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Ashbourne Festival June/July 2024

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Moi (with beard) conducting workshop at Cambridge Darkroom that finally closed 40 years ago this year.

Thank you (the wonderful) Roy Hammans

https://the-golden-fleece.co.uk/wp/cambridge-darkroom-introduction/

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Exhibition in Kyiv and Lviv, Ukraine 2024

“How do you Dance in a War Zone?” - a collaborative project

Often when people think of dance, they imagine something rather poetic involving arabesques and pirouettes. But this notion couldn’t be more at odds to the stark form of resistance presented by the Ukrainian dance community.

Participating dance-artists were invited to respond to the question ‘how do you dance in a war zone?’ not with words, but through the language of the body and movement.

Each location used was chosen specifically by the dancer for its relevance to their individual experience of the Russian invasion. The soundtrack consists of recordings from the invasion including the trenches, shootings, shakhed-drones, missiles, sirens and tanks. These articulate, moving responses offer an illuminating insight into so much more than pirouettes and arabesques expanding the understanding of dance and bringing its meaning and mission on completely another level.

In this multimedia exhibition visitors can find the powerful medium of dance operating in the most extraordinary and unexpected ways in Ukraine during the war. Project is the culmination of two trips to Ukraine (Lviv and Kyiv) by two photographic artists, Maria Falconer and Paul Hill, in collaboration with Viktor Ruban (as co-curator, co-producer and dance-artist), sound artist Grigory Semenchuk and a group of Ukrainian contemporary dance artists: Alla Shliakhova, Khrystyna Slobodianiuk, Kristina Shyshkariova, Larysa Venediktova, Liudmyla Mova, Mariya Salo, Mykyta Kravchenko, Svitlana Oleksiuk and Taisiia Tymofieieva.

Production: Maria Falconer, Professor Paul Hill and Viktor Ruban (Ruban production ITP and CO ICF Impulse Transformation Platform).

In Ukraine project will be presented: July 11 - August 17, 2024 at the National Art Museum of Ukraine (Kyiv) and September 7 - October 12, 2024 at the Hnat Khotkevych Culture Palace (Lviv)

The project will be available for viewing in the halls of the National Art Museum of Ukraine at Hrushevskoho Str., 6, Kyiv, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 12:00 to 18:00. Entrance fee: full ticket - 150 UAH, discounted ticket (schoolchildren, students, pensioners) - 100 UAH, free entrance for military.

Partners and supporting institutions: National Art Museum of Ukraine, National Khanenko Museum, National Dovzhenko Center (Kyiv, Ukraine), Hnat Khotkevych Culture Palace, Lviv municipal Lesya Ukrainka Theater, Denis Barabanza Sound Archive (Lviv, Ukraine), Assembly Festival Edinburgh, Dance Base, Scotland's National Centre for Dance, Loxley printing (Glasgow, UK), Royal Photographic Society, Stills Gallery (London, UK)

Prehistory of the project by Maria Falconer, one of the authors:

“In March 2022 I dropped into an online conversation hosted by Dance Base in Edinburgh. It was part of their Catalytic Conversions series, a platform for international dance professionals to connect and explore contemporary issues. One of the speakers was Ukrainian dancer and choreographer Viktor Ruban, and given that Russia had just invaded Ukraine, the conversation naturally turned to this atrocity. When I first posed the question to Viktor ‘how do you dance in a war zone?’, I really wasn’t prepared for his response. The enormity of the question took him a little by surprise and after a

brief attempt to provide a simple explanation for such a complex event, he neatly batted it back to me with an invitation to visit Ukraine to see for myself.

During our time in Ukraine, we saw professional dancers performing in theaters doubling up as bomb shelters and refugee centers. We witnessed emotional, psychological and visceral reactions to the invasion played out through the extraordinary language of movement. We watched dancers working in the wider community, with carefully structured movement sessions designed to provide mental and physical support. We visited a dance school whose upper floor had been converted into an international fund-raising center to raise money to buy boots, bullets, uniforms and weapons for the military. Dance Therapists work tirelessly with traumatized soldiers recently returned from the front line. And professional dancers practice military drills as they train to become soldiers. The collaboration between the military and dance communities was remarkable, particularly in Kyiv, where dancers use Tactical Choreography, a system of movement training designed by dancer Kristina Shyshkariova that prepares volunteer soldiers for combat. And in return the soldiers teach the dancers how to fight.”

