centrepoint

Up & Coming: Isra Cubillo

2012-01-27T15:05:00.002Z

Another piano love song

"It was during a long period of recovery at home that I began to explore the traces that Esther leaves in the 90 sunny square meters that we share. I had all the time in the world to follow them, like a detective - on crutches - but less savage than those of Roberto Bolaño. On the radio she listens to when she eats breakfast, in the plants she laid all around the flat, in the sponge she uses to remove her makeup just before bedtime, everywhere. There were and still are her books, her shoes, the piano with which she sometimes surprises me in the morning...

The final drive to sequence them came to me whilst hearing a TV interview with a musician called Bigott. He spoke of a song he wrote for his girlfriend, which said that he is not the kind of man that comes back home with money. That honesty gave me the key to edit the photos as if it were a song, they would be another piano love song. "

Isra Cubillo (1973, A Coruña) is a self-taught photographer, whom has participated in workshops and seminars with artists and photographers such as Bernard Plossu, Alberto García-Alix, Vari Caramés, Ricky Dávila, Laura González, Carlos Cánovas and Jose Manuel Castro Prieto. In 2005 he was nominated for a grant on the 6th edition of the Photojornalism seminar of the Santa María de Albarracín Foundation and in 2011 he participated in Descubrimientos Photoespaña.

All Images © Israel Cubillo

Up & Coming: Chris Bethell

2012-01-03T20:21:00.007Z

Christopher Bethell’s currentpractice places him within the sub-culture of Urban Exploration. His workconsiders the nature of wanting to see the unseen; attempting to evaluate whatdraws himself and other members of the community to these sites. Christophertries to communicate the placid atmosphere that is experienced whilst exploring- a feeling that is amplified in such places as (derelict) hospitals incontrast to the noise of active ones.

Photography has changed whatis commonly believed to be beautiful. Most would not wish to live (or even be)in these conditions, but once photographed they become an aestheticfascination. Christopher’s images describe the serene beauty of these buildingsand objects that are now devoid of purpose.

Christopher Bethell turned to photography as a means of understanding the world around him after leaving a dead-end job in Manchester. He returned to Cheshire in order to study on the Foundation Degree in Contemporary Photography at Mid-Cheshire College before moving onto Staffordshire University to top his degree up to a full BA (hons) where he is currently studying.

In 2010 he won first place in the Didsbury Arts Festival photography competition with his 'human typology'. Later, in 2011 one of his photos was selected for the homepage of the Bing Your-Britain competition and another was shortlisted in the national top 20. Again in 2011, Bethell's photograph Kingsway Hospital from the set Urban Exploration was shortlisted and exhibited for the Title Art Prize, organised by Blank Media Collective at Blankspace, Manchester. Within this he came as a runner-up out of the 25 shortlisted artists. To view more of his work please go to: http://christopherbethell.4ormat.com/

All images © Chris Bethell

Up & Coming: Christopher Nunn

2011-11-20T21:34:00.003Z

Falling into the Day

(2009-2011)

Falling into the Day is an on-goingproject about my friend David, an accomplished artist suffering fromAlzheimer’s disease. Shot over several years, the intimate images of David inhis home explore the themes of age, time and memory.

Born in West Yorkshire, UK (1983). Graduated with a BA Photography Degree at Bradford College, 2004. Selected from a national submission to participate in the 2009 group show Lost in Transit, held at Impressions Gallery, Bradford and Vyner Street Gallery, London during Photomonth Photography Festival. Exhibited work as part of the Foto8 Summershow at HOST gallery, London in 2010. Currently working on personal projects and commissions throughout the UK and Europe.

To view more of his work please go to: www.christophernunn.co.uk

All images © Christopher Nunn

Streets of Identity at Aston University

2011-11-10T23:19:00.006Z

Starting on Wednesday the 15th of November, Aston University will present ‘Streets of Identity’ in the Library Foyer.

The exhibition ties in with Crossing Boundaries: Aston’s Year of Ethnicity & Culture and explores the concepts of culture, imagination and memory and the way they contribute towards identity in western society.

'Streets of Identity' will feature four photographers - Roxana Allison, Pablo Allison, Susana Sanroman and Santiago Carrion – whose photos have been taken in the UK, Mexico or Spain, sometimes tackling controversial issues.

You can view the exhibition until 30 November. There will be a preview evening on Tuesday the 15th of November from 6pm – 8pm - all students are welcome.

For more information please visit http://www.astonguild.org.uk/news/

Selected Work: Adam Wiseman

2011-10-30T21:19:00.002Z

La Mancha Urbana, which in Spanish means 'urban sprawl' is an ongoing photographic project using Mexico City and it's surrounding neighborhoods as subject matter. It is a portrait of a city, one that is often misunderstood, one that is impossible to fully understand. It is a chaotic, spontaneous, and unpredictable city where more than 26 million people live a mostly peaceful, mundane existence. A city that has its foundations rooted in class division, even from pre-hispanic times, and 500 years of corruption maintaining these class divisions in place. Life in this city is punctuated by moments of violence and the encroaching Narc wars are often on people's minds and lips.

Mexico City has one of the worst reputations in the world, when I tell people who have never been that I live here they often cringe. It is thought of as corrupt, polluted, violent, backward, overcrowded and poor and yes it is all of those things, but it is not only these things, it is so much more. Most who come to Mexico City are pleasantly surprised and many then stay.

This project is not one that is meant to shine a positive light on the city, it is simply a subjective portrait shot from the perspective of one of its residents, undoubtedly one who has benefited from belonging to a privileged class.

For this project I asked a close friend and talented art director, a lifelong Mexico City resident, to edit and design the book. Rigoberto Rocha's collaboration in this project is no less important to its final goal than mine. The pictures he has chosen to put in this book, where they go, how they are paired to create a visual and social juxtaposition create a poetry I would not have been able to achieve. This is truly a collaboration which would not be possible without both parties.

La Mancha Urbana will be shown as the main part of a solo exhibition in Mexico City at the 'Museo Archivo de la Fotografía' (MAF) in 2012.

Born in Mexico City (1970), Wiseman has lived in Mexico, NY, Scotland and Brazil. He has a BA from NYU in Ethnographic Film (1992) and completed the Documentary Program at the International Center of Photography in NY (1996).

After living in NY for 13 years working as a freelance photographer and as fine printer for the Magnum photo agency, Wiseman returned to Mexico City in 2001.

He continues to work as a freelance photographer and photo editor in Mexico City. Wiseman has collaborated and his photographs have been published in such publications as Rolling Stone (USA), Metropolis(USA), The New York Times (USA), El Mundo (Spain), Le Monde 2 (France), The Telegraph Magazine (UK), Colors Magazine (Italy/USA), GQ (Spain), Revista Man (Spain), National Geographic en Español, Yahoo, Time Magazine and Paris Match among others.

His work has also been published in the books; ¨Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping¨ Rem Koolhaas/Tashen, ¨New York September 11 by Magnum Photographers¨ Powerhouse books, ¨Mutations¨ Actar, and "The Endless City" Phaidon/London School of Economics.

He has held exhibitions in Switzerland, Spain, NY, Mexico, Japan, at the 2006 Venice Biennal as well as having a photograph from 9-11 in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C.

Currently working as a freelance photographer for local and foreign publications in Mexico City. His recent clients include El Colegio de Mexico, Wall Street Journal, Siemens, The Christian Science Monitor, and Wallpaper Magazine.

To view more of Adam's work visit www.adamphotogallery.com

Selected Work: Raul Gutierrez

2011-10-16T14:19:00.000+01:00

Man on the Khotan Road

I am interested in the way stations between cultures are places where you see the past and the future simultaneously. It is a perspective I find disorienting, tragic and, occasionally, magnificent. I try to make images that show these places before they tilt one way or the other,

while they are still suspended between worlds.

Raul Gutierrez, Brooklyn

Men on Business

The Taklamakan

The Market

Travels Without Maps is an ongoing project exploring the far western edges of China. It is China without being Chinese. These areas are home to a complex and sometimes volatile mixture of local populations and Chinese settlers. Each time I return, the staggering pace of change disorients me. Many of the scenes shown in the images above have recently disappeared. More of Travels Without Maps can be found on my portfolio site: http://www.raulgutierrez.org/

Jumping Rope

Burnt Bus

Staw Man

Raul Gutierrez is a photographer, entrepreneur, and dad. Raul, who was trained as an art historian at Princeton, fell into photography and film production in the 1990’s. These interests eventually spilled over to the web, and in 2007 Gutierrez was part of the small team that created and built 20x200, an online art gallery. Today Raul is part of the Studiomates collective and is working on several projects for mobile devices that marry images and storytelling. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two rambunctious young boys. He is working on several multi-year photography book projects. Raul has kept a blog photography and art since 2004 at Heading East: http://www.mexicanpictures.com/headingeast

School Day, Khotan

All images © Raul Gutierrez

Up & Coming: Carlos Saladén-Vargas

2011-09-27T23:17:00.004+01:00

Centrepoint Collective - I sense a very honest and tender look to the portraits. Can you give me a brief insight about your motivation to conduct this project and also, which countries did you visit while producing the work?

