Poseidon by Graphique

I do find it strange how things tend to work out in the end.  Many times we can be faced with such a problem or dilemma that it almost seems futile and a complete an utter a waste of time and energy to continue forth; maybe it would be better just to take the fall and move onto the next trial and tribulation with a clearer mind.  Yet often, through some strange turn of events, things can and do work out for the better; the end result being something you could never have imagined at that one moment, particularly when those circumstances stop everything in their tracks.  If I ever need further proof or a gentle reminder that I'm on the right path with my photography and that there is a certain someone up there watching over me, I think this blog post goes a long way towards highlight this.

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

Emily Rose @ National Marine Aquarium

With my next venture out at sea with the crew of the Emily Rose just around the corner, it was wonderful to see my previous outing onboard gaining so much positive attention.  Emily Rose was fast becoming more than just another project; I honestly had a genuine interest into the lives of these fishermen and the many hardships they face on a day to day basis.  After all, they were out for weeks on end on one of the most dangerous and ever changing landscapes this world had evolved and perfectly perfected; for that reason alone I had nothing but absolute admiration, as well as a huge amount of intrigue into what lifts someone from the comfort and (almost) safety of dry land to working in such harsh, and at times, wretched conditions.

My expectation for this project had always been to honestly, and with the greatest amount of respect, portray a way life that for many (and no different to myself not so long ago), whose only association with these trawlermen was to order a fish supper from the chippy or pursuing today's catch at the local market.  This lack of understanding was not so much caused by ignorance; I simply felt that coverage of this livelihood was not hugely represented, thus leading to a severe lack of awareness.  To be fair, there was and is so much happening in the world, so many varied lifestyle and life choices, I suppose it is impossible to keep tabs on everything that goes on.  In my mind, if I could just inform even a few people, open a series of eyes and minds to a world vastly different, though one very much within and connected to their own, I was heading in the right direction.

My latest exhibition and first public display of 'Emily Rose' was held over the weekend (29.10 | 1.11.2015) at the National Marine Aquarium, in association with Norman Holmes and Kaya Gallery, featuring a stunning selection of work by Plymouth's Ocean City Artists.  It was a real privilege to be amongst the likes of David Gray, Julie Hammonds, David Chambers, Julianna Depledge, Carol Rolfe, Sophie Johnson, Jenny Evans and many many more.  My display consisted of six single image prints (21x14 inch), along with a montage piece (36x28 inch), all printed on 5mm foamex with a laminate finish.  Graphique in St. Austell, the same company that produced my 'i am Alive' image for my end of year show in London through Plymouth College of Art provided a fabulous job with the printing and left me stunned with the results.

The idea that I was the only photographer on display in this melting pot of such talented painters, glass makers and designers was fantastic, and often throughout the evening this was how I was referred to.  Wow, so you're the photographer!  Hearing that on repeat never got old.  By the end of the night I was mentally exhausted, though this was a good exhausted of course; my throat sore from constant yet welcoming conversations regarding my work, my first week at sea, the next outing and in particular, 'Poseidon'

'Poseidon' quickly became the main talking point during the night.  Comments generally begun or ended with the word phenomenal, elevating my head to a place way past cloud nine.  With a run of 64 limited edition prints on high end aluminium going into production this month following interesting from a company in the south west, as well as a recent three page spread in Fishing News (huge thanks to Dave Linkie and the team), I felt everything, touch wood, was finally coming together following a tough yet eventful first year as a practising photographer post-graduation.  With the winter fishing season now in full swing, I couldn't wait to see what images I would return with when I landed back on dry land.   

Poseidon

My recent article in Fishing News, found in WH Smiths

The Power of Colour

The more I think about it, the more I firmly believe emotion and the way someone is feeling at that particular moment governs the way we take and edit photographs.  

In a previous post, I mentioned how the hard drive on my Macbook Pro fatally crashed during Christmas 2014, and that losing all my edited work resulted in having to go back through hundreds and hundreds of RAW files and re-edit, only his time with additional years of knowledge and experience I acquired through the latter stage of my degree and the subsequent months following graduation.  What I don’t understand is why I suddenly began to edit my work in black and white.  

I am not saying that this was a bad move; from the sudden change at the beginning of the year in how I was producing my images, I did get a further two exhibitions from a newly completed and highly praised project, work as a contributor for an online publication, as well as a few emails and new contacts that I will soon (and very excitedly) talk about.    

I just found colour strange to look at.  For a good while, tones and spectral range just seemed considerably off and whatever the issue was, I simply could not put my finger on it.  It wasn't just in my images either.  Everywhere I seemed to look, imagery just didn't seem quite up to the standard that I was aware of during my degree.  It was as if I was now viewing imagery with production values firmly focused on saturation and vibrance through sliders turned up to 11 or lost within some convoluted mess of HDR exposures.  I got immensely tiring of seeing so much of the same export, wherever I looked; beautiful scenes seemingly altered to the point of no return.  Had photography become solely art over documentation?   

