EXHIBITION – Art Extraordinaire
This Saturday, 05 May 19:30, the exhibition ART EXTRAORDINAIRE will be opening at the Hoaf van Heden, Havenstraat 22, Stein.
This particular exhibition is an interesting coalition of multiple artists from different disciplines:
Helmut Jöcken – Paintings | Sculptures
Daniella Claessens – Paintings
Eefje Schenk – 3D | Graphic Design
Ed Schaap – Paintings | Airbrush
Vincent Pepels – Leather Art
Marcel Cohnen – Airbrush
Indra Moonen – Photography
The music during the opening will be brought to you LIVE by Syndicate, run by Bruno Bours and Lucas Kramer.
Everyone is welcome during the opening, and of course the rest of the days, so get your butt over to Stein and have some fun!
Exhibition “Evanescence” gemeentehuis Beek (NL)
I’d like to invite you all to the opening of my upcoming exhibition “Evanescence” showing my wet plate work, some lith prints and some more.
Opening: September 30th starting at 20:00 hr
Opening Hours: Mon – Fri 09:00 – 12:30, Wed 14:00 – 19:00 Sat 2 Oct 14:00
Location: Gemeentehuis Beek, Raadhuisstraat 9, Beek (Limburg – NL)
Opening Speech: Carlo Valkenborgh
Music: Imro Moonen
Hope to see you there!
KunstTour 2011 – Impressions
So , here they are at last! In short; it was a fantastic weekend. In long; please read on 
Friday we set everything up. I was able to use pretty much all the space I wanted which was great. No room for hanging the work which was great too; saved a lot of work and hassle. We laid everything out on tables and saved one table in the middle to display the camera, a book with guiding information, prices and a guest book. At first we covered the tables with a green cloth which later that day got removed by Franz Rothenburg, one of the organizers, as you can see on first photos. Luckily he decided to remove them and spread the layout a little although I was a bit afraid when he mentioned having done so the night before opening.
The way things were with the green cloth
Close up of the presentation. This image actually sold that weekend!
The way things became - Photo: courtesy of Moonesque
The boat was situated at the wharf of the Landbouwbelang which, unfortunately, wasn’t clear enough for everybody as some ended up missing the boat. Great location though, not many people know this place but it’s a beautiful spot in Maastricht. Calm but raw, showing the industrial part of Maastricht in its “gone-by” glory.
The weather proved to be an excellent companion this weekend. The sky remained blue and the sun hot and burning most of the time. Also good companions were on the boat as in the other artists. Katrien Haemers showed her paintings which were quite fascinating! The work of Astrid Verkoijen also appealed to me. Her colorful work used in her furniture looked really great. Jimmy Dee played guitar on board and sang as well. He also performed on a didgeridoo which was cool!
He also gathered quite the bit of attention.
Another musical artist who performed on Sunday with Coen van Dam was Nico Zwackhalen with his bluesy voice. I met Coen before while there were still those famous jazz-monday-evenings at the Tramhalte in Maastricht. He rocked the piano there and I loved his playing from the start. Great to have met him on the boat listening to his music again. Downstairs at the boat “Viola di Gamba” gave a performance too.
Nico Zwackhalen - Photo: courtesy of Moonesque
Coen swinging the hell out of his piano, the rest enjoying the hell out of it
Coretta Dekker treated us with a comical performance which was really funny. Unfortunately she found it to be not good enough so she canceled her performance for Sunday. Too bad; would have loved to see it again 
Coretta as 'Angelle"
Let’s not forget the wonderful poet of the house “Krokus” with his sharp words. A true addition to the boat with a remarkable feel for expression.
Photo: courtesy of Moonesque
Youri Penders showed us the wonderful process of the printing press late 1800′s. Really cool as my camera is from somewhere around that very same time! He explained the process with quite the bit of passion and engagement which made it all the more fun.
Youri and his printing press
And me...enjoying the sun and stuff
Of course, let us not forget about the people who made this all worthwhile: the guests!
Photo: courtesy of Moonesque
The crowd out on the deck - Photo: courtesy of Moonesque
Some unexpected performers - Photo: courtesy of Moonesque
Also, let us thank the weather for being so incredibly kind!!
Of course, a special thanks goes to the Basta family, Suzanne Stohr and Resi Claessens, the owner of this boat (which is available for rent).
