Jonathanjk's Weblog

Car Enthusiasm: 3rd September

jonathanjk — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:43:43 +0000

For the first time during this project, I photographed during the day. Taking a more personal approach. This is the first of what are a few photo shoots that are coming that will hopefully add more depth to the project. Bobby London is pictured polishing (link) his Audi Convertible.

Car Enthusiasm: 2nd September

jonathanjk — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 11:19:19 +0000

James rolled up yesterday in his new Audi TTS. A new motor is guaranteed to be the a topic of conversation for the next few meet ups while everybody is introduced to it.

James's new Audi TTS Turbo

Getting a feel for the inside.

Lost in the moment.

Moses and Jesus share a conversation between themselves.

Link to library of images (link).

Car Enthusiasm: 1st September

jonathanjk — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:19:39 +0000

The Homebase car park is much bigger than the one by Somerfield in Swansea City, it’s isolated, those who do meet there can be left alone to socialise with their vehicles and therefore can’t be associated with any potential troublemakers. Just for some innocent fun, Dan set up up his recently purchased Slip rope between two trees for example.

Here is a library of images from yesterday (link). Images taken by Huw Bevan.

Everyone seeing who can walk the furthest along the Slip Rope.

Honda Civic Type R EP3

Free Running: 30th August

jonathanjk — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:08:29 +0000

My iPhone rang, it was Adam, asking if I wanted to join him to photograph him and Sam. They were going to Free Run in Mumbles. They were already in Swansea practising in the usual locations with the idea of driving to the next town.

Mumbles is a small town that shares Swansea Bay with Swansea and Port Talbot. Immediately distinctive from Swansea for the large collection of berthed boats lining the coast, on and off shore and its own pier. It has a touristy seaside vibe to it that Swansea lacks, so it complements well.

What excited me, was how busy Mumbles could be on a Bank Holiday. The practice sion would be on a thin stretch along the promenade near Mumbles Pier, many people would be walking past. There would be more opportunities to photograph the various tricks Urban Precision could do with more people watching them. It is one element I’m trying to take advantage of; the social aspect, in order to differentiate my photography from others. I find that most imagery involving Free Running is shot is a very particular way. Tricks are shot in isolation against sunsets in silhouette or as a series of shots combined to illustrate the move in question. Flickr is loaded with such images, but I find upon viewing that they lose my interest very quickly.

I want to create imagery that interests me but to provide a social context. To illustrate and explain who these individuals are and to positively report on the activities that younger people do. A reminder that youths don’t just spend their time on destructive things, but on activities that are richer and more varied.

Bystanders watching a front flip, Mumbles.

Adam and Sam take time out of discuss injuries.

Link to library images (link).

Bag of Propaganda.

jonathanjk — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:41:25 +0000

I came across this article (link) in the Guardian today by British Photographer Martin Parr. I particularly like this sentence:

Most family photo albums are a form of propaganda, where the family looks perfect and everyone is smiling: we try to create fabrications about who we are.

Family albums always hold the happiest moments, i’ve never seen a photo album chronicaling the painful moments as much as the happy ones, photo albums only hold the smiles, not so the sorrows.

My sister has all the family photos at the moment, when I visit her, I find more photographs from the first years of our lives in China than I do for the 20 or so years lived in England. There is even a photo album for the photographs from that time spent in China for others to view, but not for the ones from England; they live in jumble in a plastic bag, a special task for something so mundane.

It’s only come to mind now having read Parr’s article as to why one set of photographs are kept in a more meaningful way than the others, even though they live in the same place in my sister’s house (the cupboard btw).

None of the family have taken the time to organise the later period of our lives. Now I’ve realised why.

After leaving China, my parents split up, (myself and my sister being left in the care of my father) the cameras were nonexistent at our birthdays and other social events (because typically our mother operated the camera) or any pictures taken were by those who replaced her, the fiancee and our grandmother. They also didn’t take nearly as many pictures as she would have done.

Looking back into the thin paper slices from our past, our mother was still there, she wasn’t entirely missing, she had her own set of photographs that we’ve collected and mixed in with the others, from the times when we could visit her.

