The Glasgow School of Art

[THELONGMAN]

Over the past few years I have taken every opportunity when visiting Glasgow  to seek out as many building and gallery's attributed to Charles Rennie Mackintosh and  The Glasgow School of Art is a Mackintosh masterpiece.

[Clicker]

I couldn’t  agree more Geoff ... I should have loved  to have studied there. It must be such an inspirational environment to work in . Thank goodness that fire a few years ago was confined  to the library and didn’t do more damage ....though that was bad enough.

[THELONGMAN]

Cheers Click, My wife studied art there in the 60s, she said it was such an inspirational place to work. Sadly I haven't been inside but once the renovations following the fire have been completed I hope I will get the chance?

 

Geoff

[JMRead]

Hello all,

Also famous for its school of photography started by Thomas Joshua Cooper in the 80's.

http://www.inglebygallery.com/artists/thomas-joshua-cooper/

https://bellabathurst.com/thomas-joshua-cooper/

His series 'The ends of the earth' is quite a story, he chooses places at the extremity of land in various countries (edges he calls them) Cape Wrath for instance. Takes his 1890's plate camera and one sheet of film (specially made by Kodak and yes they still do) and waits for the photograph to come to him. He does four prints one artists proof and three for sale at £1,800 each.

He doesn't go in for psychobabble and his talks are punctuated by humour and f**k's but what he says goes in and never comes out.

He inspired me to make this (I couldn't afford to but one) m I used to go out with two sheets of film.

 

[THELONGMAN]

Thanks JR, thats some brilliant info and facts and an amazing story of you and your camera, perhaps you have some prints you produced with it, I would be so interested to see the results--Thanks again-- 

 

Geoff

[JMRead]

Hello Geoff,

I made the camera from modellers plywood and model aeroplane wheels, the two bellows came from the Wolverhamptom camera fair as did some very good advice about having rear tilt. Using it was very strange upside down and reversed on the screen so I made the 'visualiser' on top. I used Kodak Tri-X 'the gritty performer' in 35mm, but in 5x4 sheet film a totally different thing altogether the latitude was incredible parts of a neg needing 4 seconds and other parts 2 minutes. I have got some prints somewhere in the loft I think but maybe not its been such a long time ago.

It was nice at the time, early 90's but I soon got fed up with it and went back to my 30 yr old Pentax and gave it to Liverpool University, they smashed the screen in the first week, I explained how to make another but never heard from them again. I suspect they threw it away being unable to make one. 

Now I wouldn't give a thank you for anything like it, digital is much better, and fortunately after trying lots of photo forums mostly populated by 'guys with cameras' I have found DeviantArt a gold mine of image making, more than enough to turn anyones spark of interest into the flame of inspiration. One does have to trawl through the bland to find it though but unlike the other sites it is there. They claim 44 million members even if it's 1/2 that it means that every taste in image making is catered for. I was astonished to find references to; Julia Margaret Cameron, the Photo Secession, Paul Strand, Imogen Cunningham, Ann Brigman, Minor White, Joyce Tenneson, Ruth Bernhard all in the first few days. Lastly and best of all they couldn't careless what the images are made with.