Perhaps this is why I began to play around in black and white, and for a good few months thereafter, a newfound interest and control over what could be done with an image began to present itself.  Shadows and blacks easily masked noticeable issues, while contrast could be ramped up in a way that if copy pasted in colour, the result would likely look entirely horrendous; perhaps this was how I was viewing things prior, though here in black and white, it seemed to only add further to the beauty of a piece.  There was also this interesting element that when producing work in black and white, imagery became somewhat and immediately timeless, as if the only way to view history was via this format.

Tsavo was bought to life during those few months, along with many other images taken during my time at university.  As I began to lay the ground work with regular visits to Sutton Harbour at the beginning of my trawler/life at sea project, and despite early attempts to edit in colour, I decided that long term I would continue to produce work in this way; the idea to exhibit solely in black and white while still retaining some form of commerciality in selling certain images in colour. It got to the point where I believed the only way to be a good photojournalist was to present your story in black and white.

Of course this is not and never will be the case, but try telling that to someone who is having difficulties in understanding the imperfections of colour; is this the point in which emotion comes storming in?  For example:

Imagine there is a person you have cared about for a number of years.  Perhaps something happens, nothing too serious but certainly a wake up call.  Suddenly they don't appear quite who they were.  You try and put your finger on it but the answer lies dormant.  From this point forward you begin to look at them a little differently.  Whatever the reason, you believe that this new look is for the better, despite your opposite now devoid of what it was that made them so special in the first place.  For a while you forget about the before and concentrate on the now, until a series of reminders and new opportunities quickly reflect on that green grass other side notion and you wonder why you ever did alter the one thing you've always viewed, loved and produced.

While I am often known for going off on a tangent, hopefully you get my point. A few months ago I was approached by a San Francisco based company (I'll go into more detail about this in a later post, to coincide with their website launch). They were interested in my Tsavo series, though when they approached me, 'Tsavo' was still in black and white.  Around the same time I found out I had been shortlisted in the Birds and Bees categories for the Zoological Society of London's Animal Photography Prize 2015, with my image of a Wake of Vultures. Despite 'Tsavo' being in black and white, I exported 'Carrion' (the title of the piece) in colour.  I was over the moon with the news and while I didn't go on to win my category, the acknowledgement does look pretty nice on my LinkedIn as a strong end to my first year as a practising photographer.

With my Emily Rose project now in full swing, I submitted a previous blog post, 'Emily Rose - A Week @ Sea' to Fishing News.  The editor of FN, Dave Linkie, soon replied back.  He seemed very impressed with the series of black and white images from my first outing, though he did finish by asking if I had these in colour.  I didn't.

Still, this and the last month or so did give me much to think about.  I was adamant that I was going to continue exhibiting in black and white; at least I think I was, though perhaps this was becoming more of a case of stubbornness washing over me.  I had pretty much settled on what prints I was going to showcase for my next exhibition (less than a week away as I write this), yet with multiple opportunities presenting themselves, I had a bit of a headache on my hands.

I began first with Tsavo, creating Virtual Copies of each RAW file and went from there.  Was it simply a case that right now, I was feeling on top of the world?  I still can't put my finger on it, which is why I do believe certain emotional factors do have such a huge impact on photography.  Whatever the case maybe, by the end of the week, Tsavo had never looked better. 

There were a few images I felt didn't work - Tsavo went from 51 images to 42 - but as a series, it certainly did look so much stronger.  Colours were awe inspiring; oranges, blues and greens looked positively alive, just as they were when I was there during those magically four days.  I could feel the change; bubbling and stirring inside, like getting home from a cold winter's day to thankfully sitting by a roasting fire, there was this beautiful warmth returning my work.

Emily Rose was next, and it gave me immense pleasure to not only reproduce my new project in this way, but to also create a series of new prints for my forthcoming exhibition at the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth.  I think Dave Linkie was pretty happy with the change too.

The feedback so far concerning my 'Emily Rose' has been fantastic, and I definitely believe reproducing the series in colour has had a lot to do with it.  In less than a week, this series gets its first exhibition and I'm very sure this will not be just a one off.  Around the same time, Fishing News will be including a series of prints, plus a write up by yours truly over three fantastic pages; a huge thanks to Dave Linkie and the team.  'Emily Rose' will soon be submitted to Viewfind, the San Francisco based company, and I hope their interest in me as a photographer continues.  I suppose when I say I have quite a bit going on and much to tell you about over the next month, I think you'll agree.  Plus round two of my 'Emily Rose' project is coming up, with a second week out to sea in early November.  I really can't wait to get back out there, and this time on cold winter seas.  No rest for the wicked.