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Richmond Art Gallery

Richmond Art Gallery Mail Art Exhibition and Swap.

http://richmondartgallery.org/internationalmailart2013/

1300 artworks were shown in this mail art exhibition that included 1 of my photographs. I didn’t see the exhibition as it was in Canada, but it is now online.

I discovered that my photograph was featured right under the headline of the show, you can see it, via the link, in situ, in the third photograph, under the show’s heading: Memory: International Mail Art Exhibition and Swap. It is so cool to be able to see all the other pieces and you can search by country or name to get a closer look. I wonder which one will be my swap.

Here’s my image as it appears if you search under my name, but click through to the website to see the installation photographs and search out other artists’ work.

TanyaAhmedMemoryRichmond Gallery

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Things are not always as they seem.

I was in midtown, in a very fancy, modern office building, visiting an immaculate office, then I moved towards the window…

TanyaAhmed_43rd_6th

The window looked out revealing not only the view across 6th Avenue but also a space beyond the outer wall of the room which as it turned out was not the outer wall of the building. The area didn’t look quite finished to me. The odd area of ragged incompletion surprised me. It was cut off from the building’s occupants, beyond the window and yet someone somehow traversed that small space in order to put a plant on the unfinished window sill.

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Terrarium

This is the lobby of the New York Times building in midtown. I always think these terrariums are an odd feature, we can see nature but we can’t touch it or be with it or even breathe the same air. Is it enough to just be teased by seeing nature in its closed box? Maybe we shouldn’t bother at all.

TanyaAhmedNYTimes

 

March, Redaction and my Oeuvre

March 08, 2014

I’ve been thinking about Archive lately and how I might explore it further

I’m very much a believer in serendipity and these thoughts coupled with an essay I am currently reading by A.D. Coleman that coincides with the month of March have set me to collating a set of work from my existing files.

The dictionary term archive is defined as a collection of historical documents or records providing information about a place, institution or group of people. Historical, of course, means belonging to the past.

Therefore any photographs I have taken constitute historical, as the time of recording them has passed. But what of the archive? Is it the same as my oeuvre or body of work?

In his essay, On Redaction. Heaps and Wholes, or, Who empties the Circular File, A.D. Coleman quotes the photographer Lonny Shavels who claims that “Photography is about editing. If you don’t edit your work you are not a photographer.” (Coleman, 2000)

Exploring the essay’s title, Coleman states that “The question of redaction of ‘putting in shape for publication’ is a crucial one. Redaction is what transforms a quantity of images from a heap to a whole.’ (Coleman, 2000)

Coleman summarizes that ‘these redacted segments constitute the whole of the photographer’s body of work; the rest – no matter how much it may attract us- is merely part of the heap.’ (Coleman, 2000)

If I am to put Coleman’s words into action I should go through my files and get them ready for (impending or hoped for) publication. Only then will they count as an officially sanctioned body of work.

So, to the heap!

I have previously, partially edited my files. My project Building Character came about from a systematic organization of twenty five years of work relating to my geographical and cultural assimilation of the built environment.

Now entering March, the month has inspired me to think of a new direction. In the USA, UK and Australia March is dedicated as Women’s History Month. March 8th, today, is International Women’s Day. A global day of recognition and celebration and an official holiday in a further 27 countries.

Although my website currently features many images of the physical structures of the built environment I have many unseen photographs of people.

Unfortunately over the years I have not taken photographs of many of the women I have met and spent time with. I am guilty of taking these women for granted. In effect aping what history has done, looking for the exceptional or unique rather than the backbone, the enduring support from where we all spring.

I still have enough though to make a project. But what of the men? Am I to exclude photographs that feature both men and women? That is surely as much discrimination as if I were not to include women. And what of the historical worth of the women I have photographed. None of them were the first to fly solo across the Atlantic, the first to hold elected office or founded modern nursing. I believe that all women touch the lives of hundreds if not thousands of people during their lifetimes and whilst exceptional women are inspiring, all women are exceptional in their own way. Each woman has her place in history and we should celebrate the worth of all of them. After all not one of us would be here without women.

