LIP Central May 2023 Meeting – LIP Satellite Groups

Featured Image © Robin Barr

The May meeting of LIP Central Group was held over Zoom on Wednesday 10^th May 2023. The theme for the meeting was personal projects. The projects shown were all at different stages – some just in the very initial research stage and others completed or near completion. We also had the pleasure of welcoming two new members – Siraj and Ekpes –to the Group and heard a little about their practice.

Alec Wyllie’s project focussed on the view across the Firth of Forth from Edinburgh towards Fife. The scenes showed changing light in one particular place. The project was in its very early stages and he wanted advice on taking it forward. There were a number of suggestions made including introducing movement or having people in some shots. He was advised to take a more photographs, print them out and then see whether any patterns emerged. He could then see what might bring the project together.

Austin Guest’s project was the result of a commission from his local Community Park to produce some imagery for their updated guide to the trees in park. The images showed trees in different seasons with the autumn and winter pictures being particularly successful. A picture had not yet been selected for the guide but a picture of a tree in blossom had already been used on social media.

Edey Templeton’s project was about the sea and edge where sea meets land. There was a feeling that whilst some of the images worked individually, there needed to be more overall coherence. At present it felt as though there were two different bodies of work. She was also encouraged to decide on style as there was too much variety.

Janet Nabney’s project focused on a visit to the exhibition “Souls Grown Deep as Rivers” at the Royal Academy. This was a small exhibition featuring work from Black artists from the Southeastern United States which reflected on the experiences of the Black community including slavery. Janet conveyed the energy of the exhibits using double exposure and used careful lighting in other photographs to highlight the poignancy of some of the exhibits.

Mark Friend chose the recent Extinction Rebellion demonstration in central London called “The Big One” as the focus of his project. His pictures included crowd scenes, candid shots of some of the demonstrators interacting with the public and close up portraits. The latter in particular showed empathy and skill.

Nusse Belton’s project centred on in-camera double exposure. Although she had done this accidently at first she liked the results and decided to continue in a more deliberate way. The shots were mainly architectural and a there was a particularly intriguing picture of a steel and glass office block in Canning Town superimposed with cranes and clouds.

Prodeepta Das’ project centred on Epping Forest. This is a long term project where he intends to capture the Forest at different times of the day and the year. As well as showing the beauty of the woods as in the opening shot of bluebells and the closing shot of a swan, he showed how some visitors damaged natural habitats and disregarded the Forest rules.

Robin Barr’s project centred on architecture in the area around his home in Yorkshire – especially Halifax and Bradford. The pictures of an old mill in Halifax showed the influence of Bill Brandt’s 1930s photographs of Yorkshire. The images of Bradford were more modern with a Brutalist window and photographs taken from inside a phone box which had a haziness reminiscent of Saul Leiter.

Siraj Izhar’s work concerned the Jules Ferry Refugee Camp in Calais, known and “the Jungle”. Siraj began by explaining that his work, which is part of his wider activism, seeks to document temporary places, those which will pass without leaving a visible sign. He showed four images of the camp – one with a father and son enjoying a moment of normality, one showing a large crowd and then last two showing the camp once the migrants had left. In the final two there was no sign that anyone had ever been there.

Sukhy Hullait’s project centred on his recent diagnosis with a chronic condition where he is allergic to sunlight. His images and text brought out the irony of a photographer being allergic to light. The images which he thought of as sketches, showed how we normally perceive sunlight as pleasant and pleasurable. These were interspersed with images of his experience of the sun, for example showing the lengths he had to go to protect his skin. This was a project which touched everyone who saw it

The next meeting of the Group will be on 14^th June and the theme will be the built environment.