Carlos Saladén-Vargas Thank you. The main motivation behind these images is the way 'third world' cultures are represented in mainstream western media, as 'others'. These 'others' are people shown as primitive and miserable, with corrupt governments and starving societies, in short, in need of help. I understand that this is a very hard agenda to tackle but I thought of going back to basics, to start by pointing at the people from these cultures. I really don't see this exercise as a particular view of South America. I think I wanted to use South America as example so other 'third world' cultures ( like African, Indian ) could see themselves in my work, talking to a bigger audience

I only visited two countries, Colombia and Venezuela, I travelled by road and I intentionally focused on people living in the countryside rather than cities. I am happy that you use words like honest and tender to describe the images. I wanted to use a very basic approach, a bit typological but also very relaxed, I only shot one frame per subject, I believe this one-shot approach translated into a very respectful dynamic between them and myself.

CC- Although the present situation in Latin American countries is of a lot of social unrest, violence, drug issues among many other problems, there are also many positive aspects that seem to be disregarded. For instance, I have noticed many photo-essays focusing on gang culture, poverty, corruption and the list goes on. Could you give me your take on this insatiable appetite for photojournalists or documentary photographers to disregard the positive elements that Latin America is also built of ?

CS-V-Yes but we have to see the bigger picture, it is about 'photojournalism' and 'documentary ' being used to create products that can be sold and marketed through mainstream channels, you cannot sell a pink elephant by showing a photo of a blue one, can you?

CC- I understand that this series of portraits attempt to break with stereotypes in terms of culture and representation of subjects ( identity ), can you explain a bit more about why it is important for you to re-construct Latin American identity today ?

CS-V- I don't like to use the word 'identity', I feel it's a term loosely overused to the point that it has become a cliché, I rather say it is important to re-construct representation, and not only for Latin America but also for the 'first world', representation today is utterly divorced from everyday life and the people. It seems that mainstream representation speaks ( in first person ) only to a few.

CC- You incorporate elements that have been building the 'democratic' society in Latin American countries today. From a policeman, family members, workers and the military force among other aspects. How do you believe that the rest of the World, specifically 'industrialized societies' perceive Latin America?

CS-V- Good question, I'm not sure how they perceive Latin America, as it really depends who you ask, I have met many people that get thrilled about Latin America and come with joyful memories from when they lived over there, they were always on business assignments or consulting for multinational companies so those guys really had a great time I suppose... now if we think about ordinary people, then we have to consider that their perception can only be that which is constructed and strengthened through mainstream imagery and responds to certain interests.

CC- My first reaction when analyzing the images was of a slight confusion. I initially thought that the images were about Latin Americans living in the USA. Later I discovered that the project was about people living in Latin American countries. From an aesthetic angle, which was your strategy when choosing the elements you wanted to depict in the project and what you thought was irrelevant and out of context?

CS-V- Really? What a surprise, maybe it was because the first image you saw was of a police man wearing some kind of texan hat? I think it was just a very opportune ( or unfortunate?) coincidence. I decided to photograph certain people: people that I particularly find excluded from the realm of representation. Aesthetically I wanted to play with the idea of using the landscape and surroundings as a secondary but very important layer, they don't shout-out-loud 'hey look! we are in the third world! ' at least not in the way that you are used to see in mainstream imagery. If you look closely you realise that this secondary layer anchors the images in a very special way

CC- I see that you focused the project on portraits rather than on the topography of the space. Why do you think it was more important to photograph people rather than the landscapes?

CS-V- I wouldn't say it is more important to photograph people over landscape. They are equally relevant to the point that they are connected.

CC- Have you received the responses you aimed to hear from audiences when presenting the work at exhibitions?

CS-V- Well, this is a very difficult question, I really don't know the answer... What is that phrase I've heard before? If I managed to touch just one soul, then it was well worth it... or something like that.

CC- Will you be going further with the work, traveling to other Latin American countries?

CS-V- Yes definitely, I'de love to, but I think I might have to leave that for sometime in the future, at the moment I am concentrating in developing my work using what I have around me...

All images © Carlos Saladen-Vargas

Carlos' work is informed by an interest in the socio-political functions of photography and critically engages with issues attaching to spectatorship and installation of large-scale photographic projects.

Born 18 October 1979 in Venezuela, Saladen-Vargas is the co-founder of Photo-Soup, an international collaborative project that allows artists to disseminate their work and ideas without the restrictions imposed by mainstream curatorial agendas. To view more of his work please got to: http://www.8302.net/csfoto/

'Control' & 'In Between'

2011-09-27T15:20:00.007+01:00

We are delighted to announce that three of Centrepoint Collective's photographers will be taking part in two exhibitions during East London's Photomonth. Both exhibitions will be held at Oxford House in Bethnal Green and everyone is welcome to come along to the preview on 6th November from 7pm.

Control is a collaborative project by photographers with strong connections to the north of England. The project brings together ten photographers under the mentorship of Dewi Lewis, to create a unified body of work under the theme of control. Control was part of Liverpool's photography festival Look 2011.

In Between is a collaboration of 4 photographers from various photographic backgrounds whom have grouped together under the name of 4amigos. The exhibition communicates and discusses some of the ambiguous spaces in life, memory, people and places. Each set of work endeavours to capture something elusive and alternative
that comes to life beyond the surface.

Up & Coming: Matthew Mullin

2011-09-20T12:32:00.007+01:00

Gathered Static

Near Distances

As a viewer of my personal world and the world in general, there is equal beauty in both the grand and the minute. My fascination with details and overly analytical nature pushed me to develop a project that explores the tragedy and romance of our modern urban societies by applying narrative to the inanimate. These images seek to synthesise the subconscious, to create a tangible bond between individual human psychology and inanimate arrangement or function.

Introverted Extroverted

Fundamentally I see my photography as the study of our day-to-day environments and an isolation of elements/aspects within them that echo theoretical debates found in subjects such as psychology, sociology and philosophy. Near Distances sets out to capture life’s juxtapositions, its oddities, its quaintness and its absurdness.

Subjugated Expression

Applied Height for Heights' Sake

Matthew Mullin was born in Great Yarmouth in 1981, in 2010 he graduated from Thames Valley University with a BA in Photography, he also possesses a HND in Film Making. Having lost his love of Film Making he made the decision to switch back over to photography to reinitiate a long dead obsession with freezing time.

In 2010 ninety photographs from Near Distances were exhibited at The Strand Gallery, London (formerly the Proud Gallery) and in March 2011 Near Distances was exhibited at the Matsu Gallery in Mile End, London. Matthew has undertaken promotional work for various galleries around the UK the last being for the Real World Gallery in Brick Lane, London. Matthew currently lives and works in Berlin.

For more of Matthew’s work visit: www.matthewmullin.co.uk or http://www.flickr.com/photos/35065669@N06

Inanimate Limbic Resonance

All images © Matthew Mullin

Selected Work: Dulce Pinzón

2011-09-05T00:44:00.022+01:00

Imagina

By using out-of-this-time and out-of-context elements Dulce Pinzón has obtained metaphorical images to sensitize the audience about caring for the planet and reflecting on the world that we shall leave behind to future generations.Through the conventions of staged photography she aims to present a series of images based on the life cycle. These images also touch on issues that affect our environment with the hope of raising questions regarding the state of the planet we inhabit.

Pinzón’s approach to this new series references environmental issues and concerns she had from an early age. In her own words she describes the intention of this work:

"Although there are many problems affecting my country right now, my frustration and indignant stance toward the severe problematic that we face with environmental issues has forced me to find viable strategies in the hope of leaving a better legacy for my country and my son: the possibility of creating a better and cleaner environment for all".

The real story of the Superheroes

Her previous work entitled The real story of the Superheroes was based on a series of satirical documentary-style images featuring ordinary men and women in their work environment in New York. The portraits are based on immigrants donning superhero garb with the objective of raising questions about the definition of heroism after 9/11 and the ignorance of the workforce that fuels the ever-consuming economy.

A text is incorporated into each image with the name of the worker, country of origin and the amount of money they send back to their communities; this has the purpose of highlighting the human nature of the individuals in the photographs.

MINERVA VALENCIA from Puebla works as a nanny in New York

She sends 400 dollars a week

Spiderman BERNABE MENDEZ from the State of Guerrero works as a professional
window cleaner in New York He sends 500 dollars a month

Pinzon's aesthetic approach is also based on constructed photography –building sets to determine the environment where each subject she photographed works.

Through each portrait she makes allusions to the fact that these people are also human beings whose work should be appreciated as they are the engine that makes New York City function on a day-to-day basis.

The real story of the Superheroes has been widely exhibited and has also caused much interest internationally as the subject matter is quite relevant to the way in which super economies treat migrant workers.

SERGIO GARCÍA from the State of México works as a waiter in New York

He sends 350 dollars a week

Dulce Pinzón was born in Mexico City in 1974. She studied Mass Media Communications at the Universidad de Las Americas in Puebla, Mexico, and Photography at Indiana University in Pennsylvania. In 1995 she moved to New York where she studied at The International Center of Photography

Pinzon's work has been exhibited, published and collected internationally. In 2001, her photos were used for the cover of the Spanish edition of the book by Howard Zinn, "A People's History of the United States". In 2002 she was awarded the prestigious Mexican grant, 'Jovenes Creadores'. In 2004 she won first prize in the two-dimensional category at the fourth meeting of contemporary art in Puebla. Later, in 2006, she won the first prize at the XII Photography Biennial of the 'Centro de la Imagen' in Mexico City. In that same year she was an intern at the New York Foundation for The Arts, and subsequently, in 2009, she was awarded a grant from the Ford Foundation.

