Ben Gilbert visits the University of Westminster
“The Beatles were the last great British guitar band to grace the music industry.” Ben Gilbert told a room of student journalists this afternoon at the University of Westminster.
“There’s not been anything since, that was as good as The Beatles. They had three amazing song-writers in one band, and most only have one.”
If this is the case, where exactly has music been going wrong, and is it diminishing under the weight of the 21st century?
Fifteen years ago, home taping was killing music. Fast forward to 2011 and the music industry has a new battle on its hands: illegal downloading. It has been a problem that has engulfed the music industry in recent years – driving down album sales, and (in part) causing record shops and music chains to close in their droves.
Ben Gilbert is a music journalist, currently writing and editing content for Yahoo! Music. Confronted by a room full of student journalists, it is fair to say that the majority do not regularly pay for the music that they listen to. He says his sympathy lies with the musicians, not with the record labels:
“Now the cat’s out of the bag, there’s no way of stopping it. Bands that were millionaires before are now struggling to make decent money, and the only way they can do that is by touring. When I was a kid, albums were like fifteen, sixteen quid and it wasn’t worth anywhere near that. The record industry is getting its payback for mistreating consumers.”
With artists like Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber reaching superstardom as a by-product of the music industry rather than for their musical talent, is music losing its creative value?
“I don’t think music will ever stop being creative – the dubstep scene in Britain is pretty interesting at the moment… although, I don’t remember the last time we saw a great British guitar band come out – that scene seems pretty flat and dead to me.”
It’s not just the guitar scene that is frustrating Gilbert. ”I used to really be into the American Hip-Hop scene until about five years ago – and then it became obsessed by bling. The creativity has completely gone from it.”
Rebecca Black is another ‘artist’ whose song ‘Friday’ went viral on YouTube and has had 70m views in the past two weeks alone. Does Ben think she has the potential to be anything more than a novelty?
“She’s had all of this success in such a short space of time, but I think she should have been given another three or four years to hone her craft. I think all of this exposure has come too early for her.”
So what does the future hold for the music industry? Ben thinks that there will be no solution for illegal downloading anytime soon: “Record labels need to work to find revenue streams as profitable as they were ten or fifteen years ago, and the battleground between labels and services such as Amazon and Spotify will still be ongoing.”
Amazon recently announced their cloud streaming service ‘Amazon Cloud Drive’, further fuelling the war between record labels and streaming services over licensing – it is not clear whether Amazon have struck a deal with any major labels regarding users uploading copies of their own music.
“You can’t stand in the way of progress” he concluded.
Music Journalist Ben Gilbert, is quite disappointed in himself for never having entered the world of photography, but offers some insight on what it is like to work with photographers and journalists in the field, as well as his opinion on current and past affairs.
When interviewed, Ben confesses that he didnt “really know how to turn a flash on and off.” However he admits to having worked with photographers who he remembers being “really good fun. They’re like drummers in bands (…) always up for a laugh and pretty relaxed creative types.”
His favourite photographers include Pennie Smith who is known for taking the famous London Calling album cover for The Clash and also “a whole bunch of old school NME photographers.” He reminises about the classic visual image that happened in the 60s when it was all black and white. He also enjoys going on The Guardian website “seeing the best photographs taken in the last 6-7 months by journalists or members of the public.”
On the change of image control over the years, Ben mentioned that “the manipulation of the visual image has changed. It is now extended so much that you can do more than you could 10 or 15 years ago.” He remembers that when he first started working in the industry they had a photographer who was the first to use a digital camera. He now wonders “how much post-production has had an effect on photographs as opposed to the days when all you did was take a picture. The post production technology that we now have makes it so that you could take a photograph on a frontline of a warzone and its on a front page of a newsroom in a matter of minutes.”
Image control is hugely important towards building an image and an aura about a certain artist. Lady Gaga, Ben believes, is an example of this. She “manages to project an sort of fantastical image about herself. Its easy to get excited about a bunch of skinny blokes playing guitar music but its quite a limited dimension visually.”
If you want to check out more on Ben’s column go to ‘Where are they now’ at Yahoo.
So we have photographs. We can take a photo to reflect reality, and we can take a picture then warp reality in one way or another. How about we take a photo depicting some form of reality and write or draw all over it. Just take a pen and doodle to our hearts content. No harm done, right?
