BARK AND GRID

BRIAN W. FERRY'S BOOKSHELF: PART 5

Uta Barth is one of my all time favourites, I am excited to find out she has a new book out, how did I miss this? This is the last of the books Brian Ferry is sharing with us. Thank you Brian, it's been amazing to see what you are looking at.

To Draw With Light - Uta Barth (published by Photo Based Art Inc./Blind Spot, 2012)

Uta Barth taught me about light.  She has taught me about photographic abstraction that resonates with me.   She also taught me about the importance of closely observing something - light, in particular - as a measure of the passage of time.  She infuses light with emotion and meaning and she does this all in the most simple compositions I've ever seen.  You get a glimpse of something - a hand, a sheer curtain, a drawer & drawer pull or a cabinet - and it is illuminating but the focus is always on the light.  Her simple photos show movement and time.

In this book, you see incredible patterns created by the light at various times of the day in Uta's home.  "...to draw a bright white line with light" - this underlines her purpose here.  I look at this work alongside Ellsworth Kelly's "plant drawings" - they are simple sketches focused on line and form as a way to distill something, simplify it, and draw attention to its essence.  Barth (and Kelly) are attempting to show the essence of something - and focusing on how we see, rather than what we see.  This idea of non-representational photography is really inspiring to me.  

_ words and photographs in this post by Brian Ferry

WINDOW

LIGHT: LEAK

I have been experimenting with light leaks on film - very hard to get right, but I am happy with this image and I will probably persevere. I have started my course at VCA and has been enjoying greatly working towards producing prints, rather then just showing things online. Photographs have so much more presence that way, and you also have to edit down your work to just a few favourites.

BRIAN W. FERRY'S BOOKSHELF: PART 4

I love being introduced to the artists I have never heard of, so thanks to Brian for mentioning Matt Connors. Find out more about his work on his gallery's website, if you are interested. Next week I am going to share the last instalment of the series, and probably my absolute favourite photo book I have seen in a while, please check back.

 A Bell Is A Cup - Matt Connors (published by Rainoff, 2012)

I wish I could show you every single spread from this book.  And then, I would take you along with me to Matt's exhibition last year at MoMA PS1 in NYC, entitled "Impressionism" - because there's really no way for me to describe in words why this book (and Matt's work) is so resonant.  You just have to see it and feel it.  Matt's paintings and other works are clever and thoughtful and they reverberate - there is almost a musical quality to them.  I see and hear echoes between various paintings and different materials and subjects.  I think the exhibition had a large part in this reaction; it affected the way I look at this book, for sure.  I open Matt's book often because its contemporary abstraction clears my head and focuses my mind.  In particular, the colors here are such an inspiration to my work.

BRIAN W. FERRY'S BOOKSHELF: PART 3

I was so ridiculously busy last week, I have forgotten this blog even exist, sorry! Here is another fantastic book from Brian and I will post two this week to make up for it. I lpve Luigi Ghirri and was excited to see Brian have choses to share this book.

It's Beautiful Here, Isn't It... - Photos by Luigi Ghirri (Aperture, 2008)

Luigi Ghirri has been an inspiration ever since I saw his photos of Georgio Morandi's atelier.  In that instance, I was pulled into the way he captured the space of a friend and a painter.  I photograph many artists' studios (and I know you do, too, Olga!).  Painters, designers, sculptors, etc.  I like the way that Ghirri makes these photos intimate and at the same time, they stray from a stricly documentary point of view to something more artistic and a bit abstract.  They are almost the representation of the studio and of the individual, a portrait without a person.  I strive to do that. 

When I started looking into more of Ghirri's work, I was simply blown away.  Here is a photographer working at a time when color film was not very popular, creating images that seem so contemporary!  He was truly ahead of his time.  I like the way he makes you understand a place -- without giving too much away.  He finds these moments - absurd moments, beautiful moments, quiet moments, and he draws you in.  Some of these photos are simply details - allowing you to dream up the rest.  He is a master and I love this book.

