Letters

David Murray's article on William Bishop's 'Realising Personal Truths' attracted a lot of attention, with letters and email to the editor as well as several spoken comments. David Brittain (editor of Creative Camera) was typical of most when he wrote 'I enjoyed the lively debate about Bill Bishop's book...'. I reproduce in full the letter from Colin Osman.

28 Nov 97

Dear Sir

I am now retired but my whole working life has been as a writer, a photographer and an editor. My part in the history of photographic publication in the 1970's with Creative Camera is not unknown. Others have given their versions of this period which I found varied from the hilarious to the unrecognisable. Bill Bishop's was much better than most.

David Murray is entitled to disagree, but I find his comments (p8 LipService Nov 97) pathetic. He claims that Bishop's book is 'grotesquely one-sided', 'massively omissive' without giving one single example of any alleged errors. I think all of us would have welcomed a step by step criticism of Bishop's view or even a single example.

Criticism should be responsible and informed. Unfortunately David Murray replaces it with vulgar abuse; eg 'nuked his brain with acid'. I don't think this kind of infantile assault should be allowed to go unchallenged. A blow by blow rebuttal would be welcomed.

It is now unfashionable to compare modern work with old work, but as an editor I would have binned Murray's trees in favour of Rodchenko's 70 years earlier. Perhaps Bishop did the same?

Colin Osman

News

Design & Art Direction Society

Lectures are held at 7pm, Royal Geographic Society, Kensington Gore
5/3 Michael Nyman
26/3 Joe Sedelmaier
16/4 Terence Conran
2/6 Paul Smith
Sarah Thelwall writes: D&AD is a professional association & charity working on behalf of the advertising and design communities in the UK. Their remit is to promote standards of creative excellence in the business arena as well as to educate and inspire the next creative generation. Their lectures are excellent. Tickets for non-members are £15, £5 for students. Previous lectures have included Dave Stewart talking about his photographic and video work, Elliott Erwitt talking about his photography, Peter Greenaway talking about his films. The lectures are usually very interesting and provide an insight into the work of the lecturer.

London Contemporary Photography Fair

The first of these happened on 16 Nov last year, with a busy LIP stall and other members including William Bishop (Inscape), Jim Barron and Peter Marshall (London Arts Cafe) elsewhere in the hall. I think we all enjoyed ourselves and a few pictures were sold. Don't miss the next one.

Islington arts factory

Ben Graville

Showing until 27 March at Islington Arts Factory (2 Parkhurst Rd, N7) are Ben Graville's colour photographs of North American Motels.

Graville has spent most of his working life driving - London cabs and lorries. In the work shown he records independent motels built on the old state highways in the 50's - the heyday of the road in the USA.

Each motel is shown as 4 photographs - exterior architecture, interior, owner and resident.

Alt Photo Review

has changed its address and is now at: Altpress, 6 Penwith Business Centre, Long Rock, Penzance. Uk Subscriptions are £10.00 pa,

Often useful reading for those who like dabbling in such things as cyanotype, bromoil or gum bichromate

Creative Camera

Recent issues of Creative Camera seem to be back with more to interest photographers. One new feature - for all issues this year is a pull-out supplement. The Oct-Nov issue (still available) gave details of over 60 photography festivals around the world.

The first issue with Bill Jay as Editor and published by Colin Osman in Feb 68, thirty years ago. The current issue carries work by Harold Chapman from that year (and he was interview in 68 for Creative Camera) of posters from the events in Paris. Also an interesting article on moments - decisive and staged - appropriate for the year in which Cartier-Bresson celebrates his ninetieth birthday. Nick Waplington's 'Safety in Numbers' shows work from his latest exhibition and book, and Mark Haworth-Booth suggests that Susan Meiselas's book about the Kurds is a Guernica for the nineties.

I have to admit to finding Jennifer Bornstein's photographs somewhat less interesting than those in my own family album, despite being part of the group show 'Sightings' at the ICA.