Besides my saying so, there isn’t any photographic evidence of the pain of a family breakup from the photo collection. My parents broke up twice in fact, none of that was recorded by the camera in between the breakups. Those moments arguably are just as important as our birthdays, of course they wouldn’t be photographed but my point is our family album doesn’t accurately chronicle that part of our family history, the album is a lie on viewing it. The propaganda as Parr calls it.

Bagging all the photographs together I think was an unconscious act of hiding the breakups, both photo collections are together because we can go through the pile of imagery as though our parents were still married. As it stands at the moment, that bag is full of propaganda, trying to cover for something that we as children wished never happened. Anybody outside the immediate family wouldn’t see the propaganda we’ve accidentally created. I say accidentally because it was an innocent act on our part and we do tend to narrate what doesn’t exist in our family history when they’re being looked at.

Should I wish to be 8 years old again documenting the tragic moments, allowing me to present a more truthful account of our family history? What would be documented when for the both of us, it wasn’t a painful time, I don’t even remember witnessing any heartbreak or emotional moments, there was just confusion.
All we knew, was that we wanted to have our parents back together. Just like all young children who didn’t understand the complicated world of adulthood, it seemed simple to wish our thoughts into reality, the repurposed shopping bag is an extension of that juvenile desire.

So while it isn’t a truthful account of what actually happened it’s better to think of the bag of propaganda as something we as children wanted during at time.

Car Enthusiasm: 18th August

jonathanjk — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 18:56:21 +0000

A small update from the project last week.

Huw's new car, the previous one was written off in an accident.

Free Running: 14th August

jonathanjk — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 17:33:28 +0000

In an alleyway on the side of Idolz was the venue yesterday for Freerunning (gallery link). It’s a new location for practising on until Urban Precision are moved on by those who deem them a nuisance. Within minutes, the Police arrived in a Panda car, they politely asked what Urban Precision were doing. Their questions were more out of curiosity as opposed to somebody having called them out, to confront whoever was climbing the side of their building. After conversing, the Police didn’t move Urban Precision on and they continued their climbing and jumping.

Sam (left) discussing with Adam (centre) and Cameron (right) about which move to make next.

Car Enthusiasm: 12th August

jonathanjk — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 16:31:53 +0000

Still at Homebase, Huw mostly took the pictures in this gallery (link).

Huw is aiming to polish his car soon, it’s going to take 6 hours, joy.

Huw.

God relaxing.

Free Running 7th August

jonathanjk — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 17:53:08 +0000

A bit of rain and a lot of pain.(link to images)

Normally Urban Precision (U.P.) don’t free run in the wet weather as it makes everything slippery, the brief shower forced U.P. to move indoors to the top of a car park, trying flips over a high rail and grappling with the ceiling leading into the Quadrant shopping centre.

Afterwards the sunshine came out in full force there was some discussion about moving back out again to the usual spots; St David’s shopping centre and ‘The Letters’ by the LC2.

180 Cat Grip

Wall Flip.

The letters are an artistic arrangement of concrete shaped letters and are an ideal platform to practice flips and jumps off. None of that happened however as Nathan might have broken his foot before getting there.

Blog Tidy up & upcoming exhibition

jonathanjk — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:18:37 +0000

I’ve had a bit of a clean up on the blog roll, taken away a few dead links and added a few photographers I’m interested in at the moment, I found them on the 500 Photographers web link which is on the left as well.

One of them in particular who I like is Christopher Wahl. Some of his portraits are great:

Emmanuelle Beart

David Lynch

Sophia Coppola

In September on the 10th I’ll be showing a small selection of my work with my Photojournalism MA class in London, this is the website (link). Hope to see you there. Exhibition 10th-13th Sept at P3 Gallery, University of Westminster.

Nearest tube - Baker Street
Buses: Numbers 2, 13, 18, 27, 30, 74, 82, 113, 139, 189, 205, 274 and 453 all stop either outside the University on Marylebone Rd, or at its junction with Baker Street.

Gallery opening times: 10am to 6pm

Private view: 9th September, 6pm onwards