I have to leave the degree course more or less whether I like it or not - I thought I was doing well but my tutor did not agree and doubted I would pass assessments. So there you go. Sigh.

I have decided to continue with the blog as I have enjoyed doing it but now I can write it the way I want to and add in other stuff which isn't necessarily to do with photography - apologies to my sister who is a teacher and who noticed the change after a very chatty start and now I am going back to that. It'll still be mostly photography.

Today I decided I would take some photos for the Belfast Parks competition and combine it with a trip to the dentist for mother to pick up new dentures - her new teeth is what we call them. Plus get in a few charity shops to keep mother happy. So we had to go down the Ormeau Road almost as far as the bridge - firstly going to Ormeau Park and we had to rest a few times because mother's knee was sore - I have told her now we are going to have to use the wheelchair all the time outside the house unless it's a very short distance eg Mass on Sunday - I do not mind pushing it. Mother doesn't like the wheelchair - it's very light being made of aluminium whereas a Shop Mobility one weighs a ton(you pick it up in the city centre from their shop) so it's worth buying your own particularly if you're a small woman like myself. Yesterday I told her we're taking it to Blackpool on holiday - think of the length of Blackpool seafront. I'll get a grant for the holiday as I am a carer and am £30 a week better off because of that at the moment- the government has just forced  a cut of £30 through the House of Lords for one of my benefits - it might take longer reaching Northern Ireland.

So we started at Ormeau Park. Initially I thought I would get mother to stand on one of the paths with her back to me but actually realized the park gateway which is all Victorian wrought iron would make a lovely frame and the way the sun was shining would give a nice silhouette and shadow - I had to obscure it with a column otherwise it was too bright - only 2 shots were decent - the ones on the path

 were ok.

So after that we went on our way in the direction of the dentist's and discovered a new charity shop and a new cafe called Boden Park where we had a nice long rest on a sofa and mother was vastly entertained by a baby boy called Hugh who seemed to find her fascinating. Mother remembers babies better than adults eg Terry's twins. We went on up the road , bought a few things in charity shops(me having to veto a lot of stuff which was smaller than mother's size 14). Then into the dentist where mother got her new bottom teeth and they were adjusted(we may have to go back). After that we took a taxi home.

Rembrandt and the Colin Davidson exhibitions

Currently there is quite possibly Rembrandt's last ever painting on display in the Ulster Museum, Botanic Gardens, Belfast - it is on loan from the National Portrait Gallery and a worker in the museum asked me to write a nice comment in the book to show our appreciation so we would get other paintings on loan and I said I would blog about it. The Colin Davidson exhibition of portraits of people who had lost relatives during the Troubles was on also at the same time very recently – it is now in Paris (1)

The National Portrait Gallery runs a photo portrait competition every year called the Taylor Wessing Prize (2)and I have entered it several times but not with a traditional portrait but this year I have one to enter see below.

THE FELLA WITH A DRAGON TATTOO

The Rembrandt is a self-portrait of Rembrandt aged 63 (3)and he died that year. So there were two portrait exhibitions on at the same time – bliss !

I have seen another self-portrait of Rembrandt also in the Metropolitan Art Museum, New York (4)which is full of paintings donated by rich Americans – the different rooms are named after them. I would like to go back on my own sometime to spend a day there.

So a few days ago along with my mother I had the opportunity to do a Rembrandt workshop at the Ulster Museum – first of all we had a little talk from an artist John Scovell in front of the painting but demand by groups to view it is so intense he is only allowed 10 minutes. Then we had to head off to another room to do some artwork – first of all he showed us all the raw materials of the colours Rembrandt had available - most of them poisonous so we couldn't touch them. Next we had stencils to help us do our own version of the painting – adding layers of colours and texture. The artist said Rembrandt's work was very textured and this style of painting went out of fashion so he died penniless.

The interesting thing about Rembrandt's portrait to a photographer is the way he lit his pictures - the chiaro scuro effect (5). His early portraits when he was young are very bright eg in the portrait which has very recently been authenticated (6)

References

(1)http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/features/visual-arts/silence-paris?utm_source=Culture+Northern+Ireland&utm_campaign=1bd085c20f-CNI+Newsletter+-+July+23&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e5d62de437-1bd085c20f-58476521

(2)http://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/twppp-2015/entry.php

(3) public domain

(4)http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437397

(5)http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/features/visual-arts/rembrandt-drawing-club-and-me

(6)http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/10886646/Self-portrait-is-authentic-Rembrandt-National-Trust-confirm.html

Assignment 2 Head hunting my mother For my collection I decided to hunt heads in a humorous manner similar to that of Martin Parr. My willing victim was my elderly mother my mother who has modelled for me on many occasions - she is used to doing so and is very co-operative. Also, she is usually available as I still live at home. I made use of costumes most especially hats – in a photo from Parr's web site (1) he appears alongside a man wearing a Roman soldier costume. Martin Parr puts his own head in all sorts of peculiar places such as in the mouth of a shark or superimposed on a body buidler (1)– I have a sister who likes these sort of photos and she searches for naked pictures supposedly of George Clooney to show her flatmate who likes him (I have myself never looked at one of these!). 

 The first photo is an 'ordinary' photo of my mother just to show I am not always cruel to her. It was taken in one of our favourite eateries in Belfast– the Harlem- and was unposed. The muted light through the shutter is soft and affectionate – I was taught this technique by Louise Gallagher in a GCSE Art and Design (photography) class.

The second photo is my favourite as I love the fascinator I bought for very little money in the Heart Foundation charity shop, Castle St., Belfast, specifically for use as a prop. Mother looks elegant and haughty in this shot. I took the photos in our conservatory on a sunny day when the light was bright and harsh so I closed all the blinds and at one stage I put up extra cover behind her.

The third photo is my mother wearing a witches' hat with her right hand like a claw and a wicked look in her eye – she acted the part quite well I thought. I got the hat to be worn normally on one day a year – Halloween - this is enthusiastically celebrated in Ireland as it was invented by us Celts. I wear it when the children come to trick or treat and I give them sweets.

The fourth photo is mother wearing my Austrian skiing hat which was a Christmas present from one of my brothers – he bought it at the Belfast Christmas Markets, traders come from all over Europe June included. She looks sad in this one – she knows she has dementia.

The fifth photo is mother wearing my favourite summer hat which I have to wear because I am fair skinned. Her face is deeper in shadow than with the other hats and this increases her melancholic expression.

My final photo is the most funny of them all I think as there are not many 74 year olds who would be seen wearing pink headphones (mine) whilst carrying an ipod (mine) and she does a joyful expression really well. Also, see the poem below regarding her purple jumper and her purple American quilt.

In conclusion I enjoyed this assignment and my mother did also.These images remind me of a hilarious poem I have read and heard about a lady who decides when she is old she is going to misbehave by wearing purple (2) – this was read out to us at the Alzheimer's singing for the brain workshop where everyone has a good laugh - so growing old is not necessarily sad and I enjoy looking after my mother. 

Warning

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

By Jenny Joseph

References

1. http://www.martinparr.com/
2. http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/warning/