PRESS RELEASE for forthcoming Solo Exhibition

CONSTRUCTED PHOTOGRAPHS – solo exhibition by Dave Green
Sock Gallery, Loughborough Town Hall
29th October to 5th December 2015
Monday-Saturday from 9am-5pm

Wreck of MS Johanna interior

Loughborough born and bred, Dave Green, went on to study Photography in Wales, taught the subject in Northampton, and now lives the life of an artist in North Devon. He has a major exhibition of his work at the Sock Gallery in Loughborough from 28th Oct to the 6th Dec, and although he has exhibited his images in many parts of this country and America this is his first show ever in his home town. Dave's current photographic work is themed on Sea Caves, Shipwrecks and the Rocky Shore. This show titled 'Constructed Photographs’ is a retrospective of his work from the last 20 years demonstrating the development of his technique from last century's 35mm film triptychs to his present day stitching of multiple digital files.

All of the images in this exhibition are constructed from two or more photographs. In the 1990’s Dave was drawn towards panoramas which he achieved by shooting consecutive photographic frames and printing them from a huge colour enlarger in totally blacked out darkroom. With the birth of a new century he embraced the new photographic technology of digital, still in it’s infancy, and set out to make photographs that he could not have realised with film. Stitching and seamless blending of pictures has been his trademark, but unlike many of the manipulated fantasy images seen today, Dave’s is a search for reality, and strives to construct his images truthfully to his memory of place.

Key Hole Cave, Hartland

This image 'Key Hole Cave, Hartland' is an example of his current digital work and is constructed from more than 100 separate photographs, of different exposure, angle of view and framing, all from a fixed point to give the detail from the deepest blacks to the brightest highlights in this extremely high contrast scene.

Dave Green 2015

Public Art pt3 - Trials and Tribulations

 

The photomosaic created on a computer with Artensoft software gave me a good idea of the kinds of images needed for the piece in terms of their colour, contrast and arrangements of compositional elements and where they should be placed. Unfortunately, the software wasn’t ‘clever’ enough to keep each separate photograph to its format of 3x4, often cropping frames then magnifying them to a larger size. The computer generated photomosaic was to be my guide but in reality it proved to be a very loose guide and it’s only value was in selecting or suggesting a range of images to use.

My intent, as noted earlier, was to collaborate with the public in sourcing images for this Public Art; specifically images generated by members of Bideford’s Youth Club run by Devon Youth Services. The photomosaic project idea, within Culture Show, was discussed in the Spring with DYS and gained a very favourable response, as the young people would get some photographic training through the partnership. Dates were set in June and July for this to take place. I had hoped for up to 100 digital photographs each from the 20 or so members of the group, and was particularly keen on including portraits, or selfies, of the young people as a way of dating the piece, but always knew that a lesser number could be supplemented by images of my own taken to document various Bideford Bay Creatives events. However things don’t always work out as one hopes perhaps due to the timing on the calendar, a breakdown in communication, or the sheer size of the task. Only one member of the club came up with a set of images, though sadly many of these where of too low a quality to print at 3x4 inches. A few more images were extracted from staff members. I had a small set of images from a previous workshop with the same group and with Young Devon (now dissolved). This left me very short of images as I was hoping I would only need to add a few hundred of my own to complete the cache. So time was spent trawling through Bideford Bay Creatives’ archive of images, mostly taken by myself. The images found were mostly from First Fridays, music on Jubilee Square, Potwalloping Festival, Appledore Arts Festival, AONB Photography Project, Wicked Week workshop and documentation, A Year in the Life of Bidefod project (which included many of the towns events), Culture Show and Tales of the Riverbank. I was never going to find hundreds of blue images, of differing shades, so I decided to shoot a whole lot of pictures of sky.

Back on Jubilee Square the window’s, which had been covered with a white plastic film for many years, were cleaned of their greasy surface and roughened up with an abrasive scourer. A4 card was fixed to this surface with wallpaper paste to enable easy removal in the future. The card was white or black and it’s positioning in the grid was determined by the brightness or darkness of the image that would be on top of it, so that any ‘cracks’ between the prints would be a similar tone to the images.

