Contents of Blog – Energy and the Environment
Artist’s Statement Posted
Artist’s Statement Kerik Kouklis 28 May
Ingredients for Artist’s Statement 4 June
Own project statement & rationale 10 June
Exhibition Layout – suggested for 10 images 10 June
Proposals for shoots 6 May
Industrial advice 10 June
Quotations – to accompany final selection 4 June
Shoots
Coalclough Wind Farm, Burnley – shot February 2008 16 May
Nuclear Power – shot 12th April 2008 16 May
Powerlines & Pylons - shot 12th April 2008 16 May
Hydropower – shot 3rd May 2008 16 May
Refineries – shot 4th May 2008 23 May
National Coal Mining Museum – shot 8th May 2008 23 May
Coal fired power stations – shot 8th May 2008 23 May
Biofuels – oilseed rape – shot 8th May 2008 23 May
Shopping list for exhibition
Frames 4 June
Mountboard 28 May
Mountboard – black core 4 June
Visits- Museums, Galleries etc. Posted
Rhyadol Hydropower Station, Wales 3rd May 2008 16 May
Centre for Alternative Technology, Wales 4th May 2008 23 May
National Coal Mining Museum, Wakefield 8th May 2008 23 May
Amber online & Side Gallery, Newcastle 28 May
Bronte Parsonage, Haworth-Fay Godwin 28 May
Work of other photographers
Bourke-White, Margaret 6 May
Davies, John 7 June
Godwin, Fay 6 May
Kenna, Michael 23 May
MacDonald, Ian 6 May
Renger-Patsch, Albert 7 June
Sheeler, Charles 7 June
Van Dyke, Willard 7 June
Weston, Edward 6 May
Tuesday 10 June 2008
Choice of inkjet papers
Having seen some of Joe Cornish's images printed up on an Epson printer with Epson Premium Luster Photo Paper at the 'Focus' exhibition at the NEC, I took the bit between my teeth and purchased Epson Stylus Pro 3800. As I liked the results with Epson paper I decided to use that for the exhibition.
I did email Michael Kenna to ask what paper he used but he still hand prints all his work on silver paper in the darkroom. The following is the correspondence:
Dear Pat
Thank you for your kind e mail
I don't do any digital! Sorry I cannot help you there. All my work is hand printed in the darkroom on silver paper
There are lots of interviews posted on my website for additional info
All the very best for your work and final exhibition
Michael
________________________________
From: pat@carrhousef.fsnet.co.uk
To: kennaphoto@hotmail.com
Subject: student query
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 20:32:50 +0100
I have only just become acquainted with your work and I love it.
As a student approaching my final exhibition for a degree in photography and having shot quite a bit on a Hasselblad I wondered if you could tell me what resolution you scan your images and what is your preferred inkjet paper for your prints.
I am particularly interested in the environment and find the Hasselblad particularly good for infinitesimal detail.
I look forward hopefully to your reply.
Thank you
Pat Butler
I did email Michael Kenna to ask what paper he used but he still hand prints all his work on silver paper in the darkroom. The following is the correspondence:
Dear Pat
Thank you for your kind e mail
I don't do any digital! Sorry I cannot help you there. All my work is hand printed in the darkroom on silver paper
There are lots of interviews posted on my website for additional info
All the very best for your work and final exhibition
Michael
________________________________
From: pat@carrhousef.fsnet.co.uk
To: kennaphoto@hotmail.com
Subject: student query
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 20:32:50 +0100
I have only just become acquainted with your work and I love it.
As a student approaching my final exhibition for a degree in photography and having shot quite a bit on a Hasselblad I wondered if you could tell me what resolution you scan your images and what is your preferred inkjet paper for your prints.
I am particularly interested in the environment and find the Hasselblad particularly good for infinitesimal detail.
I look forward hopefully to your reply.
Thank you
Pat Butler
Exhibition suggested layout
I am hoping that there will be enough room on the wall allocated to accommodate my suggested layout. If there is not enough room I will make a 3 x 3 block and remove one of the Nuclear images
Project Statement & Rationale
Energy & the Environment
As a mature student I have seen many changes to our environment. Some, I must admit, are beneficial, such as the cleanliness of our rivers and the reduction in pesticides but unfortunately, on the whole and especially where energy is concerned we appear to be on a downhill spiral. We are the only species on the planet that expends energy, all other creatures and plants create a natural balance but our use of energy is escalating at an alarming rate. From the very first day we created fire we have abused the Earth and treated it as our own personal possession at the expense of nature. It appears to be universally accepted that we may have less than ten years in which to defuse an environmental time-bomb.
