I've applied for funding to document recent work. The digital images I have aren't very good and as my practice has become more studio based the artworks seem to be harder for me to photograph well.
The funding would be allow me to hire a professional photographer and a studio. I'm inclined to have 35mm slides and medium format transparencies which can be scanned rather than asking for digital images from the start. I understand film and SLR cameras, technology leaves me a bit cold (perhaps that's why it doesn't work for me – see, there I go investing it with some kind of spirit that it so obvioulsy doesn't possess).
I like being able to hold a slide in my hand, I like writing the label and putting it in my slide index draw.
Whether I get the funding or not I need to spend some time and energy getting good quality pictures of my work. I phoned a couple of photographers listed in the back of a-n and hope that I'll be able to use one of them.
My work isn't easy to photograph and perhaps I'm too attached to it to see what needs to be focussed on. The main thing is to be in a studio with good lighting and good walls – two things missing from mine.
Last week the landlord came around 'just to see how we're doing'. The conversion of old depository building in front of our block is almost complete – live/work studios will be nearly £300k. The visible bits of our block have had a lick of paint and it all looks very smart – victorian coachlights around the new brick parquet courtyard. We used to all be 1a Chestnut Road, now we're being re-named Harry Day Mews and we'll all get street numbers. I wonder how much longer we have at the studio ….
