A shell in a bowl

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A shell in a bowl

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Lichen, Countesswells Road, Mannofield, Aberdeen

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Lichen, Countesswells Road, Mannofield, Aberdeen

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Flowers, October

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Flowers, October, oil on card, 17.4 x 17.4 cm - available

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Flower

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Flower, oil on card, 18 x 15 cm - available

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A jar

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A jar, oil on card, oil on card, 12.3 x 15 cm - available

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Aberdeen: a still life: honesty

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Honesty, oil on card, 12.5 x 14.7 cm - available

Shelves - bottles, books and miscellaneous items, 2020

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Shelves - bottles, books and miscellaneous items, 2020

 oil on card, 17.5 x 14.9 cm, available

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funnel

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funnel

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A roll of masking tape on a trestle table, an apron strap

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A roll of masking tape on a trestle table, an apron strap

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Skimmer

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Skimmer

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Three tomatoes in a bowl on a table,: also a ketchup bottle, a paper bag, and a patterned plate and a ring pull seal from a milk carton

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Three tomatoes in a bowl on a table:

 also a ketchup bottle, a paper bag,

 a patterned plate and a ring pull seal from a milk carton

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My friend Spoon

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My friend

 In Vilcabamba, in magnificent mountainous southern Ecuador (a place I`d recommend despite being stuffed full of hippies). I drew a face on this plastic spoon. I`m not sure exactly where the spoon came from. I don`t buy take-away food. My best bet is that it was in the kitchen of the little hostel and it somehow found its way into my things. 

I don`t know exactly how. 

Maybe I was drunk*. I rediscovered drunkenness in Colombia at the end of last year and I absolutely love it. They produce various light lagers (Club Colombia, Aguila, Poker),  none of which are any great shakes but they all give just the right wooziness without making you feel too shabby the next day.

 Drunkenness is my favourite mental state by a long long mile (the next down on my list being how you feel arriving in a bright hotel room in a beautiful city and there are fresh towels and the sheets are crisp and clean and everything is orderly and you feel young and special).  I should add, by drunkenness, I mean mild-drunkenness, where everything goes soft focus and gilded and all women are gorgeous and conversation a good sight less tedious and your thoughts don`t have that jaggedness. I don`t mean the falling over, football hooligan vomiting sort.

The face is faint- that smooth plastic doesn`t really take ball-pen ink- but that`s fortuitous, surely?- that faintness adds to the sense of of spoon-faces reserve (it is surely a he, don`t you agree?). He is a listener, not a talker, and in a garrulous world that is something to be admired.

Later, I thought that the conical tip of the spoon very much suggests the presence of a hat- perhaps a fez, or maybe something more like a brimless bowler? -could  my friend be Pierrot?

Some see passivity in spoon-face's silence. Do they they not know the immense discipline that it takes too listen, calmly withholding?

 I may quote Jesus:

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth

When I gaze into the eyes of  spoon-friend I sense deep understanding, a loving presence before which I never  need to justify myself. When I`m with spoon-face, the anxieties that so often haunt me are absent.  I know that that I am loved despite my flaws.

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*I know you think DUH you're British, of course you were I must protest: it`s not as it used to be, especially among the youth who hardly drink at all.

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A pair of shoes on a rug

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A pair of shoes on a rug

 

 

 

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The underside of a matchbox; modest photography

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The underside of a matchbox

 

 

 

 modest photography

 

 

What is modest photography?

Modest photography is an approach to taking and presenting photographs. In modest photography both subject matter and means of depiction are humble and unspectacular.

What is a modest subject?

This is open to discussion and, naturally, has a subjective aspect. What is modest to one will be immodest to another.

 

 But, as a general guide, it's a photographic subject that does not immediately draw attention to itself- this could be because it is undramatic in its form (unsophisticated construction methods and materials, muted colours, small size, commonness, unexciting shape, lack of interactive aspects, low cost). 

 

 It could also be because it is not an item with an important history i.e having no link to a famous person or event, or little or no symbolic value (religious artefact, talisman, monetary unit)

 

It's a subject that does not have obvious and immediate emotive aspects (such as weaponry, medical instruments, associations with criminality, moral or behavioural perversion or lingerie).