This has resulted in me treating this project with a great deal of passion and fervour which I hope shows in my work. I have aimed at making impactful photographs regardless of my views of the energy source and I would like to think that this is evident in my final selection. I believe public awareness to the energy problem in the form of images is stronger than text and it is for this reason that I have chosen this subject. It is through the quotes accompanying each image that I give the viewer an insight into my opinions. These quotes are broad and varied and add a further element for thought.
Of all the photographers work that I have examined relating to this project I must place Fay Godwin at the top of my list, not only for her excellent imagery and interpretations but also for her strong ethics on the subject of the environment and her love of the British countryside.
This project looks at a broad spectrum of energy used in Britain. There are other forms of energy such as solar, geothermal, wave and tidal, but taking into account my carbon footprint, I feel I have travelled far enough to obtain a good selection of energy sources. As a result the images and captions are left for the viewer to draw their own conclusions as to what is beneficial to the Environment and what is detrimental. People now have the choice of where their energy comes from by selecting their energy provider accordingly. I have no intention of trying to preach what is good and what is bad but I would be delighted if my images gave people reason to think about the subject.
Pat Butler
2008
As a mature student I have seen many changes to our environment. Some, I must admit, are beneficial, such as the cleanliness of our rivers and the reduction in pesticides but unfortunately, on the whole and especially where energy is concerned we appear to be on a downhill spiral. We are the only species on the planet that expends energy, all other creatures and plants create a natural balance but our use of energy is escalating at an alarming rate. From the very first day we created fire we have abused the Earth and treated it as our own personal possession at the expense of nature. It appears to be universally accepted that we may have less than ten years in which to defuse an environmental time-bomb.
This has resulted in me treating this project with a great deal of passion and fervour which I hope shows in my work. I have aimed at making impactful photographs regardless of my views of the energy source and I would like to think that this is evident in my final selection. I believe public awareness to the energy problem in the form of images is stronger than text and it is for this reason that I have chosen this subject. It is through the quotes accompanying each image that I give the viewer an insight into my opinions. These quotes are broad and varied and add a further element for thought.
Of all the photographers work that I have examined relating to this project I must place Fay Godwin at the top of my list, not only for her excellent imagery and interpretations but also for her strong ethics on the subject of the environment and her love of the British countryside.
This project looks at a broad spectrum of energy used in Britain. There are other forms of energy such as solar, geothermal, wave and tidal, but taking into account my carbon footprint, I feel I have travelled far enough to obtain a good selection of energy sources. As a result the images and captions are left for the viewer to draw their own conclusions as to what is beneficial to the Environment and what is detrimental. People now have the choice of where their energy comes from by selecting their energy provider accordingly. I have no intention of trying to preach what is good and what is bad but I would be delighted if my images gave people reason to think about the subject.
Pat Butler
2008
Saturday 7 June 2008
John Davies
John Davies is synonymous with the British urban landscape and this industrial and rural image is one of his classics
Charles Sheeler
Again these are missing from the beginning of the blog but have been quite influential in my selection of images.
Willard Van Dyke
Another image that should have been at the beginning of the blog. I have not found any other work by Van Dyke that is relevant to my project but I find this image to be every bit as strong as Edward Weston. He was apprenticed with Edward Weston and it is easy to see the influences.
Albert Renger-Patsch
Richard suggested I look at Renger-Patsch- he makes some powerful industrial images. (These should have been posted at the beginning of my blog but were overlooked when transferring from my journal)
Final selection
I chose this image because it looks as if the wind turbines are facing the rising sun in worship of the ultimate source of energy.
The white fins of the turbine against the dark blue of the sky create a strong contrast and it is also able to show the movement of the turbine by the blur at the tips of the fins.
The outline of the roofs was so reminiscent of Edward Weston's 'Plasterworks' and Willard Van Dyke's 'Monolith' that it had to be included in my final selection
Drax Power Station in the background with a field of oilseed rape in the foreground provided two energy sources in one image. The brightness of the oilseed rape creating a good foil against the dark blue sky. Even in black & white the brilliance is evident.
These may not be the very high voltage powerlines and cables but it does illustrate energy being conveyed across the open countryside. I particularly liked the symmetry of the two electric pylons breaking the skyline and the diminishing landscape in the background.