PuriKura. It’s a Japanese term short for Purinto kurabu, or Print Club for those who speak English. Since the mid 1990’s, this DIY version of photography has been upon us, allowing teenagers to take photos and scribble just about anything onto pictures of themselves – and laugh about it later. It’s a girly type of thing but you do get guys being roped into photos. It makes them look pretty, glossing over their skin for a near perfect finish before being decorated with flowers, hearts and other girly wilds.
A sheet of photo’s produced at a PuriKura booth
I’m being pretty vague on what exactly PuriKura is. To be as simplistic as possible, it’s a photo booth. But not just any ordinary photo booth. After following various onscreen instructions, you can choose the background for your pictures, the size and theme of the photos, among other things. After all the pictures are taken, you can draw on them, place clip art type images onto them and more! All this while being directed by a Japanese cartoon character with a high pitched voice – what can you say, the creators knew who their target audience was.
On-screen interface inside a Print Club booth
A joint partnership between Sega (The company that brought Sonic the Hedgehog to the world) and Atlus, another gaming and entertainment company, the first photo booths were sold in 1995 and gained huge popularity after being endorsed by Japanese pop band SMAP – as well as having their image become a theme for the first machines put in circulation. Those machines would go on to create 75% of Atlus’ earnings in the financial year of 1996.
A huge appeal of Purikura is that it’s meant for friends. It’s a group experience where up to about 14 friends can squeeze into a tiny booth and make complete fools of themselves. I myself have very cringe worth pictures produced in a PuriKura machine and I’m not ashamed to say I enjoyed myself in the process. To my knowledge the only machine in London is located in Chinatown.
The craze has spread internationally, adopted but the Western world as well as other Asian countries. Things are a bit technical in America, procedures and protocol making it tricky to keep the Japanese flare. But money has been thrown at the teenage version of etch-a-sketch.
But the people at PuriCute have created an online version for you to create your own Print Club photos if you want. So why not have a go and see what you can come up with.
The Satudays / Tom Leishman
Tom Leishman is an up-and-coming music photographer, hailing from Staffordshire. He recently came to the attention of the world after winning a competition to photograph Maroon 5 on their recent world tour, beating off competition from thousands of hopefuls.
My Travel Plans; I'm Staying In / Tom Leishman
Tom got his first taste of photography aged 8 after going on a school trip to Warwick Castle and being set a task of taking photographs with a disposable camera ”Everyone’s photo’s came back with heads and legs missing but mine came out well. I got 20 housepoints for those photos – no-one got 20 housepoints in my school.”
He didn’t pick up a camera again until his teens when he wanted to go and see his cousin’s band – but they could only get him in for free if he took photographs of them. He went along, armed with a Sony Cybershot (“I think it was 3 megapixels – that was mind blowing in those days”) and his photos once again, came out well. Other bands saw the photos and approached him to photograph them, and before he knew it he had built up a clientele of bands and artists in the local Staffordshire area.
He built up a reputation locally by photographing lots of local bands, and he admits that he found it hard coming down to London and having to start again from the bottom. “There’s nothing worse than coming from a place where you walk into a room and everyone knows you to walking into the room and everyone goes ‘who is he?’ I couldn’t just walk into a place and go ‘i’m a photographer’. Everyone is a photographer in London. “
His recent clientele have included McFly, The Saturdays, All American Rejects, and Maroon 5. He regularly has work published in mens magazine FHM.
Tom’s photography inspirations include Glen E. Friedman, who came to prominence in the 1980′s for his photographs of skateboarders and musicians; particularly the US hip-hop and punk scene. He likes Friedman’s work because of the ‘fuck you spirit’ it possessed.
Glen E Friedman / Beastie Boys
Although Tom is predominantly a music photographer, he spent a lot of time when he first came to London working in fashion and hair photography. He admits that he found the long days shooting endless clothing lines in a warehouse ‘lonely and boring – with only my iPod for company’ but aspires to be able to recreate the fantasical stylings of renowned fashion photographer Tim Walker in his photographs one day.
Tim Walker / Japanese Vogue
Stylistically, Tom is inspired by Alexi Lubomirski, who is another fashion photographer, however in comparison to Tim Walker, Lubomirski photographs people rather than creating a fantasy or dramatic scene as the focal point.