As you can see a totally different KunstTour than last year and that made it all the more fun! Hope to see you (again) next year.
Indra
Bastaboot vaart uit tijdens de KunstTour
BASTABOOT VAART UIT TIJDENS KUNSTTOUR 2011
Het culturele anker BASTA Maastricht beziet alles van de zonnige kant.
Het blikveld wordt tijdens de Kunsttour 2011 wederom verlegd naar de
Maas. We zien graag het culturele licht schijnen in alleman water.
Vandaar dat we op Zaterdag 28 en Zondag 29 Mei om 12.00 en 15.00 uur
gaan cruisen en de opvarenden een verrassend programma bieden tussen
de veilige havens ‘Het Landbouwbelang en AINSI’.
Omdat we ons nooit laten insnoeren en voorschrijven waar we aan moeten
voldoen, kiezen we voor een eigenzinnig programma dat nog lang van zich
zal doen laten spreken, ook als de kruitdampen reeds lang zijn opgetrokken.
En zoals de traditie voorschrijft is onze huisdichter Krokus de rode draad in
het programma. Ook de Duitse klankarchitect ‘Der Nitszche‘ zal de Maas
vervoeren met zijn magisch gitaarspel.
Verder zijn er exposities van kunstenaars, muziek en theater die het programma
compleet maken.
Astrid Verkoijen, met Vormgeving
Coen van Dam, met piano
Coretta Dekker, met theater
GambaConsort Maastricht: Anneke Pasman – diskantgamba, Hildegard Moonen – altgamba, Bert Pasman – basgamba
Indra Moonen, fototentoonstelling (foto’s zijn gemaakt met een techniek van ±160 jaar geleden)
Jimmy Dee, met zang, gitaar en veel meer
Katrien Haemers, met haar schilderijen
Nico Zwackhalen, met zang
Ronald van Laar, met beelden
Youri Penders, met boekdruk kunst
Kortom, laat u verrassen en overrompelen. En ook niet onbelangrijk te vermelden:
De toegang is gratis. Er kunnen weliswaar 100 mensen mee op de boot maar
vanwege de enorme belangstelling is het aan te raden tijdig te reserveren.
Opstapplaats: Biesenwal/Wilhelminakade 28 en 29 Mei om 12.00 en 15.00 uur.
p.s. De boot heet “the Dream”
Reserveren bij:
Suzanne Stohr
suzannestohr@suzannestohr.nl
+31 6 290 55 232
KunstTour 2011 – May 27 – 29
Ladies and gentlemen…it’s almost time for the KunstTour again! This year it will be held from the 27th til the 29th of May all throughout Maastricht. For more information visit their website, join their Facebook or follow them on Twitter
The site says I’ll be located at the Frankenstraat 148 but that has changed. Me and my work will be on board of the Bastaboot where at the same time the interview with me for Basta will be presented. So…join us there. I think it’s gonna be fun! The boat is situated behind Landbouwbelang. Visit their website for more on that.
Till then!
“De Zeven” 13-05-11
Last Friday we had the opening of our exhibition project “De Zeven” at XIOS in Hasselt. I actually expected more people to have joined and worked on this theme so I was a bit disappointed to see only 10 people having participated. BUT, it was really great to see other people’s works regarding this theme and meeting some of my “old” class mates. The series jumped out the most for me were made by Dries Berghmans and especially Karen Wijckmans. Special thanks to Carlo for hosting all of this! Kudos for the theme!
If I'm not mistaken; on the left the work of Marc Leest & the solo photo on the right is from Rudi Cools
Wine, wine (water) and frozen orange juice
Series by Karen Wijckmans - Loved it!
Behind the people my work
The series by Dries Berghmans
I forgot who made these...sorry...all unfamiliar names...
That was the wrap-up of this exhibition. I would have loved to see more from different people…maybe next time!
-Indra
Exhibition Vleugels & Teugels: 13th of March
Who: Indra Moonen
What: Photography
Specific: Lith prints on Fiber paper
Opening: March 13th
Time: 15:00 – 17:00 PM
Until: April 2nd
There will also be works from Mimi Limpens, Bert Janssen en Chantal Veugen.
