The photographers Gallery

  The Workshop in The Photographers Gallery was yesterday, 17th of June.

We met in the gallery's café at 10:30h. I arrived late ( only a little), so M and some of the others were having breakfast. Fortunately, I had enough time to drink a coffee and eat a croissant. I really needed it, because my fly from Spain landed at night day before, my fridge was empty so my stomach too. 
I was excited and at the same time worried, because my poem wasn't finished. Always writing about me has been really difficult.
The appointment was at 11h, the lady came to us few minutes late...it did M  started feeling nervous.

 

First, the lady showed us the room where you went to work. It was a big and bright room, with white walls and big windows.

 

 In the middle there was a big table covered with a red and white tablecloth. On the table, you could see papers, scissors and glues.

 

On the right hand, another huge table had ours self-portraits, others vintages portraits, needles and threads, blue-tack, tools for pierce the photos and at the end of the table, thousands of magazines and newspapers.

 

We kept our belongings in the room to visit the exhibition down stairs. Crossing the shop, we found a small room with some portraits.

 

 

   

 Some of them had been cut and glued again disordered, others had been sewed covering the faces. Another artist scratch the photos, he scratches new elements or emphasizes details of it.

Maud chose as favourite one photo of a train station in black and white. Everything in there was quite: the trains stopped in the platforms, the signals, the iron structure of the roof. Everything is stopped except the people. The photographer has used a kind of shoot that transforms the people in a flow, so you can see the movement.

 

My favourite portrait is one photo  in black and white of a girl. She is wearing  classic  clothes. The author has cut the photo in some places and has covered it with fluor colours papers. The author also has painted over the photo, only the back and the dress, so doesn't look like a photo unless a picture. This mixed has a incredible result, it's quite original.

 

After the visit, with new ideas in our mind, we wen back to the room to start the proper workshop.

We were excited like children, all of us went and came checking the magazines, the colour pens..

 

When we were focused in the work, nobody said anything.

When we finished, all ours photos were put on the floor. In this way we could see the works of the classmates.

 To finish, the lady showed us the camera obscure. It is a hole in the wall of the building, with  one lens and one mirror. You can  turn it 360 degrees. The mirror reflects the images from the exterior over one white screen. It is very curious, we could see the workers of the front built, the people in the street...
The experience has been quite nice. I'm surprise because my dad did a collage with our photos few years a go and it was our Christmas gifts. Some people arrived at home and asked us ' what is it?' We explained them, my dad did for us. In general people didn't like it, maybe because was something unusual. Now... Is my dad a pioneer? Of course he is ;)