Life through a lens

Last week I had an absolutely fantastic weekend and wrote an even better blog post about it and then sort of disappeared from the blogging world. I really wanted to be out and writing but it's hard to dredge a blog post about how boring economics are and how after college I have mostly been under a blanket watching many episodes of Chicago Fire. If you are curious it is just as terrible as Chicago PD but I feel I am emotionally invested in the show now and I guess bored Laura doesn't have the most discerning taste. However this not a blog post about terrible tv, even if I would be well placed to write one.

In this day and age when everyone has a smartphone with a million filters and effects, we all like to think we are photographers. Some of us do better than most and manage not to crop anyone's head out of the photo or catch the right bit of scenery in a good light. I have experienced the odd moment of pride with ones my phone has taken but I more of the 'why did I make my head look so fat in this photo' school of amateur 'photography. Yes those are ironic quotation marks. I will happily upload my treasures to Facebook and my blog so everyone can admire them or at least catalogue my adventures as I have them. I know I am not alone in this. Then of course you get invited to a photography exhibition for an up and coming photographer and you feel ridiculously embarrassed of the photos you have been toting around.

If you haven't guessed already where this is going, tonight I was invited down to Central Arts to see Kate Q-P's exhibition '16 Frames. I am going to be totally honest and say I didn't know anything about it except it was supposed to contain amazing photographs and my boyfriend had bought himself one of the prints before it even started (the ChinaTown one). I figured it was worth a look because from what I have seen around so far Central Arts don't mess about with their art/photography exhibitions. I have never seen anything less than seriously talented work grace their walls. 

I was not disappointed. As you walk in the door of Central, facing you are five prints side by side on the wall but as you walk closer you will see that each frame contains 16 mini photos. As pictured (and ruined by my big head in the photo above) The amount of detail in each frame is astounding. All of the photos are of New York (or so my boyfriend tells me so if I am wrong then blame him) and is as though there is a story to be told. Actually come to think of it, the frames with 16 photos would be ideal as inspiration for a creative writing exercise, they would be sure to spark many a brilliant idea. 
Then as you climb the stairs you see several framed, single shots. She seems to have a fantastic eye for it and if I was in a position to do so I had picked at least five that I would love to have hanging on my walls. Unless I get some sort of serious pay hike in the next few weeks, that seems unlikely but I am sure I will be back to visit them on one of my many trips to Central Arts.

This one is one of my absolute favourites and if it was down to me it would be hanging on my walls and my car tax would just wait but sadly I am far too responsible for that sort of carry on.

I did eventually reach the top of the stairs, it was hard to stop myself from getting drawn in to the photographs as I passed, had I been smart I would have popped in before the crowds arrived and had some time to admire them alone. The slide show against the back wall projected the images I had just been admiring in smaller forms, plus some I hadn't the chance to see. If they had set it to some sort of atmospheric music, along the lines of Jasper Rua 'the circle sessions, I could have happily sat there for hours taking it all in. 

There was a great turn out which is always good to see and Ciara (one half of the duo who founded Central Arts - The other being her husband John) gave a lovely speech about how delighted they were to host the exhibition and how absolutely blown away they were by Kate's talent. It is not hard to see why. Ciara and John are both passionate about the arts and keeping it alive in Waterford but that's hardly a secret if you've ever been down to any of their events. Next up to speak was Waterford Art's officer - Conor Nolan. He has been very supportive of the work that Central have been doing and is a familiar face to anyone who attends the exhibitions there. He mentioned in his speech that he could have spent hours looking at the first set of photos which echoed my own thoughts but it was clear that he was impressed by the quality of the work. Lastly Kate herself was coaxed to say a few words. She has a fascinating background having been born in Russia , grew up in Bulgaria and studied in Sweden. If her photographs are anything to go by then she has quite the story to tell. She seemed blown away by the reception her work was getting but I am sure everyone there will agree that this is one photographer that is going places.

Now you may have noticed my own blog post does not contain very many photos of the work itself. That is because I could not do it justice with some haphazard shot taken on my phone. You need to get your ass down to Central and check it out for yourself. It runs until May 13th and its free to go in and see it or else you could just wait until there is something on there and get all your culture in one go.