So I have decided to rethink my approach and look to the photography rather than the gender as I sort through my images this is a project that won’t be resolved in March.

I still do want to celebrate women on this day though and remind myself that not all women have equal fortune in life. We should use this day to appreciate the women in our lives and their contribution to their communities before they are no longer with us and fade into history.

I have decided to choose just one photograph to celebrate International Women’s Day. The  two criteria I used  were the woman/women were inspiring and that their environment was also shown. So I chose the photograph below. A simple gathering at the family home with multiple generations present. The missing information that I will supply is that three of these women * touched thousands in their jobs as teachers, at schools and colleges. Passing on their knowledge empowered the children and young adults they met and many owe their success at school and into their work lives to the attention and education these women shared with them.

February 1990, Hutton Road.

TanyaAhmed-WomensHistory

L-R Ted: husband, father, grandfather. (deceased). Teddy*: daughter, sister, mother, aunt, (deceased).  Marlene*: daughter, sister, mother, aunt. (deceased). T: daughter, grand-daughter, cousin, niece. L:  daughter, grand-daughter, cousin, niece. Constance*: wife, mother, grandmother. (deceased).

 

Reference List

Coleman, A.D., 2000, Depth of Field, Essays on Photography, Mass Media and Lens Culture, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque

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Snow is an ugly thing in New York City. A few hours after the first pristine fall of the year the joy is over. Head high grey mountains are assembled by ploughs. Simultaneously deep, wide, lakes of slush collect at corners that resemble mountain passes. Anyone who wants dry feet must leap 4-6 feet if they want to get off their block. At night the whole mess freezes over and this winter, by morning, the snow inevitably has started up again.

But this is New York and the weather can turn quickly. A few hours after the slog of the morning snowy/wet/icy commute, there was a beautiful clear blue sky and sunshine. Warm enough to take off the hats and gloves AND unbutton the jacket. For a few minutes I forgot how filthy, untidy and annoying the city is when it is blanketed with snow. It made me think of this image from my archives from a time when I perceived snow as clean and fun!

I came across these kids whilst I was driving. I slammed on the brakes, threw the car up off the road and jumped out, trying to capture the sun’s rays that were highlighting the girls as they threw snowballs at each other. It was a beautiful scene, uplifting in the simple game of the girls, the magnificence of the sunbeams breaking through the heavy clouds and the sheer fun of leaping out of the car and rushing up the snowbank to capture the scene.

I’ll try to remember these positive emotions for the next snowfall, which according to the weather report will be, unsurprisingly, tomorrow!

TanyaAhmedSnow

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TGIF – I have been waiting all week to introduce a website to you.

http://urbanlandscape.org.uk

Run by London photographers Peter Marshall and Mike Seaborne, their Urban Landscape site is dedicated to some fascinating photography. Exploring both images and theory they ‘intend to feature the best in photography and critical writing on the urban landscape from around the world.’

The site features great swathes of Mike and Peter’s own in-depth projects on London, and also a variety of projects from invited contributors  with links for further exploration. Feeling honoured, it gives me great pleasure to let you know that I have been invited to share their platform.

For my submission I decided to rework my East 100th Street project and produce a series that contextualizes East 100th Street within its East Harlem, New York City locale.

I am introducing 10 images that have not been seen before to add to another 10 from East 100th Street project and 20 from my Building Character project. I have also written a bit of a blurb, an introduction and 2 project descriptions, that aim to give some insight into my thoughts behind these projects.

Here’s one more new image to get you started…

TanyaAhmedRB!

… and here’s that link again…

http://urbanlandscape.org.uk

I hope that you enjoy exploring the urban landscape.

The Global Pigeon

The Global Pigeon

I love the library! Browsing leads to bizarre finds that often make me think about photography, what I choose to see around me and include, or not, in my photographs.