Matting & Framing
Recently I bought a mat cutter so I can do the framing myself. The system is really simple, even for someone who never really tried it and is rather clumsy. I bought large sheets of matting paper: 100 x 150 m. which I cut up to pieces of 50 x 50 cm. The best looking ones I took, measured the dimensions of the photograph, added 1 cm to each side as I wanted a tiny white border visible around the photograph and drew the dimensions on the back of the mat.
Then I took the ruler, aligned it with the lines I made on the mat, attached the cutter, lined that one up with the lines I drew and started cutting. It’s really very simple. I emphasized the lines on the cutter and mat so that I hope you can see the way it works. It cuts about 1 mm smaller on each side compared to the line you drew so keep that in mind while doing it and it’s gonna end up perfect!
Once you finished the four sides the inside will fall out and you can continue the mounting.
The way I mount is that I have another mat ready, 50×50 without a hole, and use it to attach the photo to. I use small double adhesive tape by Henzo and only attach it at the top of the paper. I printed the photo on 30×40 paper and the image itself is only 26×26 so I have a good white border to work with. I only place the tape where the white border is, not where the actual image is. That way you will never damage your photo, whether it’s due degradation of the glue in time or when you want to take it out of the mat one day. The two mats are taped together using acid-free tape and you flip the previously cut mat over the one where you attached the photo to and voilá; frame it and look at it full of joy
And on to the next one!
Preparing Frames for Exhibiton etc.
Getting your work framed, the issue of a lifetime. Balancing between looks and price is pretty challenging I’ve had some of my works framed by a professional frame maker but to frame lots of work it’s just too expensive. It’s not that the frame maker is too expensive, I just can’t afford it. One or two is not a problem but when talking about 10 the price tag suddenly gets a lot more revolting.
So I decided to buy some decent frames from a local artist shop only they came blank. The black version was twice the price so the choice was very simple; buy blank and paint myself.
The first blank victim awaiting its dark destiny
First frame converted to the dark side
No way back, job done!
All I have to do is wait for the passe-partouts to arrive, cut them and frame the work. By now it has all been printed and toned. Selenium in a large tray really really smells BAD! Even with the ventilation on it smelled downright awful at times. Dilution was 1+4 and left them in for about 3 minutes until they were fully colored. I didn’t like the split-toning with these images. I’ll scan a toned and untoned image somewhere this weekend to show the difference in color and contrast.
When I put the photo in the tray with toner they first turn very dark. It almost seems as if the darker parts in the image go black without detail and then, after about a minute or so, you see the image clearing. Whites bleach out a little (keep that in mind when printing!) and the dark parts come back to life with all the detail. And after about 1 minute the color really starts to kick in. It takes a bit but in the end it happens pretty fast. Snatching them in time from the toning bath is pretty vital if you don’t want that full coloration to kick in. With these papers you have to be pretty quick for split toning (my Ilford MGW.1K is much slower and less sensitive with this). Keep the dilution very low and the time very short. With the larger paper it did seem to give you more time though, with the smaller ones it seemed like I hardly had any time to snatch them in time for a split tone to remain.
Anyway, that was about it for today I guess…off to some well-deserved couch surfing
-Indra
Galerie Zebra – Willebroek (BE)
Today I visited Galerie Zebra after having been invited by Fred Bosschaert. This particular gallery is mainly focused on silver gelatin prints, a.k.a. prints produced in the darkroom starting from a genuine in-camera-made negative. Of course alternative processes are being welcomed there as well hence the why-I-ended-up-there too
Galerie Zebra - the Outside
A while back I talked about setting up a public darkroom / studio / space where people could learn the rolling of a darkroom / a place where people could experiment with alternative photographic processes / a place where workshops can be given and exhibitions can be held etc. I have putted that plan on the back burner as it takes quite a bit of time & fundings etc. to manage a project like this. Seeing I haven’t particularly raised the last mentioned it would be a potential financial disaster if I would dive into that now. But Fred on the other hand has the time and the means to do so and he did! He’s currently creating this space and it will open 25th of March this year! The kick-off will be an exhibition and portrait session by Jerome de Perlinghi, a rather well-known Belgium photographer. For more information click here.
Galerie Zebra - a view into the exhibition space-to-be with the daylight studio at the back and the entrance of the private darkroom on the right
This particular building will have an exhibition space, a “public” darkroom where workshops are given, a daylight studio (!!!). a floor higher there’s a room where matting and framing can be done and at the top floor a small studio where intimate portraits can be made. With intimate I mean a small secluded space where you can work 1-on-1 with a model to create something personal.
