Category Archives: Exhibitions
A-Bomb Hiroshima
There are a references to Hiroshima’s A-Bomb tragedy everywhere. No one walks out of the Peace Museum without signing the petition against the use of nuclear weapons.
A-Dome – The only building to have survived the A-bomb.
Sadako Sasaki Memorial
Paper Cranes
Peace Museum
Peace Memorial
Just one of the many gruesome object on display in the Peace Museum
05-365 Home Truths at The Photographers’ Gallery
Not so private view
Lichtenstein and Manet…
…all in one day to walk off the most delicious lunch at St John Restaurant. Talk about culture overload!
Let’s start with Lichtenstein. He was not one trick pony! I have always admired his comic strip like style but I was amazed at the range at the Retrospective at Tate Modern. I am not going to lie, it didn’t all appeal to me but I was impressed with some of his creations. Obviously, I loved all the romance and war based comic strip paintings he is most famous for but I was also in awe of his interpretations of other famous pieces. His portrait of George Washington had an ‘awwww’ effect on me while I couldn’t get enough of his reworking of Picasso’s “Femme d’Alger”.
The verdict? Definitely worth a visit. It’s the exhibition you wouldn’t want to miss.
Next up was Manet at the Royal Academy of Arts. I knew before I headed out that this exhibition was getting lukewarm reviews as some critics felt that more of his prominent pieces should be displayed and his relationship with his sitters could be explored further.
My impressions? I quite enjoyed getting to know the way he experimented with the trends of his time. My favourite room is the one where two different techniques are lined up against each other on each side of the room. I could spend a few good hours studying how different a painter he was when pursuing classical styles as opposed to when dabbling in what was to become later referred to as Impressionism.
The exhibition is definitely worth a visit as long as you are not expecting to see a collection of all his best pieces.
2012 Round-Up
I did the picture mosaic for Weekly Challenges and then realised that there was so much more to this year that it deserves a write-up so here are my top 5 or more moments of 2012.
1. Cuba. 2012 was all about that three-week trip. There were many moments that I wish to remember but top three that come to mind are: Baracoa – not sure what it is about this little town but I felt happy there. Whether it’s the music or the people or something in the water, the place made me happy. Made me reflect. I got to stand where Columbus stood thinking he’d found a way to India not realising that he just discovered The New World. Then the casas particulares we stayed in Trinidad. Eating avocado straight from the tree, friendly faces and one beautiful house. And finally, the last few days in Havana and in particular, the run back to the hotel in torrential rain to the entertainment of the whole street. Fun times!
2. Theatre. At the beginning of 2012 I went to see Jerusalem and loved it. The experience made me realise how much I miss the theatre experience so I made a commitment to go more often. I saw at least one play a month and enjoyed myself in the process. Quite the eye opener. Doll’s House at the Young Vic was the overall winner. The best play I have seen, possibly EVER.
3. So many amazing exhibitions but for me Barbican’s Everything Was Moving, especially Ernest Cole’s photography was the definite winner of 2012.
4. Friends. Where would we be without them and for me some friendships really blossomed this year, new friendships developed giving me the strength and happiness to appreciate life more. I hope I had a similar impact on my friends. Here is to you: Pola, Naki, Krystle, Sarah, Eddie and Sharon!
5. Rainbow. Being in a rainbow is once in a lifetime experience and it made for one very memorable birthday. Being on 40th floor made it even more memorable so.
6. That one weekend in September when Adde was in London. Fantastic shooting experience with amazing street photographers and well, plenty of good food. There was that moment outside the Albion sitting on the kerb drinking beer where one would wish the time would stand still. It was the perfect Sunday afternoon people watching. It reminded me of how much I miss the Sunday afternoons I used to spend in The Gypsy Moth years ago with my other good friend who no longer lives in London. These were the times!
7. A little girl, Anna Maria joining our family. I am an auntie times three. It’ll be a pleasure watching my closest friend grow as a mother of this little beauty.
Happy New Year everyone! Party safe tonight! And here are two leftovers I found in my archives. May 2013 bring us beautiful photographs and stunning memories!
The countdown to Nepal and the Himalayas adventure in April begins tonight!
The Oil Tanks At Tate Modern
Go and have a play if you haven’t yet.
Weekend Round-up
Oh what a weekend it was! Full of culture. My favourite kind.
TWELFTH NIGHT
Saturday night was all about Twelfth Night at the Apollo Theatre with Mark Rylance as Olivia and Stephen Fry as Malvolio. Twelfth Night is one of my favourite comedies by Shakespare closely followed by Taming of The Shrew and I was gutted when I missed out on the tickets at The Globe so you can imagine my joy when the play transferred to the West End. It’s been quite the wait but it was worth it.
I don’t know about others in the audience but for me Mark Rylance stole all the limelight. His performance as Olivia was simply brilliant portraying her as spoilt and at first enjoying wallowing in her own misery only to turn into a lady with a real go-getter attitude putting on the innocent act once she meets Cesario. His exaggerated and so unlady like acting had everyone in stitches. He is the perfect Olivia.
