A World Observed 1940-2010 Photographs by Dorothy Bohm.

On the 25^th August I visited The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts on the University of East Anglia campus. The centre first opened in 1978 after Sir Robert and Lady Sainsbury donated their collection of world art to the University of East Anglia in 1973.  The Sainsbury’s hoped that students, academic staff and the general public would grow to appreciate the works on display in much the same way as they themselves had done, by being able to look frequently and closely at them without the distraction of too much museum-style text and labelling.

The Norman Foster building was designed between 1974-76 and was Foster’s first major public building. He was asked to design a building which would contain the collection the Sainsbury’s gifted in 1973 and the School of Fine Art (now the School of World Art Studies and Museology). The 1978 building consists of the Living Area, which houses the permanent display of the Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection; a temporary exhibition space; the entrance Conservatory, with a gallery café; the School of World Art Studies and Museology; a large restaurant; the Robert Sainsbury Library and two mezzanines, used as study areas and for displaying collections which include the University of East Anglia Collection of Abstract and Constructivist Art Architecture and Design.

When you enter the building you are struck by the feeling of wide open space, as the centre has no internal divides. The mix of artificial and natural light adds to this and helps to create a bright and airy environment.

The building has since been extended in 1991 and again in May 2006 to create extra space for growing collections, office and temporary exhibition areas, open studio area (for reserve collections), technical workshops, conservation laboratory, an education and studio area, and a new shop.

I was here to see “A World Observed 1940 - 2010: Photographs by Dorothy Bohm”

                                                                                        

"I have spent my lifetime taking photographs. The photograph fulfils my deep need to stop things from disappearing. It makes transience less painful and retains some of the special magic, which I have looked for and found. I have tried to create order out of chaos, to find stability in flux and beauty in the most unlikely places." - Dorothy Bohm.

The exhibition traces the career of Dorothy Bohm from the 1940s to the present day and is the first detailed retrospective of one of the key figures in British photography.  It contains 150 original prints (including black and white street photography as well as colour images of contemporary life and studio portraits) that centre around the human form in its natural surroundings. She captures and documents how the world has changed over the past 70 years.

Dorothy Bohm was born in 1924 to a Jewish family in Königsberg (now Kaliningrad), East Prussia. In 1939 with the rise of the Nazi Party, Bohm was sent to a school in the UK. Here she studied photography at the Manchester College of Technology and went on to establish a studio also in Manchester.

In the late 1940’s she abandoned studio work to focus on street photography after coming to realise her love for open-air photography over the course of many visits to the artists colony of Ascona in Switzerland. Bohm travelled extensively photographing the face of post-war Europe, USA, Israel and the former USSR.

When she started to work with colour film on a 1980’s trip to the Far East she felt this gave her a “new life in photography” and carried on to publish books of visits to Egypt and Venice.

She has continued to work in colour ever since.           

I have chosen some of my favourite photographs from the exhibition.



Monte Carlo, 1987

The composition in Bohm's images is incredibly well thought out. Her trademark is the clever use of light along with the juxtaposition of her subjects.   This is illustrated in the photograph above showing a row of motorbikes parked against a mural that depicts a fashion parade. I really like the softness of the painting against the harshness of the motorbikes.



Provence, France, 1990s

I chose this piece because I like how it appears as though it is a frame within a frame. I also like how the glass has a  luminescent quality.



Ascona, Switzerland, 1950s

I love black and white photography and its timeless quality, this image is no different. I particularly like the feeling of depth and how your eye is drawn from the detail in the foreground, up to the mountains.



Lisbon, Portugal, 1963

This has got to be my favourite photograph out of the whole collection. I really like how the pattern of the tiles fills the frame as well as the feeling of texture. I also like the depth displayed by the shadows from the steps and the tree extending over the shot.

I really enjoyed this exhibition and feel particularly inspired to get out and about with my camera. I shall also be considering light and composition a lot more before taking my shot.

Information taken from www.dorothybohm.com and www.scva.org.uk



TAOP Assignment One.

The aim of this assignment was to make eight pairs of contrasting photographs from the given list. I chose:

• Many/Few
• Transparent/Opaque
• Broad/Narrow
• Continuous/Intermittent
• Pointed/Blunt
• Liquid/Solid
• Smooth/Rough
• Straight/Curved

In addition to this, one photograph showing contrast in one picture should be produced. For this I chose diagonal/rounded.

Pointed




I have driven past this church (Our Lady and the English Martyrs) in Cambridge many times and thought of it straight away as the spire is very pointed, reaching 214 feet (65 m) and can be seen for several miles. I cropped the image slightly so that the sky only had the spire in it as I did not want to detract from it.

 


Blunt

To provide a strong comparison I chose to photograph a bunker in a small village called Icklingham. I particularly like how the tree has grown around it. I also like the fact that it is not only blunt in the sense of having a flat roof to it but also how it is surrounded by heath land and wild flowers which makes it quite a blot on the landscape. Its simple looks also contrast quite strongly with the ornate look of the church.

