Well here we are with our next in the series of the meet the artist for #Connected2015 and this time we say hi to co-curator and co-organiser Rob Knight. Rob's work will be familiar to many with his own distinct style of black and white photography although he does shoot colour work too. Rob's #DarkVisions exhibition which which opened at Patchings last year has been invited for a three week stint at the prestigious Joe Cornish Gallery in Northallerton kicking off on the 3rd October 2015.
Download the Joe Cornish Gallery 2015 exhibition schedule
So without further a do, we shall press on with meeting our third #Connected photographer and see if it's cake or biscuit for them!
Name: Rob Knight
Thanks for taking a few minutes to tell us a little more about your self photographically, who are your photographic influences both historically and contemporary?
Herbert Ponting, Michael Kenna, Bill Brandt, Simon Roberts, Martin Parr Ian Forsythe, Kenro Izu, NIcki Sixx (former musician), Keith Pattison and Martin Jenkinson. I love black and white work, the way it conveys mood and emotion thus many of the photographers who's work I love is predominantly black and white.
I also love the work of togs who portray the everyday in a very engaging style of documentary photography.
Thinking about your creative photographic journey, what are your aims for the coming year or two?
Well, in between already working on 2016 and the 2017 10th anniversary #Connected exhibitions, I have kick started a project that I have been researching and reading around for over 12 months.
I have my solo #DarkVisions exhibition invited to show at the Joe Cornish Gallery in Northallerton so have plenty of multi media work to concentrate on the compliment this.
I also have a couple of collaboration ideas bubbling under at the moment bringing together different art forms and maybe challenging a few pre-conceptions ;-) *watch this space*
As a photographer tell us about a location that you have a real affinity or connection to, why is this?
This is something I have been exploring a lot recently as part of my 'The Experiential Landscape' talk / presentation and essay. I do find I am drawn to areas that have an industrial edge to them and juxtapose the landscape with our interaction, impact on and reaction to.
I feel especially at home out on the Gare (South Gare) on Teesside and never tire of returning, exploring and connecting with this location. I also have a close affinity to some of the industrial heartlands of Sheffield and the old mining villages across Yorkshire / Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire - again it's about the experience and human interaction and stories within these locations.
A lot of photographers talk about how they use other arts such as music to connect with their creative side or drive their inspiration, tell us about some artists, albums or tracks which you listen to when trying to get into your 'creative zone'.
I love music and if I am out on my own shooting I will either be singing (badly) or humming to myself or I will have my iPod on with tunes that I find inspiring or drive a certain mood.
One album I love listening to when getting into my creative zone is Seamonsters by The Wedding Present, it has a real dark and moody edge to it and really fits into a parity with my dark and moody mono work.
I also love listening to Richard Hawley both from a musical perspective with his real classic style but also from a lyrical point of view and his connection with a geographic area.
If I had to choose say 3 or 4 songs as examples of my creative tunes I'd choose:
Octopussy by The Wedding Present
Just Like The Rain by Richard Hawley
Beasley Street by John Cooper Clarke
Everyday Is Like Sunday by Morrissey (love the mundaneness of the video and lyrical bleakness)
Also more recently and not strictly music but spoken word and poetry, a guy I produced some images for Pitman Poet Tony 'Goodes' Goodwin has recently released his first CD of his poetry that has some stunning tracks on it, my personal favourite being 'Star Man'. You can see Tony deliver his superb, gritty and mercurial style of modern poetry and that track below:
If you ever thought poetry was boring and not in touch with the people then I'd definitely urge you to spend a fiver and grab a copy of Tony's stunning CD 'Love n Loss'. South Yorkshire's very own answer to John Cooper Clarke!
Once again thinking about your creative journey, what first sparked an interest in photography for you?
I remember as a kid getting hold of my Grandad's really old box brownie style camera and being amazed at the process of 'seeing' the world around me and being able to capture it (if very naively skill wise).
I also remember getting an old 110 camera for Christmas one year, I found it a couple of years ago too clearing out my old cupboard at my Mum and Dads when they were moving), getting out and capturing everyday life was brilliant. I then progressively borrowed subsequent cameras of my Dads ;-)
Do you have any other 'creative' interests which may or may not link to and inspire your photography?
I am as tone deaf as a block of concrete so only really ever managed the drums, but I love listening to music and find it has so many parallels to my creativity and photography. I also love urban punk poetry, I'm not sure I could write much of any sense but again love the grittiness of it and this is one of the collaborations I am keen to explore with my photography.
Thinking about the array of images we see on the internet and social media from photographer friends and connections, can you think of an image you have seen over the last few months which has made you really stop, look and think 'hey wow I really love that image'?
That's a really tricky one to be honest, I see so many images that capture my imagination in so many different ways....... I love Kevin Marstons ME/ICM work especially 'City Living' it's probably older than the last few months but it really was an image that stopped me in my tracks.
Also this image by Al Brydon was a real 'BOOM!' moment and one of many reasons I asked Al to write a piece for the #Connected2015 eBook.
.... and finally, can you consider one piece of advice you would give to anyone early in their photographic or creative journey?