Harvey Birdman José Rosendo de Jesús from the State of Guerrero works as a union
organizer in New York He sends 700 a month

Earlier this year, she was invited to take part at the renowned photography festival 'Les Rencontres D’Arles Photographie' in France. She also took part in the PhotoIreland Festival in Dublin and the 'Más allá de la Reportería Fotográfica' in Bogotá, Colombia

Her work has been published by Esopus, Marie Claire South Africa and Thailand, Milenio, Mother Jones, Picnic, Rolling Stones Italy, Vice, The New York Times, The Guardian UK, The Washington Post, La Jornada, El Reforma, El País, and in many other places. She is currently a Ford Foundation fellow and lives in Brooklyn, New York.

All images © Dulce Pinzon

Up & Coming: Sian Gouldstone

2011-08-22T17:06:00.006+01:00

Domus

I made Domus as an investigation into the material culture and personal affects of our domestic environments; to look at the nature of what we call ‘home’. The work seeks the commonplace and the largely unnoticed objects of domesticity to find an aesthetic in the ordinary and everyday aspects of people’s lives. Bachelard suggests that our house is our corner of the world and each of us adopt mechanisms by which we each choose to furnish and decorate, to keep, to display and to throw away the multitude of possessions that we accumulate. Meaning can be assigned to personal objects through memories. Our experiences may result in the development of taste, which in turn, plays a part in the choices that we make about presentation of our lives in our homes.

As a visual document of the nature of our time, this work also offers us a record of our time. It contains evidence of the memories of the past and the styles of the present. It becomes a reference for the future; a document of historical, cultural, sociological and aesthetical interest.

Sian Gouldstone was born in Lichfield, Staffordshire and is currently based in Manchester, UK. Having never picked up a camera until 2005, she has since completed a BA in Documentary and Fine Art Photography and graduated with a distinction from her MA in Photography and Urban Cultures at Goldsmiths College in September 2010. Sian has exhibited at locations across the UK and currently lectures at The Manchester College. www.siangouldstone.co.uk

All Images © Sian Gouldstone

Up & Coming: Carl Mole

2011-07-31T21:52:00.003+01:00

‘Middlesbrough - Hercules Exiled’ is an ongoing project documenting the streets and people of Middlesbrough, a small town in the north east of England. In the early 1800’s Middlesbrough had a population of just 25 people, it was industrialization in the latter half of the 19th century that began the extremely rapid expansion and population growth of the town, which led the Prime Minister of the time William Gladstone to dub the town ‘an infant Hercules’.

Entering the 21st century Middlesbrough has become a shadow of its past and is now something of a forgotten industrial town struggling in the economic downturn. When I have traveled around the UK, and replied to the question ‘where do you live?’ blank stares are given when Middlesbrough is mentioned. From its mighty beginnings to the present day, the town seems to have been exiled from the consciousness of the rest of England.

Carl Mole was born in 1969 and came to photography later in life, with no formal training in the subject but with a passion to create he is constantly learning and developing the ability to see and understand through photography the area of his birth in the North East of England. He is fascinated with the changing urban landscape and its people. In 2010 Carl was involved in Stuart Pilkington’s project What is England http://www.whatisengland.co.uk. He is currently working on a project photographing the course of the River Tees. To view more visit www.carlmole.co.uk

All images ©Carl Mole

Up & Coming: Jo Phipps

2011-07-11T23:14:00.127+01:00

'Grace Be Said at the Supermarket'

Centrepoint Collective - What was your motivation for taking these portraits?

Jo Phipps - I have just completed a Post Graduate Photography Cert. at Central St. Martins and for the second half of the course you work on a project for the final show. I’m really interested in the creation of portraiture, in the dynamics between a photographer and a subject and in the numerous decisions that lie behind the representation of a person’s image. I wanted to make a series of portraits that really encapsulated the highly personal negotiation between identity and representation and do it in a collaborative way with the subjects. I’d been researching ideas around whether in portraiture the individual can stand in for the group, and had been looking particularly at August Sander, at his beautiful pensive work with professions and ‘types’. Obviously that work was of it’s time and our understanding of identity has changed. I wanted to do something that posed questions about an individual and their place within a category or group.

In the UK we have a very complex relationship to supermarkets. We are witnessing their relentless growth and seem to have ambivalent feelings towards them due to the mixture of advantages and disadvantages they offer us. I suppose I wanted to explore something of the human element in the middle of that dichotomy.

The subject of Supermarket workers worked as it’s a very modern somewhat transient occupation and I was also interested to explore the effect of the branded uniform in a displaced environment i.e. the workers own home. What would the viewer ‘read’ from the photographs? I’m also very interested in the everyday, in the subtlety and sensitivity of what is often taken for granted and sometimes overlooked.

CC - Can you explain a little bit about the constructed method of the portrait, the strategy behind the work?

JP - I’m looking for ‘the jolt’, the thing that stops the viewer taking an image at face value and hopefully invites a longer contemplation. The in-between space between documentary and art. If portraiture is in a fundamental way an attempt to ‘fix’ an identity or a likeness then I hope in some way, I’m questioning that and referencing the nature of photography without being over concerned with process. Images that ask questions rather than attempt to offer answers and yet remain totally human.

CC - I can see that most of the people are looking downwards, can you explain the reason for having directed the people's gestures?

JP - Everybody is certainly looking off-frame. I suppose this was influenced by my previous series Chance Procedures. The subjects in Chance Procedures are almost transcended from their environment in their own personal thoughts and looking off-frame but of course those pictures were taken without the subject being aware. I like a subject’s almost absence in a picture. As a viewer you are not invited to look in a voyeuristic or dominating way but almost to share an experience that the subject may have had, this is in addition to the picture being taken as it appears in their min, they seem to be elsewhere. Can the viewer look more freely when the subject is pre-occupied beyond the photographic act? A viewer will try to fathom an identity beyond a surface facial expression whether that expression is a stare or a smile to the camera or a look off-frame. The consistent expression in the series highlights the negotiation that the subject has allowed in letting the photographer represent them. I hope my work in portraiture highlights this construction in a very subtle and questioning way.

CC - How easy was it to choose who would be involved in the project and also, did you have a certain criterion in terms of who you wanted to included?

JP - It was very easy to choose each individual but it wasn’t easy to get permission as the subjects often had very little free time to spare due to their other jobs or studies etc. I wanted a diverse group of subjects that were between 20 and 30 years old as that is an age when people are really forging their identities. I was really interested in the details of their lives and stories but it also came down to who I felt I could have a creative collaborative experience with, a totally subjective notion on my part. The project consisted of 12 shoots that had to be shot in one month, April 2011. So there wasn’t much time! My previous experience as a producer was useful and I suppose I did feel like I was casting the subjects. I learnt an enormous amount about the nature of constructing a series of work and how one decision can lead to another that shapes the work.

CC - I also sense a strong engagement between you and the people being photographed. Can you explain a little bit about the psychology behind the work?

JP - The work is about identity so it was important to work collaboratively and be sensitive to how the subjects wanted to be portrayed in addition to the set criteria of being in their work uniform. We had discussions about the elements to be included in the photograph including the clues to their personalities or important items that they felt helped represent them. The picture ‘Joseph ‘ has been selected to be part of the Foto8 Summer Show. Joseph chose to wear headphones in the portrait because of his love for music. Through talking to Joseph I learnt that he seemed to be managing quite a lot of difficult family relationships. I suggested that we photographed him with the family photo cabinet at the very edge of frame. The viewer won’t necessarily be aware of these details but this was the psychology behind the thinking.

CC - What seems very interesting is that you take these people away from there work places and depict them in their own environments dressed up in their working uniforms. It kind of does not make sense to see workers from various companies in alien environments such as their own living spaces. These elements make the work very strong and successful. Can you expand a little more on these thoughts?

JP - Historically portraits are often used to identify and make visible different sections of society. I wanted to try placing the ‘uniform’ - a definite signifier of identity in an unusual place, as uniforms are not usually worn at home. Some of the subjects had never actually worn their uniform at home before and it was a strange sensation for them! People have to adopt a personae in uniform in public. They are expected to behave in a certain way. I wondered if the viewer would see beyond the uniform to the individual? I wanted to allow a lot of background information into the pictures but only enough to offer clues and remind us that we as viewers are always projecting onto images and that nothing can be set in stone with any degree of certainty.

All images ©Jo Phipps

Jo Phipps lives and works in London. She graduated from North London University with a BA (Hons) in Film and spent many years working as a top end producer on commercials, music videos and short films. In 2010 she decided to explore a more intimate version of artistic creation and totally committed to a passion for photography. Her first series Chance Procedures was selected for the Photofusion Group AMPS/10 show in Dec 2010 and she graduated from the PG Photography Cert at Central St. Martins with Distinction in June 2011. For more information on her work and other related links please visit: www.jophipps.co.uk

Up & Coming: Interview with Murray Ballard

2011-06-28T00:15:00.008+01:00

Centrepoint Collective: How did you come about the idea for this project? How did The Prospect of Immortality begin?

