Kirsteen kicks off her talk by giving us a quick outline on how she got into photography and like most of us it’s something she has had an interest in and then instantly got the bug. Kirsteen used to be a Marketing Director and although she loved her job and was extremely successful she knew there was something missing and wondered why she was doing it, so when a change of circumstances occurred she grabbed the opportunity with both hands, or should I say the camera!

In an attempt to learn the technical aspects of photography Kirsteens first trip takes her to a country of colours, tastes and culture, Morocco and decides that wondering ‘off the beaten track’ is the best way to see the real Moroccan life away from the normal tourist haunts and as Kirsteen is a real people person she uses her people skills to get her exactly where she wants to go by talking to one person who leads her to the next person and so on until she meets an old man with little or no possessions, living in very basic conditions, she instantly assumes that this poor man is living in horrid conditions and needs help however Kirsteen straight away admits to us that her assumptions are unfounded and these many is happy in his life cleaning fleeces or fat and dirt and drinking mint tea in his humble hut. It seems to me that Kirsteen has really captured a contentment in simple life not driven by material possessions which is rare in this life. At this point I am really captivated by her work so far and can’t wait to see the next set.

The next set ‘shooting Young Offenders’ was certainly inspirational to say the least. Whilst Kirsteen was curating an exhibition she had got to know the gallery owner and had been asked to document and art course ran for the rehabilitation for Young Offenders. Once again that word ‘assumption’ crept and Kirsteen found herself thinking ‘How on earth can Art rehabilitate Young Offenders?’ but as the days and weeks went on the results began to speak for themselves as Kirsteen discovered the vulnerability of these teens, many of which come from difficult backgrounds, hiding behind their hoodies to hide their stress and emotions.
Often through the news and television all we see of young offenders is the bad side, unruly out of control youths who are hell bent of breaking the law and causing havoc, however Kirsteen has shown in these images that there is much more to these misguided teens and shows us their personal journeys to rehabilitation as they build confidence and relationships along the way. This set certainly changed my view on the subject of rehabilitation through education.

The most powerful work Kirsteen displayed was work at the Teenage Cancer Ward at LGI. The images in this set depict the strength, courage & bravery of the children and the tireless effort, motivation and round the clock care provided by the staff that work there.
I felt mixed emotions looking at these images, sadness by the inevitability for some of these children but it touched my heart to see their smiling laughing faces even though they have to endure so much.

Kirsteen also showed us other work she had been commissioned for – St Georges Crypt a centre for a homeless charity and Simon on the Streets – a homeless charity which helps homeless people on the streets. It seems to me that many of us don’t realise what is happening in our own city whilst we go about our busy lives. Kirsteen has shown us some excellent, inspiring and emotive work and I am sure this is only the beginning, her style, drive and passion is inspiring.

So if you haven’t seen Kirsteen’s work its well worth your time to visit her website

Thanks to Kirsteen for sharing her work.

Kirsteen’s portrait with thanks to Si Cliff (click on image fore more). Main article image © Kirsteen Ashton. All Rights Reserved.

21st century Leeds inherited the architectural heritage of 20th century Leeds: many beautiful buildings, a number of neglected but architecturally sound buildings and some buildings that should probably never have been built. It also inherited myriad planning and social housing issues that are managed with varying degrees of success. Irrespective of the architectural merit of certain buildings isolated from the context of the City, all of these buildings contribute to the unique character of Leeds’ built environment in the 21st century.

It is my understanding that the ‘21st Century Leeds’ exhibition was conceived with the intention to show this character, but in this respect I believe that it has failed. Many aspects of photography are necessarily subjective: my criticism is not of the worth of the individual images but that the selection of images exhibited fails to offer a balanced representation of Leeds’ built environment. Credit should be given to Tim Munsey and others for their good work appearing in Marketing Leeds’s Live It Love it brochure, but where are the pictures of the bits of Leeds that Marketing Leeds would prefer prospective visitors to the city never see?

I realise that the size of the exhibition space at Dyson’s Chambers has somewhat limited the range of prints that could be presented, but there seems to be a clear bias toward a polished aesthetic, including cityscapes shot at night and others that seem to have undergone heavy post-production or tone-mapping. These images have a place in such an exhibition but would benefit from being hung next to pictures that represent a different view of the City, with such a collection of images offering a more honest representation of what it is to live and work in Leeds in 2011.

