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documentation
 
Low-resolution, high-intensity documentation services.
 
dickon
drums
guitar
tom
Low-resolution photographs of grunge band "Turgid"
 
My documentation work aims to capture the essence of a fleeting moment in a way that is practically useful for the future. Documentation with potential to nourish a project with touchstones of those tiny moments that so often escape and are forgotten.
 
helen
kari
peg
jenny
Low-res workshop photographs of "The Stitching Factory"
sad old gits sax
sad old gits drummer
sad old gits
sad old gits singer
Low-res photographs of the band, "The Sad Old Gits"
flower
it cant last
fast dancing
determination
Low-res workshop photographs for Luan Blake.
 

My largest scale documentation project is "I An Archive" by Barbara Steveni. A series of artist walks and conversations, extended in reach through the use of documentation into an evolving archive, drawing together memories, works and gatherings over many years.

My role in this project has been documenting, co-ordinating and gathering documentation of this process into a useful library of easily accessible material to support the ongoing work.

For more on this project, click here.

 
3d ruins
Stereoscope of Barbara Steveni in Edinburgh, wearing the POV camera.
 
panel
barbara
serota
toop
culture
crowd
autogena
barbara
Low-res photographs of "APG Archive: Art And Social Intervention, The Incidental Person"
 

Some examples of documentation projects

Photographing outdoor work looking dramatic in the pouring rain.

Allowing the viewer to experience distance using simple stereoscopic 3D.

Filming all-night performance in the dark.

Working with illustration to pick out subjective emotional detail.

Enhancing the significance of the tiny with 1cm macro.

Filming participants reactions to conversation using a head-mounted camera.

Writing and co-ordinating written responses to live work as it happens.

Recording songs over the telephone.

Recording 4-channel surround sound of promenade performance.

Conducting audience interviews.

Recording audience movements to improve the dynamics of promenade work.

Pinpointing the exact moment a characters emotional decision is made in rehearsal improvisation.

Logging and organising existing documentation into useful structures.

Capturing morris dancers in the air.

Transforming grainy rehearsal footage into useable research or promotional material, or work of its own.

Building reference imaged of character physicality.

Co-ordinating multiple documentation.

 
Telephone recording of "Are We Alone" by Matthew Robins and Viviane Schwarz
 
teacher
condensate
film
arms
soldier
scream
pillow
john
Devising and Show photographs for Company Collisions' "The Tin Soldier".
 

My focus as a documentor is capturing honest evidence of power, emotion, connection and truth in ways that can then feed back into the project to build clarity and intensity. I look for the most appropriate way to catch what you are after. Sometimes that is glossy, big cameras. More often it's subtle, smaller, low-impact so as not to disturb the moment itself.

I am drawn to projects where the documentation is an integral part of the process, rather than merely a promotional tool. (Although the material generated is often used for promotion, or as part of the work itself.) I am interested in exploring and developing new methods of both capturing and using documentation.

 
ballloon
figer cymbals
jane
yuri moves
Low-res photographs from Stacked Wonky devising process
 
aj
bunch
group
movement
dancers
leggs
pigg
sketches
Photographs and sketches from work with "Stepback Traditional Dance Project".
Here, documentation became part of a much wider collaboration. Click here for more.
 

Sometimes the documentation takes on a life of its own. Photographs and writings from Ania Bas' "Droga" became part of a book (available through Unbound, here). Grainy workshop photographs from "The State of Mind of Ghosts" became digital works of their own.

The documentary film of Angela Praed's "The Bedroom Tour" was nominated for IMZ Best Dance Documentary 2005. It is still screened, so it isn't available online. But here is Angela's promo for her related all-night work "The Bed" in which the audience sleeps with the work. There are some of my stills and footage used in that, from documentation of "The Bedroom Tour", and "The Bed".

 
 
hands
embrace
arm
shadow
faces
wall walk
perch
bed
Low-res photographs from "The Bedroom Tour"
 

I have access to a variety of recording equipment for photography, audio and moving image, including my own rather scattershot collection of low-tech gubbins that please my brain. 3d cameras, underwater/harsh weather capability, macro, surround sound, tiny cameras, telephones, paper and other peoples brains are all on hand to collect lasting residues of your work. If capturing it requires something I don't already have access to, that can most likely be arranged.

Documentation can be physical, digital, or a combination. Digital documentation can be uploaded to existing websites, blogs or social networks. Alternatively it can be arranged into standalone web pages.

 
carmen
toreador
don jose
Reactive sculptural sketches of Blackheath Hall's community production of "Carmen".
 
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