I used a scaled down print of the Bideford Longbridge photomosaic on my computer, with grid lines, as my guide. At first I had positioned the 3x4” prints on my computer screen as layers on top of the photomosaic grid; then, precisely, used the same prints on the prepared window. However this proved to be an extremely slow process, locating specific prints, and ultimately it didn’t work anyway because of small discrepancies in the cut sizes of the prints in comparison to those on the guide. Very soon I reverted to drawing the grid and all of the key features of the image straight onto the prepared windows and working in a far more intuitive way. It was clear by now that I would have to trim and crop prints down to make the overall image easier to read so I made the decision to work from the irregular inside shapes of the bridge arches, so that their shapes were as accurate as possible. I was essentially making a computer generated photomosaic manually, a massive task for a picture 12ft x 5ft in size. This was a fascinating part of the process for me as I could no longer ‘see’ the individual prints as images in their own right, but as a relative colour and hue. I found myself looking for lines, horizontal, vertical, diagonal and curved; where those lines were created by a light area and a dark area meeting. It was a thrill to make the crown of an arch with an upturned image of Jubilee Square or the vertical wall of an arch with a coastal horizon. Prints were grouped by their colour, tone, line, shape etc and my creative approach was to keep same or similar images apart from each other and also to find interesting juxtapositions of unrelated images.

Public Art pt2 - Budget

I got to see installed public art and experience a community led piece in the making at the Plymouth Art Weekender on Sunday. It was encouraging to see a lot of photographic image use in various temporary and semi-permanent ways which gives me food for thought for future projects.

Tim Mills' installation '30 Plymouths'
at the Mayflower West Car Park

Use of historic photographs showing
how Union Street used to look

But back to my piece 'Bideford Longbridge' on Jubilee Square:

The budget for this work was always going to be small and only sufficient to cover material costs, but as a founder of Bideford Bay Creatives with the opportunity to make a large piece of art for the town that I’m living in I was happy to proceed under these restrictive conditions which define the finished work. I decided to use Truprint to print the images because I’ve been very impressed with the quality of image in both colour accuracy and longevity in the past. Truprint was used in 2012 for my ‘Postcard from Manteo’ Open Studio where images were glued to the risers and varnished – these images are still there and look as good as when they were first installed. Also Truprint is very cheap, approximately 5p for a 6x4 inch print – my intention was to get two images 3x4 inch on each print making them 2.5p each. My reason for such small prints, a size too small for any commercial printer to offer, was to achieve a truer representation of the original image through the photomosaic. Essentially, a photomosaic gets progressively easier to read as the number of images increases. However, the cost of the printing was small in comparison to the glue needed to fix the prints to the window surface; and this was compounded by the condition that the artwork needed to be temporary rather than permanent.

Making the arch for the middle section of the Photomosaic

It would have been possible to have sized an MDF board for each of the three window frames, then to have constructed the photomosaic off site in my studio and so only spending time in the allocated space for the installation of the finished boards. However, as this was Public Art, I felt that the public had the right to be engaged with the artwork in progress, so I decided to construct the whole piece within the public domain of Jubilee Square.

Public Art pt1 - Concept

1st computer generated photomosaic using Artensoft Photomosic Wizard and random images

Art is rarely just created solely for the artist, often made as a commission or gift, but the majority of art sits in the public realm. Historically this was the gallery wall, the open studio, civic building or hotel lobby; but now even amateur artists and hobbyists can publish their latest work to potentially a mass audience through social media, the art critic’s judgement replaced by peer reviews and the number of likes it receives.

‘Public art is art in any media that has been planned and executed with the intention of being staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all.’ Knight, Cher Krause (2008). Public Art: theory, practice and populism. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

Having a piece of sculpture installed into a city square by contractors is a typical example of public art but my experience of making a piece, in the 12ft x 5ft empty frame of a boarded up window, in a very public square over the course of 4 weeks takes ‘public’ to a new level.

The original image made by stitching 6 frames together with Photomerge in Photoshop

The original image made by stitching 6 frames together with Photomerge in Photoshop
The work, a photomosaic, was conceived 6 months prior to the installation, and submitted to Bideford Bay Creatives for inclusion in their Culture Show ‘art in non-gallery spaces’ for August – September 2015. Once the concept was accepted permission was obtained from the shop manager of McColls locally and nationally and of the building owner to use the blanked out windows for the piece. Permission was given so long as the artwork was temporary or was easily removable in the future.

