I ran it past Clive and Ken at my recent assessment interview.  Clive recommended that I don’t get too bogged down in theory (I think I said a bit much about women and photography and the landscape whilst discussing my pics) and Ken suggested that it would offer a good opportunity to further develop my skills with the 5 x 4.  They didn’t exactly jump up and down and exclaim that, “Bloomin’ heck Denise: you’ve hit on an exciting and original idea there!”  But they did seem to quite like it…

So, a little tease here:  if you want to play the game.  There is a link between my ‘A Gentle Eminence’ project and my book/pics idea; it will involve landscape photography; I will use my beautiful Wista (oh, the expense…  I did suggest I work digitally this time, but both men became rather animated and I respectfully backed down); it’s going to involve an old map or two…

The way I visualise things at the moment, I will produce a body of work that will speak about the landscape, but also some of the people who inhabit it…  Hurrah, possibly an opportunity for Soth style portraiture…  It could end up being interesting and maybe even a bit pretty.  We shall see.

Today I went to find the place which may actually be the start of the journey.  I ‘made’ a couple of descriptive shots of what is there and then, the battery in my little G-11 went.  Bugger.  This is the only one I have.  So, an extra clue to the idea I have:

Research trip I

Another pic I took is but a pale imitation of one shot in the past by the wonderful photographer and all round good person, Alice Carfrae:

Research trip II

Maybe she will let me have a j-peg of the image in question and I can post it here and you can see just how gorgeous the original version actually is…

Image by Raymond Meeks

From the new book, Idyll

Nice pic, but actually – I prefer mine:

V, from, 'A Gentle Eminence'

Is that an arrogant thing to say?  Well, no apologies if it is.  I really like the colours, textures and the light in the pic…

31 Breaths

The series of 5 x 4 pinhole images uses Stanislavski’s idea of ‘emotion memory’ to articulate the experience of being housebound.

For individuals no longer able to explore the outside world physically, they achieve ‘access’ through what they see on the television, in photographs or through the windows of their home; they also have their memories.

In memory, the special places of our past become soft and idealised; the sky is a rich blue, the grass a myriad of vibrant greens.  The images we call up are not sharp, we do not see the fine detail, but rather an impression, coloured by emotion, by longing.

To re-visit the places we once explored, we must breathe deeply and carefully, and with each breath, remember.

This series evokes the act of remembering.  Created by hand-holding the camera and allowing its body to vibrate with the artist’s breath, the process of making each picture is as important as the final image itself.  The ’31′ in the title refers to the number of breaths drawn by the artist whilst each negative was being exposed.  2 minutes and 46 seconds of thinking, remembering and laying down new memories.

Hand-printed in the darkroom, the blue/green tones are calming, yet intense and are intended to articulate the romanticisation of memory and heighten the viewer’s emotional response to the work.  The aesthetic is deliberately ‘romantic’, with echoes of Impressionism and the photography of Steichen.  The imperfections within each print speak of the individual’s inability to control the visual pictures memory brings forth, pictures that comfort yet also tease those who are unable to venture outside their own homes.

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A Gentle Eminence

In 1760 a grand house was built on a private estate in Llanwern, just to the east of Newport.  It stood for just under 200 years and was home to Baronets, Lords and Viscounts.  Its last owner, Margaret Haig Thomas, daughter of Viscount Rhondda, Minister of Supplies during WWI, became a suffragette, company director, proprietor of the magazine, ‘Time and Tide’ and for her entire adult life, a campaigner for women’s rights.  It is because of Viscountess Rhondda that women are able to vote in The House of Lords.

In 1952, the house was demolished and following her death in 1956, Viscountess Rhondda almost disappeared from history.  She is there, if one looks closely enough: in a few paragraphs ‘on-line’ that focus on feminist or Parliament ‘s history.  But for the general populace, she has been lost, along with the house.

‘A Gentle Eminence’ is a personal response to Margaret Haig Thomas’ story and a search for traces of her in the landscape.

