January 2010

For some time now that i try to organize the bulk of my photo activity around projects, i still photograph on a loose base when i’m in that mood, but i find it more fulfilling to structure my work this way. For 2010, these are the photo related project i wish to work on.

  1. Chiado Project
  2. The Chiado Project is already in motion and is to be completed until the end of February. It is the object of a series of posts that will detail it very thourogly.

  3. Prazeres Graveyard
  4. This project was started at the end of 2009a, i hope in the end to put toghether an exibition and self-publish a book trought Blurb. It will be completely in B/W, something i haven’t done in a very long time. The plan for this project is a self-published book and a show if i find a venue for it.

  5. MobileOne
  6. This project is about photos taken with mobile phone cameras. Raw unprocessed ones and also some of them processed with applications developed for the iPhone mobile platform. Mobile photos are no different from photos taken with other image capturing devices, when you see them, they must convey a feeling, be somehow worthy of showing to other people. So i take them as seriously as any one i create. Adding effects for me only makes sense when they bring added value, and extra meaning to an already interesting photo.
    I don’t focus on the hardware (not really important to me as i don’t care that much about the resolution of the photo), only on the unprocessed photos and also on the mobile applications (at the moment only present on the iPhone platform) that allow us to edit them on mobile devices, avoiding the computer and giving us the ability to capture, edit and share form everywhere there is a net connection.
    One thing i dislike a bit about the community that formed around the iPhone photo processing applications, is their focus on the hardware and the unwillingness to accept mobile photos from other platforms. Yes, the applications only run on iPhones and iPods, but i use them to process photos taken on Nokia phones, so if it’s possible to do it why not ?. When i mention this fact i am told that i can not post my work. I know that the rules are made by the people who builded the community and they have every right to do so, but i find much more interesting to build communities “platform free” and focus only what can be achieved regardless of the hardware or software that made i possible. It is the idea and the ability to “see” that really is important.
    At the moment i only plan to do a video with some of them, but this is a on-going project so only time will tell what comes out of it

  7. “T” Project
  8. Just had the idea and the team to get it up and running. It envolves Lisbon, dance and music. Final outcome is still unknown.

  9. 4 Cars…
  10. The last one, is a project i started last week after reading about color and serialization. It’s my “conceptual art” project. Involves cars and color, it’s going to be performed with my Panasonic Lumix TZ6.
    It’s not one 356 type photo projects, the concept around it is also time based, but different. There is nothing wrong with those kind of projects, they allow you to train discipline, awareness and can focus you one simple task, it can make you grow as a photographer. But this project does not involve a predetermined time frame, at this point i can find it satisfactory after 3 months, or i can decide to make it last 5 years. The final outcome will be a show and self published book.

Share

{ 1 comment }

I was invited to premiere a new art space in Lisbon
The exhibition has a tight schedule, and i am going to be build it from scratch, i thought it could be a good idea to document the whle project.
The venue will be LiberOffice in the Chiado district of Lisbon, and the theme will be Chiado himself.

How to approach it ? It’s a widely know place with centuries of history and some over-photographed landmarks, so it will be a challenge to come up with something worth looking at.

Hockney on Art - David Hockney

When i was told in the first meeting what the theme was, the way to approach it quickly formed in my mind. And i have to thank David Hockey for it. I am currently reading his book “Hockney on Art” where he discusses among other thing the artificiality of one point perspective, and what he perceived as the inability of photography to overcome this. All his photo work was made in a attempt to fight against that, and then he applied what he had learned to his painted works.

Hockeny on Art

Ever since his Polaroid collages he was trying to get away from one point perspective, bringing cubism to photography.

Hockney on Art

But only with “pearblossom highway” he felt that he had gone as far as possible with photography and expansion of perspective.

Hockney on art

So, the theoretical base for my work his here, on the next post in the series i will discuss, the tools i will use, and the reasoning behind.

Share

{ 2 comments }

New books for a expanding library

by Mário Pires on 17/01/2010 · 1 comment

in Art,Artes,Books

This last weeks have been very book filled ones. After the purchase of “Lisboa, Cidade Triste e Alegre”, i also could not resist purchasing some more books, both locally and on-line.

[table id=1 /]

I specially recommend the book by David Hockney, his reflections about his own work are very intelligent and made think about the validity of photography as an art form.

Share

{ 1 comment }

The Lisbon Photobook – Lisboa, Cidade Triste e Alegre

by Mário Pires 10.01.2010 Books

This long awaited photobook, one i had been dreaming of owning for some years now, it’s finally here in my hands. One of the best account’s of the meaning of this reprint can be found here (Portuguese only). Great photobooks should never became out of print, photographers must always have the possibility of finding inspirations [...]

Share
Read more →