« February 2012 »
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29
Entries by Topic
All topics  «
100 people
365 days
aradale
art
artists wanted: exposure
bars
blogged
book covers
books
brisbane
budapest
calendars
collaborations
commissions
death
digital post-processing
divine diptychs
dreams
eastbourne
edinburgh
england
events
exhibitions
f-stop magazine
fashion
film
gig photography
greeting cards
holga
hospitalfield
jpg magazine
life
london
melbourne
minutiae
mixed bag
mooncruise* magazine
paris
phirebrush
photographers
photography
photography books
portraits
portraiture sessions
prints
road trip 2009
road trip 2010
rosebank, nsw
saatchi showdown
self-portraiture
sepulchre
shots magazine
the big issue
the bubble
toyota travel award
travel
travels with kyle 2012
twohundredby200
vignette press
visible ink
workshops
You are not logged in. Log in
scrawl
27 February 2012
i can't stand up for falling down
Now Playing: curtis mayfield - future shock
Topic: self-portraiture

i can't stand up for falling down


Last year was not my best year for a number of reasons. Though there were highlights like moving to London, and undertaking a one month residency at Hospitalfield, overall last year I was not at my emotional, mental or artistic best.

Maybe it's because I've been voluntarily unemployed since January 1 [though technically I'm self-employed; and even without that, when opting to temp, when not actually on an assignment you're not technically 'unemployed', you're 'between jobs'], and Kyle's recent visit has definitely played a part, but I'm currently feeling pretty optimistic about the year ahead.

Aside from my annual new year mantra which I took up a number of years ago now to "make this one count", I've also resolved to shut out the "noise" this year, and just get on with it.

By this I mean, think, care and worry less about what others are doing and saying (within both my personal and professional lives), and also know when to shut out my own internal "noise".

I let too much peripheral "stuff" get to me and distract me from the important things last year, and I wasted a lot of time and energy being caught up with all of that. I don't want to waste any more energy on those negative elements this year.

The most important thing to me is to do what I want to do with my photography; do what I enjoy and makes me happy. Focus on what I want, and what I want to do, and block out all the rest.

Posted by Bronwen Hyde at 21:18 GMT
Post Comment | View Comments (1) | Permalink | Share This Post
paparazzi
Now Playing: lady gaga - paparazzi
Topic: portraits

paparazzi


I was almost entirely unaware of it until late in the day on our travels around the Tower of London and then Trafalgar Square on the Wednesday after Kyle arrived, but whilst I was snapping off shots of the sights around London, often Kyle was snapping off shots of me [as well as myriad shots of the sights].

Only when going through our shots on our respective computers or on the LCDs later in the day did I realise exactly how many shots of me he was taking. Mostly captured as I was taking photos, or perusing what I'd taken on my LCD, or wandering ahead of him here and there. He was actually shooting me here as I shot him, I believe.

I usually dislike being photographed by other people, especially candidly, but he managed to capture quite a few that I really like [including some very odd ones]; though there are also many of me, as I turned to find him aiming his camera at me once more, with an "Oi! Quit that!" look on my face.

Between his recent visit and his random screenshots from our Skype conversations, I think his collection of photos of me might now have exceeded that of my parents, though would still run second to my thousands of self-portraits.

He also captured some excellent images of subjects other than me during his stay, including some taken on a reconnaissance around the cottage we stayed in, that I didn't go on [I was enjoying a rare lie-in, savouring the warmth of our cosy bed as the sun rose].

Admittedly I was a bit rubbish on the exploration side, as the cold was getting to me, and my trainers really weren't appropriate footwear for clambering over fences and clomping through mud and snow. Add to that the cold I came down with [and still have!] on the Monday after we arrived in County Durham and I was a bit reluctant to venture too far from the car if I didn't have to.

I'm ashamed to say I didn't even manage any self-portraits whilst we were away, as we were also so rarely at the cottage we rented, as we had long days exploring the local regions and were usually knackered by the time we finally returned in the evenings, with only enough energy for imbibing a few cans of cider and Guinness, respectively, and a few quick games of Monopoly.