As this was to be public art I wanted the public to be part of it hence the idea of a photomosaic which I estimated could be made from 700 to 800 separate images, many of which could come from the public realm. I had never made a photomosaic but my arts practice over the last 20 years, from triptychs made with a film camera to detailed interiors of sea caves have been achieved through constructing an image from many frames. I have also been teaching photography through this period and wanted there to be a learning element to the work also. With this in mind I approached Devon Youth Service in Bideford as a partner in the project so that local young people would get the opportunity to experience the photographic arts process and see their photographs in a public space.

Colour was intensified through hue adjustments and increase of saturation

Through experimenting with Artensoft Photo Mosaic Wizard software it became clear that a colourful, high contrast, graphic image would be needed to base the mosaic on. The theme of Culture Show was the River, and so I wanted to use Bideford’s iconic, historic longbridge, which dates back to the 13th century to build the work from.

Early attempt at computer generated photomosaic to determine which images worked the best

The ‘frame’ I needed to fill was wide-screen in shape so I needed a view of the bridge head on, much like it is in Bideford’s coat of arms, however this is a view rarely seen as you need to be in the middle of the river to see it. I took up the challenge on a very low tide with sunshine highlighting the uneven arches of the bridge; and walked to the middle of the channel using a bamboo cane to check for sinking sand. Conscious of the incoming tide the initial photographic panorama was made very quickly. These images were stitched together in Photoshop’s Photomerge enhanced in Lightroom and then the saturation was increased to give me the graphic representation I was hoping for.

Final Artensoft photomosaic that was used as a guide for the artwork

Photographic Workshops in Devon and South West, Autumn 2015

Digital Camera Skills - £50
A practical days workshop learning to gain control over your camera, shutter speeds, aperture, ISO, flash etc, setting it up for optimum quality under any given lighting, and making better pictures through composition. Numbers limited to a hand-full. I also offer it on a 1:1 basis for ½ a day for £75
Course Description pdf
Saturday 10th October in Bideford, (10am-5pm)
Wednesday 4th November in Ilfracombe, (10am-5pm)

Half Day Intro to digital photography - £25
A 'sit around the table' workshop to get to know your camera better. You'll learn about shutter speeds, aperture, ISO, flash and setting your camera up for optimum quality.
Course Description pdf

Tuesday 3rd November in Bideford, (10am-1pm)

iPhoneography Workshop - £25
A practical workshop to learn how to use your iPhone's camera to take professional looking photographs and enhance those images on the go. Suitable for anyone with an iPhone. You will need to install a few cheap photo apps in advance which I'll advise on when booking!
Friday 9th October in Bideford, (10am-1pm)

SmartPhone Photography - £25
A practical workshop to learn how to use your Smartphone's camera (Android, Windows or Apple) to take professional looking photographs and enhance those images on the go. Suitable for anyone with a SmartPhone. You will need to install a few cheap photo apps in advance which I'll advise on when booking!
Thursday 22nd October in Barnstaple, (10am-1pm) 

Sea Caves, Shipwrecks and the Rocky Shore (10am - 5pm) - £50
An introduction to Dave Green's own photography. Spend a day with Dave experiencing the secret coast, hidden at the far ends of a sandy beach, full of caves and shipwrecks. Learn how to make the best of your own camera under demanding landscape and lighting. tba
Course Description pdf

Painting With Light (Light Graffiti) - £25 per photographer (but please bring a torch swinging friend at no extra cost)
An evening workshop celebrating the dark nights of the Winter. You'll learn how to make 'long exposure' photographs using coloured lights, flames, sparklers, al almost full moon and hand-held flash
Saturday 21st November at Westward Ho!, (6.30pm-9pm)

Photographing your own Artwork - £60 with lunch, tea and coffee provided!
I have a wealth of knowledge and experience of photographing 2D artwork, jewellery and ceramics and I'm willing to pass this on to artists eager to improve their own image making camera skills. Although this workshop is for a small group (max 4) I also offer it on a 1:1 basis for ½ a day for £75, or I can deliver the workshop in your own home or studio anywhere in Devon for £125
Course Description pdf
Monday 19th October in Bideford, (10am-5pm)