Creative Camera is not a magazine for those who aren't willing at times to challenge and rethink their own ideas about the medium. I wish it another 30 at times controversial years.

Individual subscriptions £24 p.a. (6 issues) (students £18) from Creative Camera, 5 Hoxton Sq, London N1 6NU - 0171 729 6993.

Reportage

The Spring 1997 special issue of this relaunched oversized international magazine of photojournalism which came out surprisingly recently includes the kind of work that makes me wonder why the recent World Press photo show seen at the Festival Hall was so pedestrian.

Michael von Graffenreid's panoramas from the streets of Algeria's civil war make my hair stand on end. Jodi Bieber spent several months hanging around with young South African gangs. Costad Sakellariou's fine documentary on the Greek community in Turkey attracted the wrath of the authorities who broke into his flat and stole much of his work. Gideon Mendel photographs Senegalese fishermen whose livelihood is under threat, while Manuel Bauer travelled through Tibet recording the erosion of native culture by the Chinese occupation. Also in the issue are a haunting series of mugshots of Khmer Rouge prisoners and an article examining the media coverage of Bosnia.

Email from Colin Jacobson says:
Reportage will be re-launched in about two weeks (from 3 March). It's just about to be printed in Amsterdam.

Subscriptions can be arranged through:

SKS
20 PaulStreet
FROME
Somerset
BA11 1DX

tel 01373-451777
fax 01373-452888
E-mail hughpincot@aol.com

Cartier-Bresson at the Hayward

Cartier-Bresson is almost the only part of the 1998 Year of Photography and the Electronic Image to escape Yorkshire and occupy London, with currently 3 shows (Europeans at the Hayward to 5 April, Portraits at NPG to 7 June and Drawings at the RCA 6 March - 9 April)

Europeans is drawing good business to the Hayward, and is worth a visit if only to look once more at all the well-known pictures. There are some less well-known images (and a few that should have stayed in the rejects basket.) For me the parts worth detailed study are the sections on France, Spain, Italy and Greece, perhaps Ireland and a few odd pictures from elsewhere. Away from the Catholic and the Mediterranean his touch seems less sure.

His view of England is in some respects a foreigner's stereotype - 3 pictures of royal/state occasions, 2 society events, 2 of private education, the City, a dowager in Hyde Park and - one curious contrast - 3 little girls in coats coming back from the shop past a broken down back wall in 60's slum clearance foggy Liverpool. The pictures are fine, but is this England?

Should you have £152 to spare there is also a Conference on the changing face of UK Public Art at the RCA.

IPSE

Details of cost and bookings from Jill Staples, 01444 881891

Books and Bytes

Niall Allsop and Denis Doran will be looking at book design and working with the computer Sat

Summer meeting at Windmill House - probably 1 August

Micklepage weekend - 26/7 September

Saturday at Micklepage - 7th Nov

Perspectives

An exhibition of work produced by a 3 day workshop (led by Eileen Fitzpatrick) for students with learning difficulties by students from Northbrook College is on at the Theatre Cafe, Northbrook College, Goring-by-Sea from 11 March - 24 April

Duckspool

Workshop leaders in 1998 include:

John Blakemore, John Davies, Fay Godwin, Peter Goldfield, Charles Harbutt, Homer Sykes, Martin Parr, Paul Hill, Eamonn Mc Cabe, Mari Mahr, John Goto, Leonard Freed, Susan Meisalas, Judy Dater, Lewis Baltz....

Great courses, lovely country, marvellous food. From £240 - £480. Get the full list with dates by phoning Peter Goldfield on 01823 451305, fax 01823 451325 or email: Goldfinger@compuserve.com

Peter has a web site at:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/goldfinger
though I've never managed to access it.

Photofusion

has a series of workshops, lectures and photo exhibitions in their enlarged premises in Brixton (close to the station) as well as darkrooms available for hire. The fine print workshop series in April might interest those wishing to improve in this area. Program with details from Photofusion: 0171 7885509

Contents page