But sometimes you just need a holiday, right?

Posted by Bronwen Hyde at 19:29 GMT
Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post
fucking tourist
Now Playing: jason segel & walter - man or muppet
Topic: life

fucking tourist


I've been a little absent from the online world the past few weeks, primarily because Kyle arrived for an all-too-brief visit, albeit approximately 25.5 hours later than scheduled, making it even briefer.

A technical hitch delaying his flight from Mackay in Queensland to Brisbane by two hours (originally cited as being due to bad weather) caused him to miss his connecting flight from Brisbane to Singapore; and though eventually Qantas found him a seat on corresponding flights exactly 24 hours later (after feeding him and putting him up in a hotel overnight), by the time he reached Singapore, snowfall in London had impacted on flights landing at Heathrow, causing his British Airways flight to be cancelled, and him to be placed on a Qantas flight another hour later.

Thankfully the brevity of his visit didn't take away from the excitement and enjoyment of having him here with me in London, and getting to show him the sights, as well as a trip up north for a week to explore Yorkshire, Cumbria and County Durham.

Having snowed here on the Friday night, by the time Kyle arrived in the early hours of Monday morning, a lot of it had turned to slush and ice, but having never seen actual snow before, seeing the houses, train tracks, and parks coated in the stuff, Kyle felt it was all a little surreal [not dissimilar from my own experience around Christmas 2000 when I woke to find it had snowed overnight].

He had also been led to believe it would be extremely cold here, being midwinter and coming from midsummer Queensland humidity and heat; but being still fairly mild here at that stage, he was wondering what all the fuss was about.

So after a relaxing pub lunch [the first of countless consumed by us during his time here], he insisted I photograph him barefoot and in a t-shirt at a nearby park, showing him enjoying the mild weather. The original image is below.

fucking tourist


As luck would have it, the following Thursday night it once more snowed, allowing him to wander out in it with his camera almost as excitedly as I had done the previous Friday night, and for us to take a second shot the next day of him enjoying the "mild" weather, this time going for full effect with him donning shorts, a "wifebeater", and armed with a can of Carlsberg.

All he was missing was a barbeque.

After "basking" in the morning sun, he also decided to do a barefoot lap of honour:

lap of honour #13

lap of honour #14

lap of honour #15

lap of honour #16

Posted by Bronwen Hyde at 18:13 GMT
Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post
30 January 2012
print sale!
Now Playing: manic street preachers - everything must go
Topic: prints


I don't usually do this, but I've decided to offer the remaining unframed prints from my simulacrum exhibition for sale at the discounted price of ₤90 each + ₤10 p/h; or AU$130 each + AU$15 p/h if you're in Australia and would prefer to pay direct to my Australian bank account.

I was previously offering these prints at AU$180 each, so that's a pretty sweet discount!

The prints available are all 60cm x 40cm on 20"x30" paper if portrait or landscape format; or 60cm x 60cm on 30"x30" paper for square format images; excepting overlooked and charlotte sometimes, which are 65cm x 65cm on 30"x30" paper (first two images top left below).

All prints are #1 or #2 of editions of 5 at this size (some images are available at a smaller size in an edition of 10 - contact me directly for size & price info, if interested).

You can view the full images by clicking on the thumbnails below.

Contact me directly at propaganda@bronwenhyde.com if you would like to make a purchase!





If you'd prefer to purchase a print that's not a self-portrait, or if you are interested in buying a print of any other image of mine not included above, please feel free to contact me directly with information about which print you'd like, and I can see what I can do!

Posted by Bronwen Hyde at 15:06 GMT
Updated: 30 January 2012 15:31 GMT
Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post
12 January 2012
sun salutation
Topic: hospitalfield

untitled #22


I'm currently wading through myriad shots from my residency at Hospitalfield in Arbroath, Scotland, in April / May 2011, to finalise the selection of images for my self-published photo book, interior / exterior.

I want to include some unseen images in the final book, so though I've been working through a lot of images, I've not been posting many; but I thought I'd post these three outtakes, especially as the lighting and post-processing are quite different to the final image from this part of my shoot that day.