Stephen Fry as self-righteous Malvolio was fabulous, especially once he has been set up, the very familiar Stephen Fry comes out to play. I’ve always admired his playfulness and a hint of mischief in QI and Malvolio in love is Stephen Fry at his best.
Finally, Liam Brennan deserves a mention for his Duke Orsino, so vain and so full of himself, more in love with the idea of love than love itself. What a way to bring Orsino to life. All in all, if you missed it, regret it!
SEDUCED BY ART
Next up was a visit to the National Gallery to explore Seduced by Art, a study of the relationship between paintings and photography. We all know that photography has been heavily inspired by paintings and in order to excel at the art of photography, one should study the light, angles, and colours, just like any other art student. It is a fascinating exhibition, really worth a visit even if to learn about how heavily the first photographers relied on paintings and simply used the camera to recreate what had been created before.
The two videos are worth a mention: the exploding flowers and recreating a painting. All I am going to say I wish I had the funds to keep myself entertained like that! Jealous.
The exhibition sparked off a lengthy discussion whether paintings or photos portray reality better, inspire more and allow our imagination to express itself at length after all both arts can alter the perspective of the world right in front of us.
WILLIAM KLEIN + DAIDO MORIYAMA
The final stop last weekend was Tate Modern. I will be honest, I was wary of yet another Tate Modern photography exhibition as I was disappointed by the last two. Oh how pleasantly surprised I was. Klein was more of my type of photographer than Moriyama, whom I found needlessly sexist and sexually provocative but maybe it was just the 60s. It is all in the name, isn’t it? The Japanese Provoke movement.
Klein’s view of New York and especially the large format wowed me. New York of the 1960s with all the social changes taking place must have been an overwhelming place to live and Klein’s merging of the fashion world with the street brought out interesting effects. Check it out for yourself at the Tate!
In your galleries this autumn…
There’s so much happening in town photographywise this autumn so I thought I’d pull some of my favourites together for your perusal. Here are a few exhibitions to look out for.
First one up is William Klein + Daido Moriyama at Tate Modern opening on 10th October. Who doesn’t love a bit of New York and Tokyo street photography? I was disappointed with the last few Tate Modern street photography exhibitions so I am hoping they will break that cycle. Let’s see if their selection of blurry and grainy photography works.
Next up is a must-see for any street photographer. Henri Cartier-Bresson: A Question of Colour is coming to town. Why a must? He was a father of street photography after all and this exhibition focuses on the comparison between B&W and colour photography – the never-ending street photographer’s dilemma. Somehow street works better in B&W, right?
The exhibition of David Bailey’s Papua Polaroids is already open to public. I wonder if photographing cannibals was as easy as snapping the stars. What do you reckon?
Seduced by Art, National Gallery’s first photography exhibition is looking quite promising. The battle of the superstars: great painters vs. great photographers. I envisage something resembling a visual equivalent of a dance-off but who will win?
Another show I am looking forward to is Shoot Existential Photography at The Photographer’s Gallery. That shouldn’t really surprise anyone since I spent over two years doing a self-portrait project. The perfect show for me!
And finally, don’t forget to pop into The National Gallery to check out The Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize. The selection is looking promising!
Enjoy and let me know what you think of the exhibitions when you go and visit them!
Everything Was Moving at Barbican
Everything Was Moving explores photography at crucial moments in history 0f 1960s and 70s. These two decades saw the world change dramatically from the Cultural Revolution through the Cold War, the war in Vietnam to the civil rights movement. The exhibition showcases the work of 12 photographers including Bruce Davidson, William Eggleston, David Goldblatt, Graciela Iturbide, Boris Mikhailov, Sigmar Polke, Malick Sidibé, Shomei Tomatsu, Li Zhensheng , Ernest Cole, Raghubir Singh and Larry Burrows. It is a touching insight into their worlds.
Two figures stood out for me in the whole of the exhibition: Bruce Davidson and Ernest Cole. Davidson documented the emotions and the lives of individuals involved in the civil rights movement including Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and John Lewis. His photos filled me with relief that we no longer live in the world so dramatically divided on the basis of race and sadness that so much pain and terror had to be endured in order to get where we are today.
But it is Ernest Cole’s work that broke my heart. I cannot imagine the drive and determination to change the world in your own way that made Ernest Cole the man he was. A black man in 1960s South Africa torn by apartheid manages to persuade the authorities that he is not ‘black’ but ‘coloured’ by changing his name (or so it seemed) and as a result be granted a journalist permit. He photographed the life of native South Africans usually shooting from the hip with his camera in a brown paper bag capturing scenes that on streets could not have lasted longer than seconds while risking his life. And yet he composed them so beautifully they stay with you long after you left the gallery.
The exhibition includes a video of him talking about how he had hoped that by smuggling his work out of the country and going into exile, he was hoping to make the world notice and take action. He realised later how naive he was. ‘South Africa was just one of many points on UN’s agenda’, he says. Could you believe that he died of cancer just 7 days after the world saw Mandela leave his prison cell?! I wonder if he died knowing that South Africa was changing and his dream was coming true as he was slowly disappearing from this world.
The exhibition at Barbican is open until 13th January so check it out if you get the chance.
Passes are being checked as the white policeman watches by Ernest Cole.
Every Hundredth Of A Second 