 

 It could a place which is passed though daily but rarely really observed, or consciously experienced.

What is the point of modest photography?

The purpose of modest photography is to engage both viewer and maker with the commonplace. Modest photography seeks to encourage appreciation of the everyday  with images that are unadorned, plain speaking.

Does modest photography have a political aspect?

In the sense that all communicative forms attempt to direct the people's attention to specific  ideas, and induce changes in consciousness we can say that modest photography is political. 

By increasing appreciation of the commonplace and the overlooked we likely will reduce interest in the melodramatic, the self important and showy, and gain greater appreciation of what is around us. We can argue that this is political since it eschews the celebrity culture and the cult of obvious wealth that currently belabours the west.

Can anyone do modest photography?

Yes. Modest photography is for everyone. Modest photography can be pursued with a cheap celphone, or a costly Hasselblad.

What are the favoured styles in modest photography?

Modest photography has no dominant voice. It can be in colour,  black and white, square, or oblong.  But obviously, the effect of a modest photography must be commensurate with its message: that is undramatic, humble.

What are the origins of modest photography?

The origins of modest photography are in the still life photography used for product catalogues, in Dutch 17th century painting and its appreciation of the ordinary daily life and the School of Paris photographers such as Kertész or Brassai.

What about titles?

Modest photography encourages the use of explanatory titles and writing. These should, naturally, be in a plain style.

Is modest photography boring?

Probably to some.

  Modest photography proposes that the constant need for sensation apparent in contemporary culture is tedious and demeaning both intellectually and emotionally. Modest photography challenges the idea that what is most  worth of attention is what is noisiest, most expensive or most dramatic.

 Modest photography does not, however, impose itself as mainstream culture imposes itself.

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A piece of A4 paper

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A piece of A4 paper

 

 

 

 

 

I have this paper to plan my day and make notes during lessons, but I mainly use it to doodle and distract myself during those lessons or other online meetings

 

The paper is sold in packs of about 100 sheets.

 

 I'd prefer it if it were a slight off-white colour, but that's a hard to get hold of round here. Besides, when I have found such paper it is usually more expensive: I don't like more expensive materials as I'm wary of wasting them, and consequently am less likely to experiment freely.

 

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Stem

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 Stem on the ground

 

 

 A witch's hand 

lay on the ground

 

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Rua das Sereias, large stone

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R. das Sereias, large stone

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Piece of tree; my hand holding it

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A piece of a tree, length: 8 cm

 

Piece of wood, in hand

I'm not sure if this photo really conveys what is so likeable about this little piece of wood, which I found on the beach nearby.

It is how it sits in your hand, its velvety smoothness, a with a mysterious gentleness: most soothing. 

When you run your finger down it is makes a soft, dry sound, like a sigh.

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Stuff on a table: working in still life

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Stuff on a table, watercolour on paper, 12.7x 13 cm

 

 

 

 

Still life really is an excellent way of experimenting with art materials as well as thoughts: you work patiently in your studio, or wherever, hassle free. The elements don't trouble you and the motif doesn't change too much over a few hours.

 The sort of still life that interests me is usually quite personal. It's about the stuff lying around where I live: a kind of private documentation.

  I love many types of objects especially boxes, seeds, coins, bowls and books. I prefer objects which have a certain solidity and a clear geometry to them: eggs are wonderful. I do also like coloured fabrics, however...

 I am not fond of fluffiness. I usually find dolls unpleasant. Also, I generally do not like cuteness, as is often seen little porcelain figures.

I like the notion that any meanings that might issue from the objects depicted, and their relations, might unconsciously. I'm not excited by the formalised  arrangements of objects with their standardised symbolism that came to dominate the European tradition: the skulls, wine bottles, candles and so forth.

 

 

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Sofa, cushion, coffee table, bowls and books

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Sofa, cushion, coffee table, bowls and books, oil on card, 15.3 x 17 cm

 

 

 

 

 

 

From just over a year ago, in the previous apartment;

 

Oddly, the paint still hasn't dried in places. 

 

 

 

 

 

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