Not a book I would have directly searched for, I came upon ‘The Global Pigeon’ by Colin Jerolmack, and gave it a go. Set mainly in New York with visits to London, Venice, Berlin and Sun City, South Africa, this book covers birds, social relations, manliness, race relations, tradition, gentrification, and the relationship between nature and humans for starters. Totally absorbing.

The portrait Jerolmack paints of the New Yorkers’ pigeon lofts were particularly vivid exposing a world that before now I’ve only understood as a stereotypical northern English pastime. I did not realize it existed here in New York too. Jerolmack even posted an Andy Capp cartoon, a British character, drawn by Reg Smythe, that I grew up with, famous for being northern and keeping pigeons! Here’s a link to strip different than the one included in the book. http://www.gocomics.com/andycapp/2013/03/17#.UuA1Axb0B0s  (please copy and paste)

Pigeons are plentiful in New York but they are not the only non-human species we live alongside. On any given day New Yorkers also encounter quantities of bugs, rats, mice, seagulls, hawks and raccoons and of course I am not counting all the domesticated creatures we share sidewalks and homes with, dogs and cats, horses, reptiles, guinea pigs, squirrels and even camels on 3 Kings Day.

When I am busy photographing the built environment of New York, I sometimes include the people and occasionally even the weather of New York but never the animals. Is it that the animals are not authentic nature, they are too urbanized to be considered wild yet are not considered an urban product, rather interlopers?

Maybe I think that animals do not belong in a representation of cityscape, after all, most of the time I do not represent people in my built environment images so why would I want an animal in there. Animals are there but not always seen, and unless you live with one contact is often a soft step, a wet head, or a shriek as something small dashes over your shoe. Not a relationship, not part of the usual narrative. Something other and apart.

What is funny about the pigeons, and what makes them different though, is that they do get in my photographs. If you look through the projects on this site you’ll notice them creeping into a couple. I knew, of course, that they were there and I haven’t had any problem accepting them. They are as much a part of the experience as the rest of the referent. This is where we acknowledge their special status amongst ‘wild’ animals as almost equals. Not shy, not hidden. The streets heave with people AND pigeons. We walk, they walk, we have lunch, they share it. They cross boundaries that other creatures don’t. We don’t think they are cute, like squirrels. We don’t get freaked out by them as we do with rats. We might not like them but we definitely accept that they share our environment and when their concentration is lower than say Trafalgar Square we don’t even think about trying to get rid of them.

It would be odd to think of chasing pigeons out of my images, in fact it is odd to think about pigeons at all, but after reading this book I think I will thinking about them for a while. When I read in this book about the birds being released I immediately thought back to a photograph I had taken near Marcus Garvey Park, a mass of birds circling overhead. I’d taken the photograph just because it was a sight to see them swooping all together in that clear blue sky. They looked like they were having a good time, really enjoying themselves. Now I am wondering whether they’d been let out from a nearby loft, maybe one in the Bronx that I’ve just read about in this book.

Cambridge, 27-29 East 124th Street opposite the North end of Marcus Garvey Park.

TanyaAhmedCambridge

Have you noticed any of the pigeons in my projects? What do you think – should they be there? Have you got any in your photographs? Why not post one here or on the facebook page?

Staying on the subject of photographs I recently saw the student show at the International Center of Photography and guess what was featured? Yes! Pigeons. The metal cages so perfectly accentuated the iridescent colours of these birds that I became quite enthralled by the images, despite the sorry state of the birds. Maybe some of these birds were ones that had been ‘lost’ during the races I read about in The Global Pigeon.

Mansura Khanam’s photographs:

http://www.mansurakhanam.com/city-pigeon

Jerolmack, Colin, 2013, The Global Pigeon, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

16 Acres

16 Acres

I have just finished reading this interesting book on the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site. Watching the soundbites on the local news as the months and years of planning went by the whole venture seemed like a fiasco that would never be resolved. We know it has been now as we look at 1 World Trade Center reaching into the clouds but this book reveals the decisions and colorful process that took place in all its fascinating detail.

I leave you with a quote from the epilogue and the view of 1 WTC in the rain this week from Madison Street and Catherine Street.

