Photo Devoto

This blog is dedicated (mostly) to photography in London, and occasionally to other art forms. Let's explore London galleries and the beautiful photographic art they offer.

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My Japan Project//Subject Matter//Tokyo Bike

Quietness in Noise is a group photographic exhibition presented by Subject Matter in collaboration with SPoN! in support of the My Japan project. The exhibition is running from 23 August to 3 September 2014, so there is one day left to see it!

The My Japan Project is a crowd sourced photographic initiative in which anyone can submit a photograph answering the question, "What does Japan mean to you?". Winners are then chosen and their photographs are exhibited and made in to photo-books. Any profit from either photographs sold at exhibitions or photo-books is then donated to JEN (Japan Emergency NGO). So there is a great cause behind these beautiful, Japan inspired art works.

The photographs in this particular exhibition, showcase "stillness interwoven with noise." 

Photo by Genevieve Sawtelle

Photos by various artists, please see Subject Matter Art's site for these images and more...

"The exhibition features art works with an appreciation of shading and subtlety", and has a special focus on the Japanese concept of 'wabi-sabi', which centres around the Japanese aesthetics of transience and imperfection, and enjoying the beauty of the simple things in life.

For further information, see Tokyo Bike's blog.

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10 posts!

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Travel Photographer of the Year//Royal Geographical Society

Photo by me Royal Geographical Society, Travel Photographer of the Year

Photo by me, Royal Geographical Society, Travel Photographer of the Year

I recently attended the excellent exhibition, the Travel Photographer of the Year, which showed from 11 July to 17 August at the Royal Geographical Society.  In 2011 the competition and the society decided to collaborate, and so the exhibition is held here annually, bringing record breaking numbers of visitors to the society.  In 2013, over 48,000 visitors attended in just 38 days. 

"From sweeping landscapes and cityscapes to the minutiae of an ant colony and remarkable, close-up detail of lions on the hunt, the award-winning images in the Travel Photographer of the Year exhibition documents the magnificence, beauty and poignancy of this planet and its inhabitants." Royal Geographical Society

Exhibited were a fascinating collection of photographs from entrants from nearly 100 countries. Not only were many of the images from the various winners visually amazing, but they were also informative allowing the viewer to absorb an aspect of the culture of the country that the photograph was taken in. To view the winners' photographs, please click on this link.

One artist's work that stood out to me was the work of Felicia Simion of Romania. Unlike some of the other artists who had a rather detailed write up of the reasons behind their photographs, Simion's photographic intent was perhaps the most understated and 'simple', making her work very honest. And for this reason, I liked them. I also just love street photography and portraits, so her work appeals to me. Simion really seizes an opportunity for a snap and manages to seemingly effortlessly capture it. 

Above photos by Felicia Simion, Romania

However there were countless stunning images, too many to mention in fact. But here are a few of others I personally thought were striking from the exhibition. 

Photo by Gerald Baeck, Austria

Photo by David Lazar, Australia

Photo by David Oliete, Spain

What I really like about the Travel Photographer of the Year as a competition, is that anyone can enter, young or old, amateur or professional, and from any background, which makes for a very varied and interesting collection of images. I will definitely be going again next year, and highly recommend others to visit also.

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Nocturnal Robots at Tate Britain

In a new, unique project at Tate Britain, nocturnal robots will glide around the galleries streaming live footage of the art works on to the Tate's After Dark website. Viewers will be able to take turns controlling the robots' movements and thus be able to enjoy art even after the gallery has closed. If they move the robot to a work of art, live experts will then be able to provide a live commentary. 

The project is the result of the £70,000 IK Prize; a competition to encourage innovative digital uses of the museum. The developers claim the robots can broadcast what they see in near real time. But if you want to see the works of art in full definition, you'll have to visit the old fashioned way. BBC

I don't know about anyone else, but this reminds me a bit of Night at the Museum! Of course I would much prefer to visit a gallery or museum "the old fashioned way", but what a unique and interactive idea, to be able to enjoy the artwork after closing hours. Most galleries these days do have one evening a week where they open late until 9pm, but if you can't make it, you now have the option to view the art any evening of the week! And it looks pretty fun too!