Murray Ballard: It’s a long story, but I’ll try and keep it as short as possible. Basically it grew out of a project I was doing in 2006 during my second year of university. I was reading Susan Sontag’s book, On Photography, particularly the chapters where she explores the relationship between photography and death. I became interested in the idea of photography as a way of preserving something, of stopping a moment in time and preventing it from essentially disappearing, or ‘dying’. I started a project photographing subjects that mimicked photography’s inherent ability as a tool of preservation.

I drew up a list which included: taxidermists, embalmers, Egyptian mummies, restorers, museum specimens and most importantly, although I didn’t know it then, cryogenic preservation. Anyway in hindsight the project was a bit of a ‘naff’ idea, but it got me researching cryogenics on the Internet. I quickly found out, that what I was thinking of as cryogenics, was in fact called ‘cryonics’, and that it was something people were actually doing for real.

Initially it seemed like cryonics was only happening in America, but then I stumbled upon a website for a group in the UK. They were planning a meeting in Peacehaven, Sussex. I couldn’t believe it, I thought this idea only existed in the realms of science-fiction and here it was right on my doorstep, a twenty minute drive down the coast from Brighton where I was studying. Fortunately the man organising the meeting, Alan Sinclair – who I have now come to know well – had left his phone number for people to contact him, so I called it, and sure enough got through to Alan. He answered my questions and agreed to a meeting at his house. A few days later I went along as a nervous student and sat in his lounge with a cup of tea while he and his wife Sylvia told me all about cryonics. I then came along to one of his meetings and it grew from there. I’ve now made five trips to the USA, three to Russia, one to France and another to Germany.

CC: Cryonics is quite an unexplored subject, what kind of difficulties (if any) did you face when shooting The Prospect of Immortality? Tell us about the working process.

MB: The project evolved slowly over a long period of time. It was really just a process of serendipity – allowing one thing to lead to the next – most of the time it would be the ‘cryonicists’ who would say, “you should go and meet such and such, or check out this place.” And that would lead me off on a little adventure. Initially the main problem I had was gaining peoples trust, they were used to journalists coming along for a couple of hours to interview them, but they didn’t understand why I wanted to come along and spend a whole day, or several days, observing a training session or visiting a facility. I was very fortunate to have Alan Sinclair [the cryonicist from Peacehaven] willingly to introduce me to people and he was very helpful in vouching for me when I approached the American facilities.

CC: How did you convince your subjects to let you photograph them and the Cryonics facilities they work at? How did you make them feel at ease with this?

MB: I use a large-format view camera for many reasons, but I find it particularly useful when taking portraits. Due to the way the camera works you can’t just snap a photograph of someone, it’s a slow process, and it requires some discussion with the subject, normally it evolves into a sort of mini-collaboration. From my experience the camera tends to make people feel much more at ease because it gives them a certain amount of control over the situation and how they are portrayed. It’s also got a bit of novelty value because people aren’t used to having their picture taken with that type of camera and therefore they tend to be quite interested in the process.

CC: You spent quite a long time [5 years] shooting for this project, could you tell us why?

MB: The main reason why it has taken such a long time is simply because of the costs involved - the flights, hotel bills, film and processing make it an expensive project to make. When I was a student I was lucky enough to get a grant from South Square Trust, which paid for the first couple of trips. But since university it’s been mainly self-funded and therefore it’s been a case of saving up the cash to make each trip. There have been a couple of exceptions, in 2009 GEO magazine commissioned me to travel to Germany and photograph the cryonics community over there; and in 2010 I was awarded a Kodak film grant, which has been great and taken the sting out of shooting film. More recently, and somewhat reluctantly, I have started selling the pictures to magazines – I say reluctantly because I would have preferred to have finished the project first, and ideally have published a book, before putting anything out into the world, but it’s been a great way to finance the last couple of trips.

CC: Considering it was a long-term project, do you feel you have reached the end of it?

MB: I keep asking myself this, and of course I could go on forever. I thought the exhibition at Impressions was going to mark the end of the ‘shooting’ stage of the project, but now I’m not so sure. Through the process of putting the exhibition together I learnt a great deal more and identified a couple of things I would like to explore further. I now think I might have one more trip to do.

CC: The Prospect of Immortality is being exhibited at Impressions Gallery at the moment, what’s next? Are you working on a new project?

MB: At the moment I’m working on my first commission with Elliot Hammer, a graphic designer, the working title is: How to Genetically Modify a Tomato and Some Vegetables. We’re going beyond the laboratory doors of the John Innes Centre - Europe’s largest research centre in the field of plant science and microbiology. We’re working with three scientists who are conducting experiments using genetic-modification technology. In September, as part of the British Science Festival, we will present our findings in a newsprint publication and pop-up exhibition.

CC: Have you considered publishing a book for this project? Any offers yet?

MB: Yes, I’ve just started working on a book dummy with Stuart Smith, which is very exciting. So far we have only had a couple of meetings. The other day I presented what I thought was a near finished edit and sequence to Stuart and he immediately started taking it a part and questioning everything. The next step is to go right back to my contact sheets and look again at the picture edit and the overall structure of the book – at the moment it really feels like ‘one step forward, two steps back’, but Stuart’s assured me that it’s nearly always like this when you start making a book. Once I have a finished book dummy I plan to start showing it to publishers, but I’m also interested in self-publishing and possibly doing something along the same lines as Rob Hornstra, who has self-published all of his books through crowd funding.

CC: What photographers have influenced your work?

MB: Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin, Julian Germain, Jim Goldberg, Rob Hornstra, Simon Norfolk, Mark Power, Alec Soth... I could write a very long list. I guess I’m drawn to work routed in the documentary genre, but the sort made primarily for books and the gallery wall. When I began The Prospect of Immortality my approach was heavily inspired by Broomberg and Chanarin’s early work, Ghetto and Mr. Mkhize, and you look at what they are doing now and it’s very different - it’s a massive progression and I’m fascinated by their constant interrogation of photography as a medium, which runs in context with the subject they’re tackling.

Murray Ballard (b.1983) lives and works in Brighton, UK. He graduated from the University of Brighton in 2007 with a BA (Hons) in Photography, and was selected for Fresh Faced and Wild Eyed 2008, the annual showcase of work by the most promising recent graduates at The Photographers’ Gallery, London. In 2009, he was a selected by The Magenta Foundation as a Flash Forward Winner and took part in Hang, a nine-month long professional development project for emerging photographers organised by Redeye. In 2010 he received a Kodak film grant and a portfolio prize at the International Photobook Festival in Germany. An assistant to renowned Magnum photographer Mark Power for the last three years, his first solo exhibition The Prospect of Immortality is currently on show at Impressions Gallery, Bradford until 17th September. To view more of his work please visit: www.murrayballard.com

All images property of © Murray Ballard

Up and Coming: Petra Stridfeldt

2011-06-10T22:25:00.022+01:00

On this occasion we have decided to start a new post section with a series of interviews addressing the work of emerging as well as established photographers. For this post we decided to invite Petra Stridfeldt a Cheshire based photographer who started her photographic career in Sweden as a darkroom technician and photographer. She describes herself as a restless soul due to her moving location 25 times, which included migrating to England twice.

Although Petra has had different professions and moved many times she has continuously kept her passion and interest in photography. In 2008 she decided to return to photography full time and started a BA Hons Degree in Photography.

She is particularly interested in conceptual art but she also practices documentary photography whilst travelling on her long trips in various countries on her motorbike. On these trips she photographs ordinary people in their daily routines.

She also has an interest in the environment and the effect humans’ consumption has on both the environment and its animals. In 2010 she did a documentary project about global warming that covered the flood in Cumbria. She recently finished working on her final project at university entitled 'Want', as part of Manchester Museum’s redevelopment of a new gallery, “Living Planet”, which is an exploration of the natural world and people’s relationship with it. The work is aimed to be presented in a minimalistic and conceptual way.

She uses both film and digital and her work can often be described with words such as tranquillity, minimalism and space, which is probably influenced from her home country.

CC- I understand that the work was initially geared towards addressing global warming issues but later expanded into incorporating a dialogue of mass consumption and the effect that this has on the world...

PS- Yes, that’s true, the initial idea for the project was to create installations in the natural environment to show how the effects of over-consumption increase global warming, but as the humans’ behavior of denial became more interesting I decided to incorporate people in the images instead.

Each image means to represent three key ideas: over consumption, humans’ denial and my concern about the way in which the planet is developing.

CC- Do you think that the fact that you are producing, what could be seen as 'beautiful' images could detract the attention of the viewer from understanding deeper issues related to over consumption and global warming.

PS- I don’t believe so as they may look ‘beautiful’ but at the same time they have a grotesque look to them. My aim when working on these portraits was to let the viewer to be thrown between a sort of admiration and guilt and conversely, allowing people to make their own interpretations on the work.

CC- So do you think that by utilizing ‘beauty’ as a strategy the viewer can become indulged and grasp a clear understanding of the concept or concepts behind the work?

