Season's Greetings

 HAPPY HOLIDAYS! 

Here's to a fabulous 2015 full of opportunities and happiness

A portrait of the V&A from the modern-day Museum Photographers

I have spent the past six weeks teaching a Creative Photography Course at the V&A. During the course, the students have been working as Museum Photographers, to create a modern-day ‘portrait’ of the V&A. 

Through class discussions, practical tasks and exhibition visits, the group have explored a combination of architectural, portrait, documentary and reportage photography, to develop a collection of images that depict their individual views and interpretations of the building, its inhabitants, and activities and events that take place there. 

During the final week of the course, the group compiled the images into a single ‘portrait’ that combines the physical layering of the photographs, with a conceptual layering of the different approaches and processes explored throughout the course, and an in-depth exploration into the layers of history found in the museum. 

You can view the 'grande finale' below: a culmination of the six weeks of the course. Click here for the background to the project, and to follow the progress of the course please see the previous posts on the V&A blog, here (week 1-2), here (week 3-4), and here (week 5-6), and my previous blog posts here and here.

© the photographers (John Francis, John Hinshelwood, David Marlow, Janice Weston, Gary Williams and Kate Elliott)

The modern-day Museum Photographers - Portraiture

During the six-week Creative Photography Course I am currently running at the V&A, the students are working as Museum Photographers (click here for the background to the project).

Throughout the course I will be posting a selection of their images on the V&A's blog culminating - in the final week - with a multi-layered 'portrait' of the Museum.

Last week, we explored the building itself (click here to see the images showcased on the V&A blog). This week, we have been looking at the inhabitants of the building: members of staff, and visitors to the Museum.

Click here to see the results posted on the V&A blog, and see below for a couple of my favourites...

 

© Gary Williams

© Janice Weston

The modern-day Museum Photographers - Architecture

During the six-week Creative Photography Course I am currently running at the V&A, the students are working as Museum Photographers (click here for the background to the project). 

  The Museum Photographers © Kate Elliott

With references to the work of Charles Thurston Thompson and Isabel Cowper (the V&A’s first staff photographers), the group are exploring a combination of architectural, portrait, documentary and reportage photography, to develop a collection of images that depict their individual views and interpretations of the building, its inhabitants, and activities and events that take place there.

Throughout the course I will be posting a selection of their images on the V&A's blog culminating - in the final week - with a multi-layered 'portrait' of the Museum.

Click here for the first V&A blog post, where we showcase photographs of the building taken during week two of the course, and see below for a small edit...

  © David Marlow

 © Gary Williams

© Janice Weston

  © John Hinshelwood

© John Francis

Creative Photography Course at the V&A

I was first approached by the V&A back in the Summer, when they asked if I would be interested in running a six-week Creative Photography Course at the Museum. The course itinerary was left up to me, so I had the perfect excuse to while away some time at the Museum, thinking about what I would like to do. Although I had been to the V&A a number of times before, I hadn't ever had, or taken, the time to trawl the seven and a half miles of corridor and look, in detail, at the photographs, paintings, sculptures and artifacts on display. 

When I visited the History of Photography exhibition in Room 101, I was fascinated by the photographs of the Museum taken by Charles Thurston Thompson and Isabel Cowper. To give some background, in 1856 Sir Henry Cole, the first director of the V&A (then the South Kensington Museum) appointed his brother-in-law Charles Thurston Thompson as a Museum Photographer. He understood how photography could extend the reach of the Museum and, with this, the first museum photographic service was born. 

Thurston Thompson was supported by non-commissioned military officers of the Royal Engineers, whom he trained in photography. When he died suddenly, his sister, Isabel Agnes Cowper, took over his post (probably the first woman to hold such a role). 

Museum photographers captured the permanent collection and temporary exhibitions, recorded the condition of artworks and travelled abroad to document art and architecture. They also photographed the construction and expansion of the Museum. Their images provide a valuable insight into the development of the 19th-century Museum and have since become works of art in their own right.

