Tickle Your Fancy – #28
Welcome back to our twenty eighth post in our new section ‘Tickle Your Fancy’. ‘Tickle Your Fancy’ includes a round-up of five links to articles from around the internet that have specifically interested us during the course of the week. Ones that we feel are relevant to your interest in photography and art.
Just to explain the title for this section ‘Tickle Your Fancy’ is an English idiom and essentially means that something appeals to you and perhaps stimulates your imagination in an enthusiastic way, we felt it would make a great title for this new section of the site.
We hope you enjoy this weeks’ selections…
Should Photography be Banned in Museums and Galleries?
A very interesting read in The Telegraph posing the question of should photography be banned in museums and galleries now. I say now, mainly due to mobile photography – as in many ways this is the main issue. As the article says, twenty years ago cameras were almost universally banned in museums and galleries – this was because the flash was disturbing and could possibly damage light sensitive paint. The Public had to be content with rummaging through the gift shop in the hope of finding a postcard or poster perhaps of particular artwork they wanted to remember. Now, this has completely changed. The author comes to a conclusion that I disagree with entirely but it’s a very interesting and thought provoking read.
The First Ever ‘Selfie’ – 1839
Robert Cornelius, an amateur chemist, took this self-portrait 175 years ago in the back of his family’s silver-plating shop in Philadelphia. On the back, Cornelius wrote: “The first light Picture ever taken. 1839.” It was one of the first Daguerreotypes to be produced in America, only a few months after Louis Daguerre announced his invention.
Follow the links for some fascinating history.
The Guardian & The Times Select Same Image For Front Covers
Photography: Muhammed Muheisen/AP
It was very interesting to see that both picture editors for The Guardian and The Times selected the same image of a six year old Afghan girl for their front covers. Muhammed Muheisen captured the image, a portrait of Laiba Hazrat, a refugee from Afghanistan living in a slum in Islamabad. It’s interesting to read the Guardian Picture Editors reasoning for selecting this outstanding image.
The Platinum Sphere Portrait Turns a Photo Into a $500,000 Metal Headshot
Well, if you happen to have a spare $500,000 and have no idea what to do with it, then you could have your face immortalised in one of the most expensive metals known to man. Platinum sphere portraits literally made of platinum, are produced with the very best jewellery craftsmanship in Japan. Production of this one-of-the-kind portrait required platinum ingots, melted in a furnace at more than 1,700 Celsius degrees, which are shaped into balls in 2 to 5mm pitch. The platinum balls are then handed over to master craftsmen who painstakingly set each ball by hand to create the portrait.
Follow this link to a video to watch the whole process, it’s quite incredible.
Interview: Gary Taxali: The multi-media artist discusses balancing commercial and personal work and the perils of a blank white page
A very interesting article discussing the relative merits of trying to balance commercial and personal work at the same time trying to find inspiration. This is a hugely positive and refreshing read, I particularly like this quote “I like to work on a few things at a time. I don’t stay married to what I’m working on, or treat it too preciously. I might throw a piece across the room, set a mug on it. That stain from the mug or scuff from the floor usually pulls the piece in a new direction, or brings something together. I try to see each piece, whether big or small, as part of my larger process”.
Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter is a British photography journalist, editor, curator, and the founder of *TheAppWhisperer.com*, one of the world’s leading platforms dedicated to mobile photography and art. Since its launch in 2009, TheAppWhisperer has become an international hub for artists of all levels to discover, learn, exhibit, and engage with contemporary photographic practice.Built on principles of inclusivity, accessibility, and artistic excellence, Joanne has spent almost two decades championing mobile photography as a serious artistic medium. Through interviews, critical essays, exhibitions, competitions, and education, she has helped shape and document the evolution of mobile art on a global scale.Her work has taken her internationally, lecturing on photography and mobile art at institutions and events including the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, alongside appearances in the UK and Europe. She has served as a juror for international photography and mobile art awards across Portugal, Canada, the United States, South Korea, Italy, and the UK.Joanne is also the founder of *TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com*, one of the first online galleries dedicated exclusively to collectible mobile art, connecting artists with collectors across Europe, the United States, and Asia.Before founding TheAppWhisperer, Joanne worked extensively in print journalism and photographic publishing, including roles at a paparazzi photo agency and as deputy editor of a leading photography magazine. Her freelance journalism, criticism, and commentary have been published widely in both the UK and the US, with bylines in *The Times*, *The Sunday Times*, *The Guardian*, *Popular Photography*, *NikonPro*, *DPReview*, *Which?*, *Vogue Italia*, *LensCulture*, the *BBC*, and more recently, the *Financial Times*, where her published letters on photography continue to contribute to wider conversations around the medium.Alongside her editorial and curatorial work, Joanne’s own photographic practice has been exhibited internationally across the UK, Europe, South Korea, and the United States. Her work increasingly explores themes of grief, loss, death, memory, and the body.Her current research interests centre on grief, death, and poverty, with forthcoming postgraduate study leading towards doctoral research in these areas.Joanne is currently developing new long-form writing and photographic projects and is available for commissions, editorial projects, speaking engagements, and collaborations.Contact: joannetheappwhisperer@gmail.com)