Read the original story and watch a video here- BBC

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Close and Far//Russian Photography Now//Calvert 22

Photo by Alexander Gronsky, Suburbs of Moscow, 2010

Photo by Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky, Haying at the (Leushinsky) Monastery, Views Along the Mariinsky Canal and river system, 1909

Photo by Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky, Studies on Lindozero (Laika, dog) Views along the Murmansk railway, 1915

Photo by me

Calvert 22 is a gallery which showcases the work of Russian and Eastern European artists. This exhibition, from a new generation of photographers and video artists, explores identity and place in early 21st century Russia. It features work by Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky, whose colour images of pre-revolutionary Russia are exhibited for the first time in the UK. The exhibition also includes the work of Alexander Gronsky, Dimitri Venkov, Taus Makhacheva, Olya Ivanova and Max Sher.

"When Nicholas II, the last tsar, personally commissioned Prokudin-Gorsky, an early pioneer of colour photography, to document his vast empire he presided over the largest territory in the world. Today, Russia is still a land of dramatic extremes and diversity. Where Prokudin-Gorsky witnessed first-hand the effects of galloping colonisation and the early stirrings of industrialisation, today’s artists work in the aftermath of the empire’s collapse, grappling both with its past and future." Calvert 22 

I thought that there were some very stunning images in this exhibition and for someone that has never been to Russia before it was interesting to see the Russian locals against the background of everyday landscapes from the Russian artists' point of view. I particularly enjoyed the landscape work of Alexander Gronsky, from the series of work called Pastoral. The photos are of the "edge-lands', neither rural nor urban, an area which often gets overlooked by photographers. He captures the untidiness of the Moscow suburbs, from the unsightly buildings, to the unkept grass and rubbish, and contrasts it with how the locals use the space for leisure, with activities such as sunbathing and barbecuing. His images show "how people use – and abuse – the precious green spaces available to them".The Guardian 

I found this exhibition to be an eye opening view of a side of Russia that is very rarely seen or photographed. It focuses on the everyday, in-between area of the edge-lands and ordinary people's activities there. In addition, the colour images of Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky, peel back the historical layers of the landscape and bring the images to life again. 

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Andreas Gursky//Early Landscapes//Sprueth Magers

Photo by me

Andreas Gursky is probably best known for his photograph Rhine II which is the most expensive photograph ever sold. It was sold for £2.7 million at auction at Christie's New York, which set a new world record for a photograph. 

His exhibition at the Mayfair gallery, Sprueth Magers, which was from 15 April to 21 June, was the first to focus on a group of early landscapes from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. 

"Gursky’s early landscapes aim to provide the viewer with the concrete experience of a specific place or with a "mental image". The landscape is at once itself, a specific time and place, and also something otherworldly: a picture that transcends the basic conditions of its creation. " Sprueth Magers Press Release

For much better photographs of the exhibition please check out the gallery website here.

I'd never been to this gallery before, and although it's fairly small, it's an atmospheric and beautiful space with wooden floors and high ceilings.

The large scale of the photographs featured in the exhibition really allowed the viewer to visualise the landscape and its beauty. I think if they were printed any smaller the images would not have the same impact. The scale of the photographs really works well in the relatively small rooms of the gallery, which adds to their effect further.

"At first glance, the bars look like they were inserted into the photograph by the artist as an extreme formal gesture, but they were already at the site, integral to a Plexiglass screen that acted as a noise barrier along the motorway. Gursky noticed this interweaving of classic pastoral and utilitarian technology while driving. In Alba (1989) the landscape is similarly ageless: a river, barely a ripple in its surface and framed by a dark forest, trickles over a stony riverbed as it has for centuries. Fishermen, dwarfed by the artist’s sweeping view of the site, wade into the water. " Sprueth Magers Press Release

The images that are intersected by silver grey bars were especially interesting and added a bit of mystery and vagueness to the landscape. Great exhibition. 

