Gallery visit to The Public, West Bromwich

Many thanks to the staff at Wolverhapton University for organising a trip to 'The Public' and letting me, not one of their students, tag along. Thanks also to the staff of The Public for taking the time to show us around on the day before the exhibitions opened.

I mainly went in order to see the Martin Parr photography exhibition, but there was much more to see besides that. The real fascination was the building itself and the manner in which they have tried to integrate the Public with the rest of West Brom and its artistic community, but with a view towards all people of the area. Many different pieces are scattered, but cleverly, around the interior, giving the whole building a sense of adventure, exploration and discovery. The video below is made up of photographs I took of the overhead monitors which I then rendered into a time lapse video. They are therefore the sole copyright of the artist.

If you get the chance, please visit The Public in West Brom and support this modern approach to accessibility in the arts and cultural media. The whole massive building is pink, my pet hate, but I got over it, so can you.....

http://www.thepublic.com/

British Hairdresser of the Year Awards 2011 - Photography for Signature Salon

The second shoot for Signature Salon went really well with the results certainly eclipsing anything I had done previously in the studio. It was an 8 hour day, with many days of processing to follow but the feedback from the client made it all worthwhile.

Keele Three Counties Entries

These are my three entries for this years Keele Open Photography competition. Unfortunately, the bottom 2 were substitutes, one for a picture which was over-cropped by the framers, which is my fault really as I should have asked or got it printed with more bleed space, and the other was a silhouette which printed just a fraction too dark. Luckily, I know these things happen and so had 6 pictures printed and framed to give me options.

A great many thanks to all the people who studied my options for Keele and gave me great feedback which helped in choosing these images. I am not overly confident about my chances this year but fingers crossed anyway

Too Cute to Not Share

 

My sisters mental dog, Roxy. 

Now I really buzz off fine art, conceptualism and photography with a deep and meaningful social comment - but I am not blind to 'cute', and for the one second an hour Roxy is sill and calm, she is definitely cute. Anyway. I entered this for the Petsavers Digital Photography 2011 Competition so good luck Roxy, my sister will be very proud if you perform well - and there is a cash prize!

January Camping

Many thanks to Georg Schirmer for hosting another wonderful camping weekend at his mums farm in Oakhanger. I took a couple of hours out to do some night time long exposure photography but the freezing fog dictated what I could and couldn't do, but more fog may well have made for better images.
Anyway, some of the shots came out ok, I need to spend some time going through them but here are a couple to keep Georg at bay.

Please Help - Picking work for a local photo competition.

Hi everyone,
First can I thank the 813 people who checked out my blog last month alone, it is wonderful to get that level of interest and I really appreciate it

I will be entering the Three Counties Photographic Competition later this month and I want at least 1 of my entries to be chosen by people visiting my blog, maybe even all 3. So please take a look at the shots below and pick out what you think is the best shot or your favourite 3. Just let me know via a little comment at the bottom of this post, or via facebook if you don't have a google account (so it may not let you comment).

(click on each image to enlarge it)
 

owl 1

moody street

Mister Wilse

owl 2

asquith

bull gang

spark 1

sil 2

door 1

bull-dog

sil 3

sil 1

sil 4

spark 2

owl 3

fs 1

fs 2

cave shadows

consider

aj

scarlet

sid

dour

marvin

happy german

ape

hope

molly

Please indicate your favourite shots, up to 3, below in the comments box, or on facebook if you are not able to comment on this blog.

facebook.com/goatboylee

If you like my work, then please follow the blog and add it to your favourites.
Many thanks for your help and opinions,

Lee

Congleton Time Lapse Project - Now with audio soundtrack

This is the finished version with a new audio track. Time lapse's need an audio track and one that represents just something of the mood of the visuals. I think that this soundtrack polishes the piece off nicely, though a bespoke soundtrack is being created by people who actually understand music (absolutely not me). It took a long time to learn the process of capturing time lapse photography, understand the equipment and software, and research the project, plus many days standing or wandering around Congleton. The people of Congleton were incredibly friendly and the staff at The Victoria Mill (featured in the final sequence) were wonderful in offering encouragement, advice on locations and information about the area.
Comments are very welcome on my blog.

Congleton Time Lapse Project

I have been trying to include my Congleton work in this blog but at the moment this blogger site won't take it, probably because my time lapse is 1080p HD. Anyway, please check the link below to see it on YouTube and please let me know what you think. I will put it on here as soon as it lets me.

'click here for my Congleton Time Lapse on YouTube'

First Experimental Time Lapse

 

This was a short experimental time lapse that I did during the time while I was learning the processes and software etc. It took 20 minutes to shoot and a few hours to edit and build and it gave me the confidence to then tackle a week long time lapse project in Congleton.

Although experimental, I still attempted to get my theme of time and perception into it by shooting at pram height and trying to make it give the feeling of mystery and confusion that people believe represents the perception of an infant trying to understand the world from its own point of view, with poor colour vision and other senses still developing. How would you see the world with limited senses and without self-awareness?

Try to watch this with high volume and in a dark room in order to suppress your own adult senses as much as possible. please let me know what you think and if you like it then please share it with your friends via facebook or other social network sites.

Work for Exhibition at The Victoria Mill, Congleton

Positively Eroded by Lee William Hughes
As part of a wider investigation into the theme of 'Time', I used my first experiences of Congleton to look into the way that environmental factors can augment our common spaces and street furniture. This change may occur slowly and unnoticed, bringing new forms and dimensions to what was originally placed there by human hands.
I found that time could be 'read' in the slow build up of lichen over centuries, the effects of sunlight and moisture on porous surfaces, the twisting of beams and the decay of a commonly referenced street corner in a busy thoroughfare. Such environmental erosion may be too pedestrian for us to observe as a constant linear change, yet is revealed more clearly when frozen as a fresh moment in time and taken out of context with their intended space. Perhaps over time these objects and spaces gain a visual character that can offset the negative implications of erosion or degradation on our own shared habitat.

Photographic work for Exhibition at the Victoria Mill in Congleton

Investigations into the theme of 'Time' lead me towards objects or vistas where I felt I could actually 'read' the passage of time in the erosion or change in objects that occur over the minutes, days, months, even centries. This photography tells a story of the passing of time, of the creep of moss and decay. Mankind's additions to our habitat are attempts to deny the onset and ravages of time, but nature and time will always win. In the end though, those ravages may not always ruin or destroy, perhaps sometimes they enhance our world, giving warmth and character where before there was the predictable or mundane. Positive Erosion.