David Ward - Landscape Photography - Into The Light

Highlight this Comment Peter Cook13/05/2008, 09:17

David , Its good to know you both enjoyed the experience, I wish I could have managed to get to see it. I did go to see David Noton's recent exhibition at the OXO, and in talking to him he seemed to have had a happy experience much like yours. Its good that photography seems to be reaching an ever expanding audience, and exhibitions like yours (and the other David's) can only do good, so I think you should all take a bow for effort and determination. Regards Peter

Highlight this Comment Chris A13/05/2008, 15:57

David - I think you should also extend your thanks to the people who produced your prints. The 5' x 4' Epson prints were impressive, and the quality of the photos shone through in the rest of the prints made by David Whistance. As these were all digital prints, is there no going back to Cibachromes?

I think you can also measure your success as a photographer in terms of the number of photographers (such as myself) you have helped to discover their vision over the last 10 or so years through Light and Land, your magazine articles and your books. Perhaps the exhibition will spawn another generation of graduates from the David Ward School of Photography?

Highlight this Comment David13/05/2008, 16:31

Hi Chris,

You're so right, how unforgivably forgetful of me, I should have said thanks for the prints!! David Whistance did an incredible job, better than I ever believed could be possible. Cibachromes certainly don't seem as attractive and at my exhibition at Richard Childs Gallery I was very aware of the differences between the two processes. Peter Tinson (from Epson) also did a wonderful job on the largest prints. The whole process was very scary for me as it was the first time I'd done an exhibition with digital prints, the first time I'd done the scanning and the first time that I'd done the colour management.

On your final point, it's very flattering to think that I might have been so influential but very hard for me to accept... In fact I'm lost for words.

Highlight this Comment Julian13/05/2008, 16:56

Hi David!

Just to say I was both impressed by and really enjoyed the exhibition and my only question is... whyever did it take you so long to get around to exhibiting your work?

As regards the inspiration thing, I already have you to 'blame' for getting me into LF (or at least your first book) - not that I'm complaining, you understand. Although I suspect my bank-manager might be.... ;-)

Your work is a constant source of inspiration to me - and many others, I'm sure.

Highlight this Comment Richard Downer14/05/2008, 13:02

Hi David

Congratulations on your successful exhibition!

Just as Julian said, I too 'blame' you and your first book for being one of the main factors for getting me into LF and more importantly to question why I take (make) the images I do. I just wondered if you ever feel that you compromise your creative vision when you know you are making an image for a specific commercial purpose, either for a magazine feature or a commissioned print for example, or is this a situation you are able to avoid? I only ask as I never see any compromise in any of your images. I know this is a bit of an open question but it would be helpful to hear the views of yourself and other bloggers.

I just received Landscape Beyond so I’ll thank you in advance for further inspiration

Highlight this Comment David14/05/2008, 13:43

Hi Richard,

Thank you for your kind words about my alleged influence – though I'm not normally chuffed to be blamed for anything!

I don't feel that I ever have to compromise my vision because I've always kept a strict separation between my creative work and the work I do to earn a living (not that that's not creative too!). The images on this website have all been made to satisfy my demands rather than those of a client.

I hope that you enjoy Landscape Beyond!

David

Highlight this Comment Tim Parkin14/05/2008, 14:49

Hi David,

A big congratulations on the exhibition from me too!! I loved all of the pictures, especially the execution of the large aluminium backed ones. The lack of formal framing worked well in this environment, letting people get closer to the final 'product' (at least I thought the rawness worked with the style of photography on display).

And a big thanks to everyone else who made it happen - I only know about Anna, Paula, Jenny, David, Peter, Kyriakos, (me - although I put the labels up wrong) and everyone who gave support. The opening was great and it was lovely to meet lots of people who I'd only known 'in cyberspace'..

As far as your success goes David, I'd say it's reflected in what you want to achieve. If you have open expectations and your current position is one that you are happy with, you've been successful. A successful photographer? One who gets to take the pictures they want to take :-) which excludes a lot of professionals I imagine..

I also wanted to reply to Richard's comment about commissions... I think if the 'commissioner' is happy to give a loose brief and to have the artists vision complete it, then there is little problem. Andy Goldsworthy manages this very well and is given a lot of freedom in most commissions but uses the ideas from the brief to create new work - after all the brief and customer is just another influence from his surroundings..

