the lives of others // entwined with our everydays // our togetherness
Join me on a Ginko Photowalk for Just £20
(Discounted through a group booking by the RPS Travel Group)
During a Ginko Photowalk Workshops we go beyond Street Photography to discover new ways of making photography and engaging with people.
If you would like to join me on a workshop scroll to the bottom of the this post where I talk about workshops in May with the RPS Travel Group and include links to book.
February report on a Ginko Trip to Bristol, The RPS, Parr Foundation and Devizes
Recently, I made a trip to Bristol to assess licentiate submissions for the Royal Photographic Society, and the day before I met up with Peter and Paul, a couple of RPS members that I have been working with and helping them with their potential photobook submissions. Vicecca Koh and Richard Hall, a couple of my colleages on the Licentiate Assessor Team joined us too.
The Parr Foundation
I took them to the Martin parr Academy, who kindly opened for me on the Tuesday, when normally that is one of their closed days. We saw Martin Parr’s current exhibition which is his work, ‘A Year in the Life of Chew Stoke Village’. We spoke about the content of this incredible body of work, and how Martin visualised the lifes and traditions of English Village Life, re-performed every year. Through his images we develop a sense of place and what life is like for those who engage with the same events each year. It is like true life theatre.
I showed them my Park Hill Project Photobook and The Stonemason Book which Martin has in the collection, as well as many others including Robert Frank’s book London/Wales. Robert Frank is, of course, best known for his book ‘The Americans’ and if you know his work in that book, even without looking at the author’s name on London/Wales you would see Frank in the work. Peter really enjoyed London/Wales because he could identify with it, he saw images that reminded himself of his life in London when he was a boy. I think this is one of the things about photography, it is often a passport to past, future, and other worlds that we are not in when we are looking at a photograph.
Strolling Along The Kennet and Avon Canal
During my time down south, I also had the opportunity to explore the beautiful Kennet and Avon Canal, where I found myself chatting and taking photographs of people engaging in leisure activities. As an artist, I find inspiration in the world around me and the people who inhabit it, and through my camera lens, I love capturing moments of everyday life, allowing viewers to experience and appreciate the beauty and diversity of the world we live in. This is where the camera becomes a passport into the lives of other people, and can become a way of meeting people.
I stayed for a couple of nights at the Devizes Camping and caravan Club site which is a minutes’ walk from the canal and whilst the staff at the site told me that most people head for the famous Caen Locks, I turned the other way and strolled for maybe a mile, but with regular stops to chat with people that mile took two hours!
I met Kerry, who told me that this year she is getting back into cycling, and in April is going to spend £9 travelling on the bus from Devizes to London and then spend a week travelling back home on her bike. She will use canal cycling paths for much of the journey.
Peter was fishing and I was amazed at the complexity of his fishing equipment. He told me he was ‘pole’ fishing, and his pole was 16 metres long. I guess if I started talking about my camera equipment he would also be surprised and say ‘all that just to take a photograph’! I was just using my beloved Fuji X100V to take photographs. More and more these days, Fuji is by my side.
I spent the longest time talking to Trevor. He lives on his boat, but what we spoke about most was something we had in common, which was printing since when I was a press photographer on a local newspaper back in the 1980s, he worked as a compositor. The Printing Press world was turned upside down by new technology and many printers lost their jobs, which of course has now happened to press photographers as well.
Overall, a lot of my photography is a celebration of life, people, and the world we share. I hope my work inspires others to appreciate and find joy in the simple moments of everyday life. I find strolling along canals with my camera is a fabulous way to spend time.
Receiving The Fenton Medal
I popped into the RPS at Bristol on Monday to receive the Fenton Medal from the President of the Royal Photographic Society Simon Hill alongside Sue Brown, Richard Brown, Janet Haines, and Mark Phillips (Members Award). The Fenton Medal is awarded to volunteers who contribute to the society and are nominated for the award, it is a great honour, and gives life membership to the society.
May 2023: Join me on a Ginko Workshop or Two via the RPS Travel Group
If you fancy joining me on a Ginko (where you will learn new ideas about making photography) I am back in Bristol in May to lead two with the RPS Travel Group. It was really pleasing after I delivered a ginko for them in Birmingham last October that they enjoyed it so much they wanted more, and a number of the attendees at Birmingham have booked again for Bristol
Friday May 12th 2023 2pm to 4pm Bristol Docks
Bristol Docks is a facinating location full of heritage, but how do you see the stories. During this ginko photowalk we will develop a sense of place through engaging with heritage. Stewart will share with you the skills of a professional press photographer to dig out stories of interest
To book your place click here to join me on a Ginko around Bristol Docks
Sunday May 14th 2023 10am to 12noon Bristol Paintworks
The Royal Photographic Society and the Martin Parr Acadamy are both located on the old Paintworks site which is now being gentrified into an amazing place to live and work. During this ginko Stewart will help attendees create a sense of place about potential futures, again sharing with you the skills of a professional press photographer
To book your place click here to join me on a Ginko around the Paintworks
- Forget Everything You’ve Learned About Photography and Just Shoot
- The Snowdrop Finale
- Test post
- Abstracts of Whatton Photobook
- Ginko009: Bristol Paintworks in May
In a haiku world a ginko is a walk through nature observing
and as I ginko I make images of the things I notice
I then write a haiku in a moment as a response the images I make, that makes me stop to think
Finally I blog here about what the image and haiku make me think about
© Stewart Wall 2022
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