Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Hopefully.


Gotta love MySpace... was just reminded by Jeanne of work I recently did for One Small Seed. Was very happy with the outcome (of this collaboration, of sorts) and that they ran a page from my journal to link it all together... just unhappy with how they edited the text I sent them to accompany it. I know I am given to looooong sentences, frequent tangents and undue faith in conjunctions; this, no doubt, as a result of too much James, Forster and Melville. But the way their sub fired full stops and commas at my intro did, I feel, change the meaning somewhat. Especially in the case of removing one particular word: hopefully.

I see a marked difference between
hoping to examine something, and considering myself to have examined it... especially if I say the one thing, and then (after someone else's edit) appear to say the other. But hey... that's the difference between blogging and magazines. Here I get to be confusing and vague all on my lonesome, and in a magazine, someone is paid to help me be confusing and vague... but with brevity. Supposedly.

Personally, I just find it pretentious to pre-suppose the success of an endeavour when examining one's own work. I have read too many gawd-awful theses on motivation to think otherwise... but that has nothing to do with One Small Seed.

End of the day, I am very happy to be shooting this project and it will be running across the next few issues, over the next year. My thanks to Tracey-Lee and Guiseppe for making it all happen and to the subjects, of course. The shots, as they ran in the magazine, are below, along with the original version of my text, limited use of periods still intact.
These portraits (and the journal notes that stem from them) represent an ongoing process, an attempt to document friends, colleagues and acquaintances; those whose work, ideas and outlook I have come to admire.

Separate from my usual approach, the white backdrop is a means to an end, a way of removing those I photograph from the context I am used to shooting them in and placing them instead in a scenario that hopefully examines the personal connection between photographer and subject, rather that just the form of it.

I’m lucky to be represented by an agent and a gallery that are both understanding of what is important to me as a photographer and have allowed me to stick to my own style and approach in telling the stories I want to tell.

From my first solo at the Rooke Gallery, where such portraits were well received, I have been able to draw a distinction between my signature editorial work (which some have assumed to be my art) and those projects that I see as truly expressing myself.

In preparing this project in conjunction with One Small Seed, it was a pleasant surprise to see names on their suggestion list I had already photographed, or friends I still intended to… it makes me look forward to the shoots ahead.
For those who were wondering as to why Hunter appears in the journal but not in the portraits... keep an eye out for the next issue.

Later.










5 Comments:

Blogger Sydelle Willow Smith said...

well?
are they taken with a medium format or not?

14:52  
Blogger Sydelle Willow Smith said...

well?
are they taken with a medium format or not?

14:52  
Blogger Liam Lynch said...

No, sorry, thought I had explained.

35mm digital. Not medium.

L.

22:15  
Blogger Marc Morris,Shawn Labuschagne,Mishca Daly said...

i heard about paul's equipment, have they got it back yet? hope so!

14:45  
Blogger Liam Lynch said...

Marc: Paul of Lark? Have only heard that it's gone... haven't heard if he got it back yet.

Same thing happened to Ri, one of the Academy DJs, at Woodstock.

23:42  

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