Finally, a big congratulations to Anna! Wow! very nice indeed :-)

Highlight this Comment Richard Kent14/05/2008, 16:47

Hi David

Even though I only managed a brief visit to the show, I really enjoyed seeing the images up close (even the very best book printing does not do justice to the pictures) and the chance to talk again to you and Anna.

As for inspiration, I came away energised and motivated to make more... and hopefully more meaningful photographs myself.

The images shone. Fantastic.

Highlight this Comment Nigel Simmonds14/05/2008, 20:36

Hi David,

First of all congratulations to you and to Anna on the wonderful pictures on display and for having the courage to proceed with the exhibition.

With regard to landscape photography being an expressive art, perhaps you should turn the question around and ask why it should not be an expressive art? Interestingly for me, from memory, in the whole exhibition there was only one horizon visible, so landscape photography has come a long way from the 'traditional' aspect of being the photographic formalisation of a "view". I feel that expressiveness is only limited by one's imagination and that landscape is providing the inspiration, for which you and Anna have provided ample evidence.

I was wondering whether a measure of photographic success might just be making an exhibitionist of oneself after all i.e. actually having a display of one's work open to the public to admire or criticise? Having made the pictures in the first case unless other people get to see and comment upon them then have you been successful? There is the part of enjoying the process of landscape photography, and the part of opening one's images to others which (if they're successful!) provides a different sort of fulfillment. I think the two go hand in hand and that success is achieving both of them, as both you and Anna have done.

I look forward to your next exhibition.

Highlight this Comment Alan Rew15/05/2008, 12:23

David,

I thought the exhibition was very impressive. I wish my house was big enough and my wallet deep enough to have bought some of the 5' x 4' prints!

Great venue, prints all attractively presented, first class inkjet prints that looked sumptuous. As an experienced inkjet printer of my own photos, I would have unfailingly seen the tiniest flaws (without consciously trying) but there were none to see. It was good to hear that you'd sold some prints, especially the larger ones, so maybe the sales paid for the rent on the venue?

If nothing else, I hope this gave you a lot of exposure to people who were previously unfamiliar with your work. I'm sure many people have nagged you over the years to give your work more exposure (I know I have) so it's good to see you take the leap and actually do it.

If you manage to build up the print sales side of your business then I'm sure you'll appreciate the 'print on demand' benefits of inkjet printing, and also having control over the final print quality rather than having to rely on someone else to get it right. Also, once your trannies have been scanned then they can be locked away safely & not posted up to BPD (or a foreign publisher).

Welcome to the world of digital photography :-)

I've just started reading your new book and it looks like it could, in time, become an often-recommended book like Robert Adams's 'Beauty in Photography'. The production quality of the book is superb which I'm sure is very important to you, as you're a perfectionist when it comes to the presentation of your images.

BTW, given that Anna's photography is so good, shouldn't she now become one of the CUBS?

Regards,

Alan

Highlight this Comment Adam P15/05/2008, 12:26

Inspirational stuff indeed! Even the photo of the exhibition leaflet with the pictures on the wall behind is so well composed! Seriously though David, I can only add to the others’ comments and say that your success has to be counted not only in great images you produce but in the way you have stimulated many others to seek their own view of our world.

I like no doubt many others have been merrily snapping away for years, but it is only since meeting you and watching you work that I have uncovered a creative streak in me (I hope this does not sound pretentious) which I did not know I had. I make no pretensions of being an artist, I cannot paint or draw to save my life, but through the viewfinder I have learnt to see far more than I used to!

So thanks for your influence, thanks for a great exhibition!

But let’s not forget Anna: I have watched her at work on one of the L&L tours and have also picked up some tips from her. Indeed, it has to be said that those who have crossed to the dark slide do have a way of seeing things many others would miss!

PS – does the little dark slide on my Mamiya count? Perhaps Julian could concur….

Highlight this Comment Anna15/05/2008, 16:37

Bullying David into (now it's a positive experience I notice the wording has been changed to 'suggesting') the exhibition was my thank you to him. And hopefully I've thanked all the lovely people that helped us.

