Bryan Schutmaat is a photographer I’ve admired for a long time. Recently, at FORMAT13, Schutmaat presented a short photofilm as part of our festival closing ceremony, showcasing his brilliant series Grey the Mountain Sends.

Greys the Mountain Sends examines the lives of people residing in small mountain towns and mining communities in the American West. Schutmaat, inspired by the work of American poet Richard Hugo, documents the surroundings and the strangers that he has met along the way. This poetic influence can be seen throughout with Schutmaat’s images flowing in a stirring and deeply contemplative fashion. The powerful, yet sensitive narrative has emotion and truth resonating so strongly it is palpable.

The American West is known by everyone for its significance in American mythology; home to stories of hope, freedom, prosperity and promise. Through Schutmaat’s cohesive and beautifully formed work, he reveals the modern truth of the American West by examining the relationship between this fabled landscape and those who inhabit it, and vice versa.

Schutmaat sensitively shows us that this relationship, built on past promise and prosperity, is no longer the same. Instead, this land is challenging. Depleted. Exhausted. This is something that can be seen within Schutmaat’s portraits particularly. They appear older than their age and their silent, weathered and weary expressions offer a stark reality which is far removed from what the tales of the old American West promise. Hope lingers here however as people continue cling on to hopes and dreams of a rejuvenated land.

It really is a fantastic body of work, one I return to again and again. Driven by Schutmaat’s own romantic notions of this region and delivered with honesty this work is, as the artist himself describes, “a meditation on small town life, the landscape, and more importantly, the inner landscapes of common men”.

Schutmaat’s stunning photographs are worth lots of your time. I also highly recommend you read this in-depth essay over on The Great Leap Sideways. A fantastic exploration of Bryan’s work.

More wonderful examples follow.

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Welcome to a new look SHOW.ME.PICTURES.

I’ve been having another brief spell of silence recently coinciding with changes to my working life away from this project. SHOW.ME.PICTURES is back with a refreshed website, new content to explore and a new energy after a very busy first half of the year.

So, what now? Well, let me start with some exciting news. SHOW.ME.PICTURES has been featured in latest issue of Italian art magazine A rtribune. Thanks to Alfredo Cramerotti for his very kind and interesting words. It’s wonderful to receive such support.

I am now actively searching for new, exciting and challenging photographic projects to feature in the next publication, 002. Please share your work with me by emailing hello [at] showmepictures.co.uk. In recent weeks I have had some exceptional work sent my way, such as Bárbara Oettinger’s intriguing series Blind Spot.

Though seemingly simple, these Still Life studies are loaded with emotion.

Each frame, each object is the result of the cathartic ritual of writing negative thoughts and emotions onto paper, in the hope to dispel them from within. Each piece of paper represents a small piece of an individual.

Oettinger then photographs these objects. This act postions these veiled emotions or thoughts into the gaze of us, the viewer. We can never know what is shared in ink, as each object is transformed through either an act of destruction or creativity. To me, this is quite a beautiful thing..

For more of Bárbara Oettinger’s work check below, or visit the artists website.

Concluded..

FORMAT13 has drawn to a close after a seriously intensive month. It has been an amazing experience to work on such an ambitious project with my dedicated colleagues. I’ve met so many amazing people, worked until physically and mentally exhausted, enjoyed the highs, had some difficult moments, encountered a couple of massively inflated egos but generally had an awesome time.

I hope some of you local to Derby caught the festival. If you did, how did you find it? Drop me a line by hitting CONTACT. I’d love to read your views and experiences of the festival.

Now, allow me to share a few more of my personal picks of the festival.

FORMAT13.HAS.LAUNCHED.

After what was the most intense fortnight I’ve ever experienced, I can proudly say that the 6th edition of FORMAT International Photography Festival has successfully launched.

Bringing together a vast array of photography from hundreds of artists across more than fifteen venues in Derby, FORMAT13 is now the largest photography festival in the UK.

Two years ago, when I was still in my third year at the University of Derby, I posted a selection of my highlights from the festival. This year, I am hugely proud (and lucky enough) to be a part of the team that has delivered an ambitious programme.

FORMAT13’s theme centres on the factory and mass production. The work on offer explore these themes in many different ways; some literally, some further removed. Whether the artist is concerned with Chinese factory workers, food production or focuses on the industry of leisure, there is plenty to see and enjoy.

Here are just some of my highlights from the festival.

001

I am delighted to announce that 001, the debut publication from SHOW.ME.PICTURES, will be on sale on Friday evening from the shop, here!

001 is the first issue from a series of limited edition publications dedicated to the best emerging talent in contemporary photography, published and distributed by SHOW.ME.PICTURES.

Featuring the work of Patrick Hogan, Jim Cowan, Josephine Bull, Jocelyn Allen & Josef Konczak.

Also featuring an excellent essay from acclaimed writer Jane Fletcher.

64 Pages.
Limited Edition of 50.

Check back here tomorrow for further information!

T.07.02.13

February has started with a pretty loud and busy bang. Long days and long nights combine to make a very tired me. It will all be worth come tomorrow, I’m certain.

Strangely I’ve not had a lot of time to look at much photography this week, until tonight where I’ve found myself some time to discover the excellent series Second Nature I, by South African photographer Guy Tillim.

Tillim spent a year photographing the landscape in French Polynesia, “drawn to this landscape that has been continuously sketched - and later photographed - since Captain James Cook’s voyages in the late 18th century, perhaps because it almost eludes convincing representation.”

In this great introduction to the work, Tillim describes his own difficulties in “finding a way through this binary because of our strongly conditioned notions of the frame and the picturesque”. Worth some of your time for a greater insight into the series and Tillim’s process.

A great series from a terrific photographer.

__________

In other extremely exciting news, 001 - the debut publication from SHOW.ME.PICTURES has gone to print and will be on sale very soon indeed. Watch this space!

Stephen Wooldridge

Just a quick post tonight as I take some time out of packing my belongings ahead of moving house. Today I want to share the terrific work of Stephen Wooldridge, whom I discovered when perusing Source magazines Graduate Photography section online. Stephen is a recent graduate from Sheffield Hallam University and his series Who Dares Wins really stuck out to me.

Who Dares Wins is a fictional portrayal of four young men preparing for a career with the British Army and is a comment on both the armed Armed Forces and society - politically and socially. Using these characters, Wooldridge prompts the viewer to “consider these young men as individuals and as a representation of the British Army today”.

Wooldridge has deliberately constructed the series to appear at times dull and melancholic - contributing to the narratives we, as viewers, imagine for these individuals. It certainly works in my case, as I begin to consider the lives of these men on the cusp of military service. This environment they live in is both boring and uninspiring, would probably offer little in terms of opportunity - leaving the Army and with it potential warfare the most attractive option. It makes me feel for the real individuals who really live this scenario.

Really interesting, intelligent and thought-provoking work.

SHOW.ME.PICTURES.

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Concluded..

FORMAT13.HAS.LAUNCHED.

001

T.07.02.13

Stephen Wooldridge

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