Galerie Zebra - in the middle of the exhibition space-in-the-making
This whole building is being created in the name of Photography. It’s all Photography there. Classic Photography even which is the most important part of all! Every photographer should, at least once in their short and miserable lives, experience the intimacy and sensual nature of working your images in a darkroom. That’s where the chemistry happens after all
Galerie Zebra - from the exhibition space looking towards the entrance
There are two darkrooms, one is somewhat for private use I believe and the second one is the public space. A nice large room which is big enough to host a couple of enlargers and make bigger prints. It’s all still in the making so keep that in mind when viewing my photos.
Galerie Zebra - Private darkroom wet side
Galerie Zebra - Private darkroom dry side
I have been asked to give a workshop in Collodion photography and we’re currently working out the details of it; date, duration etc. etc. The beauty of this place is that it has a daylight studio. With collodion all you need is UV light so that’s gonna work wonders! It is the absolute PERFECT spot to set up a portrait. And with 2 darkrooms in close range it’s going to be an even more perfect location hosting a workshop like this. Needless to say, I am looking forward tremendously!
Galerie Zebra - Daylight studio (!!)
Galerie Zebra - Daylight studio (!!)
On the right of this studio is the second darkroom and on the left you’re going back towards the exhibition space. It’s a nifty place and a marvelous location for these type of events.
Galerie Zebra - The public darkroom
Galerie Zebra - The public darkroom
Well, that was a short survey of the building-in-development. More will follow soon I’m sure. I’ll also post some photos from when it’s done because it’s going to be great! It’s all well thought-through over time and it’s being made with passion. How good can it get!
Galerie Zebra - From daylight studio back to the exhibition space
That wraps it up for now I guess. I’ll be back sooner than later! Oh, and I’ve also been asked to give a demonstration of wet plate photography at SASK St. Niklaas in Belgium. Awesome too so…..2011; bring it on!!
Have a good weekend all of you (what’s left of it anyway).
-Indra
Galerie Zebra
Vooruitgangstraat 2
2830 Willebroek
Belgium
fred [dot] bosschaert [at] skynet [dot] be
Tel.: +32 475 900 011
Opening hours: by appointment, invitation or announcement only.
NRW-Forum Düsseldorf: Robert Mapplethorpe
Last Sunday we went to see the exhibition of Robert Mapplethorpe in the NRW-Forum in Düsseldorf. I have to admit that prior to this I never really looked into his work and when I googled some images on the net I found that this could be very interesting. It surely was. When I saw all the nudes and close-ups of penises on the net I thought it to be very awkward. Now having seen them in person (not the penises, just the photos) I feel quite baffled.
© Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. If I violated any rules by using this photo I apologize in advance and will delete all of it when contacted. I do not intend to shock anyone with its content; it's merely used to support my piece.
Knowing that he actually studied drawing, painting and sculpture before picking up photography is very interesting looking at this body of work. The human (parts of) bodies presented by him are so carefully modeled and lit that they look as if he made them with his own hands, they look sculptured. The way muscles, lines and shapes are emphasized and magnified remind me of the Greek sculpturing where in fact the same was done. This can also be found in the expressions on their faces when photographed; sober and often even apathetic.
© Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. If I violated any rules by using this photo I apologize in advance and will delete all of it when contacted. I do not intend to shock anyone with its content; it's merely used to support my piece.
The prints are so extremely well executed that in combination with the above even photos of penises, which might come across as erotic, are in no way close to that. They become figures of their own, aesthetic and silent, no longer in the context they are normally surrounded with. I came to like them very much for that reason.
© Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. If I violated any rules by using this photo I apologize in advance and will delete all of it when contacted. I do not intend to shock anyone with its content; it's merely used to support my piece.
One of the other reasons I like his work; finally nude males instead of (hardly always) erotically presented nude women. Artistic Nude is the most overrated category these days and I advise people sprinkling this term on a regular base to look at this man’s work and think again before using it. But that’s a side note, one which I’ll probably get back to in the future. The images are true stills, they are quiet, delicate and of such perfect technique it’s almost daunting. They are also not erotic, even though some of them depict acts of sexual nature. It’s as if they’ve been keeping a pose for hours until it got perfected before taking the photo. Most photos look like an instant, these images look like indefinite moments in time. I am fascinated.
© Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. If I violated any rules by using this photo I apologize in advance and will delete all of it when contacted. I do not intend to shock anyone with its content; it's merely used to support my piece.
If you get the chance to visit the show, I advise you to do so. It’s opened until the 15th of August. I hope you enjoyed my writing about it.
-Indra
© Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. If I violated any rules by using this photo I apologize in advance and will delete all of it when contacted. I do not intend to shock anyone with its content; it's merely used to support my piece. Self Portrait of Robert Mapplethorpe.
http://www.mapplethorpe.org
Triennial Istanbul 2010
It has started! Together with 4 other people we are representing the Academy of Fine Arts Hasselt (SASK) during the Triennial in Istanbul which is being held from the 7th til the 30th of June. I couldn’t make it to see the exhibit unfortunately but you simply can’t have it all Luckily I received some photos from Angelina, also participating. The other participants are: Birgit Stulens, Jean-Pierre Pijls en Rudy Cools. Angelina was so kind to bring a book from Istanbul with all the works gathered and shown there.
Jean-Pierre on the right, me on the left
Birgit on the left
Jean-Pierre on the right, me on the left
ISBN: 978-975-400-331-4
FLTR first page then 2nd: Me, Rudy, Angelina, Jean-Pierre, Birgit
Anyway, looking great!!
-Ciao-
Wet Plate Exhibition & Demo KunstTour Maastricht
May is filled with good things and here’s the thing I’m currently working on: a Wet Plate Collodion exhibition at the Timmerfabriek Maastricht during the KunstTour / Art Tour 2010 starting at the 22nd til the 24th of May.
On top of that I will be giving my first demonstration in public of the wet plate process on Sunday the 23th starting at 1 o’clock. I’m thrilled to be able to do so (keep fingers crossed for the weather ) and looking forward to it immensely! I hope to see you there!!
1 May 2010: World Wet Plate Day in London
Saturday was the day; World Wet Plate Day came knocking on the door and my mom and I left for the Frederick Scott Archer ceremony in London. We got up at 5 in the morning, left the house at about 6 for the train station in Liège Guillemis (what a wonderful architecture btw, hope to go back there soon!) where we had the train to Bruxelles Midi at 7:06. All went well, finding everything was much easier than I thought it to be.
Train Station Liège Guillemis
We arrived in Brussels at 8:30 and we got something to eat. The train for London was supposed to leave at 9:30 and arriving at London at 10:30 local time. Unfortunately it got delayed due some technical issues. 15 minutes was not that bad. Finally we started boarding and the journey continued. During the trip the delays added up to a total time of 43 minutes. Hmmm, but okay, nothing to do about it.
The train ride was very nice and quick, only pressure building up in our ears going in and out of tunnels which was not that nice but before we knew it we were in London. There began the last bit of the journey to Kensal Green by metro. Very easy to find and at around 12:15 we finally did arrive at the place we had to be at. But the cemetery turned out to be quite a challenge in finding the exact spot of the event; it was so big! 70 acres of graves is massive and we got lost. I finally called Quinn to see where they were and after a bit of help we finally walked down the lane which took us to the exhibition and event part.
The demo and portrait stuff outside
The event was really well taken care of. The space looked great, they had some nice sandwiches, coffee, tea and wine; all free to take. My mom went for the sandwiches as she was starving from the journey, I went to the gallery to see how everything would look and hang. Really beautiful! The framing was carefully done and looked fantastic! The plates were stunning to see, some really lovely work. One plate of 11×14 standing out to me as I totally loved that size!
I just had to take a photo of my work but you can see the way it's framed
The Dissenters' Gallery
The Dissenters' Gallery
During all that time Quinn was outside making plates with the help of Carl and John, discussing things with people.
Quinn with his "Wisdom Grey"
There was something about something...definitely!
Quinns' darkbox
We arrived too late to join the ceremony of the plaque for Archers’ grave which was a pity. Fortunately a Russian guy (can’t remember his name) wanted to take us to the grave to show it to us which was great because with 70 acres of graves it would’ve been hard to locate it on our own. So he took us there and right before we arrived at his grave we saw a dead fox lying on a grave. Pretty much decomposed and therefor making a terrible good subject to photograph. Unfortunately I only brought my D200 but better than nothing It’s a good thing that photographs don’t capture smell…
The rather dead fox
The rather dead fox again
And again...