Leeds extends some way beyond the city centre boundary and is a city of contrasting architectural styles. For the exhibition to have communicated this, the judges should perhaps have not considered aesthetics to be the primary consideration when selecting all of the winning pictures. I also wonder if the title of the exhibition led photographers to focus too much on isolating contemporary buildings from the context of the rest of the City. I believe some encouragement in the brief to wander outside the city centre boundary and to point lenses at buildings other than the usual suspects would have led to a more diverse range of submissions. It would be interesting to see the ‘21st Century Leeds’ project revived with the brief and selection criteria refined, and presented in a bigger space: with some changes I believe the exhibition would be of much more interest rather than resemble a marketing exercise by the City Council.

Adam offered a set of images by Gillian Holding (which includes the above image) to act as a counterweight to the images he mentioned from the 21st Century Leeds exhibition.

Director, Jon Eland adds…

I’ve accredited this post to myself as it should be obvious that this post is placed with my backing and represents my belief in how Exposure Leeds should be open to this form of discussion. For my part, I felt the exhibition did a great job of showing a snapshot of the best of the architecture of the city as it takes it’s position in the early part of this century. Our own ‘Best of – part one‘ exhibition in September showed a more diverse side to the city – something a lot easier with 100+ photos rather than the smaller selection here.

Exposure Leeds exists to promote better photography in the city and, as part of this, we have created the ‘Looking Good, Leeds‘ – a project that aims to show the good, interesting and positive sides of the city - irrelevant of how gritty the surroundings they appear in. There is also a strong need to represent the people of Leeds; the buildings just provide places of shelter in the city; the people who occupy it are largely missing from the 21st Century Leeds exhibition. The exhibition isn’t wrong; but I agree with Adam in so much that there is room to better portray a wider vision of the city – and to include more than just a few buildings that have, at least locally, some level of iconic status.

So, that’s what Adam and I had to offer – what do you think? How would you like to see Leeds better or more accurately portrayed? What were your thoughts on the exhibition?

Image © Gillian Holding, all rights reserved.

Alerted about the Leeds Slam 2010 at October’s Talk&Social session I was one of what seemed a limited group of photographers (there were only seven  in the time I was there) to get involved in this excellent event. Organised by Rachel Saunders and the Random Acts team based in York it was advertised as “a day of fashion, photography, make-up, hair and general glam”. Given that this was all free it seemed too good an opportunity to miss. For me was that it was even better as it was against the backdrop of my favourite building in Leeds – the Corn Exchange.

So you take a few models looking for experience and/or portfolio shots, add in a few make-up artists and photographers of varying experience and equipment and put them all in the magnificence of the Corn Exchange. What do you get? Well, for me it was hours of co-operative fun, sharing of tips and the chance to do shots that, in my case, I simply had no prior experience of. We explored not only the shopping area but also the empty upstairs units which had great light and features too. I should have checked out what was possible and taken more lights and stands but was keen to test out my newly acquired Orbis ring flash so I used both that and the available natural light for my shots but others were willing to share lights and set ups. With the shops open to the public on a Saturday there was interest from visitors and they did stray into backgrounds of some shots but at the end of the day I had more than 200 shots that I was pleased with. The objective is to share images with models and make-up artists for their portfolios and I have to say that Holly, Emma, Mandy and the rest of the team were just great and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and would recommend the next one to anyone.

Paul Dishman shares his photography through his website

As photographers we, by and large, are now hard-wired into the digital revolution. Instant feedback and the current crop of excellent cameras means making a great photograph is as hard now (if not harder) than it’s ever been. The digital age simply allows us to discover quickly just how hard.  There’s no waiting in line at BonusPrint for your film to be developed; no waiting to see your prints come off the print line having had some unknown corrections made by the lab. You see your corrected images and then think you’re an exposure god. Digital cameras allow us to instantly see our photographs and sometimes those unprocessed results are shocking.  Bad and good.

