Home Exhibition Catalogue

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Bill Jackson Mandy Williams Marysia Lachowicz HOME Exhibition catalogue includes an interview with the photographers

description

Home 21 October to 6 November 2010 Private view: Thursday 21 October, 2010, 6-8pm Exhibiting photographers: Bill Jackson, Marysia Lachowicz and Mandy Williams An exhibition of photographs revealing domestic spaces by Mandy Williams, Marysia Lachowicz and Bill Jackson. “Home” brings together three unique projects that explore time, place, memoryand experience. Mandy Williams, Marysia Lachowicz and Bill Jackson take an intimate approach to the familiar, telling the stories of people through the places they occupy.

Transcript of Home Exhibition Catalogue

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Bill JacksonMandy Williams

Marysia Lachowicz

HOMEExhibition catalogue includes

an interview with the photographers

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Photographs by:

Bill [email protected] Mandy [email protected] Marysia [email protected]

Interview by:

Julie [email protected]

Kathleen [email protected]

Curated by:

Louise [email protected]

Edited by:

Kathleen [email protected]

Design by:

Mandana [email protected]

Also available as a colour, e-publication:www.viewfinder.org.uk/shop

Published by:

Viewfinder Photography Gallery52 Brixton VillageLondon SW9 8PS

www.viewfinder.org.uk

First published October 2010

© The artists and authors.The views expressed in thispublication are not necessarilythe views of the publisher orthe editors.

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Bill [email protected]

These images are from the ongoing series, Biographca. They are large format panoramic photographs of people in their chosen place. The rooms are as I find them. Each portrait is documented as to where and when the picture is taken. Accompanying the images are short biographies. They are in fact two pictures taken side by side with a 5 x 4 field camera, set up for landscape work, which means that my sitters have to keep very still for at least a 1 second exposure, sometimes 3 or 4 seconds. In that time a different energy overcomes the sitter, very much like meditation. They become part of the room. I am not looking for a 'decisive moment' in the portrait but more of a reflection of time. They are social documents of now, hence the record keeping of when and where. They are also a record of how people live and work and the personal spaces they occupy, for the future. They themselves almost become part of the furniture and objects in those spaces. Only one space is selected, but several pictures are taken to ensure that my sitters have not moved. It is not easy for people to sit still. As with all photography, there is an element of voyeurism involved. You are looking into these peoples personal spaces. All my work is a form of social documentation - objects, people, spaces. It can be all three together or a combination.

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Interview withBill Jacksonby Kathleen Brey

Who were the people you chose to photograph for Biographca? What drew you to them in particular as sitters?What draws me in is firstly the people themselves. Meeting or knowing people I am attracted to, not just their physical appearance, but also as people, interests me. Very often I meet people in their own personal space and this drives me to see how I can explore the connection between the two. At first you start with people you know which can be an extensive list. They are also more forgiving in the initial stages of the project while you work out a methodology of approach.

Have you ever thought of the images in Biographca series as landscapes, alternatively to portraits?Yes they are, hence the panoramic format. When I set the picture up, the space is the primary focus. Very often there is only one place in which to shoot the picture. I see it as a landscape, if you will. A stage for a performance by the sitter. The spaces are first photographed so that they work as a container, a view, a window in which you are allowed to ‘peek’ through. Once this has been explored and decided upon, my sitters are invited to join in. The technical restraints of working in often cramped conditions, using available light only and wholly dependent on that light, forces the sitter to in the main sit. Standing is not a possibility in photographs taken inside. Due to a long exposure of anything between 1 second and 3/4 seconds, the sitters have to remain perfectly still. This I try to keep to a minimum so that I do not take up the sitters time unnecessarily.I take several photographs so that in at least one of the pictures, the sitters will have remained still. This exposure time can bring an element to the sitter not found in an instant or in a flashed photograph. Time itself seems to stand still.

What was the most compelling aspect of photographing Biographica with a 5 x 4 field camera?I suppose the panoramic format printed at a large scale. It wasn’t until I printed them over 1 meter wide that something else came into play which was not evident on screen or in a smaller print form. I want to explore the prints as life size prints. What happened was that as large scale prints the viewer is suddenly aware of looking through a ‘peephole’. This is why they work unframed. You arelooking through a hole in a wall not as a framed object. It was an

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illusion that until you actually saw it in action you could not have imagined it.

Did the places where you found your sitters feel welcoming to you? Did you come across a place that was particularly inviting or uninviting? I have never felt unwelcome when taking these pictures. If I feel this to be the case then I don’t take my interest further. It has to be a comfortable relationship between me and the sitter otherwise it doesn’t work. It’s a collaboration.