Introduction to Photoshop (11am–6pm) - £75 with lunch, tea and coffee provided!
Opening an image file and adjusting levels, contrast, brightness and colour balance. Rotating, resizing and cropping an image. Placing an image or images into a new file. Using layers and history. Participants will need to be computer literate i.e. use a computer on regular basis and understand the basic controls. Small group (max 4). I also offer it on a 1:1 basis in your own home or studio anywhere in Devon for £175
Friday 6th November in Bideford, (10am-5pm)

New Photo Workshops

Photographic Workshops in Devon and South West, Summer 2015
Some new workshops this summer and some new evening start times.

Introduction to digital photography - £50
A practical days workshop learning to gain control over your camera, shutter speeds, aperture, ISO, flash etc, setting it up for optimum quality under any given lighting, and making better pictures through composition. Numbers limited to a hand-full. Also offered on a 1:1 basis for ½ a day for £75
Course Description pdf
Friday 12th June in Bideford, (10am-5pm) Click to Book

Half Day Intro to digital photography - £25
A 'sit around the table' workshop to get to know your camera better. You'll learn about shutter speeds, aperture, ISO, flash and setting your camera up for optimum quality.
Course Description pdf
Monday 22nd June in Bideford, (6pm-9pm) Click to Book

iPhoneography Workshop - £25
A practical workshop to learn how to use your iPhone's camera to take professional looking photographs and enhance those images on the go. Suitable for anyone with an iPhone. You will need to install a few cheap photo apps in advance which I'll advise on when booking!
Monday 8th June in Barnstaple, (6pm-9pm) Click to Book

Victorian Selfie - £25
Make a Victorian portrait with an 8x10 inch camera from the 1880’s and learn the basics of monochrome using black and white paper and photographic chemicals in a darkened room. You’ll even get to take a picture home with you for your new profile!
Saturday 13th June, Ilfracombe Museum 11am–4pm, £25
Book through Ilfracombe Museum: 01271 863541 info.ilfracombemuseum@gmail.com

SmartPhone Photography - £25
A practical workshop to learn how to use your Smartphone's camera (Android, Windows or Apple) to take professional looking photographs and enhance those images on the go. Suitable for anyone with a SmartPhone. You will need to install a few cheap photo apps in advance which I'll advise on when booking!
3 hour workshop TBA Click to express your interest

Sea Caves, Shipwrecks and the Rocky Shore (10am - 5pm) - £50
An introduction to Dave Green's own photography. Spend a day with Dave experiencing the secret coast, hidden at the far ends of a sandy beach, full of caves and shipwrecks. Learn how to make the best of your own camera under demanding landscape and lighting.
Course Description pdf
Saturday 4th July in Bude, (10am-6pm) Click to Book

Family Photo Workshop - get to know your camera - £30 per adult (maximum 2 accompanied children free)
A practical workshop to get to know your camera better. You'll learn about shutter speeds, aperture, ISO, flash and setting your camera up for optimum quality. This workshop is 3x hours taught time and 2x hours photographing/lunch/free time
3 hour workshop TBA Click to express your interest

Photographing your own Artwork - £60 with lunch, tea and coffee provided!
I have a wealth of knowledge and experience of photographing 2D artwork, jewellery and ceramics and I'm willing to pass this on to artists eager to improve their own image making camera skills. Although this workshop is for a small group (max 4) I also offer it on a 1:1 basis for ½ a day for £75, or I can deliver the workshop in your own home or studio anywhere in Devon for £125
Course Description pdf
Monday 29th June in Bideford (11am-6pm) Click to reserve a place

Introduction to Photoshop (11am–6pm) - £75 with lunch, tea and coffee provided!
Opening an image file and adjusting levels, contrast, brightness and colour balance. Rotating, resizing and cropping an image. Placing an image or images into a new file. Using layers and history. Participants will need to be computer literate i.e. use a computer on regular basis and understand the basic controls. Small group (max 4). I also offer it on a 1:1 basis in your own home or studio anywhere in Devon for £175
TBA Click to express your interest

Workshop gift vouchers are always available for that special present for those people with new cameras so that they'll get to know them better!
Buy a £25 gift certificate
Buy a £50 gift certificate

The Smart Phone has come of age!