And so the digital experience has brought with it a group of people that are willing to share their photographic experiences and knowledge to help us grow –photographically-speaking – much quicker than by your own trial and error.  We can of course learn by our own mistakes but we can also learn by everyone else’s too.  It’s a new way of learning; it’s a breath of fresh air; it’s confidence boosting; you’re not alone.

The most notable of current tuition, in the use of flash techniques, comes from Dave Hobby at the Strobist blog who mostly compels photographers to get their flash gun off the camera.  However, there are times when this isn’t practical – for example you might be at a wedding where the environment and other factors change quickly.  Carting a light-stand with a flash and modifier will slow you down and stop you being fluid with the events of the day.  Under such conditions you could argue that if you’re good enough there should be no need for flash and this may be true, but wouldn’t you like to have the ability of shaping light at will and making it look natural?  I would.  Even more so if the flash gun remained on top of the camera for then you have choice.

Enter stage right a book written by successful photographer Neil van Niekerk…

On-Camera Flash is 124 pages or an afternoon read of excellent teaching.  The sort of teaching that walks you through the thought process and exact settings for each image.  Neil’s book explores exposure metering, light-shaping tools and how, with a little thought, you can leave your flash on top of the camera and record a photograph that does not look like a flash was used.  And there’s a host of further chapters filled with golden nuggets.

My copy of the book is well-thumbed. Many of the pages are now dog-eared and even though I also make a living from photography,  I work on the notion that no matter what I know, there is always something to learn.

Neil van Niekerk

These are 124 pages of knowledge that demystifies the use of on-camera flash.  Neil helps navigate photographers round the common pitfalls of creating flat light, harsh light and shadows, the cavernous black backgrounds we’re all familiar seeing and instead draws us into a world that requires a little thought.  You learn how to finesse your light, shape it and allow the beauty of your subject to shine through.

Currently priced around £16 on Amazon.co.uk, I heartily recommend adding this book to your library.  It’s a great read and will enhance your photography beyond your expectations – a tall claim but achievable.  Take his thoughts and practice, practice, practice.

Neil, like Dave Hobby, generously shares his ideas via his blog.  He’s active and posts often and takes time to reply to questions asked via his blog. What I know, his blog has an extraordinary amount of information in it which will take you more than a day to explore, but well worth it.

Paul photographs for business and pleasure; why not visit his website or Flickr stream.

“Strobism refers to the use of small flashguns (often referred to as speedlites or strobes) to create effective lighting for all kinds of photographs. ” – by someone

The evening involved setting up of a number of small groups that switched around roles to provide both models and photographers. This set up allowed for a swapping of ideas and testing of various bits of equipment to achieve a vast array of interesting and creative shots with anywhere from one to four off camera flashes.

Image (c) Andrew Garfitt. All Rights Reserved

Temple Works provided a backdrop that included the likes of graffiti, urban architecture and a cracking sunset – not necessarily Temple Works’ doing but  it got the group some great shots!

The discussion in the Midnight Bell afterwards confirmed that it was a successful event – providing skills and generating ideas for future events. Hopefully the event will lead to more people taking that flash off their camera and putting it on a trigger

Gavin coordinates many of the Leeds Strobist group events, as well as being a photographer in his own right – view his website.

The delightful Suzi Perry (show host)

How, then, would Channel Five approach the subject of helping us to take better photographs? If the first episode of How to Take Stunning Pictures is anything to go by, the answer is ‘very sensibly’.  This new show favours substance over style, offering simple, practical advice to the budding digital photographer.

The format is straightforward.  Each episode deals with a specific area of photography and features an expert in that area.  The expert shares some of the tricks of his trade with two enthusiastic amateurs, gives them each a photographic assignment and reviews the results with them, choosing his favourites among the pictures they have taken.  This week, the topic was portraits and the expert was Harry Borden, known for his many photographs of celebrities.

So, what of the content?  There was plenty of good advice on offer here, ranging from obvious things like the importance of avoiding clutter in the background to more subtle tips such as photographing people in an environment they find comfortable, or thinking carefully about whether each element in the frame adds to or detracts from the overall composition.  Borden was genuinely encouraging to his two students, telling them “your ideas are valid”.  Use of available light was emphasised – a sensible choice, given that most viewers will probably not have access to studios or professional lighting equipment.