Alexi Lubormirski / Jennifer Aniston
Equipment wise, Tom uses a Canon SD MK II and Bowens Lighting, which he explains is basically ‘a portable lighting studio’. He also uses a MacBook Pro and Photoshop, for post-production however, as a photographer, he feels morally responsible for his subjects when using PS to edit the photos he has taken. ”I get asked all the time by the people I photograph to make them thinner or to take away a blemish or a mole or something. I won’t though, because you are what you are. These photos will have my name on them.”
McFly - Shepherd's Bush Empire / Tom Leishman
Dougie Poynter - McFly / Tom Leishman
All American Rejects - Roundhouse / Tom Leishman
Maroon Five / Tom Leishman
You can see more of Tom’s work at www.tomleishman.com
Contrary to 21th century belief, not all photo manipulations are created on a computer. Darkroom manipulation does everything it says on the tin. Manipulation and effects are created during the negative’s development process.
American photographer Jerry N. Uelsmann has used this traditional form of manipulation to create surreal photographs, completely unaided by a computer. His interest in photography was born during his time in high school – the camera seen as a tool in which in its simplicity, it could crate many a conflict when the image captured is over thought about.
For over fifty years, Uelsmann has created images through multiple exposures, lacing together various images of nature and human subjects to create images of a dreamlike character.
The fantasy like qualities of Uelsmann’s pictures serve for his rise to prominence in the photography world, garnishing him with global recognition, over a hundred exhibitions featuring his work and has allowed him to dabble in the world of media through books and film.
A traditionalist living in a world where the digital camera reigns, is Uelsmann’s time up? I don’t think so and neither does he. He personally prefers the “alchemy of the darkroom” but sees excitement with the digital era at hand. The seemingly effortless ways in which his images mesh together in perfect harmony without the need to use digital enhancements will always create a curiosity and intrigue to those who view his work. The hard graft he puts into his work, not necessarily wanting to make an image which holds a story, but rather invokes thought is the target. Don’t think about the work that you’re doing – just feel and act.
“I fell in love with the alchemy of the photographic process and to this day, watching that print come up in the developer is the magic for me.”
The slide show below shows a selection of Uelsmann’s works featured in his Masterworks collection exhibited at the Andrew Smith Gallery, New Mexico is 2002.
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Frame after frame, we always see of what the photographer sees, we hardly never get to see the photographer in his or her own photo.
Yet, Gavin Evans, an Edinburgh based photographer, has changed the way photographers interact: he interacts directly with his subjects. He leaps into the frame with his subject, taking a new angle into what the story is. The relationship between the subject and the photographer.
[Clemmie Sveaas by Gavin Evans]
[Laura Heraty by Gavin Evans]
Most photographs have a distant and detached view on their subject, yet Gavin shows us how he sees the person in front of him and who they are to him.
Laura is playful, this is seen in her holding onto his arm, embracing him. Clemmie has a more sensual shy away gesture towards him. Perhaps those two were/are more than friends….
[Edwyn by Gavin Evans]
All pictures are copyright of Gavin Evans.
A quick history lesson.
Photography was used since the early 19th century in the 1826, when Talbot used photography to document this work.
Photography is still regarded as an ‘virtually transparent medium’ (Squiers, C. 1990), though this is in light of of the print media and how photos can be so easily massed produced, unlike paintings beforehand.
Photography has adapted like so many other technologies to suit the changing audience. Photography is still used to document events, mostly in Photojournalism. [This has been taken to become a new form of art].
Just as art is synonymous with expressing the individual, photography also fits into that category. The photographers show a side of a story which not many even know about and deliver it to us on a plate.
Over the past decade, street art has been documented by photographers since the early 80s, showing the growing Hip hop genre grow and expand.
From graffiti to street wear, it has become an art form in itself which still lives on. It’s in the suburban regions of N.Y and even in London.
Street photography does not only apply to Hip Hop. It has transgressed to modern city life, documenting fashion in the streets of New York, by Scott Schuman or as he is most commonly known as, The Sartorialist.
His blog has become well known worldwide for delivering street photography and turning it into an artform. All this just by clicking on his camera.
