MA Photography
Beverley Thomas • 28 January 2019
28/01/2019 Positions and Practice
Falmouth University,
MA Photography,
(Week 1)
Embarking on another Journey
As of today I am about to embark on what I consider to enable myself to learn so much more about myself as a photographer and the images that I know I have the ability to create. I have been in the industry for many years and I have learned so much from photo processing film to capturing special moments both film and digitally. I have been fortunate to have a snap shot into other peoples lives but I find myself feeling that the industry is changing and although I still enjoy working in this ever changing world full of digital media, I know that there are things I wish to explore and concepts that perhaps go above a normality. Exploring the Reality and questioning what is real?
This weeks’s task is to take a view from my window and introduce myself and what this image would say about me. Upon reflection, when we bought our family home, this is view is what sold it, the great wide open space and evening sunlight. I have taken this on my iPhone, it is a snapshot into what I see on a daily basis. There are mature trees planted around which have developed and grown over the years, with each season changing and creating a different image. The field holds memories of playtime and exploration for my boys and independence even though I could still see them playing.
https://beverleythomasphotographydotcodotuk.wordpress.com
Firstly, I must apologise the lack of updates on this blog but then again who actually reads? Times have been up and down to say the least, and that has played with my mental well being, especially when it has come to my photographic practice. For many years, I have concentrated on giving 100% to my passion and this is my source of income as a professional photographer. However, the pandemic has made me stop and think about sustainability within the photographic industry and just what is it all about and for what?
Photographs are not just images; they are physical artifacts. The physical form of the photographic image, prescribed by prevailing technology, determines what can be photographed, how it can be displayed or published, how it can be encountered by others, how it can circulate through public culture.
I wanted to introduce the toy photography work that I am involved with. This is a collaboration with the wonderful team over at Stuck in Plastic (SiP Link) .
Having grown up in the 70’s, I thought I could find some old photographs from this time in my life but sadly, I have been unable to locate any and that makes me recall little moments that stand out in my vivid memory which helps me write this post.
In the search for the ideal image it became evident that I had seen everything before and I wanted to produce something different. My intent was to take image manipulation further away from the real but I was also aware this could come with some critic good or bad.
Having successfully completed my MA, I began to turn my focus on reflecting over my time at Falmouth University’s Institute of Photography. What became very evident is that my work is now informed and my intent is clearer than it was.
Welcome to the very first post of my new blog. On the contrary, I am familiar with writing blogs and I had initially decided to continue writing regular posts on my Photographic Critical Research Journal , to which I started writing at the beginning of my Masters degree at Falmouth University’s Institute of Photography.
Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue ... well there was nothing blue about this amazing wedding, it was pink and full of fun and laughter. I met Kayleigh two years ago when she started wedding planning, turned out that I know her mother and father very well but as the years went by our connections had gone in different directions. But I always knew they were a special couple who if ever my family needed them that they would be there for us, so as you can imagine I was absolutely thrilled to be asked to capture their daughters wedding day. The Bride & Groom chose a beautiful location, the hotel is called Wolfscastle Country Hotel otherwise known as "All yr Afon" https://wolfscastle.com located just 15 minutes from Haverfordwest, in the heart of the Pembrokeshire countryside and 9 miles from our stunning Pembrokeshire coast. I arrived at 11.30am in order to get some prep photographs of Kayleigh's shoes etc and the bride and bridesmaids getting ready. When I arrived everyone was so calm and ready to go, the bridesmaids hair and make-ups were completed and they were in their dresses ready. Wearing sparkly rose gold gowns they looked stunning. The bride was still getting ready with finishing touches being adjusted. She wore a stunning wedding gown with a cathedral train made from tulle. The flowers were made by Flowers by Quita, they incorporated vintage roses and peonies. Everyone was in high spirits. Not only was it Kayleigh and Mark's wedding day but they were both celebrating birthdays. I completed what I need to do then myself and Gill, my assistant headed downstairs to capture the groom. I had not met Mark at any of the appointment prior to the big day, so once I found him I introduced myself and to be honest, I felt like I already knew him. He had just finished formalities with the Registra and checking that the best men had the all important wedding rings. The video guys were ready, I was ready and Kayleigh was ready ... 12.20pm Kayleigh was descending down the stairs with her father, that was an emotional moment. She had given him a pair of cuff links which read 'of all the walks we have had, this one is my favourite' such a lovely moment to treasure forever. 12.30pm Mark was patiently waiting for his beautiful bride, and there she was standing in the doorway ready to met her husband to be. The ceremony was perfect and a kiss seals the the forever moment when the Registra pronounces Kayleigh & Mark as Husband & Wife, Mr & Mrs Williams.
Since starting my MA program, I am required to keep a critical research journal in the form of a written document, so I have created another blog on Wordpress which I will continue to update on a regular basis. I have completed the first module and I am now looking at the second module. This blog at https://beverleythomasphotographydotcodotuk.wordpress.com is being made as part of an accredited educational programme.
Week 30 sees the word Anger appear in my list of values. This words comes just around the time I begin to get a little frustrated about the times I get asked why do you photograph lego, and the fact other people just do not understand. It's simple you either like the images and get the concept or you do not, it is as easy to understand that! So how about this, I will answer the question as to why I photograph a little piece of lego and perhaps then you might just understand my logic as to why I find this toy photography rather fun to create, plus it is not hurting anyone and perhaps making someone stop and think and smile. So as I have said before in previous posts, I started Instagram in 2016 whilst in University studying for a Batchelor of Arts in Photography. Photography is my life work and gaining a first class honours degree was just something special in the process of recognition. Since receiving my degree and numerous other certificates related to the photographic industry, I realise that I have done so much and I can leave paper behind to suggest I was here once, when I eventually meet my maker. I can also leave others with memories of special wedding day memories and newborn images or their own families photographs, I can even leave behind memory books for my own family but I wanted to develop something more. November 21st 2000, the release on DVD was the box office movie, my husband and I sat down to watch this movie which has stayed with me for all these years and turns out to be one of our favourite films. I found myself remembering it for perhaps a reason that the directors did not intentionally make it for, that movie was Gladiator. You have all seen it? Right! - Staring the actor Russell Crow, Set in Roman times, the story of a once-powerful general forced to become a common gladiator. The emperor's son is enraged when he is passed over as heir in favour of his father's favourite general. He kills his father and arranges the murder of the general's family, and the general is sold into slavery to be trained as a gladiator - but his subsequent popularity in the arena threatens the throne. My Favourite and most famous quote from Maximus: "My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next". What draws my attention during this whole film is the fact he has these enduring little figures of his family which he carries with him ... when asked by a fellow gladiator he replies: Juba: Can they hear you? Maximus: Who? Juba: Your family. In the afterlife. Maximus: Oh yes. Juba: What do you say to them? Maximus: To my son - I tell him I will see him again soon. To keep his heels down while riding his horse. To my wife... that is not your business. So without stating that I am anywhere near a Gladiator standard, I feel connected to that family dream, I am fortunate to have special people in my life, living and breathing, to whom I am extremely proud of and so I began to use the concept of Lego to create images that resonate with my daily life and feelings, perhaps one day these lego figures may be looked at in the same way that Gladiator used his, until then I continue to create and have fun with them as part of a little ongoing project that was started in 2016, life through a lens.