The two amateurs were both set interesting assignments.  One had to capture the past lives and future aspirations of teachers, which resulting in some unusual pictures featuring a ballerina and a barrister in a school library!  The other had to photograph an injured war veteran with artificial legs on Millennium Bridge.  Bad weather hampered this assignment, but the end result was a striking image juxtaposing the serviceman’s metal limbs and the metal struts of the bridge, with St Paul’s Cathedral providing a suitably dramatic backdrop.

On this evidence, experienced photographers probably won’t learn a great deal from the series, but I certainly picked up a couple of useful tips just from this first episode and found it interesting to watch the various techniques being put into practice. Channel Five deserve praise for producing something so accessible and so useful to novices.

How To Take Stunning Pictures is on Channel Five on Tuesdays at 7.30 pm. You can find out more at the show’s website, http://five.tv/stunningpictures, and catch up on missed episodes at http://demand.five.tv/.

You can see Nick’s photos on his Flickr profile or pop over and read his blog

Images © Channel 5 Broadcasting Ltd. 2010

The book consists of “recipes” from six professional photographers which the author claims are foolproof. The first part consists of a list of all the necessary equipment but not every item has an accompanying photograph.

Over half the book is taken up with portraiture. Part 2 is “Basic Portraiture”, for example – “Simple reflectors”,” Scrims and Sheets” “Snoots and Foils”. At first the photographs are accompanied by clear lighting diagrams and the author explains the principles of lighting and the reasons behind the choice of lighting which makes it easy to understand. However, once the lighting gets more complex, especially in Part 3 “Corporate and Industrial Shots”, where 6 or more lights may be being used the diagrams dry up almost completely and I felt the descriptions of the lighting were not clear enough on their own to replicate them.

Part 4 is “Production Shots”. This has useful sections on photographing glass, crystal and textiles. Most of these are accompanied by diagrams.

Part 5 is “Specialised Techniques”. This involves types of photography which you could do as a profession, for example architectural interiors, micro lighting, and pet photography.

As a whole, the writing style is very readable, there are hints on making your own equipment to save money and even tips for professional photographers on selling their photos and dealing with clients. If you’re after a book which explains everything about lighting this is not it. I think it is useful enough to buy because I have learned a lot from it, but there are better, more modern comprehensive studio lighting books on the market.

The Lighting Cookbook on Amazon – £11.84 at date of posting.

Review by: DMC08

To try and promote the work of those contributing we are planning to review Photobooks and magazines produced by the membership – so the first volunteer was Alastair Thompson who volunteered his ‘Leeds 2008‘ book

Promotional copy: An exploration of street photography from a newcomers perspective. Starting with the first stumbling efforts (shop windows and the like), and leading on to more interesting juxtapositions and private moments.

Alastair Thompson’s latest book is the accumulated photos of a year described as ‘a year of change’ in his life as a photographer. It shows chronologically the journey through the year that Alastair took on a new and exciting challenge – street photography.

The book is an eclectic mix of colour and black & white shots taken on the streets of Leeds city centre. As the main theme is ‘Street’ the subject matter is as much about the surroundings as it is about the interaction of the people within the shot.

Throughout the book there are numerous examples of the natural behaviour of people that are so easily missed when you go about your day to day life. All of the people in the shots are relaxed and going about their day not necessarily seeing their surroundings enough to see the view of themselves from the photographer’s point of view. The use of shop windows and their contents have produced some great shots that give a different perspective on the normal.

Flying in the Face of Fashion - Alastair Thompson (click to visit image on Flickr.com)

For me the stand out images are the monochrome images. The nature of some of the subject matter means that there are often many colours distracting the feeling of the shot. I think that in his black and white images Alastairhas managed to capture more feeling from the people in the shots and providing a greater connection with the reader.

This is not to say that the colour images should be black & white, each image should be looked at for its own merits, and the very red image on the rear cover is a great example of this. It gives a great insight into the family life of two brothers with very different views on life, or at least that’s the story I am imagining about the situation.

On the whole the book is captivating and thought provoking, you come away from looking through it wondering what is going on in the lives of the people on the street. I’m not sure that every image should tell a story but all of the ones in this book do.

