NEW BEGINNINGS

Hello and welcome to this first edition of Platform (Art,Photo, Text) and thank you if you have bought either thehard-copy or downloaded it to print yourself.

The concept behind Platform is to create a space for new artstudents and the lesser known artist to showcase their ideasand work and hopefully increase the audience for this workand in a wider context, contemporary art as a whole.

Although this issue is the first one and is s proof of concept,we hope to produce a extended run. For this issue a selectedgroup of artist were asked to create work in response to thebrief, New beginnings. There where no other constraints tothe artists concepts and final works and they could - and did -create anything which they believed fitted the theme. Futureissues will be create on an open call basis where anyone cansubmit work relating to the brief of that particular copy ofPlatform.

Once again thank you for your interest in our zine and we lookforward to your continued support.

Jason Carden Steve Hithersay

“Ar restor

Explorat ion”

When we think of a new beginning, we think of the unknown, of afuture that is unseen and often daunting to both our emotional andrational minds.

A new beginning denotes that there was an old order that has beenswept away or at the very least altered to bring about change.

A change for the better or a change for the worst? We never knowuntil hindsight finds us out but change is the natural state of theuniverse and to be human is to change and grow and sometimes to err.This brings me hope and the conviction to face the future with aconfidence which I do not find from blind optimism alone. And eventhough I have the same certainty that I will make the wrong decisions,it is an infinitely better preference to maintaining the status quo, to notexplore one's capacities and forsaking new worlds of experience andknowledge.

The American photographer, Garry Winogrand once said, “Iphotograph to see what something will look like photographed byme”. How can we interpret this? Was he being literal or cryptic withthis statement?

If the former is the case then we have to accept it as read. Butwhat if the later were true? Then it describes the true, ontologicalnature of the photograph. Its formation from the reality it seeks todescribe. The same reality which is ruled by entropy and is in aconstant state of change. Does Winogrand want to arrest thischange, this constant state of beginning anew? To be honest isn'tthat which we all want from photography? To see what that littlesliver of a perceived reality looks like set in perpetuation! Or -perhaps – simply, it's just a chance to explore these moments.

Jason Carden

“For last year's words belongto last year's language

And nextyear's wordsawait anothervoice.

And to make an end is tomake a beginning.

"

Héritage

My Grandad, Pte. Reginald Elwin Powell, passed away in 2002 as a resultof injuries he sustained during the Second World War. My body of work'Héritage' seeks to consider the ideas of both life lived and his legacy byportraying elements of my Grandad's lifetime through six constructedimages. Each photograph aims to address and represent a particularelement from my Grandad's lifetime, progressing towards thepresentation of two final images which regard 'official' documents - apassport style photograph and a scrawled, undignified Doctor's notewhich allowed my Grandmother to have the funeral paid for due to thecircumstances of his death. Fundamentally, the series aims to demonstratemy belief that for the soldier, husband, Father and Grandfather that hewas, the clumsy and menial letter does not credit his life with the dignityor respect that he deserved in his death.

In illustrating the life and death of my Grandfather by means of aphotographic process I have been persuaded a new beginning in terms ofthought. As a photographic artist, the exploration and analysis of mypersonal family album has encouraged me to consider this vernacularcollection as both a work of art and a work of history in presenting arepresentation of my family's history. As a developing photographic artist,this particular project has encouraged me to explore my interpretation ofmy family's past and, thus, my own identity in relation to my ancestralroots. I feel that what I previously considered was the resolve of this workis, in fact, merely the beginning.

Stephanie Mortimore

Trigger

Warning

*trigger warning*the next 12 pages includes depictions that allude to self harm

Mentis IncidamusMental Illnesses is still something that is hidden away in ourpersonal lives, and not greatly talked about with others. For thisproject i have looked into different cycles of behavior thataffected a close friend of mine, while suffering with depressionover many years. Cycles of behavior that at the time, she felt was arelease and helping her cope, but over time created moreproblems to deal with.

Kayley Herbet

Working with cameraless photography techniques this projectfocuses on expression of the self through the means of naturalform and chemical manipulation. Using such a process allows boththe viewer and artist to not only have a visual connection with thework but also one that can be felt.

Thoughts, feelings and the exploration of the subconscious findtheir way onto the darkroom paper often unintentionally. Usingnatural forms, time and light the project allows me to seek a balancein the chaos that we call life. Thus resulting in images that illustratethe passion, love and loathing that the creative individual pours intotheir work, heart and soul.

Saffron Toms

FRAGILITY OFBEING

P r o l o g u e

Broken World

Ben Hodge

Questions, a world full of questions.I have woken up to theunbearable answerless sky every morning for aslong as I can remember. Yet I am only just beginning to understandmy own thoughts on this world. Thoughts I have gathered over somany years. It must start with the Auruna.

Everything seems to lead back to the extinct, cryptic race, yet weknow so little about them. Only that they must have been moreadvanced than the 7 races that I pray still inhabit this world, puttogether. Possessing near to unlimited power and knowledge beyond

our own mortal comprehension. It has been around 100 years sinceour world parted and the whole age ended. A time where man couldwalk the earth for weeks, even months without falling off it's edgeinto unknown depths. A time where the wind was a whisper and nota cry of despair.

I have spent my time in this fractured world, as if it's pieces are apuzzle itself. Researching our ancestors from the whole age and theAuruna who existed eons before them. All in the hope of solvingthe mystery behind the catastrophe and how this world can besaved. I am one of very few who believes there is stillhope for the pieces of a planet

"AsIwentwalkingIsawasignthereAndonthesignitsaid"NoTrespassing."Butontheothersideitdidn'tsaynothing,"

"In 1932, there was a mass trespass on Kinder Scoutin the Peak District. Walkers exercised what they sawas their right to walk unhindered on open moorland.They faced opposition from gamekeepers who wereemployed by local landowners. Scuffles broke out andfive trespassers were imprisoned."

Steve Hithersay

ARTIST LINKS

www.jgcphotography.tumblr.com

www.jgcphotographic.com

www.jaynedent.wordpress.com

www.jessicaheywoodart.blogspot.co.uk

www.steve-hithersay.squarespace.com