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Artsy//Subject Matter Art

A wonderful photographic art gallery, Subject Matter Art have now joined Artsy and are among some of the most prestigious and well known galleries selling their art. They sell limited edition photographic art by photographers from all over the world in a unique printing method. Originally based in Tokyo and with a branch in Monteral, Subject Matter Art relocated their offices to London at the start of the year and are now mostly focussing on selling art online. Artsy should really give their business a boost! Hurray for small, independent galleries! I whole-heartedly support them. Check out their Artsy profile here

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Chicken or The Egg//Hundred Years Gallery

Photo by me

Another interesting exhibition from Hundred Years Gallery in Hoxton, by three Japanese artists from Central Saint Martin's. The title of the exhibition 'Chicken or the Egg', addresses the age old question of causality, exploring it through various mediums including some graphic design, photography and a video installation.

Photo by me, art shown by Mayumi Mizuki, Contradictions, 2014

The artist is illustrating a point about nature being spoilt and sea life becoming surrounded by pollution due to humans' desire to create new technologies and advance in the industrial world, at the expense of destroying the planet. Her intention is to point out the irony of this, that in our attempts to advance the planet, we are actually ruining it.

Photo by me, photography pebbles by Yuki Shirota, Ciraquito 2014

Here the artist has taken photographs of Dungeness in Kent which has a beautiful and natural beach. The beach is unfortunately next to a nuclear power station. Again it is the artist's intention to highlight the irony of nature and technology coexisting, to create what she calls a "dystopian resort". She poses the question "who created it?"

Photo by me, video shown by Tamao Narukawa

The artists say that their "aim is not to take meaning at face value but to pose this question (of causality) as a basic matter."

In my opinion this was a very interesting and throught provoking exhibition by three young, aspiring artists. I love that London has so many small, independent galleries willing to show work by students and upcoming artists, so that we have a chance to view it.

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Berndnaut Smilde//Antipode//Ronchini Gallery

Photo by Berndnaut Smilde, Nimbus Sankt Peter, 2014

Antipode is a new exhibition by Berndnaut Smilde, the Dutch artist whose work is a combination of photography, installation, performance and sculpture.  He is famous for his series of work Nimbus, in which he created a ‘real’ cloud suspended in empty rooms. This current exhibition, Antipode, is on at the Ronchini Gallery until 14 June 2014.

I remember writing about his work previously on the Subject Matter Art gallery blog and was so excited to see that he was exhibiting in London, this is an exhibition that I really couldn't miss.

Photo by Berndnaut Smilde, Nimbus Thor, 2014

Antipode takes its name from the geographical term, which refers to parts of the earth diametrically opposite each other. His work explores the ephemeral and impermanent state of being between construction and deconstruction, and the space and architectural elements of a location, an atmosphere and the objects within it.

“If you take away or reposition objects that occupy buildings and spaces, there is a stronger emphasis on the bare architectural elements that define a space. That’s where I start working from.” Berndnaut Smilde

Photo by Berndnaut Smilde, Antipode, photomural, prism, light, 2014

This piece explores the suggestion of a rainbow and its connotations of perfection, juxtaposed with the fact it's projected upside down alongside the isolation of the solitary castle (which has been duplicated).

I really enjoy Smilde's work, not only because it is so unique, but because of his dedication to the creation of each piece. Just think of the amount of effort, patience and control it takes to create each cloud, in spite of the fact that the cloud only lasts a short time before disappearing, (which of course is the very point of his work). But Smilde manages to capture this fleeting moment of beauty before the cloud dissipates. I think that there is a lot of beauty in his work, both visually and conceptually, especially in the Nimbus series. I recommend seeing his work, as it is one of the most interesting and unique exhibitions of photographic art on at the moment. Catch it before it mysteriously disappears...

Photo by me (please excuse the skew-whiff photo)

Ronchini Gallery is a small, yet refined gallery in Mayfair, that works with acclaimed curators and talented artists, to show a variety of exhibitions and artistic mediums.

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Burnt Generation//Somerset House

Photo by me//image shown by Newsha Tavakolian, 'Look'

"Burnt Generation" a current photographic art exhibition on at Somerset House is an exhibition of Iranian photography which aims to convey the significant ‘impact of decades of political unrest and social upheaval upon Iranian people’. The exhibition’s main themes are, isolation, loneliness and desolation of youth, and it also highlights the ‘personal, political and social consequences of war’.  Curated by Fariba Farshad, Director of Candlestar,  “Burnt Generation” seeks to move past clichés and stereotypical views of Iran and its people, through the use of photographic images.