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New landscape/text project.  

https://www.blurb.co.uk/bookstore/invited/9687807/783d12e90324e5c623e9eee10f2f358a2463e8f6

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New exhibition at Library of Birmingham to coincide with the Commonwealth Games 2022

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From City of Empire to City of Diversity

https://www.sampad.org.uk/projects/2020-2022-from-city-of-empire-to-city-of-diversity-a-visual-journey/

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AVAILABLE NOW. https://www.blurb.co.uk/books/11113381-dew-ponds-of-the-peak

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Dew Ponds of the Peak

https://www.blurb.co.uk/b/11113381-dew-ponds-of-the-peak

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Opening of Prenotations Remastered at Argentea Gallery, Birmingham 17 September 2021

https://studio-of-light.com/?fbclid=IwAR1THEXYxRazawRk1tFzZnQvRV8ZOCi9cp31ShKPYsTs94GB5ndybXIDhoU

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Photography: Intro to Critical Theory by Ashley le Grange (2005)

Foreword by Paul Hill For photographers, the word ‘theory’ usually conjures up images of scientific formulae or equally impenetrable academic critical writing that features words like ‘discursive’, ‘signifier’ and ‘intertextual’ rather a lot. But this book is obviously not about the former at all, and only tackles the more useful, accessible and stimulating texts of the latter variety.Some of these texts have been written by photographers whose thoughts on the medium have been informed by first hand practical experience, whilst others contain reflections on the subject from eminent philosophical writers, curators, critics and cultural commentators who have trained their spotlights on photography with increasing enthusiasm over the last thirty years or so.La Grange, whose years at the chalk face place him in a better position than most to undertake this challenging task, has chosen an eclectic mixture of texts that are on most university, college and school photography reading lists as well as one or two more idiosyncratic choices that spice up an already substantial didactic menu.The selected texts are intelligently written, illuminating, often testing, sometimes highly personal takes on what the Tate Gallery, London calls ‘the 21st century’s dominant art form’. As well as being a guide, by placing each text in its right context and clearly explaining the background and the points the writers are seeking to make, the author has set some useful assignments that will help photography students and their teachers explore further the issues raised. In this way theory has been integrated with visual practice and not treated as a separate stand-alone discipline. This makes it a uniquely valuable introduction to the role of critical theory and the medium’s position in contemporary culture and thought.La Grange writes in his introduction that much critical theory is written by academics for other academics who have similar backgrounds and ambitions.  This incestuous sphere can be difficult for the outsider to penetrate without the right credentials. 

He has, therefore, chosen the better-written, more accessible, non-jargon-ridden pieces of criticism and theory, where it is obvious that the authors have attempted to enlighten rather than obfuscate.As I am writing this I have just noticed I have six of the books featured hereon my bookshelf a few feet away. These texts have nearly all stood the test of time and many are used extensively by photographic educators and have become vital elements of the their curricula. When I was commissioned by Focal Press many years ago to write an introductory guide (Approaching Photography) to ‘reading’ photographs and the broad variety of motivations of photographers, I took inspiration from these books, not only because of the ideas and information contained in them, but by the way most of them create persuasive narratives that are insightful and eloquent. They helped me understand the medium better and also highlighted the importance of good critical analysis and coherent writing.My book came out at the beginning of the 1980s – a decade when theory flourished. But as a prominent photographic critic and teacher wrote: ‘For all its good, Photo Theory did a lot to stifle practice’. It led to theoreticians, not image-makers, becoming the pacesetters in photographic education. That imbalance has been corrected and today the position and effect of theory has been re-evaluated. Its place is assured and it is a crucial part of most photographic courses whatever the level. That necessary revision and re-evaluation has not been a ‘dumbing down’ process because, as the content of this book attests, theory and criticism are vitally important components of modern photographic education.Many theoretical texts can be challenging and complex, whilst others are relatively easy to follow. But the curriculum will always need navigators if students are to get the most out of their studies. This is a user-friendly guide, for the tutor as well as for the student, that can be easily incorporated into syllabi whether at ‘A’ or degree level. La Grange places each piece in its correct context, unravels and demystifies difficult arguments, communicates well his enthusiasm for the medium, and offers useful strategies for further learning through the assignments.The book gives the student essential information on the diverse concepts and philosophies that underpin many photographic practices. This knowledge should give them confidence to tackle photographic theory and practical assignments from an informed critical position that should certainly not stifle creativity and instinct, but enhance them.