How does the medium of photography work well to express your ideas for Biographica and how does it fail your intentions? The camera is my tool of choice. It always has been. I sometimes wish I could paint or draw but the pencil, although an amazing device, does not excite me as much as a camera lens. If there is a failure it is on my behalf in not being clear about my intentions. I have always worked on previsualization and I look outside of the camera more than through the lens. The click of the camera is the final act of your visualization. The camera is only a tool and not the creative decision maker that people think it is. It is what makes the camera lens exciting.

Did you have a clear intent when you began your project or did it come together over time? In my early days as a photographer I worked the streets before exploring ideas in a more formal setting, which I did with a major project taken in the early 1980s. These were large photographs of people at work, at home and at play. They were a social document, which is how I still see myself, a social historian with a camera. Twenty five years on I wanted to pick up this idea that I had back then, but wanted the work to be evident showing I had moved on in that time. There was no point in doing the same thing digitally. So for a couple of years I played around with my camera to see how this might materialize. When I discovered this panoramic system I immediately knew what it was going to be used for. ‘The Man Who Shot Weegee’ was my first. The next couple of portraits sorted out how I was going to make it into a feasible project. Technically it is very demanding of both me and my sitters, But I have now figured out a methodology that seems to work.

What was your biggest challenge in producing this body of work? The biggest challenge, it was always the case and still is, is my natural shyness and how to overcome this. When I started in photography it was as a voyeur, an easy position to take. Talking to people and exploring them is difficult for someone who likes to

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watch the world from a more secret position. I am more comfortable in the shadows then in the light.

Is the "home", whatever that might be for someone, a sacred place?Yes, but we might interpret sacred in different ways. We all need our own space. It’s why we leave home as teenagers to create our own environments, whatever they may be or however comfortable they are, we need this personal space. Crowd people together without allowing them this space will create tension and ultimately violence. That space can just be a few feet around a chair to whole landscapes.

Can photography truthfully document time? I suppose we like to think so as we are fascinated by old photographs which seem to document a time but maybe not time itself. We are always surprised when we discover a dateline for a picture. In one way it can never really give us everything. That is why I left stills work for 20 years to work with the moving image, with interactive text and installation. I felt that photography in a modern world was not able to cope with an increasing desire for information. Hence the series’ title ‘Biographica’. Alongside each photograph is a mini biography of the sitter. Just a few words that give you a little more information on the sitter. Also each photograph is datelined and timelined. They are photographs for the future that also have a relevance of today. So often I see photographs which tell me nothing more than what I see. I always want to know who that baker was and what happened to him in that August Sander photograph taken so many years ago. Maybe its just me, but I want to know more.

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Mandy [email protected]

The series is called 'Inside', a selection of black and white infra-red images shot within the home that focus on the openings between inside and outside space. It aims to show how the physicality of the home and its emotional pull draws you in – what if you could just stay inside for a while and let the house provide for all your needs, contemplate, be quiet, discover all its idiosyncrasies, retreat and take refuge? Inspired by the J.G Ballard story, ‘The Enormous Space’, and the film, ‘Home’, written and directed by Richard Curson-Smith, 'Inside' explores the boundaries between retreat, refuge and withdrawal.

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Interview withMandy Williamsby Julie Ferrif

What got you first thinking about using your home as a photography project?I had recently moved into my current home and it was all very new. I felt like I really wanted to stay inside and examine it thoroughly and not leave the house. At the same time, I watched this short film, “Home”, inspired by the J.G Ballard story, “The Enormous Space”, and the idea of home as sanctuary/refuge/cell took more shape.

What is the nature of the relationship you have with the place these pictures were taken?Home still is a sanctuary/refuge and cell. Sometimes the pull to stay indoors is very strong.

Do you think the individual photographs work to form an entire image of a place?I hope so. It is more about the psychology of being in a particular place and how that home and the person within it relates to the external world.

Did you photograph various rooms of the dwelling or was your focus on one particular room?The focus was the openings between inside and outside space.

Do the resulting pictures fit with the idea and the feelings that you have towards the dwelling?Many of my recent projects have focused on the domestic home. There has always an element of autobiography in the work, but there are a lot of other influences as well, in this case a film from a J.G Ballard story.

How do you explain the absence of human figure in this work?The focus is on the opening between inside and outside space - I never felt that a human figure was necessary in this work.

How do you feel showing a private or intimate subject like “home” to the public?Most work reveals something about the person who created it. As a viewer, I find it more interesting to look at work that reveals something personal about the artist.

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Is there a voyeuristic dimension in your project?Not in this particular project, but I have produced other photographic and video work that explores voyeurism.

How does this work fit in the context of your artistic practice?Thematically it fits with many of my previous and current projects. I'm continually exploring the idea of home. Earlier this year I produced ‘Lost Voices’, a photography and audio work about memories in abandoned spaces and am just completing ‘Inside’, a short video filmed from the street at dusk that captures everyday domestic rituals. A book, called 'Inside', will be published in October - it's a collection of photographs about home that I've taken from 1998 to the present.

