4 Programs, 1 Art Show – This is Not an Expo

As a kick off to grad shows and end of semester exhibitions, Humber’s School of Media Studies and IT proudly presents; This is Not an Expo.

Featuring work from across four program areas, This is not an Expo is a collection of artworks demonstrating diverse media and subject matter. Students from Creative Photography, Visual and Digital Arts, Art Foundation and Media Communications present a visual cacophony blurring the lines between art and design, critical and applied disciplines. Each piece demonstrates concepts in progress, techniques in evolution; the showcase therefore represents a beginning, rather than an end. Embodied in the collection is the exceptional range of technical skills and conceptual concerns that drive an ambitious cohort of emerging creative practitioners.

The show is on display at Twist Gallery in Toronto, from: 2 – 12 April 2016

Join us for an opening reception, Wednesday 6 April 2016, 7-9pm.

For more info, contact: david.scott@humber.ca

Gallery Exhibit and Portfolio Show

Photography enthusiasts & industry people! If you are going to be in Toronto on 21 April, come and check out LUMINA, the amazing photographs by this year’s Humber Creative Photography grads, at Twist Gallery.

After 2 years of hard work and study, this years class have produced a diverse range of conceptual work, and will have their print books, framed images, video and digital content on display at the Portfolio Show, Friday 21 April, 3 – 9.30pm.

If you can’t make it for the Portfolio Show, framed prints will be on display at Twist Gallery 15 – 29 April.

For more information, send me an email david.scott@humber.ca

Photography Gallery Exhibit – Toronto

Toronto, April 2014

WHAT – Join us for our Opening Reception and Portfolio Display: Friday 11th April 2014, 3pm – 9.30pm

Divergence is a collection of personal photographic work by graduating students in Humber’s Creative Photography Program.

These images reflect and explore student’s deep and diverse passion for photography in a variety of genres.

At the opening reception on Friday April 11th, all the participating photographers will be present, showcasing their printed portfolios of photographic ideas, concepts and range of skills. So if you own a studio or imaging business, and are looking for new creative talent, come to Twist Gallery Friday April 11th !!

Within these photographs the possibilities of people, places, and life, are explored and examined. From simplicity of line and form to delving into human emotions and experimental imagery, Divergence is a wide ranging and eclectic collection.

This exhibit celebrates personal photographic work, by Toronto’s next generation of professional photographers.

WHERE – The exhibit will run from:  4 – 27 April 2014 at Twist Gallery, 1100 Queen St West, Toronto. Check the gallery website for opening hours.  http://www.twistgallery.ca

 

Recent Work: Neighbourhoods

I have always been fascinated with exploring and documenting neighbourhoods, both locally and farther afield. This ongoing series of collages attempts to capture something of the texture and atmosphere of a place, and document traces of the people that live there.

whitechapel dogs

Silence on Hanbury Street

War ‘n Stuff, Hanbury Street

soho 01

 

The Genius of Julia Margaret Cameron

1867 Julia Jackson (later Julia Stephen) by JMC.

All photographers know how challenging it is to capture emotion, character and energy from a portrait session. This semester I am privileged to teach a course on alternative photographic process’s, which involves many historical methods, including salted paper and albumen printing.Julia Margaret Cameron made some wonderful salted prints and albumen prints, that capture the imagination and human spirit better than most. Even more remarkable is the fact that they were made in the 1860′s.

Many early pioneers of photography had a technical and scientific focus, reproducing details from reality to document and record, with nothing more or less than that as their goal. Cameron however, produced images with tight cropping, shaping her subjects with light, giving intimate portraits that fill the frame and captivate. She experimented with intentionally long exposures to produce movement and energy within the image. Her wet plate photography work with salted and albumen printing is breathtaking. These photographs transcend time and place.

1867 Angelo Colarossi, by JMC

Her work is made even more compelling by the fact that she did not pick up a camera until she was 48, and shot her body of work during the 1860′s and 70′s. Growing up in India, she did most of her photography in mid life after a move to the UK. Based on the Isle of Wight, and with her family connections, she had access to many influential and famous people of the Victorian era. Her portrait subjects included Charles Darwin, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Sir John Herschel, and Julia Stephen (her niece and mother of Virginia Woolf).

Iconic photographer Imogen Cunningham famously commented, ”I’d like to see portrait photography go right back to Julia Margaret Cameron. I don’t think there’s anyone better.” And I tend to agree. For those of us that love photography, these images are timeless and inspirational.

Along with a group of photography students, I recently had the good fortune to view an original Cameron print, in the photography archive, at George Eastman House, Rochester, NY. If you can get to Rochester, GEH is a treasure, and well worth exploring. Further south, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City currently has a comprehensive exhibit of Cameron’s work on display. A must see for Cameron fans, the show runs till 5th January 2014.

http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2013/Julia%20Margaret%20Cameron

For books on Cameron, I recommend Helmut Gernsheim’s 1975 in depth study Julia Margaret Cameron: Her Life and Photographic Work. Also, the insightful biography by Colin Ford: Julia Margaret Cameron: A critical Biography, and lastly, From Life: Julia Margaret Cameron and Victorian Photography by Victoria Olsen.

1864 Ellen Terry, by JMC

Recent Work

These images are part of a series I’m working on based on memory, place and home. I like to explore the idea of human habitat, and how over time, reality and idealized recollection can blend and evolve. Each composition is made up of 6 to 8 source images, shot in Glasgow, Paisley and Milnathort, in Scotland.

January Motorbike Ride

Today was unusually warm for January, 12 degrees C.  So I couldn’t resist taking the bike out for a spin. Ontario winters usually mean that its April before you can ride without freezing. But double digit temperatures and dry roads today proved perfect to recharge batteries of both me and the bike. Images below on Lansdowne Ave, Toronto.

 

Compendium – Group Photography Exhibit

I’m just putting the finishing touches today to some prints for our Humber photography faculty exhibit next week at the University of Guelph-Humber gallery. Final editing choices are tough, but I have now picked which prints are getting matted and framed !

Lots of diversity of approach and content from the 6 participating artists, its going to be a good show.

If you are going to be in Toronto next Wednesday January 16th, come on by for the opening reception at the GH Gallery between 5.30-9.30pm. The show runs at the gallery from January 16th – 31st.

 

Glasgow Déjà vu

 

I spent some time last summer wandering around the neighbourhood of Netherlee, in the south side of Glasgow, where I grew up. It was a surreal experience to be walking streets that were both familiar and altered. A lot of the architecture is exactly how it was 20 years ago, but subtle differences with store fronts and new development  made it feel like an alternate universe that I didn’t quite know. Walking through Netherlee, Muirend and Cathcart made me realize how much red sandstone was used 100 years ago when this part of Glasgow really expanded as the city grew. Endless rows of townhouses repeated in iconic designs makes it easy to get lost if you don’t know where you’re going!

This documenting of texture, place, and home is something I will definitely be exploring further in my photographic work this coming year…

 

 

 

New Photography Exhibit Opens Next Month