 

Many

  For this image I chose to photograph the mass of bikes which are left at Cambridge train station daily. I felt that photographing them in black and white makes each individual bike indistinguishable and emphasises the title “many”. Filling the frame with the bikes also creates the feeling that there are many more than are being shown.





Few

To contrast with “many” I then looked for a solitary bike which I then also photographed in black and white. I came across several but this was my favourite as I like the archway above it.



Narrow

I actually photographed “narrow” before taking the “broad” shot. There is a very narrow alleyway in Newmarket that I have been past at least twice a day for many years now. When I first saw the list of contrasts it immediately sprung to mind and I feel that illustrates the point well.




Broad

To link with the “narrow” image I needed to think of the widest alleyway/road I could. I felt that by standing on the bridge over the a14 I would have the widest shot possible of the road below. I wanted to capture the road with minimal traffic (near on impossible) and managed to get a photo of the road with just one car on it. I felt that by having only the one vehicle it would provide a frame of reference to highlight and emphasise just how broad the road is.



Liquid

When I was taking the photo for blunt I had to cross over a bridge with quite fast moving water underneath it. I felt that this would be perfect for liquid and chose to fill the frame with the image. I also used a fast shutter speed (1/1600) which I feel captures the feeling of movement without blurring the image.



Solid



I came across my image for solid in Cambridge. I realise that this is my first shot that does not directly contrast with it’s pair. I chose the sculpture designed by Kenneth Martin (1967) not just because it does look solid but also because it is positioned outside the Department of Engineering where it was constructed, with the help of the Engineering Departments workshops, emphasising the point further.

 

Transparent

Whilst visiting the Stratford Upon Avon butterfly farm I came across this butterfly which has transparent wings. I really like how the wings appear glass like as though you are looking through a window.



Opaque

I chose a butterfly for this image also so that there would be a direct comparison with my image for transparent.

Rough

For rough I chose to photograph the tree in the photo showing blunt. The bark had a lot of texture to it so I felt that it made a good example.



Smooth



In contrast I chose a wood carving near some woods in Mildenhall. I realise that this is not conventionally smooth but I wanted to almost provide a before and after shot as it is smoother than the natural, untouched tree bark in the rough shot.



Straight



I was walking past the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and felt that the pillars at the front on the building were an obvious choice for “straight”. I like how the pillars are also so smooth and then as your gaze is drawn to the top of them you start to see much more ornate detailing.

Curved

The wall in front of the museum has these metal swirls all along it. The metal points at the top are to discourage people from climbing over the wall. I bent right down next to them to capture the curves moving away into the distance.



Continuous



I went out for a walk near to where I live and came across this fence. It immediately made me think of “continuous” as each panel is placed next to the previous one. I chose to photograph in black and white as I feel it emphasises the “continuous” element.



Intermittent

Just a few paces along I noticed that the fence panels had started to deteriotate and break away showing “intermittent”. Again I photographed in black and white, not only to match the image it is paired with but also as I feel it highlights the gaps in between each panel further displaying “intermittent”.

  

Diagonal/Rounded



I was visiting the University of East Anglia in Norwich as there was a photography exhibition on there and I came cross this spiral stairway which particularly interested me. I was quite torn between calling this piece diagonal/ rounded or straight and curved. I felt it could be straight/ curved as the blue centre piece does go straight up with the stairs curving around it. I eventually decided on diagonal/ rounded as I particularly liked how the metal around the steps appears diagonal across the photo with the actual steps seeming to be more rounded.

Conclusion.

I specifically sought out images that contrasted for this assignment ,and it really made me aware of how I view potential subjects to photograph. To start with I found it quite difficult, but by the time I was half way through I noticed how everywhere I went I was finding objects/scenes that illustrated many of the points. I took more than double the amount of images needed and selected the shots that demonstrated particularly what I was hoping to achieve.

If I was to do this assignment again I think that I would change the composition of a couple of the shots. I am still arguing with myself whether the photograph I produced showing contrast ‘in one picture’ really is diagonal/rounded over straight/curved. I also think that the shot I took for smooth does not really show something seen as conventionally smooth. Unfortunately my shot of transparent has not come out as clear as I would like either.

Overall I think that my prefered shot is “many” as it strongly emphasises the contrast and I enjoy photographing in black and white. I also particularly like the image for “blunt” as the bunker contrasts so well with its surroundings.



 

About time too!

I have finally given into technology (and my inability to use it) and have started a blog. This is with the aim of using it to form my learning log for The Art of Photography course I am taking with The Open College of the Arts. I completed my first set of projects in a traditional sketchbook but now I am slightly concerned about the amount of trees I have wasted! Hopefully I can adapt to this way of working?!