Finding Gems - and Episode 26 of Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres

Wigtown Book Festival – one of Scotland's largest literary events – is taking place online this year. 

Dozens of interviews with authors, as well as music, workshops, and all sorts of extras are available, free of charge, to anyone in the world who visits the site until Sunday 4th October.

In last night's podcast I talked about my first involvement with the Festival back in 2011, when I was “Artist in Residence”.

Across the 10 days I took 173 moody black and white photos of authors, visitors and locals, which I printed up and covered the walls of a studio space I was given.

There is the world of difference between taking a stand-alone portrait, and creating a large, themed collection of scores of faces.

Most of the time, when I am asked to do a portrait for someone, it is for business or promotional purposes – their website or an avatar on a social media site or a press release. And usually there is the need for them to look warm, friendly and approachable, so a smile of some kind is required.

But when you can escape the need for a smile, the human face is capable of projecting so many more emotions – from the big to the subtle to the complex. Now there is space to explore so much more. As such, the “no smiles allowed” aspect of the project was a key part of the whole process.

As I looked back over the photos, taken when I was considerably less knowledgeable about photography, there are of course many that I just wouldn't do that way now.

However, what is rather lovely is to rediscover some which I feel still stand up – indeed I would be delighted if I took today.

Here are a handful of my favourites

I think my younger, less skilled, less experienced self was definitely on to something, even if he wasn't always entirely sure what it was...

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0.00 - What's coming up
0:06 - Introduction to Wigtown Book Festival Online
06:05 - Being an Artist in Residence at Wigtown Book Festival 39:15 - Critique of images submitted to the Facebook Group, "Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres"
1:11:00 - Adjusting shutter speed and aperture to capture bright light
1:28:00 - Coming up next week

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And, or course, if you would like to submit a photo for feedback, or just ask a photography related question, then do join my Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres  Facebook group and I will put it into the following podcast:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/240842990388815/