PS- My intention was not really to lecture the viewers about the environmental concerns as this method of scaremongering has been done endless times and as a result, people don’t seem to take much notice any longer. The intention of creating these portraits is to catch the viewers’ attention with its ‘beauty’ long enough to awake a curiosity about the subject matter.

CC- The cleanness and neutrality of each photograph is another interesting feature that adds on to your work. They are very pleasing to look at but at the same time they have a very eerie feeling. Images such as the face wrapped up by a bag or the bandaged face metaphorically symbolize how we have been obstructed and distracted from observing reality and as a result we become very impulsive to over consuming goods etc. Can you explain a little more about the aesthetics behind the image production?

PS- I believe that the aesthetic approach of my project is very much influenced by my Scandinavian background where cleanness and neutrality are very apparent. Additionally, space, minimalism and light are also important components in my work.

The covered faces are metaphor for humans’ denial, the way we choose not to see how our own laziness affects the planet. The portrait does not show individuals; instead it means to represent people who use consumption to generate a short moment of happiness for the expenses of the planet’s health.

CC- So your strategy is to represent a self-portrait of us human beings?

PS- Yes, I believe that we all are depicted in them. I think by using a wittiness to represent the human’s stupidity I’m playing with the idea of bringing food for thought without being too negative.

CC- Have you got any plans for continuing to produce more images based on this body of work? Or are you planning to produce a new series addressing new issues?

PS- Both really as I have a few more ideas for these portraits but also new ideas to show this subject matter which I intend to develop further.

Petra Stridfeldt recently exhibited at Liverpool during the photography biennial 'Look2011' and will be part of a group exhibition entitled 'EverythingEverywhere' in collaboration with Manchester Museum to take place at The Chinese Arts Centre in Manchester from the 16th to the 19th of June.

For more information on her work and other related links please visit:

www.eephotoshow.com www.look2011.co.uk www.stridfeldt.co.uk

Selected Works: Philip Gordon

2011-05-30T21:48:00.008+01:00

UK 1984-85 Thatcher's divided Britain

A set of photographs that I took in the early 80's in Britain about the class division that still exists in Britain. The pictures of the "Upper class" where shot in London and Cambridge and the "Honourable Royal Artillery Club". The unemployed "Working class" youths where shot in the Northern part of England, as well as the Miners Strike 1984-85.

Thatcher was ‘mending’ a broken economy, not enough attention was paid to a ‘broken society’. After Four Decades of British Protest, we are living similar times in the present day.

Philip Gordon has worked for more than 25 years as Photojournalist. Gordon has travelled around the world taking striking images that are now vivid records of the difficult social and economic challenges of an era (the Thatcherism era, the fall of Communism in the Soviet Union, the space race, and the transformation of Japan). He was born and raised in the United Kingdom, but has lived in several countries, among others Japan, UK, former URSS. He has cultivated a unique photographic style with a strong social approach.

He has been published by Der Spiegel, Time, Newsweek, The Economist, US-News & World Report, Guardian, Independent, The Guardian, The Times, Der Ziet, Asia Week, South, The Observer Magazine, Marie Claire, Asahi Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun, Stern, Paris Match, New York Times, L'uisine Nouvelle and many other publications.

For more information about his publications, please visit REA or Impact photo library. Philip is also an animator and graphic designer, graduated in 2008 by Central Saint Martins. He currently works as animator for New Opera Hero among others.To view more of Philip’s work go to: http://blah-de-blah-to you.blogspot.com/2009/02/photojournalism.html, http://www.flickr.com/photos/blah_de_blah_to_you/

All images © Philip Gordon

Selected work: Aj Wilkinson

2011-05-01T23:53:00.006+01:00

East wall of canteen.

A gift from an uncle: a faux blue leather bound book smelling of musk, filled with twenty-one photographs of utilitarian landscape.

The photography album is something we hold dear to our hearts, as it is a collector of memories. This book has those personal memories but not just of the people that worked there but the memories of a past industrial space, the two are parallel in their order of importance.

I see these images as a journey through a two dimensional landscape of forgotten spaces and unnamed people. Each photograph is like an exploration of an uncharted terrain.

Aj.Wlkinson began life as the son of a plumber, which meant that the bathroom was always on the change, this constant change was to signify the many years of family struggles and lies.

To escape these troubles he found the medium of photography to focus his thoughts, first he lived the life of the rock’n’roll photographer only to find the boredom of the everyday hindered his view. 1989 Staffordshire Polytechnic came into his life, which gave him a new focus of exhibiting photographer and educator. Twenty years down the line and many national/international exhibitions and two books (English Candies/Driving Blind) have been part of his achievements as a photographer. He still is a photographer/educator and a dad.

All images © Aj Wilkinson

Up & Coming: Pablo Lopez Luz

2011-04-16T19:28:00.015+01:00

The main concern behind my work is the reinterpretation of an artistic apporach through the concept of the ¨landscape¨.

For the last five years, I have been photographing the urban landscape of Mexico City and other major cities in Mexico, as well as different nature scenarios around the country, approaching these places through an aesthetic deeply rooted in the historic tradition of painting and photography.

My intention is to re-interpret the classical notion of the mexican landscape (present throughout the pictorical history of Mexican art), through a contemporary viewpoint, brought about by the presence of human beings and the relationship to their surroundings.

This series of images include photographs from Mexico City and Acapulco. The focus of the work is mainly directed towards the manipulated or the constructed landscape of cities.

Although there are a number of ways in which the work can be read or interpreted, my main interest is to portray the effect that overpopulation followed by a lack of structure or guidelines lay in the development of cities, hence alters the city´s terrain and land.

Leaving aside the ‘always present’ social implications of the work, my main drive with this project is to capture how the absolute modification of space that these landscapes suffer, and the historical emergence of a completely new landscape; a social landscape that remains animated, is always expanding and in constant change.

Pablo Lopez Luz was born in Mexico City in 1979 and studied at the Universidad Iberoamericana. Subsequently he completed a MA at the University of New York. In 2004, he was awarded with the Velazquez Grant from Madrid, Spain. In 2010 he was the winner of the IILA Photography Award, an artists in residency grant that took place in Rome, Italy.

His work has been included in many national and international exhibitions in countries such as, Brazil, Argentina, Russia, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Japan and the USA. His work is part of the prestigious collection Anna Gamazo de Abello. He is represented by Rose Gallery in Los Angeles, California.

Recently Editorial RM published a book on his work which presents a compilation of images that mean to study the landscape across Mexican cities. To view more of his work please visit www.pablolopezluz.com

Up & Coming: Laura Cuch

2011-04-06T14:35:00.003+01:00

‘Sleepless’

‘Sleepless’ consists of a series of portraits of people who for some reason sleep very little. I was interested in looking at lack of sleep as a phenomenon, without limiting it to a specific reason, and I set as the selection criteria that the people portrayed sleep under four hours per day, even if it is only temporarily. I interviewed the participants first and together we decided a place where I would photograph them in relation to their own particular story.

‘Sleepless’ is the first part of a trilogy that aims to question what it is to be human, by exploring issues of identity in relation to health and disease, ‘lack’ as a corporeal condition and the imaginary around the body and its control. One of the main challenges of this trilogy is to visually explore aspects of the human condition that are invisible. The motivation is to look into vital experiences that somehow transgress the notion of a ‘normal’ human subject (established and defined by social norms through scientific/cultural discourse) in order to challenge conventional understandings of the human being.

Laura Cuch is a documentary and fine art photographer. She completed an MA in Photography and Urban Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London in 2006 and is currently a visiting tutor at the same course as well as a visiting researcher in the Anthropology department in Goldsmiths. She has exhibited internationally at Descubrimientos - PhotoEspaña 09, Centro Cultural Blanquerna, Arts Santa Mònica, H2O Gallery, Sala d’Art Jove, Talent Latent/Scan09 and Emergent09. She has also taken part in group shows in London at the Rich Mix, Photofusion, The Viewfinder Gallery and City University. Her work has been published in Le Monde, Barcelona Metròpolis, El Súmmum, London Independent Photography and Street Signs.

www.lauracuch.com

All images ©Laura Cuch

Up & comming: Lior Zilberstein

2011-03-22T00:27:00.009Z

This project is something I have never done before and it symbolizes the beginning of a new chapter in my work. I never thought photographing landscapes was that interesting until I made a technical mistake that led me to see them in a different way. I always saw photography as a serious craft, almost a science. It is comforting to me that there is a right way and a wrong way to do things. This project made me realize this is nonsense. A camera is just another tool and there isn't a correct way to use it. This project started as a mistake, I used very old medium format film with a Holga camera with a plastic lens just for fun. I shot it in Denmark in an area called Skagen, a place that attracted a new school of Scandinavian painters over 150 years ago. I had the idea of shooting classic Scandinavian landscape. I tried to pretend I was an impressionist painter and adopted this point of view using long exposures hand held. The results were very interesting and formed a series of eerie landscapes almost completely detached from human presence.

Lior Zilberstein is a 30 years old London based photographer / Artist. At the age of 20 he became a photographer for the Air Force, where his interest in photography grew. After his service, he moved to London to study web design at SAE just to realize that design was not for him. He completed a BA in Photography at the University of the Arts, London College of Communications. He started creating commercial work along a variety of personal projects ranging from documentary to fine art. His work was published and exhibited by the British Journal of Photography, The Royal Photographic Society and Bombay Mix to name a few.

