Exhibition review/interview by Luke Payn

'Lauren Shields recent exhibition at The Glass Onion saw a fantastic response from visitors.The work was part of the Exhibit:U project initiated by Gary Law last year.

Her work is bold, simple and fresh. Spacious in colour and composition yet the subject is always shown directly. Whether it is a grimy image showing modern life behind the curtains, or a simple and timeless image of flowers, there is nothing in the image that is unnecessary.

The work was very well presented and had an overall sense of harmony. The images moved from detailed shots of plugs, piled up ready for recycling, to the disused detail of a fire engine, also awaiting recycling and beautifully segued into a inspiring image of a dilapidated brick wall with a beautiful vista of a dreamlike landscape; lush greens married to an eternal blue sky. This was one of the most popular images in the show, people couldn't wait to get a copy of it!

There were also enigmatic shots of a Mansion in France and rural pathways in the countryside outside of Bolton. Both these images were wonderful exercises in the art of composition and had an elusive nature about them, they could have been taken anywhere.

Lauren is a young photographer who I am sure will go far. An industrious and conscientious 17 year old Lauren is studying at Peterborough Regional College doing Photography and Art 'A' Levels (A2) and a City & Guilds in Photography and is hoping to start a degree in September.

Lauren's Father died when she was just 7 years old. He was a graphic designer by trade but also was a keen artist and photographer and she grew up with his paintings and pictures around her. It was this work of her father that started her love affair with imagery and image making.

When she was very young she walked around with disposable cameras and simple roll-film cameras taking pictures of whatever was around. Nowadays she uses either a Nikon D50 (with either a standard lens or a Macro 105mm) or a Nikon F80d film camera. When using film Lauren's preferred make is Ilford's Pan-F ISO 50. A black & white fine-grain film that compliments the crisp composition of her pictures. All the pictures in show were taken on the D50, digital images with very little work in Photoshop. Lauren loves working in the darkroom and uses Photoshop as she would use the darkroom.

What I liked most about the work on show was that she doesn't over intellectualise the image. She does a lot of her work un-planned, relying on her intuition. She uses her subtlety and a lightness of touch to respond to her surroundings, taking the image on the “spur of the moment”. Laurens focus is on the composition. When I ask her why she loves photography so much she tells me it is because strong images can talk to all of us, Lauren flips through her notebook to find a favourite quote of hers that illustrates this sentiment better, aha here it is she smiles; “good photography should transcend the barriers of language and nationality”.

Lauren became known for her photography when she started taking pictures of local bands, some of them being published in this magazine, but at the moment she is finding the work on her personal projects more rewarding. I asked her what she would like to be doing in the future, serenely and modestly she replies that she would like to have more exhibitions and more of her work published, perhaps owning a coffee shop with her photographs and jewellery etc. for sale, ..............she quite gracefully says she's not really sure, she'll use her intuition and “go with the flow.” '

by Luke Payn
First published in Art & Soul Magazine in May 2008

Phonebox photoshoot - Lily

We actually did two shoots for this one to make sure I got exactly what I wanted. I asked Lily to model & she was great! she was really fun to work with & wasn't afraid to get into different poses & positions. :)

The only red phone box I could find was outside a church..we got some funny looks! I'm pleased I found it though - a black phonebox wouldnt have worked.

1st Photoshoot

2nd Photoshoot

Final Photo -

I'm really pleased with the results, thanks Lily for being my model! x

Underwater Photoshoot - 'Figure With Telephone'

For my project 'Figure With Telephone' , I decided to try an underwater shoot. I researched cameras, and being a poor student :D I bought a fairly cheap one from ebay.

I started to plan the shoot by thinking where I would actually shoot it. For the best light conditions I needed an outdoor pool..but being May no outdoor pools were open! I've got a couple of friends that are lifeguards though, so I asked them if they could do me a favour & let me borrow the pool they work at. After writing letters & speaking to various people at the pool I managed to blag just under an hour in part of the pool when staff training was on in the evening.

I was so pleased they'd agreed to do this..now it was up to me to get a good photograph!

I thought about who would model & what they would wear, and decided to ask Zoe - one of the lifeguards if she would model, and asked her to wear an old white tutu I had. I bought a phone from a charity shop and painted it bright red so it would be seen underwater.

Heres the photos...

....random guy in the pool!

*A big thanks to Zoe & the Deepings Leisure Centre for helping this shoot happen! :) *

Lauren

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Behind The Scenes - Laura & Andrew - Derelict building photo shoot

We did this photo shoot a while ago, must have been two summers ago now.

Anyways, it was a really fun day, more like hanging out with two friends. It was originally meant to be for Andrew's acting portfolio, but I thought i'd bring Laura along for the shoot too - shes got some cool ideas & is fun to work with.

This was the location - a derelict building near where I live. Its now been knocked down!! :(

Andrews Photos -

Lauras Photos -







Stop for a break :)

Carrying on with the shoot...

Lauren

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Hey!

Hey :)
I decided to create this blog so I could log my photo shoots & keep a diary of what i'm up to. I'll also be doing 'behind the scenes' blogs on my photo shoots, and putting up photos from photo shoots that I have had stored on my computer for a while!

Anyways, bear with me while I get my head around all this blogging malarky...and i'll post a couple of blogs & see how it goes :)

Take care!

Lauren
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