[picture copyright of Scott Schuman]
[picture copyright of Scot Schuman]
Everything that we see with our eyes is captured by the click of a camera. Everyone sees things differently. Everyone translates a photo with their own experiences, so a photo is always considered special, even in the 1820s.
Street photography has been around for decades, it shows no sign of ever stopping or leaving our frames.
At Somerset House,during 26th April to 22nd May 2011, for the first time ever the World Photography Festival will be show cased in London.
This six day festival will be a chance to explore upcoming photographers, new and old, and whatever your photographic taste is, there is something for everyone.
[ 'Cheetah jumping on a log to get a vantage view point' by Cedric Favelo ]
The festival is in partnership with Sony World Photography Awards, where through a wide range of exhibitions, workshops, screenings and so much more to improve your skills.
It’s not just for showcasing work, but a chance to mingle with others at the Photographers lounge.
Purchasing tickets beforehand will get you ahead of the queues as well as give you a head start of what is on the daily schedule.
Here is a quick list of what to expect of the whole of the festival:
Tuesday 26th- A screening presentation at the Embankment Gallery with Bruce Davidson.
Wednesday 27th - There is the IEFC student project in the Portico Room 3 from 10.00 – 16.00. The Photographers Lounge is at the Portico Room from 10.00 – 15.30. There is also a film screening at 11.30 – 13.15 in the screening room. Not only that, there is also portfolio reviews for all to enhance their works.
Af ull list can be viewed date by date on the WPO website.
Alisa Connan has photographed the likes of Jason Isaacs, Remi Cole, and Lucien Freud‘s muse Sue Tilley in an interesting collaboration with artist Karl Anthoney. Connan shoots the photograph, and Anthoney manipulates it with various media to give it a wholly new appearance and effect. Connan mixes her expertise in shooting photographs with Anthoney’s eye for colour and innovation.
All of this amounts to an interesting approach to creating a photograph.
The result, as you can see, is something quite spectacular.
Their collaborative works will be on display in Cielo, London, from 02-04-2011 to 12-04-2011. Free entry.
By Amber King
Apparently, a picture is worth a thousand words. If that’s the case, when a picture is created with words, what’s the word count come up to then?
Typography is an art form that takes text and pictures, merging them together in order to forge a relationship which emotes more than just to two alone. Think of peanut-butter and jelly. No one is more important than the other but they both create something new which compliments one another. Or something like that.
The words against the picture have to work visually not to hinder the meaning expressed, but more so projecting the meaning further to make you honestly think about what’s been laid out in front of you. Whereas the pictures used with the text empower the words in the scene.
Newspapers are a form of typography – using words and text to give an extended meaning to the story. The text being the story and the image further emoting the story. They strengthen each-other rather than hinder and give a new angle on what would most likely be a simple story. Working its way from being a commercial art form, used for advertising, storytelling and such, nowadays it seems like anyone can create their own typographic picture. Image hosting websites and micro-blogging websites are flooded with user generated typography. The words are more personal to reflect moods or moments. Many them are based on lyrics from songs, where the picture provides a back-story or has some relation to the story of the sentences.
Lyrics from 100 Suns by 30 Seconds to Mars.
Father of Grunge, David Carson is a graphic designer and typographer responsible for what is seen as experimental typography. Instead of keeping to ridged guidelines that keep typography quite a constructed and clean looking form of art, Carson broke the rules with his work, creating works that look anarchic and hard – hence being labelled ‘grunge’. Being a self taught designer, he was the art director of the music magazine Ray Gun. It was through this publication that Carson would become one of the most influential graphic designers of the nineties. Not only did he work for Ray Gun during the nineties, but also major brand names such as Ray Ban and Coca Cola to create concept for their advertising.
Creating work that undoubtedly influenced the MTV generation, Carson’s work was chaotic poetry that held higher meaning than just the words he conveyed on a page, leaving the person viewing his work with a multitude of thoughts to think about once finished with the piece. And in his pieces, not only does he work to motivate his audiences, he claims that every piece of work he does carries an emotive expression of himself and holds an emotional attachment to his work.
Leading the way for artists such as Neville Brody who he thinks is carrying on the work he started; David Carson has given birth to a wave of artists who use their own initiative to create work that holds more meaning than to just be commercial. To work from the heart and to let creativity flow from within.
A video by whatdidwe showcasing David’s work over the years