Exhibition: Streets of Identity at the Instituto Cervantes

2011-03-20T23:13:00.022Z

We are happy to share some images and vídeo taken at the opening of the exhibition 'Streets of Identity' that started on the 9th of March at the Instituto Cervantes in Manchester.

Streets of Identity is a comment on the concepts of culture, imagination and memory and the way they contribute towards identity in society bringing together the work of five photographers Roxana Allison (‘Becoming a Memory’), Pablo Allison (‘Angel’), Susana Sanroman (‘In Transitum’), Santiago Carrion (‘The Promised Land’) and Virginie Anne Hebert (‘The Art of Play’). Through the photographic media, each photographer explores and expresses different ideas and opinions on a subject that touches each and everyone. The five projects presented have been produced in the UK, Mexico, Spain and France, sometimes tackling controversial issues. They are a token of the rich diversity of the Collective’s visions.

Centrepoint Collective would like to thank all the people that came to the show. We hope you enjoyed the night. We would also like to thank the Instituto Cervantes Manchester for the kind support provided. The exhibition will run until the 20th of April at the Instituto facilities on Deansgate. For more information please refer to their website at www.manchester.cervantes.es

Centrepoint Collective at Instituto Cervantes Manchester from santiago carrion on Vimeo.

Selected Work: Glen Erler

2011-02-27T17:07:00.009Z

‘Family Tree’

‘Family Tree’ is a project about the loss and rebirth of my family. I moved from Southern California to England 15 years ago and whilst visiting family members back home, I started photographing the people and places that were important memories in the shaping of who I am today. While I’ve been living in England, many of my relatives on both my fathers and mothers sides have passed away and this has made me realize the impact death has on the lives of those remaining. These images explore the current status of some of my remaining family members in their daily lives and are moments spent together during family gatherings. I also concentrated on returning to places where either significant events in my life happened or happened to those around me and have remained with me since childhood. They are not always memories of great importance but in fact played a role in the life I once knew.

This project also explores the addition of a new generation into our family. My nieces are now wives and mothers and their children will experience a very similar life to what I experienced. I tried to find beauty in the everyday life I took for granted while retracing footsteps of places where my memories lay and a new generation of actions will take place.

Glen Erler has accrued a rich body of work documenting the poignant beauty of adolescence and the forthcoming project titled 'Family Tree' to be published by Photoworks. With over 20 years experience as an established photographer, artist, lecturer & tutor in Europe & the USA, his work has spanned public and private commissions, portraiture, advertising & editorial for some of the world’s most respected mastheads. Glen resides in London, England.

All images ©Glen Erler

http://www.glenerler.com

Up & coming: Bjorn Veno

2011-02-19T14:00:00.010Z

Bjorn Veno artist and photographer grew up on an island of Norway's west coast with his loving family and 99 sheep. On this remote island he experienced strange events and fantastic adventures. At the tender age of 17 he entered modern civilisation and started on the path that would lead him to question the perceptions western society have on male identity. Veno works with a form of performance that tries to access the subconscious by performing what ever comes to his mind without censor. This process has resulted in a successful series titled MANN which can be seen at www.bjornveno.com

Making a living of creating art is a great challenge for an artist and even more so in our current economic climate. In response to this Veno has created a new project titled PXsnatch.com which gives the public the possibility to own a unique part of art, be a part of the creative process and directly support an artist. Veno invites the public to the web site www.pxsnatch.com where one can pay anywhere from £1 to £900 for a set of original pixels (digital fragments). The Artwork in question is a picture that will be revealed as people buy pixels. When every pixel has been sold the original artwork will only exist fragmented across the world. Veno will then invite the owners to help put the artwork back together again to create a one off print giving the public a direct influence on how the final printed image will look.

In relation to the PXsnatch project itself Veno takes on the persona of a slightly over-enthusiastic artist who features in short and spontaneous videos that try to convince the public to take part in the project. Veno has been run over by an Ice cream Van, tried to enter Frieze art fair with a plaque saying "Destroy Art" only to be turned away because the plaque did not meet sufficient health and safety regulations, eaten two Snicker bars at the same time and dressed up as a woman all in the name of Art.

All images belong to ©Bjorn Veno

Streets of Identity

2011-02-18T23:29:00.010Z

As part of the Viva Festival which will take place in Manchester in conjunction with Instituto Cervantes, we are pleased to invite you to the next Centrepoint Collective exhibition entitled 'Calles de Identidad' (Streets of Identity) from the 9th of March to Wednesday 6th April, 2011. The Instituto Cervantes in Manchester is located at 326-330 Deansgate, Manchester M3 4FN.

For further information regarding this event please refer to the invitation shown below or by going on to www.manchester.cervantes.es to find out more about this and other events.

Up and Coming: Gemma Thorpe

2011-01-23T21:39:00.014Z

I am a photographer fascinated by people and their stories, their determination and resilience. I am drawn to document social issues, and am particularly interested in highlighting hope rather than exposing tragedy. Much of my photography is based around themes of home and belonging, from an earthquake-affected village in China who's residents dream of opening it to eco-tourism, to the constraints and challenges of new-found freedom for Romanian youth who have grown up in state orphages.

I work on long term projects and I am eager to learn, listen and to develop myself and my understanding as much as my photography. I am concerned about photography's tendency to be self-serving and I am inspired by photographers who's work goes beyond the usual audiences.

Consequently I am hugely inspired by people I've met along the way, from 85 year old Miss Punny in small town Missouri, USA, to other photographers who's work and outlook I admire, such as Brad Rimmer (especially his Silence -The Australian wheatbelt series), and Simon Roberts, for whom research is integral to the output, and on an aesthetic level. I am enthralled by the work of Ian Teh, and more recently Andrea Gjestvang as well as that of Chinese photographers Wang Gang and Zhouhai.

Gemma Thorpe came to photography the long way round, gaining an interest in people, places and visual representation while studying Geography at Sheffield University. A stint at Leeds College of Art and then the opportunity to study an MA in International Photojournalism and Documentary Photography in China, where she lived for 2 years, fostered her passion for documentary photography and an ongoing attempt to master Mandarin Chinese. She has been based in Sheffield since summer 2009 and is working on long term projects.

All Images are copyright of © Gemma Thorpe

For more information on her work please visit www.gemmathorpe.com

Up & Coming: Phillip Reed

2011-01-08T00:16:00.011Z

China: Phillip Reed

Chinese officials saw the Olympic Games in Beijing as more than just a sporting event, it was the platform for China to announce itself on the world stage as an emerging super power. The raw enthusiasm that greeted the Olympics in Beijing couldn’t have been more different from the cynicism encountered on my return to London ahead of the 2012 games.

I wanted to hint at the idea that China’s rapid transformation is a sort of Cultural Revolution of our time. I have incorporated elements of propaganda posters as a visual reference. I wanted to reflect a vision of a country looking to the future with nothing but pure enthusiasm and confidence.

All images are copyright of © Phillip Reed

My images focus on the youth of the nation and its rebirth as a country. In China everybody talks about the future. China now feels like a young nation, ironic if we consider its 5000 years of civilization and tradition.

Phillip Reed is a talented photographer with a sublime eye to capture the interaction of the city and its inhabitants. His work focuses on the effects of environment upon the experience of the individual.

His images offer a unique vision of life in big cities, in a perfect mixture between street and stage photography. His final-year project HOME, winner of the year’s Hotshoe LCC student award 2010 is the perfect example of this.

He is currently working on an ongoing project called In-between; a photographic collaboration between him, based in London, and with his identical twin brother Anthony, who lives and works in China.

http://www.phillipreed.co.uk/

Up & Coming: Caroline Hancox

2010-12-12T18:31:00.005Z

Fringes

This project features delicate Polaroid emulsion lifts, which shows parts of the natural world creeping back and overtaking the ruins of the man-made world. I love areas of landscape that on first glance are not immediately beautiful but on closer inspection reveal a previously hidden attraction. I used Polaroid film for these images because I like the one-off, unpredictable nature of the medium and feel it adds to the natural fragile ruggedness of the scene. Each pack of film has a slightly different hue or may have slight imperfections, these characteristics have been exaggerated by the Polaroid emulsion lift process (removal of the emulsion membrane from the backing paper and transferral onto a different surface) and the delicateness of the result mirrors the scenes in the images.

Caroline Hancox is a vibrant young photographer based near to Cambridge, UK. She specialises in the relationships between humans and their environment where she finds the little details and beauty in everyday life that often go unseen and unnoticed. She was short-listed and highly commended for Professional Photography Magazine “Photographer of the Year” competition. Caroline graduated with a distinction in an FDA Degree in Professional Photography in June 2009 and is currently working on personal projects, commissions and is involved with a new project called 'What is England' curated by Stuart Pilkington http://www.whatisengland.co.uk/

All images property of ©Caroline Hancox

Up & Coming: Huw Wahl

2010-11-28T15:43:00.005Z

I began to work with black and white photography a few years ago after being given an old enlarger and some paper by my father. I was compelled to set up a darkroom in my cramped Levenshulme bed-sit, and develop photos, badly, with no ventilation, using all the wrong chemicals. The lack of air made me feel ill, and the photos are now all sepia because I failed to wash them properly. At the time I was running a small bicycle shop down the road, taking tatty cycles to pieces everyday and putting them back together. I used photography as an extension of this, being able to work it all through myself from the taking of the photo to the development in the tank, and the final product dripping from a clothes peg above my bath.

