and ISO 200.


I had really enjoyed looking at this exhibition in the Natural History Museum and I got to see more than I expected; I certainly underestimated the gallery before going. This was one of the best exhibitions I had been to over the past year or so. My breathe was truly taken away at some points as I could not believe what I was seeing. After seeing this exhibition it certainly makes me want to carry on doing photography later in life.

Exhibitions in London...

On Sunday 22nd January I thought it would be a good idea to go up to London to go and see some new exhibitions that had started in the last few weeks. I thought It would be the ideal time because with Interviews approaching very soon, I knew they were bound to ask me what exhibitions I had seen recently. I stated on my UCAS personal statement that I was often going to local galleries and ones in London. Nevertheless I had not been to London in a while. Going a few weeks before my interview stages kicked in, it would mean that I could talk more easily as it would be more fresh to remember.

Final Personal Statement for UCAS

I have been fanatical about photography for some years now, with my interest sparked after viewing some fantastic beach scenes in local areas. Taking “snaps” as a hobby then became more serious, feeling a passionate need to study it further. Now I don’t know where I would be without a camera.

Undertaking a Foundation Course has given me the opportunity to widen my practise further by exploring and understanding more aspects of what can be achieved in photography. I have also learnt to think more creatively.

Group work within the foundation course is hugely beneficial. During peer discussions we have explored various methods of experimentation to produce different outcomes. Sessions like these have developed my confidence and ability to take more risks and given me the confidence to look outside of my comfort zone.

Spending a significant amount of time reflecting on my area of practice through attending various exhibitions both in my local area and London has also developed my ability. Each year I attend “Viva Artis” an exhibition that showcases a huge variety of indoor and environmental artwork. This has provided me with a wider and more varied perspective that I am able to put into my practise. Working with these more experimental approaches, that in the past I would not have considered, has allowed me to develop further photographic styles.

A key influence for me so far has been landscape scenery. Photographers like Martin Stavars and Michael Kenna really excite and inspire me with their ability to convey isolated trees and beaches using long exposures. I am a very “free” spirit and love to immerse myself in the natural environment. Having great dedication and patience, allows me to spend hours observing for a potential shot. I consider myself very thoughtful and open minded.

At the moment I am eager to explore long shutter speeds of the landscape. In the past this has mainly consisted of trees and static objects, revealing the surroundings of which is moving. Though I continue to love working with trees and beaches I am starting to work in contrast. I now find myself exploring much busier places, often involving people, to capture “transformation” through movement within the environment. Interestingly these two outcomes can often appear similar. This is intriguing and carries me further. I want to convey images that look distorted, or as if something was missing. At the same time I want to emerge myself within these surroundings and almost become part of the landscape itself. Poetry often flows when reflecting on my work.

My practise has progressed rapidly since starting the Foundation Course, refining those skills and techniques gained from both A level photography and fine art. I have enjoyed all aspects of experimenting in the darkroom, and yet also very interested in digital and HDR exposures with the ability to edit them.

I have a keen interest in hiking and have gained both bronze and silver Duke of Edinburgh awards. Adventurous activities are part of my nature, from kayaking to knowing how to survive in the wild, I enjoy a challenge. As a scout leader my communication and leadership role has grown over the past three years.

I am extremely keen to undertake the BA in photography as this will provide me with greater skills, knowledge and experience in a subject I love. I would also have the opportunity to work with and be inspired by other undergraduate students as well as being taught by experienced lecturers from the university. This would be a further piece added to my jigsaw of a career in the fantastic world of photography.

Self Assessment for Poster One (Pathway Stage)

Self Assessment for Poster One (Pathway)

NAME: Sutton Auckett

TUTOR: Eric

VIVA GROUP: Cage

1.      What is your current area of interest (be specific and refer to themes, materials, methods etc.) (Min 100 words)

At the moment I am eager to look at and explore further the use of long shutter speeds and exposures in the landscape. This has mainly consisted of trees and static objects up till now, revealing the environment which is around in cycle. Recently I have been drawn to expand this technique further from taking a look at a contrasting angle of objects or people moving within the environment. I want to convey images that look distorted or as if something was missing. At the same time I want to emerge myself within these surroundings and almost become part of the landscape itself.

2.      Reflect on what you are planning to explore and develop over the next six weeks (min 75 words)

Over the next six weeks I will be going out and taking further photographs within various settings and weather conditions. I find that the best conditions for long exposures are grey and overcast days, which enables the camera to work for a longer amount of time, capturing more movement still with a similar aperture size. I would also like to experiment and find out whether a really long exposure would look better than one that was not quite so long, and what the difference in the final result would be. I intend to capture vast sceneries with my digital SLR as well as my film camera; developing and experimenting in the darkroom using dodging and burning. It would be good to play around with darkroom prewashing as well.