But a final thank you for any positive comments about my images - lets hope the trauma of the 'event' doesn't have a lasting effect on any creative cells that may have existed.

I can't wait for David's response to your last comment Alan or, more likely, the deafening silence of a sidestepped response! But you fail to understand that the CUBS concept is about male bonding not any photographic endeavour, whatever the protests to the contrary!

Highlight this Comment David15/05/2008, 16:55

Hi Anna,

I wondered whether you would pluck up the courage to post or not! I think cajoling is a better word than bullying, and actually as I recall it you were surprised at how easy it was to persuade me to exhibit alongside your superior work...

Membership of the CUBS is not something that I alone can grant, however I am happy to put your name forward if you really think that you would enjoy roughing it for a week in a cottage with 5 middle aged flatulent men! ;-)

Thank you again Anna for suggesting the exhibition. I really wouldn't have done it without you. Nuff said.

Highlight this Comment David15/05/2008, 17:13

Hi Nigel,

Thank you for your kind comments.

I like your notion of success being defined by the willingness to put one's work out there. I guess that's a measure of confidence as well as a measure of generosity of spirit, a willingness to share one's vision. Whilst most of us would say that we make images for ourselves we would also acknowledge that we appreciate feedback from our peers. This feedback, as I've said before, is a key part to one's development as a photographer. Confidence in one's work without the willingness or ability to listen to feedback is almost always misplaced. There therefore seems to be the possibility of a virtuous circle here: exhibition; feedback; internalisation of responses; improvement in work; exhibition...

It strikes me that an exhibition may indeed be more beneficial to a photographer's artistic development than simply being commissioned, as there is hardly ever any response in the latter case beyond a monetary exchange. Of course this benefit will only arise if sufficient people not only feel motivated to comment on the work but that they also provide reasoned responses, both negative and positive. Simply writing "Nice" or "S..t" helps no one! Sadly few people in the UK seem to feel comfortable commenting on images.

David

Highlight this Comment Alan15/05/2008, 22:06

Anna,

Good to see you posting on this blog. I don't know what your 'day' job is, but I guess it must involve a knowledge of marketing, because that was precisely what David needed, but didn't have the enthusiasm to do himself.

I was really impressed with the high level of creativity of your work. Although your photographic vocabulary overlaps slightly with David's, you definitely have your own style, and I hope visitors to the exhibition appreciated that.

I was also impressed to find out that you'd had to take virtually all the photos inside a year, because (correct me if I'm wrong) you'd, as it were, organised the exhibition and then discovered you needed some photos for it.

I think you should consider producing a book of your work some time, as Sami has done, and have a pile of them for sale at your next exhibition.

Regards

Alan

Highlight this Comment Alan17/05/2008, 21:58

David,

You say

"Sadly few people in the UK seem to feel comfortable commenting on images."

This is a good point. On the whole, British people are quite reticent. But it can be very difficult to find words that are adequate to describe one's reaction to a photo. I often find that when I 'like' a photo, there's an intuitive feel, a gut reaction if you like, that has nothing to do with words. To try to put that into words risks diluting or distorting it.

In some cases there are appealing attributes that can easily be put into words - for example, your photo reeds and reflections which instantly made me think of Rene Magritte paintings in which a piece of sky in the shape of an object is used (in this case the sky looks like 'mountains made out of sky') which is a delightful effect.

In other cases, the appeal is a lot deeper, and I struggle to find the words. Your blue pebble photo for example - the best I've come up with is "a Zen garden - with just one pebble in it".

I think you also need to bear in mind that, as you are a very articulate expositor of your ideas about photography, it could be quite intimidating for some people to find words that they thought were up to the job.

Highlight this Comment David Tolcher19/05/2008, 06:40

Hi David, exhibition was very good. Interesting debate on printing. I have a view that some images scream out for a high gloss print and selection of Matt vs Gloss is a part of the creative process. Best example is your Cornish pillow lava & quartz veins which looks stunning on gloss in the book but I felt lost something in matt. Thoughts?

Highlight this Comment Edward R19/05/2008, 11:03

David,

Many congratulations on a fabulous exhibition.

A well known German theoretical physicist implored: "Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value".