I haven't decided on the definite final from this shoot, but I have it down to about 2-3, so far.

This was shortly after another shoot in an overgrown section of the yard, on the other side of the studio (the stone building to the left of this image), when I managed to step repeatedly into a cluster of stinging nettles. The after-effects of that were not my favourite experience of being at Hospitalfield!

That light creating the lens flare was lovely (and it's totally in-camera). It was probably about 15 degrees, at most that day. Weirdly, I spent a lot of my time in the middle of early spring there, the weather not getting above 17 degrees, wearing little more than a sundress and my slip-on One Stars.

untitled #21

untitled #23

Posted by Bronwen Hyde at 10:14 GMT
Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post
9 January 2012
purveyor of alternate worlds
Now Playing: einsturzende neubaten - der weg ins freie
Topic: prints

untitled #24


I have a corner of my not-very-spacious bedroom that I'd like to reclaim, and you... yes, you! ...could help me do just that!

I have the following framed prints from my 'Alternate Worlds' series available for purchase at ₤260 each plus shipping; or if you'd like a set of two or more, I'm happy to negotiate a package deal.

All 20" x 20" prints, matted, plain black 4cm "box" frames with outer dimensions of 77.5cm (w) x 77.5cm (h)
Each is #1 in a limited edition of 5, signed, numbered and dated
You can view them at exhibition here to see framing




I also have other prints available framed and unframed, so feel free to contact me directly if you are after a print of any of my other work, and I'll see what I can do!

Posted by Bronwen Hyde at 22:16 GMT
Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post
31 December 2011
hearts and flowers
Topic: self-portraiture

hearts and flowers


And here we are. The end of 2011.

It's been a mixture of awesome and awful, so I'm channeling the awesome for 2012 in the hopes that I might discourage the awful.

This year saw me move continents; undertake a fantastic residency at Hospitalfield; participate in some inspirational workshops with Miss Aniela and Lou O'Bedlam, meet some fantastic photographers and non-photographers; and do a bit of traveling within and without the UK to catch up with friends.

There have been some massively overwhelming lows emotionally, but we'll gloss over those and pretend they didn't happen, right?

I have January and most of February "off" from administration day jobs, so I'm planning on filling that time with trying to get somewhat up to date with editing the overwhelming number of photos I've taken in the last year and beyond.

I'm also hoping to collaborate with some other photographers and artists I admire, both within that time span and within 2012 in general; and hoping that in 2012 I can exhibit both within group and solo exhibitions here in London.

I am looking forward to meeting my parents in Budapest for a few days in May; potentially traveling to Manchester at some point to meet up with photography and authorly folk; and hopefully some day or overnight trips to catch up with friends I made when I lived here last.

In short, I'm feeling pretty inspired and positive about 2012 and what it may hold, and hope that you are too.

Should you feel the urge, please feel free to contact me about commissions, prints, image usage or whatever you think I might be able to do for you, that might be able to keep me from returning to full time admin work; but no matter what happens, I'm feeling very hopeful for the new year.

And one massive shout-out to my beautiful partner, Kyle, who despite being literally on the other side of the planet, manages to keep me sane (or something resembling sane). I'm overwhelmed at the thought of him being in London with me in February!

Posted by Bronwen Hyde at 23:16 GMT
Post Comment | View Comments (1) | Permalink | Share This Post
14 December 2011
golden afternoon
Now Playing: amy winehouse - you're wondering now
Topic: twohundredby200

golden afternoon


twohundredby200 have just released their second issue of the re-launched twohundredby200 magazine in print and digital format, with the iPod version coming soon.

I'm featured in the magazine, along with Brian Copeland from Graphic Clinic, and Nightmare Mikey.

Go check it out!