3.      What do you intend to do next year, why and where?

Next year I intend on going further up the education line. I want to carry on and improve my knowledge and skills in the subject area of which I love, as well as gaining experience from other practitioners and lecturers. Plymouth would probably be my first choice; nevertheless I think it is important for me to live near the coast as I have grown up in this kind of environment and is a huge inspiration for me. Having a countryside surrounding near the university would be great, because It would mean that I would be free to wonder and explore the natural environment in hiking and taking shots. I feel a strong need to pursue Photography as more than just a hobby.

Bardsey Island - Birds and Wildlife on the welsh Island of Saints..

This evening I attended a talk at Arundel Wildlife Wetland Centre. It involved a lecture about a very small island off the coast of Wales. The talk was given by Andre Cleave, an environmental enthusiastic. Over the years much of his time had been spent on concrete writing,  photography and tours leading around the world. These included guides of trees, wild floers, seashore life and birds. He is highly respected by the National trust and RSPB groups, as well as being appointed and MBE in 1995 for services to environmental education. Andrew has travelled all over the world, mainly in Europe but also parts of the Mediterranean region and Galapagos. I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to attend a talk and pay simply £2.50.


The Island of Bardsey is associated with "The island of currents". It is roughly two miles off the coast of Lleyn Peninsula and from what Andrew was saying it is hard to get to and back. Nevertheless it is considered a pilgrimage for many wildlife photographers because it provides an island formed of natural stopping for off site migrant birds all year round. I was told it was such a small island that in fact it only covered an area of approximately 440 acres of land. An island also know for the deaths of twenty thousand saints buried underground; many people used to move to the island to die a long time ago. 

The image shows the vast minority of Bardsey Island

Many of the birds Andrew Cleave talked about I had never heard of before. Nevertheless I felt that I needed to start somewhere if I had an interest n wildlife. I was told that land birds such as blue tits and woodpeckers were not important on the island, as rarely came. On the other hand I was shown fantastic photographs taken by himself of red shank, oyster catchers and yellow wagtales, all of which were becoming scarce in breed. Turnstones were one of the common passage migrants he had seen from many of his visits to the island. They were winter visitors and few lingered during the summer period. They feed on seaweed to get iodine and other minerals, as soon as they start to fatten up they move on.


It was really interesting to find out that Bardsey Island was actually one of the few bird observatories in the UK. All of the sites contribute important data on migration and population for many species; large numbers of birds are caught and ringed every year. A desolated place with no population but only a few workers to run the wildlife centre. A lighthouse is also kept running and it was incredible to hear that it was the only square lighthouse in Britain. Although it is most notorious for killing birds because of its brightness and shock to the birds when flying to migrate.


Andrew then went on in the second half of the lecture to talk about life by the water. A main factor was about wildlife by the sea. Bardsey Island has a colony of about 100 pairs of razorbills and can live to up to 50 years. They regularly return to the same rock they laid their eggs and only one large egg is laid every year. Very interesting because the egg is not looked after particularly well just left with no nest etc. 300 Guillemots and many puffins can also be found on steep slopes. The final breed he was very interested in talking about was the Manx Shearwaters. These birds waddle along because their feet are too far back from their body. They also come back to the same nest every year in the summer and migrate to places like Brazil in our winter. A single egg is incubated for up to 40 years and live along time after when hatched. Other birds that do the same are storm petrels. He went on to talk about rare wild  fungi and  wild mushrooms that could be found.

The image of a razorbill perched on a rock at Bardsey Island

A magnificent bird that I discovered from
Andrew. The photograph shows how the
Manx Shearwater is having trouble walking

From looking at the slideshow I was really intrigued and amazed about how desolated a place could be. I thought this talk would tie in with my kind of project brief because I have looked at desolated places and trees before. I think living on this island would also give a sense of loneliness of which I try and convey my photographs. I really enjoyed myself simply listening for a few hours and hope to return for another lecture about a different subject sometime soon.

An influential Website I found..

Today I was searching around the world wide web, trying to find artists with a similar nature to me. I came across this website called "Photoslaves". A site that seems to be updated rarely, that works in the form of a blog. Nevertheless since looking on this website it has opened me up to photographers that I have never even heard of. As well as including information and pictures about Michael Kenna and Matin Stavars (two of my favorite photographers), it also includes many more who use long shutter speeds. 

Here I have found Adam Clutterbuck a landscape photographer who seeks out strong and stripped down compositions. He was grown up in the west of Cornwall so it is not surprising many of his images are taken at the coast. 

Another Photographer is David Burdeny who makes his own black and white prints in makeshift darkrooms under his bedroom closet. Once again he uses long shutter speeds to capture the movement of water and the land. Stunning compositions captured on medium format cameras.

This website has been one of my favorites to look at during the course of this year.

http://photoslaves.com/

http://photoslaves.com/gallery/