I still only use black and white because for most of my adult life I have worked with my hands, either as a cycle courier or in a bike shop. What has risen from this is a practical base for creation. I want to feel the film as a tangible and solid object.

To worry about the theory of art can stop you doing it in the first place, which is why I walked out of art school after only one day in 2003. The institution seemed to be promoting freedom through creativity at the same time as stifling free thought. Photography in black and white is a different view of the world, simply because we only see in colour. In some hands it can be pretentious, but in others it can be honest.

Israel / Palestine

These photos are from when I visited friends in Israel at the end of 2009. I wrote a short account of my two weeks there. Here’s an extract:

The downstairs room was plastered with photo’s of blood, teargas, death, funerals, brutality, maps and prostests. Groups of people, spoke in English, Hebrew and Arabic. We’d come to the centre that organised the weekly demonstration in Bil’in, famous because the land Israel had taken was ruled illegal by an Israeli court two years previously, and still the fence was here, separating Palestinians from their land. I took a photo of a door, kicked in by the Israeli army the week before, in the middle of the night, where people were beaten and threatened.

Up & Coming: Paul Vickery

2010-10-27T16:03:00.021+01:00

I am a London based Photographer who is fascinated by people. My work is concerned with Western culture’s obsession with image, identity and the contradictory nature of the human condition.

For my project ‘Past Imperfect Future Tense’ I chose to focus on people who desire to be visible but are often viewed as outsiders in ‘normal’ society.By pushing the boundaries of my photographic practice I have attempted to reveal the many layers of complex characters. In so doing, I have produced something more intimate, effectively removing the ‘masks’ of my subjects.
A free flowing, visual narrative allows ambiguity to become part of my work: the narrative is confusing and contradictory - a mirror to the lives of my subjects.
My project calls into question the very notion of ‘normality’ and raises important issues about how society views different groups of people.
A metaphor for the complexities of modern living, my work highlights that coming to terms with confusion and contradiction are perhaps the final things we have to deal with as human beings.

Paul Vickery graduated last year from Central Saint Martins with a Pg Certificate in Professional Studies (Photography). His work has been featured in a number of publications including GUP, Sang Bleu and 125 magazine. He has made presentations at the School of the International Centre of Photography (ICP) in New York and New York University (NYU). He has also had group and solo exhibitions in the UK, Hungary and the United States. His work, 'Past Imperfect Future Tense' is currently being exhibited at Messineo Art Projects and Wyman Contemporary in New York from the 23rd of September to the 6th of November. He is represented in New York by Messineo Art Projects and Wyman Contemporary. For more information on his work please visit www.paulvickeryphotography.com and www.messineowyman.com

Centrepoint Collective at MIRIAD

2010-10-14T11:16:00.007+01:00

On the 20th of September another of our exhibitions started at the Manchester Institute of Research in Art and Design. These are some snapshots we tood before the crowds trashed the place. The show will be up and running till the end of this week.

Centrepoint Collective at London Photomonth 2010

2010-10-14T10:57:00.008+01:00

We had a great time last Saturday 9th of October at London's New Spitafields Market. Loads of people showed up along the day. The journey run smooth with friends and visitors of the Photomonth Photofair 2010. Looking forward to next year's!

Charming Susana attending the media.

Pablo & the pals.

Selected Work: Tom Hunter

2010-10-05T14:38:00.011+01:00

Tom Hunter's photographic work makes references to the people and places of his immediate community. He portrays quiet, everyday scenes that give his ‘outsider’ subjects a visible presence and quiet nobility. The contemporary representations of his environment is subtly tinted by art painting references.

Tom Hunter graduated from the London College of Printing with a BA First Class Honours [1994] and completed his MA at the Royal College of Art, London [1997]. In 1998 he was awarded the John Kobal Photographic Portrait Award. In 2006 he was the first artist to present a photography exhibition at the National Gallery in London.

He currently lives and works in London. His work often explores the lives and stories of the people in his neighborhood in Hackney, East London. He has exhibited work both nationally and internationally, in solo and group shows and is also a Senior Research Fellow of the London College of Communication, University of the Arts London.

We would like to thank Tom Hunter for his kindness and for allowing us to feature his work on Centrepoint Collective’ blog.

www.tomhunter.org

*Partial text from Tom Hunter website

2010-10-04T14:36:00.004+01:00

Centrepoint Collective at Photomonth 10

We would like to invite everyone to come along to the Photomonth 10 East London Photography Festival to view our work and also to find out more about what we do plus you can also view other photography organizations, book publishers, books, products, services among many other activities that will take place all throughout the day. For more information please refer to the flyers below.

Up and Coming: Asli Kolcu

2010-09-19T14:22:00.002+01:00

Dream with me 6

Asli's photography stands somewhere between Art and Fashion. Her portraits' dreamy vintage quality is what attracted me first. I found her website by chance one day when I was in the search for something else. Asli Kolcu is a London-based, Turkish photographer. She started her career by "snapping aimlessly" and posting her pictures on Deviantart.com until a Finnish gallery owner who offered her her first show noticed her. Within a year, she got a job as an art director that took her all over Europe and Turkey. This is how she describes herself:

"21 year old child of nature, in love with that place between dreams and waking up. I love my nightmares just as much as my dreams. I breathe love and daydream throughout every waking moment. My shutter is my heart beat."

Pertinacious Illusions

Untitled

Dream with me 1

For further details please visit: http://www.aslikolcu.com

2010-09-12T12:57:00.005+01:00

Exhibition at Manchester Metropolitan University

Here is the Flyer for the next exhibition of Centrepoint Collective which will be held at MMU (Manchester Metropolitan University). The show is entitled 'The Lives of Others' and it is based on a variety of topics such as immigration, identity, place, being, etc. We hope that you can come along to enjoy the show.

Up and Coming: Mark Devereux

2010-08-31T18:41:00.020+01:00

36 ACT [ALCHEMY]

In Mark Devereux’s new work, 36ACT, the artist returns to his collection Alchemy (2004-10). Using imagery created in the early stages of this project, Devereux uses the technique of mark-making to both alter and develop works that explore notions of the sublime, cosmology and alchemy itself.

“My work explores the collision and cohesion between the boundaries of fine art, paint and photography. Taking inspiration from what we see around us and images from the media, the interpretation of my work becomes personal and discursive allowing interactions and engagement.” (Mark Devereux)

In reference to Devereux’s practice he is acutely aware of it being a combination of the technical procedures of photography and the conceptual influences of fine art. This creates tension in his work as he is challenging people’s preconceptions of the artist and photographer.

There is an extraterrestrial element that lies heavily underneath the surface of the photographs; the content is unidentifiable and has an alien quality. Brooding underneath the layers of chemical erosion is another world.

What makes Devereux’s practice so fascinating is that it somehow challenges the notion of being and raises questions about the fragility of nature. This is a cohesive theme within this series, where we are gently being probed to ask questions about our own immateriality.

Mark Devereux is a Manchester-based artist and curator. Since graduating from BA (HONS) Photography and MA Fine Art at Staffordshire University he has been involved in a number of successful exhibitions throughout the country. Devereux is also the Director and founder of Blank Media Collective, an arts organisation championing the work of emerging practitioners from around the world.

* Partial text from curator Taneesha Ahmed

Up and Coming: Evi Lemberger

2010-08-15T21:36:00.015+01:00

Transcarpathia is a region in the West of Ukraine, which is surrounded by the natural border of the Carpathian mountains and artificial borders of Hungary, Slovakia and Romania. Within the 20^th century it used to belong to 7 different countries: until 1918 it belonged to Hungary, then for 20 years to Czech Slovakia, for two weeks it became an autonomous country. Then till 1944 it belonged to Hungary and to the Soviet Union and since 1991 to the new founded Ukraine. Nowadays the area is quite dismissed by the government. Statistically, it suffers from about 80 to 90 percent unemployment and most people have their own land and animals in order to get their food. Many different nationalities and religions are settling down in this region. The language and time is set to Ukrainian or Hungarian, which is one hour behind time, a situation that a lot of different countries are facing.

Above all, East European Countries such as Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia are dealing with this problem. These countries, which were part of the big Habsburg Kingdom, were split up and since then, it seems more than a game to ruling countries: borders were changed and countries were founded according to their geographical location and political interests rather than according to their history, language or culture. Thereby there has been no consideration for the society and culture of the people, who have to deal with the outcome.
As part of my photographic investigation I travelled to Transcarpathia. Talking to people from different national and religious backgrounds I tried to find answers on my search for identity.

Up and Coming: Lourdes Cabrera

2010-07-25T21:04:00.007+01:00

Emotion dominates my images, a circumstance without my vision of beauty would not exist. I am intrigued or interested on the way my models are or move. As I look through the lens, they transform into characters from a film or a novel. Through the use of subtle lighting, I attempt to transport the viewer’s mind to unsettling scenes beyond the boundaries of the photograph, towards a series of previous and subsequent imaginary moments.