“There was only one thing to report at ground zero: the process had done its necessary work, not neatly, not purely, not without selfishness or rancor or vice, but in a manner that was recognizable as essentially New York- fast, vital,vain, and not too hung up on the past.” (Nobel, 2004)

Sixteen Acres                                                                                                                   Architecture and the outrageous struggle for the future of ground Zero                   Philip Nobel

 

TanyaAhmed.WTC1

 

Talking Photographer

Talking Photographer, or Image maker or Generalist or Artist…

I like Nick Knight’s work, I particularly liked ‘Flora’ and I think his ‘Blooms’ are even better. This guy produces incredible work.

Flora: http://eternal-optimist.com/section/fashion/fashion-news/nick-knights-new-exhibition-entitled-flora

Blooms: http://showstudio.com/project/dynamic_blooms/editorial_gallery

It was interesting to hear Knight speak, (on video, thanks Eric!) and define himself and his work, at the University of the Arts, London. In conversation with Colin McDowell, fashion writer and academic and Frances Corner, head of college at the London College of Fashion.

Knight proposes that photography as we knew it (analog) is dead and so he no longer calls himself a photographer but perhaps a generalist or an image maker. Fair enough.

It was fascinating though to see the academic and the commercial bump up against each other and the stereotypes spill out. It made me think about how photographers are portrayed lately and how it seems to be an insult unless you are of a particular breed.

The commercial photographer embraces new technology and distribution methods whereas the academics think it is important that new photographers get to grips with the technology of the past. I agree with McDowell that a knowledge of what went before probably gave Knight the ability to be what he is today but I also agree with Knight that learning about reciprocity failure might not be crucial to being a good iphone photographer, and that using an iphone doesn’t necessarily make you a bad photographer. (Although personally I hate some of those crummy effects!)

The question of whether photography is an art seems to have died down or maybe it has been circumvented and replaced by questioning who is a real photographer and can a photographer produce art or is the best photography really made by artists using the photographic medium.

Academics seem to be torn between two thoughts. One that a photographer must use arcane technologies, never digital, to prove they are ‘real’ photographers if they are to be accepted into the art world and on the other side artists that use photography including digital are the ones that really should be represented in the ‘photography’ gallery. Work that is not intended for the gallery wall they find hard to place.

This I find borne out by the proliferation of photography classes dealing with the camera obscura, photogram, and of course the ultimate traditional technique, the pin hole camera. Comparing two very different photographers, Nick Knight and Tom Hunter, we can still see that even though they use opposite technologies and subject matter they are still clearly photographers, making images.

I like Tom Hunter’s work and this series, Prayer Places, taken with a pin hole camera, photography at its most basic. Hunter is an image maker/photographer and his nod to the past does not, in my opinion detract or in fact make his images. The images are the thing and the process whilst an integral part of his concept does not become the sole reason for his project.

http://www.tomhunter.org/prayer-places/

In the meantime if you visit MoMA and view their New Acquisitions in Photography you wonder whether the work is by a photographer at all. It feels like an art installation rather than a photography exhibition. It is not the medium or the technique that is the issue, it is the subject matter. Mariah Robertson’s piece ’11’ questions ‘the materiality of photography’. The piece claims to be a photograph but it has nothing much to do with how we see the world, not even tangentially, it exists to explore physical, material, process only.

http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A37833&page_number=2&template_id=1&sort_order=1

Knight talks about the old photography being about silver and the new being phosphorus, glowing from a screen, but his images use process to talk of subject rather than the medium.

Nick Knight might be a generalist, an image maker and an artist but to me he is the epitome of a photographer. It doesn’t matter whether he uses analog, digital, videos or live fashion, when he talks about getting ready to shoot, how for each photograph you start at the beginning again, the intuition, perception, waiting with terror and excitement for that moment, not seeing it, but feeling it and desiring it… well that sounds like a photographer to me!

Watch the whole talk and give a thought also to the tone and discussion of banal and money!

http://showstudio.com/project/in_conversation/nick_knight

 

http://www.nickknight.com

http://showstudio.com