Inspiration

I get inspired by lots of things and want to mention four here.

The first is The Drawer Project which is a simple typological collaboration  instigated by Blas González, and Open College of Arts Student. Blas attributes part of the idea to Nijel Shafran’s Washing Up series and I can see why. The simple intimate typologies form a narrow, but very personal portrait into the people who own the drawers while also offering the viewer the chance to consider cultural and historical insights because the simplest of things are often only ubiquitous in certain places at certain times.

Blas only had three rules.

1. The picture should include the frame of the drawer or something that allows to identify it as an object container.
2. The drawer’s contents must not be arranged for the picture.
3. A short title must be added to each picture, and it’s up to you to include a brief reflection or text to add some context to the picture.

My submission is shown below and is entitled Top Drawer Bedside.

I chose this drawer as its the most personal to me. All the things in the drawer are items I need to reach while in bed. I chose a straight contemporary approach rather than imbue the image with any extra values that come from dramatic lighting or particular treatments. Although I did notice that the majority of submissions thus far have been monochrome.

I enjoy projects like this as you see them build over time and almost always find the unexpected. What was also nice was Blas said he knew some of my work from two of the courses he has taken – it’s so pleasing to know that.

Another, very different type of inspiration came from the Shoddy Blog. I was particularly struck by A Womb with a View as it had so much to say. For example, the piece was so alien to me it was intriguing and drew me in. Then as you look, think and then listen to the sound the work becomes overtly political and about power and identity. I engaged with this immensely because the work wasn’t immediate in its connotation.

A third source of inspiration arrived in the form of the Royal Photographic Society’s Journal which arrived yesterday. Seeing Michael Palmer’s work of central London landscapes really blew me away. You can get an idea of his work here, but the effect is diluted. The 15 largely abstract images shown in the RPS Journal are much better because of the curation.

I have a photography project schedules with some colleagues for Oxford in September and these three projects have given me some food for thought about that (as well as other things generally artistic).

And, of course, there is always my old dad and the things to do with him such as getting this message last night.

I spoke to him yesterday and he said he’s not done any physiotherapy and so I suspect the rehab unit are making contact to agree next steps (home or a care home). I’ve prepared a rota of care and tasks to discuss with dad so that if he wants to come home he can, but we will see.

We all take our inspiration from a range of sources don’t we…