Faces and bodies wander in an atmosphere of mystery and fragility without offering a clear message and as such, preserving the subjectivity of the viewer. I push my models to surrender their true selves, drawing looks from them to transmit the emotional deterioration of my characters and reveal the insinuations and identities that proceed from my memories and my subconscious.

After graduating in Biology Lourdes completed a Masters in Photography at EFTI in Madrid. She has worked as an assistant for fashion, advertisement and signature photographers such as Jesús Alonso, Eugenio Recuenco, Adrian Tyler, Stefania Paparelli, Esperanza Moyá, Alique, Rubén Vega, Daniel Plá, Sara Zorraquino, Pedro Vikingo and Rafa Gallar.

Her pictures have been published in El País Semanal, Rock de Luxe, Shots Magazine, and 10x15Blog. She also gives workshops at the Casa Encendida and the European Institute of Design in Madrid. In 2009, Lourdes was shortlisted at PhotoEspaña and took part in their collective exhibition.

Festival of Culture 2010

2010-07-17T14:47:00.012+01:00

A few snapshots of our latest participation as a Collective in Somers Town Festival of Culture 2010, which took place on July the 10th in Camden, London.

Up and Coming: Axel Muñoz

2010-07-12T22:34:00.004+01:00

Under Treatment

Today I woke up and asked myself who I am, and how is it that I got here. Not in the sense of going through a mental blackout, but about how I became the person I am today and all I've lost in the process.

We have to sacrifice some things in order to gain others, these other things fall into oblivion and re-emerge years later under the parameter of "nostalgia." Where did my relationship with my brother go, how come I decided to stop my music interest all together, why did I choose to study film, how come I stopped being a child and how this makes me be who I am today. I believe that we will never stop being children as for we are always playing with our beloved ones although we simply forget to do it more spontaneously.

This photographic project works as a self-portrait exercise which means to present reconstructed scenes which have stayed in my head and that rotate on a loop to remind me that I am still around and that I will continue to exist even though most of it will be forgotten by some. However, I wont forget them, as I possess these impressions of light. These images function as a therapy treatment to overcome the loss of those precious moments, the nostalgia that links us to our childhood, the introspective gaze with which we perceive our present and the deeds of those who do not speak, what we hide when we look at ourselves and the lies that exist within the family.

Axel Muñoz

Born in Mexico City (1989) he studied a BA Degree in Film and Television. His main interests revolve around light as the essence of photography.

He creates from the impulse to speak about different emotional situations that help him dismember the emotional nature of things, for him the light is what changes and destroys everything around him and for this reason he uses photography with a metaphorical approach to stop the effects of light and prevent the loss of memory, which help him to reflect on existence itself.

Centrepoint at Somers Town Festival of Culture 2010

2010-07-08T15:55:00.006+01:00

We will be taking part of this exciting project on Saturday 10th of July. Street performers, ethnic food vendors, fairground attractions and great art will come together for this glorious celebration. Come along! Find details here.

Centrepoint featured at BlankPages Magazine

2010-07-08T13:10:00.018+01:00

These are the PDF's from BlankPages Magazine, where we have been featured. They wanted us to explain many things about what we do and why. So we did. We don't recommend you to read all that. It's probably not very healthy. However, if you want to, you can find it here.

Centrepoint at the MicroAid Ball

2010-07-05T10:32:00.009+01:00

Here you are some snaps taken last Saturday, 3rd of July at King's College, London. We were invited to show some of our work as part of the MicroAid charity annual Dance Ball.

2010-07-02T16:10:00.013+01:00

blankpages

Issue 24 July 2010 Blank Media Collective

Centrepoint Collective has been featured this month in an Online magazine produced by Blankmedia Collective. We would like to thank them for this opportunity. Please have a look at www.blankmediacollective.org/blankpages Pdf version available.

Up and Coming: Simone Strifele

2010-06-28T18:20:00.019+01:00

‘The primordial image, or archetype, is a figure…that constantly recurs in the course of History and appears wherever creative fantasy is freely expressed. Essentially, it is a mythological figure’ C.G. Jung.

In each of these images there is a little piece of human psychology and human fate, a remnant of the joys and sorrows that have been repeated countless times in our ancestral history.

Strifele’s photographs play with scale, angle and composition to create archetypes – landscapes and symbols – from the mundane and overlooked. Dissociated from their context, his images are oddly familiar but unplaceable.

Simone Strifele was born in Mirano, Venezia, in 1978. He is a self-taught talented conceiver that moved to London a decade ago to further his artistic career. Son of Italian creator Barbara Pelizzon, he has been always surrounded by art. This multidisciplinary artist (musician and visual producer) has developed a unique style recycling from everyday life, rescuing from the ordinary to transform it into the extraordinary.

Posted by Susana Sanroman

Exhibition: Festival of Culture

2010-06-26T13:35:00.004+01:00

Centrepoint Collective will be showcasing work at 'The Festival of Culture 2010' on Chalton Street in Euston, London so if you are in the area do come over to have a look at this exhibition which will comprise a diverse selection of artwork.

Selected Work: 'Boogie'

2010-05-31T00:40:00.021+01:00

Photographer 'Boogie' was born in Belgrade and later emigrated to the United States after winning a green card which enabled him to live in New York City. Having experienced the horrific situation of war back in his country, this shaped his way of seeing the World.

His work has shifted from the use of a more traditional documentary style, such is the case in his book 'It's all Good' to the use of a more contemporary approach as seen in his most recent photographs, particularly in his colour work, nevertheless he still uses both B&W and colour to photograph and maintains an honest and intimate approach.

The main source of inspiration to him is 'Life', and explains that -Inspiration is in the mind, although other things inspire him too. From photographing gang members and drug addicts in the poor neighborhoods in New York through to photographing Nazi's in Serbia, life in Sao Paulo, Mexico, Istanbul, Tokyo, etc., Boogie has produced a whole photographic archive that describes life at different levels.

He has produced an extensive list of books such as, 'Its All Good' (Power House Books,2006), a retrospective on his work called 'Boogie' (Power House Book, 2007), 'Sao Paulo' (Upper Playground, 2008), Istanbul (Upper Playground, 2008), 'Belgrade Belongs to Me' (Power House Books, 2009).

He has exhibited his work at Paris Photo, L'Eclaireur Tokyo, London, Italy etc., has shot campaigns for Nike, Lee Jeans, etc. His work has also been featured in magazines and newspapers such as 'Ojo de Pez', British Journal of Photography, Time Magazine, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Playboy, among many others. He also collaborated with HBO on a series called 'How to Make it' with the use of still images that are featured through each episode.

Boogie currently lives and works between Serbia and the United States. For more on his work It is worth while visiting www.artcoup.com and also boogiephoto.blogspot.com. Special thanks to Boogie for his kindness and for allowing us to feature his work.

Posted by Pablo Allison

Selected Work : Juan Antonio Sanchez Rull

2010-05-30T01:21:00.011+01:00

The Beach

The tragic dimension of boredom within the beach’s theatrical illusion. A trip to familiar situations, rescued anecdotes and revisited places within the internal memory. The beach is a favorable place that lends itself to the observation of the human behavior, the absence of clothes enables this observation, people become more alike among each other and the fact of being naked exposes their defenseless attitude and vulnerabilities, there is less tools to pretend that one is something. It could give the impression that the beach is a more democratic space. The use of black and white film projects a timeless feeling within the images of this project.

Profile

Photographing to transform and not merely to document or register a moment. I use the camera as a tool for contemplation. With the use of this tool it becomes less complicated for me to uncover codes or clues that can transform into a photographic project. Given the characteristics of this apparatus, it would give the impression that the images that one captures are a reflection of reality but in truth, they are the result of a mirror that always distorts, invents and results ingenious. One photographs reality to transform it into something more personal, it is an attempt to explore ones interior world and to release ideas in the form of images that try to construct and explain what one has in mind.

As a photographer, I personally have never been interested in documentary photography, this idea of trying to stay as faithful as possible to “reality” what ever this might be. The total opposite in fact, I always try to transform, (although this is inevitable)

“ Once you enter the labyrinth that is outside yourself conversely, you enter in the labyrinth that is within you", Freud, The Sinister.

Posted by Roxana Allison

Up and Coming : Ana Escobar

2010-05-17T14:17:00.014+01:00

Ana Escobar was born in Huelva (Spain). She studied Interior Design in Madrid and later moved to London, were she completed a Diploma and has just finished a BA in Photography at the University of the Arts London. She has exhibited at the National Royal Theatre, The Roxy and 100 sqft Gallery among many others. Her work has been published at ‘The Guardian Weekend Magazine’ and ‘Arterial Magazine’.

'Free Fall' is based on three iconic documentary photographs: Eisenstaedt's 'V-J day in Times Square', Lange’s 'Migrant Mother and Capa’s 'Death of a Loyalist Soldier'.

There is still an open debate on how much directed or staged these photographs were. I re-visited and fully staged them to create an interpretative translation. How much directed are individuals in nowadays-free western society would be the debate this work aims to open. I reconstruct three stages of a party in order to represent different stages junctures of the human drama.