Mike Simmons: The Self in Photography
Autobiography, interpretation & context
Saturday September 26th, 10am - 4:30pm
St James Church, 197 Piccadilly, London W1J 9LL (enter at side stairwell)
Cost: £28 LIP Member
15 places
Following a talk about his photographic practice, the workshop will provide an opportunity to reflect upon and explore how different forms of reference can be employed to construct an expression of personal experiences including: Sequencing, Narrative, Juxtaposition, Text.
In advance, participants are asked to consider a personal experience, which they would like to explore and share within the workshop group, and to bring a selection of each of the following items, related to that experience. Found images: Family photographs or images by others. Specifically created images: Factual or symbolic. Easily handled objects: Jewellery, letters, coins, clothing etc.
Dr Mike Simmons is a photographic artist, academic researcher and Joint Programme Leader of the MA in Photography at De Montfort University, with interests in the relationship between photography, memory and the construction of meaning in the context of interpreting personal experiences.
www.dmu.ac.uk/research/aad/research-projects/photography-bereavement-grief/
Please email Mike at msimmons@dmu.ac.uk if you require any further information
Participants' Images and Experiences in the Workshop
Brigitt Angst says, "I consider the workshop The Self in Photography, which took place September 26, 2009 very much as the starting point of a process and/or project. I found Mike Simmons' introduction into how he worked on the topic of the Self in various projects inspirational and it did get me thinking about how I could get going on my “Self”.
Our subsequent round the table discussion in which each participants introduces their photographic background and interest as well as a possible project may at first have been puzzling me. But it did help me understand my story and my “Self” more and it showed me a bigger picture and other people’s “Self”. I have now created two images on my “Self” now. Hearing and talking to other people about my intentions and showing early versions has helped develop these images.
Virginia Khuri says "The three images are made from a box full of letters, cables, pictures and cards which I found after my parents' deaths. The 'story' is a universal one; a young man goes to war leaving behind a wife and baby daughter. I have been wanting to do something with this for many years but found I could not distance myself enough - and therefore the exercise seemed self-indulgent at best and sentimental at worst. Mike Simmons stressed that in work of this kind establishing a 'critical distance' is essential. I think that now I can do this, and after this current exercise, I now have a good reason to get to grips with all the possibilities offered by photoshop. With such a short time frame, I have used only the simplest 'cut and paste' instead of experimenting with I things like, transparent layers. It was a very thought provoking workshop. Thank you, Mike!"
Kate Wentworth says "I found Mike Simmons's workshop on 'the Self in Photography' most interesting and came away bursting with new ideas. He began by explaining his work on photography and bereavement, and showed dvds of work he had done with people who had suffered major loss. It was moving to see how through photography both adults and children can be helped to understand and come to terms with their feelings and situations. Mike also showed techniques which he had used to demonstrate shifting juxtapositions mainly of faces, including lenticular pictures bringing together different individuals and/or different expressions. We then discussed the personal experiences we had brought to the workshop, and, in pairs, explored how we might distill them in images. I emerged determined to use juxtaposition - and maybe other means - to express my ideas, and move on from the linear approach which seemed to come to me naturally.
" 'Inheritance'. In my image, my mother, aged 5, holds her doll and stands just behind my 5 year old granddaughter, who holds same doll. We can see how alike the children look and how tenderly they hold the beautiful doll. The modern child has not just inherited an heirloom passed down through the generations; her appearance and nature have also been inherited. The background - an old picture of the Lake District - shows countryside well known and loved by both children, and full of family memories."