BRIAN W. FERRY'S BOOKSHELF: PART 2

I am continuing to share words and images from Brian Ferry, today Brian talks about

Golden Palms by Ed Panar (published by J & L Books, 2007)

A friend told me about this book last year, after I had started to spend some time in Southern California. He said my photos of that area reminded him of Ed's book (a huge compliment, of course).  The reason I love the photos is because I feel like I identify with Ed – he says in the preface that he moved to LA in 2002 and he was very curious about it - the more he started to think about all the things people had told him about it, they didn't add up – so he wanted a direct experience himself, and this work was created out of that direct experience and exploration of LA.  As he says, his answer is that LA actually doesn't add up and it resists a simplistic understanding.  That has been my experience in Los Angeles, and I think it really underpins the photos I made there in the last year.  Absurd, a clash of nature and man-made things, beautiful and yet somehow not entirely of this world.

BRIAN W. FERRY'S BOOKSHELF: PART 1

I have asked Brian Ferry to share some of his favourite books here on the blog, the ones he comes back to again and again. I feel like Brian doesn't really need an introduction. I'll just say that his photographs have a special feel to them, particular kind of beauty that I greatly admire, and Brian's book 'Quality of Life' is currently on my coffee table (or rather a crate that functions as a coffee table, to be completely transparent about this). If you don't read Brian's blog yet, I highly recommend it, for the photographs of course, but also for his thoughts on photography and everything around it.

All the images below and words by Brian W. Ferry. More to come in the following weeks. Thanks Brian, I loved reading about your favourites!

Neue Welt - Wolfgang Tillmans (published by Taschen, 2012)

The title translates to "New World" and this is a large book of photographs assembled by Tillmans that speak about his view of contemporary life and society, seen through images he makes of certain motifs and fragments of the world around him.  It has everything – people, industrial products, machinery, architecture, plant and animal life, etc. What's astounding to me is the way Tillmans has put together such a large group of seemingly disparate photos in a way that feels slightly unnerving and but incredibly observant.  o much to be inspired by here – colors, details, and the many things that Tillmans casts his eyes upon.  This book pushes me up against humanity & contemporary society in a visceral and beautiful way.  

YOKO OZAWA: INTERVIEW

I have taken these photographs of Yoko after our first photo shoot together last year. I am sharing them today alongside the conversation between us about Yoko's work. Her beautiful exhibition KOMOREBI  at Mr Kitly in Brunswick is still open during this weekend, you have last couple of days to see it, if you like.

I have one of your tea cups, I love using it every day, because I get to enjoy it much more that way, but at the same time I am terrified one day to break it. Making vessels that are both utilitarian and decorative to a certain degree, what life do you imagine for them? What kind of people will use them, where?

I think it is natural – the possibility of breaking pottery. That is why I am able to treasure them all the more, although I prefer using them for daily life. Because I like how the texture and color of pots would change as time passes. I just wish my pots make someone's mood uplifting a bit.

Your ceramic pieces are visually stunning, but can be only fully appreciated, I feel, once in your hands: the textures seem as important as the shape. I know you make up your own glazes, but what about the clay? And where does the inspiration for the textures come from?

The ideas of the shapes come first, with the names mostly. My shapes might resemble simple geometric forms, yet somehow the names are based on the thing from nature, such as a mountain, a pond and a stump in Japanese. The texture of my pots is slightly rough and dry, also it has random spots. It makes me feel poetic as well as these short names, even a tiny little spot makes me happy.

You are Japanese, but you choose to live and make your work in Melbourne. Yet Japan has such a rich history of handmade pottery, it is impossible to not be conscious of it. To what extent do you feel a part of the tradition or removed from it?

I think I enjoy such noncommittal or equivocal position in Melbourne nowadays, yet I really admire these Japanese tradition and old culture, not just history of handmade pottery. For example, my 'moonlight' vase (above) takes its idea from one of my favorite customs in Japan called otukimi. We enjoy the moonlight once a year, offering rice cakes and Japanese pampas grass by the window. More than the tradition or history, I think my pots are affected by my past experiences, living in Australia also becomes a part of my memories that would be infused into my pots.

Do you plan making more of your beautiful lamps this year, like the ones hanging in Kappaya?

One of my lampshades is displayed in my exhibition at Mr Kitly at the moment. I like making them same as vases, especially the ones that have openwork. They are made to order mostly, but I would like to display them all together one day, if they are given their space.

Find out more about Yoko Ozawa pottery here: https://www.facebook.com/Yoko.Ozawa.Pottery

YOKO OZAWA: KOMOREBI, photographs

These photographs are the result of my collaboration with Yoko, capturing some of her new works in the living space, used according to their function. Some of these images are currently a part of Komorebi exhibion at Mr Kitly that continues till the 24th of March.