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22nd Annual Exhibition
Posted by:
JohnStead
()
Date: May 27, 2010 12:56PM
The website of the 22nd Annual Exhibition is now online
[
www.londonphotography.org.uk
]
Please feel free to post any questions to this formum
Many Thanks John
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/2010 12:56PM by JohnStead.
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Re: 22nd Annual Exhibition
Posted by:
Mark Mitchell
()
Date: June 01, 2010 01:55PM
Post-last year's exhibition, John helpfully sent a round-robin email responding to many members' disappointment at failing to have work selected. That email didn't reach this forum, so far as I can see, and neither did the exchange that John and I had subsequently. It turns out that it was discussed by the committee although I can find no reference to it in anything I've recieved from LiP.
John has kindly given his permission for it to be posted retrospectively. Read from the ground up. I've edited, but only to remove transport shrapnel and irrelevant personal stuff.
I'd only add, in response to John's latest addition, that a challenge to members isn't coherent unless they know, with some precision, the nature of the challenge. It's difficult to see what an 'exceptional' print can be unless it's clear what constitutes 'unexceptional'. Consequently it seems fair to ask for clarity in respect of the selection criteria to enable members to make appropriate submission choices.
____________________________________________
Hi Mark
I don’t mind at all if you want to post something i am very happy to listen to peoples thoughts on this (that is my job as your representative). Not sure if i mentioned it to you but i did raise this with the rest of the committee and your specific point that not everyone works in bodies of work. The general view was that the committee wanted to carry on as before to encourage bodies of work whilst still not rejecting single prints. The reason for this was that we felt that it was very hard to convey a message or theme through one print and that it was more challenging for members to produce a body of work than a single print. Having said that there are always exceptions and truly exception prints that break these rules will always be welcome.
I am happy for you to post the whole email chain and let’s see what people think.
Cheers
John
From: Mark Mitchell [mailto:mark@markmitchell.org]
Sent: 31 May 2010 18:16
Hi John
As we're in the run-up to this year's exhibition, would you mind me posting this exchange on the forum (or you could, in your official capacity, if you prefer)?
Best
MM
Gallery: [
www.markmitchellphotography.co.uk
] ***new and updated***
Photoblog: [
blog.markmitchell.org
]
Sent: 19 October 2009 12:39
To: John Stead
Subject: Re: Feedback on LIP exhibtion submissions
John
Thank you for this. I must admit that this is a knotty issue. For many members (as I remember from my short time involved with the LiP committee) the exhibition is 'theirs' in the sense that its their support -- financial and otherwise -- that keeps LiP a success. Failure to exhibit substantially decreases the organisation's value to individual members. It also seems to be the case that you can't increase your chances of acceptance by raising your game. If your work isn't to the personal taste of the curator you're stuffed, even if you're Martin Parr. And how do you divine the curator's will? On the other hand, what value a club-type exhibition in which everyone has a guaranteed slot?
However, I do take issue with the emphasis now placed on submitting a series. I understand that this can ease the selection process but some of us don't work that way, at least systematically, and, frankly, privileging it is artistically specious (or, at least, arbitrary). It's only one way of working. Was Vermeer asked to provide a companion-piece to his Girl with a Pearl Earring? Pig in a balaclava, anyone?
Hope this helps.
MM
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Stead"
To:
exhibitions@londonphotography.org.uk
Sent: Friday, 16 October, 2009 23:26:25 GMT +00:00 GMT Britain, Ireland, Portugal
Subject: Feedback on LIP exhibtion submissions
Dear LIP Members
I am sending this email out to all members who did not have prints selected for the LIP Annual Exhibtion. In this group I include myself and members of the LIP committee. I know that in the submission documentation we do try to prepare members for the eventuality of not getting prints selected but I realize that it is never a plesant experience. The selection is a very subjective process and even one of the selectors mentioned during the selection day that they could easily repeat the process another day with different results. For this reason if you did not have your prints selected please do not be disheartened. Try not to see this as a rejection of your work but rather as two selectors building their personal exhibition from a very large number of excellent prints in order to reflect their own particular tastes and standards, and, in so doing, both accepting and rejecting much excellent work. I understand that many of you will be wondering why other prints were selected and what was the process to select the work.
With that in mind i have written a short explanation of what actually happens on the day of the selection (below) and attached the LIP catalogue introduction which i feel it gives some interesting insights into the thoughts of the selectors during the selection process.
___________________________________________________________________________
The exhibition team arrive at about 8am, take out all of the prints from the packaging and stack them up ready to be shown. The selectors start work at about 9.30, they first read a short explanation to the exhibition which tells then how big the boards and the maximum print sizes, and that we try to encourage groups of work etc. They then view all of the prints submission by submission to get an understanding of the work submitted. They then view each print again and separate the work into 3 categories, selected, un-selected and undecided. We then count the number of selected prints.
The selectors the review the undecided prints and work through these until we have roughly 100 - 120 prints which is the most we can hang. Including lunch this process takes until about 4.30. The exhibition team then put stickers on each print selected and note the details in a spreadsheet. We then repack the prints back in to the portfolio case and separate out the cases depending upon which address they were delivered to (John or Brigitte).
We usually finish work at about 7pm
___________________________________________________________________________
Selectors Introduction
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Selecting the photographs for this year’s LIP exhibition was a fascinating process. We knew from past LIP shows that the quality of work would be high, and therefore, our task would not be easy. All of the photographs entered were worthy of inclusion, and we have endeavored to bring together images which depict the myriad approaches to the medium and the creative ingenuity of LIP members.
We were particularly struck by those pictures which illustrate the extraordinary aspects of our everyday surroundings. Several photographers tackle this theme successfully, turning a faded interior, an old bicycle or abandoned caravan into an object worthy of contemplation. These photographs have the power to trigger the viewer’s own memories, thus a personal story becomes intertwined with the objects’ histories. The portraits are a similarly strong group, with a fantastically wide range of subjects and settings, from Delhi’s vegetable sellers to Britain’s Royal Academicians. We could have spent all afternoon examining the unusual home of The Man Who Shot Weegee!
Whether in the nineteenth century or our current digital age, photographers have employed post-production tools to alter their pictures. However, the best submissions to this year’s exhibition were achieved through inventive project concepts, careful composition and creative printing techniques, rather than Photoshop wizardry. Every contemporary art form draws inspiration from previous practitioners, but
we are glad to note that the images shown here do not rely too heavily on the influence of earlier masters. We hope LIP members will continue to experiment and push the boundaries, remembering Ansel Adams’ advice: There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.
Susanna Brown & Magda Keaney
___________________________________________________________________________________________
We do often have requests for feedback but as the day is already long it would be very hard to achieve. The only general advice is always to present a body of work, present it to a professional standard (printing and mounting) and try to submit something that you feel represents your best work from the last year. You can of course look at work from previous LIP exhibitions on our website but as we make a point to choose new selectors each year it is not possible to anticipate their choices. If you do want feedback on your work try taking your prints along to one of our many satellite groups, always an excellent forum for comment and free feedback. There are also a number of paid reviews of work run by other organizations.
I hope this helps but please do feel free to get in touch if you have any questions or comments on the exhibition and how we can improve things in the future. I would also like to take this oppertunity to personally invite you to come to the private view this comming sunday afternoon 18th, 2.30 to 5pm.
Kindest Regards
John
London Independent Photography Exhibition Organiser
E:
exhibitions@londonphotography.org.uk
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