Sebastião Salgado: Genesis Exhibition

[Mike Farley]

The other day I went to the Natural History Museum in an attempt to see Sebastião Salgado's Genesis exhibition, only to be deterred by the length of the queue just to get into the musuem. I intend to try again at the beginning of September, probably on 5/9 or 6/9, after the schools have gone back and before the exhibition closes on 8 September. Wally has already been and recommends it.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=578

Is anyone else interested in going along? Admission is £10 or £5 for over 60s.

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/ ... o-genesis/

[davidc]

A bit of thread necromancy, sorry about that, but this exhibition was running at the National Singapore Museum and was free of charge so we popped in yesterday. Overall I'm pleased I went and thought a lot of his stuff was good. However, both myself & my wife came to the independent conclusions by the end that sticking exclusively to black & white had the undesirable effect of many of the shots blurring into one and being unremarkable. While it certainly worked for a large number of photos, we both felt the decision to make everything black and white when it might have been a stronger image in colour did mean we were losing interest by the end. We even overheard a number of people making the same remark after they left having spent far less time vieweing than we did!

For instance, while some of his landscapes worked well in mono, many were as confused jumble of lines/shapes/blurs and once we'd seen half a dozen of these we just couldn't be bothered in looking at yet another one.

In contrast to this the portraits were almost always good, especially b&w, but even then we found ourselves wishing he'd included more colour shots. Personally, although there was a lot of nice stuff there, some of it definitely felt like filler and, with a fair number of "photographer's images" too. If it's still on at the NHM then it's worth popping in for sure. I did take a number of photos of images I like to provide an aide memoire and use as inspiration for my own interpretation/take of the subject.

I did check out the accompanying book but at $100 for the standard version, $5598 for the collector's edition and *price on enquiry* for the limited Art edition, I decided to pass

[Mike Farley]

If it's still on at the NHM then it's worth popping in for sure.

The exhibition at the NHM finished last year. Chances are that the prints you saw for free are the same ones for which people were charged to view in the UK.

I did check out the accompanying book but at $100 for the standard version, $5598 for the collector's edition and *price on enquiry* for the limited Art edition, I decided to pass

I passed on the book as well. Like you, I enjoyed the exhibition overall, but the book was on the large and heavy side. I did buy a few postcards of my favourites, although frustratingly the one I liked best of the Brooks River in Alaska had been cropped from a landscape format to portrait.

[davidc]

Is this the one you mean?

http://metiviergallery.com/files/images ... 009_lg.jpg

It was portrait when we saw it at the weekend too. It was one of my favourites as well and what I used to prove to my wife black & white can work for landscapes.

[Mike Farley]

Is this the one you mean?

http://metiviergallery.com/files/images ... 009_lg.jpg

It was portrait when we saw it at the weekend too. It was one of my favourites as well and what I used to prove to my wife black & white can work for landscapes.

My memory is a bit hazy, but that looks like the one. Maybe it was a portrait when I saw it, although I do know that the postcard was a crop which reduced the image's impact.

[Mike Farley]

........what I used to prove to my wife black & white can work for landscapes.

Have you seen this guy's work? He is one of the UK's top practitioners of mono landscapes.

http://www.paulgallagher.co.uk/Home.html

[davidb]

Mike

Whatever day you go to the Natural History Museum you'll find the queues backing up round the corner into Cromwell Road. If you are a member you get in for free (I know it's free anyway but there are other benefits) and can fast-track into the building. There is also a back way in. If you carry on up the path to the Nature Reserve and turn right there is an entrance through the new part of the building.

The other benefits? You can generally get into the paid for special exhibitions (like the Salgado one - adults £10; members free). For the last few years the NHM has had a marque on the lawn for their "Sensational Butterflies" which, this year, closes 14th September. It includes butterflies and moths from tropical (the environment is controlled and it hits you when you first push through the flaps) to temperate zones around the would. There is a plaque showing and naming the various butterflies but I have found it less than helpful - many of the insects don't seem to be shown.

The Nature Reserve is not particularly large but it is a nice place to sit peacefully and contemplate your surroundings. This is where I took my picture of the Robin with it's beak full of insects (2013/14 DPI round 3 - "Mouthful")

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/

[Mike Farley]

Thanks, David. I know that the NHM has become increasingly popular and I have avoided the worst of the queues by using the Exhibition Road entrance. I was not aware of the back entrance via the new building nor of the fast track entry for members. Are there any good photo opportunities in the butterfly display?

[davidb]

The butterflies are free flying so you have to be quick. If you're into nature photography it's worth a visit and I don't need to tell you that you'll need aperture priority. Like the main building it can get busy particularly with children (with their parents!).

There is an entrance fee but members get in free. If you're not a member one of the benefits of being a member is that you get some guest free passes. If you would like one just ask.

[davidc]

The Sensational Butterflies exhibition is definitely worth a look and you can get good results too -


Clipper Butterfly - 126/365 by cedarsphoto, on Flickr

I went again this year and although I didn't take my flash kit again I still got some good results with the 6D in available light.