I was so excited when Norman at Kaya Gallery asked me if I wanted to exhibit at the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth alongside a fantastic selection of Ocean City Artists this year, and it felt like such a great opportunity to test the water with my new project, particularly as 'Emily Rose' was still in the early stages of development. The potential feedback that I hoped to receive could go a long way towards shaping the rest of my first major study post graduation.
Having taken onboard the many positives and negatives from the various exhibitions I have been involved with over this last year or so, I quickly decided to do away with the additional cost of framing and instead simply go with a series of prints pinned to a wall. I didn't think any more about this till perhaps a month prior to the opening night, when during one of my bi-weekly chats with Norman I found out that I couldn't hang my work from the walls. Panic set in immediately and that feeling of I can't wait to exhibit was quickly replaced with the notion that I couldn't and wouldn't be able to exhibit. Before I made any kind of hasty decision though, I arranged to see Mark Du'chesne, the Front of House Operations manager at the National Marine Aquarium, in hope that we could find an accommodating workaround for both parties involved.
I met with Mark the following week and he took me around to view the exhibition space. With much of the upper floor newly refurbished, I could understand why he didn't want anything hung from the walls with either nails and pins. I suggested Command Strips, those used quite successfully during my Devonport Guildhall exhibition, though we agreed that the potential for paint being stripped during pack down was quite likely. I wasn't sure what to do. I honestly did think this was the end of a great opportunity to exhibit. Yet before my head drop, I noticed along the middle of the walls and around the room was a lengthy PVC trunking wide enough to rest boards upon at a slight angle and we decided this would easily be the best route to take. I had a good idea as to where to get a series of images produced to and from utter despair, there was definite relief replacing this emotion upon my face. When I returned home, I called Graphique in St. Austell, the company that produced my final major project of my degree and crossed my fingers.
Within minutes of speaking to Robin Hubbard, everything was sorted and all I needed to do next was send across the images ready for print. It seemed like only days later that everything was ready for pick up. I couldn't wait to see the work Graphique had done. Later in the evening I received an email asking if I could call them with regards to one of my prints. My heart sank as my first thought was something had gone very wrong. I had a habit during my degree of occasionally sending images to print, only to find I had supplied them with the wrong resolution or colour profile and my first thought was that I had done something similar here. How wrong I was.
The following morning I spoke to Robin and he told me that the team was so impressed with Poseidon, my storm at sea image, that they wanted to produce a limited edition run of this print on high end aluminium. My jaw literally hit the floor. Not only did they want to take on the production duties of this print, it wasn't going to cost me a thing. I could not believe the opportunity I had in front of me, particularly when weeks before I was almost about to pull out of the NMA exhibition. Like I said, its funny how things work out.
In the past, I have had to take on all costs when it came to selling work and generally my profit margins were quite low. Graphique were willing to take on everything from the materials and production time needed to create the piece, along with the marketing needs to display and sell this image. In return I would receive a percentage of each sale, along with my very own framed prints; the icing on the cake was that I still retained full copyright over the image.
Poseidon by Graphique was produced on high end lacquered aluminium as a limited edition 60 image run and looked absolutely fantastic. After getting home with my framed present, I took a snap on Instagram, yet looking at it compared to actually looking at it, this photo really doesn't do it any justice. It is simply one of those striking images that you literally have to see in person; the way light catches the print as you side step slowly from left to right is simply exquisite, giving off an almost haunting and life-like 3D effect. I have never been so utterly blown away by a piece of art and I can not believe that this is mine. And not mine in the sense that I now own this print on the wall, I actually took this. This is what I do. The work done by Robin and the team at Graphique has shown that my photography continues to be a wonderfully fine mix of documentary and commerciality and gives me a good and positive indication that my Emily Rose series will be a huge success next year.
 |
| Poseidon by Graphique, on display in the living room |
To accompany the print, I was asked to produce a write up that would be added to a plaque and presented with each copy.
Poseidon
by
Tony Fitzsimmons
Shot around 50 miles south south east off the coast of Land's End
and captured during an intense gale force 8 storm.
From the series, 'Emily Rose'
After five days at sea onboard the Brixham trawler, the 'Emily Rose', a message sounded across on the radio from the coast guard, warning of an incoming 5 to 7 gale force storm, projected to hit during the early hours of the following morning. My initial thought was that my first week out at sea with the crew was coming to an end. I turned to Arthur, the skipper of the vessel and asked if we were heading back to port. He glanced back at me with an almost bemused look on his face. "No, we're going fishing".
For the rest of the night I kept tabs on the radar as I watched various trawlers return back to the ports of Newlyn, Plymouth and Brixham, while we continued to remain out, riding the high waves against all odds. Within hours the radar was completely devoid of any other vessel; the Emily Rose the only trawler still working the sea.
By morning the gale was upgraded to an 8 and I was treated to some of the most powerful and incredible waves I had ever seen.
"The fisherman know that the sea is dangerous and the storm is terrible,
but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore"
Vincent Van Gogh
While my 'Emily Rose' project is still in its early stages, it really has had such a stunning beginning and there are still a few exciting developments still to mention since my NMA exhibition. I honestly can not wait to get back out to sea in early January and capture more of the crew and vessel, along with the ever changing and powerful landscape that is the sea. For now, if I ever need a gentle reminder as to how far I've come since graduation, I just need to walk into the living room and let Poseidon completely wash over me.
 |
| Poseidon |
No comments:
Post a Comment