That silent, invisible, porcelain monument, Glossy and sculpted and made in our curious form. Shaped to fit its one particular function. Closeted away behind its own door, it exists on a social divide, on its own turf unlike anything else in the world. From across the room, it is furniture, necessary and ungainly. But from upon, the dynamic changes. Its awkward and humorous surface is broken, its urgent service availed, and what is revealed!?


Welcome to the blog of Sitters. The project is a study through portraiture of the most unifying of all themes human, the toilet. This project is all about revealing the hidden. There could scarcely be a ritual so ancient or emblem of civilisation so indelible, that is less acknowledged. Its function is the function of the human body, an age old marriage.

Yet it is difficult to visualise. We can hardly recall the where and when of our life's visitations let alone the events that surround them (except for the unspeakably extreme). For something so common, so universal, it is unmatched in its unfamiliarity. It is private, closed and altogether invisible. The aim of Sitters is to show the toilet and its inevitable role as who we are. The project flushes out the taboo and restraint that surrounds the subject and plumbs the small entitlements we take for granted. That's all the toilet jokes i promise.























Tuesday 1 March 2011

Three, four, five: Keeping it live.

Sorry for the absence, i've been rounding off a very healthy week of shooting! And when im not in front of the computer, i like nothing better than  to be carrying 20kilos of photography equipment around town. Hello, chiropractor?




Its not been a straightforward week by any means but it has been a successful one without a doubt. Sitters has been populated by a lucky 7 enthusiastic volunteers from as far a reach as Edinburgh's Duddingston and Leith. Shooting on a time limit means shooting with minimal equipment, which  means shooting creatively and making the best of what a location has to offer. I love to see what a location can become when there is pressure to create. Plus, less gear is really good news for my spine.

Two big set backs unfortunately. The first in the form of a diabolical coup from my Mamiya RZ, which decided to jam my film and there was not much for it but to lose my temper and have to man-handle it out and fog the film. Booo. But lesson learned (or so i say)



The second catastrophe took place in the Hollyrood Salvage Yard near Duddingston. Setting up our image surrounded by mountains of old furniture when i bent down to check the camera, i unassumingly sat right down on an old sticky-outy hinge. And it totally stabbed me in the butt! It went through my trousers, through my underwear, and into my butt. Eh..hello, chiropractor?


Don't all faint at once.
The plan though, it must be said, is on track.

e




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