Charles Thurston Thompson, 'Exhibition of the Photographic Society of London and the Société française de photographie at the South Kensington Museum, 1858' © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Isabel Agnes Cowper, 'Upper loggia of the Science Schools looking towards the Albert Hall  c.1872' © Victoria and Albert Museum, London 

When it came to putting together a plan for the course, I felt that I wanted to do something that would explore, and reference, the rich history of the Museum, and something that would live beyond the duration of the course itself. I decided to use the work of the originial Museum Photographers as a starting point (more to follow soon...)

Photography as Installation - Private View and Gallery Event

The Exhibition Photography as Installation opened on Tuesday 7 October, at Oxford House in Bethnal Green. Included in the exhibition is a video piece of mine from the ongoing project The Study of Peter Pan

The exhibition continues until Tuesday 14 October. Click here for further information  

 Photos from Photography as Installation Private View © Emma McGarry

During an exhibition event on Saturday 11 October, we had a series of artist talks by myself, Michael Rodgers, Peter Ainsworth, Teresa Eng, Richard Kolker and Minna Pöllänen

  Photos from Photography as Installation Gallery Event © Wiebke Leicester

EXHIBITION: Photography as Installation - Oxford House

Photography as Installation is an exhibition featuring work by LCC MA Photography Alumni at Oxford House in Bethnal Green. Over the last 16 years, the MA Photography course has seen a significant shift towards installations and performativity in 2D, 3D and 4D. This development, in addition to a focus on the materiality of surface, will throw new light on what photography is today. 

Exhibition Dates: 6 - 14 October
Private View: Tuesday 7 October 18.30-20.30
Artists in Conversation: Saturday 11 October 14.00-16.00
Oxford House, Derbyshire Street, Bethnal Green, London, E2 6HG (click here to see a map)
Gallery Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 09.00-21.00, Sat/Sun 10.00-14.00
Admission Free 

For further information about the exhibition and artists click on the Tumblr page below

Boys by Girls - The Study of Peter Pan

 

Click here to see some new images from my ongoing project The Study of Peter Pan, featured now in Boys by Girls

'A Time for Dreams' - review

Said by Natasha Kurchanova, for Studio International, of the photographs included in A Time for Dreams "the best focus on exploring their subjects’ identities: Natalie Maximova’s intimate and touching portraits of Russian transgender people; Svetlana Yerkovich’s series of images of women wearing panther-patterned clothing; and Kate Elliott’s observant installation The Study of Peter Pan, which does just that – minutely and patiently studying a teenager’s face in a series of close-up photographs and a single-channel video, as if trying to discover a mark of transition from boyhood to manhood." 

Click here to read the full review.

'A Time for Dreams' - Moscow International Biennale for Young Art

Ongoing project, The Study of Peter Pan,  has been selected as part of the main project, A Time for Dreams, at the Moscow International Biennale for Young Art. I travelled to Moscow last week for the Opening. 

See below for a selection of installation shots and click here for a full list of participating artists. 

The entrance to the Biennale at The Museum of Moscow

 The Study of Peter Pan, photo and video installation

Installation photographs of work included in A Time for Dreams at The Museum of Moscow

All content © the artists, installation photographs © Kate Elliott

The Moscow International Biennale for Young Art, one of the largest and most ambitious projects in the field of contemporary art, combines the creative initiatives of artists of the new generation from Russia and abroad.  

For this fourth edition of the Biennale artistic director David Elliott has chosen the title A Time for Dreams in acknowledgement of the chronic precariousness of our own times and the urgent need for the dreams and visions of younger and future generations to break the barrier of ‘things as they are’ to make things better.  

The main project of the Biennale in 2014 will be presented in the Museum of Moscow. The educational programs of the Biennale will also be organized in collaboration with the museum. 

Click here for further information and a full list of participants. 