And the last one...
It looked very disturbing but fascinating at the same time. He probably didn’t die very happily and it makes you wonder what happened to him and why he chose to die there, if he chose that at all. The smell, as mentioned before, really wasn’t all that pretty.
After our morbid pause we continued to the grave of Frederick Scott Archer. Now, that was very pretty to see! The plaque really serves him justice.
Frederick Scott Archers' grave
The plaque
That was totally worth all the effort and I’m glad I got to be part of that!
When we got back at the event place and talked a bit about the fox and how great it would look on Collodion Quinn decided to do a shot of the fox. So, people went packing the stuff to take it all over where the fox was lying. Luckily there were also cars present as some of the things were pretty heavy to drag all the way down there by foot.
Carl driving the car with Timothy next to him
On our way with my mom on the right side
On our way
Setting up the foxy shot
Fixing the darkbox
Preparing the second shot as the first one due chem trouble didn't work out
Preparing the second shot as the first one due chem trouble didn't work out
Right after stopping
After those plates we worked on a group shoot of every wetplater present around the grave of Archer. The chemicals were not very cooperative again so the shot had to be done twice too to get negative right. As far as I could tell, I am not into negatives, the second one looked really good and I’m looking forward to the result. My mom was very proud that she was asked by Quinn to do the exposure, taking off and putting back on the lens cap and counting as Quinn was a part of the group shot. She’s looking forward to the result as well! After that time was up for us; we had to head back to the metro and then St. Pancras to get on the train back home again.
Kensal Green Cemetary
Kensal Green Cemetary
Kensal Green Cemetary
Kensal Green Cemetary
Kensal Green Cemetary
Kensal Green Cemetary
Kensal Green Cemetary
We bought a book for my dad about the cemetaries’ history. He loves that. The weather in London was fantastic even though mentioned otherwise on the forecast. When we arrived at St. Pancras we ate some yummy sushi which was great. Then we headed back home and we arrived in Brussels at around 10:40. Bart and my dad came to pick us up there and we came home at around 12 something. What a day! We loved it and would like to thank all of you who made this happen!
Exhibition Quinn Jacobson Paris 2010
I just have to write a bit about it so here we go.
Last Sunday we jumped in the car at 8 in the morning and drove to Paris. It was a smooth trip, completely hassle free and at around 11:30 we arrived to park our car in a garage located in the exact street where we were supposed to be; perfect. And then we walked to the gallery: Centre Iris – Pour la Photographie.
We hardly did enter or we saw Quinn and a greeting followed. He was busy with his workshop and invited us to come up after we went and seen his exhibit. So, we went down the stairs in a sort of wine cellar (France, you gotta love it!) and there hung LOTS of images, really magnificent. It was fantastic seeing his plates for real. They looked great and the presentation was really beautiful; off-white passepartout leaving a bit of space around the plates, in a frame with a black border. Very sober leaving the images to do the talking which they did very well.
Photos of all fragile people, shot using a fragile process but taking it further than just a pretty process and taking it further to the Jews in the Second World War, the scars the war left. Really impressive piece of work, I wish I had the money to buy some. Also a plate of a forest, which I still remember the best, I love(d) it to death.
During the exhibition view Jean came down to great us, really sweet! We talked for a bit, saw the exhibit to the end and joined everyone upstairs. Cool group that was following the workshop, they did a great job, LOTS of plates and a great space to use for this workshop. There were 2 lighting set ups people could use for making plates and even more cameras. It was also possible for them to shoot outside with daylight so a couple of them did. I actually modeled for one on a Triumph motorbike, that was pretty funny.
Around 2:30 the Leica group of Paris arrived for a small demonstration of the process by Quinn. That was really fun to watch as well and we had a great time. The model he made a photo of was great. Examples of it can be found following the upcoming link, it’s all in French but if you know English you should be able to figure out the most: http://www.summilux.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=32472&highlight=jacobson
Time flew by too fast and at 4 we had to head back to Maastricht as we had to work the next day and wanted a bit of the evening to eat and such and relax a bit from the day and cyanide & ether fumes 
To see some more about this from Quinn himself see here: http://www.studioq.com/blog/?p=1287
All in all, it was a great day, it was utterly great to meat Quinn, Jean and Summer again and I’m looking forward meeting all of you in London soon! Here are some pics to get your mouths watering and of course the address of the gallery, may you want to decide to view the exhibition which is certainly an advise to do so!