Posted by Bronwen Hyde at 20:55 GMT
Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post
11 December 2011
selkie
Now Playing: pulp - being followed home
Topic: divine diptychs
selkie

Left: rowandevoe
Right: Me

From rowandevoe's Flickr post:

Selkies are Seal Faeries from Irish and Scottish Myth. In the sea, they are seals who swim with their seal sisters, but they also come on land on nights of full moons and transform into women and dance with their seal sisters. This is when men can steal their seal skins to marry them, as they are known to be the best of and most loyal wives, and they go on to have children and a family on land. But, the Selkie woman is always longing for something. If they discover their seal skins, they have the terrible choice of staying with their human families on land, or returning to the sea with the constant call of their seal sisters, which is so much stronger than their mortal family.

I love this story and concept so much, but was really struggling to put together something I felt captured the idea in the vivid way I would have liked.

My full time day job and other distractions have been a real inspiration-killer for me lately, though I'm working on fixing that [which is also the reason I'm posting this so late...]

My image is a montage of a swirling, animal skin-type cloak I borrowed from a friend for a shoot as part of my 365 days series, and a self-portrait from about 2009. I wanted to capture the sense of the sealskin mingled with water. Merle flipped my image to face right-to-left and adjusted the colour a little in this version to make it work more harmoniously with her wonderful, dreamy image.

She also put together two other pairings which I think are also both beautiful, which you can see below.

selkie

selkie

Posted by Bronwen Hyde at 13:54 GMT
Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post
13 November 2011
100 people - #25: Kyle
Topic: 100 people

kyle


One Friday night in September last year, my then housemate, Nicole Jensen, caught up with a friend who was visiting Brisbane for his brother's wedding the next day. They had met in a pub nearby, and decided to adjourn back to our house for more beers.

I was home editing photos and indulging in some ciders, and Nikki knocked on my bedroom door to invite me to come out and join them, as Kyle had been admiring the print of truth lies beyond hanging over the couch in our lounge room.

We ended up spending most of the remainder of the night talking art, photography, ambitions, travel, etc.

We then stayed in contact through Twitter, and met again about a month later when Kyle boarded with us for a week to do a course in Brisbane. We hung out much of the week watching Terriers, drinking cider and beer respectively, and going to the gym. On his second last morning in town, as we caught the bus together toward the city, he asked me if I wanted to catch up for dinner that night.

Having asked if Nikki was coming with us to dinner, I surmised from his answer in the negative, that he was asking me on a date; though, in case I was unsure, he confirmed my suspicions when he met me outside the gym, giving me the option to decline at that point.

Given that, were we not to go to dinner, we would just end up going back to the house and chilling on the couch watching more Terriers and hanging out together, I figured I got a good deal either way. However, I did chuckle and ask "You know I'm leaving the country, right...?"

Suffice to say, the date went well, and knowing we had only a short time together before I left for London, Kyle came down once more from Winton on Boxing Day and we spent an intense, indulgent and utterly wonderful two weeks together.

On New Year's Day I photographed him, from which this portrait is taken.

Despite my initial reluctance to undertake a long distance relationship, ten months later here we are (though officially we've just passed our eleventh month anniversary, agreeing in retrospect that first date marked the beginning of our relationship; and we won't mention that 2.5 hour break-up...)

We video chat almost every day on Skype, for hours at a time, to the point where it's almost like we live together, despite the vast distance between us. Thankfully he's a morning person and I'm a night owl, so our mornings and evenings overlap. Through the various ups and downs we've both had over the past year, we manage to keep each other going and make each other smile (though admittedly he's usually the one who has the more difficult job with this, as the past few months life has been getting me down a bit), and his encouragement and his own achievements with his weight have definitely been an inspiration in my weight loss.

This weekend he has made the move from Winton to commence a new job in Mackay. A job with more opportunities and that will give him more experience relevant to the IT degree he is currently undertaking.

All going to plan, he will visit in February for a few weeks, and I can't wait to see him in all of his high resolution, non-pixelated goodness. It will also give me a chance to take updated portraits of him as, like me, he has lost more weight and toned up more since January.

Maybe he'll also capture me in illustration, as he is a talented artist himself, though not practicing.

Posted by Bronwen Hyde at 09:32 GMT
Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post

Newer | Latest | Older