Founders: The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Department of Culture of the City of Moscow, National Centre for Contemporary Arts (NCCA), Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA) Organizers: National Centre for Contemporary Arts (NCCA), Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA)
Co-organiser of the Main Project: The Museum of Moscow
Artistic Director of the Biennale: David Elliott
Biennale Theme: «А Time for Dreams»
Event Dates: 26 June 2014 — 10 August 2014
Main Project Venue: The Museum of Moscow
Venues for Strategic Projects National Centre for Contemporary Arts (NCCA), Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA)
Curator of the Educational Program: Antonio Geusa

Moscow International Biennale for Young Art - coming soon

The Moscow International Biennale for Young Art, one of the largest and most ambitious projects in the field of contemporary art, will be taking place this summer. The Biennale combines the creative initiatives of artists of the new generation from Russia and abroad. 

For this fourth edition of the Biennale artistic director David Elliott has chosen the title A Time for Dreams in acknowledgement of the chronic precariousness of our own times and the urgent need for the dreams and visions of younger and future generations to break the barrier of ‘things as they are’ to make things better.

The main project of the Biennale in 2014 will be presented in the Museum of Moscow. The educational programs of the Biennale will also be organized in collaboration with the museum.

Click here for further information and a full list of participants.

Founders: The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Department of Culture of the City of Moscow, National Centre for Contemporary Arts (NCCA), Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA)
Organizers: National Centre for Contemporary Arts (NCCA), Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA)
Co-organiser of the Main Project: The Museum of Moscow
Artistic Director of the Biennale: David Elliott
Biennale Theme: «А Time for Dreams»
Event Dates: 26 June 2014 — 10 August 2014
Main Project Venue: The Museum of Moscow
Venues for Strategic Projects National Centre for Contemporary Arts (NCCA), Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA)
Curator of the Educational Program: Antonio Geusa

EXHIBITION: Boys at Home - The Library Space, Battersea

A three day pop-up exhibition to coincide with London Collections: Men and the latest issue of Boys by Girls Magazine 'The Truth About Boys' which is in shops now.

Click here for further information

MULL IT OVER - INTERVIEW

A few weeks ago photographer and curator Jonathan Cherry approached me to answer some questions for MULL IT OVER - a series of web based interviews with innovative contemporary photographers from around the world.  

You can read the interview, and have a look at some photos, here.

Uncertain States Newspaper

The Study of Peter Pan features in the latest issue of Uncertain States - a quarterly, artist led photography newspaper.

You can pick up a copy at the V&A, Rich Mix, Flowers East, Four Corners, Baltic Newcastle, Ikon Birmingham, Open Eye Liverpool, Impressions Gallery Bradford, or please get in touch if you would like me to send you a copy. 

Capricious No.15 — Boundaries

The latest issue of Capricious (featuring my work) has just been launched at the L.A Art Book Fair, and will hit European bookshelves over the next couple of weeks...

 

Capricious No.15 — Boundaries
This 120-plus page, full-colour issue ruminates on eleven photographer’s work, with a curation of text by Litia Perta.

Featuring /
 
Photographers

Kate Elliott / Claudio Nolasco / Bindi Vora / Colleen Maria Lenihan / Christine Haroutounian / Pauline Miko / Annegien Van Doorn / Kyler Zeleny / Charlotte Lybeer / João Grama / Virginie Rebetez
Writers

Dylan Mira / Litia Perta / Matt Longbucco

From the exploration of an undocumented family caught between counties, to the blurred lines of witchcraft in South African society, and onto the cliffs of a Portuguese seaside village, we feature work that walks the perimeters of its borders, illuminating the expanse and constraint. Capricious Boundaries is a state of mind, the deciding moment before crossing or retreating, the limbo that brings into focus the fragile lines between one world and another.

Here I Stand for Five Minutes

Here I Stand for Five Minutes is a KEEM project, made during the month-long residency at the Farringdon Factory.

KEEM set up a blog, and put up posters, asking occupants of the neighbouring building (5 Fleet Place) to stand in the window at a certain time in order to pose for a five-minute group portrait.

KEEM were interested in creating a dialogue between the Factory and the surrounding external world, and in exploring the act of performance involved in portraiture, and the relationship between the public and private. 

Click here for further information.