3-31 May 2012

7pm, Thursday 10 November 2011 – Hamilton House, Stokes Croft
Doors open 6.45 pm, no entry after 7.15pm
£3 entry (£2 for Second Look members)

TalkPhoto showcases two invited speakers and provides an opportunity for people in the audience to share & talk about their work own work or that of photographers that inspire or interest them. November’s featured speakers are Michael Reeves and Alexander Beckett.

Award-winning fine art photographer Michael Reeves uses the Holga camera’s characteristic soft-focus and vignetting to emphasise elements of sadness, beauty or nostalgia in the scenes he photographs. A recurring theme in his Holga work is the ‘found’ still life, most notably in his series ‘Fragments’. He also searches out places we often associate with childhood, such as the seaside and funfairs. In other Holga work, he explores the more extreme possibilities of the camera, experimenting, for instance, with hand-held long exposures. Michael will also be discussing the background to the ‘toy camera’ phenomenon and will be giving advice on how to avoid the pitfalls of using a Holga camera. More of his work can be seen at www.michaelreevesphotography.com

Only 20kg of baggage allowance? Pish! Alex Beckett loves to travel and doesn’t let silly things like rules get in his way. Using everything from huge softboxes to tiny torches, in locations ranging from Mongolia to Maidenhead, Alex pushes the boundaries of what’s considered the norm and comes back with the photos to prove it. Examining work ranging from weddings to advertising and travel, Alex will explore the way light can be used to transform a photograph from the ordinary into the extra-ordinary. To find out more about Alex’s work and also the lighting workshops he runs visit www.alexanderbeckett.com or www.alexbeckett.co.uk/blog

For details on how to participate see www.secondlook.org.uk

Midwest is the first solo exhibition from photographer, musician and artist Tom Cops, showing medium format photographs of people and places in the American Midwest.

In August 2010, Tom travelled around the American Midwest for three weeks with his band My Two Toms playing as many inappropriate venues as possible. During the tour he attempted to photograph everyone he met, as well as the places he passed through.

Looking for odd details in the landscape, his colour photographs tell the story of the small towns of Montana, Minnesota, North & South Dakota, Colorado and Wyoming, while his black & white portraits tell us about the people that live there.

To accompany the exhibition, Betty & Dupree will be publishing a collection of these photographs, also called “MIDWEST”, with a foreword by acclaimed Minnesotan blues musician Charlie Parr and watercolour chapter pages by Jerwood Drawing Prize nominated artist Aaron Sewards.

The exhibition opens Thursday 27th October, 7-9pm, with live music from My Two Toms, and continues until Tuesday 22nd November at the Here Gallery, 108 Stokes Croft, Bristol.

This also coincides with a two night residency from Charlie Parr at the Cube Microplex:
CHARLIE PARR with support from My Two Toms
Cube Microplex, Dove Street, Bristol
Sat 5th + Sun 6th November 2011
8pm, advance tickets £9.00 (+booking fee) per night

This Thursday 20 October sees The Motorcycle Showroom play host to a one-off Charity Print Auction in aid of the Charlotte Miller Art Project, helping fund participatory photography workshops for street kids in Ecuador. Amongst the 35 images being auctioned are prints from John Bulmer, Mark Simmons, Chiarra Tocci, and a signed copy of Small World from Martin Parr. The event starts at 7pm, and includes free South American drinks.

Along with hosting events like this, TMS are now offering a wide range of workshops, including Experimental Photography and Drawing, Medium Format Colour Film Photography and Physical Alternative Photography along with a whole heap of other interesting things.

The Motorcycle Showroom is at 15-19 Stokes Croft, Bristol, BS13PY