Success requires a defined goal, a determined action set to achieve it and a quantifiable/measurable scale. All are difficult to pin down in art and aesthetics (as you point out) given the subjectivity that they embody. Value on the other hand circumvents this problem because it is judged and ascribed by others according to their own criteria.

So Nigel is absolutely right about your willingness to exhibit being a key part of this "value" creation. As are other contributions noted above regarding your Light & Land mentoring and your writing. Putting oneself "out there" might be scary but is the only course one can take assuming one wishes to pursue value rather than success. I suppose it is why I have always been skeptical of the contention that making images for ourselves or for our own self-fulfillment is enough. Rather like having a party to which you only invite yourself!

Your jokes, however, tend to be value destroying!

Best,

Ed

Highlight this Comment David19/05/2008, 13:11

Hi Alan,

Thank you for your interesting post.

I meant that few people in the UK beyond the bounds of this blog and website seem to want to comment on images in anything more than a superficial way. So you can't blame me for being an "articulate expositor" and putting them all off! ;-)

I agree that it's difficult to put into words exactly why one likes or dislikes a particular image. I think the problem is that there just seems to be a lack of will to try. Perhaps it's unreasonable for keen image makers to think that others might be interested enough to say more than "Nice" or "Dull"...

Incidentally I'm really glad that you like the Reeds and Reflections image, it is one of my favourites of the last six months or so, and I share your reasons for liking it – plus a few others!

Kind regards

David

Highlight this Comment David19/05/2008, 13:18

Hi David,

I think that you're right that a high gloss finish does suit some images more than matt. However, I doubt that I will be getting many more Cibas made. I think that the control that digital now affords one, especially over contrast, makes it hard to justify using traditional wet processes.

One thing that I do like about matt is that it doesn't scream photograph. This isn't me turning into a Pictorialist and wanting photography to mimic painting. I just think that it's nice to play with finishes other than the traditional gloss or semi-gloss.

Regards

David

Highlight this Comment Julian20/05/2008, 04:58

Hi David,

Just wondering if you haven't considered laser-printing as an alternative to inkjets? You get all the advantages of the 'digital darkroom' but you end up with something that's been made by an essentially photographic process. I've had a bunch of 20x16s made using a Durst Lambda on Fuji paper and the results are excellent - and it's a lot less faff than optimising an image for inkjet printing.

Just a thought...

Highlight this Comment David20/05/2008, 07:06

Hi Ed,

Thanks very much for your interesting comment.

I really like your notion of value instead of success. It fits well with my feelings about making images. Money has never really been a motivation for me (ask Jenny, she'll agree!) improving the quality of the work has been the driving force. I guess you could say that I've been striving to improve its value (but not in monetary terms).

Joe Cornish once said to me that I was afraid of success. I'm not, I'm scared of failure like everyone else. Perhaps it's better to say that I was scared of my images being valueless. Although I've been sharing my images for years via books, magazine articles and prints I've not really felt happy about showing them to a wider audience. I suppose I had the perception that their value would only truly be understood by other photographers. Following the OXO exhibition, I think that I might now realise that they have a wider currency.

Kind regards

David

Highlight this Comment Alan20/05/2008, 22:20

David,

You say

"Joe Cornish once said to me that I was afraid of success. I'm not, I'm scared of failure like everyone else. Perhaps it's better to say that I was scared of my images being valueless. Although I've been sharing my images for years via books, magazine articles and prints I've not really felt happy about showing them to a wider audience. I suppose I had the perception that their value would only truly be understood by other photographers. Following the OXO exhibition, I think that I might now realise that they have a wider currency."

This is very interesting, and very heartening for somebody like myself, still stumbling along and trying to find his own metier, because in the last year or so I've taken a couple of photos that I'm sure represent a significant step forward in terms of evolving my own style (or finding my own style, more accurately) but which I'm 99% sure would be meaningless or flat to most other people. This has worried me, because it would be ironic to find my own style but discover that it didn't appeal to anybody else. Why? Because I feel there is more merit in achieving something with universal values, as measured by its appeal to (some) other people. Anything else could just be narcissism, something with no merit whatsoever.

