Tall Order Photography

Fine Art Photography

phil@tallorderphotography.co.uk (Tall Order Photography, by Phillip Gibbs) — Fri, 15 May 2009 20:18:00 +0000

You will find no clearer illustration of artistic appreciation than the price tag. Kind comments, rave reviews and peer acclaim don’t always come with fiscal rewards – and money makes the world turn round. To the best of my knowledge the highest price ever paid for a photographic print was $3,346,456 for Andreas Gursky’s “99 Cent II Diptychon”. Compare this to Jackson Pollock’s “No.5 1948” painting which has resold for somewhere in the region on $140,000,000, and you can plainly see that the relatively young art of photography isn’t held in quite the same esteem.

On a professional level I quietly cringe when a client sees a picture of mine that they admire and comments “you must have a good camera.” However I escape relatively unscathed, as the majority of my work is portraiture based, such as weddings.

A dear friend of mine has a far harder task. Her name is Margaret O’Hare and she is the commercial photographer in Northern Ireland. Her company, Fine Art Imaging, is based largely in the provision of Commercial and Fine Art Photography to clients in the Design and also international corporate sectors. She has enjoyed success in placing her artwork on the walls of private medical facilities, solicitors offices, restaurant lounges and on a good half million postcards.

At the very root of this international tree lies the Art For Walls Gallery in Lisburn; the eye of the maelstrom. Here Margaret displays photography that so utterly surpasses the ‘point and click’ that is the travesty of the digital age that it easily claims residence in that traditional no-mans land between the photograph and the oil-laden canvas.

She calmly ignores the mediocre rules of composition and focus that have been handed down from photographer to photographer for over 150 years, and creates images that thrash reality into a visage of soft flowing forms and transcendental colours. The mundane becomes alive and extraordinary; the exultant reduced and stripped of splendour and all the time she renders her perceptions with nothing less extraordinary than the very light with which we each see. Where a painter illustrates his mind and purpose upon a blank canvas with a full pallet of prepared colour, Margaret O’Hare performs the same feat with a box of glass and steel, in our clamorous living world, and with eyes that pierce it through and through.

See you at the finish line O’Hare.

The Landmark Trust

phil@tallorderphotography.co.uk (Tall Order Photography, by Phillip Gibbs) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:52:00 +0000

Ty Uchaf is the name of a small white washed cottage in Wales which is owned by the Landmark Trust. A couple of hundred years ago this cottage was part of a tiny village that was spread out across an area of open pasture high among the hills. Today all but a handful of the small stone and slate cottages are ruins, skeletons at the side of a disused Roman road. The cottage is more than a mile away from the nearest main road and a good ten minute walk across fields, over streams and through trees to get to a car (parked on a narrow gravel track.) Being nestled in the Welsh countryside means that there are only two sounds to be heard outside the cottage, the birds in the day and the rain in the night.

The cottage has made for the perfect Easter holiday retreat, with peace and quiet, walks and 'kodak moments' aplenty, but it isn't the first Landmark Trust property we have been privileged to visit. We were invited once to spend an evening in The Music Rooms in Lancaster by some friends of ours who had hired it for the week. Whilst the type of building was quite different, the sense of old world escapism remains much the same.

The Landmark Trust is a charity which buys, restores and hires out buildings of historical or architectural significance. These buildings range from quaint little cottages through to castles and even former navel fortresses in the channel islands! Beyond an appreciation for the high standard of the restorations, the simple homely pleasures within are a treat: log fires, large chairs, erstwhile furniture, carpets, bedding and traditional china tea sets. I'm not one for excesses of physical exertion, but I've immensely enjoyed long (12 mile!) walks and even chopping wood. And of course, taking a few photos was a pleasant exercise too!

My first ever blog!

phil@tallorderphotography.co.uk (Tall Order Photography, by Phillip Gibbs) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 13:21:00 +0000

Everyone seems to agree, I need a blog. Possibly the strongest advocate of me starting a blog as my good friend and associate Margaret O'Hare (and runs Fine Art Imaging in N. Ireland) - who raves about blogging! I'm repeatedly told of the virtues with regard to 'googleablily' and such like, but I'm hoping to show off something of myself and my work, as well as that of my colleagues and contemporaries.

Perhaps I can 'spread the gospel' of good photography! I feel passionate about what I do, and try to teach other more than just how to use a camera at my night classes and one-day-crash-courses (as a Photography Tutor for Lancashire Adu

lt Learning.) I like people to consider and appreciate the skill and artistry behind an image and to move past the phrase "You must have a good camera" or the belief that uncle Joe can do as good a job as a professional wedding photographer. (am I sounding bitter? I'm not really!!)

To start things off, I'll post a picture of me atop a mountain. Its the summit of 'Arthur's Seat' in Edinburgh, taken by my boyfriend, who has begun taking annoyingly good photographs! We were visiting Scotland on a two day mini break and had a wonderful time. The views from the summit were gorgeous and the weather cleared for the hour of so we we're up there. Terrific stuff!