Over the first quarter of this year I've come to recognise that the Smartphone as a photographer's tool has come of age. I always like to think positively about technological developments and look to ways of using it to better my arts practice. Rather than trying to compare like for like with what has gone before, I question what is possible now that wasn't possible before, or at least wasn't realistically possible within various constraints.

Back in 2013 'Best of the Year post' I raved about the AutoStitch app which I had used with my iPhone 4S to photograph the many independent cafes in Bideford to exhibit 'Cafe Culture' at Dare County Arts Centre in Manteo NC. Up until this year I had used my iPhone 4S, then 5, shooting through the 645 Pro app then using Autostitch combined with Adobe's PS Touch for my finished images. The images made were mainly for research, sketchbook work, location scouting etc except for the successfully realised Cafe Culture pictures.

I've been using Photoshop for over 20 years, starting with Photoshop 3 in 1994, the first version to have 'layers'. Every few years there are improvements and every so often I've updated my version. I didn't jump right and embrace 'cloud computing' and stayed well clear when I read about photographers loosing their work when Photoshop became cloud based. But the cost of the software kept coming down and my CS5 version was feeling a little dated.

Since the iOS upgrade to my phone, I've added Smartphone Photography Teaching to my portfolio. So now I consider it part of my job to keep up-to-date with camera and image processing apps. I'm a purist at heart and so I'm not drawn to the apps like Instagram which tend to manipulate reality by adding a vast variety of filters, borders and effects to images, I am interested in any app which enables me to see something more clearly, more accurately, which simplifies a scene, rids an image of distractions or enhances reality.

One of the apps tried and tested was Adobe's Lightroom, which I trialed on my phone and laptop. So this year I subscribed to Photoshop CC, and suddenly the Smartphone had a greater roll to play in photographer's kitbag. All of these photograph examples were shot and processed on my iPhone using 645 Pro camera app, Lightroom to process the image, AutoStitch if required, and PS Touch to resize, crop, add signature etc. These images, from the last couple of weeks, are representative of the many uses and situations I find myself using my iPhone rather than DSLR to make a photograph; whether that is because the image is only meant as a snapshot, or a record of a hike, a discreet street photograph or an image destined for social media.
I shall be revisiting and expanding on the subject in the future!

My next 2 SmartPhone workshops are as follows, current workshops are always listed on my website

SmartPhone Photography - £25
A practical workshop to learn how to use your Smartphone's camera to take professional looking photographs and enhance those images on the go. Suitable for anyone with a SmartPhone. You will need to install a few cheap photo apps in advance which I'll advise on when booking!
Sunday 3rd May in Barnstaple, (11am-2pm) Click to Book

iPhoneography Workshop - £25
A practical workshop to learn how to use your iPhone's camera to take professional looking photographs and enhance those images on the go. Suitable for anyone with an iPhone. You will need to install a few cheap photo apps in advance which I'll advise on when booking!
Monday 25th May in Bideford, (10am-1pm) Click to Book

New Year in February

New Years Eve is always a positive time of great expectations for the coming year. When January kicks in nothing really changes and the cold and the dark eat away at my time and energy and my body seems to shut down existing in only 'survival mode' for the month. But now, well into February, the bird song announces the new year proper, the days are noticeably longer and I'm full of enthusiasm, ideas and ready to take up the challenge of another year.

Suddenly I find myself with a string of speaking engagements: Crediton Camera Club 'Constructed Photographs', Filleigh WI 'Graveyard of the Atlantic' and Society of Bookbinders Western Region 'Taking Effective Photographs of Bindings and Artwork'. I'm also exhibiting my work at the Wharf in Tavistock, with artists, Bert Bruins, Janis Glover and Duncan Hopkins (thanks for poster design), and a large version of Combe Martin Silver Mine, on aluminium, has been accepted for the Devon Artists Network DAN group show at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery RAMM in Exeter for the whole of this summer.