There are all the elements in this image to indicate an oil refinery and the dark lowering clouds add another element to remind people of an unenvironmental energy source.
This image was created by bracketing three different exposures and creating an HDR image. For such strong structures combined with the steam I think it has worked well especially with the stong contrasting sun conditions.
This had to be given the HDR technique. The sky was really interesting but would have been burnt out with a normal exposure and the foreground was very dark and subdued but by combining the three exposures it has created a well balanced image.
This photograph of Sellafield is taken from an angle I had not seen before. The contrast between the dry stone walls and the high tech. and industrial background compete quite well. The clouds in the sky appear almost like steam rising from the nuclear plant.
This nuclear power plant at Heysham creates extremely clean but at the same time dangerous energy. I think this photograph conveys this. Shot in the evening sun with seagulls flying high above it appears washed by the sun but at the same time overpowering as it towers above the barrier.
Wednesday 4 June 2008
Quotes for attaching to images
Quotes – wind
“Wind Power Could Generate More Than Enough Sustainable Electricity to Meet Global Energy Needs”
Sustainable Energy Coalition
“The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind, The answer is blowin' in the wind”
Bob Dylan
“The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.”
William Arthur Ward quotes
"What fates impose, that men must needs abide; It boots not to resist both wind and tide"
William Shakespeare
Quotes – water
"Everyone understands that water is essential to life. But many are only just now beginning to grasp how essential it is to everything in life – food, energy, transportation, nature, leisure, identity, culture, social norms, and virtually all the products used on a daily basis."
World Business Council for Sustainable Development
"Thousands have lived without love, not one without water."
W.H. Auden
Sometimes it pauses, to lay up a store
of liquid wealth in lake and reservoir,
Then leaps a dam and hastens on again,
Turning a wheel to light the homes of men.
Taken from "The River Speaks" by Gene Lindberg 1933
Quotes - nuclear
“Environmentalists have long been fond of saying that the sun is the only safe nuclear reactor, situated as it is some ninety-three million miles away.”
Stephanie Mills – singer
“A nuclear power plant is infinitely safer than eating, because 300 people choke to death on food every year.”
Dixie Lee Ray
Quotes – Oil
"Esso, Shell and BP are sending our climate up in smoke,........... Esso and its parent company ExxonMobil, in particular, are sabotaging climate protection."
Karsten Smid, climate expert with Greenpeace
“The use of solar energy has not been opened up because the oil industry does not own the sun.”
Ralph Nader, American activist & lawyer
Quotes - Powerlines
In 2005, the Department of Health funded Draper Report found that children who lived within 200 metres of high voltage lines had a 70% higher risk of developing leukaemia than those who lived more than 600 metres away.
Quotes - Coal
“This island is made mainly of coal and surrounded by fish. Only an organising genius could produce a shortage of coal and fish at the same time.”
- Aneurin Bevan
Quotes - Power stations
"Drax is already the single biggest source of CO2 pollution in the UK, pumping out 22.7 million tonnes each year."
Greenpeace
“We now have a good wholesale business in the UK with big industrial customers and power stations. We are aiming to secure 20% of the market by 2015.”
Alexander Medvedev - Deputy Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Russian energy company Gazprom
Quotes - Oilseed Rape – biomass fuel
“...We believe that this study has clearly demonstrated that oilseed rape induces symptoms in a significant proportion of otherwise healthy individuals.”
Scottish Medical Journal. 1995
“Wind Power Could Generate More Than Enough Sustainable Electricity to Meet Global Energy Needs”
Sustainable Energy Coalition
“The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind, The answer is blowin' in the wind”
Bob Dylan
“The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.”
William Arthur Ward quotes
"What fates impose, that men must needs abide; It boots not to resist both wind and tide"
William Shakespeare
Quotes – water
"Everyone understands that water is essential to life. But many are only just now beginning to grasp how essential it is to everything in life – food, energy, transportation, nature, leisure, identity, culture, social norms, and virtually all the products used on a daily basis."
World Business Council for Sustainable Development
"Thousands have lived without love, not one without water."
W.H. Auden
Sometimes it pauses, to lay up a store
of liquid wealth in lake and reservoir,
Then leaps a dam and hastens on again,
Turning a wheel to light the homes of men.
Taken from "The River Speaks" by Gene Lindberg 1933
Quotes - nuclear
“Environmentalists have long been fond of saying that the sun is the only safe nuclear reactor, situated as it is some ninety-three million miles away.”
