Sipping wine, eating snacks and seeing real prints laid out on the table is such an enjoyable way to spend an evening.
First to show their work was Stefanie Hatt, who almost always prints very small – prints only 5 or 6 inches big. This evening she also brought some she had printed larger and was interested to know how this changed people’s interaction with them. It opened an interesting discussion about detail, abstraction, composition and physical interaction.
Next up was Mikaella Xenophontos, who wanted to talk about a long-term project documenting her grandmother back home in Cyprus. She explained her working methods, her equipment and her interactions with her grandmother when photographing her. Everyone was interested to hear about this personal project and keen to know more about her grandmother, who sounds like a formidable character with a fascinating history. Visit Mikaella’s website to see more of this work in progress.
Our third presentation was from Jimmi Wing Ka Ho, one of our summer artists in residence. Jimmi is working on a project about the Aylesbury housing estate in Southwark, that is set for imminent demolition. Thousands of people have been moved out, leaving just a few who have refused to go and Jimmi is interested in the traces left of these people in an otherwise derelict place. His work is experimental in the darkroom, using solarisation, light leaks and pre-flashing. We discussed how the work sat together as a whole and whether or not he should try and include some subtle portraits of the people still living there. Jimmi also showed us one of his hand-made books of the project.
Next up was Catriona Gray, who has been teaching alternative and experimental processes with Darkroom since our doors opened and this evening was showing us examples of her cyanotype work on cardboard packaging. Some was flat, some reassembled into boxes, some stitched, some toned. Catriona was keen to open up a discussion around the materials and which elements were more or less successful. She welcomed the exciting and fun ideas contributed by the group.
Last to present was our other summer artist in residence, Mary Ngwu, who showed us her striking portfolio of portraits, mostly printed at Darkroom, as well as some first steps into cyanotype printing. Members commented on what a distinctive style she has and gave positive feedback on particular visual choices she has made. You might see Mary around at Darkroom from now on as we have taken her on as our newest member’s session supervisor.
As always, LightWorks evenings centre around open dialogue, community and a genuine curious enjoyment of seeing others’ work laid out on the table. If you have not yet been to one, please do come and join us. You can show your work if you like, or you can just enjoy others’ work. If you do present, it’s always a positive and supportive environment.