Combe Martin Silver Mine

January didn't bring the exciting storms that we got in 2014 but this month, March and April bring the promise of extreme tides which should provide me with both access to remote beaches and the excitement of a high spring tide.

As always I have a series of Photographic Workshops lined up including a new one for people wanting to make more of their iPhone's camera:

Photographic Workshops in Devon, Winter 2014/15

Introduction to digital photography - £50
A practical days workshop learning to gain control over your camera, shutter speeds, aperture, ISO, flash etc, setting it up for optimum quality under any given lighting, and making better pictures through composition. Numbers limited to a hand-full. I also offer it on a 1:1 basis for ½ a day for £75
Course Description pdf
Tuesday 24th February in Tavistock, (10am-5pm) Click to Book
Friday 13th March in Barnstaple, (10am-5pm) Click to Book
Sunday 15th March in Exeter, (10am-5pm) Click to Book

Half Day Intro to digital photography - £25
A 'sit around the table' workshop to get to know your camera better. You'll learn about shutter speeds, aperture, ISO, flash and setting your camera up for optimum quality.
Course Description pdf
Wednesday 11th March in Bideford, (10am-1pm) Click to Book

SmartPhone Photography - £25
A practical workshop to learn how to use your Smartphone's camera to take professional looking photographs and enhance those images on the go. Suitable for anyone with a SmartPhone. You will need to install a few cheap photo apps in advance which I'll advise on when booking!
Thursday 12th March in Barnstaple, (9.30am-12.30pm) Click to Book
iPhone Camera Workshop: Tuesday 7th April in Bideford, (10am-1pm) Click to Book

Sea Caves, Shipwrecks and the Rocky Shore (10am - 5pm) - £50
An introduction to Dave Green's own photography. Spend a day with Dave experiencing the secret coast, hidden at the far ends of a sandy beach, full of caves and shipwrecks. Learn how to make the best of your own camera under demanding landscape and lighting.
Course Description pdf
Sunday 22th February in Bude, (10am-5pm) Click to Book
Monday 6th April in Bude, (10am-5pm) Click to Book

Family Photo Workshop - get to know your camera - £30 per adult (maximum 2 accompanied children free)
A practical workshop to get to know your camera better. You'll learn about shutter speeds, aperture, ISO, flash and setting your camera up for optimum quality. This workshop is 3x hours taught time and 2x hours photographing/lunch/free time
Thursday 2nd April in Bideford (10am-3pm) Click to reserve a place

Painting with Light -(Light Graffiti) - £25 per photographer*
Celebrate the start of the dark winter nights. You'll will be provided with coloured light torches, flash lights and a tripod if you don't have one. The workshop will start with a round the table chat and introduction to night photographers and techniques in a quiet local pub. If you have particular images or techniques you’d like to duplicate please bring them along. Most digital cameras are able to make a long exposure nowadays, please email below if you're not sure if your camera is suitable.
*please bring a torch swinging friend at no extra cost!
Course Description pdf
Saturday 28th March at Westward Ho! (6.30pm-9.30pm) Click to reserve a place
Photographing your own Artwork - £70 with lunch, tea and coffee provided!
I have a wealth of knowledge and experience of photographing 2D artwork, jewellery and ceramics and I'm willing to pass this on to artists eager to improve their own image making camera skills. Although this workshop is for a small group (max 4) I also offer it on a 1:1 basis for ½ a day for £75, or I can deliver the workshop in your own home or studio anywhere in Devon for £125
Course Description pdf
Monday 23rd February in Bideford (10am-5pm) Click to reserve a place
Thursday 9th April in Bideford (11am-5pm) Click to reserve a place

Introduction to Photoshop (11am–6pm) - £75 with lunch, tea and coffee provided!
Opening an image file and adjusting levels, contrast, brightness and colour balance. Rotating, resizing and cropping an image. Placing an image or images into a new file. Using layers and history. Participants will need to be computer literate i.e. use a computer on regular basis and understand the basic controls. Small group (max 4). I also offer it on a 1:1 basis in your own home or studio anywhere in Devon for £175
TBA Click to express your interest

Workshop gift vouchers are always available for that special present for those people with new cameras so that they'll get to know them better!
Buy a £25 gift certificate
Buy a £50 gift certificate