^ Review by Gavin Forster

Touching! by Alastair Thompson (click to view image on Flickr.com)

What a brilliant book! Not that anyone needs a reminder of the eclectic mix of characters our fair city of Leeds is home to, but it’s great to have a pictorial reference just the same! Anyone who enjoys street photography and its humour will find this book interesting and very amusing! My favourites include ‘statue grabbing a woman’ and ‘the football supporters’. If you enjoy people watching this is a great book – especially for anyone familiar with Leeds.

^ Review by Emma Brown

Leeds 2008 by Alastair Thompson
Published on Blurb.com (from 20.95 + p&p)
A set of images from the book can be viewed on Flickr.com

Do you have a photo book or magazine available to buy/acquire? Tell us about it and we’ll get it reviewed!

Have a look at www.motherlandbook.com and, even on-line, the work leaves you cold, on this scale, to see the detail of the images chosen, are a good representation of this work. Simon Roberts travelled throughout Russia between July 2004 and August 2005, making pictures in over 200 locations and creating one of the most extensive, comprehensive photographic accounts of this vast country by a Westerner.

His images are not clichéd representations of a Russia ground down by poverty and despair; rather, he presents a beautiful and awe-inspiring land, with a dignified people empowered by a growing optimism and a deep rooted sense of national esteem. Intimate and revealing portraits of contemporary Russians show us a diverse people, united by a sense of common identity and connected by a shared love of ‘the Motherland‘, while breathtaking landscapes reveal the complexity and uniqueness of the country.

Simon Roberts was born in London in 1974 and studied Human Geography at Sheffield University. He began work as a photographer in 1997 and his photo-essays have been widely published throughout the world, including in Details, Esquire, the Guardian, Le Monde, Der Spiegel and The Sunday Times. Awards for his work include the Ian Parry Scholarship (London 1998) and the Magenta Foundation Bright Spark Award (Toronto 2006). He lives with his wife and daughter in Brighton, England.

The book has never been bought, but hours have been spent looking through the pages (at Waterstones Sheffield), it has been as much an inspiration in the work of underclassrising.net, we like to call urban/bucolic exploration of Sheffield and though we sometimes move over the border, there is enough subject matter to cover here in Sheffield, and comes to our town this important work.

Bank Street Arts is at 32-40 Bank Street Sheffield, S1 (phone 0114 346 3034) it’s open Tuesday to Saturday 10 am – 5 pm, exhibition runs 11th May – 9th June 2010. Of course, nowhere near long enough and if you ever thought what was our inspiration: go and have a look, when we walked in our mouths opened wide, stunning work, we always suspected Bank Street Arts was long overdue in this city, we can only look forward to what they have up their sleeves next, what a joy and pleasure we shall have another peek and so should you come to think of it.

Review reproduced with permission – Subterranean Tourist Board | underclassrising.net

Annie Leibovitz’s most recent book, A Photographer’s Life: 1990-2005, shows her in the usual guise as a portrait photographer but really she is so much more in this particular volume. Her photographs look so tactile and often brooding in black and white, but then suddenly show humour and strength of colour and vibrance in her portraits of celebrities like Jack Nicholson and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Landscapes in all their grainy glory invite you in, familiar places become emotionally charged, and then there is death, photographs showing the end of lives and the consequences of age. Leibovitz has the ability to present her work in this book as a diary of unorganised and disparate events which capture all of life from the beginning to the end. It just so happens that many of the events involve people we all know although in this particular book Leibovitz allows us to see the real family, parents, children and Susan Sontag, whom she was in a close romantic relationship with, juxtaposed with celebrity.

In some ways the book seems like it confirms closure following the death of her father and Sontag in 2004. There are photographs of Leibovitz herself, standing on the ‘wrong’ side of the camera, revealing herself figuratively and literally. This isn’t a book of photojournalism but an album of a life.

This is large book with a large price of £75 (£43.99 on Amazon.co.uk*) although it is a book that will inspire and probably not just sit on a bookshelf but live on a sturdy table to be regularly perused.

ISBN – 9780224080637 Hardback – 480

Reviewed by John Dolan

*Price as displayed at time of publication