The power of pictures (WARNING: Male and female gender debate)

Photography influences the perceived power of man and women.

Very basic point, this. But quite interesting.

Any photographer knows that taking an image of someone from a low level – looking up at them – increases the perception of strength.

Shoot from a higher vantage point above and you get the opposite effect. It’s a basic photography principle.

Or, to put it another way, the low viewpoint makes them look more powerful.

Researchers from several European universities led by the Rotterdam School of Management* found that more men were shot from a low viewpoint than women 

This, the researchers argue, leads to a reinforcing of male and female stereotypes.

Paraphrasing here, it implies that:

Assuming that this results in more photographs of women shot from above being used in advertisements, magazines and newspapers, the media might unintentionally increase our perception that men are powerful and women are not. This strengthens our stereotyped ideas that women cannot become leaders, as our attitudes towards, and judgment about, other people are strongly influenced by the way they are portrayed in the media.

Researchers go on to state that, gender aside, powerful individuals are more likely to be portrayed from below while the powerless get a higher viewpoint. This finding is rather predictable and not that interesting.

Media images were analysed from the collection of CORBIS®, Time Magazine, and World Press Pictures.

*Those researchers and universities in full: Dr Steffen R. Giessner, Associate Professor at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM), and his colleagues Professor Michelle Ryan (University of Exeter, Exeter), Dr Thomas Schubert (ISCTE, Lisbon), and Dr Niels van Quaquebeke (Kuehne Logistics University, Hamburg).

PICTURED: Armwrestlers from Blackburn, Lancashire, taken from a low viewpoint to emphasise strength and power.

ALERT: Photography ban in central London

More bad news for photographers with big cameras in London.

Not content with being part of an Olympics plot to rob us unofficial (uncredited) photographers the right to take our big cameras into London 2012 venues, there are now plans to bring in costly permits for those wanting to take photographs around Trafalgar and Parliament Squares.

Having photographed in both these locations for projects, I can put my hand on my heart and say: This is bloody outrageous.

A permit to photograph one of the world’s major tourist destinations? And you think things are bad in France?

In short, these are the plans of the Greater London Assembly: To introduce new bye-laws requiring permits for commercial photography and filming.

As well as being a huge kick in the teeth to the media industry who will no doubt go to public spaces elsewhere until a city-wide permit is required, this will also surely impact on the amateur and documentary photographer.

For a start, place your own tripod in the vicinity of Trafalgar Square and see how fast the wardens swarm on you.

Even if the tripod is for your own personal photography won’t matter. You will be challenged, bloc ked and made to feel like a terrorist on an al-Qaeda reconnaissance mission.

I would argue that even if the tripod was put there by a professional, no-one should be reprimanded. Shouldn’t the creative industries be encouraged?

Trafalgar Square is a public place. Why would the GLA want to alienate photographers – which include tourists – in a city which relies so heavily on tourism?

I have been challenged by security guards on three separate visits to London in recent years. Taking photos in Rome, Istanbul, Antwerp, Vienna and Venice I received no such negative attention. London Town is going backwards.

At present English Heritage patrol Trafalgar Square, hunting professional photographers while seemingly ignoring tourists.

Will photographers now need to wear Bermuda shorts and pose as tourists to do their work?

The GLA have made noises that news photographers will not be stopped. But how is a warden going to know the difference. There are already strict guidelines for what the police can and, more importantly, can’t do to photographers – yet some ignorant police officers still frequently act illegally.

This plan is the recipe for the same disaster.

 

The Photographers Gallery in London sets date to re-open

After more delays than a Sunday train trip on the East Coast Main Line, The Photographers' Gallery in London has set an opening date: May 19, 2012.

Images were last able to be gawped at in September 2010. The building is on Ramillies Street which is accessible through a narrow walkway from Oxford Street. 

The visionary new building was designed by Irish architects O'Donnell + Tuomey. I'm not sure if you've got them to thank or blame for the delay. It was supposed to re-open in 2011.

Perhaps not always showing the best exhibitions in London, The Photographers' Gallery at least always had the best book shop in the British Isles. The re-opening is worth it for that alone.

But, of course, the big question concerns a more pressing issue: Will the new building house a souped-up, improved and enticing new coffee shop?

The previous cafe in the Ramillies Street building was not a patch on the coffee house at its the old venue on Great Newport Street.

I have spoke previously about the need for photography galleries to sell tea and coffee to attract visitors.

Photography fans in Britain await May 19 with parched tongues.

Midland Hotel in Morecambe Lancashire, a retrospective

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The Midland Hotel in Morecambe is a Grade II listed building which has captured public fascination in recent years. It's the Art Deco style which has made it so loved.
Restored in 2008 by Urban Splash, it had been on its way to ruin after closing down several years earlier.
The Midland, designed by architect Oliver hill and sculptured by Eric Gill, was built in 1933 - though there has been a hotel on the site since 1848.
An episode of the TV show Poirot was filmed there in 1989.
These images were taken in the late 1990s (and possibly the year 2000). Do Not Use Without Permission.

Found images of the Midland Hotel, Morecambe

Not so long ago, before memory cards and hard drives and RAW files and photoshop, it was possible to produce photographs without the aid of a computer.

Then, it was about rolls of film, regualr visits to Boots or Jessops and a steady trickle of cash out of your wallet to pay for development costs. I don't miss it.

However, if there had been no film there would be no shoebox in my loft. And ten years after taking these images I would not have found them again.

The Midland Hotel in Morecambe is now restored to its former glory. Built in 1933, it is a Grade II listed building that had fallen into disrepair. It re-opned in 2008 after renovation work by Urban Splash.

This is how it was.

 

 

NOTE: In 1989 an episode of Poirot was filmed at the hotel.

 

Blackpool's Comedy Carpet

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Created by artist Godron Young, Blackpool's Comedy Carpet is the town's latest public art project aimed at improving the promenade and changing people's perception of the town.

It features jokes, catchphrases and one-liners from over 1,000 comedy legends, from W.C Fields to Vic Reeves, and including Peter Cook, Dame Edna and any comedian you ever forgot.

Young was helped by Blackpool's comedy expert Barry Band, historian and writer Graham McCann, and on the typography and layout by graphic designer Andy Altmann of Why Not Associates. It was installed by Andrew Sawyer and Russ Coleman.

The carpet is a great effort from Blackpool Council (ReBlackpool), easily the best thing they've done since the giant mirrorball which was unveiled in 2002.

And finally for you technical lovers, hard facts about the carpet: Five years in the making. Each of the 160,000+ letters has been individually cut from 30mm solid granite or cobalt blue concrete. They've been arranged into over 300 slabs and then cast into white concrete panels.