Made using a 5 x 4 field camera and hand-printed, the final prints incorporate the repeated motifs of barriers, pathways and light: metaphorical symbols which are intended to encourage the viewer to pause and reflect.  The deliberate subtlety of some of the images hints at the feminist subtext of the work.  For here is a female photographer working in the male dominated landscape genre, in order to tempt the viewer to wonder about a historical figure, that has been ‘almost lost’: perhaps because of her gender.

The title, ‘A Gentle Eminence’ is taken from travel writing, unearthed in The National Library of Wales and dates from 1802.  Whilst the phrase relates to the land on which the house stood, it also symbolises Margaret Haig Thomas in the artist’s mind.

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Another downside to having a broken focusing screen, is that I am unable to use my little extension thingy and am therefore reduced to sticking my head underneath the black cloth once more, sticking my backside out for any passersby to slap (luckily for me I photograph away from the crowds) and squinting like buggery to try to make out if anything is actually in focus – I really MUST get a new prescription for my glasses!  The difficulty with focusing has been very problematic and who knows what the images will be like when I finally get them printed.

I seem to have fallen a little bit out of love with the project too.  This is possibly because of the break from it, but also because I am aware that if I want to develop the work in the future I will not be able to re-submit any of the pictures I make now.  I did find something new in the landscape today which might just work visually and metaphorically, so all is not totally lost.  Unless of course the image isn’t sharp!

Predominantly featuring reflections, the images are meant to both show the present state of the property/business, but also to hint at their past – what they were involved with only a few months ago.  The reflections of lake/hills that appear somewhere in the shot also talk about the future – about how just as the water and rock are permanent features, so the tourists will return to enjoy them.

Possibly all a bit hackneyed… Nothing particularly original going on – but then, all art is theft.  Isn’t it?

I’m really getting into the idea of being a landscape photographer – reading for my essay has affirmed what I know already – there are not enough women out there getting their landscape pictures into the public domain.  Who knows if this is a phase or a fad, but I am enjoying it!

Here are a few pics taken in the places I am making the 5 x 4 images: just to give a sense of the area… They form part of my ‘research’ (that bit of the project where you wander around looking.)  I have no idea if they will work, if I will have enough or even if they will be used, but it has been good to spend a little time with my baby, concentrating on being all metaphorical.

Happy new year!

Bracciano - Lake shore.

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Letters held in the National Trust archive detail how she was in negotiation with various bodies to try to find someone to accept the house as a ‘gift’ and use it as a Further Education residential college for adults, ‘along Scandinavian lines’.  This woman was so AMAZING.  What a shame that her dream did not become a reality.  The trail now leads me to the archives of the University of Wales… Could it be that the educational establishment that will finally award me my degree is actually the one responsible for the failure of Viscountess Rhondda’s inspirational project and ultimately the cause of the house being demolished?

Unfortunately, I don’t think I am going to be able to get up to Aber again before the hols, so this is piece of detective work that might have to wait for stage 2 of the project…

STOP PRESS: More exciting developments…  Mari who works in Parliamentary archives has given me the name of a History professor currently working on a biography of Viscountess Rhondda…  Check out Mari’s blog:  http://parliamentandwomen.wordpress.com/2011/10/27/lady-rhondda-takes-her-place-in-the-house-of-lords/

And watch this space for snippety updates about my contact with Professor John…

The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth

Lovely bits of history all tied up with string

Mr Manby’s book was just one of the treasures I discovered during my two days at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth…  What a joy, spending hours away from Facebook, mobile phones and general noise.  All I could hear around was the occasional beep of a laptop being switched on and the pages of 17th century tomes turning.  Yes – 17th century!

I found images of Lord Rhondda with his prize bulls and discovered that early owners had to lease the house to pay off debts.  At times I allowed myself to drift off and imagine a path for myself that included years of detailed detective work: I am currently trying out the sound of Dr Fotheringham, PhD…

Sadly, and for some unfathomable reason I can’t post any pics…

In the last week, I’ve also been to the National Trust Archives in Swindon and had some fantastic contact with Country Life magazine…  The research is growing and growing…

Big thanks to Lyn Caswell for helping me to carry my kit and for using my G11 to get pics of me bending over…