Remember it is your eye, how you see and how you experience any location that helps you become inspired and make an image, not the badge on the kit or the value of it....... too many get far t hung up on kit. I'm happy to make images on the kit I have with me at the time and utilise it to help me create my vision......... it doesn't constrain me.
Also be true to yourself, your passion and intimacy with your work will always shine through and it should always be for you never to please someone else or to conform to a trend or 'crowd'.
Oh and a couple of really important additional questions here ;-) ........ who would be your ideal dinner party guests (6) dead or alive?
David Gedge (Wedding Present and Cinerama lead and all-round northern genius)
L.S. Lowry - I love his industrial scenes and his landscapes.
Sir Ken Robinson (a man so passionate about creativity, education and helping others)
John Winston Lennon (such genius musically and great wit)
Sir Richard Arkwright - pioneer and father of the industrial revolution
Brian Clough (football genius and a man who calls a spade a spade and followed only his own path).
Jaffa Cake: cake or biscuit?
Cake
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Well here we are with our second meet the artist for #Connected2015 and this time we say hi to Neil Hulme. Neil's work will be familiar to many with his own distinct style of black and white long exposure photography. Neil hails from the north west of England and has recently also launched a collaborative exhibition in Macclesfield:
So without further a do, we shall press on with meeting our second #Connected photographer and see if it's cake or biscuit for them!
Name: Neil Hulme
Thanks for taking a few minutes to tell us a little more about your self photographically, who are your photographic influences both historically and contemporary?
Biggest influences are Rohan Reilly, Stephen Cairns, Mark Littlejohn, Keith Agget.
Thinking about your creative photographic journey, what are your aims for the coming year or two?
This year so far has been a massive step up for me. 2 exhibitions to date and 2 talks to photography society's in the north west.
My biggest aim this year is to possibly get an image in the lpoty book. A big ask but fingers crossed.
As a photographer tell us about a location that you have a real affinity or connection to, why is this?
The Wirral. Only an hours drive and so much opportunitys to be had round this area. The Wirral has been very kind to me from images from such locations as new Brighton, west kirby, Heswall boat yard, caldy, Moreton. This stretch of coast line is a goldmine for photographers.
A lot of photographers talk about how they use other arts such as music to connect with their creative side or drive their inspiration, tell us about some artists, albums or tracks which you listen to when trying to get into your 'creative zone'.
I love photography BUT music is my true love. I could talk for hours about my music taste. I'll try and keep it to a couple of lines.
first love of music 1978 Lynyrd Synyrd.
This band has been with me from a teenager untill the present day . Their music still strikes a chord with me and will always be in my soul till the day I die.
Eric Clapton.
Wow not much I can say other than his music has helped me through the some real bad times. When Eric Clapton plays a solo is always touches me deep within my soul.
I could talk for hours about my music and my music heroes but skynyrd and Clapton have been with me through thick and thin and always will be .
Lynyrd Synyrd - Tuesday's gone
Eric Clapton - Have you ever loved a woman
Once again thinking about your creative journey, what first sparked an interest in photography for you?
My introduction to photography was born from being heavily involved in my 2 sons , it came as a bit of a shock when my two little boys because teenagers and didn't need me anymore, I have a wife who works shifts and I have a great love for red wine. So I needed to find a new interest after playing Rugby all my life.
I bought a little Panasonic and took a 8 week night school course , after 2 weeks I was hooked.
Do you have any other 'creative' interests which may or may not link to and inspire your photography?
Not really.
I'm a simple man.
Music , photography, and a glass of wine.
Thinking about the array of images we see on the internet and social media from photographer friends and connections, can you think of an image you have seen over the last few months which has made you really stop, look and think 'hey wow I really love that image'?
Easy
Stephen Cairns recent image.
It was one of those moments when I either felt like packing in or rolling my sleeves up and upping my game.
.... and finally, can you consider one piece of advice you would give to anyone early in their photographic or creative journey?
I use silver efex to edit my b&w images .
Save your own custom pre sets.
Makes life so much easier. I can put an image into silver Efex and with my numerous custom pre sets I know which way I want to go.
Secondly: just enjoy it for what it is. At the end of the day they are just pretty pictures. Nothing more or nothing less
Oh and a couple of really important additional questions here ;-) ........ who would be your ideal dinner party guests (6) dead or alive?
Ronnie vanzant. Singer from Lynyrd Skynyrd. ( sadly no longer with us )
Eric Clapton
Robert Cray. ( king of the blues)
George Harrison , such a humble legend.
Bob Dylan.
Tom Petty.
Jaffa Cake: cake or biscuit?
Biscuit
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As part of the #Connected exhibition we thought it would be interesting to add a little fun and a lighter side to things. The eBook will contain bios of the photographers involved as we used around the venue for the exhibition but some people have said they find it difficult writing bio's and they really only scratch the surface of who the people are in the exhibition.