Candlestar is an organisation, which specialises in supporting innovative projects in art and education.

‘Burnt Generation’ features documentary photography, portraiture and fine art photography, by several Iranian artists, including Newsha Tavakolian, Abbas Kowsari and Ali Nadjian and Ramyar Manouchehrzadeh.

Photo by Abbas Kowari, Shade of Earth

I really rate this exhibition for all of the artists' incredibly powerful imagery and ability to clearly convey their message through their art. There was not one image that was weaker than another in the exhibition. Amongst some satirical, and some very political and personal imagery, a strong message is portrayed and the intended themes of the exhibition are represented with great success.

Photo by me

Somerset House is another wonderful institution in London home to many galleries, and more often than not it hosts free exhibitions, including a great number of photographic art exhibitions. Set in a neo-classical building on The Strand, besides art it hosts a variety of film, design events, concerts and family workshops all year round. It also has some great cafes and a terrace, which is superb in the summer months. Somerset House is definitely one of my favourite art venues.

Photo by me//fountains in Somerset House courtyard

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Re-Cycle-Style//Hundred Years Gallery

Photo by me

 Hundred Years Gallery is a small but cute, independent gallery come café in Hoxton just near the Geffrye museum and Hoxton station. It also has a photo studio and hosts plenty of art events, and art exhibitions, which are changed regularly. The exhibition I saw today was by Japanese artists Kumiko Tani and Kaori Ito, entitled “Re-cycle-Style- One’s innermost thoughts-and Archive Collections”. Although it wasn't exclusively photography, the exhibition included photography of the work itself, plus I just love small, independent galleries, so thought I'd write about it.

Photo by Hitomi Soeda

The exhibition is about one’s innermost thoughts and feelings, how they are uncontrollable and how we must learn to “survive against our mind sometimes” and all the emotions that arise.  The artists believe that to cover your body with fabric provides warmth and relief from these feelings, but can also obstruct and disguise thoughts. Their work represents conflict over the mutual feeling through body and mind. This project is connected with the city and its inhabitants.

Re-Cycle-Style is an ethical project and fashion brand, with the aim of trying to change people’s image of recycling and to encourage people to actually do it.

Photo by me

Photo by Hitomi Soeda

The exhibition included hand-crafted pieces of clothing from recycled material, a short movie visual and some photographic images of the clothing. The photographer is Hitomi Soeda, a Japanese freelance photographer based in London. Some of the photography exhibited had a lot of movement about them, with the swaying garments whereas others were still fashion photographs of models actually wearing the recycled garments.

Photo by Hitomi Soeda

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Deutsche Borse Photography Prize 2014 //The Photographer's Gallery

Photo by me

What better place to start than with an exhibition at London's best known photography gallery, The Photographer's Galllery, in Soho. Firstly, let me just say that this exhibition was free!!! Which is typical of The Photographer's Gallery.

"The Deutsche Borse Photography Prize 2014 rewards a living photographer of any background and nationality, for a specific body of work, which has significantly contributed to photography in Europe between 1 October 2012 and 30 September 2013."

Photo by me//the image shown is the work of Alberto Garcia-Alix

Perhaps my favourite work from this exhibtion was from Lorna Simpson, an African-American artist and photographer. Her work featured a series of vintage black and white (presumably from the 1950's or 1960's, judging by the fashion) photographs of an African woman in various (sometimes provocative) poses, alongside photographs of Simpson herself emulating the poses of this woman. Here she links archival material and found objects, the past and present, to explore gener and identity as well as to point out that often photography of African-Americans were perhaps overlooked in the past. Here she brings them to light and emphasises their significance.

Photo by me//the image shown is the work of Lorna Simpson

I enjoyed her work for it's femininity and gender exploration, and also as it involved vintage photography, I adored the fashion and pin up style of the subject in the archival photographs.