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Blast from the Past - The Photographers Place

In 1997 Carol Keddie successfully successfully gained an MA for this thesis. I must read it 24 years on.....

https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/educational_resource/Documenting_photography_designing_a_database_of_the_contents_of_the_archive_belonging_to_photographer_Paul_Hill/14822766/1

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Me and Alan Duncan of Studio of Light with huge 30 x 40 platinum-palladium print and inspecting the negative before contact printing (Photo Ben Dolman)

Here is what British Photographic History and  the Royal Photographic Society wrote:

https://britishphotohistory.ning.com/m/blogpost?id=2680769%3ABlogPost%3A230993

https://rps.org/news/journal/2021/september/paul-hill-a-vintage-collection-in-platinum/

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Prenotations Remastered

Argentea Gallery, Birmingham 

17 September - 29 October 2021

Turning 80 this year and still as creatively productive as ever, acclaimed British photographer Paul Hill has produced a limited edition set of platinum-palladium prints of some of his most recognised and seminal images.  Prized for its rich, subtle tonal quality, wealth of fine detail and stability, platinum-palladium prints are at the summit of traditional photographic printing.

Proposing a fresh interpretation of a selection of the original 35mm negatives from his renowned Prenotations series of the 1970s, these exceptional images have been printed at a larger-scale to truly celebrate Hill’s remarkable compositions together with the superior qualities that platinum-palladium has to offer. Boasting fine detail and extreme archival stability, these beautiful prints have been handcrafted with the assistance of contemporary technology.

For the past 18 months, Hill has been working in collaboration with top ten university Loughborough, specifically the photographic research and development expertise of Alan Duncan and Ben Dolman, who have devised an innovative approach to platinum-palladium printing by uniting this 19th century historical process with contemporary image making.

Opting for images that would offer a strong tonal range and impact, the negatives were scanned and digitally processed to make optimal files for the enlarged negatives ready for contact printing in the darkroom. Mastering this challenging process, they can now create consistently superior and exquisite prints, as presented in this exhibition of just 10 photographs from Hill’s most memorable work.

Speaking about the project, Duncan and Dolman state:

“This has been a wonderful opportunity for us at the Studio of Light to work with such an outstanding and distinguished photographer as Paul.  Producing a set of platinum-palladium prints from his treasured negatives has allowed us to showcase what we can offer to photographers, galleries and, in particular, museums in the production and archiving of exacting photographic artwork.”

As for Hill, he comments:

"I was so excited to get this invitation from Loughborough to participate in their venture into platinum printing and have my work printed by Alan and Ben. Their reputation as photographic innovators is well known, so I knew I was in safe hands. This is particularly important as there is only ONE negative existing of probably my best-known image - Man Against Snow - made in 1974!  When they told me that the prints would last for at least 1,000 years it was an easy decision. To think that if a photograph was made by this process at the time of the Norman Conquest and it would still be OK today is phenomenal!"

Argentea Gallery is extremely honoured to work with Hill and Loughborough University to exhibit these outstanding prints in The Midlands where much of Hill’s work was conceived.  These rare prints of such beguiling luminosity, made with premium noble metals, attentive patience and meticulous precision will appeal to collectors who relish both the unique materiality and exclusivity of these influential images.

Signed copies of the recently released 3rd edition of Hill’s notable book Approaching Photography, which includes several photographs from the exhibition, is also available to purchase alongside a selection of smaller, vintage prints from our Print Room.

About the Artist: Born in Ludlow, Shropshire in 1941, Paul Hill now lives and works in the Peak District of Derbyshire with fellow photographer, Maria Falconer.

Hill has exhibited internationally and co-authored numerous books.  His seminal book Approaching Photography, first published in 1982, has been freshly updated and its 3rd edition is now available.

His works are held in prestigious private and public collections including The Hyman Collection; the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the National Science and Media Museum, Bradford; the Arts Council Collection; the Government Art Collection; the Museum of Modern Art, Stockholm; the Australian National Gallery, Canberra and the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, the Yale Center for British Art, Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Cleveland Museum of Art in the USA; and the Bodleian Library, Oxford.

He was made a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society in 1990, and awarded an MBE for services to photography in 1994. He has honorary doctorates in art from Derby and De Montfort Universities. The Paul Hill/Photographer’s Place Archive is held by Library of Birmingham.

About Argentea Gallery:

Argentea Gallery is located in the Georgian splendour of St. Paul’s Square in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter.  It is dedicated to showing the very best contemporary photography from both British and international artists. Our aim is to support the careers of both emerging and established artists by promoting an awareness and appreciation of contemporary photography and by providing a platform where ideas and practices can be explored and tested. In pursuit of this we will present a programme of well researched, stimulating and thoughtful exhibitions supported by appropriate events and publications. In addition to the curated programme, we also have a Print Room holding portfolios of works for sale by selected artists across a broad price range. For any further details or press images please contact:

Jennie Anderson – jennie.anderson@argenteagallery.com - 0121-236-5444 Anna Sparham – anna.sparham@argenteagallery.com - 0121-236-5444

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