Sorry it has me in the photo but it was the best overview shot...
Another part of the gallery Centre Iris - Pour la Photographie
The workshop room with on the left the darkbox for developing etc and the studio part on the right
Centre Iris – Pour la Photographie
Pierre Gassin
238, rue Saint-Martin 75003 Paris
tél : +33 (0)1 48 87 06 09
fax : +33 (0)1 48 87 06 51
Go visit, it’s a wonderful place to be!
Stanley Donwood & the Red Maze
I know it’s a photography blog but I just have to mention this at least a 100 times. Today I went to see the exhibition of Stanley Donwood at the Schunck Glaspaleis in Heerlen. It was brilliant! Maybe one of the coolest exhibits I visited and that reminds me to go see a lot more. This was very inspirational and made me smile a lot of the times. Funny is combined with dark loneliness and I must say I am fond of the combination. Go and see this when you can, it’s worth it!!! A little glance of what you can expect:
Stanley Donwood & the Red Maze
Ow, and for the ones who don’t know who this man is: he has designed some CD-covers for Radiohead, like O.K. Computer, Kid A and lots a more stuff.
FotoMuseum The Hague: Exhibition Sally Mann 03-01-10
Photo Museum The Hague
My first wish of 2010 has come true: seeing the exhibition of Sally Mann in The Hague. It took quite some planning and at times I was afraid I wasn’t going to make it, but at last I did!
Four series were being presented:
Immediate Family, Deep South, Faces of her Children, and Virginia. Immediate Family was the largest part of the exhibit and it was fantastic seeing the prints live. They were astonishing, probably as far as I could see on fiber based papers, but they looked very good. Technically well performed photos and prints. Always a joy looking at such things. Also nice to see the series displayed photos which are not shown in the book. That way you discover some new images.
The Deep South series really impressed me. They consisted of landscapes with an ambiance that is very appealing to me; dark and mysterious. That’s exactly what I will be looking for when I take my wet plate stuff outside this summer. One plate surprised me as she had been scratching it up to make a specific area look darker when being printed. From a distance it looked as a cool pattern in the leaves, up close it looked really weird. I think these plates impressed me most.
With the Virginia plates it was hard to tell whether they were plates or normal negatives. There was one misty unsharp photo which I really liked. That series did not contain many images though. I think there were about 3 of them.
The faces of her children were at the back and I don’t like them. They’re vague, soft, no black, no contrast (which has the ability to work in an image but to me not here). So, it was more nice watching the flaws in the plates, of which there were many, looking at the borders and how it has been framed and such. That was interesting enough but the photos themselves were of no meaning to me, but that’s okay.
I heard people comment on her “finishing touch” regarding the Collodion work. They found it a pity she printed them on regular gelatin papers and not staying on the alternative route. It does make the final work look a bit more common, although it certainly is not. And it would have been more cooler if she had been making and coating her own papers as it really does add to the final product. But, I am not really disappointed though, it’s the kind of gap others will fill up. The images are stunning, also like this. It’s not that the presentation is bad, I’ve seen worse, even by so called professional photographers. Some even go as far as saying it’s a way of making easy money regarding the gelatin prints…well…I think that is a harsh judgment, especially from another human being. She might have her reasons which are not known to the public, who knows?
At the museum was also a little book store, I didn’t buy anything, I’ll give that privilege to a local book store where I live, but they had some nice Sally Mann books, a couple of which I hadn’t seen before, only heard of. One was “Still Time” and it contained a collection of different kinds of work of hers also some polaroids of 20×24. They were pretty cool (and big). Some platinum prints etc, I didn’t know she made that too. So, there’s more to investigate as always and I’ll be buying some more books soon I guess.
After the exhibit we decided to go for a small stroll through the outer part of The Hague. It was pretty fun and cold. Lots of ice on the sidewalk, cool patterns in frozen water so I shot some film again which I hadn’t been doing in a while. After that we headed back to Maastricht and an end came to a great day!
