David LaChappelle ‘Jesus Is My Homeboy’ at Robilant & Voena Gallery and Annie Leibovitz ‘A Photographer’s Life, 1990 – 2005’ at The National Portrait Gallery

Yesterday was an extremely busy day as I went to visit two photographic exhibitions. The first of the day was at the Robilant & Voena Gallery in Westminster where David LaChappelle’s project, ‘Jesus Is My Homeboy’ was being displayed.  David LaChappelle is one of the most exciting photographers of our time and has been dubbed the 21st Century Andy Warhol which is saying something. His bright, vivid, hyper-real photographs display some of the most brilliant photographs I have ever seen. His project entitled ‘Jesus Is My Homeboy’ is a set of several photographs displaying Jesus in various contemporary locals surrounded by various urban artists and characters. But as you begin to look closer at the images you see that they are actually based on various famous paintings and moments in the bible like the last supper, or the anointment of Jesus’ feet but updated to a much more visceral setting. The photographs which are sometimes difficult to look at because of the bright tonality were awe inspiring spanning several feet in each direction. I felt truly honoured to bask in this great mans work.

The second exhibition was for a vast series of work by the artist Annie Leibovitz who is one of the most proficient and respected portrait artists of the latter part of the century. Her work has dazzled audiences for years and se gained some quite humerous press when she asked the queen to remove her crown for a more informal photo shoot. This exhibition was in The National Portrait Gallery and contained a few hundred photos varying in subject matter from portraits of celebrities to shots of her dear friend as she grew ever closer towards death at the hands of cancer. The images were intoxicating and it was hard to stop gazing at some of them. The majority of the work was in black and white which only added to the mystique of some of the photographs. There was a strange order to the photos. I was expecting it to progress slowly from celebrities to the work with her friend and finish. However it was much more sporadic, spanning several celebrity photographs then one of her friend or family and then back to a celebrity as if to highlight that these moments with her friends or family, no matter how small or insignificant, were deeply engrained on the consciousness of the artist.

All in all I had a great day in London and will be travelling back soon.

Photo Shoot – Suzanna Marks at IMG Digital Studio

Had another photo shoot today, and my first using a studio. I was slightly nervous going in to the studio in awe of the amount of equipment I had available to me and slightly overwhelmed. The studio was run by Sean who was an excellent host and great help, teaching me how to use the equipment to gain some excellent results.

The model who took part in the shoot today is called Suzanna Marks and was one of the most professional models I’ve worked with so far. She needed absolutely no direction and was completeley at ease with being the focus of the shoot. I managed to dabble in some glamour work which had as yet eluded me, so I’m very happy about that. All in all a superb day and another step towards my future.

Photo Shoot – Georgia Buckland at Orange St Music Cafe

Good evening. I have only just managed to get online so this blog is a day late but hopfully still highly informative. Yesterday I had a photo shoot with a friend of mine, and up and coming model by the name of Georgia Buckland. She was a natural in front of the camera and being so immersed in the happenings of the fashion industry, she was able to bring some very creative and intriguing clothes to the set. The shoot took place at Orange St Music Café, which is a live music venue in the heart of Canterbury bringing all sorts of interesting music to the ears of its clientele. As soon as we walked into the venue we knew we had made the right choice of location. The stage still had the instruments and speakers scattered all over it, there were also aged leather couches and rustic looking pianos that were screaming to be used as backdrops. All in all, the shoot took about 3 hours allowing us to shoot several different locations and costume changes. A big thank you to Georgia for agreeing to model for me, and to the various people who helped out on the day and gave me permission to use the venue.

Identity08 at Waterloo Gallery

Dear purveyor of the written word, this is my first blog post and am eager to express my joy after visiting the Waterloo Gallery in London today. My elation began a few days ago as I searched one of the webs most popular search engines for some photographic exhibitions in London. I was linked to a site with various exhibitions and to my disbelief there was one taking place this week featuring work from several photographers who have just completed their Masters at De Montfort University. Now for those of you who don’t know, I graduated from DMU this summer and so felt a real honour by showing my support to my alma mater and its alumni. I was greeted at the gallery by the personification of the term hospitality. My host for the next few hours was Lizzie Brown, who was also one of the artists with her work on display in the gallery. She showed me around the gallery giving me further information on all of the artists work, and even giving me some advice on my own career for which I thank her greatly. I had a wonderful day at the gallery and wish all of the artists all the best for the future.

Here is a link to the Identity08 exhibition

http://www.identity08.com/

Joseph Watts