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Marysia [email protected]

66 : The Story of a House

This series of images explores notions of loss, memory and nostalgia. They evoke a sense of place and of people, glimpses of whom are seen through the old photos found in the house. The initial photos were taken over a 3 month period, whilst my mother was ill, in the house where my parents lived for nearly 60 years and where I grew up. However, most of the photos were taken to document the house as it was cleared for sale after she died.It’s my family album. Traditionally family albums contain portraits, these images celebrate the time we spent together in one particular environment as a family growing up together and then moving away from each other, depicting what was important to us at different times in our lives. They reflect almost half a century of trends and fashions and tell us something about the people who chose those items. But it’s not merely a personal nostalgic trip. The items photographed and the manner in which they sit, reflect times past and objects that can be recognised within many families.I would display the work as a wall of images with a ‘window’ in the middle for a projection or flat screen on which would run a short video of the house interspersed with still images and a soundtrack of a reading a poem.

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Interview with Marysia Lachowiczby Julie Ferrif

What got you first thinking about using your home as a photography project?This series - ‘66: The Story of a House’ tells the story of my family through the house we lived in. It started when my mother was ill and I wanted to document the house in which my family had lived for almost 60 years. When my mother died and we had to sellthe property, I wanted more than ever to capture the fact that it was more than a “house in need of modernisation”. To me, it’s a reflection of my family and tells more about them and the times in which they lived than any photo album.

Do you think the individual photographs work to form an entire image of a place?I was once asked how many houses I’d photographed in this series. The answer, “Only the one”, prompted the response, “What a treasure trove.” I love to photograph everyday objects which others might overlook and I think this obsession with all the little details is what creates the atmosphere and the sense of place.

Did you photograph various rooms of the dwelling or was your focus on one particular room?I photographed every room as I wanted to capture a sense of the whole house and of everyone who had lived in it. That meant photographing traces of them throughout the house. I rarely constructed images, I simply documented what was there and the changes, eg, handrails up the stairs as my mother became more frail.

Do the resulting pictures fit with the idea and the feelings that you have towards the dwelling?The series is about loss and memories and I think the images convey a sadness that reflects my feelings at the time. My darkroom was in the house and I sometimes slept over in my old bedroom which was frozen in the late 70s and still full of the books, toys and clothes from my childhood. So, after my mother died and as we cleared the house, I was reviewing my life as well as dealing with the loss of my mother, father and our home. My father had died about ten years earlier and my mother had cleared all hisclothes, but certain things, like the tools in the cellar or the shaving brush in the cabinet, were very much about him and his presence in the house.

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How do you explain the absence of human figure in this work?The work is about the loss of loved ones so they only make an appearance through framed photos on shelves and through the sense of having been in the house.

How do you feel showing a private or intimate subject like “home” to the public?I was rather nervous about this series of images at first. I was worried it might be too self indulgent but the initial responses I had were very positive; and interestingly most of them were about the viewer’s experiences or memories rather than mine. I’ve shown thework at different stages at LIP meetings, the Photographer’s Gallery portfolio evenings and at Rhubarb-Rhubarb’s Cultivate portfolio reviews. When people see the work, there’s always an image which resonates with them. They identify with it and tell me theirstories. I’ve worked a lot with life stories and on reminiscence projects so I understand what triggers are needed to enable people to feel comfortable to share their own stories. I didn’t set out for this work to do this, but I want it to tell a universal as well as a personalstory and I think it does that.

Is there a voyeuristic dimension in your project?No. It’s an expression of feelings that we all deal with at some point in our lives.

How does this work fit in the context of your artistic practice?I use the medium of photography to frame memories of my past and to explore my family’s history. The inspiration for my photographic imagery comes about from seeing people through the places they inhabit or those places which have had a profound impact on their lives. I’m interested in exploring individual and shared histories through the emotional atmosphere of a location. My latest project is inspired by my father’s history. From 1942, he fought with the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade based in Fife. In 1939 he was captured by the Russians and spent 18 months in a Siberian labour camp. When Russia joined the Allies, Poles were released and allowed to form their own army to help fight Germany. Poles were fighting for their homeland but along the way helped the Allies defeat Germany. Their ‘reward’ was a Poland under communist control to which many, including my father, could never return. They had no choice but to create new lives in the UK. I’ve been exploring the places the Polish army lived and trained when they were charged with defending the east coast of Scotland from possible invasion by sea. I’m mainly photographing anti-tank defences, derelict buildings and landscapes. I want to capture something of the harshness of those times and the strength and fearsof these young men and women. Their courage and sacrifices helped Britain and their contribution should never be forgotten.

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Viewfinder Photography Gallery52 Brixton VillageLondon SW9 8PS

www.viewfinder.org.uk