So........ we thought it would be good to run a slightly less formal Q&A which folk get get involved if they chose, we decided to try and dig a little deeper into peoples experiences and inspiration within photography but also look across the art forms to find out what else people enjoyed doing creatively as well as asking some slightly more fun questions based around peoples musical tastes (we'll bring this together in the form of a Spotify playlist too) and importantly an opinion on the age old dilemma 'jaffa cake: cake or biscuit?' and yes many of you will remember Christine's fantastic full sized jaffa 'cake' from the launch event the other week ;-)
So without further a do, we shall press on with meeting our first #Connected photographer and see if it's cake or biscuit for them!
Name: Karen Leach
Thanks for taking a few minutes to tell us a little more about your self photographically, who are your photographic influences both historically and contemporary?
Frank Meadows Sutcliffe historically and Ian Forsythe contemporary
Thinking about your creative photographic journey, what are your aims for the coming year or two?
Simply, take more blummin' pictures and finish at least one of the two projects I have in mind!
As a photographer tell us about a location that you have a real affinity or connection to, why is this?
The north east coast, anywhere from Spurn point up! The landscape and diversity is wide ranging and immense.
A lot of photographers talk about how they use other arts such as music to connect with their creative side or drive their inspiration, tell us about some artists, albums or tracks which you listen to when trying to get into your 'creative zone'.
Anything emotive. From Joni Mitchell to Avenged Sevenfold.
Joni - Both sides Now
Avenged Sevenfold - Dear God
Once again thinking about your creative journey, what first sparked an interest in photography for you?
The fact that I can't draw, unless it's a technical drawing, and feeling the need to get my 'minds eye' out there somehow.
Do you have any other 'creative' interests which may or may not link to and inspire your photography?
I've played the violin, the clarinet, electronic keyboards and bass guitar in the past. I also blummin' love colouring! ;)
Thinking about the array of images we see on the internet and social media from photographer friends and connections, can you think of an image you have seen over the last few months which has made you really stop, look and think 'hey wow I really love that image'?
Paul Heathcote's french doors and Andrew Atkinson's macros.
.... and finally, can you consider one piece of advice you would give to anyone early in their photographic or creative journey?
Don't be a sheep, shoot for yourself, not for others.
Oh and a couple of really important additional questions here ;-) ........ who would be your ideal dinner party guests (6) dead or alive?
Terry Pratchett, Marilyn Monroe, Einstein, Curt Cobain, Jackie O & Mozart
Jaffa Cake: cake or biscuit?
Cake
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In Support of
One of the guiding principles of Connected is that we can give something back to the community through charity work, we see this as important and are all really passionate about being able to make a difference somehow.
For 2015 our chosen charity is Mind, the Mental Health Charity. The reasons behind this are two fold with one being that certainly many of us will either have been touched by and / or know someone who has had to deal with mental health issues at some point during their life. The second reason is also a little more personal in that a good friend and colleague passed away this year who also battled with mental health yet kept it to himself and was one of the most helpful, positive and all round good guys I have ever met........ he'll be greatly missed by so many.
Four of our photographers have kindly donated some stunning large prints that are not in the exhibition for us to auction off to raise money for Mind:
Lizzie Shepherd - Image is over 1m in width printed on Fotospeed platinum etching paper (unmounted)
David Baker - Image A3 mounted to 20"x16" printed printed on Fotospeed SC300 paper.
Karen Leach - Up to A2 printed on Fotospeed NST Bright White paper (unmounted)
Darren Ciolli-Leach - A2 printed on Fotospeed NST Bright White paper (unmounted)
Valda Bailey - A3 printed on Fotospeed SC300 paper and mounted to 20"x16".
Russ Barnes - Image A3 mounted to 20"x16" printed on Fotospeed SC300 paper.
Click on the images below to view them larger in a light box and appreciate the utter beauty!
| Lizzie Shepherd | David Baker (Auction closed on this item 4/5/15) | Karen Leach | |
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| Valda Bailey | Russ Barnes | Darren Ciolli-Leach (Auction closed on this item 4/5/15) | |
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We would love to raise as much money as possible for Mind, you'll see from the respective web sites most of the images in the A3/A2 sizes sell by the artists at anywhere between £150 and £300 pounds so this is both your chance to own a fantastic piece of art as well as support the work of a fantastic charity.
To bid please click the BID button below and enter your details and your bid in £'s, we will tweet out the top bid value (no names) throughout the auction so if you really want that image and know you've been outbid you can click the link and bid again.
Huge thanks to the people who successfully bid on and won David Bakers and Darren Ciolli-Leach's beautiful images by the original closing date of the 4th May, to give folk the chance to bid on the remaining image we are going to extend the auction until the end of the exhibition on the 18th May.
To cover packaging and postage of the prints there will be a charge of £13.95 payable by PayPal to ensure we can send the prints via courier securely packaged so they arrive in pristine condition. If the prints are being despatched direct by the artist we will advise and agree p&p with them.
Many thanks for your support and lets raise as much as we can for Mind. If you would purely like to make a donation you can click the JustGiving link HERE.
Just to note only the winning bidder makes the bid amount donation to mind, we wouldn't expect everyone to donate what they bid and not get anything but would really appreciate it if folk wanted to make any kind of donation to the JustGiving page.
Huge thanks Rob, karen and all the Connected Team.
#Connected Exhibition is proudly sponsored by Fotospeed.
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