Stephanie Mills – singer
“A nuclear power plant is infinitely safer than eating, because 300 people choke to death on food every year.”
Dixie Lee Ray
Quotes – Oil
"Esso, Shell and BP are sending our climate up in smoke,........... Esso and its parent company ExxonMobil, in particular, are sabotaging climate protection."
Karsten Smid, climate expert with Greenpeace
“The use of solar energy has not been opened up because the oil industry does not own the sun.”
Ralph Nader, American activist & lawyer
Quotes - Powerlines
In 2005, the Department of Health funded Draper Report found that children who lived within 200 metres of high voltage lines had a 70% higher risk of developing leukaemia than those who lived more than 600 metres away.
Quotes - Coal
“This island is made mainly of coal and surrounded by fish. Only an organising genius could produce a shortage of coal and fish at the same time.”
- Aneurin Bevan
Quotes - Power stations
"Drax is already the single biggest source of CO2 pollution in the UK, pumping out 22.7 million tonnes each year."
Greenpeace
“We now have a good wholesale business in the UK with big industrial customers and power stations. We are aiming to secure 20% of the market by 2015.”
Alexander Medvedev - Deputy Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Russian energy company Gazprom
Quotes - Oilseed Rape – biomass fuel
“...We believe that this study has clearly demonstrated that oilseed rape induces symptoms in a significant proportion of otherwise healthy individuals.”
Scottish Medical Journal. 1995
Black core Mountboard
The sheets of Daler Antique White mounboard with a black core have arrived from www.lionpic.co.uk within 2 days of ordering. They cost only £3 per sheet plus VAT and are A0 size (twice the size of Hobbicraft)
Frames
I have decided I need 10 or 11 @ 50 x 70 cm frames but have not yet decided whether to go for black or natural wood.
Ikea 'Ribba' - natural £15.49
- black £15.49
Fastframe
Nielsen 'Starfish' beech £20.39 + VAT (Good quality but I think too expensive for that amount)
black £17.39 + VAT
Ikea 'Ribba' - natural £15.49
- black £15.49
Fastframe
Nielsen 'Starfish' beech £20.39 + VAT (Good quality but I think too expensive for that amount)
black £17.39 + VAT
Ingredients for artist's statement
I found this on the internet which I think is helpful in creating a statement.
WRITING YOUR ARTIST'S STATEMENT
<http://www.mollygordon.com/resources/marketingresources/artstatemt/>
Write a three paragraph artist's statement. Keep your sentences authentic and direct. Use the present tense ("I am," not "I was," "I do," not "I did.") Be brave: say nice things about yourself. If you find that you falter, write three paragraphs about an artist whose work you admire. Then write about yourself as though you were an admiring colleague. As a rule, your artist's statement should be written in the first person. Refer to yourself with the pronouns "I, me, my." If this blocks you, write in the third person, then go back and change the pronouns as needed when you get to Step Four. Use the suggestions below to structure your statement. Write three to five sentences per paragraph.
First paragraph. Begin with a simple statement of why you do the work you do. Support that statement, telling the reader more about your goals and aspirations.
Second paragraph. Tell the reader how you make decisions in the course of your work. How and why do you select materials, techniques, themes? Keep it simple and tell the truth.
Third paragraph. Tell the reader a little more about your current work. How it grew out of prior work or life experiences. What are you exploring, attempting, challenging by doing this work.
WRITING YOUR ARTIST'S STATEMENT
<http://www.mollygordon.com/resources/marketingresources/artstatemt/>
Write a three paragraph artist's statement. Keep your sentences authentic and direct. Use the present tense ("I am," not "I was," "I do," not "I did.") Be brave: say nice things about yourself. If you find that you falter, write three paragraphs about an artist whose work you admire. Then write about yourself as though you were an admiring colleague. As a rule, your artist's statement should be written in the first person. Refer to yourself with the pronouns "I, me, my." If this blocks you, write in the third person, then go back and change the pronouns as needed when you get to Step Four. Use the suggestions below to structure your statement. Write three to five sentences per paragraph.
First paragraph. Begin with a simple statement of why you do the work you do. Support that statement, telling the reader more about your goals and aspirations.
Second paragraph. Tell the reader how you make decisions in the course of your work. How and why do you select materials, techniques, themes? Keep it simple and tell the truth.
Third paragraph. Tell the reader a little more about your current work. How it grew out of prior work or life experiences. What are you exploring, attempting, challenging by doing this work.
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