Happy Halloween.

This is the first pumpkin I've ever carved.
When I was littler we used to use turnips, I guess because pumpkins don't taste that nice..

Had enough of panoramics.

..But have become obsessed with the bed.
I've photographed it about 4 times today.
This project, with or without research is going to kick ass... why am I so enthused about a piece of rubbish?
I don't really like modern art, I guess because it's pretty easy and related to the idea of space - otherwise I wouldn't notice/care.

© All Images, Ruth Johnston 2009

Maybe I should fork out for a fish-eye lens, a proper one. I haven't even got the right lens for the attachment I bought anymore. Anyone want to buy an attachment?

I have no time now and the time I do have, I spend sleeping. When I have finished doing my RDB, I will update the blog with proper work and not ugly 'shot on compact digital' panoramics, urgh.

Didn't watch Couple's Retreat in the end as Lovefilm sent me Spinal Tap and Little Ashes. Wish I'd used up the Orange Wednesday to be honest..
Spinal Tap is awful, I even see the influence it's had on The Office and I still hate it. Literally the only funny parts are the ones included in the clip shows that talk about how funny it is. I really, really wanted to like it, but I just couldn't.

I hope Little Ashes has a bit more to offer, although ofcourse I realise they're two completely different types of film.

Did have nachos though, at HaHa, wasn't as good as the one in Brighton, why is Portsmouth so lame?

I'm going to London again tomorrow, this time to see Bowling for Soup. Might head there early to get to The White Chapel gallery to sneak a peak at their Sophie Calle exhibition, I think it's kind of a retrospective, at least they're showing her work from the 1980s to present, should be interesting.

I failed.

Lost my campus card between the gym and the library - had it returned to the library by a kind anonymous samaritan.

Didn't get back from the gym/Adsa until nearly 9. Ate and watched two equally terrible documentaries about racial sterilisation (basically) - the BBC one came out worse.
BBC Make Me White

So yes, no editing/any work for me tonight. Tired, sleep x

Tomorrow I'm going to see Couples Retreat and have nachos. Nom.

Nachos at Ha!Ha! Bar & Canteen, Brighton ©Ruth Johnston 2009

Busy day of research.

Might just calm myself down with some photo editing tonight, carry on with RDBing and actual work tomorrow.

The bed is still where it was, so happy, but then when it goes, I guess that could be pretty useful too.
Come back from my tutorial with a pretty positive attitude, at least I know that my idea isn't completely dumb.
Have to look at Chapter Four of Charlotte Cotton's book, seems like it's the only real theory I can base my images on, but it is only a 4 week project and only worth 40% of the overall Documentary Practices unit.

Might look into why beds have names like 'The Duchess' and find out if this bed has a name. Judy thought the title 'What about me?' was too playful so that's something to work out. Going to photograph the bed at different times of day so I get different light and different atmosphere. Perhaps from the same angle as certain angles work better to get my idea - of commercialism and lonliess - across better than than others.
Can't wait, the end is actually in sight, proper bonus being that I don't need to mount them - something I actually hate more than anything.
I'll let you know how it turns out.

Currently waiting in the library for Moon to finish uni so we can get off to the gym, although the lugging of books I've done today must constitute as some kind of work out...

Got rejected by Bowling For Soup's media guy for taking photographs at The Roundhouse. I don't even want to take photographs of the band, just to get my SLR inside the venue - I'm taking it anyway and I'll cloakroom it if they tell me I can't actually bring it in, it's not like they'll smash it or anything is it?
Makes me sad that I'm not an 'accredited photographer' but gig photography isn't what I'm into. Just wish they didn't label it that way.
Can't wait to see BFS anyway though, they're hilarious.

So yes, update later on. Biffy, Brighton etc.

'Turn in' series - Martina Mullaney.
Martina Mullaney
Keith Arnatt
Cannot find Elliot Wurm, would be useful if someone could tell me who he is!

How old are you?

"What about me?"

Bed.
Beds are used as places of comfort and sanctuary, as a place to relax and rest. Everybody loves to sleep, relax, have sex, be lazy, cuddle up, be warm and all other things that come with the bed as a space. So what about whoever owned this bed? Where do they have now? And what will the bed do now without anyone to love it? It probably doesn't matter, it's just something else that needed an upgrade anyway.

Day Three:


Day Four:

© All images, Ruth Johnston 2009

This bed has been sitting outside for days and days. It looks so sad and rubbish. I'm looking at it for the spaces part of my Documentary Practices brief. I've sort of abandoned the panoramic idea, after looking at the catalogues for previous exhibitions and seeing it would be a major inconvenience to everyone. But I'm still kind of looking at the abandoned space. But more turned it into 'the abandoned thing'. I've changed the idea to be more about human presence within objects and how it effects the way we read them, rather than human presence in vast spaces - I mean the only way the previous ideas would really be experienced would be in an exhibition context, which is fine but when it has to fit all manner of other mediums, it begins to become a bit tricky. This is better though, and I can accompany it with text, which I wanted to do but was finding harder with the panoramas.
Does seem like I've thrown it together but the progression is kind of visible, hopefully. Well, I have a tutorial tomorrow so I guess I'll get some advice then.
One week to go and then I can focus documentary practices on anything. Going to write letters to some big department stores and photograph the shoppers (if I get permission), I want to do Ikea (Martin Parr inspired), either that or binge drinking - there are plenty of articles for research and Portsmouth is a great place to focus on - and it can carry on from my abysmal effort for Text & The Photographic Image, last semester.
Definitely not going to go the Nan Goldin route whatever I decide, can't match it and no one else can either. I'll update on how many people choose her style once we get Brief 2.

BrightonBiffy.

Will update with photos when I get the time.
Biffy Clyro were pretty amazing, despite the £21.30 train fare up to London, it was pretty worth it and it was a nice sit down gig.

Pretty busy non-productive day, which is pretty annoying.
Should have done much more work this week than I have and I can pretty much kiss goodbye to that, what with both my sister and Moon's brother being down..

...Thinking about making this private so only followers can see.
Some people can be secretively nosey.

Oh hey there Jordan/Katie Price/I'msickofhearingaboutyou.

Does it even matter that Peter 'I've only ever had/am going to have one hit song in my life ever' Andre has divorced you?
No, so go away.

Space and place.

The theme for this documentary practices brief is space and territory. I have chosen to focus on panoramic images as they can make smaller, intimate spaces seem vast and much bigger than they actually are. I haven't chosen what kind of images I will actually be taking for this set but after reviewing these images, I'm thinking about looking at different spaces at different times of day as it might be interesting to see the impact that people have on one space over the course of a day.
I can produce between four and ten prints so the sorting process should be quite easy once I have enough images to choose from.















Biffy Clyro tonight, I asked them if I could bring my SLR to work for the project but they said no because very few press are even going to be allowed to photograph. Lame. I'm still quite excited though and I can always bring my compact I suppose, they don't need to know that it's 10MP too.
Need to look over things for lecture on Friday and scan it in for the digital RDB... why is everything so hectic. I hope it will calm down when this brief is over and I start the next one, mind you it doesn't seem like many people on the course have even really started this one yet. Not that I've even done loads.
Updates soon.x

Ice Skating.

It was a good day out and surprisingly, I got a lot of photos for the documentary project. Check out the panoramas.