So I can relate to your fear of your images being 'valueless' to most people (i.e. those who are not photographers), even though the idea of your images not being appreciated by non-photographers seems incomprehensible to me. That's not flattery, it's based on my long-standing enthusiasm for the visual arts in all their forms, as well as artefacts inspired by Zen Buddhism for example. Apart from Blue Pebble which I mentioned previously, Conway Summit makes me think of bold brush strokes on a blank parchment that might have been made by a Zen monk. Brighton has what might be described as a Zen-like stillness to it (which I thought put it streets ahead of Joe & Charlie's images from the same location in terms of artistic merit/achievement). Empty Sea is perhaps even better in this respect. One image that's on page 65 of your latest book but which I can't find on your gallery is just titled 'Rannoch Moor', which looks like an abstract painting made using thick paint and a coarse-bristled brush. So I think your images are bound to have an appeal outside photography, because the fact that they are images made using photographic tools is often irrelevant.

Sorry for the rant...

Highlight this Comment Sandy Wilson21/05/2008, 19:03

Hi David,

Since the start photography was imitating art, as was shown by the pictorialist school. Photography has since then gone through various "isms" such as straight, modernism, post modernism etc.

Now, since we have digital imaging and Photoshop and a whole host of very fine art type inkjet papers, photography has turned full circle and has gone back to imitating art.

I think the most important aspect of making fine art prints is the media must always suite the subject.

Digital imaging is still in its infancy, and who knows where it will go and in what direction it will take in the next ten years.

When I was a darkroom worker people talked about photographs. I myself as a digital worker now talk about images. Although a digital image looks the same as a photograph it is not a photograph. It is an image made from light, as a normal emulsion photograph, but as we all know it is a binary code of ones and zeros not silver grains.

What we have to worry about in the future is will future generations, a 150 years in the future, be able to look at the images we are making now? Will future generations be able to look at the work of 21st century image maker's as we are privileged to look at the likes of Fox Talbot's work today?

I sincerely hope so.

Regards

Sandy

Highlight this Comment Tim Parkin21/05/2008, 20:07

Sandy, I think you'll also find that in the birth of photography, art imitated it in many ways (Monet being the obvious example). The fact that we have matt papers is nothing new (the analog photographic world used to have velvet coated furry papers!) so I don't think it can be said to be a sign of photography imitating art.

I agree that the print should suit the subject but I would be slower to consign digital photography to merely 'images' as opposed to analogs 'photographs'. Most photographic processes rely on discrete chemical reactions, switching grains of silver from an 'off' to an 'on' state (for some chemical definition of on and off). This means that it's a binary process. By contrast, digital 'pixels' accumulate photons and produce a number quantifying the brightness of that pixel. It's almost like the silver pixel is binary and the digital pixel is analog?

It's quite well known that some of Ansel Adams pictures have faded significantly and ones that weren't kept in good conditions are very faded. With digital, photographs that are not cared for can disappear completely, however photographs that are cared for will be forever 'exactly as they were taken'. What digital has done has made the bad worse and the good better.

Tim

Highlight this Comment Sandy Wilson22/05/2008, 11:18

Tim,

Thank you very much for your reply. As far as digital is concerned, perhaps I did not make my point about longevity of digital prints clear enough. I know analogue prints are prone to fading if they have not been archivally processed and stored in the right conditions.

When I made analogue prints I went to no end to make sure they were processed to archive standards. Mounted with acid free tape at the top edge only, so the print could expand and contract when they were matted with acid free board.

As far as digital prints are concerned, we can only use pigment inks and the same mounting, and storing procedures. I know all prints will fade eventually, be they either analogue or digital.

Apart from fading, the crunch comes with digital as to how are we going to be able access digital images stored electronically? The problem is computer technology is changing at a very fast pace, so will we be able to read our archive files in fifty years never mind in 150 years. CD's DVD's and hard drives are prone to corruption and failure. the only thing reliable about computers in general, is that they are not reliable.

The above concerns have been brought up by professional photographers who have archives of say 50,000 or even 100,000 images store electronically. The cost of updating there electronic storage system every few years would be horrendous.

Museum collections have all the same problems if they have image stored electronically, As a matter of fact I was reading an article recently highlighting just this problem.

So it is all very worrying and all photographers should be concerned about these problems. Tim I used to work in an office in the public sector and our computer network was unreliable and prone to crashing, thank god I am retired now.

It is great to have this platform to voice our opinions and concerns.

Regards

Sandy