Master of Photography

[Mike Farley]

Mike, you should be able to catch up on Master of Photography on Friday 30 Oct 2:00pm.

I have added an entry in my Outlook calendar. The TV is not usually on at the time of day. Fingers crossed.

[Mike Farley]

I enjoyed visiting Kerry in Ireland with the 6 remaining contestants and seeing their perspectives of landscape photography.
Not all of them submitted their best single image but some how survived.
Based on the single images submitted on the night, I did not agree with the judges' dismissal.

Hooray, I managed to catch the episode on repeat. I agree that Kerry looked stunning despite some overcast weather and am similarly wondering why the two remaining female candidates presented the images they did. Especially as Marta chose a shot which the visiting expert specifically recommended against. I suspect that what saved them was that they followd the brief to show something of themselves (I'll say no more ) in their shots and avoid a "picture postcard".

[Iggy]

I suddenly remembered that we hadn't watched Master of Photography because of the SLF competition on Tuesday.
So did a catch up late evening yesterday.
Worth watching.
Last one, this coming Tuesday at 7pm.

Also saw Rankin 2020 on catch-up!

[Mike Farley]

I suddenly remembered that we hadn't watched Master of Photography because of the SLF competition on Tuesday.

I managed to see this on Tuesday by joining the SLF PDI Zoom meeting during an advert break and leaving my camera turned off. The programme finished around five minutes before the competition began.

I was amused because the previous week the judges had castigated Laura for not being "fully committed" since she had been partly clothed when when she included herself as a figure study in her landscape image. Seemingly taking the advice, this week she stripped off completely and brought the camera closer. One of the resulting images is really striking and features in the opening titles of the show. The judges duly eliminated her. To be fair, she had failed to fulfil the brief and had shown us nothing of her home or local area, although that was never really stated.

For a while, instead, the show's editors made it appear that Rupert was for the chop due to his "ordinary" images. Rut Blees Luxemburg made a comment that he had shown her nothing that informed why he had chosen to become a soldier. There are any number of reasons why people take up that profession, of course. I am strugging to imagine how many of them could be conveyed in a photograph, especially in the context of the episode's theme of "Home Sweet Home". Yet he had shown us himself in domestic surroundings with his family and in his uniform at the top of Buck House. There are two good reasons right there, defence of what we love and for Queen and country.

From my earlier comments, it will be obvious that I am no great fan of Rut Blees Luxemburg's work and I know that I am far from alone in that view. I once saw her present the last session at a seminar which was remarkable for two things. The blandness of the images and the sheer number of people who chose to leave early during her talk. The auditorium was quite empty by the time she had finished. To the extent that at the end the person chairing proceedings felt compelled to say that some people had apologised to him beforehand for not being able to stay. Perhaps a few had, but I suspect not as many who suddenly realised they had something better to do.

In the introduction to her talk, one of her recent "successes" was touted as the selection of her images to adorn a London Underground station. Given that a primary concern at such a location is ensuring a good flow of people passing through, her unremarkable imagery probably fitted the bill perfectly. The last thing they would have wanted is anyone stopping to stare.

I would turn RBL's question around. What is it in her work which demonstrates why she wanted to become a photographer?

[Iggy]

Laura Zalenga, for the most part, a self portrait photographer, did produce some dramatic images of herself.
She managed to work up her emotions to produce 3 interesting images.
However, she totally ignored the brief - Home Sweet Home - and was naturally eliminated.
Could she have included her mother who helped her in image selection or even her dog?

[Mike Farley]

Laura Zalenga, for the most part, a self portrait photographer, did produce some dramatic images of herself.
She managed to work up her emotions to produce 3 interesting images.
However, she totally ignored the brief - Home Sweet Home - and was naturally eliminated.
Could she have included her mother who helped her in image selection or even her dog?

The judges did specify that they wanted a self portrait in the panel so it was not a total fail on her part. Frankly, I think that she had been fortunate the previous week and could well have gone then except another contestant produced the "picture postcard" which the judges had specifically excluded. Her house looked interesting architecturally and there were a number of pot plants around which would have photographed well, so I am sure she could have done better. She seemed determined to to do the nude figure shots, though, and that was her downfall.

Time for a bit of controversy. When Rupert went home to his family, he told them that he would only be away for another week. Does that suggest that he already knew he was safe for that week and would be in the final regardless of how he performed?

[Iggy]

Remember to watch the final show of Master of Photography, Seines 1, tonight Tuesday at 7 pm on Sky Arts.
Rankin 2020 follows at 8 pm.

Just went and checked timing by bringing up today's Sky Art programmes on the TV.
It shows that MOP is at 7.30 pm on Sky Arts
No sign of Rankin!!

Perplexing!

[Mike Farley]

No sign of Rankin!!

Rankin finished last week.

[Iggy]

Yesterday's final MOP with the four remaining contestants was probably the best episode.
Contestants had to use an analogue camera with a single 50mm lens and just 3 rolls of black and white film.
The challenge. Europeans - Faces & Places landed each one in a different city with a local guide.
Thew were shooting all day long and some of the night too!
Each film roll was printed as a contact sheet from which they had to select their 3 images.
Lucy Conticello, a photo editor, helped contestants make their choices.
Chosen images were printed up in a dark room using dodge & burn techniques with expert help.
There was drama amongst the judges as they strongly disagreed on the one person to be first eliminated.
I thought that Martha won this final round with her images shot in Athens.
Rupert came back with three portraits from Paris.
Gabriele in Bucharest was apparently let down by an over staged image.
A second guest photographer, David Lachapelle, then reviewed all 8 projects with the 3 contestants.
After a second review of the city project I was surprised by the judges’ decision.

Still time to watch on catch up on Friday 13th November at 2pm (SKy Arts, FreeView)

[Mike Farley]

I agree that Marta probably submitted the best set of work, despite never having previously shot with film. Why probably? I find it difficult to assess the images when they are shown in the programme and have not been able to view them online subsequently. Very frustrating. I also liked Gabriele's shot with the flag, his other submissions less so.

One of the highlights for me was the sympathetic viewing which David LaChapelle gave to the finalists' work, even though not everything they had taken each week was shown. In particular, he liked Rupert Frere's series from the "Home Sweet Home" episode which the judges had vigorously panned. He also queried Gabriele's darkroom shot from the same episode which also looked odd to me but went unremarked by the judges.

I suspect that Oliviero Toscani's role is to act as the motormouth shock jock for whom nothing is ever good enough by raising increasingly unreasonable objections. Not that I think the programme needs it but it is what we get. In this episode he really went OTT with his excessive demands that the images represent the "future of Europe". Where was that in the brief? I enjoyed that Simon Frederick challenged him, only to have Rut Blees Luxemburg promptly shut down the discussion. I would have liked to have heard it and seen Toscani taken down a peg or two. I would not mind betting that conversation had been going on behind the scenes all through the series. I expect she had had enough of it.

Looking at next Tuesday's schedule on Sky Arts, it seems as though the channel reran the first series of MOP to coincide with Rankin and will not be repeating the other series of the show. Not for now, at least.